KABUL, Afghanistan -- The impasse, after a year of talks, has increased the prospect of what the Americans call the zero option -- complete withdrawal -- when the NATO combat mission concludes at the end of 2014. That is precisely the outcome they hoped to avoid in Afghanistan, after having engaged in a similarly problematic withdrawal from Iraq two years ago.
Moreover, a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan could be far costlier than it was in Iraq. It would force European powers to pull their forces as well, risking a dangerous collapse in confidence among Afghans and giving a boost to the Taliban, which remain a potent threat.
It could also jeopardize vital aid commitments. Afghanistan is decades away from self-sufficiency -- it currently covers only about 20 percent of its own bills, with the rest paid by the United States and its allies.
"It is a practical truth," the administration official said, that without a deal, "our Congress would not likely follow through on the assistance promises we've made, nor would other partners."
Two tough issues remain.
The first is Afghanistan's insistence that the United States guarantee its security, much like any NATO ally, and the second is Mr. Karzai's refusal to allow American forces to keep searching in Afghanistan for operatives of Al Qaeda. Instead, he has proposed that the United States give its intelligence information to Afghan forces and let them do the searching, said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for the president.
American officials have rejected both Afghan proposals. The security pact is especially problematic, they say, because it could legally compel American forces to cross the border into Pakistan, resulting in an armed confrontation with an ally -- and a nuclear-armed power.
"The deal is like 95 percent done," said another American official in Washington, "and both sides are holding out." 95% done? More like 33-1/3% Those are two BIG issues.
The differences between the two sides are as much about perspectives as they are about the legalities of raids and bases and security arrangements. Afghanistan believes the threat posed by the Taliban is largely driven from Pakistan. In the American view, the Pakistani havens are but one facet of a conflict that is mainly internal.
The bulk of the forces the US would like to leave in Afghanistan -- administration officials have said they would total 9,000 or less -- would train Afghan forces, which are already doing most of the fighting here. But the United States wants to keep using Special Operations forces to target the roughly 75 operatives that American commanders estimate remain in Afghanistan.
"President Karzai says that has been happening for 12 years, and how come we cannot find them?" Mr. Faizi said. "How much longer will it continue? One year? Five years? Ten years?" At the rate the US has been going in Afghanistan, would you believe two hundred years?
#7
Maybe this is why the Bush administration treated this backwater stank-hole as second fiddle in the war on terror. The adults in the room can spot a tar baby when they see one. Leave to Obumbles to declare Afghanistan as the pivotal battlefield, abandon our gains in Iraq and then a short few years later, lose our way with the afghans. Rank amateur, and the first anti-American president in history. I hope to hell we avoid an Elphinstone scene as we exit the suck. I don't know who commands in Kabul now - but if he's an Obumbles appointee, then a rout is definitely a possibility.
[An Nahar] Norway will cut its aid to Afghanistan in 2014 due to a lack of progress on women's rights and efforts to combat corruption, a senior Norwegian official said on Friday.
Norway's aid will be slashed from an annual 750 million kroner (92.3 million euros, $126 million) to 700 million kroner, a reduction of about seven percent.
"We warned Afghan authorities in July that the consequences (of the reform delays) could be a reduction (in aid), and now this is coming," Deputy Foreign Minister Torgeir Larsen told daily Aftenposten.
A member of Norway's outgoing government that lost September 9 general elections, Larsen said the exact details of the aid cut would be outlined in the 2014 budget his government is scheduled to present on October 14 -- its last task before leaving office a few days later.
The decision is not expected to be contested by the incoming government.
A new report from the Norwegian embassy in Kabul quoted by Aftenposten said 87 percent of Afghan girls and women have been subjected to some form of violence and 70 percent of policewomen have been harassed or sexually assaulted by their superiors.
According to a recent ranking by the non-governmental organization Transparency International, Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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Uhuru Kenyatta , Kenya's president, has told Somalia to "put their house in order," in a sign of frustration at the festering instability in the neighbouring country after members of a Somali armed group attacked and killed dozens at a Nairobi shopping mall.
Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot...
