As thousands gathered Sunday to bury a woman who was beaten and burned by an angry mob, Afghan officials said they had found no proof that she had burned pages of the Koran as her assailants had claimed.
The crowd wasn't overly concerned with her guilt or innocence. In fact they weren't all that wound up about the accusation. It's just the Afghan version of The Lottery. Tradition is tradition...
"We have reviewed all the evidence and have been unable to find any single iota of evidence to support claims that she had burned a Koran," Gen. Mohammad Zahir, head of the Interior Ministry's criminal investigation directorate, said at the woman's funeral.
"She is completely innocent."
Zahir's comments followed the results of an investigation by the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs that said that charred papers found at the shrine where she was attacked Thursday were from a Persian-language prayer book -- not the Koran, the Muslim scripture, which is written in Arabic.
The death of the 28-year-old woman, identified only by her first name, Farkhunda, has sent shock waves across Afghanistan. In a rare sight, Farkhunda's casket was carried to the grave site in north Kabul's Khair Khana neighborhood by a dozen women, including some women's rights activists, with men escorting them.
The public outpouring of grief in many ways seemed a reversal of the events that led to her death.
After police were criticized for not doing enough to control the mob of several hundred men who surrounded Farkhunda at the Shah-Do Shamshira shrine in Kabul last week, police officers accompanied the procession from the family's home to the cemetery. Young men and women took smartphone pictures of the ceremony and broadcast them on social media.
Many in Afghanistan and overseas were aghast to learn that hundreds more people gathered along the banks of the Kabul River to take pictures and videos of Farkhunda's burning body, which was left in a dirt patch of the shallow river.
When Farkhunda's body was taken from her family's house to the funeral, young men cried out, "Allahu Akbar!" -- God is great -- the same words her attackers used before beating her and running her body over with a car before setting it on fire. God may be great, but Holy Crayon-fueled mob leaves a lot to be desired.
Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said 13 police officials had been suspended. Thirteen suspects in the crime have been arrested, officials said.
The mullah of the shrine, whom Farkhunda's family has accused of burning the pages, has also been taken into custody, officials said.
Mourners at the funeral also demanded that another religious leader, who praised the attackers during a Friday sermon, be removed from his post at a mosque.
Farkhunda's relatives, who said she suffered from mental illness, described their daughter as a devout Muslim who graduated from a local religious school and was preparing to begin classes in the Islamic Studies department of Kabul University. Her parents said in an interview that they wanted only that the killers be brought to justice.
Demonstrators were planning to gather this week in Kabul to call for justice and for a local landmark to be named after Farkhunda.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has condemned the incident, arrived in Washington on Sunday for meetings with President Obama and senior administration officials.
Speaking before his arrival, Ghani, who has called for the Obama administration to delay the withdrawal of the 9,800 U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan, said the two countries had common security concerns, including the rise of the Islamic State militant organization, which Ghani's government says has established a beachhead in Afghanistan.
"The threats that we are facing on a daily basis -- were they, God forbid, to overwhelm us -- will threaten the world at large," Ghani said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." "The experience of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya are now examples to draw on."
#1
And the guards in Gitmo didn't flush one down a toilet either. Was the one responsible for that report held accountable for the deaths that followed?
#6
When you light up an impious book,
Let a literate man take a look,
But be sure he's your friend,
For your life may depend
On his telling the crowd what to cook.
[DAWN] Even by Afghanistan's standards of often-shifting alliances, a recent meeting between ethnic Hazara elders and local commanders of the Taliban Lions of Islam who have persecuted them for years was extraordinary.
The Hazaras - a largely Shia minority killed in the thousands during the Taliban's hard-line Sunni Islamist rule of the 1990s - came to their old enemies seeking protection against what they deemed an even greater threat: masked men operating in the area calling themselves "Daesh", a term for the self-style Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in the region.
In a sign of changing times, the Taliban capos agreed to help, said Abdul Khaliq Yaqubi, one of the elders at the meeting held in the eastern province of Ghazni.
Read: Fear stalks Afghan minorities after rare attacks
The unusual pact is a window into deepening anxiety in Afghanistan over reports of Islamic State (IS) holy warriors gaining a foothold in a country already weary of more than a decade of war with the Taliban.
