#1
Wow! From many racial, ethnic and religous groups, form one people bound together by common interests. What a concept! Think it would work here? Nah, the differences are just too great.
#2
Recruits come to the Kabul Military Training Center from across Afghanistan, often with a letter of reference from the village mullah saying that they are not criminals or Taliban guerrillas.
Ummmmmmmmmm...ummmmmmmmmmmm...does anyone else see a problem here?
UNB, Dhaka: Home Secretary Abdul Karim Thursday said Islamic militant outfits that are found in Bangladesh have no operative linkages with international terror networks of Al-Qaeda or Taliban. "Weapons or type of explosives they use may have foreign origin or in neighbouring countries, but their financing is arranged internally, not from external sources," he told a conference on Trend of Militancy in Bangladesh and Possible Responses at BEI office. Karim observed that some smaller militant groups like "Allahr Dal", Hijbut Tauhid and Hijbut Tahrir are seen trying to organize them and put up demonstrations on small issues. "And we're trying to destroy the network of small groups too."
Presided over by BEI (Bangladesh Enterprise Institute) president Ambassador Farooq Sobhan, a BEI report on trend of militancy in Bangladesh based on published newspaper reports was presented in the opening session of the daylong conference.
The Home Secretary said JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) is known to be a notorious Islamic militant organization while Huji (Harkat-ul Jihad) is considered pioneer of Islamic militancy. Both these outfits were banned by the government and six kingpins of the JMB were already hanged.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
Britain's defense chief decided Friday to immediately pull Prince Harry out of Afghanistan after news of his deployment was leaked on the U.S. Web site the Drudge Report. Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, chief of the Defense Staff, said he decided to withdraw the prince after senior commanders assessed the risks, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Harry, third in line to the British throne, has been serving on the front line with an army unit in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province since mid-December. He was originally due to return to Britain within weeks, but "the situation has now clearly changed," the statement said.
The decision was based on concerns that worldwide media coverage of Harry in Afghanistan could put him and his comrades at increased risk.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Prince Harry and Prince William, grandma must be proud as should all Britains.
I can only guess that his nickname is British humor as royal bodyguards seem to have a certain pride in doing their duty; I can only guess that they are also disappointed in this news - I would have been proud to serve with him.
Who wrote that article? Ephialtes? "As King Henry V takes up his position near Agincourt I am at his camp right outside old farmer Jaques place. We took the old trade road around the muddy open fields, passing groups of bowmen along the way. We didn't see many pickets around their flank so we can only surmise they are attempting to lure in the French to the muddy fields..."
If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world but I am sure we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch activist facing death threats for her outspoken criticism of Islam, is to come under national police protection anywhere in the European Union, the top justice official in Brussels said tonight. Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice and home affairs, told the Guardian that Hirsi Ali and any other persons facing threats to their lives because of their opinions or writings, would be guaranteed protection wherever they went in Europe and that the host country would bear the expense.
The issue was discussed at a lunch of all 27 interior ministers of the EU in Brussels today after being raised by the Dutch. Frattini said the ministers agreed and that the pact would be effective immediately based on "unanimous consensus".
Other European sources doubted whether such an agreement could be implemented so promptly. British sources said a pan-European deal could not be "that simple" since there were cost and legal implications to authorising such special police measures. "There can't possibly be political agreement on it," said an official.
"This is a new decision," Frattini said, declaring that no new laws were necessary to try to guarantee the safety of Hirsi Ali and others in similar situations. "If we need a law to guarantee the right to life, we're in a difficult position. We have the decision based on mutual trust."
Posted by: ryuge ||
02/29/2008 08:31 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
She will be instantly recognizable to police authorities anywhere in the EU, by wearing a white t-shirt with red, concentric rings in the middle of the front and back. This will let the authorities know to clear any civilians away from her if at all possible.
President Bush is often reluctant to talk about the presidential race, but he couldn't resist weighing in on Democratic candidate Barack Obama's remark this week about Al Qaeda camps in Iraq.
"That's an interesting comment," Bush said at press conference Thursday. "'If al Qaeda is securing an al Qaeda base then yes?' Well, that's exactly what they've been trying to do for the past four years . That's one of the challenges we face, is denying al Qaeda a safe haven anywhere." O would rather they establish the base first before he would send in US forces apparently. Obviously a far superior strategy.
The comments are in reference to an answer Obama gave at Thursday's Democratic debate, when he said he would redeploy troops to Iraq if al Qaeda was successful in establishing bases there after the U.S. withdrew.
"I believe Senator Obama better stay focused on his campaign with Senator Clinton, neither of whom has secured their party's nomination yet," Bush added. That's gonna leave a mark.
Bush's remarks echo those of GOP candidate John McCain, who on the campaign trail Wednesday sharply criticized Obama for his comments at the debate, and suggested the Democratic presidential frontrunner wasn't aware members of Al Qaeda are already in the country.
"I have news for Senator Obama, al Qaeda is in Iraq and that's why we're fighting in Iraq," McCain said Wednesday while campaigning in Texas. McCain's press office also released a statement Wednesday stating, "Is Sen. Obama unaware that al Qaeda is still present in Iraq, that our forces are successfully fighting them every day, and that his Iraq policy of withdrawal would embolden al Qaeda and weaken our security?"
Obama sharply rebuked those comments, saying at a campaign rally Wednesday, "Well first of all, I do know that al Qaeda is in Iraq. That's why I've said we should continue to strike al Qaeda targets. But I have some news for John McCain, and that is that there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq." Stop digging, O.
