BRATTLEBORO (ruthlandherald.com) Brattleboro residents will vote at town meeting on whether President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont.
The Brattleboro Select Board voted 3-2 Friday to put the controversial item on the Town Meeting Day warning.
According to Town Clerk Annette Cappy, organizers of the Bush-Cheney issue gathered enough signatures, and it was up to the Select Board whether Brattleboro voters would consider the issue in March.
Cappy said residents will get to vote on the matter by paper balloting March 4.
Kurt Daims, 54, of Brattleboro, the organizer of the petition drive, said Friday the debate to get the issue on the ballot was a good one. Opposition to the vote focused on whether the town had any power to endorse the matter.
"It is an advisory thing," said Daims, a retired prototype machinist and stay-at-home dad of three daughters. Bum living on welfare.
So far, Vermont is the only state Bush hasn't visited since he became president in 2001.
Daims said the most grievous crime committed by Bush and Cheney was perjury lying to Congress and U.S. citizens about the basis of a war in Iraq.
He said the latest count showed a total of 600,000 people have died in the war. That discredited claim has been superceded by a new piece of seditious excrement alleging 1 million dead. I wonder how much Soros paid for this latest contribution to the legacy of Joseph Goebbels.
Daims also said he believed Bush and Cheney were also guilty of espionage for spying on American people and obstruction of justice, for the politically generated firings of U.S. attorneys.
Voting to put the matter on the town ballot were Chairwoman Audrey Garfield and board members Richard Garrant and Dora Boubalis.
Voting against the idea were board members Richard DeGray and Stephen Steidle.
Daims said the names submitted to the town clerk's office were the second wave of signatures the petition drive had to collect, because he had to rewrite the wording of the petition.
He said he gathered nearly 500 signatures in about three weeks, and he said most people he encountered were eager to sign it. He started the petition drive about three months ago.
""Everybody I talked to wanted Bush to go,"" he said, noting that even members of the local police department supported the drive.
""This is exactly what the charter envisioned as a citizen initiative,"" Daims said. ""People want to express themselves and they want to say how they feel.""
He said the idea is spreading: Activists in Louisville, Ky., are spearheading a similar drive, and he said activists were also working in Montague, Mass., a Berkshires town.
The article asked the town attorney to ""draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities.""
The article goes on to say the indictments would be the ""law of the town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro police ... arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro, if they are not duly impeached ...""
Daims said people in Brattleboro were willing to ""think outside the box"" and consider the issue. In declaring guilt and ordering an arrest by legislative vote, this measure is an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder on its face. Stupid hippies.
Daims had no compunction in comparing Bush and Cheney with one of the most notorious people in history.
""If Hitler were still alive and walked through Brattleboro, I think the local police would arrest him for war crimes,"" Daims said
Prattleboro Vermont was last in the news over a series of nudist uprisings last year, with the result that it is now one of the few places in the world where it is not illegal to stroll down a public street naked: Clothing-optional town drops bid to ban nudity
#1
Meh, go ahead. The security agents have a happy field day filling your pathetic asses with lead while eating cotton candy and stopping for sight seeing.
#2
Oh, and cancel all federal funding to Vermont and see how quickly the state goes bankrupt and the rest of the state posse up and lynch your dumb ass.
#3
Daims said people in Brattleboro were willing to ""think outside the box""
Not "Outside the Box", "Outside the law", a huge difference.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/30/2008 16:31 Comments ||
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#4
As for the fact that the law would be an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder, I'm sure that the residents would say that since Bush/Cheney shredded the Constitution, so can they.
The US military is funding the construction of Islamic schools, or madrassas, in the east of Afghanistan in an attempt to stem the tide of young people going to radical religious schools in Pakistan. Such schools spawned the Taliban movement, which harboured Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader behind the September 11 terror attacks on the US, before it was swept from power in 2001.
US reconstruction cash has helped establish two state-run madrassas in the province of Khost, and a third is on its way. Commander David Adams, head of the US provincial reconstruction team in Khost, the province on the border with Pakistan, said more were planned. We would like to see small religious schools in every district so that parents dont have to send their children over the border [to Pakistan], he told the Financial Times.
The initiative shows how much leeway US commanders have been given to implement counter-insurgency strategies that focus on development and education. In parts of eastern Afghanistan, US soldiers distribute copies of the Koran and mosque refurbishment kits that include sound systems powered by solar panels and prayer rugs. John Kael Weston, the state departments political representative in the Khost reconstruction team, holds weekly meetings with madrassa students. Just look at it from their perspective if we just talk about girls education, for example, it just plays into the propaganda about the US. They think that the Americans will be opening up strip joints and restaurants selling alcohol on every corner.
Hanif Atmar, Afghanistans minister of education, is pushing for madrassas to fall within the state system to ensure that the curriculum includes secular disciplines such as science and languages as well as traditional religious education. Colonel Martin Schweitzer, brigade commander of Task Force Fury, which is responsible for security and reconstruction in parts of eastern Afghanistan, said he had been reassured by Mr Atmars approach. Were talking separate schools for boys and girls to develop the curriculum thats within their governmental parameters of how they want [to develop] their people and their country, their vision and their way of life.