Back-to-back kidnappings within a month of two groups of Hazara travellers - by men widely rumoured, though far from proven, to claim fealty to IS - have many spooked.
The current threat IS poses in Afghanistan, observers say, is less about real military might than the opportunity for disparate bad boy groups, including defectors from an increasingly fractured Taliban, to band together under this global "brand" that controls swathes of Iraq and Syria.
The fear is especially keen among religious minorities like the Hazaras, who worry the influence of the fiercely anti-Shia IS could introduce a new dimension of sectarian strife to the war.
"Whether Daesh exists or not, the psychological impact of it is very dangerous in Ghazni, which is home to all ethnicities," Ghazni's deputy governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told Rooters.
"This could easily stir up tensions."
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03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Hundreds of people on Sunday attended the burial of an Afghan woman who was beaten to death and set on fire by a mob for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran.
The body of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched on Thursday by an angry crowd in central Kabul, was carried to the graveyard by women amid crowds of men, a rare act of protest in a male-dominated society.
The crowd, shouting "Allah o Akbar" (God is the greatest), demanded the government bring the killers to justice.
"This is a crime against this family, a crime against a sister and a crime against humanity," said Bari Salam, a human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... activist.
"All those involved and all those who supported her killing should be brought to justice," he said.
The lynching ─ which took place in full view of several coppers ─ sparked widespread condemnation at home and abroad.
The United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... said Farkhunda had "suffered mental illness for many years".
But Farkhunda's father said his daughter had a diploma in Islamic studies and could recite the Koran by heart. He insisted she was not involved in burning the holy book.
Farkhunda's brother, Najeebullah Malikzada, supported his father's claim.
"Farkhunda was a deeply religious girl. She used to recite the Holy Koran and pray five times a day," he told the crowd.
Footage of the attack on social media shows a number of uniformed police officials watching the crowd as they beat Farkhunda to death, burn her body and then dump it into a river.
"This brutal act once again shows the incompetence of the police force," Mariam Mustafawi, one of those at the burial said.
"Today our police force is unable to enforce the rule of law. How can they protect us against the enemy?"
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03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
How long since they'd burned somebody to death? After a while, you just need to burn. Too bad they didn't have a guilty person, but in some places that's hardly relevant.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
03/23/2015 8:36 Comments ||
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[Libya Herald] Tribal leaders from Cyrenaica, Fezzan, Zintan, and the Tebus have reaffirmed their support for the House of Representatives (HoR) as the sole legitimate legislature in Libya, as well as for the Libyan National Army (LNA) and its war on terrorism.
"We've elected the House of Representatives. The General National Congress has expired," Tebu representative Abdullah Moussa told Libya News 24 in an interview.
According to one person present at a meeting of the tribal leaders in Tobruk on Saturday that was also attended by a number of HoR members, the first step to "true dialogue" would be for the UN to give more weight to the HoR as the only legitimate authority in Libya over what he referred to as the "coup" carried out by Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... and Congress.
In the meantime, the tribes called for the expediting of the Libyan Constitution "in accordance with the aspirations of the Libyan people", and in the meantime, proposed that the 1951 Constitution be put into effect until the new one has been approved.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
I have a copy of the 1951 Constitution.
While King Idris was a bit backward thinking on human rights and freedom of religion, the drafters of the 1951 Constitution were not.
It is a pretty good document and guarantees women's rights as well as freedom of religion.
[Libya Herald] Libyan tribal leaders have said that although there is a necessity for dialogue it must be held inside Libya and that, contrary to UN plans, they will not meet outside the country.
The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has said that the a meeting of tribal leaders would be held in Egypt.
Over the past ten days a number of tribal figures have been firing warning shots across the bows of the UN plan to meet in Egypt. On 12 March, one of the leaders of the Magharba tribe, Salah Al-Otiyush, came out firmly against a meeting abroad. The tribes were planning to meet in Libya and that would be sufficient, he said.
A couple of days later, Mohammed Al-Mubashr, the Chairman of the Libya Council of Elders which comprises the country's tribal leaders, also said his colleagues had discussed the UN invitation to go to Egypt but that they had rejected it. There would be no meeting there, he said.
While some leaders have insisted that it makes more sense to hold the dialogue at home because they are more comfortable there, others have expressed fear of added pressure, should they meet abroad.