Bush declined to talk about the White House race further in his press conference Thursday, saying "there will be ample time to discuss whoever their candidate the positions of whoever their candidate is."
Obama whipped out his peashooter issued a sharp response to the president and John McCain, saying both have "called for staying the course with an endless war in Iraq and a failed policy of not talking to leaders we dont like." Yeah, that's part of what he is going to changeTM.
"Americans of all political persuasions are calling for change," he said. "The American people arent looking for tough talk about fighting for 100 years in Iraq, because they know we need to end this war, finish the job in Afghanistan, and take the fight to al Qaeda." Do people really fall for this $hit?
Poll says majority think this war is winnable (don't trust poles, but..). A winnable war is not an endless war. No wars are endless - one side must halt eventually, even if just for tea break. Iraq has already surpassed all the flush and gas -some- people were saying just 2 years ago (last election cycle).
#3
I know that all wars in the past have ended. Thanks to the Chimpy McHalliburton crowd, this war is endless, because Harry and Nancy say so, but I am so going to change that. It'll be over before you know it!
Posted by: Obama Bobby ||
02/29/2008 12:56 Comments ||
Top||
#4
there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq."
Repeat it often enough and it becomes common knowlege, something that everyone knows is true.
Senator John McCain stepped up his critique of Senator Barack Obama on Thursday by accusing him for the second consecutive day of a willingness to hand over Iraq to Al Qaeda, as the Democratic contenders released record-breaking fund-raising figures.
At a news conference at Hobby Airport in Houston, where Mr. McCain was endorsed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Mr. McCain opened with a formulation of why he contended Mr. Obama is not ready to be commander in chief.
On the issue of my differences with Senator Obama on Iraq, I want to make it very clear: This is not about decisions that were made in the past, Mr. McCain said. This is about decisions that a president will have to make about the future in Iraq. And a decision to unilaterally withdraw from Iraq will lead to chaos.
Mr. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, was reacting to Mr. Obamas response to a hypothetical question in a debate in Cleveland on Tuesday night, when Mr. Obama said that although he intended to withdraw American forces as quickly as possible, he reserved the right to send troops back if Al Qaeda were forming a base in Iraq. Al Qaeda is there now, Mr. McCain said in Houston, with a tone of belittlement in his voice. So to state that somehow if Al Qaeda were there that he would consider going back militarily is really a remarkable comment, and I dont think displays an understanding of the size of the threat and whats at stake in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
He needs to tie this in to his 'Nam resume and the 1975 pullout which congress voted on that led to the slaughter of a million s.vietnamese, or use cambodia as an example why obama's lack of experience would hurt the country.
I don't care for mccain & have my own reservations about him but he's better then the other two. Heck, sometimes I wonder if the hilldabeast is not more to the right on a few issues then mcpain.
U.S. counterterrorism officials have dropped criminal charges against an alleged former Afghanistan training-camp instructor, a man they once questioned about a group of Canadian Arabs jailed in Syria. The decision means that secret U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation conversations with Mohammed Kamal Elzahabi will likely never be presented, nor tested, in any court.
It also paves the way for the prisoner's deportation to his native Lebanon. "He will be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon his release from custody," said David Anderson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, where the suspect has been held.
While outstanding allegations of lying to federal agents were dropped on Wednesday, Mr. Elzahabi was convicted of immigration fraud last August. He awaits sentencing, but his remaining jail time will likely be short, given that he has been held in pretrial custody since 2004. His lawyer fears for his safety. "We remain most concerned about where Mr. Elzahabi will be sent," said Paul Engh, a Minneapolis lawyer.
U.S. court documents reveal that the suspect - who bounced between the United States, Canada and Afghanistan during the 1990s - was once known as "Abu Kamal." He is said to have had a long career in foreign jihad - including stints in Lebanon and Chechnya - but always denied any allegiance to al-Qaeda.
The Minneapolis case has implications for Canada. Three Canadian Arabs - Ahmad Abou El Maati, Abdullah Almalki and Maher Arar - have all launched lawsuits, stating they were tortured overseas after a counterterrorism investigation wrongly flagged them as al-Qaeda members. Top judges in Canada are probing these allegations. Canadian officials have apologized only to Mr. Arar, who has been awarded $10-million in compensation. A judge found the telecommunications engineer from Ottawa was wrongly smeared in Canada-U.S. intelligence exchanges. But Mr. Arar's U.S. lawsuits have stalled amid concerns that they would compromise state secrets.
Court records show that the FBI questioned Mr. Elzahabi, once a Montreal resident, about all the Canadians, yet his precise answers have never been publicly revealed. The Globe and Mail recently reported that Mr. Elzahabi, whose credibility is very much at issue, told the FBI he once saw Mr. Arar in Afghanistan, an untested allegation that may be partly frustrating the latter's attempts to clear his name in the United States.
Now a global cause célèbre, Mr. Arar has denied ever travelling to Afghanistan or meeting Mr. Elzahabi. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency flew Mr. Arar to Syria in 2002, where the other two Canadian Arabs had already been jailed. The prisoners were all interrogated by the same teams. The Canadians were all released by 2004, the same year the FBI moved against Mr. Elzahabi. Minneapolis agents watched and wiretapped him for months, before bringing him in for interviews.
The fruits of the 17-day question-and-answer session remain largely secret. Eventually, the FBI charged Mr. Elzahabi with immigration fraud and two criminal counts of lying. The bizarre allegations trace back to the mid-1990s.
