The Taliban does not pose a real threat to the government of Afghanistan and is far from being a resurgent force, junior British foreign minister Mark Malloch-Brown said in a letter published on Thursday. In the letter to The Independent newspaper, the former UN deputy secretary-general dismissed the findings of a European think-tank report last week which said that the country risks becoming a divided state. The Taliban do not pose a credible threat to the democratic Afghan government, Malloch-Brown wrote.
Control: The Taliban do not control a single province or have the ability to hold territory, showing they are far from being a resurgent force. He continued: Much progress has been made since 2001, but we recognise that many challenges remain.
The Senlis Council wrote in a report last week that Afghanistan is in crisis and risks becoming a divided state, as Taliban insurgents now control vast areas of unchallenged territory, and called for the NATO-led force there to be doubled in size to 80,000. The Talibans regime was toppled in late 2001 by a US-led offensive, but they have stepped up their attacks recently.
This article starring:
Mark Malloch-Brown
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
And the brits' own influx of muzz immigrants are a bunch of cuddly fluffy bunnies. It's all so wonderful...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/30/2007 10:11 Comments ||
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#2
And if NATO left poor, old, feeble Karzai to his own devices how long would he be able to hold out against the Taliban?
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 ||
11/30/2007 12:49 Comments ||
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#3
Britain wouldn't know a "credible threat" if Finsbury Park bit them on the neck.
#4
In this case they're saying what we've been noticing here: Not only our U.S. and Brit and Canadian forces, but also the Afghan army regularly kick the Talibutt. There are nasty areas like Musa Qala, but the Afghan army's still growing, where the Talibs have peaked unless there's a major change of Pak government.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 13:52 Comments ||
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#5
When did the Pod People take over Mark Malloch-Brown? Or is he drinking outta the same water fountain as Murtha?
A Sudanese court has convicted a British teacher of inciting religious hatred in Sudan by letting her class of seven-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad. A defense lawyer for 54-year-old Gillian Gibbons says the court sentenced Gibbons to 15 days in prison, followed by deportation from Sudan. The British Foreign Office reacted swiftly, saying it is "extremely disappointed" in the sentence. It said the Sudanese ambassador in London will be called in to explain the decision.
Gibbons was tried in a Khartoum courtroom Thursday, four days after her arrest. Witnesses say the court session lasted several hours, with the judge hearing accounts from several people involved in the case, including a school secretary, Sarah Khawad who apparently filed the initial complaint about the bear's name.
Initial reports said the complaint came from parents of students in the private Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the incident was clearly an "innocent misunderstanding." Miliband met with the Sudanese ambassador to Britain and told him Britain is "very concerned" by the case.
This article starring:
Foreign Secretary David Miliband
Gillian Gibbons
Sarah Khawad
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
First Muslims went ballistic over cartoons, now they are rioting over teddy bears. I never believed we evolved from monkeys, because in some cases monkeys are more intellectually and emotionally advanced than people.
#3
If Britain had half a ball left they will demand the immediate release and removal of this lady from the Sudan or else. The else being the immediate bombing of whatever high value assets this sh*thole of a country has.
#4
They used to engage in a little gunboat diplomacy. Now England is weak. At some point the public will get fed up with this and take matters into its own hands. If the Crown will not defend itself the law will be left to the street. It is justice or anarchy and nothing in between.
#6
I await the day of the 100% satellite based failed nation cordon. No one in, no one out, no food or medicine for sharia freaks...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/30/2007 10:03 Comments ||
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#7
First and foremost, where are the millions of Muslims that AREN'T fanatical religious zealots and, why are they (the majority) not defending this poor woman and chastising the small minority of crazies?
There can only be 2 reasons: 1) they are afraid of reprisal from the crazies or,
2) Deep-down, they support the crazies and the concept of removing all infidels from the planet.
I suggest it's the latter and we (the civilized world) are at war with the Muslims and just don't know it yet. They understand it's a war and if it takes several generations or centuries to win, so be it.
To stop this war, the Muslim intellectuals/moderates must speak out against the crazies, turn them over to police and take charge of their religion or they will become part of the problem as well.
The problem is the Sudanese saw how Iran was able to mistreat the Brit sailors this past year. It was so easy for the muzzies to humiliate the UK. I have to wonder how the Sudanese would have handled this matter of the Mo teddy bear had the UK handled their hostage situation with Iran...shall we say...more aggressively.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
11/30/2007 13:13 Comments ||
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#9
I suggest it's the latter and we (the civilized world) are at war with the Muslims and just don't know it yet.
Some of us are quite aware we're at war, and have been since about 1919, when the Ottoman Empire was broken up after World War I. It became a "hot" war after 1970, when Arafat and others began to carry out terrorist attacks, and various governments began to both sponsor those attacks and train the attackers.
They understand it's a war and if it takes several generations or centuries to win, so be it.
To stop this war, the Muslim intellectuals/moderates must speak out against the crazies, turn them over to police and take charge of their religion or they will become part of the problem as well.
That will never happen, because their "religion" not only supports the war effort, it DEMANDS it. There are only two ways to stop this war: destroy islam or destroy its followers. Until we demonstrate, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we will eventually go to whatever extremes are necessary to destroy islam or muslims if they don't play nice in civilized society, they will continue to pound away at the edges until western civilization crumbles.
While there MAY be millions of muslims out there that aren't religious zealots,
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/30/2007 15:04 Comments ||
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#10
To stop this war, the Muslim intellectuals/moderates must speak out against the crazies, turn them over to police and take charge of their religion or they will become part of the problem as well.
They refuse to. Not out of fear but out of tacit support for jihad. Far too many opportunities have passed for Muslims in free nations to assemble in vast numbers and denounce their jihadist co-religionists. In their refusal, all of them have become part of the problem.
As Old Patriot notes, the West will have to destroy Islam and whatever portion necessary of this earth's Muslim population in order to unequivocally establish our displeasure with their constant aggression. Anything less is an open invitation for more business-as-usual by the terrorists.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group sailed through the tense waters between China and Taiwan after it was denied entry last week to a Hong Kong port, the U.S. Navy said on Thursday. An appropriate response to the vulgar insult from the Chinese. Lacks originality, though.
The USS Kitty Hawk and eight accompanying ships passed through the Taiwan Strait, seen as one of Asia's most dangerous flash points, on their way back to Japan after China barred the carrier group from entering the Hong Kong harbor for a long-planned visit, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii said.
"USS Kitty Hawk carrier strike group has transited the Taiwan Strait," Navy spokesman Shane Tuck said. "This was a normal navigational transit of international waters, and the route selection was based on operational necessity, including adverse weather." "Operational necessity meaning we have to show the Commies we're not some cruise ship trying to dock wherever it's sunny."
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split in 1949 when Mao Zedong's Communists drove Chiang Kai-shek's defeated Nationalists to the island. Tensions between the two countries have played out in the strait several times since then, most recently when China conducted military exercises there in 1995 and 1996, prompting the United States to send warships there.
There has been speculation that China's move to block the Kitty Hawk and the other ships was related to irritation over U.S. plans to help Taiwan upgrade its missile system and a meeting between Bush and the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. SHITTY KITTY SHITTY KITTY
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has told President George W. Bush that the incident is a misunderstanding, according to the White House, but a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman denied that account on Thursday. Talking out of both sides of their mouth - very Chinese. Everyone who's followed this incident, remember it. You will see it repeated again and again in the years to come.
#1
There has been speculation that China's move to block the Kitty Hawk and the other ships was related to irritation over U.S. plans to help Taiwan upgrade its missile system and a meeting between Bush and the Dalai Lama
Other speculation is that the Kitty Battle Group was there at the same time the PLAN Southern and Eastern Fleets were in port, and that the two fleets had just concluded exercises simulating a blockade of Taiwan.
#3
Time to declare a formal boycott of the Beijing Olympics. I'm so sick of these bastards. The Chinese communist government is an illegitimate curse on China.