H/T found at Blackfive
KARACHI - Another piece of the United States' regional jigsaw is in place with the completion of a military base in Afghanistan's Kunar province, just three kilometers from Bajaur Agency in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Pakistani intelligence quarters have confirmed to Asia Times Online that the base, on a mountain top in Ghakhi Pass overlooking Pakistan, is now operational. (This correspondent visited the area last July and could clearly see construction underway. See A fight to the death on Pakistan's border Asia Times Online, July 17, 2007.)
The new US base is expected to serve as the center of clandestine special forces' operations in the border region. The George W Bush administration is itching to take more positive action - including inside Pakistan - against Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda militants increasingly active in the area and bolstering the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has officially rejected US proposals to expand the US presence in Pakistan, either through unilateral covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operations or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces, but this is not necessarily the end of the matter, especially as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates. According to reports, Mike McConnell, the director of US national intelligence, and CIA director General Michael Hayden visited Pakistan this month to meet with Musharraf.
A senior Pakistani security official explained to Asia Times Online, "American special forces have carried out clandestine operations in the past, and Pakistan was not informed. The Taliban and al-Qaeda also did not realize what was happening with the quick-as-a-wink hit-and-run operations in the tribal areas. Pakistani intelligence only knew of the operations after they happened. They included the killing of high-value Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders and high-value arrests," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"However, with the new Kunar base, American special forces will carry out extended operations, which means a limited war against Taliban and al-Qaeda assets in the tribal areas. These clandestine operations can be done with or without Pakistan's consent."
In response, the initial militant action is expected to be the relocation of its key leadership away from the immediate danger area. Efforts to disrupt the vital supply lines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)from Pakistan into Afghanistan will be stepped up. A further option is to increase terror operations inside Pakistan as a warning that the militants should be left alone.
The Taliban leadership is aware of the danger posed by the new American base. Several powerful attacks were mounted while it was under construction, but they only managed to cause delays.
The pressing problem is to find a new safe haven for the high profile al-Qaeda leadership. The area on both sides of the border - the Chitral - is characterized by inhospitable jungles and mazes of mountains and rivers, stretching from Noorestan and Kunar provinces in Afghanistan to the Bajaur Valley. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is known to have stayed in the area. It is now a question of finding a safer location for him - if he is still in the area - and his colleagues.
US intelligence spotted bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, twice in Bajaur Agency and attacked the area with Predator drones. Zawahiri was unscathed, but several militants and civilians were killed. Local Taliban sources tell Asia Times Online that Zawahiri had been moving in the area for more than 30 hours before he was spotted and targeted. Apparently, he was to meet with bin Laden.
Going after NATO's arteries
When Pakistani militants occupied Pakistan's strategic tunnel, which connects Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the cantonment town of Kohat in NWFP, the aim was to attack military convoys. These, the Taliban realized, were transporting supplies to Kohat air base, from where they were being flown to the American base in Khost in Afghanistan.
This move has effectively opened a new front in Kohat and Darra Adam Khel - the biggest arms and ammunition-manufacturing area in the region. There were four attacks last week.
Another senior security official told Asia Times Online, "Pakistan has conceded to many of the [Pakistani] Taliban's demands for peace, such as the release of fellow tribesmen. But if they demand something like the closure of NATO's supply lines from Pakistan, it is beyond Pakistan's orbit. The Americans sought Pakistan's cooperation [in the "war on terror"] , in return they pledged billions of dollars in aid. But they wanted steady supply lines for NATO forces in Afghanistan," the official said.
"Pakistan has stretched itself to the limit for the sake of peace in the country, it has even struck deals with al-Qaeda for it to stop attacking Pakistan. But if they [al-Qaeda and militants] don't appreciate Pakistan's interests and compulsions, then, like [US President George W] Bush said after 9/11, defeat is not an option. This is 2008, and we have the world's most modern army and equipment. This is not the time of British India, when only a regiment could fight against tribals, and defeat them. We can spare far more force and if we want to, we can destroy them," the official said.
Change in militants' tactics
Last week, militants used improvised explosive devices near Peshawar to blow up a military convoy. This is the first such incident of its kind near a city against the Pakistani army. Previously, such events only happened in the tribal areas.
This indicates that while the tribesmen might be facing a modern army, rather than the thin British force of years ago, the army now faces an urban guerrilla battle, not one limited to remote mountains.
Clearly, the militants, linked to a particular branch of al-Qaeda called the Tafkiris, are preparing for an Iraq-style guerrilla battle against Pakistan. The Tafkiris - who class as infidels all non-practicing Muslims - include Tahir Yuldashev, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Sheikh Essa, Pakistani Baitullah Mehsud and some factions of banned Pakistani militant organizations.
The overriding objective of the Tafkiris goes beyond simple terror attacks. They aim to force Islamabad to either follow their dictates or become ensnared in the conflict against NATO. Better. Pakistan would stand neutral in this regional war theater. (See Military brains plot Pakistan's downfall Asia Times Online, September 26, 2007.)
Last Saturday, Pakistani security forces unearthed a militant cell operating from the military city of Rawalpindi and recovered a huge cache of weapons. It is believed militants were planning devastating attacks on military installations. However, massive terrors operations in the federal capital of Islamabad are the biggest fear. Some believe these might be just round the corner.
But the real danger is the aim to drive a wedge between Islamabad and the NATO-Washington nexus, which would leave Pakistan potentially fatally exposed to the militants.
