[Tolo News] On Sunday, Afghan Senators called the "zero option" a threat to the security of Afghanistan and implored the U.S. fulfill its previous commitments to keeping a residual force in the country post-2014. The Senators said that the presence of foreign troops in the country post-2014 would be essential to averting security threats from neighbouring countries.
The Senators urged Kabul and Washington to reach a decision over the issue as soon as possible. According to them, a post-2014 U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would be essential to maintaining the security gains that have been made over the past years as well as thwarting future terrorist activities.
The so called "zero option" would see a comprehensive end to U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan. Reports circled earlier this week about officials in the White House giving heightened consideration to the possibility of the complete absence of any residual forces in Afghanistan after the withdraw. The shift in Washington was attributed by the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... to rising tensions between President B.O. and President Karzai following the failure of negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar and the subsequent freezing of Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) talks.
"The U.S. should fulfill its commitments made to Afghanistan. The "zero option" is a threat for Afghanistan and it may also affect its economy," said Senator Hidayatollah Rahayee.
"Statements related to the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops should be avoided, because it greatly affects the public mindset and the public might lose trust in the capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)," said Senator Khaliq Dad Balaghi.
A number of Senators expressed frustration with Kabul and Washington's inability to come to an agreement on security issues facing the country and the future of their partnership heading into the 2014 troop withdraw.
"The U.S. and Afghanistan have not reached any agreement with respect to security issues. Moreover, the contradicting ideas put forward by the U.S. and Afghan officials have failed to find a solution to the problem. A comprehensive roadmap should be prepared to find a permanent solution to the challenges," said Senator Nisar Hares.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"If you're not here---our people will start killing each other."
#8
Sorry, Senators. Barry is angling for his second Nobel. If he can say he ended two wars (by running away), he should be a shoo-in.
The cost to you or anyone else is unimportant to him.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/15/2013 15:21 Comments ||
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#9
Second Nobel is only fair. I mean even Yasser has one.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
07/15/2013 15:37 Comments ||
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#10
FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS BLOGGER = opined that iho Muslim or Islamic intervention [jihad = insurgency] agz INDIA is inevitable, + coming sooner than most people realize???
MOGADISHU - Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland has suspended long-awaited local elections, its government said Sunday, saying the risk of violence was too great to hold them.
"Puntland hereby suspends the local council elections" due to held Monday, a government statement read, warning of what it called "domestic spoilers and external manipulators funding and organising instability and election violence".
It gave no further details on who it feared would cause the violence.
However, United Nations special envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay called the suspension "wise" and urged restraint from all sides "following violent clashes".
Puntland, which forms the very tip of the Horn of Africa along the Indian Ocean coast and the Gulf of Aden, recognises the central government in Mogadishu, but wants autonomy within a federation of states.
Clashes have broken out in political rallies in the region -- including in the town of Galkayo earlier this month in which five people were killed -- although other demonstrations passed off peacefully.
While relatively stable compared to war-torn southern Somalia, it also hosts pirate gangs on its coastline as well as multiple militia forces, while Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab fighters have set up bases in its rugged Golis mountains.
Tensions have risen ahead of the elections, with the Puntland government clamping down on press freedom, including ordering shut three private radio stations. Some opposition groups are accused by the government of operating their own militia forces.
No date has been set for the elections, with the Puntland government saying only they would be held "when it is appropriate".
In other words, when the gummint can win...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] A Mauritanian court on Sunday freed a Canadian tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! for attempting to join an al-Qaeda training camp in neighboring Mali, a judicial source said.
Aaron Yoon was serving two years in Nouakchott after being convicted in July last year when he was 24, but his sentence was reduced in an appeal brought by the prosecution who were asking for the term to be extended to 10 years, the source said.
"The Canadian Aaron Yoon was sentenced by an appeals court on Sunday to a year and a half in prison but he has already spent this time in jail and must therefore leave the penitentiary immediately," the source told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
Yoon, who is of Korean descent, was nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! in December 2011 when he tried to visit the camps of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali, according to the indictment against him.
He denied any link to terrorism, saying he had come to Mauritania from Morocco to study the Koran and learn Arabic, but the authorities maintained he had "strong links with AQIM forces of Evil and his plan to join the movement is indisputable."
"We cannot say how and when but he must leave the prison and will probably be removed from the country," the judicial source said.
Mauritania shares over 2,200 kilometers (1,350 miles) of border with Mali, where a French-led military operation was launched against armed Islamist groups in January, driving them out of cities in the country's vast desert north.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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Senior officials in the Muslim Brotherhood have said that they are involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations with Egypt's army, despite a crackdown on the group's leadership following president Mohamed Morsi's removal last week.
