Afghanistan is trying to bring about legislation similar to Indian Punchayat Raj system for rural development and local government. In an interview Ravi Rama Krishna, the Minister for rehabilitation, rural development, Muhammad Hanif said that Indian Expert were invited to train the Afghans in various aspects of rural development. He said Afghanistan government is also keen on getting Indian technology and resources.
Last year saw a significant number of returns to post-conflict Afghanistan, with more than half a million Afghans repatriated, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. During 2005, a total of 520,100 Afghans returned home with UNHCR assistance, the majority, 453,000, came from Pakistan, according to the refugee agency. UNHCR-assisted returns from Iran in 2005 now stand at around 67,000, a lower figure than had been predicted. The total number of returns from Iran, which includes those returning without assistance from the UN refugee agency, is nearly 280,000. Despite large numbers returning, many Afghans remain in neighbouring countries. An official census of Afghans living in Pakistan, conducted in 2005, showed that some 3 million remain in the country â or triple the number remaining in Iran, which is estimated to be around 900,000, according to the UN refugee agency.
Somalia's feuding president and parliament speaker on Thursday signed an agreement in Yemen pledging to unify the lawless country's fractured transitional government, earning praise from the United Nations but widespread scepticism from war-weary locals at home. In a joint statement closing nearly a week of intense discussions in the Yemeni port city of Aden, they vowed to resolve their differences but gave no sign that the core problem â a dispute over the seat of the government â had been resolved.
In the statement, President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan pledged to work together for the good of Somalia's population of 10 million, who have faced chronic unrest and warlord rule since the country fractured 15 years ago. "Both leaders have reached to start a new page and end their differences, which have brought serious damage to the discharge of the duties and responsibilities of the institutions, in a spirit of cooperation on which the Somali people were pinning their highest hopes," they said. "Both leaders jointly call upon the members of the parliament and government to put aside their fruitless squabbles and differences, urging them to come together and unite, placing the supreme interests of the nation above selfishness," they said.
In what was identified as the "Aden Declaration" mediated by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yusuf and Adan also called on parliament to meet in Somalia within 30 days at an as-yet undetermined location.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Saudi Arabia criticized Friday statements made by Iraqi Premier Ibrahim al-Jaafari yesterday in which he claimed that Saudi authorities were not providing sufficient facilities and comfort for Iraqi Hajj pilgrims and had not really considered an increasing desire of Iraqis to perform Hajj this year. The Saudi Press Agency quoted an official of the Hajj Ministry as saying that Jaafari's statements were an attempt to use the Hajj issue to deal with "his faltering political position" in Iraq. Saudi Arabia always offers sufficient comfort to the largest possible number of Iraqi pilgrims, said the Saudi Hajj Ministry.
Claims that one of the July 7 suicide bombers left a six-figure fortune mystified investigators last night.
A report in The Sun said that Shehzad Tanweer, 22, who detonated a bomb on the Underground at Aldgate station, killing eight people, had an estate valued at £121,000 net of taxes and debts.
Yet Tanweer, a British national of Pakistani descent, was a student until 2004 and worked for a few hours a week as an assistant in the fish and chip shop run by his father in Beeston, Leeds.
Questions were being asked how he could possess assets of such value.
The report came as a complete surprise to security officials who have spent the past six months investigating every aspect of Tanweer's life in an effort to discover why he took part in the atrocity and whether the terrorist cell was being run from overseas.
In the two years before the attack, Tanweer is known to have visited Pakistan at least twice with his fellow conspirator, Mohammed Siddique Khan.
There is no clear picture about what he did there and who he contacted, though it is believed he spent time at a terrorist training camp run by the Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen group in Mansehra, near the Kashmir border, where he was trained in handling arms and explosives.
Security sources now believe that Tanweer was a more "serious player" than had first been appreciated. But there is no evidence of any direct involvement of al-Qa'eda in the atrocity, though it bore all the marks of one of its operations.
If Tanweer possessed a six-figure sum, it could provide a financial trail leading back to a mastermind of the operation. Investigators were planning further inquiries into his financial background.
At the family home in Leeds, his mother, Parveen Akhtar Tanweer, was unwilling to answer questions about the reports, which quoted a spokesman for the probate office in London as saying: "We have no information as to what the estate was worth before [deductions were] made. The only people who will know are the family and the solicitors."
Neighbours said the family had kept to themselves since Tanweer was named as one of the four bombers who murdered 52 people and injured more than 700.
A man who did not want to be named said: "I don't know if they have got all this money or not but, if they have, they certainly haven't been broadcasting it around the neighbourhood. They are a very private family and want to be left alone to get on with their lives the best they can."
Tanweer was buried in the family's home village of Samoondran in the Punjab region of Pakistan in October. It is thought that more than 300 people attended the funeral. At the time his father, Mohammed Mumtaz Tanweer, 56, said: "As far as I can understand, my son was more British in his orientation than anything else.
"He had planned his career in sport. Even on the night before he died, he was playing cricket."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 01:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The report came as a complete surprise to security officials who have spent the past six months investigating every aspect of Tanweer's life in an effort to discover why he took part in the atrocity.
#4
Tanweer was buried in the family's home village of Samoondran in the Punjab region of Pakistan in October. It is thought that more than 300 people attended the funeral.
#6
"He had planned his career in sport. Even on the night before he died, he was playing cricket."
Is his father really so stupid as to believe that this particular son had plans for a future career the night before he blew uphimself and a number of the local citizenry?
#8
You could be right, GF 4549. But that would presume he wasn't aware enough to notice that shiny new bomb vest he'd been given by his dear, dear friends from the mosque... Of course, it doesn't take the same mental acuity to become a cricketeer as to become a rocket scientist (or even to go for that degree in Theatre).
WHILE AMERICAN POLITICIANS SPENT THE last months of 2005 arguing over the U.S. military presence in Iraq, their counterparts in the Netherlands were debating the future of the Dutch contingent in Afghanistan. At issue is The Hague's pledge to deploy slightly over 1,000 Dutch troops to the restive Uruzgan province when NATO assumes responsibility for southern Afghanistan this summer. The Netherlands' skittishness makes for an important cautionary tale not only about the near-farcical indecision of a European ally in the war on terror, but more important, the risks inherent in outsourcing ever-greater responsibility for Afghanistan to NATO, as the Bush administration evidently hopes to do.
The debacle with the Dutch began this fall, when the country's military intelligence service produced a report describing the treacherous conditions in Uruzgan and predicting casualties if the Netherlands dispatched forces there. Opposition parliamentarians began to rail against the mission, buoyed by public opinion; one poll found a whopping 71 percent of Netherlanders opposed to it.
Rather than confront and puncture these doubts, the tripartite coalition government in The Hague chose to drag its feet. Despite reassurances from the United States and NATO that Dutch soldiers would receive swift reinforcements if they came under fire, the cabinet further delayed making any decision, until at last endorsing the deployment just before Christmas--but on the condition of parliamentary approval. Artfully describing its move as an "intention" rather than a "decision," the Dutch government thus passed the buck once again until February, when the parliament should render final judgment.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands' waffling has snarled the defense planning of its allies. British and Canadian troops are slated to comprise the bulk of the NATO deployment in southern Afghanistan, yet neither government can know the precise number or type of forces it should send until The Hague makes up its mind. Likewise, the Australians--who were counting on Dutch logistical support to help them stand up a 200-man Provincial Reconstruction Team in southern Afghanistan this spring--are left in limbo. From Canberra to Ottawa, the sound of teeth-grinding is audible.