Posted by: Sherry ||
01/30/2008 10:45 ||
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Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
"We can spare far more force and if we want to, we can destroy them"
#2
A senior Pakistani security official explained to Asia Times Online, "American special forces have carried out clandestine operations in the past, and Pakistan was not informed. The Taliban and al-Qaeda also did not realize what was happening with the quick-as-a-wink hit-and-run operations in the tribal areas. Pakistani intelligence only knew of the operations after they happened. They included the killing of high-value Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders and high-value arrests," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"However, with the new Kunar base, American special forces will carry out extended operations, which means a limited war against Taliban and al-Qaeda assets in the tribal areas. These clandestine operations can be done with or without Pakistan's consent."
KABUL - Afghanistans government said it had no information on Tuesday about the fate of a kidnapped US female aid worker, but added a search was going on to find her. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of the 49-year-old woman, identified as Cindy Mizzel, who was seized while wearing an all-covering burqa from her car along with her driver while heading for work on Saturday in the southern province of Kandahar.
No, we have no information about it at all, interior ministry spokesman said when asked by Reuters if the government knew how she was or if any group had make a ransom demand. The US embassy has not made any comment about the womans abduction.
She had been living for years in a rented house in Kandahar, part of the main stronghold of Taleban insurgents who have been behind a series of abductions of foreigners and Afghans in recent years.
Afghanistan risks sliding into a failed state and becoming the "forgotten war" because of deteriorating international support and a growing violent insurgency, according to an independent study. The assessment, co-chaired by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones and former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, serves as a warning to the Bush administration at a time military and congressional officials are debating how best to juggle stretched warfighting resources.
The administration wants to re-energize anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where al-Qaida is regenerating. But the U.S. still remains heavily invested in Iraq, and officials are sending strong signals that troop reductions there will slow or stop altogether this summer.
"Afghanistan stands at a crossroads," concludes the study, an advance copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "The progress achieved after six years of international engagement is under serious threat from resurgent violence, weakening international resolve, mounting regional challenges and a growing lack of confidence on the part of the Afghan people about the future direction of their country."
Continued on Page 49
#6
To fail as a state, it must first be a state, not a collection of warring tribes. How about we pick a winner and back them taking over. Say the first tribe that adopts the bikini and speedo as their national costume.
Posted by: ed ||
01/30/2008 10:21 Comments ||
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#7
Afghanistan doomed itself when it allowed Islam into the constitution. Apparently it didn't get enough of the Taliban. "International resolve" is not going to grow for such risky self-destructive territory unless there is some major resource such as oil to be tapped -- which there is not. [It's just like Gaza embracing Hamas: the culture does not seem to be adapted for survival.] We gave them a chance and they're blowing it.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abulgheit sent telegrams to more than 30 of his counterparts across the world to explain to them the events of the past few days with regard to Gaza and the siege imposed on it.
"It's like this, see...those people are batshiat crazy!"
According to official spokesmen for the ministry, Hussam Zaki, the telegrams were sent specifically to influential states in the international community which are involved in the Middle East conflict. The telegrams explained Egypt's attitude with regard to the Gaza issue. The Egyptian attitude was to blame Israel on legal grounds for the deterioration in Gaza.
The ol' surprise meter just sobbed.
Zaki called for regulating the passage at the Rafah crossing into Gaza as "the best way out of the current dilemma."
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with King Juan Carlos on Tuesday as part of a three-day visit to Spain during which he is expected to discuss trade and anti-terrorism cooperation.
Yemen has pledged its support in the fight against terrorism, a vow it renewed in July after a suicide bombing in Yemen killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis.
Saleh, on his first visit to Spain, arrived in Madrid on Monday. The king greeted him at Zarzuela Palace, the royal residence on Madrid's outskirts, at noon on Tuesday. The two were to have lunch later with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who was also to have talks with the Yemeni leader in the evening at government headquarters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
It would really help his credibility if Yemen wasn't the source of 20% of the world's islamic terrorists and a revolving door policy punctuated by the occasional Hellfire veto.
Posted by: ed ||
01/30/2008 11:10 Comments ||
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Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who began an official visit to Spain on Monday, wants to seek the release of a reporter for the Arab television network al-Jazeera who was convicted on terrorist charges in 2005, Yemeni officials said.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said Saleh planned to urge Spanish officials to release the journalist Tayseer Alouni, 51, who received a seven-year jail sentence by a Spanish court after he was found guilty of collaborating with al-Qaeda. Alouni, known for interviewing the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks on US cities, holds dual Spanish and Syrian nationalities. He was released from jail and put under house arrest in the southern Spanish city of Granada in October 2006 due to ill health.
Saleh is on a three-day visit to Spain for talks on cooperation in the fight against terrorism. It was not clear whether the Yemeni leader would propose to swap Alouni with a Spanish citizen of Syrian descent who was sentenced to death in Yemen in 1998 on terror charges. Yemeni officials said on Wednesday that Saleh's talks in Madrid would touch on the fate of the Spanish convict Nabil Nanakli Qusaibati, who was sentenced to death for leading a group that carried out several bombings in Yemen in 1997. Qusaibati's death sentence was upheld by the Yemen's Supreme Court in 2003, but the execution was postponed several times after Spanish officials pressured the Yemeni government. On Saturday, Saleh endorsed an extradition agreement inked with Spain last October, paving the way for Qusaibati's extradition.