#4
Oh, no, Ebbang Uluque6305. The time to declare a boycott is in the last few weeks before, perhaps a day or two before, and then send have our ambassador call on Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to transmit President Bush's announcement that it was a misunderstanding on the day before the closing ceremony. President Bush should be entirely to busy supervising the pounding of Iran, or perhaps on a state visit to Afghanistan, to communicate the same to whoever is putatively running China these days. ;-)
#5
Glad to see the notion of an Olympic boycott gaining traction. Yes, I feel for all the American athletes that would miss out but the time is now to jam a stick in China's spokes. A boycott could not be interpreted as anything but a well-deserved and swift kick in the crotch for China's Mandarins.
#6
FREEREPUBLIC > JAPAN REFUSAL ADDS TO US-CHINA NAVAL SPAT. Japan = Pentagon has turned down request for visiting Chin sailors to visit an advanced AEGIS destroyer; + REUTERS > CHINA TURNS DOWN ANOTHER US SHIP. USS REUBEN JAMES, + on 11/22 China had barred a US C-17 flight from landing in supply suppor of local US Consulate mission.
#7
Spot on. Good too see that someone is paying attention. China has always been a threat since Mao. The Chinese are a threat, yet their game PLAN [pun intended] is longer-term than the average attention span of the average Westerner. Keep watching China. Keep watching their every single move. Word to the wise.
#9
Has anyone noticed the disturbing habit of Chinese submarine forces being in places where they should not be? Japanese littoral waters, tailing the USS Kitty Hawk, etc. ? Has anyone wondered why they keep building up their missile forces directly across TW? What are they at now, 900? More? +/- [estimates are always off somewhat]. Of course, the Chicoms have not been invading Conus, hell bent on pilfering tech. The US has been totally asleep for several decades. And yet, still, there are China-defenders in the US Political Establishment.
The External threat[s] is[are] clear [tabulate and compile all the D##I##A and other data]. ... But what about the internal threat? Titan Rain proved some things.. but what if some US Politicians really, really have a hard-on for China, and do not care if China acquires the .mil advantage?? Maybe, just maybe, if WW-III [real WW-III, not the imagined WW3, sorry Newt] breaks out, all hell breaks loose and Conus is under massive [poss N] missile attack from China, would those Lefty Pols. get a 1st class flight to Beijing?? I think most pro-Chicom, Manchurian Candidates kinda-people will accept that. If caught red-handed and security forces were underway to capture some of these treasonous, pro-Chinese, domestic politicians before the Chinese missiles were hitting their targets, would we have the capability to "round up" every single pro-China politician? . If caught "red-handed", they just might try to book a flight to China. Sadly, the US has just about zero screening procedures as to who is PRO-China, and who is ANTI-China. The PRO-China forces will evade radar, every single time, as "they" are part of the system, as worms infect. So much for the System.
If the US loses in a massive nuclear and also conventional exchange with China, some will be like "Benedict Arnold" and easily walk way from the US.. Reminds me of the Dellums memo RE Cuba. Allegedly, the so-called Hon. Dell. sent the draft to Castro for rev. before it was sent back for his sig. Unreal. Also, I revisit the Panama Canal Fiasco. The Panama Canal belongs to the US, exclusively. Even if we need to re-take it with a massed airborne, and/or, other combined forms of attack. Once again, the internal subversion to US interests in that case, goes back to Carter and then finalized by Clinton.
Rattlesnakes, them all. Castro. Ortega. PLAN. FARC. etc
We live in a "Dangerous World" and, yet, we all need to keep a keen eye o all the REAL threats, and form policies and Contingency Plans to deal with each and every threat.
Our real Constitutional Liberties and Freedoms are always at stake.
Never-ending. Hopefully, the Republic that we are ALL sworn to protect and defend, will stand, despite the ignorance of the civilian electorate about all of these matters, most are generally, unread.
May God Bless all of the US Marines, The US Army, the US Navy and the US Air Force [not necessarily in that order]. May God Protect and Defend and Help all of those who are in "Harm's Way" risking "Life" and "Limb" [quite literally, particularly with respect to the IEds].
May God Be with the Doctors and the Nurses, at this time, for obvious reasons.
War creates very serious carnage. Of course, few care to know about that. War is to be taken seriously. If we get into, shall we say, a "scrap" with China, then we must detroy China in a few days, and leave nothing left. IF we play monkey games with China and let slip the "dogs of war", hopefully, the US will destroy China in about three days.
If China takes out just one carrier, then I say, let the entire country of China go back 5,000-10,000 years+. Just One US Sailor is worth 200 million+ Chinese.
Bring it on China, let's see where you go. Atheists, your Communist Nation.
Australian prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd said Friday he would pull the country's 550 combat troops out of Iraq by the middle of next year, marking a significant shift in Canberra's role in the conflict.
Rudd was elected in a landslide on Saturday that ousted veteran conservative prime minister John Howard, a staunch supporter of the US-led war in Iraq and a friend of US President George W. Bush.
Former diplomat Rudd had promised to withdraw the battle group from Talil in southern Iraq if elected but said he would leave behind some Australian soldiers, including those providing security at Australia's embassy in Baghdad.
"The combat force in Iraq, we would have home by around about the middle of next year," Rudd told a Melbourne radio station. "We've not begun our discussions with the United States on that. We'll have a meeting with the United States ambassador before too long to set up the appropriate processes for discussing that."
Australia has some 1,500 troops involved in Iraqi operations, although most are outside the country. Only the 550 combat troops deployed in the south of the war-torn nation are subject to Rudd's withdrawal plan.
Posted by: ed ||
11/30/2007 08:30 ||
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#2
Amateur hour. This is sad. The Aussies used to be the only country the US could depend on. Now maybe we need to look at the Poles instead. They say that in democracies voters deserve the governments they get. It will be interesting to see what the Aussies think of their new government in a year or two.
#5
It should be said: The country has not changed, nor have the Australian people. But the Howard Government's 12 years in power exhausted the attention span of enough voters to make the change.
These things happen. Life goes on. And the Rudd Government should not have the Senate majority needed to force through the worst of its legislative ambitions. Already Unions are starting to throw their weight around. This will start to wear thin before long.
#6
We're downsizing our troop presence there. I think it's only fair that Australia rest their troops, too, before the next push. Mid-2008 isn't anything like a precipitous pull-out.
Thank you, Diggers, for all you've done, and all you've yet to do to help keep the world safe for civilization.
Controversial politician Ehsan Jami may move to a home on the Prins Bernhardlaan in Voorburg. The municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg decided this on Friday after consultation with housing corporation WoonInvest.
Neighbourhood residents had sent a letter to the municipality this week protesting Jami's move to the area. The residents say they have nothing against the municipal council member, but are concerned about the safety of the neighbourhood. The municipality responded that it understood their concerns, but that these did not constitute enough grounds to ban Jami's move to the neighbourhood. At the request of the National Anti-terrorism Coordinator (NCTb), an apartment is being converted into a safe house for the politician.
Jami is controversial because of his statements about Islam. He published an opinion piece in the Volkskrant with Geert Wilders, for instance, in which they drew a comparison between the prophet Mohammed and Adolf Hitler.
The politician was assaulted by two men in his hometown in early August. He went into hiding temporarily after the attack. At the end of October the Labour PvdA expelled Jami as a party member. Since then he has continued as a one-man faction on the municipal council of Leidschendam-Voorburg.
Ehsan Jami, founder of the Committee for Former Muslims, has followed Ayaan Hirsi Ali's example and made a short film about radical Islam, the Telegraaf reports. The film entitled The life of Mohammed should be ready in February or March of next year and will cause more of a commotion than the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, the former Labour PvdA member says.
"I show how violent and tyrannical Mohammed was. This man murdered three Jewish tribes, killed people who left the faith, and married a 6-year-old girl, with whom he had sex when she was 9," Jami says in comment on the contents of the 10-minute film. The politician, who is still under heavy protection, says the film only shows the facts and does not aim to polarise the situation. "I will give EUR 50,000 to anyone who can refute these facts." Jami says that the film "is a small step for a man, but a big step for humanity and freedom."