Earlier, President Kenyatta announced a formal inquiry into the deadly assault.
"We are putting in place a commission of inquiry to see if we could have done things better, to see if there were lapses," Kenyatta said at inter-faith prayers led by leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities.
The mall attack bore out widespread fears that Somalia, whose cash-strapped government exerts little control beyond the capital Mogadishu,
...and they're not too certain of that...
remained a training ground for armed fighters and a launching pad for attacks beyond its borders.
The Kenyan president said he would not be bullied into withdrawing his soldiers, who are part of an African peacekeeping force.
He also took aim at the Somali government, which a source close to the Kenyan presidency said had also recently called for Kenyan troops to leave before withdrawing the demand under pressure from regional leaders.
"If their desire is for Kenya to pull out of Somalia, my friends, all they need to do is what they should have done 20 years ago, which is put their house in order," Kenyatta told religious leaders at a multi-faith prayer meeting.
There was no immediate reaction from the Somali government.
But al-Shabab said in a statement that if the Kenyan government 's decision was to keep its forces in Somalia, it was an indication that it hadn't yet learned "any valuable lessons" from the Westgate attack.
The group promised even more insecurity, bloodshed and destruction in Kenya.
"Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen is fully determined to intensify attacks inside Kenya until the last KDF boots exit Somali soil," the armed group 's press office said in a statement. "If Kenya's political leaders are still persistent in their quest to occupy our Muslim lands and carry out heinous atrocities against our people, then let them know that Kenyans will never find peace and stability in their country."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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MOGADISHU -- The Somali Federal Government military court has sentenced two soldiers to death on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports.
Yahye Sheikh Abdullahi Ahmed and Hussein Ali Ahmed Omar, 30- who were bodyguards for Federal Member of Parliament Nur Mohamed Hussein were charged with the murder of Somali police officers, namely Adan Nur Ali and Ali Mumin Abdirahman, court officials said.
The military court spokesman Col. Abdullahi Mohamed Keyse who spoke to the media at the court building said, “The shooting incident occurred in Wardhigley district of Mogadishu and they have been convicted of killing the police officers”.
The blindfolded convicted soldiers were taken into custody shortly after judge declared the sentence.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Former Constitution Party leader Mohammed ElBaradei expressed his grief over the stabbing of party front man Khaled Dawoud on Friday.
Dawoud, a former front man for the anti-Morsi opposition bloc the National Salvation Front, was stabbed in his chest and hand on Friday in central Cairo.
Shortly after the assault, Dawoud told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that he was attacked by protesters while driving his car down Qasr Al-Aini Street in front of Abou Al-Rish Bridge.
He told Al-Ahram that his car was attacked and protesters pulled him out of the vehicle, beat him and stabbed him with a knife.
"The barbaric assault on Khaled Dawoud ... reflects the size of the tragedy we're living," said former vice-president ElBaradei via Twitter, adding that he wished Dawoud a speedy recovery.
Dawoud, a staunch opponent of Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... and the Moslem Brüderbund, resigned from the NSF in mid-August to protest the group's support for the violent dispersal of two large protest camps established by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) -- the Moslem Brüderbund's political wing -- condemned a knife attack on Constitution Party's front man Khaled Dawoud, one of the Brotherhood's staunch critics.
"The party stresses that it is against any act of violence even if it is against those who supported the coup d'etat," reads a statement that was posted on the FJP's Facebook page hours after the incident.
Dawoud, a former front man for the anti-Morsi bloc the National Salvation Front (NSF), was stabbed in his chest and hand on Friday in central Cairo.
Shortly after the assault, Dawoud told Al-Ahram's Arabic news website that he was attacked by protesters while driving his car down Qasr Al-Aini Street in front of Abou Al-Rish Bridge.
He said his car was attacked and protesters pulled him out of the vehicle, beat him and stabbed him with a knife.
The liberal Constitution Party, for its part, blamed the attack on the Moslem Brüderbund protesters, who were present in Qasr Al-Aini after a failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! to enter Tahrir Square.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made a surprise announcement on Saturday that he would recall next week almost all of the 400,000 civilian employees of the Defense Department who had been sent home when the government shut down.