"I refuse dialogue outside Libya because we will be pressured to accept agendas that we ordinarily would not agree to," Chairman of the Shoura Council of Elders of Fezzan Abdul Salam Buhulaiga has said.
"Why wouldn't we talk inside Libya? We are Libyans and we understand each other," Buhulaiga added.
He and other have claimed that the meetings in Geneva, Morocco and Algeria have not been a success.
The meeting referred to by Otiyush, and which he implied would equivalent to what was being proposed by UNSMIL, took place in Tobruk this weekend and came out heavily in support of the House of Representatives (HoR). However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... it comprised tribes already supporting the HoR. These supporting Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... were not present.
Political meetings held inside the country involving all sides to the Libyan crisis are seen as impossible in the current climate.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[REUTERS] Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi said on Sunday that a third gunman involved in an attack that killed 23 people, mostly foreign tourists, at a Tunis museum last week was on the run.
The shootings at the museum inside Tunisia's parliament compound was one of the worst holy warrior attacks in Tunisian history and brought to light the threat posed by Islamist snuffies to the young democracy, four years after its "Arab Spring" revolt.
Two gunnies were rubbed out at the scene and authorities have so far locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! more than 20 people, of which ten officials believe were directly involved in the attack. Some had recently returned from fighting for Islamist holy warrior groups in Syria and Libya.
"For sure there were three because they have been identified and filmed on surveillance cameras," Essebsi said in a televised interview with Europe 1 radio, iTELE and Le Monde newspaper.
"There are two who were executed and one who is on the run somewhere. But in any case, he won't get far," Essebsi said.
A Tunisian security source said investigations were still ongoing, but the third suspect appeared to have been involved in directing the attack and logistics, rather than as a gunman. He was known to authorities as an krazed killer, the source said.
"A third is being sought, he was a participant," the source said.
Tourism minister Salma Loumi told state news agency TAP that world leaders had been invited to participate on Sunday in a planned march against terrorism in Tunis.
Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... snuffies -- who have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria -- have grabbed credit for the attack. But social media accounts tied to an al Qaeda-affiliated group in Tunisia have also published purported details of the operation.
Whoever was responsible, the Bardo attack illustrates how Islamist snuffies are turning their sights on North Africa. A particular focus is neighboring Libya, where two rival governments are battling for control, allowing Islamic State to gain a foothold.
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03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] The government will have to face a stern action if BNP joint secretary general Salahuddin Ahmed is not returned to his family or not placed before the court, party chairperson the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... has warned.
BNP chief, in a statement signed by her press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan, made the caution on Sunday.
"I am urging strongly to return Salahuddin Ahmed to his family or place him before the court immediately," she said. "Otherwise, the government will have to face hard consequence for this."
The BNP chief further said, "The tendency of denial after the arrest of hundreds of leaders and activists, including BNP's important leaders Ilias Ali, Saiful Islam Hiru, Chowdhury Alam and Humayun Kabir Parvez has now become a usual affair. Under the circumstances, we are deeply concerned over the incident of Salahuddin Ahmed."
She said, "An extremely unusual situation has been created in the country by the Awami League lead facist regime. The unrepresentative government has been using Law enforcing agencies as like as "Gestapo" by arresting, abducting and killing people and making anyone disappeared anytime as it wishes."
Khaleda demanded the government immediately ensure the safe return of Salahuddin to his family members or court.
She also called upon all conscious citizens and all concerned to be vocal against such 'limitless injustice.'
Salahuddin, was allegedly picked up on March 10 from a house in Uttara by some people who identified themselves as detectives.
Until then, Salahuddin had been issuing press statements on behalf of the party from hideout since the arrest of another Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Former bureaucrat Salahuddin left government job to join the BNP and became a politician from a Cox's Bazar constituency. He also served as the state minister for communications.
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03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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North Korea on Saturday threatened to shoot down balloons carrying propaganda leaflets from activist groups in South Korea.
They've threatened this before and they're threatening again...
"All the firepower strike means of the frontline units of the [People's Army] will launch without prior warning... to blow up balloons," the regime said in a warning quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The North said the balloons, which also carry DVDs of the caper "The Interview" about an assassination attempt of leader Kim Jong-un as well as anti-communist leaflets, "deliberately [escalate] tension on the Korean Peninsula where the situation has reached the brink of war."