The television station that plans to broadcast the film will not be announced until the last moment. News programme Netwerk has had contact with Jami for some time and has shown interest. The programme will wait until the film is finished before deciding if and how to broadcast it however. Jami says he has also had contact with CNN, which may decide to air highlights from the film. Of course, CNN will insist on having Jami answer questions submitted by CAIR and the Arab League asked by a YouTube video of a snowman dressed up as Bin Laden.
#1
Neighbourhood residents had sent a letter to the municipality this week protesting Jami's move to the area. The residents say they have nothing against the municipal council member, but are concerned about the safety of the neighbourhood.
If the media wasn't such a bunch of wimps and cowards, they would show us the faces of these residents and make them take their stand in the public eye.
I don't object to them being afraid, I would be too. These are the people that we need be most afraid of in this war. Sure, we need to fear the terrorists, but terrorists could not operate were it not for spineless, slithering, wimpering, muck like them.
Posted for its historical value, and a question: Whatever happened to the shadowy Ali?
A television documentary will finally provide confirmation that a massive terrorist plot was thwarted in Oslo in the summer of 1979. Police have confirmed that there was a plan to blow up the Israeli and Egyptian embassies in Oslo, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports. The two embassies are located in the densely populated and affluent Frogner district of Oslo, and were to have been blown up using vans filled with dynamite, the NRK documentary reports. Alfred Nobel would be so proud.
According to the program to be aired by NRK2 Spekter on Wednesday evening, two Norwegian criminals were approached at a nightclub in the Grand Hotel by a Tunisian named Ali. The Norwegian pair were offered NOK 1 million each, to be paid by Libyan intelligence, to drive the explosive filled vans into position. And a shadowy Libyan in the mix. Thanks for nuthin' Muammar.
The plot was allegedly inspired by discontent after the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt earlier that year - the Camp David pact between the two countries and the USA, to promote a peaceful solution to Mideast tensions. Peace in our naptime.
After nearly three months of surveillance and wire-tapping, the central figures in the plot were arrested and the Arab terrorist later expelled to Tunisia. Police never found the dynamite, and the matter was kept secret.
Mullah Krekar, the founder of an Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, has warned there will be reactions against Norway if it goes ahead with a court ruling to expel him, NRK television reported on Thursday. Three groups would react if he was deported, according to an NRK translation of comments the Iraqi Kurd made earlier this month to a website called Awane, which means mirror in Kurdish. The three groups were: his relatives, an unidentified armed organisation and people, possibly from Somalia or Morocco, who follow his religious teachings, according to the translated comments, which gave no details of what the reactions would entail.
Norways Supreme Court on November 8 upheld previous court rulings and a 2003 decision by the Norwegian authorities to expel Krekar from the Scandinavian country, claiming he was a national security concern. Norwegian law however prevents Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj, from being deported to his homeland until the situation in Iraq improves.
This article starring:
Fateh Najmeddin Faraj
Ansar-al-Islam
Mullah Krekar
Ansar-al-Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
conditions in Iraq have improved since 2003
I am sure Kurdistan would welcome his return...
he he he ...
#6
Exile him to Svalbaard in a tank top and Bermuda shorts. Make sure there isn't anything else available to him for, say, a couple of years. Let him eat what grass there is there, or some of the sea birds that nest on the islands. IF he survives, then let him back into Oslo, contingent upon the condition that if he does anything else against Norway or its people, he goes back - in his birthday suit.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/30/2007 16:19 Comments ||
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#7
I hear Sudan is big on deportations right now, perhaps a tit-for-tat?
#9
Threatening Norwegians always works so well. They are such a meek and biddable people, almost like mules in their willingness to obey those shouting at them when they have other ideas.
Snip. Duplicate. Please check for duplicates before posting. AoS.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/30/2007 12:11 ||
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#1
Great, now Murtha has betrayed everyone except the corrupt recipients of his earmark largess. Now if we could get this fat jackass to beg for forgiveness for his past mud slinging.
#2
"This could be a real headache for us,"
As RB'ers have said all along, these traitors only have problems if America wins. That's why they actively work to make us lose.
#3
I do have to admit, McCain may be getting some well deserved "I told you sos" out of this. I still think the way he handled it was less than professional. I don't know whether to be happy for him or not. Being proved right abou the surge is just going to encourage him further with his "Don't dare question me, I know better than thee" routine.
Does anyone remember what Senator Biden's position was back in 1999 regarding Kosovo? I can recall President Clinton and Madeline Albright authorizing the bombing Serbia and Kosovo without congressional approval at that time.
This article is a big sloppy kiss for Biden. Romney doesn't get articles like this.
PORTSMOUTH Presidential hopeful Delaware Sen. Joe Biden stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without Congressional approval.
Impeachment begins in the House, you knucklehead.
Biden spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 100 at a Seacoast Media Group forum Thursday, which focused on the Iraq War and foreign policy. When an audience member expressed fear of another war with Iran, he said he does not typically engage in threats, but had no qualms about issuing a direct warning to the oval office. The President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran and if he does, as foreign relations committee chairman, I will move to impeach, said Biden, which was followed by a raucous applause.
Biden said he is in the process of meeting with constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum saying as much, and intends to send it to the President.
Joe Biden is living proof that our Founders were wrong: not every small state has two qualified citizens to send to the Senate.
When resident Joel Carp asked Biden why not impeach now given what has already been done, Biden said it was a valid point but might not be constitutionally valid and potentially counterproductive. A case for impeachment must have clear evidence, he said, and blame should be directed at the right parties. If youre going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach Cheney first, said Biden, which also received applause.
Biden said the best deterrent to prevent preemptive military action in Iran is to make it clear, even if it is at the end of his final term, action will be taken against Bush to ensure his legacy will be marred for all time.
How about deterring Iran instead?
Biden took shots at the Bush administrations idea to centralize government in Baghdad and called his decentralized plan the only way to political settlement. The recent decline in violence in Iraq, which some Republicans have credited to the surge, is the result of the military doing its job. President Bush, he said, has not done his job in using the relative peace to find a political compromise as he promised. Theres no evidence it has happened and no evidence it will happen, he said.
Other than the de-baathification bill that has been introduced, the oil revenues bill passed, etc, etc. Don't let facts get in the way, Joe.
Throughout the forum, Biden stressed the need to improve foreign relations throughout the world and pointed to his 29-year resume as proof that he can make that happen.
Thank goodness we have the Biden bill, and the Biden amendment, whatever would we do without the Biden amendment?
Biden joked about his low poll numbers, how the national media does not cover him and the lack of funding compared to the coffers of fellow hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. This is why Im in New Hampshire and Iowa, he said. Its the last level playing field.
Biden went to his next appearance knowing he had at least one more vote. As the forum was coming to an end, Byrl Short stood up and announced his support. I came here an undecided voter, he said. And you are the man.
#1
The President has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran...
Um... Yes he does. It is called the War Powers Act. Man, I am so tired of dhimocrat crying and stupidity along with their left wing, uninformed fringe. Urge to kill... rising...
#5
Damn, they're still terrified of Cheney, aren't they?
The 'Impeach Bush' yard signs in my neighborhood have recently been updated with little red stickers over the'Bush' part. The little red stickers say 'them both'.
#7
Why is Biden so convinced "W" won't come to the Congress for a War Declaration? The Iranians would probable mount a preempted strategy anyway, just from the jittery nerves of 'sitting and waiting' the vote!! Handing Bush the trump card to play in the finally anyway!
Even censure takes a great deal more effort than anyone in today's Senate is going to exert. Also, with Biden's party at the reins, it isn't going to happen anyway.
#9
The Arabs - except Syria - are somewhat online on the Iran proliferation issue.
I would hope that the President doesn't tip his hand by seeking pro facto support for the bombing. The rationale is obvious. During the Grenada and Panama interventions, President Reagan started explaining the second the troops hit the ground. Good idea.
#10
We really should bring back dueling I think. Then politics will be alot more fun and I think even the common men and women of America would enjoy watching C-SPAN.
#12
I agree, Silent. The manners of this country have been going downhill ever since duelling was outlawed. Besides, practically any "diminuation" of Congress would act to raise the IQ of the body politic.
