Daniel Pipes presents this opinion piece he wrote for the Washington Times on Turkey's latest possible games. Erdoğan is a great guy to deal with.....as we found out the hard way in OIF.
by Daniel Pipes
The Washington Times
February 6, 2013.
Recent steps taken by the Government of Turkey suggest it may be ready to ditch the NATO club of democracies for a Russian and Chinese gang of authoritarian states.
Here is the evidence:
Starting in 2007, Ankara applied three times unsuccessfully to join as a Guest Member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (or SCO, informally known as the Shanghai Five). Founded in 1996 by the Russian and Chinese governments, along with three (and in 2001 a fourth) former Soviet Central Asian states, the SCO has received minimal attention in the West, although it has grand security and other aspirations, including the possible creation of a gas cartel. More, it offers an alternative to the Western model, from NATO, to democracy, to displacing the U.S. dollar as reserve currency. After those three rejections, Ankara applied for "Dialogue Partner" status in 2011. In June 2012, it won approval.
One month later, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reported about his saying to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, "Come, accept us into the Shanghai Five [as a full member] and we will reconsider the European Union." Erdoğan reiterated this idea on Jan. 25, noting stalled Turkish efforts to join the European Union (EU): "as the prime minister of 75 million people," he explained, "you start looking around for alternatives. That is why I told Mr. Putin the other day, 'Take us into the Shanghai Five; do it, and we will say goodbye to the EU.' What's the point of stalling?" He added that the SCO "is much better, it is much more powerful [than the EU], and we share values with its members."
On Jan. 31, the Foreign Ministry announced plans for an upgrade to "Observer State" at the SCO. On Feb. 3 Erdoğan reiterated his earlier point, saying "We will search for alternatives," and praised the Shanghai group's "democratization process" while disparaging European "Islamophobia." On Feb. 4, President Abdullah Gül pushed back, declaring that "The SCO is not an alternative to the EU. ... Turkey wants to adopt and implement EU criteria."
What does this all amount to?
The SCO feint faces significant obstacles: If Ankara leads the effort to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, the SCO firmly supports the beleaguered Syrian leader. NATO troops have just arrived in Turkey to man Patriot batteries protecting that country from Syria's Russian-made missiles. More profoundly, all six SCO members strongly oppose the Islamism that Erdoğan espouses. Perhaps, therefore, Erdoğan mentioned SCO membership only to pressure the EU; or to offer symbolic rhetoric for his supporters.
Both are possible. But I take the half-year long flirtation seriously for three reasons. First, Erdoğan has established a record of straight talk, leading one key columnist, Sedat Ergin, to call the Jan. 25 statement perhaps his "most important" foreign policy proclamation ever.
Second, as Turkish columnist Kadri Gürsel points out, "The EU criteria demand democracy, human rights, union rights, minority rights, gender equality, equitable distribution of income, participation and pluralism for Turkey. SCO as a union of countries ruled by dictators and autocrats will not demand any of those criteria for joining." Unlike the European Union, Shanghai members will not press Erdoğan to liberalize but will encourage the dictatorial tendencies in him that so many Turks already fear.
Third, the SCO fits his Islamist impulse to defy the West and to dream of an alternative to it. The SCO, with Russian and Chinese as official languages, has a deeply anti-Western DNA and its meetings bristle with anti-Western sentiments. For example, when Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad addressed the group in 2011, no one refused his conspiracy theory about 9/11 being a U.S. government inside job used "as an excuse for invading Afghanistan and Iraq and for killing and wounding over a million people." Many backers echo Egyptian analyst Galal Nassar in his hope that ultimately the SCO "will have a chance of settling the international contest in its favor." Conversely, as a Japanese official has noted, "The SCO is becoming a rival block to the U.S. alliance. It does not share our values."
Turkish steps toward joining the Shanghai group highlights Ankara's now-ambivalent membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, starkly symbolized by the unprecedented joint Turkish-Chinese air exercise of 2010. Given this reality, Erdoğan's Turkey is no longer a trustworthy partner for the West but more like a mole in its inner sanctum. If not expelled, it should at least be suspended from NATO.
Feb. 6, 2013 updates: (1) Whoever first came up with the various Shanghai sobriquets for the Russian-Chinese organization probably did not realize that in English the verb to Shanghai means "to force or trick (someone) into doing something, going somewhere, etc." How appropriate a nuance for this semi-rogue sextet! Were it not an obsolete term, I would have titled this column Shanghaiing Turkey.
(2) Asked about Erdoğan's remarks, a spokesperson for the European Commission, Peter Stano, declined directly to respond, confining himself to noting that comments suggesting that Ankara would give up its EU bid to seek other options are "speculative." The secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, took the remarks in stride: "I may be mistaken, but Prime Minister Erdoğan's remarks actually represent a call to Europeans to assume a more constructive and positive attitude toward Turkey."
(3) The main opposition leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) rejected the SCO gambit on Feb. 4: "The proposal to become a member of the SCO is inconsistent and incorrect. We turned our direction to the West, not to the East. This is not something new, since 1071 our goal is [to head] toward the West. We don't mean geography in saying the West but modernity and civilization." The Battle of Manzikert took place in eastern Anatolia year in the 1071 and marked the first Turkic military victory in Anatolia. "We see the EU as a modernization project."
(4) Erdoğan yesterday offered an explanation for why the EU has not allowed Turkey to join its ranks: perhaps the union was "hesitant because the members will not be able to do everything they want when Turkey gets in." His clear and mildly astonishing implications are that (1) Europeans without Turks are irresponsible and (2) Ankara intends fundamentally to change the EU upon entry.
(5) Noting "Are we not in NATO with these countries?" Erdoğan went on in the same comments to note that Turkey, as the only NATO country with a majority Muslim population, "would stop wrong steps [in NATO]. Thus, we saw such steps toward Israel's inclusion in NATO. We prevented that. We have our own red lines. For us, to be involved in NATO with Israel is never acceptable. To be with such a cruel understanding would conflict with our structure, history and culture." Not only is Erdoğan asserting he kept Israel out of NATO but he is claiming to have a decisive role in NATO something I find quite credible.
When added to Erdoğan's Shanghai gambit and Davutoğlu's paraphrased threat a few days ago that "Turkey would not stay unresponsive to an Israeli attack against any Muslim country," these comments point to a headstrong Turkish leadership that feels it can say and do pretty much anything it pleases. And it can.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/06/2013
16:52 ||
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#1
Leaving? No, simply returning to their Armenian genocide roots.
With Canadians being blamed for recent terrorist attacks in Bulgaria and Algeria, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has suggested new legislation may be needed to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals who commit terrorism.
Mr. Kenney told reporters Wednesday he wanted to discuss the issue with Conservative MP Devinder Shory, who has tabled a private member's bill proposing that Canadians who commit acts of war against Canada should lose their citizenship.
The minister said he wanted to look into broadening the scope of Mr. Shory's bill to include Canadians who commit acts of terrorism. The bill, C-425, applies only to Canadians who are also citizens of a second country.
"You know, Canadian citizenship is predicated on loyalty to this country and I cannot think of a more obvious act of renouncing one's sense of loyalty than going and committing acts of terror. And so I think that's an idea that I look forward to discussing with Mr. Shory," he said.
#2
Ditto Besoeker. Anyone with dual citizenship should be forced to choose one or the other. Only exception is kids. They should get till they're 21 to make up their mind.
#2
I disagree: they implement a specific religion with specific teachings that deliberately cultivates and coddles the worst in human nature, directing such spawn of belilal into short term behaviors that, taken as a whole, work toward a common goal.
#1
Penelope Soto deserved what she got. Snotty kid. She must have thought judges couldn't mess with your life. The judge could have brought ICE into it and held her until they got around to checking her out.
Iff she is like her parents or grandparents, SHE WASN'T REQUIRED TO LEARN OR BE LOYAL OR BELIEVE IN ANYTHING AMERICAN, ETC. TO BE AN AMERICAN.
So why should she be expected to obey or "respect" US Laws let alone the US Court System.