The North warned any attempts to stop it from shooting down the balloons would lead to follow-up attacks and advised South Koreans living near the border areas to evacuate.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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#2
See also WORLD MILITARY FORUM > RODONG SINMUN ARTICLE WARNS US: THE "SECOND [+ Final?] KOREAN WAR IS FAST-APPROACHING, US WILL FACE ITS "ULTIMATE/FINAL DESTRUCTION". DESPITE ITS TECHNOLOGICAL SUPERIORITY, DECADES OF US POLICIES HAVE FAILED TO UNIFY THE TWO KOREAS.
Pudgy = NOKOR must be worried about China's not being able to get access to or through the "First Island Chain" in East Asia.
* TOPIX > [Korea Herald] THAAD TO TEST SEOUL'S SECURITY INDEPENDENCE, from the US + UNCOM.
You know - CHINA.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > INDIA WARNS CHINA ON SOUTH CHINA SEA: "WILL USE ITS NAVAL MIGHT TO SECURE OUR INTERESTS".
* SAME > INDIA WARNS CHINA USING MYANMAR + PAKISTAN TO EXPAND ITS INDIAN OCEAN FOOTHOLD.
* PEOPLE'S DAILY > CHINA URGES JAPAN TO STICK TO "PURELY DEFENSIVE DEFENSE".
[Hurriyet Daily News] The number of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) holy warriors who laid down arms and surrendered to security forces has reached 988 since the beginning of 2013, when the Kurdish grinding of the peace processor began, according to data collected by the Interior Ministry.
The data showed there has been a rise in the number of PKK holy warriors surrendering since the beginning of the ongoing Kurdish grinding of the peace processor.
The new data, which covers the last three years, showed 150 PKK holy warriors surrendered themselves to security forces in 2012.
It also showed the number has continued to rise since 2013, when the grinding of the peace processor began.
Accordingly, a total of 233 PKK holy warriors surrendered in 2013, while the number rose to 500 last year.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Don Calamari's lawyer was getting even redder in the face... 105 PKK holy warriors have laid down arms and surrendered to security forces in the first three months of this year, pushing the total number of surrendered holy warriors to 988 over the last three years.
Abdullah Öcalan, the locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! leader of the PKK, reiterated his call to "end the 40-year-long arms struggle" against The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , urging the organization to convene an extraordinary congress in a letter which was read out in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir during the Nevruz celebrations on March 21.
The Nevruz celebrations in 2013 marked a new era for a resolution when Öcalan issued his first call on the PKK to declare a ceasefire, underlining it was the right time to end the armed conflict and begin a political struggle for the rights of Kurds.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Let's hope Turkey sentences these guys to fighting in Aleppo or somewhere.
[AnNahar] An unprecedented rift emerged Sunday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... and the government over the handling of the grinding of the peace processor to end the decades-long armed struggle by Kurdish myrmidons.
A senior minister told Erdogan to stop interfering and making "emotional" statements but the president snapped back that he had no intention of staying out of politics.
In remarks published in pro-Erdogan newspapers Sunday, the president said a meeting between the government and pro-Kurdish politicians three weeks ago to announce a call for disarmament was "not appropriate."
The dispute is the most significant yet since Erdogan took the presidency in August 2014 after over a decade as premier, although analysts have noted increasing tensions between himself and hand-picked Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
"His (Erdogan's) statements like 'I did not like that' or 'I'm not happy about that' are emotional and are his own views," said Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc.
"The grinding of the peace processor is being carried out by the government and the government is responsible for this question," said Arinc, the official cabinet front man.
His remarks were seen as a stinging rebuke to Erdogan, and the independent T24 news website said the dispute had become the most serious internal crisis in the more than 12-year rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Erdogan hit back by saying late Saturday: "I consult with my people on every issue. I am the president."
The dispute stems from a government plan to create a monitoring committee to oversee the process to end the decades-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Erdogan strongly disputes the idea, arguing that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) should handle the whole issue.
The president meanwhile expressed anger at a joint public appearance at the Dolmabahce Palace -- the office of the prime minister in Istanbul -- on February 28 by Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan and pro-Kurdish politicians.
Sirri Sureyya Onder, a politician from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) read out a message at that meeting from nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urging the group to lay down its arms.
"I did not find the meeting that was held there to be right. I did not think the picture of the deputy prime minister side-by-side with a parliamentary faction was appropriate," Erdogan said.