Mr. Hagel said the decision that “most D.O.D. civilians” would now be exempted from furloughs came after Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers interpreted a budget law passed just before the shutdown to include a larger number of workers.
When the government shut down, about half of the Defense DepartmentÂ’s civilian work force of 800,000 was ordered to stay home; military personnel are automatically exempted from the shutdown.
In a letter released Saturday, Mr. Hagel said that government lawyers now said that under the Pay Our Military Act, the Defense Department can “eliminate furloughs for employees whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members.”
The act, passed by Congress and signed by President Obama as the government began to shut down, was intended to ensure that the military continued to be paid.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/05/2013 15:25 ||
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#1
I would say that any employees whose responsibilities DON'T "contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members" should never have been there to go on furlough and should be pink slipped.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
10/05/2013 20:25 Comments ||
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President Obama was illegally furloughing approximately two thousand federal civilian defense contractors at Offutt Air Force Base, in direct contravention of the Pay Our Military Act, passed last week through Congress and signed by Obama himself. Those four thousand employees represent approximately two thirds of the civilian personnel at Offutt Air Force Base.
The Pay Our Military Act explicitly promises “such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to the civilian personnel of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) whom the Secretary concerned determines are providing support to members of the Armed Forces.” According to Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), Congress intent was to keep support personnel on the job, especially given that US Strategic Command is operated out of Offutt Air Force Base. STRATCOM “integrates and coordinates the necessary command and control capability to provide support with the most accurate and timely information for the President, the Secretary of Defense, other National Leadership and regional combatant commanders.”
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/05/2013 15:15 ||
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#1
Oh, come on, complying with law is not something this administration concerns itself with. Fast and Furious, IRS, Benghazi, FOIA and warrant requests are flaunted with impunity. Waivers to contributors and cronies flow at a whim. Seizing private property with armed enforcers now a daily occurrence. It's all a show of the one's might and power to awe the ungrateful subjects of the kingdom.
...not certain the grandiloquent appreciates what this little bit-'o-home means to distant uniformed people serving the interests of their country...
HT: Drudge
I believe you're being very unfair to gangsters, OldSpook. A gangster knows that actions have consequences, and therefore a successful one doesn't go out of his way to offend People.
#3
"Sorry, has to be this way; rules are rules."
You run into this whenever you deal with any bureaucracy - judgement is not allowed (it would be dangerous to the 'system.')
I beginning to hear on the teevee the complaints from folks about paying for obstetrics under Obamacare. Appears coverage for obstetrics is mandatory regardless of one's age or the Obamacare program one enrolls in. Today's cost of child birth far exceeds the deductible, so the huge cost of so-called anchor babies, formerly suffered by the healthcare industry and handled thru 'paying customer' pass-alongs, is not shared by everyone.
Streamlining and sharing the costs of birthing new democrats, how convenient.
....'soeker, you are correct. Mrs. Phester reports that she saw a squib yesterday featuring a lady in her 70's who shall be required to take maternity coverage...
#7
Petty much all of us received obstetric care at some point in our lives (assuming we were born) - of course it used to be cheap enough one didn't need insurance.
[Dawn] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government on Thursday promised not to interfere in the police's operation against gunnies in the province.
"We've given police a freehand to target gunnies in the province and will ensure that there is no political interference in it for the best possible results," Sheraz Paracha, front man for the provincial chief minister, told news hounds at Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Press Club.
Mr Sheraz said the provincial government had asked the federal government to return the remaining Frontier Constabulary platoons to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and that was likely to happen very soon.
He said the government was much concerned about the poor security situation in the lovely provincial capital after the frequent terrorist attacks.
The front man said Peshawar had been divided into four zones for the upcoming targeted operation against gunnies to be carried out by the quick response force.
He said duty of police at unnecessary locations, especially in Peshawar, had been cancelled in view of the delicate law and order situation.
Mr Sheraz said the government had been taking all possible steps to ensure protection of public life and property and that inspector general of police, home secretary and tribal affairs department were in contact with each other on it.
He said the chief minister had approved the inspector general of police's security proposals.