Next thing you know the Govt-Law is going to do something silly or stupid like ask her to be a Patriot or loyal to America - D *** NG IT, HOW
F ***** UP IS THAT!
lol.
Its so funny its tragic.
"GUN CONTROL" = THE GOVT. MUST STOP WHITES-N-ONLY-WHITES, NOT NON-WHITES OR MIXED.
#10
Again, what the Left or DemoLeft + aligned have done for Women + Demographic Minorities in AMerica = Amerika, the OWG Mighty USSA = OWG Weak USRoA Global SSR, as per Equalist "Universalism" = Selective
"Stratification", IT CAN DO FOR AMERICAN/AMERIKAN MUSLIMS + SHARIA LAW, COURTS IN AMERICA = AMERIKA.
As per SELF-RELIANCE + COSTS-EFFECTIVENESS + EGALITARIANISM + OTHER, there is little or nothing "UN-AMERICAN/UN-AMERIKAN" ABOUT ISLAM + SHARIA.
OWG "GLOBALIST" + SOCIALIST AMERIKA + ACLU HAVE NO REASON TO RESIST SHARIA IN AMERIKA SAVE FOR ENVY, RACISM + HYPROCRISY.
by Spengler h/t Instapundit
"Even Islamists have to eat," I wrote under the headline "Food and Failed Arab States" in February 2011. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood government takes a different view, the Washington Post reported yesterday. The trouble, the government says, is that Egyptians are eating too much. In a separate report, the government proposed to cut back its bread subsidy to three hand-sized loaves of pita bread per person per day, about 400 calories' worth. A state that can't feed its people is a failed state, and that's why the Egyptian state is at the brink of collapse, as Egypt's defense minister warned last week.
According to the Post report, the government is telling Egyptians (almost half of whom live on less than $2 a day) to eat less. You can't make this sort of thing up. Egypt lost another $1.4 billion in foreign exchange reserves in January, and probably is flat broke after figuring in arrears to oil and food suppliers, and it imports half its food, so something had to give. In response, Egypt's Islamist government is emulating North Korea's approach to food shortages:
Egypt's government is recommending that Egyptians avoid overeating in order to cope with rising food prices and chronic household shortages, according to local media reports.
#2
And cue the rioting and looting of Egypts Treasures. Seriously, I'm starting to think in 2 years there won't BE a new Library or musuem of Antiquity in Egypt.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/06/2013 16:49
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#3
I'm sure the First Lady will be more than happy to stop by and design a diet. Lots of vegetables and all that.
#6
Problem is Besoeker, in the Media - Obama has a propaganda apparatchiks which Ceauesescu (and Amin and Putin and Stalin and Castro and the Jong's) could only dream about.
#8
Painfully true CF. No doubting the political expertise of [shadow policy makers] Axelrod, Donelin, and Jarret. Their mastery and exploitation of political demography is second only to that of Zimbabwe and South Africa. I am not at all hopeful.
Two living suspects - one an Australian - behind a bus attack that killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year have been identified and both are now living in Lebanon, a top Bulgarian security official says.
The bomb that exploded on July 18 as the Israeli tourists were boarding a bus at the airport in Burgas also killed a Bulgarian bus driver and the suspected bomber. Three men are suspected in the attack, including the dead bomber.
On Tuesday, an official Bulgarian report said investigators had "well-grounded reasons to suggest" that two of the suspects belonged to the militant wing of the Islamist group Hezbollah. The report said they had been living in Lebanon for years, one with a Canadian passport and the other with an Australian one.
Stanimir Florov, head of Bulgaria's anti-terror unit, said on Wednesday that the names of the suspects were known, they were now based in the same country and "we have asked Lebanese authorities to assist in our investigation." He did not elaborate.
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Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr confirmed federal police had been working with Bulgaria to find the Australian suspect.
"The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has worked with Bulgarian authorities in pursuit of those responsible for the bombing," Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr said in a statement on Wednesday.
"All Australians would be proud that the AFP has played an important role in this investigation to date."
The Australian government has listed the Hezbollah External Security Organisation (ESO) as a terrorist group since 2003, and membership or support for the organisation is a crime in Australia.
The identity of the bomber remains unknown even though his DNA samples have been shared with intelligence agencies in other nations, he said, adding that no DNA match has been found in their databases.
Florov said the bomb was probably supposed to explode while the bus was in motion "but the terrorists obviously made a mistake."
Europol Director Rob Wainwright confirmed that comment, telling The Associated Press that investigators believe the bomber never intended to die. A Europol expert who analysed a fragment of a circuit board from the bomb determined that it was detonated remotely, he said.
If the explosives had blown up while the bus was full, there would have been many more victims and much of the evidence would have been destroyed, Florov said.
"In that case, the investigation would have started from ground zero," he said.
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the National Post that one of the suspects was born in Lebanon, came to Canada at age eight, became a Canadian citizen and then left at age 12. He said he assumed the man was a dual Lebanese-Canadian citizen.
"I understand he may have been back to Canada a few times since then, but he has not has been a habitual resident in Canada since the age of 12," Kenney said.
Germany has warned of "consequences" for Hezbollah if allegations the group was behind an attack that killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year are confirmed.
Bulgarian officials said Tuesday that the Lebanese group had been linked to the sophisticated bombing carried out by a terrorist cell that included Canadian and Australian citizens.
The announcement put pressure on countries such as France and Germany, which haven't banned Hezbollah despite the urgings of Israel and the United States.
Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Wednesday that "if the evidence proves to be true that Hezbollah is indeed responsible for this despicable attack then consequences will have to follow."
#3
Looks like a long range interceptor or perhaps a naval strike aircraft. It is a beeeeg mother, and yeah the RCS on that sucker in a turn must largish.
It is clear that the plane is very big, and heavy. But it should be more maneuverable in the horizontal than an F-4, because of its multiple large control surfaces. In the vertical the F-4 would probably blow the doors off of this thing.
The way the engine exhaust is controlled at take-off and how the engines light is also interesting, although not indicative of anything special.
The flight profile and angle of attack are also unremarkable, especially for a plane that appears unloaded and otherwise aerodynamically clean. This could be because it is a limited test, or that the plane is just a dog. Hard to say.
Certainly the RCS will be relatively big from any angle other than possibly head-on, and even there it will be big enough.
It probably will fly faster and for longer ranges than an exocet would, but doesn't seem to be any more dangerous.
#7
From what I've read elsewhere the engines available to the Chinese now won't power this bird the way they'd like. They can't build the proper engine themselves yet and the Russians won't sell them the engines they'd like (e.g., what's in the latest MiG and Sukhoi jets).
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2013 20:06
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#8
Besoeker: I have read recently that the Chinese have reportedly converted a large number of their obsolete Mig-19 and 21-class aircraft to operate unmanned. For use in saturation attacks, among other things.
They could do that with this thing too.
If the flight is one-way they could abuse the engine a bit more.
#10
I wonder how many of the Chinese fighters are too expensive to use....I'm betting none.
What good are fighters and ships that are too expensive to risk in combat? Our Navy and Air Force will soon be so small and high-value that we simply cannot afford to lose even a single one.
#12
I suspect that thing is a bit more manuverable than it looks; not only are the control surfaces big, but there is an awful lot of travel, especially the canards. watching the engines stage up in 'burner makes me think they have some horses also, but if they are only the testbed and low power versions, this bird might be more than a one trick pony. fixed wing ( no fold ability) will probably give it 3 hard points per side plus a centerline station. video cut out on me right after the take off.
[BEHINDTHEWALL.NBCNEWS] It remains unclear just when, if ever, North Korea will attempt its controversial third nuclear test, but there are growing signs that the reclusive nation's biggest political ally is growing weary of its behavior.
A strongly worded editorial in China's state-run Global Times newspaper Wednesday called on Beijing to get tough with Pyongyang if it conducts a nuclear test.
I think this is just pap for the west to read. I really don't think the Norks do anything China tells them not to do.
"If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price," the paper said. It called on China to cut economic aid to the struggling country as punishment.
The editorial also restated a popular opinion held by many Chinese experts that friction between North Korea and its regional neighbors was opening China up to diplomatic attack from players such as the United States.