Bosnia's international peace envoy on Wednesday dismissed a demand by Bosnian Serbs for the right to secede, on the grounds that if Kosovo can have independence so should they.
Posted by: ed ||
01/30/2008 13:24 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
Again I ask the question. Which side are we on and why?
In a move widely seen as evidence of NATO's new strict approach to its members' non-combat roles in crisis zones, Germany has been asked to provide 250 combat troops for a Quick Reaction Force in northern Afghanistan to replace a 350-strong Norwegian force that leaves in July, a German Defense Ministry spokesman said Tuesday, Jan. 29.
The official request from NATO will prompt heightened concern from within Germany that its current non-combat role in Afghanistan is changing and that German troops will soon be required to fight Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents in the war-torn country as part of the alliance's International Security and Assistance Force.
Despite the assurances of Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung who said during a surprise visit to Kabul Tuesday that a final decision had yet to be taken, government ministers and generals have indicated over recent days that the force is all but certain to be deployed, insisting that it is covered by the current mandate for the Afghan deployment, renewed by parliament in October.
Continued on Page 49
President Bush this week declared that he has the power to bypass four laws, including a prohibition against using federal funds to establish permanent US military bases in Iraq, that Congress passed as part of a new defense bill.
Bush made the assertion in a signing statement that he issued late Monday after signing the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008. In the signing statement, Bush asserted that four sections of the bill unconstitutionally infringe on his powers, and so the executive branch is not bound to obey them.
"Provisions of the act . . . purport to impose requirements that could inhibit the president's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch, and to execute his authority as commander in chief," Bush said. "The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President."
One section Bush targeted created a statute that forbids spending taxpayer money "to establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq" or "to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."
The Bush administration is negotiating a long-term agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The agreement is to include the basing of US troops in Iraq after 2008, as well as security guarantees and other economic and political ties between the United States and Iraq.
The negotiations have drawn fire in part because the administration has said it does not intend to designate the compact as a "treaty," and so will not submit it to Congress for approval. Critics are also concerned Bush might lock the United States into a deal that would make it difficult for the next president to withdraw US troops from Iraq.
That's a mistake. It should be a treaty, and the Senate should vote on it. I'd bring it up in, oh, September, and I'd dare the Dhimmicrats to vote against it. We need the country to be committed to Iraq in the long-term, and a treaty is how you make that happen. Otherwise with a Dhimmicratic president and Congress, we'll be looking at 1975 all over again.
#1
Bush knows his Teddy (the good one) Roosevelt. Congress refused to allocate funds for Roosevelt to send the new US Navy around the world on tour, so Teddy sent them halfway, then said to congress that if they wanted a US Navy at all, they had better pay to get them back.
#5
"I reject the notion in his signing statement that he can pick and choose which provisions of this law to execute," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.
Hee hee! Worst case: Ask for forgiveness later! I wonder if this was factored into accepting the bill in the first place. In any case, if Nancy is so upset, she can put the Judicial Branch to work to clear up any misunderstandings. That's why it's there. By the time it gets through that, we should be done in Iraq altogher!
"His job, under the Constitution, is to faithfully execute the law - every part of it - and I expect him to do just that."
Including the part about how the President doesn't have to pay attention to laws that are unconstitutional?
#9
I, for one, give Speaker Pelosi's objection-to-signing-statement the force of law. Only Congress can tell the President what to do!
Oh, and Warren Burger's Supreme Court, too.
Posted by: The Hon. Sen. Reid ||
01/30/2008 13:50 Comments ||
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#10
Note how the Boston Globe cites 47 different experts that agree with their view, and none from any other point of view.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/30/2008 13:51 Comments ||
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#11
...except for laws that overstep Congress' constitutionally granted powers by interfering with other powers granted to the Executive by that same Constitution.
#12
I drive by the Globe on the way home. I'll let everyone know if it's surrounded by Bushitler tanks and if the black helicopters are landing troops on the roof...
#14
13 We need the country to be committed to Iraq in the long-term, and a treaty is how you make that happen
Why?
Because there is more legitimacy behind a treaty that has been voted on by a legislative body and approved by the executive. It speaks as a collective representing the populous instead of a single man acting on his own.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/30/2008 15:33 Comments ||
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#15
Good for Bush, Cuts the Dems off at the knees.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/30/2008 16:17 Comments ||
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Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud said in an interview with Al Jazeera that he wanted to destroy the White House, New York and London.
Very soon, we will be witnessing jihads miracles.
Very soon, we will be witnessing jihads miracles, he said in his first-ever television interview that lasted 25 minutes. His face was obscured but his curly locks long jet-black hair was visible. Our primary aim is to finish Britain [and] the US, and to crush the pride of the non-Muslims, Baitullah Mehsud told Admad Zaidan, Al Jazeeras bureau chief in Islamabad, outside Peshawar at an undisclosed location.
Mehsud was recently chosen the leader of a militant coalition named the Taliban Movement of Pakistan, a collection of 40 groups that have come together to battle the Pakistani army and, as he claimed in the interview, fight US and Britain on their home soil. He accused President Pervez Musharraf of working for the interests of the nonbelievers. He said his coalition would fight back and teach him a lesson. Mehsud said the Taliban coalition was carrying out a defensive jihad.