The front man said the six-kilometer wall around Hayatabad was in dilapidated condition and therefore, it would be repaired on emergency basis.
He said alarms would also be fixed to the wall to check entry of terrorists.
Mr Sheraz said there was a complete ban on the postings and transfers in the provincial police for better efficiency.
He said holding negotiations with Death Eaters groups for peace was a complex and serious issue for which the provincial government would formally issue suggestions soon.
The front man said the government was taking all possible measures for restoration of cultural activities and preservation of historic buildings and sites, and that all such places would be opened to visitors very soon.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The Sindh government has decided to impose a three-month ban on the use of instant messaging and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications, including Skype, Tango, WhatsApp and Viber, to make security operations effective and to smash terrorist works.
Provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon told journalists that the decision had been taken at a meeting of the law and order committee which was held at the CM House on Thursday and presided over by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
Attended by inspector general of Sindh police, director general of Rangers, chiefs of intelligence agencies and bigwigs, the meeting reviewed progress of the ongoing operation against criminal elements 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... . It decided to expand its scope to Hyderabad and other cities of Sindh from Friday.
But the announcement of the decision about the ban triggered instant criticism from various quarters and the social media and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan immediately issued a statement in Islamabad saying that the federal government and his ministry had not taken such a decision.
He said he was personally against such a ban. "Soon after taking charge of the interior ministry I have stopped the tradition of blocking mobile networks on certain occasions," he said, adding that "such steps have never been fruitful".
Chaudhry Nisar said if a request to ban instant messaging and VoIP applications was received from Sindh, it would be assessed on merit because the federal government did not want to create inconveniences for people.
In Karachi, the Sindh information minister also announced that the provincial government had prepared a code of conduct for collection of hides of sacrificial animals on the occasion of Eidul Azha. Under the code political parties and social organizations will not be allowed to collect hides.
Mr Memon said the provincial government had decided to approach the centre for getting illegal mobile phone SIMs banned which, according to him, could cut the number of cases of kidnapping and extortion by 70 per cent.
He said the government had imposed a ban on waving guns and launched a drive for recovery of illegal weapons.
Answering a question, he said during the past one month Rangers and police had conducted 3,000 raids and submitted challans against 745 suspects. He said 43 cases under the anti-terrorist act had been initiated. About 1,400 suspects placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! '>were tossed into the calaboose, 50 of them were wanted in murder cases.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?... the interior minister directed the DG Rangers and IG of Sindh police not to disclose political affiliation of any person apprehended during the ongoing operation in Karachi.
"The release of this information is creating a negative impression about the non-political and non-partisan operation being carried out in Karachi," he said, adding that "it will raise suspicion about the motive of the operation".
Chaudhry Nisar said justice demanded that law-enforcement personnel must ensure that informati
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't touch that dial, Mustapha. WE ARE IN CONTROL!
Everybody knows that the Prophet Mohammed ( PBUH ) hated things like SKYPE and anything like that. He thought it was "nasty". And after all, HE should know, right?
[Dawn] Some 150 holy mans of the Sunni Ittehad Council on Thursday appealed to the Taliban to surrender and adopt the way leading to peace and prosperity in the country.
In a gathering held here under the aegis of Jamia Naeemia Association and presided over by association chief Raghib Naeemi, the holy mans urged the Taliban to stop assassinating innocent people as their act was defaming the religion of Islam as well as causing a damage to the country massively.
"The Taliban must know that they are killing innocent human beings. They must surrender before the Almighty Allah and pray for their forgiveness," a joint statement of the holy mans sent by the
SIC media cell says.
The statement said the killing of innocent people in markets, funerals, mosques, churches, schools and shrines was not at all Jihad according to the teachings of Islam.
It said to promote inter-religion and faith harmony, there was a dire need to act on "don't leave your sect and don't touch the others' sect".