But the irresponsibility of the Dutch is not even half the story. The bigger question is, Why has the Bush administration embraced a military strategy for southern Afghanistan that is so dependant on fickle partners? The current mess is a predictable consequence of the Pentagon's determination to have NATO assume more responsibility in Afghanistan and as fast as possible. And it's a portent of even bigger problems to come.
It has long been an article of faith among foreign policy cognoscenti that the Atlantic alliance should be doing more in Afghanistan. Under U.S. pressure, NATO has twice enlarged its area of operations since taking command of the U.N.-sanctioned International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the summer of 2003: first moving from Kabul into northern Afghanistan later that year, then expanding westward in June 2005. The swing into southern Afghanistan has been presented as the next logical step in this process.
But it isn't logical at all. NATO's presence in Afghanistan was originally premised on the idea that large swaths of the country were stabilizing--in need of the peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction that European militaries could deliver, but less and less a war zone. But this assumption simply does not hold for the south. There, the Taliban and al Qaeda continue to wage what American forces describe as an increasingly sophisticated and vicious insurgency, making 2005 the deadliest year for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the post-9/11 invasion.
The higher casualties also reflect the decision by American forces to push into what were, until recently, Taliban sanctuaries--remote mountain redoubts in northern Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, and Uruzgan provinces. The result has been extraordinarily intense close-quarter combat with insurgents. An American company commander in Qalat estimated in October that upwards of 75 percent of his unit's contacts with the enemy have been within hand-grenade range.
Will NATO forces continue to press as aggressively into these areas, even if it means that they will lose more men (which it almost certainly does)? The Canadian troops already on the ground in Kandahar, to their credit, have made clear their intention to follow the Americans' example. But the commander of the Canadian force has also bluntly acknowledged "a gap, both in technical capability, and size and capacity" between U.S. and NATO forces.
The insurgents, for their part, will certainly look to exploit fault lines within NATO, targeting members of the alliance with an eye toward fracturing public support back home. So all that feet-shuffling in the Netherlands could, in effect, paint a big target on the back of Dutch soldiers, should they deploy. Likewise, it remains to be seen just how stalwart public opinion in Britain and Canada will be. Military intelligence has evidently warned London to be prepared for the heaviest casualties since the Falklands.
Then there are problems of coordination and sustainability. Will the different national contingents in southern Afghanistan work effectively with each other? And how will they work with the U.S. Special Forces who will remain in theater? Will NATO forces be able to manage the same kind of complex land-air maneuvers that have proven so useful in drawing out and eliminating Taliban fighters? Also, because command of the international force changes every six months, the quality and performance of its headquarters has a marked tendency to vary; contrast the cautious and bureaucracy-laden approach taken by Eurocorps, for instance, with the professional and assertive conduct of the Turkish military. The British are set to take command in Kabul for NATO's first rotation through the south later this year--no doubt a good thing--but what happens on the second, third, and fourth rotations?
Oddly enough, it may prove extremely difficult for NATO to "fail" in southern Afghanistan during its first six months there. Expectations are so low at this point that anything less than a spectacular collapse will probably be seized by Brussels, the Pentagon, and all other interested parties as proof of success.
But this misses the point. Not so long ago, the Bush administration insisted that the mission should determine the coalition, not the other way around. Does it really make sense to hand southern Afghanistan to a coalition of British, Canadian, and Dutch forces under the NATO flag while the counterinsurgency is in full swing? Putting aside why it might not be a mistake, what exactly makes it necessary?
In truth, NATO's expansion into southern Afghanistan isn't being driven by conditions on the ground or by what makes sense for winning the war there. Rather, it is a function of the Pentagon's misplaced desire to reduce its commitments in the Middle East and bludgeon some defense reform out of Brussels in the process.
The Bush administration furiously denies that NATO expansion should be seen as an American exit strategy, but this denial would seem more credible if the Pentagon didn't then explicitly link its 2,500-man drawdown in Afghanistan to the alliance's growing presence there. The danger here goes well beyond the narrow question of manpower. To a much greater degree than the Bush administration seems to appreciate, success in Afghanistan depends on a good-as-gold, long-term security guarantee from the United States. The survival of the Taliban, in turn, is contingent on a belief that the insurgents will outlast the Americans; that, sooner or later, Washington will tire of a grinding guerrilla war and go home.
The United States needs to leave no doubt that its military will continue fighting in Afghanistan as long as the democratically elected government in Kabul needs help. For the same reason, irrespective of whether a diminution in the number of American soldiers is operationally doable, the Pentagon would have been wise to skip the press release and implement its drawdown quietly. Simply put, there was no strategic advantage to be gained in announcing to the world that there will be fewer U.S. forces in Afghanistan this year.
Afghanistan's leaders certainly understand this. Senior officials in Kabul, tribal elders in the south, and newly elected legislators have all expressed concern about the troop reductions. "I would not like them to leave," Mullah Naquibullah, a tribal leader in Kandahar, told the New York Times last month.
The White House should pay heed. In the months ahead, the Bush administration needs to make clear that it still takes its bilateral security relationship with Afghanistan seriously. It can do this by returning to, and reinvigorating, the U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership that Presidents Bush and Karzai signed eight months ago, as well as holding off on any talk about NATO expansion into eastern Afghanistan--at least until the alliance has proven itself in the south. President Bush should also take advantage of his upcoming trip to South Asia to visit Kabul and reaffirm America's long-term commitment there.
Above all, however, the Bush administration needs to stop thinking about Afghanistan as a burden to be shrugged off. Washington will be on the right track when it starts doing a little more listening to its friends in Kabul--and a little less worrying about whether the Netherlands is coming along for the ride.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 00:53 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
While differences with "allies" regarding Iraq are understandable, differences with respect to Afghanistan, which was foolish enough to attack the U.S. on its soil, are not. If NATO cannot withstand the pressures of dealing with a fifth-rate power like Afghanistan, it will become clear that it is a one-way street. In other words, it will be finished.
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
01/07/2006 9:13 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If NATO cannot withstand the pressures of dealing with a fifth-rate power like Afghanistan, it will become clear that it is a one-way street.
No Eurasian super-power to defend against, 50-plus years of US-provided military welfare, and what European military there is, is becoming more and more non-compatible. NATO is pretty much finished, except as a headquarters entity. Given what happened with Kosovo, I'd say even that's doubtful.
#3
The Dutch learned from their experience hiding Jews from the Nazis. Unfortunately, they learned to always support those persecuted -- rightfully or wrongfully -- by The Man. The famiy that hid my mother and several others from the Nazis have taken in every "refugee" that came down the pike since then, only giving up their little hobby when the husband had a series of mini-strokes that permanently incapacitated him. In recent correspondence (my mother lost contact with them after emigrating to the U.S. in 1946, and recently found them again after contacting the Dutch fraternity that had hidden her parents to give them a copy of my grandmother's memoirs)they freely insulted the President of my mother's adopted country and the willingness of my mother's adopted people to wage actual war against Islamic terrorists, instead of offering their poor aid and comfort -- which they positioned as the only moral choice on offer. My mother, the soul of politeness, has not bothered to contradict their self-rightous self-congratulation on the subject.