#13
Even if Bush went to Congress (as he did prior to Iraq) the Congress would forget their vote when convenient. Congress, established to balance the power of the Judicial and Executive branches has been a pansy and let-down lately.
#15
Biden said the best deterrent to prevent preemptive military action in Iran is to make it clear, even if it is at the end of his final term, action will be taken against Bush to ensure his legacy will be marred for all time.
Little does this spineless moron realize that bombing Iran and pre-empting their aquisition of nuclear weapons would one of the few things to burnish Bush's now-faltering legacy in ways that little else could.
#18
And besides ... they can "impeach" all they want, it would take 66 members to convict and there has to be a crime committed.
Bombing Iran without congressional approval is NOT against the law. The first thing Biden would have to do is decide what law such a bombing violated. You can't impeach just because you don't LIKE what someone did, the purpose if impeachment is to bring top Executive and Judicial branch members to justice when otherwise they might either pardon themselves or otherwise rule in their own favor.
#19
Biush can do anything he wants for 30 days as long as he notifies Congress in a proper manner, then has to go conress within 60 days after that to ask for more funding. Or so I understand it.
#20
The War Powers Act allows the President to use military forces for 60 days, without a formal declaration of war by Congress. It also grants an additional 30 days upon a formal request by the President, regardless of Congress's agreement with the request.
#24
I suppose what surprises me most is that he even said such a thing. Well, maybe that says more about the average American than it does about him.
He knows the law and he knows there is no way to bring charges for bombing Iran unless they pass legislation explicitly making that the case. But saying so apparently appeals to a good number of the population who apparently don't know what impeachment is or what the war powers act is.
Either way ... he isn't the idiot, we are the idiots because if he thought the people would understand this, he would have never said it. HE knows better, but he knows that for the most part WE don't know better.
#25
Does anyone remember what Senator Biden's position was back in 1999 regarding Kosovo? I can recall President Clinton and Madeline Albright authorizing the bombing Serbia and Kosovo without congressional approval at that time.
Excellent point. Biden has always been full of crap.
Biden joked about his low poll numbers, how the national media does not cover him and the lack of funding compared to the coffers of fellow hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Proving that even most dhimmicrats understand what a loser Biden is.
#27
LUCIANNE > Dubya is not afraid and will STILL send in US military troops into PAKISTAN iff he = USA has true evidence that Osama, etal. are indeed hiding out in Paki areas.
#28
This is simply Joe Biden's way of reminding Democratic primary voters he's still running for the Democratic presidential nomination. My feeling is that this is just a throwaway line to get the press to sit up and pay attention. When push comes to shove, he'll just make the usual bland remarks about how pursuing this line would be unnecessarily divisive.
#29
MIL FORUM Posters > believe SAHAB-3 range can be easily extended to 5000 kilometers iff new Ashoura-Ghadir techs applied.
PAYVAND/TOPIX > US SAYS IRANIAN REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS NOW PATROLLING THE GULF. Any and all Iranian naval operations in Gulf now placed under IRGC for approxi 4-5 years. USN considers move a serious development.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy.
"I think the 'surge' is working," the Democrat said in a videoconference from his Johnstown office, describing the president's decision to commit more than 20,000 additional combat troops this year. But the Iraqis "have got to take care of themselves."
Violence has dropped significantly in recent months, but Mr. Murtha said he was most encouraged by changes in the once-volatile Anbar province, where locals have started working closely with U.S. forces to isolate insurgents linked to Al Qaeda. He said Iraqis need to duplicate that success at the national level, but the central government in Baghdad is "dysfunctional."
Mr. Murtha's four day-trip took him to a Thanksgiving dinner with troops in Kuwait last Thursday, and he then made stops in Iraq, Turkey and Belgium.
#3
When Murtha and the party hacks are willing to acknowledge the success, we know they have a reason for it that has nothing to do with seeing success and everything to do with their wanting to get Hillary elected. My guess is that this allows Hillary to sideline Obama and allow her flipity flop record on the war to become less of an issue for the democrats. But then, who knows?
#5
but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security ...
Uh, yeah. OK. Spoken like the leader he is. Assuming he had his teeth in, of course.
... and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy
Why? At the rate things are going the coalition will be able to shake hands, turn around with weapons safed, and walk home. But I'm sure you have some kind of audience in mind when you say $hit like that.
I think the 'surge' is working," the Democrat said
That must have hurt. Black feathers wedged between his teeth, two crows feet sticking out his nose, two black wings sticking out of his ears, and a beak sticking out of his a$$.
Murtha said he was most encouraged by changes in the once-volatile Anbar province
Always open to different points of view, I see. A true sign of humility. Too bad it had to wait until after it was over and done with before he would come out from under the bed.
He said Iraqis need to duplicate that success at the national level, but the central government in Baghdad is "dysfunctional."
He oughta know. Anyway, if anyone in the Iraqi government is reading this, it would be best to do as he says on this one, not as he does.
Mr. Murtha's four day-trip took him to a Thanksgiving dinner with troops in Kuwait last Thursday
Probably had some earmarks in the budget to make sure the troops he was with got turkey for dinner.
#6
Dinner in Kuwait, not Iraq. Didn't the president serve the troops in Iraq, last year? Pre-Surge, when it was still dangerous? And he only a National Guard pilot, not a tough Marine like the honourable Representative John Murtha.
Still, this noble admission distracts nicely from the fact that the honourable, etc. has never backed away from his original position on the Haditha Marines. So that's ok.
#15
The donks could have reasonably and legitimately claimed credit for the Surge if they had not been so blinded by BDS. They were, two years ago, telling Bush to "listen to the Generals" and "send more troops." When Bush finally did so, they should have thanked him for finally adopting their strategy that they had been advocating for so long.
But that would have meant taking responsibility for an action before knowing its results. Instead they took the irresponsible politically motivated route of being against whatever Bush was for.
Idiots.
Instead they adopt the whore Sanchez, commander of the failed strategy they had previously condemned after the futility of his strateghy had been demonstrated for all the world to see in six brief months by his successor Petraeus, whom they mock as Betray-us.
#18
Murtha must be really scared of the Republican vet who's running for his seat.
He's probably figured out that Code Pink can't save his seat all by themselves.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/30/2007 12:51 Comments ||
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#19
The Dems blew it - they WERE RIGHT when they were arguing for more troops to WIN the war. Then they sold out to the looney left, DailyKos rabble, and are left holding the bag and hoping for the DEFEAT of the US in Iraq.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been sworn in for a second five-year term, a day after he kept his promise to step down as army chief. Addressing the nation in a televised speech later in the evening, Mr. Musharraf said he "fully intends" to lift emergency rule on December 16 and restore Pakistan's constitution before January elections.
Natty-looking suit. London tailor?
Politicians, top military leaders, and diplomats were guests at the swearing-in ceremony, which took place at the presidential palace in Islamabad. Mr. Musharraf repeated the oath administered by Abdul Hameed Dogar, the Supreme Court chief justice he hand-picked after imposing emergency rule November 3.
This article starring:
Abdul Hameed Dogar
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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President Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday that the emergency rule and the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) would be lifted from the country on December 16, and the January 8 elections would be held at all costs under the constitution. He said this during a televised address to the nation, and at a ceremony after taking oath as civilian president to resume his second five-year term as head of the state. The situation has improved and I fully intend to lift the emergency rule and withdraw the PCO on December 16, he said in his first televised address after taking oath.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday dismissed Pervez Musharrafs presidency as illegitimate, saying the Supreme Court bench Musharraf purged to ensure a second term should be restored to rule on his election.
Hours after Musharraf was again sworn in as president, this time as a civilian, Nawaz demanded he end emergency rule and release opponents jailed after the November 3 crackdown. Under the circumstances, we do not accept him as a legitimate president, said Nawaz, adding that the judiciary of November 2 must be restored. That judiciary was thrown out by Musharraf just for personal reasons, he said in an interview with Reuters at his home. Whatever decision that judiciary gives [on his re-election]...that would be a decision which would carry legitimacy and credibility.