"Some believe the U.S., Japan and South Korea are attempting to foment discord between China and North Korea," the editorial warned. "Such a trap may be real, but China shouldn't be taken hostage by North Korea's extreme actions in order to avoid such a trap."
Addressing concerns that a harsh response to North Korea's nuclear test would cause Pyongyang to turn on its long-time ally, the paper argued that even if the reclusive nation was to turn completely on China and side with the U.S., there would be "no serious ramifications."
In the Global Times' view, China's increasing political and economic clout would negate such newfound hostility.
"China is never afraid of Pyongyang," the paper declared. "If Pyongyang gets tough with China, China should strike back hard, even at the cost of deteriorating bilateral relations."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
11:37 ||
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#2
These editorials are similar to the saber-rattling comments from colonels looking to establish their irredentist creds - just rhetoric for foreign consumption.
#4
See RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA "WORRIES" THAT NORTH KOREA MAY TURN AGZ IT.
------------
ION REGIONAL = CHINA-VS-JAPAN ...
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM [old = earlier this week] > CHINA "LOCKED RADAR" ON JAPANESE NAVY VESSEL + HELICOPTER AS ISLAND DISPUTE INTENSIFIES.
* TOPIX > [Arirang TV] SOUTH KOREA HINTS AT PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGZ NORTH KOREA, iff it becomes clear that the DPRK intends to use Nukes in any attack agz the ROK.
* SAME > [News.com.au] CHINA RADAR LOCK-ON "DANGEROUS".
* SAME > [Yomiuri Shimbun] "HOSTILE" RADAR LIKELY USED TO TEST JAPAN, + USA = USFJ reaction.
Also from YOMIURI SHIMBUN > US CRITICIZES CHINA'S ACTION.
FYI Japan's Defense, Foreign Ministries have condemned China's act.
* SAME > [Minyanville] FOR CHINA, A NEW SET OF ENERGY PIPELINES IN CENTRAL ASIA [+ West,SE Asia] WILL HELP REDUCE ITS HATED RELIANCE ON THE US NAVY.
True enuff, but this will only serve to maintain China's already well-recognized historical + current status as an ASIAN OR EAST ASIAN LAND POWER, + NUCLEAR POWER, BUT IT NEEDS TRANS/MULTI-CONTINENTAL ACCESS-N-INFLUENCE TO CHANGE OR IMPROVE TOWARDS BEING A US-STYLE TRUE GLOBAL SUPERPOWER.
To parah POTUS RICHARD NIXON = despite claims by the USSR or other to the contrary, BY ANY MEASURE THE US-N-ONLY-THE-US IS THE WORLD'S REAL + ONLY ACROSS-THE-BOARD "SUPERPOWER", AS THE SOVIETS ONLY BASIS TO "SUPERPOWER" STATUS WAS ITS DEV OF ADVANCED NUCLEAR WEAPONS. The Cold War USSR was a subjective, dubious, or hypothetical "Superpower", NOT a real or true one like the USA.
* SAME > [The Marmot's Hole] THE COMING SOUTH CHINA SEA WAR.
* SAME > [Canadian Content] JAPAN-US-WEST HEADED FOR MILITARY CONFRONTATION [agz China] - THE DISPUTE IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > JAPAN URGES RESTRAINT BY CHINA AFTER RADAR LOCK-ON - INDIAN EXPRESS.
* SAME > US INTEL OFFICER WARNS ON CHINA "BULLYING" | [SMH.com] CHINA'S DOMESTIC PROBLEMS A "RECIPE FOR REGIONAL DISASTER".
ARTIC > ...
- China's PLAN is becoming a very capable fighting force.
-In 2012, China sent seven Surface Action Groups [SAGS] + largest number of SUbmarines in its histoire' into the PHIL Sea.
- China is knowingly, operationally, + incrementally unilaterally taking or seizing the maritime rights of its neighbors [Japan, ASEAN] as per its agendum.
- China is taking control of many regions or areas where in the past 5000 years there never was any historical claim, control, administration by any organized singular Regime or Polity called "China".
- CHINA + PLAN ARE INDEED FOCSING ON WAGING WAR AT SEA + SINKING AN OPPOSING FLEET.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] A Tunisian opposition leader critical of both the Islamist-led government and of violence by radical Muslims was gunned down as he left his home on Wednesday - the first assassination in post-revolutionary Tunisia. But it won't be the last. This is the way Salafists express their opinions.
Chokri Belaid, a leading member of a leftist alliance of parties known as the Popular Front, was shot as he left his house in the capital, Tunis. "It's just business, Mike."
He was taken to a nearby medical clinic, where he died, the state news agency TAP reported. That happens when you've taken a magazine load through the head.
The killing of Mr Belaid is likely to heighten tensions in the North African nation whose path from dictatorship to democracy has been seen as a model for the Arab world so far. No! Re-e-e-e-eally? Tunisia. Model for a transition from dictatorship to democracy in the Arab world. Is it just me or does anyone else get what that sentence really means?
Mr Belaid was part of the secular opposition Popular Front movement that opposes the Islamist-led government that emerged in the wake of the Arab Spring revolution. He claimed Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that dominates the government, turns a blind eye to violence perpetrated by extremists against other parties. That's because life is cheap in the lands ruled by Islam.
His family said Belaid regularly received death threats - the most recent on Tuesday - but had refused to limit his high-profile activities. The precise motive behind his killing, however, is currently unclear. I'd say he was banged because he was a political opponent of Islamists, especially of Salafists.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouch called the assassination a "terrorist act" and said the politician had been shot point-blank several times. Yeah, really. A terrorist act. No doubt an arrest is expected momentarily. Don't expect to hear anything more in the near future, if ever.
Thousands of people quickly gathered in the heart of the capital to protest in front of the Interior Ministry, holding the government responsible for the slaying. He's been receiving death threats and there wasn't a cop in sight. I'd call the govt responsible.
Tunisia's Islamist-led government is currently in negotiations with opposition parties to reshuffle the Cabinet and possibly expand the ruling coalition. Weeks of talks have yielded nothing, however, as the parties seem unable to reach an agreement over redistributing power.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
11:33 ||
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[REUTERS] The United States is operating a secret base out of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... and used it to launch a CIA drone strike in 2011 that killed U.S.-born al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, according to a media report. I'm still trying to figure why everybody's Oh Dearing about Awlaki's departure from this vale of tears. If he'd been running a brigade of SS in 1944 nobody would have turned a hair. And if he'd been captured he'd have been stood against a wall and shot. Part of the reason is that in 1944, the SS was seen by most reasonable people as the enemy... The Washington Post, in a report on Wednesday, said the Middle East base was set up two years ago as part of U.S. officials effort to ramp up its search for members of the hard boy group. Can't fly the drones in from Nevada or someplace. Best to keep them close to where they'll be needed.
Representatives for the CIA declined to comment on the report. And quite properly.
The disclosure is the latest on the nation's controversial drone strike policy ahead of White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan's Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday over his nomination to become CIA director. I have nothing against using drones to zap Qaeda commanders, or even individual turban cannon fodder. As far as I'm concerned, their "nationality" is al-Qaeda. Dronezaps within the USA is a different matter entirely. Drones themselves, as recon devices, are nothing but a tool -- one that could be used to good effect to control our borders.
White House officials had asked the newspaper to refrain from revealing the strategic base in the powerful oil nation, citing concerns that the information could undermine the hunt, the Washington Post said in its story. Lemme see, here. We've got intel assets deployed in a country that spews forth slobbering, wild-eyed jihadis. What might they be tempted to do when they realize they're close to the source of their torment before even exfiltrating?
"The Post learned Tuesday night that another news organization New York Times, I'd guess. Except for maybe the LA Times all the other newspapers in the country are essentially moribund.
was planning to reveal the location of the base, effectively ending an informal arrangement among several news organizations that had been aware of the location for more than a year," it wrote. Insert blabber about "people's right to know" here. Getting the story of the location of the drone base out is important to the public and overrides security concerns, and thus is a fundamental obligation of the press. But informing us of the cavorting of a New Joisey Democrat with underage Dominican hookers is something to be avoided, tut-tut, by any respectable newspaper.