The first charge was that Mr. Elzahabi concealed help he gave to one of the Canadian targets, Mr. Almalki, as the two men worked together to ship two-way radios to the Pakistani military. The second was that Mr. Elzahabi lied to authorities as he helped a U.S. friend obtain a driver's licence. This case likely had less to do with the licence than the friend: Riad Hijazi, a veteran of the Afghanistan camps, subsequently moved from the United States to the Middle East, where he was convicted of plotting bombings in Jordan.
#3
Two notes from a local perspective. David Anderson is an asshat that could find his while having a BM. I've seen this twit in action when he got into a tizzy over legal asparagus imports.
Second, Paul Engh, one of a group of Minneapolis traitors who have been representing Muzzie terrorist out of the darkness of their hearts. Lincoln would have hung this prick.
Pakistani opposition parties that inflicted a big defeat on President Pervez Musharraf's allies in last week's election are trying to woo Islamists to build a coalition that could threaten the rule of the U.S. ally.
We knew he'd do that, since cutting the Islamists out of power takes a back seat to hitting the boodle. However...
Asif Ali "Gomez" Zardari, widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and leader of her party, on Thursday night met Fazl-ur-Rehman, a hard-line Islamic cleric and discussed the possibility of forming a "government of national consensus".
Fazl's an "Islamist," in that there are branches of the Talibs who are a part of his branch of JUI. But he's much more like Gomez in that he's for rent, if not for sale. If Gomez starts making deals with Qazi then we can expect him to sell the farm; making deals with Mullah Diesel just means he's going to rent a few acres. For awhile.
Representatives of both leaders were due to meet again on Friday evening for more discussions.
... on how to split the swag.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won most seats in the February 18 election, but not enough to rule alone. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) of another former prime minister, Nawaz "Uncle Fester" Sharif, came second. Zardari has called for a coalition government made up of all parties except Musharraf's main ally, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), which suffered a humiliating defeat in the polls.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 09:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
i think I also saw something about talks with MQM, which seemed odd as they are rivals in Sindh. I think this could just be talking with everyone to keep folks off balance.
A Jundakhel tribal jirga on Thursday rejected allegations of the tribes involvement in the kidnapping of Pakistans ambassador to Afghanistan and objected to the political administrations threatening to take action against the tribe.
The 50-member jirga, which assembled in the Kata Koshta area of Khyber Agencys Landi Kotal tehsil, denied involvement in Tariq Azizudins abduction and said it was unfair of the political administration to threaten punishment under the Collective or Territorial Responsibility Clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).
The jirga said the political administration should identify the culprits so the tribe could organise a lashkar [force] against them. The jirga also resolved to demolish the homes and villages of the kidnappers.
Members of the jirga will meet the Landi Kotal assistant political agent on Friday (today) to apprise him of their reservations and decisions. On Tuesday, the political administration gave the tribe three days to recover the ambassador or face action under the FCR.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday agreed to form a government of national consensus. We are in touch with all political parties including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to form a government of national consensus, Zardari told reporters after a one-hour long meeting with Fazl here in Islamabad.
Fazl told reporters that he had agreed with Zardari on the formation of a national government. He said all issues would be settled amicably. He said the JUI-F wanted the supremacy of the constitution in the country and an end to militarys role in politics.
Demands: Separately, talking to reporters at the end of two-day meeting of the JUI-F central executive committee (CEC), Fazl said the JUI-F was willing to support the new government if it accepted his partys demands. He also called for more provincial autonomy. The new government must ensure that no international power is allowed to examine Pakistans nuclear assets, and Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will not be exposed to the international energy watchdogs. Fazl said the next government should make legislation according to the recommendations of the Islamic Ideology Council. He said his party would endorse major political parties decision on the restoration of the sacked judges.
He said the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), headed by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, was still intact. However, Ahmed has nothing to do with parliamentary affairs, as he had boycotted the February 18 elections, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
(PTI) Under pressure from Pakistan's new coalition to step down, Pervez Musharraf said his position is "strong" and will not resign, as his allies backed the President and challenged his political opponents to oust him. Musharraf's optimism about continuing in office came amid an assertion by a top US intelligence official that he faced the threat of being impeached although the two major coalition partners do not have the required numbers in Parliament.
Stating that PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had "an agenda to impeach President Musharraf", Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnel said the PPP and PML(N) "do not have the votes to do that(impeach), but if they had independents join them, they could possibly have the votes." During his meeting with a delegation of leaders of the PML-Q, the party which backs him and was routed in the February 18 polls, Musharraf said he would continue to play his constitutional role as President, according to PML-Q sources. The delegation was led by former premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
Pervez Elahi, a close confidante of Musharraf, told reporter " He(Musharraf) has been elected president for five years. He will remain president for five years." "There is no such proposal. Neither is he considering it," Elahi said when asked whether Musharraf is considering resigning.
The meeting between Musharraf and PML-Q delegation also took the view that the removal of the President's powers to dismiss an elected prime minister and dissolve parliament "would not be accepted", the sources said.
The sources quoted Musharraf as saying that revocation of these powers would cause "problems for the new parliament". The PML-N and PPP have indicated that they plan to strip the President of these powers.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
The head of a United Nations panel looking into security risks said Thursday the global organization must adapt to becoming a target of attacks, especially following the bombing of the U.N. offices in Algeria.
Finally got yer attention, eh?