#4
wow! Too bad I don't smoke pot because that is really deep! All that I can say, TW, is that God works in mysterious ways and I hope those that they continue to shelter do as well as your family has done. She gets a pass in my book :-)
#5
Your mom is a saint. The Dutch performed herioc act for complete strangers during WWII. While stationed in Germany I hear a number of stories like your mom's. I remember being part of the rescue mission when they surrendered to the Serbs without a fight in the Balkans, Clinton failed to let us execute and they were eventually released minus their tanks and weapons. I only hope when we need them they will be there.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/07/2006 21:25 Comments ||
Top||
#6
That and I wish Frank would put spell and grammer check on this site! LOL
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/07/2006 21:27 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Frank? Fred?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2006 21:39 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Every time we discuss the Dutch I have flashbacks to Amsterdam. Then My speach slurrs I get paranoid and can't tell Frank from Fred. I'm gonna eat some chips and sleep this off!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/07/2006 22:13 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Why pay for insurance when Uncle Sam will always come to the rescue? Especially now, when the Uncle has vanquished the bear.
PS. Fred, this thread is missing the comments link.
Posted by: ed ||
01/08/2006 18:42 Comments ||
Top||
President Bush's rationale for eavesdropping on Americans without warrants rests on questionable legal ground, and Congress does not appear to have given him the authority to order the surveillance, said a Congressional analysis released Friday.
The analysis, by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan research arm of Congress, was the first official assessment of a question that has gripped Washington for three weeks: Did Mr. Bush act within the law when he ordered the National Security Agency, the country's most secretive spy agency, to eavesdrop on some Americans?
The report, requested by several members of Congress, reached no bottom-line conclusions on the legality of the program, in part because it said so many details remained classified. But it raised numerous doubts about the power to bypass Congress in ordering such operations, saying the legal rationale "does not seem to be as well grounded" as the administration's lawyers have argued.
The administration quickly disputed several conclusions in the report.
The report was particularly critical of a central administration justification for the program, that Congress had effectively approved such eavesdropping soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by authorizing "all necessary and appropriate force" against the terrorist groups responsible. Congress "does not appear to have authorized or acquiesced in such surveillance," the report said, adding that the administration reading of some provisions of federal wiretap law could render them "meaningless."
The president acknowledged last month that he had given the security agency the power to eavesdrop on the international telephone and e-mail communications of Americans and others in the United States without a warrant if they were suspected of ties to Al Qaeda.
The Justice Department is investigating the disclosure of the program, first reported in The New York Times. With Congressional hearings expected this month, the Congressional research report intensified debate on the program. Administration lawyers quickly responded that Mr. Bush had acted within his constitutional and statutory powers.
"The president has made clear that he will use his constitutional and statutory authorities to protect the American people from further terrorist attacks," said Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, adding that the program represented "a critical tool in the war on terror that saves lives and protects civil liberties at the same time."
Many Democrats and some Republicans pointed to the findings as perhaps the strongest indication that Mr. Bush might have exceeded his authority in fighting terrorism.
Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, who leads the House Democratic Policy Committee, said the report "raises serious questions about the president's legal authority to conduct domestic spying."
Mr. Miller said the justifications for the program were unacceptable.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said the report made "absolutely clear that the legal authorities advanced by the president in justifying domestic surveillance are on very shaky ground."
Thomas H. Kean, a Republican who was chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, weighed in for the first time in the debate. Mr. Kean said he counted himself among those who doubted the legality of the program. He said in an interview that the administration did not inform his commission about the program and that he wished it had.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Congress passed in 1978 after widespread abuses by intelligence agencies, created a system for court-ordered wiretaps for terrorism and espionage suspects. That system "gives very broad powers to the president and, except in very rare circumstances, in my view ought to be used," Mr. Kean said.
"We live by a system of checks and balances," he said. "And I think we ought to continue to live by a system of checks and balances."
One reason the administration has cited for not seeking to change the intelligence law and obtain specific approvals for eavesdropping was that it might "tip off" terrorists to the program. The Congressional research service found that unconvincing.
"No legal precedent appears to have been presented," the study said, "that would support the president's authority to bypass the statutory route when legislation is required" simply because of secrecy.
Opinions on domestic spying have largely broken down, though not exclusively, along partisan lines, causing splits between the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
The analyses of the Congressional Research Service, part of the Library of Congress created in 1914, are generally seen as objective and without partisan taint, said Eleanor Hill, staff director of the Congressional inquiry on the Sept. 11 attacks.
Because of its importance, the report was repeatedly reviewed by senior staff members at the research service for accuracy and bias before its release, officials there said.
Some Democrats say the administration bypassed the authority of Congress in ordering the eavesdropping. One congressman said he was actively misled. In a letter released Friday, Representative Rush D. Holt, a New Jersey Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, complained to the N.S.A. over what he described as deception by its director, Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander of the Army.
Mr. Holt, a physicist who has worked as an arms control specialist at the State Department, visited the agency on Dec. 6 for a briefing by General Alexander and agency lawyers about protecting Americans' privacy. The officials assured him, Mr. Holt said, that the agency singled out Americans for eavesdropping only under warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
After the program was disclosed, Mr. Holt wrote a blistering letter to General Alexander, expressing "considerable anger" over being misled. An agency spokesman, Don Weber, declined to comment on the letter.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 00:59 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Funny, I don't recall reading about the CRS in the Constitution. I do, however, recall the duties of the President - the head of the Executive Branch. The Dithering and Theft Branch, a.k.a. Legilative Branch, can go piss up a rope. They can take their extra-constitutional CRS political poofta creation with them - and the wankfest will ensue unabated... and unrequited.
#2
Congress is behaving cravenly. The donks are trying to deny they were briefed and approved (see : Harmon, Jane, D- Dickless), even though it was above and beyond what the constitution requires. The remainder ankle bite with statements hurting morale and encouraging terorists, yet voting against same when forced to take a public position via vote. Disgusting and W could make them pay dearly for their craven defeatism and transparent opportunism...will he?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2006 1:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Funny, I don't recall the constitution mentioning the Congressional Research Service. I don't recall that Tom Kean is a congressman. What I do recall is the September 11 Commission being a complete waste of time, and just another *unelected* body looking for undeserved influence just like any lobbying group out there.
#4
For those who forgot - SJR:23, 12 Sept 2001. NB War Powers
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and one
Joint Resolution
To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.
Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens; and
Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad; and
Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence; and
Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; and
Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force'.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
(b) War Powers Resolution Requirements-
(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.
(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS- Nothing in this resolution supercedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution.
#7
Complete CRS memorendum on NSA
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/m010506.pdf
Extracts from About CRS
As an attorney in the American Law Division, one is exposed to the myriad legal issues that confront Congress. The day's newspaper headlines may be quickly translated into congressional inquiries to CRS and the Law Division...
Over 80% of the attorney staff has been with the Division for ten years or more...
--http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/divwork/aldwork.html
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has declared a crackdown on immigrant smugglers at two California border crossings from Tijuana, Mexico. Chertoff promised more prosecutions of smugglers who tried to enter the United States at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa crossings in San Diego, as well as more jail space to hold them, though he did not say on how much the effort would cost.
In a potentially controversial twist, Chertoff said Thursday state and local officials would participate in the crackdown. Proponents of tougher enforcement have long advocated a larger role for local law enforcement, but critics say local agencies should stick to fighting crime, not enforcing immigration laws.
Border Patrol agents thwarted 60,000 attempted illegal crossings at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa last year. Smugglers once stuffed a baby inside a gasoline tank, Chertoff said. ``It is remarkable the lengths to which smugglers will go to try to get people into this country,'' he said at a news conference. ``They simply want to make money at the expense of human misery.''
So, you noticed? The smugglers -- coyotes, as they're called -- should be rounded up and stuffed onto a deserted, cold south Atlantic island ...