This article starring:
Anwar al-Awlaki
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
11:22 ||
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#1
The city's population has dropped... The median income is $40,000 and 22 percent of the city's residents live in poverty...16,000 vacant properties... the highest property taxes in Maryland... local income taxes are the highest allowed under state law.
#3
More likely path - state subsidies. Or incorporate surrounding wealthier areas into the city (they won't go voluntarily, but I'm sure our elite can figure out a way to coerce them.)
#4
...Or incorporate surrounding wealthier areas into the city (they won't go voluntarily, but I'm sure our elite can figure out a way to coerce them.) Posted by Glenmore
Easily accomplished through low/no interest ["everyone has a right to own their own home"], federally backed macmansion home loans, and savy developers. Think the gov't isn't attacking the economic firewall of the suburbs? Think again. Don't take my word for it, attend a HS football game.
Accela from DC already stops at the airport and downtown. But there is that hugely expensive proposal to upgrade all the Amtrak railbeds from DC north to Boston, waiting to be resurrected.
Our only hope is to hold this off long enough for the self-driving cars and trucks now in test in Silicon Valley to make it to market. When your own car can drive you exactly where you want to go, and stop along the way when you want to, a lot of the interest in rail travel will wither away.
Of course the fact that it's Silicon Valley's own state gummint determined to blow billions on a new high speed rail line does make it clear that sanity won't prevail automatically....
#9
One obvious solution is to turn the city into a giant sound stage for shooting more episodes of The Wire. The story arc could be about yet another Democratic bastion sinking into a deficit swamp.
#10
Heard on NPR (possibly on the Diane Rheem show?), the outgoing Transportation Secretary declaiming that wherever he went during his tenure, people told him they really, really wanted more public transport, whether trains or light rail rapid transit or street cars.
#11
Mr. LaHood may even believe the lies he's telling, tw - but I doubt it.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/06/2013 21:27
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#12
And they will vote Dem all the way down, like Detroit. The previous Dem mayor lost her job after stealing gift cards intended for the needy. Plea bargain, didn't go to jail.
[Egypt Independent] A Saudi prince jailed for life in Britain for murdering his servant is to serve the rest of his sentence in his home country, a British government source said on Tuesday. But they can't deport a Pakistani terrorist creep living on benefits for fear he'll be tortured?
Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, was jailed in 2010 for killing Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz in a London hotel after subjecting him to a "sadistic" campaign of violence and sexual abuse.
The source confirmed that British Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has approved the 36-year-old prince's transfer to a jail in Saudi Arabia.
The source could not specify when the prince would be transferred, but The Times newspaper reported that he was expected to fly home within weeks.
Britain's justice ministry said it did not comment on individual prison transfer cases.
But a ministry spokesperson told AFP: "We have a prison transfer arrangement with Saudi Arabia which allows nationals of either country to serve their prison sentence in their home state."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
10:44 ||
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#1
followed by a declaration of "rehabilitated!" next week
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2013 12:15
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#2
I don't know, it was a guy he sexually abused. How long will he last in the Kingdom with that track record?
Posted by: Charles ||
02/06/2013 17:02
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#3
Send him home in two pieces, NOT joined at the Neck.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2013 19:41
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#4
, it was a guy he sexually abused. How long will he last in the Kingdom with that track record?
Charles, what on earth do you think servants of either sex are for? To put it another way, Mr. Wife stayed away from the coffeehouses in Saudi Arabia, sticking to his hotel and private homes -- the only country in the world where he had concerns.
Shokri Belaid, leader of the left-leaning opposition Democratic Patriots party, has been killed as he was leaving his home. He was transported to a hospital in the suburbs of Tunis on Wednesday, where he died of his wounds, his brother confirmed.
Belaid had been critical of Tunisia's leadership, especially the Islamic party Ennahda that dominates the government. He had accused authorities of not doing enough to stop violence by ultraconservatives who have targeted mausoleums, art exhibits and other things seen as out of keeping with their strict interpretation of Islam.
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said he would fight those who opposed the political transition in his country after the death of Belaid. Marzouki, who cut short a visit to France on Wednesday, told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to applause: "We will continue to fight the enemies of the revolution." Marzouki also cancelled a visit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday after the killing, which brought thousands of protesters onto the streets outside the Interior Ministry.
Government spokesperson Samir Dilou called it an "odious crime". France condemned the murder of Belaid, describing him as a courageous fighter for human rights.
Al Jazeera's Youssef Gaigi, reporting from Tunis, said the murder came as a shock for many in Tunisia. Ziad Lakhader, a leader of the Popular Front, the umbrella organisation of the Democratic Patriots, said Belaid was killed by bullets to the head and chest.
Crowds of mourners, chanting "the people want the fall of the regime", crowded around an ambulance carrying Belaid's body.
Police clashed with protesters outside Tunisia's interior ministry where thousands had gathered, as hundreds of mourners accompanied an ambulance carrying the body of a slain opposition leader. Protesters threw rocks at the police who responded by firing tear gas and using batons in a bid to disperse the crowd on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, in central Tunis, an AFP journalist reported.
The killing comes as Tunisia is struggling to maintain stability and revive its economy after its longtime dictator was overthrown in an uprising two years ago. That revolution set off revolts across the Arab world and unleashed new social and religious tensions.
Mr Ahmadinejad, who is on a visit to Egypt, had threatened to "investigate" the arrest of Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's former chief prosecutor, on his return.
A video featuring Mr Mortazavi had formed a central plank of corruption accusations levelled by Mr Ahmadinejad against his most powerful political rivals, a set of brothers including the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary.
The row brought into the open the full rift at the heart of Iranian politics. Mr Ahmadinejad will step down as president this summer, and the speaker, Ali Larijani, his most implacable enemy, is a favourite to replace him.
The country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, long ago lost confidence in Mr Ahmadinejad. However, it is possible that, as the final arbiter of Iranian policy, he ordered Mr Mortazavi's release in order to persuade Mr Ahmadinejad to "go quietly", or at least to detract attention from the split.
#1
If you kill the field operative, you do not have to acknowledge or deal with his State Sponsored funding support stream(s). Body count statistics, Hollywood combat action movies, and the treating of symptoms are good politics.
#3
SO we can blow a guy or group of guys into disconnected strands of DNA and potash and we can' stick their head in a bucket of water and ask them questions.
That's a bit odd, saying indiscriminate blasting away at our enemies in a high tech version of suicide bombings is morally and ethically superior to capturing them, and torturing them with hot showers, cold showers, Peewee Herman music and old Al Gore speeches is unacceptable particularly when it leads to actionable information we can use to stop the next nutjob terror strike?
Tell me this nihilism of no moral absolutes and moral equity is nonsense or what?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/06/2013 16:23
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#4
Seriously doubt there would be a lot of that face left after being dropped from a drone to pour water on. but we could try. repeatedly.
Has Joseph M. reported in yet with how the sky looked in Guam?
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Santa Cruz Islands east of the Solomon Islands just after noon local time today. Officials from the Solomon Islands report at least five dead and villages destroyed. Local tsunamis waves reached as high as three feet.
More than 30 aftershocks of magnitudes ranging from 4.8 to 6.6 continued to rattle the region for hours after the initial shallow thrust faulting at 12:12 p.m. local time (01:12 GMT).
"Houses have been washed down, and the airport has been filled with seawater," Charles Elliott Fox-Ngali, also a registered nurse at Lata Hospital in Temotu Province, told the Wall Street Journal.
Loti Yates, director of the national disaster management office, confirmed that four villages had been destroyed and logs and debris were strewn across the airport runway.
#3
There are volcanoes in the past that have gone off. Rabaul got destroyed in 1994 by falling ash from a volcano. Santa Cruz Islands are about 900 miles ESE of New Britain Island on the same fault line, IIRC.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/06/2013 15:58
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#4
There have been well over 30 earthquakes in that area today with the smallest at 4.1.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/06/2013 19:34
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#5
#2 good one.