"Our flag that used to be a protection is becoming now a target. And I'm not sure whether we have really absorbed that reality and acted on it," veteran Algerian diplomat and U.N. troubleshooter Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters. "People question the independence of the United Nations. They say, 'It's taking sides.' A lot of people are some rightly, some not rightly angry with the United Nations," he said.
Brahimi was appointed panel chairman by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in early February. Ban created the panel in response to the twin truck bombings in the Algerian capital, Algiers, that killed 17 U.N. staff and at least 20 other people on Dec. 11.
The Algerian government had initially opposed a U.N. probe, saying it was investigating. But Brahimi suggested he had worked out a deal with the Algerian authorities to allow the investigation.
"I agree not to find anything, they agree to keep the crazies on a short leash and maybe I get out with a press release and a nice lobster thermidor."
"My understanding now is that they are fully on board," Brahimi said. "The Algerians and the U.N. have been victims of this terrorist attack, and they have both the same interests in understanding what has happened, why it has happened, and how to protect themselves in the future."
That's UN-ese for "Who do we make the checks out to?"
An al-Qaida-affiliated group claimed responsibility for what was the deadliest single attack against U.N. staff and facilities since a 2003 attack on the world body's headquarters in Baghdad. The top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was killed in that attack, along with 21 others, most of them U.N. staffers.
Brahimi promised a vigorous examination of U.N. security issues in Algeria and elsewhere over the next six weeks, and said that his personal ties to that nation would not bias the panel's work but would work to the U.N.'s benefit.
"I know all the best masseuses in Algiers!"
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Not that I am suggesting it, but if they don't want to be a target they might want to improve their military ability - 'the best defense is a good offense' or 'I don't care if they love me as long as they fear me.'
Iraq's presidential council has endorsed the execution within a month of Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in the 1980s scorched-earth campaign against Kurds, officials said Friday. But it spared the life of two other officials amid Sunni protests that they were only following orders.
The approval by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents was the final step clearing the way for Ali Hassan al-Majid's execution by hanging. It could now be carried out at any time, a government adviser and a prosecutor said.
Al-Majid was one of three former Saddam officials sentenced to death in June after being convicted by an Iraqi court of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly 200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas.
Al-Majid was nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas attacks that killed thousands.
The officials said the three-member presidential council agreed to al-Majid's execution, but did not approve death sentences against the other two Hussein Rashid Mohammed, an ex-deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, and former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie.
The fate of the men who are in U.S. custody had been in legal limbo since this summer and the decision could represent a compromise to ease Sunni objections to executing al-Taie, widely viewed as a respected career soldier who was forced to follow Saddam's orders in the purges against Kurds.
Al-Majid would be the fifth former regime official hanged for alleged atrocities against Iraqis during Saddam's nearly three-decade rule.
Saddam, who also had been a defendant in the so-called Anfal trial, was hanged Dec. 30, 2006, for ordering the killings of more than 140 Shiite Muslims from the Iraqi city of Dujail following a 1982 assassination attempt against him.
A government adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. officials had been informed of the decision by phone and that a meeting was planned to decide when and where the execution should take place.
A senior U.S. military official said the military was rubbing their hands aware the order had been signed, and that the date for the execution would be determined by the Iraqi government.
The other two men remain in U.S. custody but are under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi government, the official said, declining to be identified ahead of an official announcement.
Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi, who said he had received word of the decision from the presidential council, said there was a legal basis for the execution of "Chemical Ali" but not of the other two.
He said no law existed that could force the presidential council to endorse the execution of all three, so it had the prerogative to just sign off on one of the orders.
An appeals court upheld the verdicts against the three in September. Under Iraqi law the executions were to have taken place within a month. But they were put on hold after Sunni leaders including Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi launched a campaign to spare the life of al-Taie.
President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, had also refused to sign the order against al-Taie, a Sunni Arab from the northern city of Mosul who signed the cease-fire with U.S.-led forces that ended the 1991 Gulf War.
Al-Taie surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003 after weeks of negotiations. His defense has claimed the Americans had promised al-Taie "protection and good treatment" before he turned himself in.
Many Sunni Arabs saw his sentence as evidence that Shiite and Kurdish officials are persecuting their once-dominant minority and as a sign of Shiite influence over the judiciary, raising concerns the executions could ignite retaliatory sectarian attacks.
The case also strained relations between al-Maliki's Shiite-led government and U.S. officials. In late November, the Shiite prime minister asked President Bush to hand over "Chemical Ali" and the other two former regime officials.
The officials said al-Hashemi had refused to agree to the executions of the other two because he considered them career soldiers following orders.
There have been few calls for leniency, however, regarding al-Majid.
Saddam's half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were hanged in January 2007.
Saddam's former vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, had been sentenced to life in prison for his role in Dujail but was executed in March after the court decided this was too lenient. Three other defendants were sentenced to 15 years in jail in the Dujail case, while one was acquitted.
Posted by: gorb ||
02/29/2008 07:01 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
#1
Too bad they don't use a gas chamber. That would be poetic justice.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/29/2008 7:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
they have a month too build one, just a suggestion.
Our son's Marine battalion, the 3/3, has returned to its base at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, from the hinterlands of Fallujah after a 7-month deployment. He and his Marines are full of praise for the battalion that went before them, which did most of the heavy lifting in the destruction of al Qaeda in that corner of Anbar Province. Both are entitled to high praise, and we can all be grateful that the 3/3 returns to America without losing a single Marine during their deployment.