The admission comes as the Brotherhood announced provocative plans to move their pro-Morsi street protests into spaces such as Tahrir Square, where many anti-Brotherhood protests have been held in recent weeks. It also follows signs that Egypt's interim regime will press on with forging a new government with or without Brotherhood support after the liberal Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in on Sunday as the country's new vice-president, and the new prime minister Hazem Beblawy appointed several new ministers to his cabinet.
Brotherhood officials had denied they were negotiating with a military regime that has arrested several key members since Morsi's fall, and issued warrants for hundreds more.
But speaking to the Guardian, Dr Mohamed Ali Bishr a former minister under Morsi admitted that he had already met with senior military officials on Thursday evening to discuss what each side was prepared to compromise on. However, Bishr said that further negotiations were unlikely because the Brotherhood had demanded Morsi's reinstatement as a prerequisite for further dialogue a red line for the military.
"There is room for negotiations with the military council," said Bishr, a member of the Brotherhood's guidance council, the group's governing body. "We are open minded and speak to all. They contacted us and we met but they want to continue on the path of the coup but we reject this. Negotiations must start off on the path of democracy and the constitution."
Bishr's statement contradicts that of fellow guidance councillor Mohamed Beltagy, who had previously denied negotiations were taking place. His admission also came as prosecutors announced investigations against Morsi on charges of spying, inciting violence, and damaging the economy. It also follows claims by Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad that 200 Muslim Brotherhood members were scouting Tahrir Square, in preparation for Brotherhood protests in the area.
Bishr admitted that the Brotherhood might agree to Morsi's departure, but only if he was reinstated first, and given the opportunity to leave in a manner of his choosing. He also said that the reinstatement of Egypt's constitution suspended by army chief general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was essential for negotiations.
"All legal solutions are available," said Bishr. "For example, we demand that the constitution is reinstated, instead of being suspended even if Morsi leaves office. But he as president must call for new presidential elections or a referendum on whether he stays in office or not.
"Our quarrel is not about whether the president remains in office or not. It about turning a process that was constitutional into a coup. We do not agree to the coup."
The army did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but it is highly unlikely to give in to the Brotherhood's demands as they stand.
Gamal Heshmat, an official in the Brotherhood's political wing, said that he also met with army officials on Friday, and that the military had demanded that the Brotherhood clear the streets of their sit-ins before any further negotiations can begin. "But we cannot clear the streets," said Heshmat. "The people are free to protest and express themselves."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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A war crimes court has found Islamist Ghulam Azam guilty of five charges tied to Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years in jail for his involvement in mass killings and rape during that war. It is the fifth sentence passed against current and former party leaders.
The court found Azam guilty of five charges including conspiracy, incitement, planning, abetting and failing to prevent murder. He has denied the charges, which his supporters say were politically motivated.
Azam faced more than 60 counts of crimes against humanity for his role in setting up militia groups which carried out atrocities during the war.
The prosecution had been seeking the death penalty. But the three-judge panel said that while Mr Azam deserved capital punishment, he received a prison term because of his advanced age.
His victims are all dead, aren't they?
Supporters of Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party, which he led from 1969 until 2000, clashed with police ahead of the verdict.
[Al Ahram] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that ousted Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi was the only legitimate president of Egypt in an interview with a Turkish newspaper.
"Currently, my president in Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people," he told the pro-government Today's Zaman. "If we don't judge the situation like that it is tantamount to ignoring the Egyptian people," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Well, you no longer deserve your job either. Go join him.
[Dawn] Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi has said the government has lost writ in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and miserably failed to bring the situation under its control as the hard boyz still rule the streets.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Dr Magsi said the government had failed to restore peace to Karachi and criticised the chief minister for his statement that Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... situation was being exploited.
He said that people of Lyari were forced to leave their ancestral homes because of serious threats to their lives while the chief minister was only making attempts to absolve himself of his responsibilities.
He said that elected representatives of Lyari were either silent or missing. The IDPs of Lyari had arrived in Badin and Thatta but the government had not taken any notice and failed to provide them relief, he said.
The PPP should take serious steps to safely shift them to their home because the party was always elected from their area, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A member of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) of India's Central Bureau of Investigation had accused incumbent governments of "orchestrating" the terror attack on Indian Parliament and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, The Times of India reported on Sunday.
A former Indian home ministry officer submitted his declaration in the Supreme Court of India which said that he was told by a former member of the CBI-SIT team that both the terror attacks (Parliament and Mumbai) were staged "with the objective of strengthening the counter-terror legislation(sic)."
The affidavit also included reference to the attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 which was followed by the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), and the 2008 Mumbai attacks which led to amendments in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The revelations came during a hearing in the Indian Supreme Court regarding the killing of a 19-year-old Indian Mohammedan girl in India's Gujrat state in June 2004.