Ocalan on Saturday issued a new statement marking the traditional Kurdish New Year, calling for a congress to end the rebellion but falling short of setting a clear timetable for PKK disarmament.
[AnNahar] The United States is confident it can prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons even if the Islamic republic pulls out of talks, CIA Director John Brennan said in remarks broadcast Sunday. A bit of phlogiston, a few Words of Power, and six or seven frogs' eyes should do it.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Brennan said America has multiple measures at its disposal to ensure Iran doesn't become a nuclear power. That'll have the added advantage of turning all their uranium rods into granola bars. We're talkin' mighty strong juju.
"There are a number of things that the United States has available to it to prevent Iran from getting a bomb," the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said. "Monkey paws, for instance. We have a top secret facility in Nevada where we have some virgins' milk stored, too."
Iran and six world powers are in negotiations to clinch a landmark deal that would have the country scale back its disputed nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions.
"President B.O. has made it very clear that we are going to prevent Iran from having that type of nuclear weapon that they were ... going on the track to obtain," Brennan added.
"So, if they decide to go down that route, they know that they will do so at their peril."
In response to a question about America's track record in monitoring Iran's nuclear program, Brennan acknowledged that U.S. intelligence had historically been less than ideal on the issue. Somewhat improved from the Klingon intelligence assessments on Pakistan's nuclear capability however.
"I think we've gone to school on some of those developments over the last decade or so," he said. Yes, we think we can be safe in saying the building of thousands of centrifuges generally indicates an active enrichment program.
"We can now have a better plan and opportunity to verify some of the things that they are saying they are going to do and not do."
Asked about reports of an underground nuclear site near Tehran, Brennan said: "I am confident that we have a good understanding of what the Iranian nuclear program entails." Nice way of saying 'we know they're making bombs.'
When asked if he was concerned about the possibility of a regional arms race, Brennan said partners in the Gulf, including Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , are confident the United States can act as a regional security guarantor.
"We are going to keep close communication, I'm confident the Saudis will be a responsible partner and player in the region," Brennan said. He's channeling the Susan Rice Sunday talk show circuit. Nicely done Director Brennan. Perhaps the Champ and ValJar will get off your arse now.
#1
Unfortunately the French and the Saudis are the only sane people in the negotiations.
The Saudis for certain do not want Iran to get a nuke.
The French just from a common sense view point believe any nuke at Iran's disposal will find its way into a major western city with disastrous results.
#2
The French just from a common sense view point believe any nuke at Iran's disposal will find its way into a major western city with disastrous results.
Whereas WH has a solemn Iranian promise that nukes won't be used except on Israel?
#6
I saw the Brennan interview with Chris Wallace. What an unconvincing liar, unctuous toady to the One and ValJar and prompting a Crock-of-Sh*t alert regarding our ability to contain an Iranian device being produced.
#8
@#7: My granddad used to say "I'll hope in one hand and $hit in the other. Let's see which one gets full faster."
Mr. Brennan is trying to pour snake Obama oil on increasingly turbulent waters. He's a lackey and, imho, hasn't really thought through where he is going to hide.
#9
See also MEMRI > ARAB PRESS HARSHLY CRITICICE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR ALLYING WID IRAN, TURNING ITS BACK ON REGION, LEADNG REGION TO DISASTER.
Oh yeah, its a long Artic.
As OWG Globalist Obama does wid RISING IRAN, so also will he + Anti-Nationalist, Sovereignty Globalist Amerika do vee RISING CHINA + PUTINIST RUSSIA, OTHER???
VERSUS
* OTOH SAME > FORMER EGYPT IAEA DELEGATE: ARAB NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE CRUCIAL [required = needed] TO CREATE STRATEGIC BALANCE IN REGION.
IIUC, the Arab-Muslim ME needs its own Cold War-esque BALANCE OF TERROR in order to achieve parity + offset already Nuke-armed Israel, + now Soon-to-be-Nuclear Rising Iran???
EGYPT + ME ARABS = SAUDIS = IFF SHIA IRAN GETS NUKES, WE GET NUKES ALSO???