The federal government has also increased border enforcement in Arizona, which has surpassed California as the nation's busiest corridor for illegal immigrants. Arizona accounted for more than half the Border Patrol's 1.1 million arrests last year.
Border Patrol arrests in the San Diego sector plummeted to about 110,000 last year from 528,000 in 1995, when the state had stepped up security.
You mean the fence there worked?
Or the Minutemen...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
the fence has done wonders.... naysayers should be forced to try and cross to prove their point. I heard Chertoff on Hedgecock's radio show and it ...just may be... that the White House gets it, after all.... I'll wait and see though. First: close the open border via fence, sensors, UAV's, and "Catch and return" not release . Second: Employer sanctions on those who don't enforce the hiring laws.....hard time. Third: once the border is secured and illegal crossing is stopped, THEN a guest worker program can be entertained....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2006 1:26 Comments ||
Top||
#2
You'll still have the same old utterly corrupt ruling class in Mexico with no desire to reform. If they get the same idiot disease that Bolivia just followed, they'll nose dive. Either case won't really address the problem. Their own xenophobic and over inflated ego won't let them take the rational route for improvement. It's like building a dam or levee that'll hold for a class 4 event. Unfortunately, the build up will result in a class 5 event. It ain't going to get better in our lifetime and only just buying a little time.
#3
"...THEN a guest worker program can be entertained...."
In light of the fact that Mexico is un-able/willing to stem the flow of illegal aliens Frank G's recommendations are not only appropriate but also long overdue. However, can anyone point to a âGuest Workerâ type process that didnât actually encourage further illegal immigration? (Anywhere or at Anytime) If so, I would be willing to entertain the idea as well. Until that time, call it what it really is:
Amnesty for those willing to work for low wages and Welfare for the businesses that exploit them.
#4
Unless guest workers come on short-term visas, they are actually immigrants (cf. Turks in Germany, Beurs in France, Albanians in Italy, Moroccans in Spain...)
#5
I agree, TW. And in fact I would not entertain a guest worker program. One of America's advantages has always been a shortage of labor. It has led to high wages and labor saving devices that improve productivity and living standards. Guest workers only bring ill educated low wage unskilled labor that can be exploited by the unscrupulous. We don't need them.
If they want to come to America to be Americans, welcome. But don't think you can still vote in the old country's elections while you're here. Make Mexico live with what it has created. Don't let them use us for a dumping ground for all the people they won't employ usefully. It's time for Mexico to figue out how to be competitive like China.
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday cancelled a scheduled trip to Indonesia and Australia to keep watch on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs fight for life, officials said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice cancelled the five-day journey starting Saturday that would have taken her to Jakarta for talks with Indonesian officials and Sydney for strategic and climate-change discussions. âShe decided that because of the situation in the Middle East it was the right decision to stay in Washington,â McCormack told reporters.
He said the chief US diplomat on Friday had her first phone conversation with acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert since Sharon suffered a massive stroke on Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
She can "monitor" a situation from anywhere. Seems to me like folks in Washington are planning on a funeral.
Claiming complete support of the army to his peace initiatives with India, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has offered to join the fight against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir if New Delhi agrees to pullout troops from Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla, considered to be the hotbed of militancy.
In a candid interview to Karan Thapar for CNN/IBN TV news channel, Musharraf also said he was disappointed at the lack of progress in the peace process and complained that there was "not much" response from India to the ideas thrown by him for resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Refuting perception that some of his top commanders do not back his peace initiatives with India, the General said he would "throw out" any Corps Commander if he declined to obey his orders or opposed them.
"Let me tell you, this is not a banana republic army. It is an army that fought wars. It is an extremely disciplined army. It is totally loyal and committed to me. I know that," he said in the interview to be telecast tomorrow.
Asserting that the Pakistan army backed his policies 1000 per cent, he termed as nonsense reports in the Pakistani media stating that a "powerful clique of religious parties within the military establishment" worked against him.
"If they were they would be out of the army tomorrow. I would not be worth my salt, if I am Army Chief and these people are doing that," he said. PTI
Posted by: john ||
01/07/2006 14:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
The Alliance for the Protection of Human Rights (APHR) on Friday expressed deep concern over the alleged Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) hooliganism on students celebrating a farewell party in honour of the outgoing students of the Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar.
The APHR in a press release issued on Friday said that IJT activists brandishing iron rods, threatened all those students present at the party to stop their celebration. âThe IJT students fired gunshots and harassed the students,â the APHR said. After their harassment, girls ran for safety and locked themselves in the girlsâ common room while the boys hid themselves in the nearby rooms.âThe fanatics broke window panes and tried to forcibly enter the girlsâ common room but failed because the door was tightly secured not only with bolts but also with the furniture,â the APHR added. Two girls fainted due to fear and harassment caused by the miscreants, the press release stated.
âIt is not the first time that the students affiliated to a religious party disrupted studentâs gathering in Peshawar University.â The APHR demanded that the government should take strong notice of the IJT hooliganism against peaceful students of the college and bring the culprits to justice.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's like a starting rotation:
Miscreants, 3-1, 3.26 ERA
Hooligans, 4-2, 4.45 ERA
...
Good relations with neighbours have kept Islamabad from making public evidence of the involvement of foreign countries in insurgency-hit Balochistan, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Friday. "We have evidence that foreign countries are involved," he told a news conference in Peshawar. "But we don't want to spoil the good relations we have with our neighbours," he added. There was no operation happening in Balochistan, he said, adding, "But action will continue till anti-state elements are eliminated."
"Anti-state elements and people running training camps will have to be finished," he said. He with Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao would visit Balochistan in a couple of days, Sheikh Rashid, asking the media to visit the province to look at the situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Wonder if the neighor would maybe be Iran. Baluchistan buts right up to Irans western border.
The Interior Ministry has asked the provincial home secretaries and Islamabad chief commissioner to check the collection of hides of sacrificial animals by banned religious organisations, sources told Daily Times on Friday. The home secretaries and chief commissioner were asked to form committees consisting of officials of district administrations and area police to arrest activists of banned organisations if found collecting hides during Eidul Azha, sources added.
The ministry also asked authorities concerned to deploy two security personnel at every venue where Eid prayers would be offered, sources said, adding that the ministry said the personnel should arrest anyone who belonged to banned groups or to seminaries run by and who appealed for hides. Sources said the directive was issued after intelligence agencies reported to the ministry that banned outfits would become active during Eid and exploit the religious festival by convincing worshippers to donate hides to them. Sources said the agencies reported that banned outfits would also appeal to worshippers for donations in cash for the rehabilitation of earthquake survivors. Sources said the ministry also asked authorities concerned to audit the accounts of seminaries, particularly before and after Eid, and to note down their donors.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Al Jeezera is going to run An EID Story for 24 in a row! I weep with laughter and fond memory when Abu Minor is sternly told "Careful with that Axe, you'll slaughter your sister." Goodtimes.
ISLAMABAD - The main separatist alliance in Indian-administered Kashmir at a meeting in Pakistan on Friday expressed disappointment with the United Nations for its failure to resolve the Kashmiri conflict. âWe have to be realistic and try to explore as many options as possible for resolution of the issue,â All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told a press conference in Islamabad.
Must be the fault of the UN that hard-boyz keep sneaking across the Line of Control ...
âThe UN failed to make any concrete progress in this respect in the last 57 years,â he added.
... since, after all, the UN can't use napalm ...