Indian police had claimed that Ishrat Jahan and three Mohammedan men, two of them alleged to be Paks, were killed as they set off with a stash of arms and explosives to kill Gujarat ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The murder plot was refuted by the victim's mother who had called for an investigation to take place on a federal level.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
D *** NG IT, next thing you know people will say that the USA + Penn State was responsible for the 9-11 attack agz NYC!
[Dawn] The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kashmire Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan is meeting here on Monday (today) to receive a briefing on the killing last month of foreign tourists at the base of Nanga Parbat and the progress so far made in the investigations.
Talking to Dawn here on Sunday, the chairman of the committee, ANP's Haji Muhammad Adeel, said the panel had invited the former inspector-general of police (IGP) and former chief secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan to hear their points of view on the terrorists' attack that gave a bad name to the country.
Besides receiving briefing on the incident from the bigwigs of the GB, the chairman said the committee members would also like to know about the impact of the incident on tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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Congress, White House angry at Israel for decision to back out of trial against Bank of China for involvement in laundering of money for Hamas, Islamic Jihad. The reason: China conditioned Netanyahu's state visit on Israeli promise not to testify in trial. Now, US threatening to subpoena Ambassador Oren
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/15/2013 12:09 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Israel is looking for a strong horse. Abandoned by the president and the vast majority of the Jewish electorate, Israel must seek out it's own route to survival. Machiavelli was right. Our "prince" has done everything wrong, not out of ignorance, but by intent.
#6
Nations have no friends just common interests. O has kowtowed and apologized to our enemies and snubbed our allies. O has nobody to blame but himself and his handlers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2013 13:07 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Israeli weapons companies have some big contracts with the PRC. This is somewhat of a controversy in Israel as Israelis realize the PRC is not a nice country.
However, as others have implied, Israel has balanced the equities and figured that moving toward a strategic relationship with the PRC is the right move for now. About a year ago, a PRC fleet docked at Haifa's port area and about this same time some PRC universities began offering Israeli studies and hebrew language courses.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/15/2013 13:50 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Israel has not always been a good friend of the US. In the early days they were tight with France and to some extent the Soviet Union. No reason to expect things can't change again -- especially in the era of Hope & Change.
[Al Ahram] An Israeli court said Sunday it has placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! for 30 months two senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, members who took refugee inside Red Thingy east Jerusalem offices for a year and a half.
The Jerusalem district court issued the sentence as part of a plea bargain in which former Paleostinian minister for Jerusalem affairs Khaled Abu Arafeh and Hamas MP Mohammed Totah admitted to "membership of a terror organization" and staying in Israel without permits.
The two had barricaded themselves inside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Thingy on July 1, 2010 and were tossed in the slammer Book 'im, Mahmoud! on January 23, 2012.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Iran is moving "closer and closer" to building a nuclear weapon and Israel may have to act before the United States does, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday.
"They're edging up to the red line. They haven't crossed it yet," Netanyahu said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."
"They're getting closer and closer to the bomb. And they have to be told in no uncertain terms that that will not be allowed to happen."
Netanyahu went on to say that Israel had a more narrow timetable than Washington, implying it may have to take unilateral action to halt Iran's controversial nuclear program.
"Our clocks are ticking at a different pace. We're closer than the United States. We're more vulnerable. And therefore, we'll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps before the United States does," he said.
Netanyahu said Tehran has been building "faster centrifuges that would enable them to jump the line, so to speak, at a much faster rate -- that is, within a few weeks."
Netanyahu said Iran's nuclear policies were unlikely to change under its next president, moderate holy man and former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, who will assume power on August 3.
"He's criticizing his predecessor (President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad) for being a wolf in wolf's clothing. His strategy is be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Smile and build a bomb," Netanyahu said.
He urged the United States to make clear to Rowhani that it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, and that military force "is truly on the table."
"We've spoken many times, President B.O. and I, about the need to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.
"What is important is to convey to them -- especially after the election -- (is) that (the) policy will not change," he said.
"If sanctions don't work, they have to know that you'll be prepared to take military action -- that's the only thing that will get their attention," he added.
Iran for years has been at loggerheads with world powers over its nuclear drive, which Western nations believe is aimed at developing an atomic weapon capability.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but the sanctions imposed over the standoff have isolated it internationally.
An Israeli official warned, meanwhile, that Iran could try and strike a deal ahead of a meeting Tuesday of six world power to discuss Tehran's nuclear drive.
Tehran could propose "a temporary cessation" of their uranium enrichment or even "possibly converting some of the 20 percent enriched uranium to a lower level" in return for a "partial lifting of sanctions," the official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
"This is an insignificant and meaningless concession," he said, calling it "another example of the deliberate policy of the Iranian regime to deceive the international community."
"Israel will totally oppose such an Iranian idea, and we will reject all proposals that do not include the following: a complete cessation of all uranium enrichment; the removal from Iran of all enriched materials; the closure of the illicit underground facility in Qom; and the total cessation of work at the plutonium reactor," the official added.