Lots of off/mis-shaped auroras again in the nite skies oer Central + Southern GUAM, + a few brief rumblers. Also, "shadow" people = ghosts.
Death or serious injury to ICE officers and agents appears more acceptable to ICE, DHS, and Administration leadership, than the public complaints that would be lodged by special interest groups representing illegal aliens, Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement 118, told the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon.
Old news but new announcement with name attached.
Al Qaeda announced the death of Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed, a longtime senior jihadist leader and military commander, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan sometime in the spring of 2012. El Sayed, who is also known as Abu Saleh al Masri, was a member of al Qaeda since the early 1990s, and served in multiple jihadist theaters, including in Italy. He commanded al Qaeda forces along the Afghan-Pakistan border before being killed along with his son.
According to el Sayed's martyrdom statement, he was killed along with his son, Saleh, sometime "in Rajab 1433H [May-June 2012] via the bombing of an unmanned drone." Saleh, who was born sometime in 1993, was either 18 or 19 when killed.
Saleh had "accompanied his father in the fighting fronts and did jihad with him until Allah fated that he go with him, so he was bombed along with his father and martyred beside him."
The date and location of the strike that killed el Sayed and his son was not provided in the biography. The US carried out 11 drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan in the months of May and June 2012.
Four persons, including two soldiers, a retired naval officer and the pilot of an oceangoing tugboat were yesterday killed during a gun battle between men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) and pirates in Bayelsa State. The pirates were said to have ambushed the barge they were escorting along the scenic River Forcados at Angiama community in the state.
The spokesman for the JTF in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed the incident Tuesday. THISDAY gathered that in the ensuing battle, two other soldiers sustained serious bullet holes, while three of the pirates also sustained serious bullet holes, even as they were dragged away by their colleagues when they made good their escape. One of the boat personnel was declared missing.
[Jpost] Iran's diminutive President Ahmadinejad offers Egypt's Morsi to use Tehran's 'expertise' to boost struggling economy; asserts Islamic Theocratic Republic is a nuclear power
Iranian President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad, who is on an official visit to Cairo, has reportedly offered Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi an aid package meant to resuscitate Cairo's struggling economy.
Iran's own economy has been crippled by international sanctions imposed on the Islamic Theocratic Republic over its nuclear program.
The two countries do not have diplomatic relations but Morsi gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on Tuesday, when he became the first Iranian leader to visit Cairo since 1979.
"I have said previously that we can offer a big credit line to the Egyptian brothers, and many services," Ahmadinejad told the Egyptian daily al-Ahram in an interview. He did not say if there had been any response.
The president said the Iranian economy had been affected by sanctions but it is a "great economy" that was witnessing "positive matters", saying exports were increasing gradually.
Egypt disclosed on Tuesday that its foreign reserves had fallen below the $15 billion level that covers three months' imports despite recent deposits by Qatar to support it.
Tourism has been badly hit by unrest since the uprising that toppled authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... two years ago, and investment has stalled due to the ensuing political and economic uncertainty.
Ahmadinejad said there had been scant progress on restoring ties between the Middle East's two most populous states: "No change happened in the last two years, but discussions between us developed and grew, and President Mohamed Morsi visited Iran and met us, as he met the Iranian foreign minister. And we previously contacted Egypt to know about what is happening with Syrian affairs," he said.
One persistent obstacle to ties in Cairo's eyes was the naming of a street in Tehran after an Egyptian Islamist krazed killer who led the 1981 liquidation of President Anwar Sadat, who signed the treaty with Israel.
"On the question of the street name or its removal, these are matters that will be dealt with gradually," Ahmadinejad said.
The Iranian leader visited the historic al-Azhar mosque and university on Tuesday and met its grand sheikh, Egypt's leading Sunni Moslem scholar, but received a stern rebuke over Iran's attitude towards Gulf Arab states and its attempts to spread Shiite influence in Sunni countries.
#2
Looking to trade for some of them spiffy F-16s Egypt's getting. And don't even offfer up any argument about sanctions. What's anybody gonna do? the UN will tut-tut and Bambi will find some place to face Mecca and bow.
[Jpost] During 1st trip to Egypt by an Iranian leader in 34 years, Ahmadinejad says Tehran is nuclear power, but adds he is uninterested in attacking Israel.
Iran already has nuclear capabilities but is not interested in attacking Israel, Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad said in an interview published Wednesday in the Egyptian media.
Ahmadinejad arrived in Egypt on Tuesday on the first trip by an Iranian head of state since the 1979 revolution, underlining the thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state last year. The president's visit to Cairo is for an Islamic summit due to begin Wednesday.
The world must now relate to Iran as an atomic power, Ahmadinejad told Al-Ahram, as it is "already a nuclear state." He said that Tehran does not seek a military confrontation with Israel, and did not threaten to strike the "Zionist entity." In fact, Al-Ahram quoted him as saying, all of Iran's military capabilities are "defensive".
#3
How can this be? Iran assured us that their atomic power research was purely for peaceful purposes. The mullahs said that nuclear weapons were un-Islamic.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/06/2013 15:32
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#4
let's see what happens with the next N-tests in N. Korea.
#5
I don't know, he could be talking about the plants and not weapons itself. What he thinks is a Nuclear power and we think is a nuclear power in this exchange could be different.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/06/2013 16:50
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#6
"[Iran]Not interested in attacking Israel" > to which the MSM-Net repors Iran BFF Syria's Baby Assad was NOT a happy camper.
See also RELATED TOPIX > AHMADINEJAD: WORLD MUST TREAT IRAN AS A NUCLEAR POWER.
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > [Fox News Channel = FNC] SYRIA SCALES BACK THREAT AGZ ISRAEL OVER AIRSTRIKES, SUGGESTS IT WON'T RETALIATE.
Lest we fergit, versus ...
* TOPIX > LARIJANI VOWS ALL-OUT IRAN SUPPORT FOR SYRIA.
* RELATED SAME > [FNA] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER [Ali Larijani] ATTACK ON SYRIA NEEDED/MEANT TO BUY ISRAEL TIME [+ Opportunity], for new regional shennanigans.
* AL-JAZEERA; TURKISH PM [Erdogan] SLAMS ISRAEL FOR SYRIA ATTACK, accussing Israel of engaging in wily dastardly illegal STATE TERRORISM + gener WARMONGERING.
versus
* FOX NEWS = IIRC, the US has decided to keep only one USN CVN, i.e. the USS "DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER" MINUS USN CVN USS "HARRY S. TRUMAN", in the Persian Gulf due to sequestration-related budget cutbacks.
* TOPIX > [Washington Times = Noah Beck] BECK:OBAMA'S LAST CHANCE TO STOP IRAN.
A "perfect storm" of International Econ + Political/Geopol events + circumstances is restricting Obama's options agz Iran while motivating the latter to "sprint" towards dev of Nuclear Weapons or Nuclear Weapons capability.
IOW, IRAN'S IS ESCALATING TOWARDING NUKES WHILE THE BAMMER = USA ATTENTION IS DIVERTED OR OTHERWISE PREOCCUPIED ELSEWHERE.
IIUC, Iran believes Baby Assad = Syria can hold out agz the Rebs + International pressures while it focuses its national efforts on rapid development of nuclear technology ala the "Japan/Egypt Model", i.e. the Tech, Indistrial skills + proficiencies, etc. to quickly dev real NucWeaps while NOT actually doing so in order to deny the US-Israel-West any rationale for attack or ground war agz Iran. WHATEVER NUKE DEVICES [Dirty Bombs?] IRAN DEVS OR ACQUIRES WILL BE KEPT MAINLY IN RESERVE BACK IN IRAN TO DETER OR DEFEAT ANY US OR US-LED GROUND WAR TO OVERTHROW THE POST-SHAH REVOLUT GOVT. IN TEHRAN.
As before, the burden remains on the US-n-only the-US to attack or invade an Iran wid no de facto physical NucBombs = NucWeaps, only "Energy/
Electricity"-related stockpiles.