There is plenty of fighting ahead in Iraq, but the tide of battle is now running strongly in our favor. Can we all say ooooorah!?
Posted by: Mike ||
02/29/2008 06:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
U.S.-backed Sunni volunteer forces, which have played a vital role in reducing violence in Iraq, are increasingly frustrated with the American military and the Iraqi government over what they see as a lack of recognition of their growing political clout and insufficient U.S. support.
Since Feb. 8, thousands of fighters in restive Diyala province have left their posts in order to pressure the government and its American backers to replace the province's Shiite police chief. On Wednesday, their leaders warned that they would disband completely if their demands were not met. In Babil province, south of Baghdad, fighters have refused to man their checkpoints after U.S. soldiers killed several comrades in mid-February in circumstances that remain in dispute.
Some force leaders and ground commanders also reject a U.S.-initiated plan that they say offers too few Sunni fighters the opportunity to join Iraq's army and police, and warn that low salaries and late payments are pushing experienced members to quit.
Continued on Page 49
#2
The WaPo came out with the same article yesterday. It is written by their bureau chief, Sudarsan Raghavan, who consistently has insisted from the very moment he became bureau chief, that Iraq is lost and descending into chaos.
His cred is somewhere between Harry Reid and Cindy Sheehan.
#3
1. awakening councils are a good idea, but need to be funded. Of course these guys wont get all they ask for, which is why its logical for them to ask for more than they think they need - this is the land of rug dealing, an art many folks in the Pentagon are deeply familiar with, even if under different names
2. This provinicial election thing is a big deal in mixed provinces like Diyala, where the provincial govt is all Shia and yet we are appealing to Sunnis. Hopefully that gets worked out soon.
A liberal Democrats attempt to impose quick US troop withdrawals from Iraq collapsed in the US Senate, as expected, but leaders on Thursday insisted they will retool legislation and force votes in coming months.
The Senate spent much of this week debating a plan by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin to begin withdrawing most American troops from Iraq by July. His effort, like one last December, faced deep opposition in the chamber, where members have repeatedly blocked steps to impose timetables for winding down a war that is entering its sixth year.
No support: Senate leaders pulled the bill from debate when it was obvious there was no support for passage. Well be back. There are a number of things were considering, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told reporters in acknowledging Feingolds measure was doomed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
How is it that these extreme-wing pinheads get elected to high-leverage positions like this?
Oh well. I guess rather than get upset I should just enjoy watching them slowly saw their own heads off.
Turkey said on Thursday its offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq would continue as long as necessary, rejecting the US pressure for a speedy end to the week-old military incursion.
Turkish warplanes, meanwhile, bombed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq and intensive fighting was reported on the ground near a major rebel base, Iraqi security sources said.
Short incursion: Despite Turkish refusal to give a timetable for a pullout, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that after talks in Ankara, he believed Turkish leaders got his message.
Speaking after meeting with Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul, Gates said the incursion, launched on February 21, should be as short and precisely targeted as possible.
Gonul responded that Turkey will remain in northern Iraq as long as necessary and the troops will return home once PKK hideouts were destroyed. There is no need for us to stay there after we finish (off) the terrorist infrastructure ... We have no intention to interfere in (Iraqi) domestic politics, no intention to occupy any area, he told reporters.
Gates said on Tuesday the offensive should last no longer than a week or two but Turkish army chief Yasar Buyukanit made it clear that Turkey would not be constrained by deadlines. A short time is a relative term. Sometimes this can mean one day and sometimes one year, he said after talks with Gates, adding that the United States had been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan for years.
Ankara says an estimated 4,000 rebels use northern Iraq as a base in their campaign for self-rule in Turkeys mainly Kurdish southeast; the conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives since the PKK took up arms in 1984.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Israels Foreign Ministry says the Grad-type Katyusha rockets fired at Ashkelon came from Iran and may lead Israel back to Gaza.
In the past 24 hours, over 15 heavy rockets were fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza against Israels southern port city of Ashkelon, a Foreign Ministry dispatch to journalists and diplomatic staff said. The 122 mm Grad rockets (also known as Katyushas), are a type of standard military artillery weapon produced in the former Soviet bloc and by other states deploying non-Western arms. It is manufactured to military standards, by a conventional arms industry, and is equipped with a weapons-grade high explosive fragmentation warhead.
The Foreign Ministry pointed the finger at Tehran. The Grad rockets fired today were apparently smuggled into Gaza from Iran via Egypt through tunnels and the breached Rafah border fence, the dispatch stated. Israel has repeatedly warned neighboring states and the international community about the arms buildup taking place in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Todays attacks constitute a regretful yet unequivocal proof of the veracity of Israels warnings.
Prior to the implementation of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria, anti-expulsion activists placed posters all around Ashkelon proclaiming that the withdrawal would herald missiles on the port city and advising resident to oppose the move or prepare for the attacks. Thursdays missiles slammed into the campus of Barzilai Hospital, destroyed a family home in one of the citys neighborhood, made a large crater in one of the citys streets and stuck the municipal cemetery.
The Foreign Ministry statement ended with an acknowledgement echoing the predictions of Gazas Jewish evictees: that Israel will have no choice but return to settle the region. Israel left the Gaza Strip over two years ago, with no intention of ever returning, the statement said. Yet, the continued escalation of Hamas terrorism emanating from Gaza, purposely targeting Israeli civilians, is liable to leave Israel with no choice.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered on Thursday the activation of the "Color Red" rocket early warning system Ashekelon, hours after two Katyusha barrages wounded one girl, and sent dozens of others into shock.