Netanyahu declined to comment on reports that Israel had carried out air strikes on July 5 near the Syrian port city of Latakia to destroy Russian-supplied anti-ship missiles.
"Oh God, Every time something happens in the Middle East Israel is most often accused. And I'm not in the habit of saying what we did or we didn't do," he said.
"My policy is to prevent the transfer of dangerous weapons to Hizbullah and other terror groups," he said.
#1
IOW Nuke-wannabe Iran has crossed or is about to cross over yet another of POTUS Bammer's "red lines", to which the Bammer = USA had seemingly failed once again to do or enforce anything.
The anti-US Globalists + aligned are takinga very dangerous risk by unilaterally giving up US Power-n-influence to OWG + "Multi-Polar World" where US downsizing + pullout W-O-N-T be interpreted by Amerika's enemies or protagonists as DE FACTO GEOPOL WEAKNESS, I.E. THE US IS NO LONGER WILLING ANDOR INCAPABLE OF PROTECTING ITS NATIONAL + OVERSEAS INTERESTS.
[AnNahar] The Philippines said Sunday it was aiming swiftly to sign a final peace deal with Moslem rebels to end a rebellion that has killed tens of thousands, following a major breakthrough in talks.
Chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the government could reach a final deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) within weeks after both sides agreed on a wealth-sharing formula late Saturday.
"This signing indicates that both sides are really committed to finish the peace negotiations. Nobody wants this not to reach its fruition," Ferrer told AFP after the wealth-sharing formula was signed.
Under the deal, the government has agreed to let the rebels have a 75 percent share of earnings from natural resources and metallic minerals in a proposed autonomous region for the Moslem minority in the southern island of Mindanao, Ferrer said.
For energy resources, both sides agreed to split earnings equally following the talks hosted by neighboring Malaysia.
"We are always optimistic, but that is always guided by a good sense of possibilities and constraints of our situation," she said, adding that the six days of grueling talks nearly ended in a breakdown.
"It was a close call, but both parties' persistence and goodwill bore fruit," she said.
The government had initially bargained for a bigger share of the wealth, arguing that it wanted a deal that could withstand legal challenge in the Supreme Court.
Ferrer said a final peace deal with the 12,000-MILF could be signed after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which officially ends at the end of July.
Moslem groups including the MILF have waged a guerrilla war for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao since the 1970s, a conflict that has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives.
President Benigno Aquino's government and the MILF signed a preliminary deal in October outlining the broad terms for a peace treaty that is expected to be signed before he ends his six-year term in 2016.
Ferrer, however, noted Sunday that both sides still had to agree on a formula over how to disarm the rebels as well as the extent of the powers of the autonomous region.
MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar said the group expected a "more contentious" round of negotiations ahead.
"The MILF fighters will not disarm unless clear conditions and terms for their safety are met," Jaafar told AFP. "There must also be an assurance the fighters will be free from harassment from troops once they are disarmed, if ever."
He said the rebels had originally wanted at least a 60-40 sharing scheme over energy resources, which include natural gas believed abundant in the south.
The proposed autonomous territory comprises areas the minority Moslems consider their "ancestral domain" in Mindanao, the country's main southern island believed to have a large chunk of the country's estimated $840 billion in gold, copper and other mineral reserves.
"Not all of us were totally satisfied with the outcome (of the talks)," Jaafar said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... Ferrer warned that failure to reach a pact could be used by the small, violent breakaway faction the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as a justification to sow further violence.
"A failure of the agreement can by used by groups like the BIFF who do not want the process to succeed -- who say nothing will happen in these negotiations -- to agitate for war, and continue use of violence," she said.
The BIFF, believed to number fewer than 200 fighters and led by a hardline Islamic Death Eater opposed to talks, broke away from the MILF in 2011. It has since been staging deadly attacks to derail the negotiations.
A skirmish Saturday, the latest to hit the region, left two soldiers and five BIFF guerrillas dead.
#1
Meanwhile, adobo fans, NOT to be outdone by either the MILF or BIFF Boyz ...
* XINHUA > PHILIPPINES LEFTIST GROUP [Commies = CPP-NPA-NDF] VOWS TO STRENGTHEN FIGHTERS, i.e. increase numbers + activities to 25,000 fightters operating in circa 180 guerilla platoon-to-company-sized "fronts".
The CPP is active in 70 of 81 PHIL provinces, while the NPA is active in 110-plus "fronts".
h/t iOwnTheWorld
Israels U.N. Ambassador, Ron Prosor, attacked on Thursday the requests by Syria and Iran to join the UNs Human Rights Commission (UNHRC).
A new Guinness worlds record at the UN? Putting Syria and Iran in the UNHRC is like appointing mob bosses to head the witness protection plan, Prosor said in a statement.
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.
Commission (UNHRC).
