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Five killed in attack at government office in Peshawar
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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1 17:42 Alanc [336109] 
7 20:55 Fred [336142] 
3 09:47 SteveS [336111] 
6 14:40 lord garth [336103] 
5 22:53 JosephMendiola [336107] 
3 17:32 Charles [336089] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
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7 11:58 Frank G [336093]
Page 6: Politix
5 17:46 Alanc [336119]
1 17:11 Redneck Jim [336097]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Story From The Solomons
Posted by: Grunter || 02/18/2013 00:02 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great story.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 02/18/2013 12:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Great story.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/18/2013 16:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Beyond Great Story.
Posted by: Charles || 02/18/2013 17:32 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Wilders: Islamification of Western societies threatens everyone's freedoms
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 00:06 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ole Geert does have a gift for stating the obvious. The obvious that is to any sane rational person not drinking the liberal Kool Aide
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Also see Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood's speech.

As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see 'the River Tiber foaming with much blood'.

- Enoch Powell, 1968 Speech in Wolverhampton
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/18/2013 1:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Churchill had something to say about that too, in 'The River Wars', over 100 years ago.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/18/2013 7:55 Comments || Top||

#4  It is difficult to think otherwise when Islamic "uber alles supremacy" ideology underlies the religion.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/18/2013 8:02 Comments || Top||

#5  See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > 2013: WEST, ISLAM AND WAR ON TERROR.

Artic should be re-titled "WHY ISLAM + JIHAD WILL [de facto] CONQUER THE WORLD, OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE SELF-SUICIDE"!albeit it may not seem or appear so in the present.

JudeoChristianity as a Religion is dead-or-dying in the West thanks to Liberal Secularism, while Islam remains both vibrant + aggressive.

Again, EYES WIDE OPEN, NOT EYES WIDE SHUT.

[1990'S "DR.FEELGOOD: OR HOW I LEARNED TO WORRY BY N-O-T USING THE BOMB" here].

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > SYRIAN REBEL LEADER: JIHAD HAS SUCCESSFULLY SPREAD FROM ATLANTIC COAST OF AFRICA TO THE LEVANT.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > ISLAM GROWS IN US BUT IMAMS IN SHORT SUPPLY.

Wehell Gee Whizzies, whaddaya dey think is gonna happen - convert elite US Soldiers whom will then bring Mahdis/Hidden Imams = AntiChrist into the World???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 22:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Top Ten Most Controversial U.S. Presidents
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 11:34 || Comments || Link || [336142 views] Top|| File under:

#1  1. Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) — Jefferson was an opponent of slavery. The problem was, the majority of the country favored slavery.

Really? Source of the 'majority' reference please.

Slavery, a tradition inherited from our British roots, was a compromise to get 11 states for ratification. Part of the compromise was -

Section. 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.


which was executed in 1807 with The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 (2 Stat. 426, enacted March 2, 1807), a United States federal law that stated that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States. It took effect in 1808, the earliest date permitted by the United States Constitution.

So, if the majority 'approved', why is that part of section 9 in the original document? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/18/2013 12:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama's not on this list? Gee, I wonder why...
Posted by: Raj || 02/18/2013 12:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Nothing about FDR, or Woodrow Wilson?
Posted by: Pappy || 02/18/2013 18:21 Comments || Top||

#4  or Jimmuh Carter? I sense a trend
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 18:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Nothing controversial about Jimmuh. We all agree he was Worst President Ever. Until recently, I mean.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/18/2013 19:07 Comments || Top||

#6  "Many Americans also question the war in Iraq, and undoubtedly, it will always be known as one of the most controversial wars in history."

How many non-controversial wars in history can you name?
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/18/2013 19:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Jefferson: Additionally, he had a relationship with a slave named Sally Hemmings.

It wasn't all that controversial at the time. It wasn't common knowledge except for a political hubbub in 1802. Since she was his property and what took place within his household was his business the whole thing died pretty quickly. Since his wife had died in 1782 she didn't object. The relationship was lengthy, and presumably affectionate, so there are more people bitching about it today than there were then.

If they need to dig up controversy about Jefferson, start with the Louisianna Purchase. The original idea was just to buy New Orleans. Buying the entire Louisianna territory went beyond his constitutional powers.