[DAWN] The Pakistain Peoples Party appeared to have a sense of foreboding about hitherto undisclosed allegations apparently made by banned Peoples Amn Committee ... Peoples' Peace Committee is a group of brown turbans tied to the Pakn People's Party and based in Blood-soaked Karachi. It was founded by an infamous gangster, Rehman Dakait in 2008. It is accused of being involved in organized crime and gang wars. After Rehman departed this vale of tears in 2009, leadership of the group was taken over by Uzair Baloch, who is probably associated with the Tataglias or the Barzini clan. The Amn Committee was banned in Pakistain in 2011, which means precisely squat.... chief Uzair Jan Baloch in jug in the United Arab Emirates as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah said on Saturday that the 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.... gangster was taking his Dire Revenge on the PPP for the action against him.
Uzair Baloch, who is in the custody of the United Arab Emirates authorities and the law enforcement agencies are trying hard to bring him back here, had fled abroad after a targeted operation was launched 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... against criminals.
After his arrest, there are widespread reports that Uzair Baloch -- who is allegedly leading one of the two major gangs in Lyari -- reportedly disclosed that certain big shots of the PPP were his partners in crime.
Speaking to news hounds at his residence, Mr Shah avoided talking about death row convict Saulat Mirza's allegation against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... leadership.
"I cannot talk about Saulat Mirza, but the case of Uzair Baloch is different," he said.
He said that Lyari was a PPP stronghold, where the party had launched an operation to restore peace and order. Uzair Baloch had to escape abroad since the noose was tightening around his neck to the targeted operation, he added.
Mr Shah said that now he was levelling allegations against the PPP leadership in order to take his Dire Revenge.
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03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] On U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... 's Swiss bike rides last week to unwind from intense Iran nuclear talks, one emerging tricky issue may well have been going round his head: U.N. sanctions.
According to negotiators involved and experts, this has become a major snag as Iran and six major powers push for the outlines of a landmark deal by March 31 in marathon talks resuming in a few days.
Continued on Page 49
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03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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[CSMONITOR] Having the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said Sunday.
The comments by CIA Director John Brennan on "Fox News Sunday" are among the strongest yet voiced by American officials about the involvement of shadowy Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the war against the myrmidon group.
Brennan described Soleimani as being "very aggressive and active" as he advises Shiite militias battling the myrmidons, most recently in the ongoing offensive targeting Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown.
Brennan said he "wouldn't consider Iran an ally right now inside Iraq."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Is the Master of the Obvious picture on sabbatical?
What's going on inside the opaque curtains of the current administration?
We have the joint chiefs essentially thumbing their noses at the Iran negotiations and now we have DCI saying the Iranians are real bad guys and using them to stabilize the region is a bad idea.
[AnNahar] The head of a powerful Shiite militia on Sunday criticized "weaklings" in the Iraqi army who want U.S.-led air strikes to support the massive operation to retake Tikrit from jihadists.
The man has a lot to say, all of a sudden.
The remarks by Hadi al-Ameri point to a possible divide between the Iraqi army and allied paramilitaries known as "Popular Mobilization" units, which are dominated by Shiite militia forces, over the now-stalled Tikrit drive.
"Some of the weaklings in the army... say we need the Americans, while we say we do not need the Americans," Ameri told journalists at Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, when asked about U.S.-led air support for Tikrit.
Army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, a top commander in Salaheddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital, told Agence La Belle France-Presse that he had requested such strikes against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group and that they were needed.
But the Pentagon said that the Iraqi government has not made any request for air support for the Tikrit operation, which began on March 2.
Forces from the army, the police and a number of different militias are taking part in the operation, bringing different tactics, skill levels and willingness to take casualties to the fight.
It is unclear who if anyone has overall command of the operation, and disputes between the forces involved would hamper an effort that has already become bogged down by the huge number of bombs planted by IS in the city's streets and houses.
While pro-government forces were able to take control of towns near Tikrit and then surround it, fighting to clear the city itself proved much more difficult, and the operation has been halted and the IS fighters besieged.
#1
The "Iraqi army and allied paramilitaries" reportedly have around a thousand dead so far in the assault on Tikrit. Glad to know the Shiites have bodies to spare.
If you want to retake the place with some semblance of order after its taken, then you need precision support and definitive attacks at given spots to force them to retreat; you know, "tactics" and "strategy".
If you want simple medieval slaughter of all the Sunnis there, then send your military and paramilitaries in and shoot everything that moves, not giving a rats ass about casualties -- yours or theirs.