The army is bombarding our houses and fighting with us, he said, We have formed this coalition to guarantee the safety of civilians.
This article starring:
Admad Zaidan
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Now wait there Billy-Tula, White House is mine!
#3
Congratulations Baitullah! Your interview for the vacant post of "Al Qaeda #3" has been successful. Your free toaster from Sheik Osama bin Laden will be arriving soon. An all expenses paid vacation to a luxury beach resort on the beautiful tropical island of Cuba awaits. You will be flown to your destination by private Gulfstream jet in real "Rockstar" fashion. Enjoy.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/30/2008 6:28 Comments ||
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#4
he won't make it too ciba he will ne blown to bits by a JDAM. this is why we should br back assasinations
#8
Well...there really not your targets. You're more of an "idea" man, and, Allah knows, there aren't nearly enough of those fellas working for the jihad. That blowing yourself up shit is for the "little people". But I'll bet you're behind them to the last drop of somebody's blood, so that's sumthin...
#9
Why never Seattle, or San Fransisco? There is enough in those cities to drive a rabid Muzzie ape-shit. Loose morals, drugs, uncovered women, gays in the open... I mean come on!
Oh wait, they don't hit their cheer leading squad. Nevermind.
#14
Thank you, Baitullah Mehsud. Now hear this. MY target is Pakistan, from the NWFP to the Indian Ocean. We will commence striking targets the first time there is an ATTEMPT against a Western target. We need to reduce our nuclear arsenal by 1725 weapons.
Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud, who is one of Pakistans most wanted men, is a ferocious enforcer of his harsh Islamic interpretations and is the law in South Waziristan, according to an article recently published on the website of United States News and World Report (USNWR).
Many details about camera-shy Baitullahs life remain unclear. He has kept his face hidden from the media, meaning that few outsiders even know what he looks like, according to the article. The article says that he is believed to be in his mid-30s and has never completed studies at a school or a madrassa. The article quotes tribal chief Hussein Barki as saying, Despite the fact that he is a diabetic, he is a very active man. Barki adds that Baitullah changes his hideouts frequently, leaving intelligence agencies clueless about his whereabouts.
... which is really not that hard in Pakistain.
Momin Khan, the owner of a small goods transport company in South Waziristan, tells the USNWR that he will go to Baitullah, instead of local courts, to settle any legal issue because he is the law here.
Baitullah is a ferocious enforcer of his harsh interpretation of Islamic law, a US intelligence official tells the USNWR.
No tribal stature: Baitullah began his rise a decade ago, when he headed off to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban. Although he comes from the Mehsud tribe, the largest in South Waziristan, he, like most of his militant counterparts, did not have any stature in traditional tribal leadership, the article says about his background.
The article quotes Christine Fair, a South Asia expert at the Rand Corp think tank, as saying about tribal militants, They came up outside the tribal structure through the meritocracy of jihad. They raised money harbouring Al Qaeda and other elements in Pakistans tribal regions.
Baitullah derives power from a corps of several hundred foreign fighters, mostly Uzbeks and other Central Asians, whom he commands. Along with his tribal followers, Baitullah is estimated to command several thousand armed militiamen, the article adds. He has established himself as someone whom locals respect as well as fear, the article says. He is no doubt the most influential and powerful person of South and North Waziristan, article quotes tribal chief Barki as saying. He has restored law and order in the area. But people also believe that [some of his associates are bad].
Pakistani forces efforts to strike back at him have resulted in significant casualties on the government side and because of the strong traditions of tribal loyalty, the local reaction to the governments assault on him have benefited Baitullah, according to the article.
Although the primary suspect in a number of suicide bombings, not all of Baitullahs bombers have been successful - some, for instance, have blown up only themselves, the article says. In Afghanistan, we have seen hundreds of these suicide bombers, but they dont get any better, says Fair. He may have quantity, but he doesnt have quality. His suicide bombers tend to be better in Pakistan. Baitullahs most high-profile attack came in August when his militia captured some 250 Pakistani soldiers and held them hostage for two months. President Pervez Musharraf struck a deal with him to swap the captive soldiers for 25 militants held in government custody. Baitullah freed the soldiers, but Musharraf refused to release the militants, sparking the current wave of attacks by Mehsud on Pakistani government targets, the article adds.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
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#1
Nice when they are just blown up in place, but I'd like to see this guy at Guantanamo with a fresh haircut and shave and a frontpage mugshot broadcast worldwide...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/30/2008 0:32 Comments ||
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#2
First thing I thought, "Lice".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/30/2008 0:47 Comments ||
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#3
Momin Khan, the owner of a small goods transport company in South Waziristan, tells the USNWR that he will go to Baitullah, instead of local courts, to settle any legal issue because he is the law here.
If Momin can find Baitullah why cant the ISI/CIA????
Posted by: Paul ||
01/30/2008 4:49 Comments ||
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#4
This guy is the new "#3". He'll either get whacked by a Predator or handed over during a visit by a CENTCOM official.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/30/2008 6:17 Comments ||
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#5
Totally off topic, well kinda, but in that Fred Barnes article the other day of How Bush Decided on the Surge, he mentions that in Cheney's office is a piece of the house that Zarqawi was in when he was blown up! Bet some SF guys had fun handing that to him!