There is of course "domestic regime change", but thus far the Mullahs in Tehran have been successful in repressing any movement, + the US-Allies have shown little or no inclination as per 1980's CONTRA-STYLE SUPPORT of the Iranian opposition.
Again, ME > "IFF THE US DOES NOT INVADE, IRAN WILL GET ITS NUKES".
[Jpost] Paleostinian Authority leaders met with Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad at the sidelines of the Islamic summit in Cairo on Tuesday, Paleostinian news agency Wafa reported.
PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... expressed gratitude to his Iranian counterpart for his support of the unilateral Paleostinian statehood bid at the UN. The leaders also discussed the grinding of the peace processor, the PA's financial crisis, and reconciliation with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, according to Wafa.
Lawmakers in at least 11 states are proposing various restrictions on the use of drones over their skies amid concerns the unmanned aerial vehicles could be exploited by local authorities to spy on Americans.
In the past few weeks senators have been so focus on squabbling over the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense that it seemed like John Brennan would have a relatively easy time being confirmed as director of the CIA. However, following NBC News's release yesterday of a Justice Department white paper that outlines the administration's legal justification for conducting drone strikes against Americans suspected of terrorism, Brennan's nomination is quickly morphing into a showdown over the Obama administration's drone policy. Now the New York Times has added more fuel to the controversy, revealing that the United States has a secret CIA drone base in Saudi Arabia that's used to conduct strikes in neighboring Yemen.
The Saudi base, which was constructed two years ago, was first used to launch the drones that killed American-born Al Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaki. Though much of the debate has focused on the targeting of U.S. citizens, only four Americans have been killed U.S. airstrikes in Yemen since 2002. By comparison, at least 24 people have already been killed by U.S. drones in Yemen this year, and since the campaign started more than 3,000 militants and civilians have been killed in strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.
As the the White House's chief counterterrorism adviser, Brennan is the main coordinator of the terrorist "kill list" and oversees the drone strikes conducted by both the military and the CIA. Brennan was previously the CIA's station chief in Saudi Arabia, and urged the Obama administration to take the threat from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist network's Yemen affiliate, more seriously.
#4
I'm wondering about the inside baseball here. Who leaked this? Who's out to get Brennan?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2013 9:06
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#5
who is out to get Brennan?
Far lefties, former co-workers in the CIA.
Brennan served in the Clinton and W admin before the Obama admin. Brennan has held a half dozen important posts and had some key jobs where things didn't go right. E.G. he was CIA chief in Saudi A when the Khobar Towers were bombed. He coordinated a bizarre XMAS 2003 alert that seemed to be based on bad intel. He ticked off a lot of CIA desk jockeys along the way. The far left considers him the force behind the Obama era renditions, maximal drone strikes, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/06/2013 9:34
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#6
Petreaus, Brennan, and the like are Obama's minefield "tramplers". Like the Soviet Penal Battalions [Shtrafbats] assigned to each Army Group during the Great Patriotic War, they are expendable and usually did not survive the assault.
Employment of Shtrafbats [oftentimes unarmed] accomplished a number of goals. They caused the Germans to expend valuable ammunition. They insulted the pure troops of the Soviet Motherland from withering fire and snipers, and they provided an example for potential dissidents within the Soviet ranks.
#8
Here is the memo from DOJ. It has NBC written all over it but since it is a government document, it would seem that it is in the public domain. NBC does not own it. If the mods think this should not be posted, please feel free to take it down. It would seem that American citizens should be able to review such policy since it most likely affects their Constitutional rights. I don't have a problem drone-zapping our enemies. Such warfare has, at times, served us well in the past. However, American citizens do have Constitutional rights and the Bill of Rights insures due process. Our country begins to get into dangerous areas when one man decides which American citizen lives or dies. It seems like a short walk to the point where someone decides to use drones on American citizens in the U.S. without due process. The Patriot Act has already eroded many citizen rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Memo Link.
#14
The alynskyite sons of bitches want to make us choose between neutering the army with traditional law enforcement limitations for the heat of battle and giving law enforcement the ability to shoot first and ask questions later.
#15
And all for the safety of the chickenshit tyrranical urban centers who would export every energy sector job _in_ this country to the state sponsors they say don't exist.
#16
I've reached the point where I think if they don't want to acknowledge state sponsors, it's a criminal problem and they can send some NYPD detectives to the NWFP to arrest the miscreants. Maybe they can make sure all the sodas are under 16 ounces at the same time.
#20
Its all about protecting the Saudi monarchy - a bunch of dictators who maintain their power through oppression and extremist islam.
Its ironic that the "free" US is using its military to defend one of the most oppressive regimes on earth.
While we'd rather have the Saudi royals attempt to tame the average troglodyte Saudi citizen, the reality is that they're not Allah and the Saudi citizen only worships Allah. The Shah's fall from power (and Khomeini's ascent to the throne) is a prime example of what happens when a ruler forget that in a Muslim state, anyone who flouts Islam's strictures runs afoul of the hoi polloi.
And the idea that we're defending Saudi Arabia is a lot like the leftist charge that only the stated approval of American proconsuls kept right wing dictators standing, during the Cold War. The Saudi royals defend themselves fine - they've got plenty of oil money and can hire unlimited numbers of holy warriors from across the ummah to fight off an invasion. And when was the last time we intervened in a Saudi civil war? Does anyone really think the Saudi citizen thinks of American approval as a good thing? We're not defending Saudi Arabia - we're preventing the establishment of a unitary Islamic empire across the Middle East, under the rule of clerics bent on global conquest by any means necessary, incorporating attacks that would make 9/11 look like a pinprick.
#21
So long as it only targets bad guys, where is the problem?
For Donks, that's anyone who doesn't agree with them.
Anyone in a legally declared warzone has waived their rights to due process.
Yet, these are the same people who've whined that there is no legal state of war because no formal document employing the clear words 'declaration of war' has been passed by the Legislative branch. Yes, I know 'authorization to use military force' has but it's about the mindset of those who trashed Bush for 8 long years on the point which included Donk members of the House and Senate.
#22
John QC: However, American citizens do have Constitutional rights and the Bill of Rights insures due process. Our country begins to get into dangerous areas when one man decides which American citizen lives or dies.
I think this issue is a red herring. All these people rejected the United States, and were trying to kill Americans and destroy America. They were legitimate targets in the war on terror.
During WW2 there were a number of US citizens that served the Axis. See the "Band of Brothers" miniseries for an example. The Japanese Armed Forces had large numbers of US citizens. Some served as Kamikazies. In all cases we simply treated them as enemy personnel.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/06/2013 14:48
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#23
During WW2 there were a number of US citizens that served the Axis. See the "Band of Brothers" miniseries for an example. The Japanese Armed Forces had large numbers of US citizens. Some served as Kamikazies. In all cases we simply treated them as enemy personnel.
The one thing that drone targets have in common is that they are all self-professed jihadists in al Qaeda-infested zones. Some of the views here about drone targeting are analogous to the idea that if GI's can summarily execute armed Americans without trial while in combat zones (using sniper rifles, LAW's or grenade launchers), they can do the same to armed Americans at home. I think it's clear there's a line they haven't crossed for 200+ years, during which our forebears fought a score of conflicts. It wouldn't even be an issue if our electronic imaging skills weren't extremely well-developed - we'd be carpet-bombing entire al Qaeda-infested regions whether or not they were occupied by Americans.
#25
I don't trust this admin, and I wouldn't trust any gov't admin w/this. The gov't needs to do more than "accuse". This is a slippery slope. We already have recorded drone flights conducting surveillance over private citizen residences in this country. Obamacare, bankster fraud, printing our way outta debt, immigration insanity, and gun grab 2013. Our Founders are repenting from heaven as Adams would say.
#26
Don't forget that the Homeland Security Department (along with the [in]Justice department) view returning Vets, and conservatives and 'teabaggers' in general as potential, if not actual, terrorists.
#27
I second those comments of Broadhead6 and CrazyFool. IMO, it is the duty of the citizen to prevent the government from going tyrannical on us. Is there a good reason to trust our government without question? Some serve others and their country, while for others power and control is the ultimate aphrodisiac. It is good to question the motives and actions of men and women in government.