Then skip over a few things and light on the treason of "his" vice president (Aaron Burr, the man who plugged Alexander Hamilton in a duel). There were the ill-advised Embargo Laws, and of course the prohibition on the import of slaves in 1808. So was the Indian Removal Act one of Jefferson's ideas.

Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 20:55 Comments || Top||


But Don't Rule Out Malice
There is an adage that reads "never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity... but don't rule out malice." This is known as Heinlein's or Hanlon's Razor (there is only a slight difference between the two). Unfortunately many people only go by the first part of Heinlein's Razor, leaving out the "but don't rule out malice" part. People using this heuristic decision-making shortcut often think that even though some things that people do seem very suspect, and even though mental red flags are going up and instinctive alarms are sounding, that there must be some explanation, other than malice, to explain the actions of people. This is especially true when the suspicious people are connected to them is some way like family, friends, or even the politicians that they support. Many people using Heinlein's Razor shrug off these suspicious actions as if they were just a mistake, or maybe the actions that people did were the result of "bad luck", or possibly that ignorance can explain why they made those decisions. But I would like to focus on the second part of Heinlein's Razor which of course is: but don't rule out malice.

Sometimes, some people actually act out of malice. Malicious people do exist in the world and always have, as far back as the beginning of recorded human history. It is easily possible that you know, or know of, some malicious people. They could be your acquaintances or friends; they could even be in your family, and yes, they might be one or more of your political leaders. In support of the second part of Heinlein's Razor there's another adage called Occam's razor that says among competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be selected -- the simpler the explanation, the more likely it is to be true, everything else being equal. If you have to mentally jump through a lot of hoops to explain how someone's motive cannot be malice then Occam's Razor says that the more assumptions you need to make the less likely that your hypothesis is true.

Focusing on politics, and by association politicians, what if the harmful actions that your politicians make can be more logically explained by malice than by stupidity? For example, most politicians are quite intelligent. Most have succeeded in academics at the highest levels in the world. Most have also been very successful in business or professionally besides success in politics. Only the smallest percentage of politicians could actually be described as stupid prior to their being elected. So how is it possible that some of the most successful and intelligent people in the United States cansuddenly become stupid the moment they walk in the door of Congress? Or alternatively, how is it possible that these intelligent and successful people suddenly become unlucky? Is there any logical explanation? Isn't it much more likely that the people in congress are just as lucky and intelligent as they were the day before they were elected? And if that is true, how can you explain the "stupid" things that these intelligent and successful politicians do?

Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 00:30 || Comments || Link || [336111 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What kind of person would want to do harm to America? Well, besides Islamists there are people that believe that "The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States." That quote is from George Soros, who is using his billions to create a global "open society" (more correctly called a global Marxist police state). But Soros is just one of many who hold the same negative beliefs about America. Soros and many other of his fellow travelers, in all their widely varied flavors (Communists, Stalinists, Fascists, Maoists, and progressives among others) living outside and inside America have been seeking America's destruction so that a utopian society can be formed from its ashes for over 100 years.

The memo is not getting out through the main stream media. The current administration is not sounding the alarm either but then both have received huge amounts of money from Soros and others of like mind.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/18/2013 8:08 Comments || Top||

#2  soros' money is no longer needed. The US treasury is at the disposal of the progressives and they are wearing out the printing wheels.

If you caught the last SOTU address there was no mention of cuts to government only more programs including preschool. A mind trained early will pay dividends in the future.
Posted by: airandee || 02/18/2013 9:20 Comments || Top||

#3  The memo is not getting out through the main stream media.

And don't be holding your breath waiting for that to change. The media has enlisted on the other side. Examples? Pick any public issue - political, social or scientific - over the last decade or so.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/18/2013 9:47 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Geller: Al Jazeera tries to whitewash bloody record
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 12:33 || Comments || Link || [336109 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al Jazeera clearly believes that politicians are utterly corrupt and can be bought off

Sounds like Al J has it just about right to me. Depressing as hell, but, all too real.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/18/2013 17:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Time for Shias to leave Pakistan
[Dawn] It is a massacre alright. Sunni Death Eaters, aligned with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, are killing Shias by the dozens in Pakistain.

I was yet to compile the list of the 106 (mostly Shias) killed in the twin kabooms in Quetta last month, that the news of another kaboom killing yet another 84 (mostly Shias) in Quetta came over the wire. As the Shia massacres in Pakistain gain momentum, the State, including the Superior Courts, appear completely impotent.