On Thursday morning, 17 people were sent into shock a Grad rocket hit a house in Ashkelon. Hours later, a 17-year-old girl was lightly wounded and several others suffered from shock when two more rockets fell in the center and southern parts of the city. It marked the first time ever that a building in the town has been struck in a rocket attack. Four Grad rockets hit the city in the Thursday afternoon attack.
Meanwhile, a 70-year-old woman was lightly wounded and 14 people were sent into shock as Kassam rockets continued to hit Sderot.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Taking orders from that spineless POS Ombert: its much easier to crank up the sirens and the air force or the bulldozers and be done with it, once and for all.
somebody over there needs a gonad transfusion.
#2
Taking orders from that spineless POS Ombert: its much easier to crank up the sirens than the air force or the bulldozers and be done with it, once and for all.
somebody over there needs a gonad transfusion.
Egypt is working on a plan with the Palestinians to supply all the besieged Gaza Strip's electricity needs and wean off its reliance on Israel for power, an Egyptian energy official said Thursday. Under the plan, Egypt - which already supplies a small part of Gaza's electricity - would increase the number of power lines linking it to Gaza and provide Palestinians with some 250 megawatts, said Izzat Ibrahim, a senior official of Sinai's National Electricity Power Co. "This capacity is considered as an alternative power for that Israel used to supply," Ibrahim said.
He said Egypt's Electricity Ministry was preparing a study with the Palestinian Authority on financing the project and providing equipment to Gaza. The project would take at least six months to implement, he said, though he could not say when it would start. An official at the ministry confirmed that Egypt was exploring means of providing all of Gaza's electricity needs. The official would not give a time-frame for the project.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Better start your cost estimations with the customary graft, corruption, pet projects (like Kassam missiles), "retirement" funds, etc. for all your knuckle-dragging Palestinian brothers (who like to pay for the rejected products you sell them with their monopoly money).
Sort of like the US, except there they like to call it "earmarks" (or you can save a syllable and call it "pork" if you don't care about being PC).
Then throw in a bit more for use on the actual project.
Oh, and don't forget that you'll need nukes to generate all that extra electricity.
#2
Egypt is calculating that they can get the EU to come up with the funds for the generation capacity and also the funds for the operation and also that they'll be able to skim money and KWH from the project.
#3
If Egypt is interested, I am sure Israel would be willing to give them a deal on the whole Gaza strip. All Egypt would have to do is take responsibility for them.
#4
"He said Egypt's Electricity Ministry was preparing a study with the Palestinian Authority on financing the project and providing equipment to Gaza."
And then he laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and...
Indonesia needs to keep closer tabs on a flourishing publishing network linked to the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, which reflects a debate on tactics among Islamic extremists, an International Crisis Group report said Friday. It said the profitable book business had been growing at a time when Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional network blamed for a string of deadly attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings, had been weakened and appeared to be rebuilding.
The increase in publications, which indicate a debate within Jemaah Islamiyah over the desirability of using Qaeda tactics, could be a sign that the organization was trying to rebuild by focusing on religious outreach and recruitment, the report said. "These publishers are disseminating a radical message, but they also may be playing a positive role by channeling JI energies into jihad through the printed word rather than through acts of violence," said Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group, a prominent Jakarta-based authority on Jemaah Islamiyah.
The report said that banning publications, which are often Arabic translations and include titles like "Join the caravan of martyrs" or "Becoming an infidel without knowing it" would be counterproductive, but there was a need for more scrutiny.
As well as being a possible recruiting tool, the report said the publishing web based around the central Java town of Solo illustrated the social network holding Jemaah Islamiyah together and helped explain the ability of Jemaah Islamiyah to rebound from setbacks.
The Singapore government apologized Thursday for the security lapse that allowed a suspected Islamic terrorist leader to escape from jail, triggering a manhunt across this usually well-policed island nation. Authorities said Mas Selamat Kastari, who once allegedly plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's international airport, slipped away Wednesday. He is said to be commander of the Singapore arm of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian extremist group allied with al-Qaida.
Minister of Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng said Mas Selamat escaped after being taken from his cell to go to a room for a scheduled visit by his family at the Whitley Road Detention Center, which is in a wooded residential area in central Singapore. Mas Selamat, 47, was allowed to first go to the restroom and escaped from the heavily guarded facility, Wong said in Parliament, without offering any specifics. Ahhh yess the ole Im just going to the biffy Ill be right back. routine.
"This should never have happened," said Wong, who is also deputy prime minister. "I am sorry that it had. An independent investigation is under way and we should not speculate on what and how it happened." Too late Wongy weve already been speculating it was an inside job.
The Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement that "extensive police resources have been deployed to track" down Mas Selamat, who walks with a limp. Nepalese Gurkhas who guard the jail fanned out across a nearby snake-infested forest, checking vacant bungalows and peering down drains and back alleys of private housing areas.Thousands of police officers and soldiers set up roadblocks to check passing cars. Dozens of riot police and military trucks parked along main roads.
Hezbollah on Friday denounced the deployment of U.S. warships off the coast of Lebanon, calling it a threat to the country's sovereignty, but the Shiite militant group said it would not be intimidated by the move.
The U.S. military said Thursday the Navy was sending at least three ships, including an amphibious assault ship, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength amid tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon.
"We are facing an American threat against Lebanon," Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah said on local television. "It is clear this threat and intimidation will not affect us."