Nawaz said his arch rival, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto would have to join the polls boycott for it to work.
To a question about the acceptance of his nomination papers, he said, If theyve already decided to turn down my papers, then I can do nothing. There are no courts where I can go to, there is no judiciary which can address my grievances.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday that the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) had decided to boycott the polls without consulting her, adding that the PPP would run in the polls in protest, Dawn News reported. Also, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party would participate in the polls despite the APDMs decision, APP reported. Benazir told a British channel that boycotting the polls was certainly an option, but the restoration of judiciary was a separate issue, Dawn News reported.
She welcomed President Pervez Musharrafs promise to lift the emergency rule on December 16, saying, certainly these are good confidence-building measures, but more needs to be done, including mechanisms for ensuring that the elections are free and fair, AFP quoted her as saying. Fazl said that it was not the APDMs jurisdiction to decide about the polls boycott.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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The row between the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) over using the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) platform and symbol in the next elections has intensified.
Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri of the JUI-F told Daily Times that his party would take part in the elections from the MMA platform and use its symbol, a book, if the JI or any other component party of the religious alliance decided to boycott the election.
He said that the JUI-F had opposed an election boycott in Wednesdays meeting of the MMA Supreme Council, insisting that if a major party like the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chooses to take part in the elections, the MMA should follow suit.
He said that the MMA election symbol, a book, was not the property of a single party and the JUI-F would certainly use it in the coming elections.
However, JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, as the MMA president, had asked JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman not to use the MMAs platform and its symbol in the polls.
Ticket problems: The JI and JUI-F are also at odds over the issuance of MMA tickets for the national and Balochistan assemblies, sources told Daily Times.
The sources said that around 65 constituencies of the national and Balochistan assemblies had become a contentious point between the two parties. The JUI-F had named candidates for these constituencies on November 24 without consulting the JI or other parties of the MMA.
Recently, the Balochistan chapter of the MMA replaced Muhammad Khan Shirani of the JUI-F with Maulana Abdul Haq Hashmi of the JI as their president, to the displeasure of Maulana Fazl and his party members.
Sources said that the matter came under discussion in the MMA Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday, where Ahmed wanted MMA Balochistan leaders to finalise candidates names after consulting all component parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM)s decision to boycott the general elections is not surprising, as all component parties of the alliance had already been saying that they could boycott the elections, Daily Times Editor Najam Sethi told Dawn News on Thursday.
He said the APDM might have to reconsider its decision if the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) decided to contest the election. It is interesting that they (the APDM) have not withdrawn their nomination papers, which means that they may still decide to participate in the election, he said.
He said the PPP and the JUI-F were unlikely to boycott the polls as the former had chances of forming a government in Sindh and the center, whereas the latter in the NWFP and Balochistan. The parties like the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to boycott the vote, as they were not likely to win too many seats, he added.
He said not a boycott by the APDM, but a boycott by all political parties especially by the PPP was essential to derail the election process, adding that the PPP would go for a boycott only if it smelled massive rigging in the election, in which case it might join hands with the APDM in its decision to boycott the polls, he said.
He said there were little chances for the PPP to boycott the polls as most of its demands including President Pervez Musharrafs doffing of uniform, revocation of the Provisional Constitution Order and lifting of the emergency had already been met. He said there were only two demands by the PPP, which had yet not been satisfied suspension of the local bodies and the re-constitution of the Election Commission. And if the president suspends the local bodies by December 16, there will be nothing left for the PPP to boycott the polls for. So, the PPP would probably participate in the election, he said.
He said the PPP and the JUI-F were unlikely to boycott the polls as the former had chances of forming a government in Sindh and the center, whereas the latter in the NWFP and Balochistan. The parties like the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to boycott the vote, as they were not likely to win too many seats, he added.
Sethi said that former premier Nawaz Sharif was in two boats now. He had returned to the country to take part in the elections but knew that he would not be able to get majority seats or to work with Musharraf, and so a boycott was a good option for him if only Benazir and Maulana Fazl could be persuaded to come along.
This article starring:
Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
All Parties Democratic Movement
Najam Sethi
Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan Peoples Party
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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The Iraqi Defense Ministry has incorporated 80 new officers, specialized in defusing bombs and booby-trapped cars, into the army forces. A ministry statement said Thursday that the 80 officers had received ample training and were well-equipped to handle and defuse explosive devices and booby-trapped cars.
It noted that bombings had dropped over the past period due to the inclusion of trained personnel among army ranks.
Bombings are a major concern for both civilians and army forces in Iraq, and the Multi-National Force had recently announced it would replace all Humvees with armored vehicles that were resistant to explosive devices.
#2
I sure as hell hope not. I hope these guys do a great job and live to tell about it. I have one hell of a lot of respect for anyone who defuses live bombs for a living.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/30/2007 14:41 Comments ||
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#3
well, i hope they do a good job too but they will be offed as soon as insurgents figure ouyt who they are or their entire fanilies are massacred
#4
Apparently they were sent through the DOD bomb-disposal school in the States, at our expense. I hope these 80 can train 800 more, because it's going to take that to get rid of all of Saddam's junk.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/30/2007 21:36 Comments ||
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#1
I am not quite sure why there is a Dutch representative at the Annapolis conference and why he would be talking to the Washington Post.
However, if what is reported is true, then all Condi really said was that her childhood gave her an understanding of both sides, people for whom life is always threatened. Not a big deal.
Of more interest is the quote "
Timmermans also told the Post that (Israeli) Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had pleaded with Arab representatives at the summit to stop "treating her like a leper," and questioned why they refused to shake her hand.
The Arab representatives, he added, had treated Livni like she was "Dracula's younger sister."
Not all that astonishing. I've never thought much of Rice. I've read some of her (Reagan-era) papers, before she became a government official. It struck me upon reading them that they weren't that original or insightful - I couldn't figure out why she was being published. Then a friend pointed out - which hadn't occurred to me at the time, since I was going through a liberal phase - that she was not only a woman, she was black, and probably the only black woman writing about the Soviet threat in a reasonably cogent manner. The guy was brilliant, but there were plenty of other brilliant white political science PhD's. Condi Rice, on the other hand ...
#3
Sounds like they expect Israel to continue to follow the 'roadmap' even though the Paleos have never had any intention whatsoever, of fulfilling any of their agreements.
Funny how there is not a single mention of the flat-out acts of war which the Paleos have repeatably committed against innocent Israeli civilians.
We need to get the hell out of the UN, defund it and kick the parasites out. All it is anymore is a terrorist organization.
#5
Representative of the League of Arab States Saad Al-Farargi noted that it had been 40 years since the occupation of Arab lands...
General Arab Women Federation's representative Juliette Sayedgh recalled that after 40 years of occupation by Israel of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip...
Actually, it's been forty years since the Arabs started a war, got their asses kicked, and lost this "occupied land".
Just wanted to point that out to the Arab reresentatives, seing how they appear to have forgotten it.
#6
They must be a LOOOOOT far worse than those of Sudan's Blacks (mass rapes and murders )giveen how much time he spends on Paleos and how little on Suadanese Blacks.
#8
Ban Ki-Moon is right. First the Paleos were occupied by the Jordanians and Egyptians and now by a gang of thugs who refuse to resettle the refugees and use hate and a death cult version of their religion as a distraction.
When there was problems in Uganda's Ida Amin dictatorship the neighbors in Kenya invaded and removed the problem. What the Pals need is a neighbor with a first world army to invade the West Bank and Gaza and remove the thugs. Perhaps such a state could install a temporary dictatorship under a sane Arab (I know, I know) leader to unify the Palestinian Arabs and crack some heads together. To build infrastructure and hospitals instead of tolerating rocket attacks and suicide bombing.
If only such a state existed in the middle east. I've looked at many Arab maps and just don't see such a state there. So Ban Ki-Moon will just have to wait.
#10
I had a look at the 1947 boundaries delineating a Jewish state and an Arab state. It was one wacky gerrymander. I'm unclear how they thought that would work in the first place.
