Ironically, the staging of the Al-Quds rally in Sydney and the renewal of the campaign coincides with the Palestinians deciding to go quiet in the lead-up to November's US presidential election.
Until his preferred candidate Barack Obama is safely back in the White House, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not going to put pressure on Obama to support a renewed bid for Palestinian statehood at the UN.
Abbas is already chewing hard on his lip as he watches Obama's election year charm offensive directed at Israel. Any high-profile agitation for Palestinian statehood in the lead-up to the US election could just make things that much harder for the Obama campaign.
The price of discomfort and delay will be well worth paying, however, if Abbas can see his man voted in for a second term.
And if not? Whatever will President Abbas and the rest of the Palestinians do if Bibi's old friend moves into the White House next January?
#2
There are even motions and applications by Turkish authorities to Iran indicating that PKK militants are using Iranian military outposts along the border.
Do you mean like...the Taliban using Pakistani Frontier Corps outposts along the Durand Line? I tell you, I simply cannot believe it.
#5
It is not a violation of their religious tenets to lie to an infidel.
Because we are infidels, hence they will lie to us...quid pro quo
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
08/18/2012 13:19 Comments ||
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#6
go back in time to the 4th IDs invasion of Northern Iraq... Oh it didn't happen?
go back further in time.... a huge fraud run by one of Turkey's leading family Mafias smashes the financial structures of both Motorola and Nokia. The vaunted World Court rules in the companies' favor and Turkey supports defies the WC (heh) by refusing to turn over the perps, release the stolen funds and/or return the property not paid for. A fine upstanding nation (NOT)!
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/18/2012 14:07 Comments ||
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#7
Maybe off-topic but probably not; a quick search of Google still indicates nobody's seen this guy lately.
Yet another reason to come to the Burg on a daily basis...the entire Middle East is running the qualifying heats for the Archduke Franz Ferdinand Memorial Steeplechase, but we hear virtually nothing about it from the American MSM.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/18/2012 14:14 Comments ||
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[Dawn] THE attack on the air force base in Kamra has raised disturbing -- and disturbingly familiar -- questions. That only one security personnel was killed as opposed to nine dead Death Eaters is only a small consolation: the first and foremost question is, how were Death Eaters able to yet again infiltrate a high-security armed services' base and engage security forces inside for many hours? Given that some kind of military operation in North Wazoo against at least the Pakistain-centric Death Eaters is in the offing, the possibility of pre-emptive strikes by the Death Eaters is high. Had the warning of a blowback only been made at the policy level without it filtering down to the security forces likely to be in the cross-hairs of the krazed killers? Already, the very specific threat against PAF bases in Punjab by the TTP in Dire Revenge™ for the killing of a krazed killer leader earlier this month had been picked up by the intelligence apparatus. Surely, then, at this stage of the fight against militancy, the security apparatus should be able to repulse attacks on at least critical sites with more efficiency, particularly with both the circumstantial and direct forewarning appearing to have been available.
As with previous attacks, the possibility of insider help to the Death Eaters in the assault on Kamra is also very high. From sympathisers of radical Islamist thought to direct supporters of krazed killer groups, the army appears to have a militancy problem, the severity of which is hidden from the public because investigations and court martials are often carried out in secret. The wider concern going forward ought to have the army's screening procedures: how robust and effective is the surveillance and vetting of the armed forces' personnel to prevent an incident before it happens? Clearly, as recent history suggests, not robust or effective enough -- but what will it take for a more serious and sustained effort? Finally, the question that has bedevilled the fight against militancy: when will the state, both the army and the political government, drive home the message to the Pak public that the war is real, it is against a radicalised fringe of Pakistain and that unless the war is fought with total commitment and purpose, the state and society itself will spiral towards irreversible disaster? Gen Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... 's Independence Day message contained the first strands of that message but it has to be sustained and spread to the farthest corners of the country. The ones shouting 'this isn't our war' -- many on the political right -- need to be countered, firmly and unequivocally. Delay that battle any longer and the already manifold complications will grow yet more complicated.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2012 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
From sympathisers of radical Islamist thought to direct supporters of militant groups, the army appears to have a militancy problem, the severity of which is hidden from the public because investigations and court martials are often carried out in secret.
[Dawn] BESIDES adding to the Baathist regime's regional and international isolation, the suspension of Syria's membership by the Organisation of Islamic Conference on Wednesday is unlikely to have much effect on the situation in the Levant if the aim is peace. The 57-member bloc coupled the suspension with a call for the development of a peaceful mechanism that would build "a new Syrian state based on pluralism" and a "democratic and civilian system" -- ideals that are in keeping with the spirit of the Arab Spring. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... ignoring the plea by Pakistain, Algeria and Kazakhstan that the snuffies be also blamed for the bloodshed, the 57-member body's final statement said the "principal responsibility" for the fighting lay with the government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... . The statement coincided with a UN report which said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that both government forces and the rebels had committed war crimes and "gross violations" of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , including "unlawful killing, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, sexual violence, pillaging and destruction of property".
Unless there is an agreement on a ceasefire, the Syrian conflict, which has led to 20,000 dead, could expand. Leb is already in a state of tension and fear, with reports that four Arab countries have asked their nationals to leave the country following a string of abductions of some Sunnis by a Shia group. The OIC and the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , which suspended Syria's membership last year, ought to have a uniform policy on dissent in Mohammedan countries. Their attitudes towards Bahrain, for instance, are in sharp contrast with their Syria policies. While in the former case the Gulf Cooperation Council sent troops to crush the uprising and save the monarchy, in the case of Libya and Syria they have pursued an active regime-change strategy. What happens if tomorrow there is a democratic stir in Arab monarchies, some of which have not given their people even a semblance of constitutional rule? The Syrian situation deserves to be addressed with all sincerity, but as Pakistain's foreign minister said at the recent Tehran moot, moves that could lead to foreign intervention need to be avoided.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2012 00:00 ||
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[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
So they talked a lot and decided that somebody should do something. Good work!
The later one, showing some stodgy old Republicans fussing about voter ID, I can appreciate how the morons feel, but I have ALWAYS been happy to show my ID.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/18/2012 13:47 ||
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#1
I have started making a list of things you need to show ID for: flying on a plane, driving a car (of course), getting medical care, riding on a train, donating blood, visiting someone in a hospital, picking up a package at FEDEX, and on and on. I don't see why it should be a big deal to show ID to vote.
Of course, just showing ID will not prevent all voter fraud. For example, my father passed away six years ago. He was a rabid Democrat (we rarely discussed politics). My brother is a junior, so he has the same name. If Dad's voting district has not purged the voting rolls, my brother could show his ID and vote in Dad's name. (They vote the same.)
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/18/2012 16:57 Comments ||
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#2
Google your father's county board of elections, Rambler, and check to see if he is still registered. If yes, call them to find out what it would take to get his name removed, given he's dead and all. You might want to do the same with all your previous places of residence, to make sure you aren't still voting somewhere else, all unknowing.
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 attack on the air force base in Kamra has raised disturbing -- and disturbingly familiar -- questions. That only one security personnel was killed as opposed to nine dead 
BESIDES adding to the Baathist regime's regional and international isolation, the suspension of Syria's membership by the Organisation of Islamic Conference on Wednesday is unlikely to have much effect on the situation in the Levant if the aim is peace. The 57-member bloc coupled the suspension with a call for the development of a peaceful mechanism that would build "a new Syrian state based on pluralism" and a "democratic and civilian system" -- ideals that are in keeping with the spirit of the Arab Spring. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