Hezbollah is leading the opposition that seeks to topple the U.S.- backed government in Beirut. The group fought Israel in the 2006 war and is believed to be linked to Muslim militants who attacked U.S. forces and diplomats in Lebanon in 1983-84 during the Lebanese civil war, killing about 270.
Attempts to reach other Hezbollah officials were unsuccessful. Hezbollah's media office said there was no official comment.
However, Fadlallah's statements on Aljadeed television gave the scope of the Syrian- and Iranian-backed guerrilla group's views, and he called on the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to reject the deployment. Saniora was expected to address the matter later in the day.
Members of Saniora's U.S.-backed, anti-Syrian coalition said they had no links to the American decision but blamed what they described as Syria's attempts to undermine Lebanon for bringing tensions to such a level.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country in the volatile region.
But the decision appeared to be a not-too-subtle show of U.S. force as international frustration mounts in the region over a long political deadlock in tiny, weak Lebanon.
The U.S. blames Syria for the impasse, saying Syria has never given up its ambitions to control its smaller neighbor.
The presidential election in Lebanon has been delayed 15 times. Just this week the date was pushed back to March 11.
The opposition has accused the U.S. of scuttling attempts to settle the political crisis over the president and government that has dragged on for the last 15 months and sharpened since November when Parliament failed to meet to elect a head of state.
Fadlallah said Hezbollah would not be affected by "threats and intimidation and such American military shows which do not affect our choices and decisions."
Stretching its military muscle is "proof of failure" of the U.S., the Hezbollah lawmaker said.
The deployment made the front page of newspapers in Lebanon. The pro- opposition As-Safir daily called the U.S. decision "provocative" and had the headline: "Cole destroyer in Lebanese waters to terrorize the Resistance, Syria and the (Arab) summit."
Syria is to hold an Arab summit at the end of next month, and U.S.- allied Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt are reportedly threatening to boycott if no president is elected in Lebanon by then.
The U.S. deployment brought back memories of U.S. involvement in Lebanon in the 1980s.
In 1983, at the height of U.S. intervention, about 17 shipstwo aircraft carrier battle groups and two mammoth battleshipspatrolled the Lebanese coastline with a Marine contingent deployed at Beirut airport.
A suicide bombing destroyed the Marine base in October 1983, killing 241 American service personnel, and a U.S. Embassy building was destroyed by another suicide bomber during that period. U.S. warships also were involved in shelling anti-government Muslim militia positions.
Lebanese territorial waters are now patrolled by a U.N. Naval Task Force that is assisting Lebanese authorities under the U.N. resolution that halted the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The last time U.S. ships came to Lebanon was during the 34-day conflict in 2006, with warships taking part in the evacuation of Americans.
Lebanon's Public Works Minister and acting Energy Minster Mohammed Safadi declared his rejection Thursday to giving the Hezbollah-led opposition veto powers in the new cabinet, terming this demand "unconstitutional." Safadi stressed that "the March 8 team insists on acquiring veto powers, the March 14 team, including myself, is not ready to accept this unconstitutional demand." We are rejecting giving the opposition veto powers because of "our belief in and adherence to the constitution," Safadi added.
Lebanon, Safadi added, would only exit the ongoing crisis by "electing a president who would shepherd persisting dialogue between the Lebanese on all thorny issues." He stressed that "we need to elect a president because we need him to safeguard the national balance and be the father of all the Lebanese ."
Commenting on the Arab initiative , Safadi said : "The obstacles facing the Arab initiative and our failure to elect the President of the Republic in Lebanon does not mean the failure of this Arab initiative, which remains the only effort which enjoys Arab and international support".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Lebanese politicians are calling for Hezbollah, the radical Lebanese militia, to be expelled from parliament following claims that terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyeh was a senior member of the organizations governing council.
Lebanese security officials investigating Mughniyehs activities prior to his assassination in a car bomb attack in Damascus earlier this month have uncovered evidence that Mughniyeh used a pseudonym to conceal his membership of Hezbollahs elite Shura Council.
Although Hezbollah is widely believed in Western intelligence circles to be involved in terrorism, the organization insists it is a legitimate political party, and emerged as one of the main opposition parties following Lebanons 2005 elections. It is currently blocking attempts by the mainstream Lebanese political parties to elect a new president.
Prior to his death it was widely known that Mughniyeh, one of the worlds most deadly terrorists, had close ties to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, and had advised him on a variety of security issues, including the tactics used by the militia during the 2006 Hezbollah-inspired war with Israel. But Lebanese security officials have now uncovered evidence that Mughniyeh was for many years a member of Hezbollahs seven-man Shura Council, and played an active role in formulating the organizations political agenda, as well as advising on security-related issues. A Lebanese report claims that Mughniyeh used the pseudonym Jawad Nur A-Din to conceal his identity at Hezbollah political meetings. Hezbollah officials have declined to give any specific biographical details about Mr A-Din except to say that he is one of the leading commanders of the Islamic resistance and a close ally of Mr Nasrallah.
Claims that Mughniyeh was a key political strategist for Hezbollah yesterday prompted calls by mainstream Lebanese politicians for the organization to be expelled from the parliament. This proves what we have said all along about Hezbollah, that it is a terror group, not a political party, said a leading Christian politician who asked not to be named. Hezbollah has no interest in parliamentary democracy, and it has no place in the parliament.