Of course, the war signaled that the Arab side wasn't interested back then, anyway.
Ma'an A prominent Fatah member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on Thursday criticised the Ramallah government for their suppression of the anti-Annapolis rallies across the West Bank. Palestinian security services detained hundreds of protestors in Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah during Tuesday's rallies. One man died after being shot in the heart by Palestinian security forces, who also attacked Palestinian journalists and media crews.
Azzam Al-Ahmad said that the Palestinian government should have organized the crowds' activities instead of suppressing them. "We are a people who are proud of our democracy which is a model to be followed and the Palestine Liberation Organisation is proud of democracy. All Palestinian forces should abide by the law," he said. "While we are proud of our police and security officers and their commitment to law and order, we were Astonished at the way they blocked the rallies in Hebron and Ramallah, injuring citizens and journalists," he added.
This article starring:
Azzam Al-Ahmad
Fatah
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Ma'an Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday reiterated that the Annapolis conference was the start of a historic opportunity to end the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories, including east Jerusalem.
He also said there should be an agreement on a just solution for the question of refugees, based on UN resolution 194, in addition to securing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
In a speech,delivered on behalf of Abbas by the secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Executive Committee, Yaser Abed Rabbo, at the UN in New York, on the occasion of Palestinian solidarity day, he said, "Our people are looking forward with great hopes towards the future. They insist on adhering to their rights and they are confident that the international community will not let that opportunity pass by to end the Arab-Israeli conflict starting with the core of the conflict which is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Telling.
He didn't say it was time to plan for statehood, he said it was time to get those damn dirty Jooos once and for all.
#3
NEWSMAX/DRUDGE/TOPIX > OLMERT WARNS OF "END OF ISRAEL", iff no separate Paleo State is created. Rising Arab population inside Israel = decline and end of TWo-PARTY STATE SOLUTION and inevitable SOUTH AFRICA-style internal sectarian struggles over egalitarian/pluralist "Arab versus Israeli", "Israeli Muslim versus Jew", legal-nattural rights, etc. ISRAEL CANNOT CLAIM TO BE DEMOCRATIC AND PLURALIST BUT BE ONLY JEWISH.
Also from NEWSMAX > IRAN TO CONTINUE/PROCEED WITH ATOMIC PLANS. World's Nuke Club in disarray and squabling - Iran argues that USA has de facto LOST its "nuclear challenge" to stop Iran's nucprogs. AND BTW, "ISRAEL WILL VANISH" FROM THE WORLD.
Hamas called on the United Nations to annul its vote partitioning British-mandated Palestine on Thursday, the 60th anniversary of the historic decision that permitted Israels creation. The Hamas movement demands the United Nations to immediately reverse itself on its resolution, the Islamists said in a statement released 60 years to the day that the world body voted to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. It is not shameful to correct its mistake, it said. Hamas puts (on the UN) the entire responsibility of the Resolution 181 vote that permitted the partition of Palestine and everything that followed it, and all the suffering and catastrophes suffered by our people.
The resolution displaced Palestinians from their land and brought forth the invasion of the occupiers and Western forces. Hamas said it does not recognise any international resolution that neglects Palestinian rights and principles, starting with the right of return for refugees and the creation of an independent and sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
OK - Make Palestine 100% Jewish. Does that work for you?
Israels Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview on Thursday that clinching a two-state solution with the Palestinians is essential for survival as he returned home from a US peace conference. If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then, as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished, Olmert told the Haaretz newspaper.
Palestinians living in the Isreali-occupied West Bank currently do not have a vote in Israeli elections. The Jewish organisations, which were our power base in America, will be the first to come out against us because they will say they cannot support a state that does not support democracy and equal voting rights for all its residents, Olmert was quoted as saying.
He brushed aside often-levelled domestic criticism that he had embarked on the revived peace efforts in order to draw attention away from several corruption investigations against him and boost his sagging ratings. People will say Im having problems and thats why Im trying to do (a peace process), but the facts must be dealt with justly.
He reiterated that the final status negotiations with the Palestinians, which he and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas officially relaunched on Wednesday, would not be easy. The talks will be difficult, complex, and will require a very great deal of patience and sophistication. He said Abbas was a valid partner for the Israeli side, despite his weakened position at home in the wake of the takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Islamist Hamas movement. We now have a partner, he said. He is a weak partner, who is not capable, and (international Mideast envoy) Tony Blair says, has yet to formulate the tools and may not manage to do so. But it is my job to do everything so that he receives the tools, and to reach an understanding on the guidelines for an agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
The Paleos are front line jihadis in the terror war. Don't talk about "survival" in context of non binding declarations of deceitful intent.
#2
Israel's survival is far more dependent upon Olmert's swift removal, by force if necessary. There is no "Two-State" solution, save only in the minds of the most tragically deluded non-Muslims.
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said failure to negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians would spell the end of the State of Israel.
He warned of a "South African-style struggle" which Israel would lose if a Palestinian state was not established.
Mr Olmert said it was not the first time he had articulated his fears about the demographic threat to Israel as a Jewish state from a faster growing Palestinian population.
He made similar comments in 2003 when justifying the failed strategy of unilateral withdrawals from Israeli-occupied land which holds large Palestinian populations.
"If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished," Mr Olmert is quoted saying in Haaretz newspaper.
IMHO, Paleos rejoice!
Olmert is just the right man holding just the right job at a most crucial time in history to destroy Israel once and for all.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/30/2007 14:04 Comments ||
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#5
does anyone understand Olmert's public pessimissim?
Israel has struggled through horrible situations before, but its leaders have never entertained defeat.. or the end of Israel.
Logging;
the pull out of Gaza,
the premature armistice with Hezbollah,
and now this public and premature capitulation of the entire state to "demographics"?
the only conclusion can be that Olmert and co. are the worst choices for leadership in Israel's history.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/30/2007 14:51 Comments ||
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A senior Russian envoy has been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Syria on the future of the Golan Heights, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday. The Maariv daily said Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov has been working on a plan that would give Syria sovereignty of the Golan Heights but allow Israel to take a long-term lease of the strategic plateau it captured during the 1967 Middle East war. The report said Sultanov had visited Damascus twice in recent weeks for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and that he had carried messages to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak. It said Olmerts trip at short notice to Moscow for a meeting with Putin earlier this month was connected to Sultanovs talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's top Christian opposition leader said Thursday he will back the army chief as a compromise president, increasing the chances for a deal to end Lebanon's political deadlock. The backing by Michel Aoun brings Gen. Michel Suleiman a step closer to the nation's top post, which has been vacant since President Emile Lahoud left office last week without a successor because of feuding between parliamentary blocs.
Failing to elect a president left Lebanon in a leadership vacuum not seen since the civil war, when rival governments ran the country in 1988-89. For the last few days, there has been heavy army presence throughout the country amid fear of possible clashes between pro and anti-government groups. Suleiman is seen as a neutral figure in a country where nearly every politician is considered to be either in the pro- or anti-Syrian camp.
A deal is not yet done, however. Aside from Aoun, the opposition, led by Syrian and Iranian ally Hezbollah, has not announced its stance on Suleiman, although he is respected among its leadership. The United States, which backs the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, has in the past pressed to end Syria's influence in Lebanon. Syria's allies in Lebanon, in turn, have accused Saniora of selling out the country to the Americans.
For Suleiman to be elected, the parliament will have to amend the constitution that prevents senior state employees, including army commanders, from running for the post while in office. "It is a great honor for the military that its commander be a candidate," Aoun, himself a former army chief, said after his bloc met. "We hope that after removing the constitutional hurdles Gen. Suleiman will be our candidate," he said.
This article starring:
Emile Lahoud
Fuad Saniora
Michel Aoun
Michel Suleiman
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Aoun backs..." Mainly because he can't stop it...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/30/2007 10:08 Comments ||
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Syria left a Mideast peace conference with nothing concrete on reviving its stalled peace talks with Israel. But its delegates received warm handshakes and words of thanks from Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, whose administration has all but shunned the Arab state.