In such troubling times some Shias may have a choice. They may sit and wait for a messiah or relocate to a Shia-exclusive enclave elsewhere, or to escape from Pakistain altogether. It may sound harsh, but it is an inescapable truth that Pakistain has been run over by the faceless myrmidons and life is going to be even tougher for the minorities and moderate Sunnis in the near future.

In the two consecutive months this year, kabooms have killed hundreds of Shia Hazaras in Quetta, a Garrison town where each and every street is manned by intelligence operatives. Still, the Islamic fascisti operate with impunity. Saturday's kaboom, which has killed over 80 and injured hundreds, occurred almost within a month of the last kaboom that delivered even a higher corpse count.

Space is fast running out in Shia graveyards in Quetta. It may be the time for Shias to relocate to protect their next generation.
At a certain point fighting for one's rights is hopeless, and it's time to work on making sure one's children survive...elsewhere. Unless something turns Pakistan off its current path, it's going to worsen until the very purest one is the only one left in the smoking rubble.
Many naively believe that peace will prevail in Pakistain and Afghanistan after the scheduled withdrawal of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
troops from Afghanistan in 2014. While I vehemently oppose prolonging the stay of the NATO forces in the region, still I believe this would spell even a bigger disaster for the minorities in Pakistain. The battle-hardened veterans of the Afghan war will return to Pakistain to target Shias, Ahmadis, and other religious minorities. Even Barelvis may not escape the wrath of the mostly Deobandi-led militancy.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336103 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi

#1  Iff Islamabad can't control or eliminate the violence, either the poor Shias move or else Iran invades.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  And go where?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 4:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Iran doesn't care about Pakistani Hazaras - not all Shia are created equal. Besides, until their nukes are ready, they dare not attack Pakistan anyway. Without nukes, I'd happily sell programs and popcorn, but.....
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/18/2013 7:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran is more likely to attack Iraq first than Pakistan. No nukes, large Shia population, tensions already high, and invading the kurd area's would help stop the resistance in their NW border.
Posted by: Charles || 02/18/2013 9:13 Comments || Top||

#5 
And go where?


Just head south. Keep going south. Until they can't go south anymore.

I figure that's probably a few hundred feet into the Indian Ocean, for most of them.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/18/2013 14:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Iran like other countries is interested in either reclaiming lost territories, or in alternate dev very close diplomatic + trade ties wid same.

IIRC Pakistan's Shias comprise roughly 1/4 of the country's population, + have been there for generations since before the separation/
partition of Muslim Pakistan from Hindu India. IMO its highly unlikely that the bulk of Pakistan's Shia comunity will just up-n-move widout a fight.

That leaves Iran-led external pressure + ultimately possible mil intervention, ostensibly to enforce the unliteral or bilateral protection of Pakistan's Shias from local Sunnis, but perhaps more realistically to ensure Iranian control or domination of Pakistan's LR Nuclear Arsenal.

DETERRING OR DEFEATING A US GROUND WAR AGZ IRAN = IRAN NEEDING TO KEEP USN NUCLEAR CARRIERS + AMPHIBS OUT OF THE PERSIAN GULF AMAP AFAP ALAP = IRAN NEEDS PAK SHIAS TO STAY, NOT LEAVE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 22:26 Comments || Top||

#7  The Hazaras are once again demanding Pak Govt-Army protection + arrest of Sunni perpetrators while also refusing to bury the bodies of their dead until Islamabad agrees, + Perps caught, punished.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > GENOCIDE OF PAKISTAN'S HAZARA COMMUNITY.

China is Pakistan's BFF, which IMO means that IRan will likely demand that China pressure Pakistan to stop the anti-Shia violence. Iran is also likely to attempt to bring Russia on board - IFF PAKISTAN CANNOT OR WILL NOT STOP THE ANTI-SHIA VIOLENCE, THEN IRAN IS LIKELY TO USE RUSSIA AS A HEDGE/OFFSET AGZ CHINA IN CASE IRAN HAS TO SEND IN ITS ARMY + IRGC INTO PAKISTAN TO QUELL THINGS.