[AnNahar] Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top officer responsible for foreign operations, provides assistance in Iraq "whenever we need him," Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the Badr militia, said on Sunday.
"He was giving very good advice. The battle ended now, and he returned to his operations headquarters," Ameri told journalists close to the Al-Alam area north of Baghdad.
He was apparently referring to the battle to retake the nearby city of Tikrit from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) jihadist group, which began earlier this month and has since become a siege.
"Qassem Soleimani is here whenever we need him," said Ameri, whose Badr militia is a powerful Iranian-backed force in the fight against IS.
Ameri's remarks are a sign of the important role Soleimani plays in military operations against IS in Iraq and the influence Tehran wields here, both much to Washington's chagrin.
Soleimani has advised Iraqi forces in multiple operations against IS, which led a major offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad.
In doing so, he and other Iranian advisers provide the kind of forward support during operations that U.S. President Barack Obama Because I won... has yet to authorize American forces to undertake.
Soleimani has played an increasingly public and open role in the fight against IS, a major change for a man who was once known as the elusive operative leading Iranian efforts against the U.S. in Iraq.
Now, his face is widely known, pictures of him are shared on social media, and he has even been the topic of music videos.
"Qassem Soleimani
He's our man --
If he can't do it
No one can!!! Gooooooo Team Shia!!!"
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Petraeus said he has “several thoughts when I see the pictures of him [Qassem Soleimani], but most of those thoughts probably aren’t suitable for publication in a family newspaper like yours.” 2 days ago in WaPo.
Iran is unlikely to go quietly = pull back from its new Sphere or gains in the ME iff the Globies change their mind and pick a different Co-Superpower to lead the ME's OWG Global Fed Unions there.
DITTO WID CHINA FROM EAST ASIA + 1/2 OF THE PACIFIC, presum of course that China succeeds in getting that far into WESTPAC + CENTPAC ala 2020.
[Kanuk Free Press] When the news of Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection victory was announced I facetiously posted on my Facebook page that the Israelis had "sent Champ a two-word message and it wasn't happy birthday." It took him two days to call and congratulate Bibi.
I don't think we have ever had a President so ignorant of the Middle East and that includes the neo-cons that got George W. Bush into a war in Iraq to rid that nation of Saddam Hussein and presumably create a democracy to replace him.
That is, of course, what happened. Iraq has an elected government today that reflects the will of its people (most of 'em)...
Liberals tend to forget that Bush had actually accomplished that until The Champ pulled out all of our troops and consigned Iraq to anarchy and ISIS.
A simple understanding of the last century would presumably tell any President that the U.S. had troops all around the world for the purpose of maintaining the peace that various tyrants would challenge. As far as The Champ is concerned, the sooner America retreated to his own borders and eliminated its nuclear arsenal, the safer the world would be. Only an idiot would believe that.
To put it succinctly, The Champ has been wrong about Iraq, wrong about Syria, wrong about Egypt when he supported the Muslim Brotherhood, and is very wrong about Iran, a fact that has Israel and all the other Middle Eastern nations seriously concerned. If Putin hadn't concluded that The Champ is a fool and a weakling, he might not have invaded Ukraine and annexed the Crimea.
#1
As far as The Champ is concerned, the sooner America retreated to his own borders and eliminated its nuclear arsenal, the safer the world would be.
More like an intent to refocus resources on the domestic "Long March". Once you've become a sheep, you'll blend in with the other sheep in the Western Tranzi-flock.
#2
The Bammer is neither a fool nor a weakling - he is ANTI-NATIONALIST, ANTI-US US GLOBALIST ADHERING OR FOLLOWING THE AGENDA OF SAME, even iff it means putting the US, West at EXISTENTIAL RISK.
Iff anything, he is NATION + WORLD-[RE]BUILDING as per the above.
The prob is that neither He nor US-World Globies are explaining their agenda or actions, nor are they asking the Voters = Mainstream = "the People" they proclaim to respect-n-cherish to support their agenda vee FORMAL NATIONAL VOTE/REFERENDUMS.