#33
Yet, these are the same people who've whined that there is no legal state of war because no formal document employing the clear words 'declaration of war' has been passed by the Legislative branch. Yes, I know 'authorization to use military force' has but it's about the mindset of those who trashed Bush for 8 long years on the point which included Donk members of the House and Senate.
OK, we have authorizations for Afghanistan and Iraq. Anything for Pakistan or Yemen?
As per FOX NEWS this AM, many US States are
demanding limits or restrictions to Drone recce + Drone-based info/data collections over their borders.
WE MISSED THE MEMO THAT "BORDERS", NATIONAL OR STATE-LOCAL, WON'T EXIST ANYMORE AFTER THE US JOINS THE OWG + NAU 2015, DIDN'T WE???
* ION DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > INDIA PM'S DAUGHTER [Amrit Singh] BLOWS WHISTLE ON 54 NATIONS [+ Personages] THAT HELP US DETENTION.
* RELATED SAME > REPORT [Study] ON CIA RENDITIONS REVEAL MASSIVE SEARCH OF EUROPEAN
ASSISTANCE; + MORE THAN 50 COUNTRIES HELPED CIA OUTSOURCE TORTURE.
Except FRANCE = LUXEMBOURG + NETHERLANDS.
Iff the Islamist Hard Boyz are still going to be sent to GITMO, what Foreign Country(s) will Americans = Amerikans end up being sent to for interrogation + detention by the US Govt - you know, Foreign Govts as "observed" by the CIA???
#39
The reason I'm pointing this out is that I'm tired of the whole argument that The Conservatives are wrong, there are no real enemies, they're all racists, but... oh, we just have to kill the people on this list.... just because.
#41
The issue isn't really what's been done today. They've probably only knocked off a few US citizens to date (and really maybe only one).
The real issue is what a future president COULD decide to do with a drone. Why is a "US terrorist on American soil" any less dangerous in the eyes of the Gov't than a "US terrorist on foreign soil"? Answer ... he's not. He's potentially a lot more dangerous. There's nothing stopping them from using a drone to knock off suspects in Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming. Those geographical areas are "unreachable" - aren't they?? They sure look that way - if you're sitting in an office in Virginia or DC.
(a) IN GENERAL- That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.
#1
Interesting. I'd read about the problems "Lebanese" men in roving gangs were causing on Australian beaches and such, but somehow didn't make the connection to Hizb'allah.
Security guards have seized a man who tried to hit Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a shoe as he visited a mosque in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
Video of the incident shows a man shouting "coward" as he strikes out.
It is not clear what the motive was - some reports suggested it was against Iran's support for Syria's government.
Mr Ahmadinejad is the first Iran leader to visit Egypt since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Showing the sole of a shoe is a grave insult in the Arab world.
The Iranian leader is attending a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, a loose grouping of 57 mainly Muslim countries.
"Several hundred" Islamist militants have been killed since France launched an offensive in Mali last month, the French defence minister has said.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said they had been killed in airstrikes and direct combat with French troops.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has said that France may begin pulling out of Mali as early as March.
In a newspaper interview, he said that "if everything goes as planned, the number of troops should diminish".
France has an estimated 4,000 troops in Mali and officials from multilateral institutions and dozens of countries have been meeting in Brussels to discuss how to replace them.
The defence minister said the last major town in northern Mali to remain in the hands of the rebels, Kidal, was now under French control.
Air attacks are continuing on suspected rebel hideouts north of the town.
'Significant number'
The militants died in French airstrikes on vehicles carrying fighters and materials, or in ground fighting in the town of Konna at the start of the campaign and later in the town of Gao, Mr Le Drian said.
He said French troops had inflicted "great damage on the jihadist terrorist groups", saying "several hundred, a significant number" of Islamist fighters had been killed.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Coptic patriarch delivered a cautious but unusually sharp criticism of the nation's Islamist leadership in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, dismissing the new constitution as discriminatory and rounds of national dialogues sponsored by the president as meaningless.
Pope Tawadros II's dive into politics came as he tried to energize the spiritual solidarity of a demoralized community with a visit to a historic monastery that no Coptic pontiff has been to in decades because of security tensions in southern Egypt.
He joined the black-robed monks in a two-hour pre-dawn prayer at the ancient Virgin Mary chapel in the al-Muharraq monastery, said to be on a site where the Virgin Mary took refuge with Jesus and her husband Joseph from Roman persecution.
Tawadros has taken an unusually vocal political activist stance since being enthroned in November as the spiritual leader of the Copts, the main community of Egypt's Christians.
His papacy comes as Christians are increasingly worried over the rise to power of Islamists in the country and the rule of President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a show of his more assertive stance that Christian complaints must be better addressed, Tawadros appeared less patient with media events that project a false harmony between Egypt's Muslim and Christian leaders.
His late predecessor, Shenouda III, would often receive Muslim leaders at his cathedral after significant attacks on Christians as a demonstration of unity.
Asked by the AP if he would do the same, Tawadros did not respond directly but said, "Realistically, we want actions not words. We don't want a show. Egypt has changed, we live in a new Egypt now."
Morsi is facing mounting criticism to his rule by the mostly secular and liberal opposition who accuse the Brotherhood of monopolizing power and an independent media that is ruthlessly ridiculing him.
Tawadros was dismissive of a series of national dialogues that Morsi has been holding, ostensibly as a way to broaden decision-making in response to criticism of the concentration of power with the Brotherhood. The group has emerged as Egypt's most powerful political group following autocrat Hosni Mubarak's ouster in a popular uprising two years ago.
Most opposition parties have refused to join the dialogue, as has the Coptic Church, calling it mere window dressing.
"We must and will actively take part in any national dialogue in which we see a benefit for the nation," Tawadros told the AP. "But when we find that a dialogue ends before it starts and none of its results are implemented then we realize that it is not in the interest of the nation."
Tawadros' active public political stance reflects a new attitude among Christian activists, who say the community must become more vocal in demanding equal status with Muslims.
In the past, activists say, Christians relied too much on the church to represent them behind the scenes with the country's power-brokers, a strategy they argue consigned Christians to second-class status.
The previous pope, Shenouda, was cautious about public criticism of Egypt's leadership, working instead in backroom arrangements. He was close to Mubarak, who until his ouster in February 2011 was seen by many Christians as the community's protector against Islamists.
Tawadros said he was pleased to see more and more Christians taking part in the wave of protests that has swept Egypt since early in 2011, but made clear that they should remain peaceful. Islamic militants have repeatedly charged that Christians made up the bulk of anti-Morsi protesters. They have produced no evidence to support their claim.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
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[Iran Press TV] An analyst says France is in cahoots with British colonial policy and terrorist funders Saudi Arabia and Qatar and this war begun in Mali is not intended to end.
In the background of this the French incursion in Mali is four weeks old. Their air force is pounding Muslim Tuareg tribal areas in the north of Mali. Algeria has beefed up its position to prevent refugees from entering their country and of course to prevent a spillover of terrorists, which are also being herded in that direction by French forces. The Tuareg region has been demanding independence from Mali for a decade.
Press TV has interviewed Lawrence Freeman with the Africa Desk of the Executive intelligence Review about this issue. That'd be a Lyndon LaRouche publication...
The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Taking a look at this situation as it stands right now as the French military forces move toward the north, pounding Tuareg areas. Where does it all end? France has not really spoken much about bringing about democracy or even stability for that matter to the country.
Freeman: It's not going to end because it's not intended to end. In fact the clearest discussion of what the policy intends to be were delivered by the former prime minister Tony Blair yesterday in an interview on the BBC.
Tony Blair speaking for the British colonial policy said very clearly, "We're going to be in this region for a generation to come". That's 20-25 years. And that is what we're looking at.
The French have no way of dealing with this problem. They've driven out some of these insurgents from Timbuktu, from Gao... but that was what was expected; they've dug in 100 kilometers north and they're going to try to drive them towards the Algerian border.