Hopefully, he'll get a few more "memorials" in the next 10 months!
#6
Ima thinkin' Special Forces sets up little fender bender in Wazoo. When Mehsud shows up to enforce The Law - BAM!
Posted by: ed ||
01/30/2008 12:04 Comments ||
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#7
Understandably camera-shy. The leader of the Northern Alliance in A-stan was taken out by a booby-trapped camera just befor 9/11.. a Taliban op. This guy probably read the brief.
#8
NEWSMAX > DE BORCHGRAVE - TALIBAN SEEKS TO DEMORALIZE NATO ALLIES.
Bullet Points:
* Mehsud > Islamies fear the US dropping a nuclear bomb on Muslims, DO NOT FEAR ANY APKI BOMB.
* Pakistan regulars now believe = are convinced Mushey takes and obeys orders from the USA = Infidel Muslim-killing USA.
* Islmaists hold sway in TWO of PAKI FOUR PROVINCES.
An Anti-Terrorism Appellate bench of the High Court of Sindh (SHC) comprising Justice Qaiser Iqbal and Justice Mehmood Alam Rizvi admitted on Tuesday for regular hearing three appeals filed by convicts in the attempt-to-kill General Pervez Musharraf case.
Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Hanif and Ashraf Khan, the ameer, naib ameer and finance secretary of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al Almi, were convicted and sentenced to serve life imprisonment and were fined Rs 500,000 each by an Anti-Terrorism Court for Karachi division. The appellants maintained that the trial court erred in law and that they were sentenced and convicted in the absence of any material. There was no recovery of explosives, no witness to the placing of the explosives or conspiracy except for the alleged confessional statement of the accused, which is not admissible, the appeals said. The bench, accepting the appeals for regular hearing as matter of right to the accused, also issued notice to the Advocate General Sindh.
This article starring:
ASHRAF KHAN
Harkatul Mujahideen Al Almi
Mehmood Alam Rizvi
MUHAMAD HANIF
Harkatul Mujahideen Al Almi
MUHAMAD IMRAN
Harkatul Mujahideen Al Almi
Qaiser Iqbal
Harkatul Mujahideen Al Almi
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Fear of al-Qaida is a constant in the newly liberated areas of Iraq's Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. The number of terrorists is down and life for villagers is becoming more secure. Yet terror's reach is long and deep.
"Al-Qaida made us like chickens, afraid of everything," the mukhtar (headman) of al-Hib village told a U.S. soldier. "They would kill anyone, even a sheik, and no one could ask why," a man who identified himself as Raad, said in the town of Hisbum. "Everyone was afraid. People stayed at home because they could just stop you on the street and make you do things, take your money, beat you, or kidnap you. "Four men were kidnapped a week before you [U.S. and Iraqi forces] came. No one has seen them since."
The mukhtar made the unusually frank admission in his home, away from prying eyes and eavesdropping, when a patrol from Iron Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment paid a courtesy call. Raad's was made on a public street, but two of his friends kept curious passers-by from crowding around within hearing distance. The caution was not misplaced.
Hisbum and al-Hib are located in what's called Diyala's breadbasket, a region rich in dates, pomegranates and oranges. Until Jan. 8, the kickoff of the U.S.-Iraqi operation known as Operation Raider Harvest, no central government official had visited the area of some 10,000 residents for two years. Hisbum was, after all, an al-Qaida in Iraq sanctuary, an important one along a main infiltration route between Baghdad and the northern provinces.
They had safe-houses and headquarters buildings -- basically homes confiscated from their owners at gunpoint -- training camps, arms, and munitions caches.
Smoking was forbidden. Women were required to wear full hijab, and music of any kind was banned. Beards could no longer be kept short and trimmed neatly, as Iraqi men favor. No one was allowed out of doors between 5 p.m. and dawn. Those restrictions are gone, but a fear of those who enforced it remains and is affecting U.S. and Iraqi security efforts.
"People tell me they are still afraid of the terrorists and also afraid of us," said Sgt. Rudy Perreno of Iron Company. "I ask them, 'Why us? When was the last time they heard of us cutting off heads?' "It's damn frustrating. No one will point out the ones still here."
An estimated 10 to 20 terrorists are believed to remain in the Hisbum area, as well as those who do their bidding, either for ideology, for cash, or under duress. They continue to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and threaten, through their very presence, retribution on those who cooperate with coalition forces.
U.S. soldiers last Thursday found a house booby-trapped with explosives. The house had been searched and cleared just days before. Soldiers also found and destroyed four IEDs planted at spots in a road cleared earlier in the week.
Everyday, platoons from Iron Company leave a small house they've established as a base and check and recheck abandoned houses, roads and building for new bombs in Hisbum. Everyday they visit neighborhoods, stop in homes to take information, and attempt to get intelligence on terrorists. Most days they come back with little information, but hope that becoming familiar with the people will eventually pay dividends.
Out of public sight, the Iraqis are courteous, hospitable, friendly. On the street, those same hospitable Iraqis look straight ahead, eyes down, past the U.S. patrols. They offer a weak smile or utter, "Salaam" (peace), when soldiers say it to them first.
The reason is simple: You never know who is watching; you never know what may be reported to terrorists hiding in the palm groves or living undercover.