Farooq and two other APHC leaders, Professor Abdul Ghani Bhatt and Bilal Ghani Lone met Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri. They also visited quake-hit regions in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Northwestern Frontier Province (NWFP).
Mirwaiz fully supported Pakistanâs proposals for kicking out the Hindooos demilitarization and self-governance in the disputed Himalayan region, saying these options could be âbig stepsâ towards resolving the conflict. âThere should be a gradual withdrawal of troops from Indian-administered Kashmir, improvement in the ground situation and elimination of detention camps,â he stressed.
Strange, not a word about the hard boyz ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
The five major nuclear powers are working on a joint warning statement that aims to show unusual unified resolve and put fresh pressure on Iran not to resume nuclear fuel research, U.S. officials and diplomats said on Friday.
Iran, making a confrontation increasingly likely, has defied the international community with its threat to resume on January 9 atomic fuel research and development that was shelved over a year ago at the West's insistence.
In an effort to bring new pressure in the hours before Tehran takes what could be a fateful step, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China were working on a statement opposing the Iranian move and urging that Tehran return to negotiations on a compromise proposal, officials and diplomats told Reuters. Although the statement, known as a demarche, is not expected to contain specific threats, such as bringing Iran to the U.N. Security Council where sanctions could be imposed, officials said it could have significant political impact.
"It's another ratchet upward in terms of diplomatic pressure" because it is the first coordinated initiative on Iran by the five nuclear weapon states and would "show unity and cohesion among the P5, which has not always been there," said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the diplomacy was still in play.
P5 refers to the fact that the five nuclear powers are also the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
The goal was to issue the statement in the next 24 hours, but there were still some debate, officials said. A senior U.S. official said China was resisting joint action and wanted each of the five nuclear powers to issue separate statements on Iran.
And there you have it: China will defend Iran to the end.
But a diplomat was optimistic problems could be overcome, saying: "There is a sense that it will not necessarily be the toughest demarche but there is a consensus."
Russia, which is building Iran's nuclear plant at Bushehr, and China have been the most reluctant to conclude that Iran's nuclear activities are a serious concern and to join the United States and the European Union 3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- in demanding a halt.
Years of International Atomic Energy Agency inquiries have unearthed no clear proof of weapons activity, but Iran has acknowledged pursuing covert energy-related nuclear programs for 18 years. In September, the IAEA board found Iran in non-compliance with its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The EU 3, with U.S. backing, have tried to resolve the conflict diplomatically. Moscow tried to sweeten the deal by proposing a joint venture with Iran to enrich uranium in Russia but Iranian officials described the proposal as unacceptable. Russia for the first time is chairman of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries, so it is under a spotlight to demonstrate leadership abilities.
Russian and Iranian officials are to meet in Tehran this weekend and diplomats say the talks could have a major impact on whether Moscow backs stronger future diplomatic action on Iran, such as U.N. Security Council referral.
For two years, Washington has threatened to elevate Iran's case to the Security Council but delayed forcing a showdown as other strategies were tried, or support from countries like Russia was lacking. U.S. officials insist U.N. referral looks increasingly likely, although the timing is vague, and some experts say they hear serious talk of the IAEA board trying to effect an end to any nuclear cooperation with Iran.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 01:15 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
But it is New And Improved Nuanceâ¢. I have full faith that it would make us all safer. I mean, just look at the diplomatic horsepower behind this thing! It's gotta succeed, it must, and it will......[*takes a few deep breaths*]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/07/2006 11:34 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I'm not certain of the air currents over Iran. Can we wait and catch a strong northeasterly flow when we put the warm glow into Iran ? That way the Chinese will get the full benefit and maybe we can get a couple of million there for free.
Baghdad, Jan 7, P3
The Defense Minister Saâdoun ad-Duleimi has referred to the determination of the government to develop ties with NATO, reaching to join this alliance.In addressing speech he delivered on this occasion held by the Ministry of Defense on 85 anniversary of founding the Iraqi Army, said that the Iraqi new governments seeks to make the Iraqi Army as an active element to realize security and stability in the region.
#1
Very interesting -- if accepted that should serously change the dynamics of NATO in Afghanistan, for a start. And I suspect that in a year or so, at the current training pace, Iraqi units will be able to hold their own with the Dutch and the Belgians, at least. Especially on the weekends...
Al Qaeda's second-in-command said President Bush had admitted defeat in Iraq by announcing plans to reduce the American troop presence in the country, saying the move would be a victory for Islam.
Ayman Zawahiri's videotaped remarks, broadcast on al-Jazeera television Friday, came after two days of suicide bombings in Iraq killed almost 200 people, 11 of them U.S. soldiers. Al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq is widely believed to have been behind the deadliest of the attacks.
"Bush, you must admit that you have been defeated in Iraq and that you are being defeated in Afghanistan and that you will soon be defeated in Palestine," Zawahiri said, according to a translation of his statement by the Washington-based SITE Institute.
Zawahiri, an Egyptian who is al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, warned Americans that "as long as you do not deal with Muslim nations with understanding and respect, you will still go from one disaster to another. And your calamity will not end, unless you leave our lands and stop stealing our resources and stop supporting the bad rulers in our countries."
News services quoted U.S. officials as saying the tape was probably authentic.
Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Johnson, commander of U.S. forces in Anbar province, blamed al Qaeda for what he called a "horrific" suicide bomb attack Thursday on Iraqi police applicants in the western city of Ramadi. While acknowledging he lacked any concrete evidence, he said in a briefing broadcast to reporters at the Pentagon that the attack "has all the markings of al Qaeda," such as the targeting of innocent civilians.
But Johnson disagreed that insurgents were concentrating their efforts on Ramadi, the Anbar capital, saying he had seen no "notable increase" in violence there. "I don't believe Ramadi has become a focal point for the insurgency," he said. "Ramadi is not in flames."
Spared major follow-up attacks Friday, Iraqis were preoccupied with recriminations on a day when it is the duty of Muslim clerics to speak to flocks of the faithful. Sunni and Shiite religious leaders condemned the week's attacks but found different causes for the escalation of violence that followed a relatively calm period after national elections on Dec. 15.
"These are hands that are trying to settle old historical scores by undermining security," Ahmad Khider Abbas, a Sunni cleric, said in his sermon at the Um al-Qurra mosque in Baghdad.
In Najaf, Shiite cleric Sadr Aldin Qubbanchi said the United States "gave the green light for the terrorists" when it "released terrorists from the prisons under the call for human rights."
Sunni and Shiite politicians joined the fray, hurling provocative charges at one another.
Sunni political groups have challenged the results of the parliamentary elections, which delivered a victory to the Shiite religious parties that lead Iraq's outgoing government. Shiites have responded by accusing some Sunni politicians of being in league with the insurgent movement.
"We regret to say that some voices from the Sunni organizations contributed to and justified indirectly such attacks," Hussein Shahristani, a Shiite who is deputy chairman of Iraq's National Assembly, said in an interview. "The fact that they have called on insurgents to use violence to change the results of the elections has raised a very serious question."
"I am not sure who is attacking, but I am sure that this kind of statement, this kind of cheating, will lead to violence," Saleh Mutlak, one of the country's most prominent Sunni Arab politicians, responded in a separate interview.
Thousands of angry Shiites took to the streets of Sadr City, a Baghdad slum, chanting slogans against Mutlak and the U.S. presence in Iraq, the Associated Press reported.
The State Department, meanwhile, issued a statement condemning the attacks. "Acts such as these serve only to deepen the pain and suffering of innocent people," the statement said.