THEY HAVE N-O-T ANSWERED THE QUESTION HOW MUCH "SOLE" SUPERPOWER AUTHORITY-N-INFLUENCE, ETC. IS THE US SUPPOSED TO UNILATERALLY OR SELFLESSLY GIVE UP, ANDOR HOW FAR IS THE US SUPPOSED TO UNILATERALLY FALL BACK OR SELF-RETREAT ACROSS THE WORLD, ETC. SAFELY WIDOUT PUTTING ITSELF AT EXISTENTIAL RISK.
As said before, Globalism or No Globalism, Pro-US OWG-NWO or Anti-US OWG-NWO, "Sole" Superpower or OWG Co-Superpower among Many, the "Great Game" goes on irregardless of the merits - IFF THE SO-CALLED [Self?] "WEAK/DECLINING" GLOBALIST US CAN'T OR WON'T DEFEND ITS INTERESTS AND TERRITORIES, ETC. IT WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM THE US BY OTHER(S).
* E.G. IIRC TOPIX > [Memri] CLERIC: EGYPTIANS DISCOVERED AUSTRALIA [+ Americas?], HENCE MUSLIMS CAN CLAIM RIGHTS, to all.
[TIMESOFISRAEL] ran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for "Death to America" on Saturday, a day after President Barack Obama They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... appealed to Iran to seize a "historic opportunity" for a nuclear deal and a better future, and as US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... claimed substantial progress toward an accord.
Khamenei told a crowd in Tehran that Iran would not capitulate to Western demands. When the crowd started shouting, "Death to America," the ayatollah responded: "Of course yes, death to America, because America is the original source of this pressure.
"They insist on putting pressure on our dear people's economy," he said, referring to economic sanctions aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program. "What is their goal? Their goal is to put the people against the system," he said. "The politics of America is to create insecurity," he added, referring both to US pressure on Iran and elsewhere in the region.
Khamenei's comments contrasted with those of Iranian President Hassan Rohani, who said "achieving a deal is possible" by the March 31 target date for a preliminary accord.
Kerry was more circumspect, as he spoke to news hounds after six days of negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne. The talks, made "substantial progress," he said, but "important gaps remain.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
So, he, the Reverend Wight and his acolyte have the same opinion.
#4
The talks, made "substantial progress," he said, but "important gaps remain.
Haven't wee seen this movie before? Dozens of times?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/23/2015 7:28 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Iranian President Hassan Rohani has referred to diplomacy with the U.S. as "active jihad." I think Rohani's notion of active jihad is different than Obama's notion of leading from behind. Rohani and active jihad.
[AnNahar] Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... mobilized hundreds of fighters in Syria during the past few days, al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... newspaper reported on Sunday.
The daily said that "hundreds of Hizbullah fighters were transported into Syria in small vehicles."
The development prompted observers to express fear from the eruption of fierce battles along the border with Syria as the weather improves.
Media reports said recently that fighters linked to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Syrian al-Qalamoun are mobilizing and moving closer to the border with Leb ahead of a battle along the country's eastern border.
ISIL fighters are reportedly moving "from eastern al-Qalamoun to its west" in preparation for a battle in the area in the spring after the snow melts.
ISIL fighters are reportedly moving "from eastern al-Qalamoun to its west" in preparation for a battle in the area in the spring after the snow melts.
The Lebanese army frequently festivities with the holy warriors in their hideouts near the Syria border.
When the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, the Lebanese eastern border town of Arsal served as a key conduit for refugees, rebels and maimed people fleeing strife-torn Syria, but the Lebanese army stepped up it's security measures in the village to stop infiltrations.
It was overran in August by gunnies belonging to the two al-Nusra ...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant... Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL), who withdrew from the town by taking several soldiers and coppers hostage. Four have been so far executed.
The IS, which controls several areas in Syria and Iraq, aims to spread to Leb as its fighters position in the outskirts of Bekaa towns bordering Syria and the Lebanese army is in adamant efforts to stop their efforts to infiltrate the country.
ISIL and al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front are battling in Qalamoun the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... and Hizbullah forces alongside each other, with support from some smaller Islamist rebel groups.
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As thousands gathered Sunday to bury a woman who was beaten and burned by an angry mob, Afghan officials said they had found no proof that she had burned pages of the Koran as her assailants had claimed.
[DAWN] The Pakistain Peoples Party appeared to have a sense of foreboding about hitherto undisclosed allegations apparently made by banned Peoples 
[TIMESOFISRAEL] ran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for "
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