Fear of retribution even trumps expressions of gratitude. An Iraqi woman's response to a question in sign language as to the health of the young child she was carrying in her arms, was an almost imperceptible nod and a smile faster than a blink, before she returned to her eyes-down march past a column of Stryker armored vehicles. Hours earlier, a medic in the convoy had helped treat her child, who was thought near death because of dehydration, and arranged further treatment at a hospital for the boy.
"I know you're afraid that there are still bad guys here," Lt. Col. Rod Coffey told a group of men standing near a canal in Hisbum recently. "We understand, but you'll never be safe as long as there are killers on the street. Tells us who they are and we'll get them. Tell us in private. No one will know who said anything."
Whether the colonel's remarks made an impression is a matter of speculation. But it did help in the gathering of intelligence. When a U.S. soldier went to take a photograph of the group for identity checking, three men in it were seen to shrink back and stand behind those much taller. The second photo taken had the men up front, in clear, unobstructed view. They weren't that clever," a soldier said. "We'll find out exactly who they are and where they live."
U.S. forces are also trying to get those who have worked for AQI to turn themselves in. "If they come to me, shall I tell them to surrender to you?" the mukhtar of Hisbum asked Capt. David Beaudoin, the executive officer of Iron Company.
"Yes, get the word out on the street," Beaudoin replied. "Tell them we understand good people were made to do things to protect their families. We'll be fair, and if they surrender it will go better for them. But, if they don't, and we hear about them from others and arrest them, then they stand a good chance of going to jail."
Beaudoin said two men who had performed tasks for AQI had already surrendered. "I talked to one of them," said Sgt. Perreno. "He said he was stopped one day on a street by AQI gunmen who told him they needed a cook and he'd be it. He said he told them he didn't know how to cook. They said, you cook or you die. He became their cook." The two were questioned extensively for a day and then provisionally released.
Meanwhile, efforts at encouraging Iraqis to step forward -- in private at least -- continue. The United States is betting that, like much of Anbar province and parts of Baghdad and Baqubah, time is on their side as trust is established, social services are set up, and fear of losing what's been gained pries loose the vestiges of al-Qaida's grip.
#1
Lest anyone read "prevent defense" into that headline, I pulled this quote:
"I am pushing us further, I am extending our reach further than it is now and to be less predictable ... we are not sitting back on the laurels of the successes of our predecessors. That would be a big mistake"
#2
See STRATEGYPAGE > BEING FRIENDLY/FRIENDS WITH THE ENEMY. The mostly Sunni PSF units doing a lot to help US milfors keep Baghad-Iraq secure, reduce oppors for new insurgent attacks.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the government's move to cut off fuel and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip, a court spokeswoman said. wonders never cease
Seems as though he's backpedaling his rhetoric to make it more palatable for Western comsumption. Nothing has changed AFAIAC.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the West Wednesday to acknowledge Israel's "imminent collapse."
Speaking to a crowd on a visit to the southern port of Bushehr, where Iran's first light-water nuclear power plant is being built by Russia, Ahmadinejad further incited his listeners to "stop supporting the Zionists, as [their] regime reached its final stage."
"Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end," the Iranian president said in a televised speech. Same for the current Iranian regime, I suppose.
He added, "What we have right now is the last chapter [of Israeli atrocities] which the Palestinians and regional nations will confront and eventually turn in Palestine's favor."
Iran does not acknowledge Israel and Ahmadinejad has in the past sparked international outcry by referring to the systematic murder of six million Jews in World War II as a "myth" and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
Iran is currently also mediating in the crisis over the Gaza Strip, where Israel has imposed a blockade on border crossings into the coastal territory, barring the entry of supplies into the already impoverished area. Last week, Palestinian militants blew holes in the barrier separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt, prompting hundreds of thousands of Gazans to pour into Egypt in search of supplies.
Ahmadinejad also urged the Western powers to help build nuclear power plants in his country saying it will be too late if they do not decide to do so immediately.
"If you will not come, this nation will build nuclear plants based on its own resources and when you come some four years later it will reject your request and not then give you any opportunity," he said.
"I am addressing leaders of two or three powers; do you remember I sent you message and told you to stop be stubborn? If you think that you can block the movement of Iranian nation, you are wrong," the Iranian president continued.
Also on Wednesday Ahmad Fayyazbakhsh, the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization told reporters the first Iranian-made light-water 360 megawatt nuclear power plant will go operational in 2016 in the southwestern Iranian town of Darkhovin.
The official also said that the Bushehr plant would go on test operation in October, though its precision instruments have yet to be delivered.
The United Nations Security Council has been trying to pressure Iran to freeze uranium enrichment, but it has repeatedly refused, and officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency have privately said Tehran is expanding the program.
The Security Council is considering a new draft resolution that calls for additional sanctions against Iran, including bans on travel. Two sets of sanctions have already been imposed on Iran for refusing to halt enrichment.
The five veto-wielding members of the council - the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia - along with Germany, agreed last week on the basic terms of the new resolution. Diplomats have said the full, 15-nation Security Council will likely approve it next month.
Iran insists its enrichment activities are intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that would generate electricity, but the U.S. and others suspect Tehran's real aim is to produce nuclear bombs.
A U.S. intelligence report released last month, however, concluded Tehran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since.
Iranian officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.