Thursday was one of the bloodiest days for the U.S. military since it invaded the country in 2003. On Friday, military authorities announced the death of six Americans in Thursday's attacks, in addition to five other service members whose deaths in a roadside bombing in Baghdad had been previously reported.
Among those whose deaths were announced Friday, two of the six were killed in the suicide bombing in Ramadi. In addition, military authorities said that two Marines were killed by small-arms fire in Fallujah, and two others were killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their vehicle in Baghdad. Military authorities would not provide additional details until the soldiers' relatives could be notified.
In his Pentagon briefing, the Marines' Johnson predicted that Iraqi forces would take the principal security role in Ramadi and nearby Fallujah by mid-year, and following that in western Anbar along the Euphrates River Valley. "Probably in the next four to six months, you're going to see a number of forces who will be able to take . . . increasing lead" in Fallujah and Ramadi, he said.
Iraqi army forces in Anbar have tripled, he said, from two brigades last April to two divisions comprising nearly 20,000 soldiers. However, he said, the province's police forces, largely disbanded because of corruption and involvement in the insurgency, are being rebuilt.
Also Friday, an Iraqi police patrol found 10 bodies dumped at a site about 20 miles southeast of Baghdad, said Capt. Ahmed Sami, a police officer with the Interior Ministry. Sami said the victims, in civilian clothes, had been blindfolded, handcuffed and shot in the head.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 00:46 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"I issue this warning from my comfortable unlit and unheated cave...."
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2006 1:21 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Brilliant! Lol.
Brought to you by the al DhimmiQaeda Party's Public Relations Dept, the WaPo Editorial Staff of the MSM Wing, and "Dr" Zawahiri, acting Director of the Ideological Operations & Murder by Shari'a Wing. All gave generously of their time and creativity in the preparation of this butt nugget.
LONDON - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was in the main southern Iraqi city of Basra on Friday to meet local politicians following the countryâs general election, the Foreign Office said. âItâs an opportunity for him to meet local politicians since weâve just had the successful elections in December,â a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP.
Straw was to hear the discussions going on in Iraq amongst the various parties about the formation of a new government, he said. âIn Basra, heâs meeting the governor, members of the cityâs ruling council and other politicians to discuss those issues and obviously heâll be getting an update on the security situation.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
BAGHDAD -Iraqâs fledgling military marked Army Day on Friday to the sound of mortar and rocket fire, highlighting the tough battle the troops face to bring security to the country. Waving Iraqi flags, some 800 soldiers from the armyâs 10 divisions paraded in front of senior Iraqi government and US officials as marching music played inside Baghdadâs fortified Green Zone.
But the annual ceremony, marking the 85th anniversary of the militaryâs creation, was a fraction of its previous size under Saddam Hussein. The toppled dictator used to sit with a rifle on his lap, firing off rounds, as thousands of troops, tanks, helicopters and fighter jets took part in a three to four hour-long parade.
Along with chained Kurds and Shi'a.
This time around, there were only two old Russian tanks on display as well as some US-made Humvees and military trucks, while Iraqâs current president and prime minister both chose to stay away.
Saddamâs theatrical gunshots were replaced by real mortar fire. One mortar round, fired by rebels, even struck about a hundred metres (yards) away but did not explode, said an AFP correspondent at the scene.
General Babkir Bederkhan Al Zibari, the armyâs chief of staff, had been talking to reporters at the time and ducked as the round flew past. âIt was nothing, it was nothing,â he said afterwards.
At the start of the ceremony, Defence Minister Saadun Al Dulaimi and US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad laid flowers at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier -- a giant shield-shaped stone slab erected in the centre of a vast circle. It was built under Saddam to commemorate soldiers who died in the Iran-Iraq war.
The Iraqi national anthem struck up as everyone stood to attention. The soldiers then marched grim-faced for about five minutes. Then Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab, and Zibari, a Kurd, gave rallying speeches. âTodayâs festival has a special meaning and it is not like the previous ones,â said Dulaimi. âToday we serve the nation and not the (then) victorious leader,â he said, in a reference to Saddam.
Standing to attention, with unloaded guns at their side, the soldiers then repeated an oath of allegiance. âI swear in the name of God and on my honour to protect the land of Iraq and its people from all aggression,â they chanted in Arabic.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The Jemaah Islamiah network is alive and dangerous, with close to 1,000 members, JI expert Sidney Jones warned Thursday (Jan 5). Despite repeated security crackdowns, the mainstream JI faction poses a far greater threat than the smaller, hardline breakaway group notorious for its suicide attacks, she added.
"How it will use that mass base is anyone's guess. But when you have a group of armed, trained supporters, you will use them in some way," Jones told academics, diplomats, officials and others attending the Regional Outlook Forum organised by the Institute of South-East Asian Studies.
Terrorism was one of the regional challenges highlighted at the annual event, held at the Shangri-La Hotel. About 20 speakers discussed political and economic challenges, among other issues, at the meeting.
Jones noted that the leader of the mainstream group, Thoriqudin alias Abu Rusdan, who was recently released after serving a three-year jail term for sheltering a bomber involved in the first Bali attacks, would likely work to revive and build up the network. The organisation also remained committed to military training for its members.
Some news reports have suggested that the mainstream group was the lesser threat because of its reservations over the use of violence to achieve the goal of establishing an Islamic state. But Jones, who heads the Jakarta office of the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organisation working to resolve conflicts, said the picture was more complicated.
While leaders of the mainstream faction tried to distance themselves from the splinter group, many of its rank-and-file members were still supportive of its violent tactics, she said. Jones noted too that the "suicide attack" faction was smaller, with just 30 to 50 people and getting smaller every day, and more easily broken up.
But, for now, its members are a pressing security concern. Its chief strategist, Noordin Mohamed Top, is at large and is behind a recent shift in plans to carry out kidnappings as a terror tactic.
But she added that bombing remains the "method of choice" and that recent potential targets included the Christian University of Malang, Americans working at an electrical plant near Banyuwangi in East Java, and a synagogue and foreign consulates in Surabaya.
The attacks did not materialise but "the sheer variety shows the group's determination to strike out at anything remotely feasible, with Jews, Christians, kafirs (non-believers), Indonesians and foreigners all thrown into the mix".
Such was Noordin's hatred of Westerners and non-believers that he had proposed attacks on the Novotel Hotel in Surabaya because the manager was believed to be an Australian, and on a mushroom processing company because its manager was thought to be a Chinese or Korean, she said, citing the testimony of a Javanese who had been accused of helping Noordin.
Jones said the hardline faction had also tried to recruit militants linked to the Muslim charity, Kompak, which had been involved in local conflicts in Poso. Although Kompak is not so well known, its leaders are able to mobilise its members swiftly in conflict areas, she pointed out.
Other speakers at the conference highlighted the security threat in southern Thailand and Mindanao and the influence of the developments in Iraq. Associate Professor Zachary Abuza, who teaches at the Simmons College in Boston, expressed his concern that foreign militant groups could get involved in southern Thailand. There is also information that some Bangladeshi militant groups are active in the troubled provinces, he said.
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said he feared Bangkok could face a terrorist attack within a year. Gunaratna said terrorism is growing at a very serious pace and that it is just a matter of time before terrorists attack Bangkok. At the conference itself, he had said that the centre of gravity of terrorism had shifted from Afghanistan to Iraq, and that it was inspiring a new generation of jihadists around the globe.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 01:08 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
LONDON - Britain has allowed the export to Iran of a cargo of radioactive material that experts believe could be used by the Islamic Republic as part of a nuclear weapons programme, The Observer reported on Sunday.