At the end of a day of speeches and meetings in Annapolis Tuesday that focused on pushing forward the Israeli-Palestinian track, Rice walked over to the Syrian delegates, according Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington. "She shook hands with us and thanked us for participating," Moustapha told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. "She also asked us to pass our greetings to Foreign Minister Waleed al-Moallem."
"Her body language was very positive," he added. "(The encounter) was very relaxed. There was no tension."
This article starring:
Foreign Minister Waleed al-Moallem
Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What he means, probably, "We were really scared of what Americans might do to us. But there's nothing to fear from them."
#4
GLOBALRESEARCH.CA > TURKISH POLITICIAN: ANNAPOLIS SUMMIT PART OF PLAN TO ATTACK IRAN AND START WW3. Turkish Govt, NATO implicated in deceptive scheme.; + NEWSVINE > BOMBS AWAY? Scott Ritter says USA definitely planning to attack, bomb Iran. *TOPIX > TURKISH GOVT GIVES [new]OK FOR ARMY TO ATTACK KURDS IN IRAQ. Imminent?
U.N. officials investigating the killing of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri warned on Wednesday that those who carried out the attack still had the ability and resources to strike again in Beirut.
In his latest report on the U.N. investigative commission, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz said he had made progress on the Hariri investigation in recent months and was able to draw preliminary conclusions about important aspects and to identify more people involved.
Since his last report in July, Brammertz said tension had been high in Lebanon, which is going through a protracted crisis over the election of a president to succeed pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud, whose term expired last week. "The commission notes that evidence uncovered in the Hariri and some of the other attacks, including the recent assassination of Antoine Ghanem, confirms the fact that the perpetrators had and still have advanced and extensive operational capacities available in Beirut," Brammertz said. Ghanem, an anti-Syrian Christian member of parliament, was among seven people killed by a car bomb in September.
Brammertz said the tense security environment was affecting the commission's work and warned that after the failure to elect a president last week, "the prospect of a rapid deterioration cannot be excluded."
WITNESS PROTECTION
Brammertz said the investigative commission needed to restrict the information it made public to avoid jeopardizing the probe and endangering individuals, and he recommended setting up a witness protection program. He said recent developments had led to the identification of "additional persons of interest" but he gave no names.
Brammertz has said in the past that a likely motive for the attack was the role of Hariri, who became a prominent critic of Syria, in support of a 2004 U.N. resolution demanding that Syrian and other foreign troops withdraw from Lebanon. In the latest report, he said Syria had been generally cooperative with the investigation.
Brammertz also is investigating 18 other political murders or attempted murders in Lebanon and he said the commission would focus on establishing links to the Hariri case.
It was Brammertz's last report to the Security Council before his mandate expires at the end of this year, when he will be replaced by Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare.
The commission is due to hand over its findings to a special tribunal that is being established in the Netherlands. Starting Jan. 1, Brammertz will take over as prosecutor of the Hague-based international tribunal for former Yugoslavia, replacing Switzerland's Carla Del Ponte. His appointment was approved on Wednesday by the U.N. Security Council.
This article starring:
Antoine Ghanem
Carla Del Ponte
Daniel Bellemare
Emile Lahoud
Rafik al-Hariri
Serge Brammertz
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The word 'women' must now be replaced on Iranian state television by 'family', reformist Norouz news agency reports.
What'd they replace the word "titties" with?
In programmes broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women last Sunday, Iranian state TV used the world family instead.
Bet they can't say "honkers," either. Prob'ly cause half the High Holy Politburo to have seizures.
In recent weeks, Iran's Centre for the Participation of Women changed its name to the Centre for Family Matters. At the time of former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, the centre was set up within the president's office.
And no video of Britney's caesarian scar, or Paris getting out of a car...
#2
In programmes broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women last Sunday, Iranian state TV used the world family instead.
See, that's good. If a woman's existence isn't recognized, then there can be no violence against them since they don't exist. Violence eliminated!
Problem solving the Iranian way...
According to several well-placed Rome sources, Iranian officials are quietly laying the groundwork necessary to turn to Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican diplomats for mediation if the showdown with the United States should escalate toward a military intervention. The 80-year-old Pope has thus far steered clear of any strong public comments about either Iran's failure to fully comply with U.N. nuclear weapons inspectors or the drumbeat of war coming from some corners in Washington. But Iran, which has had diplomatic relations with the Holy See for 53 years, may be trying to line up Benedict as an ace in the hole for staving off a potential attack in the coming months.
Iran may use Pope Benedict XVI to stave off potential US attack
"The Vatican seems to be part of their strategy," a senior Western diplomat in Rome said of the Iranian leadership. "They'll have an idea of when the 11th hour is coming. And they know an intervention of the Vatican is the most open and amenable route to Western public opinion. It could buy them time."
Continued on Page 49
#2
This pope doesn't seem that, ... naive. In fact, he seems like a hard ass and not someone you want to come to for protection after breaking the rules. That's a spanking.
#4
"The Iranians look to the Holy See with particular attention. It is born from our common religious matrix.
Anti-Israel and at least passively anti-semitic? Let's hope the Persians are wrong about that. They would have a sure bet with the Archbishop of Canterbury though so they might try him as well. In fact, I think the Archbishop could usefully be placed as a human shield somewhere combustible.
#5
Yep, it's Pravda. Unlike Playboy, you buy Pravda for the nekkid ladies ... and Bat Boy.
Posted by: ed ||
11/30/2007 9:52 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Anti-Israel and at least passively anti-semitic?
More likely that the Iranians are trying to use 1) the Vatican's long standing tradition of opposing war and, 2) their non-openly confrontational stance regarding Islam, to their advantage.
At this point, the Iranians are trying for any leverage they can get. And the Russians (and Chinese) are trying to help.
#8
I think the US military could take out the Pope fairly rapidly if it came to war. Heck, the Boy Scouts could take out the Papal States if given the order. Yeah the Swiss Guard are tough and all but the Boy Scouts are crafty and numberous.
#9
"The Iranians look to the Holy See with particular attention. It is born from our common religious matrix. This could be utilized to offer ourselves as an intermediary if the crisis worsens."
I really have to wonder just how much those folks at the Vatican have thought through exactly what Islam entails. Seekingmuch less findingany commonality with a doctrine that looks to erase yours from the face of this earth seems foolish at best and more likely, just plain suicidal.
#10
You don't know much about how the Vatican works, or about the intellectual history of this pope, if you think "those folks at the Vatican" don't understand Islam.
#11
I agree w/mojo. Muzzies courting the pope will draw political traction w/the leftards to try & shame the religious right...."see, the pope's against bombing Iran so why are you for it...blah, blah". The whole stupid "what would jesus do" strawman bait and switch the left is big on now. Personally, I'd like to see the vatican go after islam/china/n.kor about the oppression of christians within their borders. Until that happens and is out front I have little interest on their stance on whether we whack tehran or not.
#12
You don't know much about how the Vatican works, or about the intellectual history of this pope, if you think "those folks at the Vatican" don't understand Islam.
Then why are they spewing such transparent bullshit as a "common religious matrix"? If they know so much about Islam, they should already be well aware that there is no common ground to be had with an opponent who seeks only the Vatican's complete and total destruction.
#13
"common religious matrix" is a factual description of the shared geographical, cultural and historical origins of the 3 religions of the Book (judaism, christianity and islam).
Benedict is the spiritual leader of 1.1 billion people. He is a brilliant theologian who is deeply grounded in traditional Christian theology and has a long history of subtly using reason to undermine fuzzy thinking - his discussion groups among clergy were very influential in promoting traditional belief when he was younger. He thinks in terms of decades and centuries. He does not spout off in emotional response to today's news.
Moreover, in using that phrase he is calling Islam on one of its claims, namely to be the successor to Christianity. If the muslim scholars respond in dialog, he has laid the basis for years of slowly dismantling their own world view. If they don't he then gently chides them with their own claims.
Benedit plays chess - or Go. Don't be misled by a superficial reading of words combined with your own emotional responses and arrogance.
#14
Benedict is opening things that he can later use to show Islam is either A) lying or B) moving away from what shoudl be the core of all of the religions from the God of Abraham.