#3
TOPIX > [MOUD] - ISRAEL HAS REACHED ITS "FINAL STAGE" BEFORE ITS DESTRUCTION, in addition to boasting of reaching = crossing over NUCLEAR PEAK [nuctech milestone].
Also from TOPIX > CHINA CONFIDENTIAL - IRAN PREPARING FOR WAR AGZ ISRAEL AND THE US. Author - threat = risk of war is IMPLICIT IN MOUD'S RHETORIC.
Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblatt accused the West of abandoning Lebanon, saying "dictators" like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be toppled. "The two dictators ought to be overthrown," Jumblatt said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro.
Jumblatt stressed that Syria and Iran as well as their Lebanese allies "want to create void so they can slowly and steadily impose control over (Lebanon)." He said that "we might not be able to stop that," vowing, however, not to give up.
Jumblatt also pointed the finger at Hezbollah for the series of car bombing attacks that have hit Lebanon recently. "I accuse Hezbollah directly when you are capable of possessing rockets with a 300-kilometer range, you own everything," Jumblatt told Le Figaro.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Once Iraq's economy starts to boom and it's oil exports surpass Iran's, Syria will attempt to make peace and be a friend of Iraq's leaving Iran to stand pretty much alone in the region save some Russian backing. Remember that Syria has no oil to speak of and a neighbor with a booming economy and nearly as much oil as Saudi Arabia will be a natural friend.
In order to curry that friendship with Iraq, it will probably cut support for terrorist groups, including Hezbollah. That is why Iran does NOT want to see a stable and prosperous Iraq. If Iraq becomes rich, Persia loses its toehold in Arabia.
#2
Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblatt accused the West of abandoning Lebanon, saying "dictators" like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be toppled. "The two dictators ought to be overthrown," Jumblatt said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro.
Hizbullah deputy chief Naim Kassem said on Tuesday that his organization would continue to kidnap IDF soldiers in order to bring about the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails. Kassem told Hizbullah supporters during a rally in Beirut that Israel would eventually yield to the group's demands to free Lebanese detainees.
Meanwhile, Karnit Goldwasser, whose husband, Ehud, was kidnapped by Hizbullah in 2006, said on Tuesday that because of halted talks between the relevant sides, she was unsure whether he would return. "The present situation is that the negotiations are completely jammed. After a year and a half were in the exact spot we were in a day after the kidnapping.
"I go home alone, and don't know what to expect - whether Udi will return alive or not I will make every effort to get him back," Goldwasser told representatives of Jewish communities in Hong Kong, Singapore and London during a conference organized by the Jewish Agency. The conference was aimed at raising international awareness of kidnapped soldiers.
Goldwasser asked Jewish representatives to call on their national leaders to approach the Lebanese government in an effort to get them to apply pressure to Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah to release Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured in the same incident.
This article starring:
HASAN NASRALLAH
Hizbullah
Karnit Goldwasser
NAIM KASEM
Hizbullah
Hizbullah
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Let's cut to the chase. Israel annexes to the Litani and clears everything within artillery range beyond that.
Posted by: ed ||
01/30/2008 11:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Immediately execute those "Prisoners" they want freed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/30/2008 16:27 Comments ||
Top||
The Japanese government decided Tuesday to extend the participation of its troops in a UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights in Syria another six months until September 30. The decision, made at a Cabinet meeting, follows a UN Security Council resolution in December to extend the mission of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. As a result, Self-Defense Forces troops will continue their mission beyond the current deadline of March 31.
Since 1974, UNDOF has been monitoring the disengagement of Israel Defense Forces and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights, the focal point of Middle East peace negotiations. Japan has been participating in the peacekeeping mission on six-month rotations since February 1996, providing airlifting transportation and other logistical support for the UN mission. According to the Foreign Ministry, 45 Japanese personnel are carrying out their mission smoothly despite the harsh environment and extreme temperature variations.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I would be happier if the Japanese decide to extend their all ninja jihadi-ass kicking force in the Golan.
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.
The US military is funding the construction of Islamic schools, or madrassas, in the east of Afghanistan in an attempt to stem the tide of young people going to radical religious schools in Pakistan. Such schools spawned the Taliban movement, which harboured Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader behind the September 11 terror attacks on the US, before it was swept from power in 2001.
KABUL - Afghanistans government said it had no information on Tuesday about the fate of a kidnapped US female aid worker, but added a search was going on to find her. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of the 49-year-old woman, identified as 
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with King Juan Carlos on Tuesday as part of a three-day visit to Spain during which he is expected to discuss trade and anti-terrorism cooperation. 
Yemeni President 
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said Saleh planned to urge Spanish officials to release the journalist 
In a move widely seen as evidence of NATO's new strict approach to its members' non-combat roles in crisis zones, Germany has been asked to provide 250 combat troops for a Quick Reaction Force in northern Afghanistan to replace a 350-strong Norwegian force that leaves in July, a German Defense Ministry spokesman said Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Taliban commander 
Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud, who is one of Pakistans most wanted men, is a ferocious enforcer of his harsh Islamic interpretations and is the law in South Waziristan, according to an article recently published on the website of United States News and World Report (USNWR). 
Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblatt accused the West of abandoning Lebanon, saying "dictators" like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be toppled. "The two dictators ought to be overthrown," Jumblatt said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro.