Hezbollah, which has close ties to Syria and Iran, is deeply involved with opposition attempts to prevent the election of an anti-Syrian president. Lebanese security officials believe Mughniyeh may have been involved in plotting the assassinations of a number of anti-Syrian politicians who have recently been killed in a succession of car bomb attacks in Beirut, including the murder of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Saudi Arabia has pulled its ambassador out of Damascus only weeks ahead of a planned Arab summit there to express its anger at Syria over a political crisis in Lebanon, in what some analysts say is the playing out of a regional power struggle between pro- and anti-U.S. Arab players.
After reportedly threatening to boycott the March summit, Arab diplomats said, Saudi Arabia transferred its ambassador in Damascus, Ahmad Ali Qahtani, to Doha to lower the kingdom's representation in Syria while simultaneously upgrading its presence in Qatar.
Saudi Arabia has not had an ambassador in Qatar since Riyadh withdrew him in 2002 after the Qatar-based al-Jazeera news channel aired a debate in which a guest sharply criticized the Saudi royal family. The two wealthy Gulf Arab countries have been lashing out at each other through their media for the past two years. By moving the envoy from Damascus to Doha the Saudis seek to repair one relationship at the expense of another, one Arab diplomat told the Middle East Times, suggesting that the influential monarchy will flex its full political and economic muscle against Syria to "facilitate presidential elections" in Lebanon.
Other Arab diplomats said this week that Saudi King Abdullah will boycott the March 29-30 summit while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will only attend if Syria exerts enough pressure on its Lebanese allies in the opposition to abandon their demands to free the way for the election of a president.
Saudi Arabia's U.S.-backed Arab allies have indicated that they, too, will boycott the summit, or dispatch low-level delegations if Lebanon doesn't have a president by then. Saudi-owned newspapers have also reported on discussions earlier this week between Arab heavyweight leaders Mubarak and the Saudi monarch, over the possibility of seeking to move the summit from Damascus to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh. Some commentators urged them to call off the meeting altogether. "Darkness shrouds the Arab summit," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said, in remarks to the Saudi-financed al-Hayat daily on Thursday. "And for that reason, I insist on salvaging the Lebanon crisis."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/29/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Is this a food fight or a pillow fight?
Two diplomats exchanging make nice insultograms over Behruit?
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.
UNB, Dhaka: Home Secretary Abdul Karim Thursday said Islamic militant outfits that are found in Bangladesh have no operative linkages with international terror networks of Al-Qaeda or Taliban. "Weapons or type of explosives they use may have foreign origin or in neighbouring countries, but their financing is arranged internally, not from external sources," he told a conference on Trend of Militancy in Bangladesh and Possible Responses at BEI office. Karim observed that some smaller militant groups like "Allahr Dal", Hijbut Tauhid and Hijbut Tahrir are seen trying to organize them and put up demonstrations on small issues. "And we're trying to destroy the network of small groups too."
Britain's defense chief decided Friday to immediately pull Prince Harry out of Afghanistan after news of his deployment was leaked on the U.S. Web site the Drudge Report. Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, chief of the Defense Staff, said he decided to withdraw the prince after senior commanders assessed the risks, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. 
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch activist facing death threats for her outspoken criticism of Islam, is to come under national police protection anywhere in the European Union, the top justice official in Brussels said tonight. Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice and home affairs, told the Guardian that Hirsi Ali and any other persons facing threats to their lives because of their opinions or writings, would be guaranteed protection wherever they went in Europe and that the host country would bear the expense.
Senator John McCain stepped up his critique of Senator Barack Obama on Thursday by accusing him for the second consecutive day of a willingness to hand over Iraq to Al Qaeda, as the Democratic contenders released record-breaking fund-raising figures.
Pakistani opposition parties that inflicted a big defeat on President Pervez Musharraf's allies in last week's election are trying to woo Islamists to build a coalition that could threaten the rule of the U.S. ally.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday agreed to form a government of national consensus. We are in touch with all political parties including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to form a government of national consensus, Zardari told reporters after a one-hour long meeting with Fazl here in Islamabad.
(PTI) Under pressure from Pakistan's new coalition to step down, Pervez Musharraf said his position is "strong" and will not resign, as his allies backed the President and challenged his political opponents to oust him. Musharraf's optimism about continuing in office came amid an assertion by a top US intelligence official that he faced the threat of being impeached although the two major coalition partners do not have the required numbers in Parliament.
The head of a United Nations panel looking into security risks said Thursday the global organization must adapt to becoming a target of attacks, especially following the bombing of the U.N. offices in Algeria.
Iraq's presidential council has endorsed the execution within a month of Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in the 1980s scorched-earth campaign against Kurds, officials said Friday. But it spared the life of two other officials amid Sunni protests that they were only following orders.
A liberal Democrats attempt to impose quick US troop withdrawals from Iraq collapsed in the US Senate, as expected, but leaders on Thursday insisted they will retool legislation and force votes in coming months.
by Ezra HaLevi
The Singapore government apologized Thursday for the security lapse that allowed a suspected Islamic terrorist leader to escape from jail, triggering a manhunt across this usually well-policed island nation. Authorities said 
Hezbollah on Friday denounced the deployment of U.S. warships off the coast of Lebanon, calling it a threat to the country's sovereignty, but the Shiite militant group said it would not be intimidated by the move. 
Saudi Arabia has pulled its ambassador out of Damascus only weeks ahead of a planned Arab summit there to express its anger at Syria over a political crisis in Lebanon, in what some analysts say is the playing out of a regional power struggle between pro- and anti-U.S. Arab players.