Draw them in, set them up, and give them no room to wiggle out. We Catholics have close to a couple thousand years dealing with these questions, and unliek the Muslims, we are allowed to apply REASON to things. Aquinas, Augustine, Willima of Ockham (Ockham's razor), and many others are the deep well we draw on.
The Muslims havent had an original thought since Saladin.
#15
Yup. And if ever there was a Pope whose training, innate skill and formidable intellect was up to the job, it's this one.
He also has to be a near-Machiavellian politician inside the Vatican bureaucracy, as well. This is not a job for off-the-cuff, self-appointed Experts in Jammies. It's serious business and he is treating it accordingly.
Not a Catholic but support any who add to the glory of civilization. I thought that the response to the gaggle of 'scholars' was appropriate. So with that go Get'em Pope Benedict, checkmate their asses.
#17
One other VERY important point : as a Cardinal, the present Pope was the head of the Vatican office on doctrine and heterodoxy - Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Most people would know this office by its old name : the Holy Roman Inquisition.
Bin Laden said it was unjust for the United States to have invaded Afghanistan for sheltering him after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying he was the "only one responsible" for the deadly assaults on New York and Washington.
"The events of Manhattan were retaliation against the American-Israeli alliance's aggression against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, and I am the only one responsible for it. The Afghan people and government knew nothing about it. America knows that," the al-Qaida leader said.
#6
Binnie, why argue about things in this mortal life when Islam tells us life is meant for suffering and prayer to lay way for the afterlife. I'm fairly certain Omar will get his just deserts in the afterlife.
"In this war, you combined two injustices... [First], you did not possess even one piece of evidence admissible in court...You destroyed Al-Qaeda's camps,
Destroyed evidence may not be admissible, but since you corraborate...
killing some of its members and capturing others, most of them from Pakistan. What, then, is Afghanistan's sin that you continue this unjust war against it? [The Afghans']
So those members are a military foreign to Afghanistan...so the coalition is foreigners not Afghans.
Most of the intended victims of your attacks are women and children. [Even though] you know that our women do not fight...
Come out and fight then instead of blowing up kids at a sugar factory. What about women suicide bombers? Men in burkas? There are rumors about the effemity of the taliban how does that work out?
just as the Afghans defeated Great Britain and the Soviets in the past, they will now defeat the Western invaders under the command of Mulla 'Omar and Mansour Dadullah.
Thought binny said they were from Pakistan? You were there against the Soviets were you not, just how were they defeated? Only Stallone can shoot down a helicopter with an arrow and a lot has changed since Rambo III but you are still just glorified dope pushers.
#9
so what happened to his message last year -- if you don't surrender then...do i hear crying wolf syndrome??
Posted by: dan ||
11/30/2007 15:28 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Again - IMO, as Dubya + MOud continue to escalate their rhetoric and countermoves, OSAMA = RADICAL ISLAM are getting ready to wage a final "decisive battle/campaign" for IRAQ before fully shifting to DEFENSE OF IRAN, in anticipation of US attack = DESIRED INVASION-OCCUPATION. IMO THEY'VE ALREADY BEGUN TO CHANGE THEIR FOCII TO IRAN.
WOT > among other premises, is WAR FOR SALVATION + "JUSTIFICATION" OF ISLAM/ISLAMISM. The Osama I know from the anti-Soviet Afghan War is IRAN-CENTRIC - FOR HIM, ISLAM = ISLAMISM MUST, BEFORE GOD-HEAVEN, WIN OR LOSE ITS [divine]
"APOCALYPSE", etc. IN IRAN. IFF THE US-WEST DOES NOT ATTACK + OCCUPY IRAN, THE US-WEST WILL CONTINUE TO BE ATTACKED AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL IT DOES, OR ELSE THAT OSAMA + ISLAM includ RADICAL ISLAMISM IS PER SE DEAD = DESTROYED.
Various Amer Netters, Pundits, or Politicos cannot argue that yes, Virginia, the USA, etc. is dealing with highly dedicated, well-armed/suppor, "SUBMIT/FIGHT-OR-DIE" RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS = EXTREMISTS = TOTALITARIANISTS ERGO USA/WOT IS NOT IN A WAR OR FIGHT "TO THE DEATH" WITH THEM!?
#12
NEWSMAX > de BORCHGRAVE - PAT BUCHANAN AND BIN LADEN BOTH AGREE ON US DESTRUCTION. Plus also GBritain's ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. Iff I understand the Archbishop of Canterbury's reported comments correctly > US/AMER LEADERSHIP IN WOT IS NOT WORKING GLOBALLY DUE TO AMER'S DESIRE TO EXERT INFLUENCE AND CONTROL, BUT NOT TO "ACQUIRE TERRITORY". Amer is failing becuz it has one and only one global hegemonic, not several???
#13
ION, REUTERS > EU MUST CHANGE ITS TACK IN AFRICA OR LOSE TO CHINA, accoridng to EU Development Chief Louis Michel. EU = Europe must drop its attitude of PATERNALISM and start seeing Africa as AN [econ] OPPORTUNITY, NOT A BURDEN. Iff EU does little or nothing, AFRICA WILL TURN TO CHINA's, etc. MONEY. AFRICA WANTS AND NEEDS REGION/CONTINENT-WIDE MASSIVE INVESTMENTS AND INTERNAT ECON PARTNERSHIPS-VENTURES, NOTSOMUCH HUMANITARIAN AID THAT TYPICALLY ENDS UP GOING TO DESPOTS, WARLORDS, and CRIME SYNDICATES.
#2
"What if one of their loved ones died and because we dont believe their philosophy we protested their funeral? And we all stood around and mocked them? That doesnt make much sense either, Hultberg said.
Perish the thought that reason might prevail. Rot in Hell, y'all.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/30/2007 8:01 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Rather than DDT, I would recommend spraying them with pigsh*t every time they set foot out of their compound. Perhaps they might get the idea, then.
#9
Johnny gave his life in defense of his team, the Afghan soldiers whom he mentored, and for peace and freedom of our nation and the nation of Afghanistan. Our family's standard is based on King Solomon's wisdom of Proverbs, 'Let kindness be the rule for everything you say.
Thank you Mr. Wells. Rest in Peace.
To Halliburton Weather Division - please recallibrate 400 km at 30 degrees from previous Kansas location. Fire for effect.
#10
Them people is sick in the head I tell you, Port Orchard resident Walter Barrett said. Its out of this world, just plain stupid.
A gem, says it all.
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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The Taliban does not pose a real threat to the government of Afghanistan and is far from being a resurgent force, junior British foreign minister 
U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been sworn in for a second five-year term, a day after he kept his promise to step down as army chief. Addressing the nation in a televised speech later in the evening, Mr. Musharraf said he "fully intends" to lift emergency rule on December 16 and restore Pakistan's constitution before January elections.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday dismissed Pervez Musharrafs presidency as illegitimate, saying the Supreme Court bench Musharraf purged to ensure a second term should be restored to rule on his election.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday that the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) had decided to boycott the polls without consulting her, adding that the PPP would run in the polls in protest, Dawn News reported. Also, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party would participate in the polls despite the APDMs decision, APP reported. Benazir told a British channel that boycotting the polls was certainly an option, but the restoration of judiciary was a separate issue, Dawn News reported. 
The row between the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) over using the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) platform and symbol in the next elections has intensified.
The Iraqi Defense Ministry has incorporated 80 new officers, specialized in defusing bombs and booby-trapped cars, into the army forces. A ministry statement said Thursday that the 80 officers had received ample training and were well-equipped to handle and defuse explosive devices and booby-trapped cars.
Israels Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview on Thursday that clinching a two-state solution with the Palestinians is essential for survival as he returned home from a US peace conference. If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then, as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished, Olmert told the Haaretz newspaper. 
Lebanon's top Christian opposition leader said Thursday he will back the army chief as a compromise president, increasing the chances for a deal to end Lebanon's political deadlock. The backing by 
In his latest report on the U.N. investigative commission, Belgian prosecutor 