The newspaper said a truck carrying 1,000 kilogrammes (2,204 pounds) of zirconium silicate from a British firm was stopped by customs officials in Bulgaria at the border with Turkey. It quoted an expert as saying that zirconium metal can be extracted from the substance, whose trade is usually tightly regulated, and used to prevent fuel rods corroding in nuclear reactors and as part of a nuclear warhead.
But the truck, which had travelled unchecked from Britain through Germany and Romania without being stopped, was allowed to continue its journey to Tehran after a two-month investigation found an export licence was not needed. The Observer quoted a Department of Trade and Industry spokeswoman as saying analysis of levels of hafnium in the substance meant a licence was not required. âThis particular case raise no WMD (weapons of mass destruction) end-use concerns,â she added.
Independent nuclear consultant John Large told The Observer: âIt is not a very sophisticated process to extract the zirconium from such material.
âEven though it appears that technically this cargo does not fall within the international controls, I would still be concerned.
âZirconium is used for two purposes: one for cladding nuclear fuel rods inside a reactor and as a material for a nuclear weapon. If Iran wanted this material for any illicit purposes, this would be one way it could get its hands on it.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 23:43 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
In Iran's last presidential race, western governments and media favored Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. He was a "known" quantity and a "moderate." Michael Rubin, the editor of the Middle East Quarterly and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, pricked that soap bubble.
Four years ago, when he took the podium at Tehran University to deliver the Friday sermon, Rajsanjani forecasted that one day the Islamic world would be equipped with nuclear weapons that only Israel possessed (in the Middle East. At that point, he explained, "the strategy of the imperialists will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything." And, added the "moderate" former president Rafsanjani, "It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality."
Another prominent "moderate," courted by Europe's democracies, was former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami. "In the Koran," he declared in a homily Oct. 24, 2000, "God commanded to kill the wicked and those who do not see the rights of the oppressed."
The Bush administration argues a small minority of terrorists that have perverted the meaning of Islam have hijacked the Islamic religion. But didn't Khatami speak for Shiite Islam when he said, "If we abide by the Koran, all of us should mobilize to kill." This is not Osama bin Laden or sidekick Ayman al-Zawahiri or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi speaking on behalf of militant Islam, but a man who at the time he invoked the Koran to kill infidels was regarded in the West as the "moderate" President of Iran.
Possession of a nuclear weapon is fundamental to Islamist belief. No odes to world peace if they do this, or dirges to world catastrophe if they do that, are going to deflect the mullahs' core belief as dictated by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Fundamental to Israeli defense doctrine is that no weapon of mass destruction can be tolerated in any Middle Eastern arsenal. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, the geopolitical sage of the orient, said in a UPI interview three months before 9/11, the biggest threat on horizon 2010 is "an Islamist bomb and mark my words, it will travel."
Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, currently under the control of pro-Western President Pervez Musharraf, was developed by the same man who began assisting Iran's nuclear efforts 18 years ago. Dr. A.Q. Khan, also known as Dr. No for the nuclear black market he created for the benefit of America's enemies, began imparting his nuclear know-how to Iran in 1988. Israel believes if Iran resumes its weapons-grade uranium enrichment process, March 2006 becomes a critical month for the acquisition of its first nuclear weapon.
All is not well in Pakistan either. Radical clerics won a major victory against Musharraf by refusing to expel foreign students in madrassas, the Koranic schools where hatred of America and Israel, is still being taught.
Tehran started the new year by announcing it doesn't like a Russian compromise proposal and will resume nuclear fuel research shortly.
Iranian agents have also been scouring Europe for missile parts, says a 55-page intelligence assessment dated July 1, 2005. Leaked to The Guardian in the U.K., it draws upon material gathered by British, French, German and Belgian agencies.
Iran, says this report, has developed an extensive web of front companies, official bodies, academic institutes and middlemen dedicated to obtaining - in Western Europe and in former Soviet republics, the expertise, training and equipment for nuclear programs, missile development, and biological and chemical weapons arsenals.
The document, says the Guardian, lists scores of Iranian companies and institutions involved in the arms race. It also details Tehran's determination to perfect a ballistic missile capable of delivering warheads far beyond its borders. Iran is trying to extend the range of its Shahab-3 missile, which has a range of almost 1,000 miles, capable of reaching Israel.
Taking their cue from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who declared Israel "should be wiped off the map" and that the World War II Holocaust was a figment of Zionist propaganda, Iranian commentators are pushing the envelope to nauseous absurdity.
Tehran TV political analyst Hosein Rouyvaran said Nazi concentration camps were "detention centers" where no more than 250,000 Jews died and where "for hygienic reasons, they used to burn the bodies of those who died of typhus or contagious diseases (in crematoria)." Gas chambers, this moron explained, were "for disinfecting the clothes and the possessions of the prisoners.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/07/2006 01:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Leaked to The Guardian in the U.K.,..."
The "journalists" these days appear to have taken a page from the enviromentalists.
#2
I disagree about "target Israel". They hate Israel, but they feel threatened by the US. Therefore, their first choice of attack will almost invariably be against a US military target. The largest targets in the area are US aircraft carrier fleets.
Hostilities will commence only when Iran has a number of nuclear weapons, perceives the US in a state of weakness, and believes it can get away with an attack.
#3
Sheesh, all that talk about pot inspire you to light one up? You usually have much better analysis. While they would love to nuke us - they've made it clear they prefer soft targets and understand the strategic value of gaining ground in places like France, Spain and possibly Australia for their long term goals. You know that as well as anyone else here.
#5
But you could easily catch a CBG at the Straits of Hormuz, they cluster right around there. If they're not there you could easily reprogram your weapons to attack multiple CBG in the Indian Ocean which would lend a devastating aura to your national defense systems. I mean if you had 3844 points to expend. I'd buy a 40 watt plasma rifle tho. Way more funky.
MP Walid Jumblatt lashed out at the Syrian regime on Friday in a telephone interview with The Daily Star. According to the leader of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, the current Syrian regime "lacks rationality." Jumblatt said: "All I know is that ever since (Syrian President) Bashar Assad took over the reins in Syria, the campaign against (former Premier Rafik) Hariri escalated. The Syrian theory was that Hariri represented Sunni radicalism, which was considered as a threat to the Syrian regime." Syria is headed by a ruling Alawite minority who rule over a Sunni majority.
"At that time (President) Emile Lahoud was brought in by the Syrians as the strong Christian president in the face of the strong Sunni man (Hariri)," Jumblatt added. "All this theory was a precursor that paved the way for another ridiculous theory that there have to be strong alliances from Shiite to Christian to others in the face of the strong Sunni..." Jumblatt said such a theory was "absurd" as Hariri was the "best ally for Syria, when it still enjoyed rationality at the time of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his companions, among them his vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam." According to Jumblatt, "The best example of the lack of rationality in Syria today is that when Bashar became president Hariri told him that he had been serving the Syrian regime for the past 22 years. Yet Bashar's reply was 'I've only known you for four years.'"
Jumblatt also spoke of the process of decision-making in Syria today, asking: "Who rules Syria today? Is Bashar wielding the authority or not? Or does he enjoy a tremendous ability to camouflage this and not show that he is ruling?" Jumblatt suggested the possibility there was someone behind Assad "ordering him and who is stronger than him," and asked: "Who is this brother-in-law or the other that is taking such decisions, because it is well known that Bashar is not the one who makes the decisions in Syria."