I don't see Rising Iran accepting any option where Pak Shias will be asked or made by Islamabad to up-n-leave Pakistan.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 23:07 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
ICST focuses latest research on improvised explosive devices
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 12:52 || Comments || Link || [336121 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suspect that the NATO/US intel folks could have told them this info long ago. I think that there are intel NCO's that have the equivalent of a Doctorate in the field.
Posted by: tipover || 02/18/2013 17:16 Comments || Top||


How Europe Bankrolls Terror
WHEN northern Mali fell to terrorists and foreign militants last April, a debate began over the causes of the country’s chaotic collapse. Many argued that it was a direct byproduct of NATO’s 2011 intervention in Libya, which sent thousands of well-armed men across the Sahara to Mali. Others pointed to Mali’s internal corruption and ethnic divisions. But little was said about the most important factor: Europeans have knowingly bankrolled Islamist radicals with ransom payments since at least 2003.

Sixteen years before the 9/11 attacks, the United States sold Iran weapons indirectly in the hopes of freeing American hostages held by Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah. The Iran-contra debacle taught America, among other things, that paying ransom money only emboldens terrorist groups and their backers. Yet when confronted with the same challenge, European leaders have failed to heed that lesson, and have filled the coffers of terrorist groups for at least a decade.

The so-called global war on terror has been hobbled by these payoffs. The same nations that until very recently had troops in Afghanistan fighting terrorism have been turning over cash to terrorists in Africa.

Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups, mostly through mediators, to free European hostages.
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 00:14 || Comments || Link || [336103 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Various USAID programs accomplish much the same thing as ransom payments, the pipeline is just a bit longer and less transparent. $130 million is a paltry drop in the bucket compared to our foreign aid budget.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/18/2013 1:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups

And they + USA gave billions to "Palestinian Autority".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/18/2013 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Who wrote this bullshit?

They are resurrecting the rotted corse of Iran Contra? Oh please sweet lord wasn't that discredited a long time ago?

Or I guess if you hate Reagan enough and hate Bush enough you'll dig up any and every dead conspiracy theory.

To me the main thread is the EU has been funding terrorism with their ninnie limp weiney attitudes toward Islam (but the French got the memo during the Moslem Ghetto riots and have changed course). But to make it not so bad, they have to say "Well the US did the same thing....in....uh....uh....THE IRAN CONTRA scandal!!!"

Well Iran contra was two things, it was an attempt to have another Watergate. AND it was the US Congress making foreign policy ala Viet Nam when they forbid the President from sending aid to a PRO AMERICAN ANTI COMMUNIST insurgency fighting against a Cuban proxy COMMUNIST. Geez, if that isn't enough to make you wonder who is running the country and why that didn't come out in the press coverage.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  it IS the NY Times. The paper of leftist record. The one in a financial death spiral
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 11:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Carlos 'Obamaphone' Slim still has petty cash. The NYT is a loss leader.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/18/2013 13:24 Comments || Top||

#6  its in the NYTimes but its an opinion piece

the author is a pro-tolerance moslem whose organization was founded after 9-11 to try to move Islam away from terrorism

it isn't working so well but, in this case, the author's points about Al Q financing itself via kidnapping, is pretty much conventional wisdom
Posted by: lord garth || 02/18/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
29[untagged]
7Arab Spring
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Pakistan
3Jamaat-e-Islami
2TTP
2al-Shabaab
2Hezbollah
1Boko Haram
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Thai Insurgency
1Govt of Iran

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-02-18
  Five killed in attack at government office in Peshawar
Sun 2013-02-17
  Egyptian police publicly beat to death man suspected of killing officer
Sat 2013-02-16
  Bomb kills at least 20 in Pakistani city
Fri 2013-02-15
  Meteorite Hits Urals, Up to 500 Injured
Thu 2013-02-14
  Pakistan asks Taliban to announce 30-day cease-fire for talks
Wed 2013-02-13
  Syrian rebels say they captured military air base near Aleppo
Tue 2013-02-12
  KCNA confirms: Pudgy sets off a nuke
Mon 2013-02-11
  Seven killed, 11 injured in attacks across southern Thailand
Sun 2013-02-10
  Syrian troops, rebels clash over Damascus highway
Sat 2013-02-09
  India Executes Man Convicted in 2001 Attack on Parliament
Fri 2013-02-08
  Suicide bomber hits north Mali, troops clash in capital
Thu 2013-02-07
  Syrian Army Launches 'All-Out Attack' on Capital Region
Wed 2013-02-06
  Fat Lady Sings for Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed
Tue 2013-02-05
  Second big turban nabbed in northern Mali
Mon 2013-02-04
  Ansar Dine #3 arrested in northern Mali

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