The statement offered the Taliban to sit with country's top holy mans and discuss Jihad.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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In a 2012 report from the NSA's British counterpart, the General Communications Headquarters, describes a method of "staining" electronic traffic to distinguish otherwise anonymous users. It is used to unmask Tor users and devices on networks in which many computers share the same Internet address. The method relies on planting code in a web browser to change the "user agent," which is the way the browser identifies itself on the web. In a two month period, the report says, GCHQ managed to implant about 200 computers with uniquely identifying stains.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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#2
The method relies on planting code in a web browser to change the "user agent," which is the way the browser identifies itself on the web.
So this also stains/taints any evidence claimed to have been found on a computer. So much for forensic computer analysis in court cause we can never be certain whether its been planted or not. Reasonable doubt.
Syria's President Bashar Assad has conceded making mistakes and says no side in his country's civil war is entirely free of blame, according to an interview to be published Sunday by German magazine Der Spiegel.
The respected Hamburg-based weekly reported that Assad acknowledged "personal mistakes by individuals," though the advance version of the interview released Saturday didn't elaborate on what those mistakes might have been.
"We all make mistakes. Even a president makes mistakes," Der Spiegel quoted him as saying. Assad reportedly added that there were "gray tones" as far as the question of blame was concerned.
Assad, whose authoritarian rule prompted protests more than two years ago that evolved into a bloody civil war with over 100,000 dead, said he didn't believe in a negotiated peace with the rebels trying to oust him.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
10/05/2013 15:31 ||
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[An Nahar] International experts were on Friday gearing up to disable the chemical weapons program in war-hit Syria after reporting "encouraging" progress in a day of meetings with regime officials.
The Syrian regime and its armed opponents have both been accused of carrying out numerous atrocities in the 30-month conflict, which began as a popular uprising and has since snowballed into a full-blown war that has killed 115,000.
In a television interview broadcast Friday, Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... again denied having perpetrated an August 21 chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus that killed hundreds of people and prompted Washington to threaten military action.
Syria's chemical arsenal -- to be destroyed under a United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... resolution -- were in the hands of "special forces" who were the only ones capable of using them, Assad told opposition Turkish channel Halk TV.
"Preparing these weapons is a complex technical operation... and a special procedure is necessary to use them which requires a central order from the army chief of staff. As a result it is impossible that they were used," he said.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Islamist inmates at Roumieh prison are plotting to carry out a mass breakout from the facility, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday, a day after security forces thwarted an attempt to smuggle explosives to an inmate.
"We are not able to estimate the quantity of explosives, arms and communication devices that were smuggled to the Islamist Inmates," a security source told the newspaper.
There are around 190 Fatah al-Islam A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Lebanon pot stirred. prisoners at the prison's bloc B.
"We don't have a political cover to raid the bloc that the Islamists reside in," the source added.
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10/05/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... warned Turkey it will "pay dearly" for supporting rebels fighting to overthrow his regime, in an interview broadcast Friday on Turkish television.
"In the near future these faceless myrmidons will have an impact on Turkey. And Turkey will pay very dearly for its contribution," Assad told the opposition station Halk TV.
He was being interviewed over the presence of Al-Qaeda-linked rebels on the long and volatile border between the two nations. There are several hardline Islamist groups among the numerous rebel formations fighting in Syria.
"It is not possible to use terrorism as a card and put it in your pocket. Because it is like a scorpion which won't hesitate to sting you at any moment," said Assad.
Relations between once close allies Damascus and Ankara have deteriorated since a popular uprising which began in March 2011 in Syria snowballed into a full-blown conflict that has claimed more than 115,000 lives and forced millions to flee.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2013 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.
[Al Ahram] Former Constitution Party leader Mohammed ElBaradei expressed his grief over the stabbing of party 
In a 2012 report from the NSA's British counterpart, the General Communications Headquarters, describes a method of "staining" electronic traffic to distinguish otherwise anonymous users. It is used to unmask Tor users and devices on networks in which many computers share the same Internet address. The method relies on planting code in a web browser to change the "user agent," which is the way the browser identifies itself on the web. In a two month period, the report says, GCHQ managed to implant about 200 computers with uniquely identifying stains.
[An Nahar] International experts were on Friday gearing up to disable the chemical weapons program in war-hit Syria after reporting "encouraging" progress in a day of meetings with regime officials.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