Assad's brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, is head of Syria's intelligence apparatus. His name has been mentioned in the media as one of the Syrian suspects in the Hariri assassination. Jumblatt's statements were similar to those made by Khaddam that "a shameless mafia" is running Syria and that Assad "surrounds himself with sycophantic advisers and is unfit to rule."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
option 1 - the Jooooos
option 2 - the entrenched Baath party and military officials..
whadya think the odds are #1 is assumed?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2006 0:16 Comments ||
Top||
A former Syrian vice president disclosed that Lebanon's Parliament speaker, in coordination with Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, had hampered Spanish mediation efforts to halt the extension of President Emile Lahoud's mandate. In remarks published Friday in the London-based As-Sharq al-Awsat, Abdel-Halim Khaddam revealed that Spain, upon Syrian request, undertook mediation efforts to help stop the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 on condition that Syria dropped plans to extend Lahoud's term. "Assad asked Sharaa to contact Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos" on the issue, Khaddam told the pan-Arab daily from his residence in Paris.
Following talks between Moratinos, President Jacques Chirac, Premier Tony Blair, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President George W. Bush, "there was an agreement to abandon the resolution on condition that the head of the Lebanese Parliament cancels a call for a parliamentary session," that would vote for the extension, Sharaa told the newspaper. "When Moratinos informed Sharaa of the deal, the latter asked that the Spanish foreign minister convey the request directly to [Speaker Nabih] Berri. And when he did [Berri] replied: 'Lebanon is a sovereign country and Syria cannot impose anything on us,'" Khaddam said. "Two hours after Berri's response the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution," Khaddam said. A day later, on September 3, Lebanon's Parliament voted to give Lahoud three more years in office, in a defiant response to Resolution 1559.
Khaddam said Assad's decisions had "brought considerable damage to Syria." These, he said, led to the adoption of 1559, the murder of Hariri, the "humiliating pullout" of Syrian forces, a split in relations with Lebanon and international isolation. Khaddam openly advocated Assad's overthrow. "This regime cannot be reformed. The only alternative is to overthrow it," he told As-Sharq al-Awsat. "Syria is in danger. She is isolated as a result of the regimes policies, and national unity is threatened. When the country is in danger, it is necessary to reinforce national unity and ... the domestic front."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, has denied accusations by his former vice- president that he threatened Rafiq al-Hariri before the former Lebanese prime minister was killed. In comments made to Egypt's El Osboa newspaper, al-Assad accused the Paris-based Abdel Halim Khaddam of scheming against Syria before resigning in June and insisted the allegations levelled by him was simply not true. "This incident did not happen. The aim of spreading these allegations is to link the threat to the assassination. The game is over," al-Assad said, responding for the first time to Khaddam's accusations.
"I wish to say here that no one joined us in the last meeting between me and Hariri, so where did these allegations come from," he said in the interview. Al-Assad also hinted that as president of Syria, he would be immune from questioning by a team investigating al-Hariri's February assassination.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"he said WHAT? I'll kill him for that! I'm a peaceful man"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2006 0:30 Comments ||
Top||
Apple.com has the trailer for the new movie, Flight 93, coming to theaters in April. It looks ... interesting. One can't tell from a trailer, of course; if it shows the heroism and humanity of 40 strangers who came together I'll be very happy. If it turns out to be another leftist screed I'll be very upset.
I think you'll need Quicktime on your computer to view the trailer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2006 00:37 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Given the film industry's track record, I don't have high expectations.
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.
Somalia's feuding president and parliament speaker on Thursday signed an agreement in Yemen pledging to unify the lawless country's fractured transitional government, earning praise from the United Nations but widespread scepticism from war-weary locals at home. In a joint statement closing nearly a week of intense discussions in the Yemeni port city of Aden, they vowed to resolve their differences but gave no sign that the core problem â a dispute over the seat of the government â had been resolved. 
Saudi Arabia criticized Friday statements made by Iraqi Premier Ibrahim al-Jaafari yesterday in which he claimed that Saudi authorities were not providing sufficient facilities and comfort for Iraqi Hajj pilgrims and had not really considered an increasing desire of Iraqis to perform Hajj this year. The Saudi Press Agency quoted an official of the Hajj Ministry as saying that Jaafari's statements were an attempt to use the Hajj issue to deal with "his faltering political position" in Iraq. Saudi Arabia always offers sufficient comfort to the largest possible number of Iraqi pilgrims, said the Saudi Hajj Ministry.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has declared a crackdown on immigrant smugglers at two California border crossings from Tijuana, Mexico. Chertoff promised more prosecutions of smugglers who tried to enter the United States at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa crossings in San Diego, as well as more jail space to hold them, though he did not say on how much the effort would cost.
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday cancelled a scheduled trip to Indonesia and Australia to keep watch on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs fight for life, officials said.
The Alliance for the Protection of Human Rights (APHR) on Friday expressed deep concern over the alleged Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) hooliganism on students celebrating a farewell party in honour of the outgoing students of the Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar.
Good relations with neighbours have kept Islamabad from making public evidence of the involvement of foreign countries in insurgency-hit Balochistan, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Friday. "We have evidence that foreign countries are involved," he told a news conference in Peshawar. "But we don't want to spoil the good relations we have with our neighbours," he added. There was no operation happening in Balochistan, he said, adding, "But action will continue till anti-state elements are eliminated."
The Interior Ministry has asked the provincial home secretaries and Islamabad chief commissioner to check the collection of hides of sacrificial animals by banned religious organisations, sources told Daily Times on Friday. The home secretaries and chief commissioner were asked to form committees consisting of officials of district administrations and area police to arrest activists of banned organisations if found collecting hides during Eidul Azha, sources added.
LONDON - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was in the main southern Iraqi city of Basra on Friday to meet local politicians following the countryâs general election, the Foreign Office said. âItâs an opportunity for him to meet local politicians since weâve just had the successful elections in December,â a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP.
LONDON - Britain has allowed the export to Iran of a cargo of radioactive material that experts believe could be used by the Islamic Republic as part of a nuclear weapons programme, The Observer reported on Sunday.
MP Walid Jumblatt lashed out at the Syrian regime on Friday in a telephone interview with The Daily Star. According to the leader of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, the current Syrian regime "lacks rationality." Jumblatt said: "All I know is that ever since (Syrian President) Bashar Assad took over the reins in Syria, the campaign against (former Premier Rafik) Hariri escalated. The Syrian theory was that Hariri represented Sunni radicalism, which was considered as a threat to the Syrian regime." Syria is headed by a ruling Alawite minority who rule over a Sunni majority.
A former Syrian vice president disclosed that Lebanon's Parliament speaker, in coordination with Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, had hampered Spanish mediation efforts to halt the extension of President Emile Lahoud's mandate. In remarks published Friday in the London-based As-Sharq al-Awsat, Abdel-Halim Khaddam revealed that Spain, upon Syrian request, undertook mediation efforts to help stop the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 on condition that Syria dropped plans to extend Lahoud's term. "Assad asked Sharaa to contact Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos" on the issue, Khaddam told the pan-Arab daily from his residence in Paris. 
Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, has denied accusations by his former vice- president that he threatened Rafiq al-Hariri before the former Lebanese prime minister was killed. In comments made to Egypt's El Osboa newspaper, al-Assad accused the Paris-based Abdel Halim Khaddam of scheming against Syria before resigning in June and insisted the allegations levelled by him was simply not true. "This incident did not happen. The aim of spreading these allegations is to link the threat to the assassination. The game is over," al-Assad said, responding for the first time to Khaddam's accusations.