Algeria now is going to be a target of destabilization in the region. It's now the largest African country that essentially has not been destabilized and now it will be destabilized. There is no intent to stabilize these countries. The intent is going to be a 30 years war of all against all - different ethnic groups different religious groups all fighting each other and none of the substantial issues of drug trade, of economic development, of poverty, of hunger, none of these are being addressed.
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#1
Thanks Fred. This is probably one of the most insightful analysis of recent North African developments that I have seen to date. Freeman is spot on!
#2
In describing likely events, perhaps, but not in his attribution of intent. The last thing the French want are more north African refugees making it to Spain and thence to France - and the destabilization he describes will generae thousands of them, if not tens of thousands, who manage to make it across the Strait. Meanwhile, Britain is slashing its military budget like mad and has no public support for such a presence on the mere dream of 'colonialism'.
[MAGHAREBIA] The Algerian army beefed up its positions on the border with war-torn Mali, a Tamanrasset parliamentarian said on Monday (February 4th).
"It's about preventing the infiltration of terrorist groups," Mohamed Baba Ali told AFP. "Without these reinforcements, there would have been terrorist incursions from northern Mali."
On Tuesday, Maghreb Affairs Minister Abdelkader Messahel will join representatives of the UN, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Brussels for an international ministerial meeting on Mali, APS reported.
In related news, dozens of French warplanes carried out major air strikes in north-eastern Mali. Ansar al-Din and al-Qaeda fighters fled to the Adrar des Ifoghas region, near the Algerian border, after the fall of Kidal.
"They can only stay there long-term if they have ways to replenish their supplies. So the army, in a very efficient manner, is stopping them from doing so." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
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[Dawn] At least 50 Islamic scholars belonging to Sunni Ittehad Council issued a fatwa (ruling) in which they condemned terrorism in the country, DawnNews reported.
The fatwa also said that the United States is the enemy of Pakistan and the Islamic world. Further stating that any alliance with the US is un-Islamic and illegal.
They also condemned target killings in Karachi and Balochistan, along with sectarianism and suicide attacks.
The fatwa issued declared that suicide attacks are forbidden in Islam, and that those involved in the killing of innocent people are condemned to hell.
According to the fatwa, suicides attacks and related violence smears the name of Islam and weakens Pakistan.
The fatwa also said that the United States is the enemy of Pakistan and the Islamic world. Further stating that any alliance with the US is un-Islamic and illegal.
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[ALLAFRICA] Various eyewitnesses from Kutum city, North Darfur, are claiming to have seen armed Islamic fighters from Mali that took part in the fighting in their country over the past week wandering around the city. "Where am I? Mahmoud? Where are you?"
"Ahmed, pull your turban off your eyes!"
They told Radio Dabanga on Monday that the gunmen are mostly present in the western part of Kutum and in Adumur, where herders have settled temporary shelters.
Sources said these men look and have a very different skin tone than the usual Arab gunmen they normally see in Kutum and El-Waha towns. In addition, their Arabic accent is unusual. Berbers? Algerians?
The "Mali militants" cover their heads like other fighters in Sudan, but the color of their shawl is black instead of green and yellow, onlookers pointed out. Paks,
Upon their arrival at the Kutum market, the militants asked bystanders about shops selling mobile phones and battery chargers, sources said. They were driving Land Cruisers mounted with Dushkas and cannons. "Dushkas" would be the 14.5mm DShK guns the Sovs used to mount on their tanks as antiaircraft. I don't know that one of them has ever actually shot down a plane, but they were called AA.
At the same time, several displaced persons living at Kassab said that "masked armed strangers" "Who was that masked man?"
"I dunno, but he left me this silver Dushka round!"
entered the camp last Wednesday and asked about Damrah (Ternish), a well-known Arab settlement located west of Kassab. They were driving three vehicles, two of which were mounted with Dushkas and the other with cannons.
Other witnesses also confirmed to Radio Dabanga seeing unknown gunmen driving heavily armed vehicles over the past few days. They were "roaming the villages and valleys" around Kutum, especially the northern and western areas. I have my doubts. Mali doesn't have any borders with Sudan. They'd have had to drive across either Niger and Chad or Algeria and Libya.
International news sources have mentioned in the past that about 150 Sudanese nationals had gone to Mali to fight against French troops. The government of Sudan, on its turn, admitted that some "jihadists" went to Mali to fight against the "nonbelievers". "When Mahmoud comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!"
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#1
The Dushka, 14.5mm, is a step up from the 12.7mm.
The US equivalent of the 12.7 is the fifty. The US looked at going up to a 60 cal, with increased bullet weight, high velocity and so forth, but, like most militaries, opted for the 20mm with a selection of explosive heads.
I believe the Russians had a single-shot 14.5mm anti-tank rifle in WW II.
It will punch through a lot of material, including a good many Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
If you're going to throw a lot of stuff in the air, without hardly aiming, a Sov AA tactic for the smaller weapons, the Dushka will do nicely.
Point is, if you're zooming around the desert in a Dodge Ram anticipating the opposition coming after you in APC, light armored vehicles, so forth, the Dushka will raise all kinds of hell and it's easier to get ammo for that than reloads for your smaller antitank missiles.
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02/06/2013 8:28
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[Dawn] In what appears to be a first of its kind incident, an undertrial prisoner facing trial in a kidnapping for ransom case managed to escape from the heavily guarded anti-terrorism courts complex on Monday.
Three courts are working in the ATC complex in the old KMC rest house located on M.T. Khan Road near the so-called high-security zone. The building is in dilapidated condition and despite orders of the superior judiciary to shift the courts to a better place the provincial government has not taken any action.
Officials said that Rajab Ali alias Nadeem was brought to the ATC complex from jail along with his accomplice Sain Dad in connection with the hearing of 2011 kidnapping for ransom and illicit weapon cases against him.
The cases were fixed before the ATC-III and the UTP was produced in court on Monday.
However, the hearing of the cases was adjourned till Feb 22 since a judicial magistrate, one of the prosecution witnesses, did not appear in court to testify against them.
After the hearing, Rajab and Sain Dad along with other UTPs were brought back to a makeshift lock-up near the boundary wall of the ATC complex for their departure to prison.
The officials said that Rajab somehow managed to unlock his handcuffs, scale the wall adjacent to the KPT warehouse and escape.
Sources said that normally around five policemen were posted around the lock-up to keep a watchful eye on the UTPs, but no policeman was seen around the lock-up at the time of escape.
A security official at the ATC complex said that between 70 and 80 UTPs were brought to the ATCs on a daily basis. However, only 15 UTPs were transported to the ATCs on Monday since the legal work was partially suspended due to the death of a senior lawyer, he added.
Rajab has been charged with kidnapping a man and demanding Rs20 million as a ransom.According to the prosecution, the accused abducted the victim on Oct 21, 2011 near Karachi Airport for ransom. Later, the amount was settled at Rs500,000 and the captive was released on Oct 31 after the payment of ransom. On Nov 4, 2011 acting on a tip-off the anti-violent crime cell raided a house in Malir Halt, arrested the accused and found unlicensed weapons in their custody.
A case (FIR 265/11) was registered under Sections 365-A (kidnapping to extort property etc) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 on a complaint of the victim's wife at the Airport police station. The accused persons were also separately booked under Section 13-D of the Pakistan Arms Ordinance, 1965.
Meanwhile, two constables of the court police -- Moinullah and Zahid Hussain -- were arrested and a case (FIR 23/2012) was registered against them and the accused who escaped at the Mithadar police on behalf of the state station under Sections 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant), 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) and 225 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
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For a map, click here. For a map of Durango state, click here. For a map of Coahuila state, click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Government officials from Durango and Coahuila states are expected to meet Wednesday to map out a new security operation in the La Laguna region of Mexico, according to Mexican news accounts.
According to a news account posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, Durango state Fiscalia del Estado (FGE) or attorney general Sonia Yadira de la Garza was quoted as saying the new operation would encompass municipalities of both Coahuila and Durango.
La Laguna is the name of a region in north central Mexico which includes parts of eastern Durango and western Coahuila states.
The name of the new security operation will be changed to Operativo Laguna.
According to the article, Fiscalia Yadira de la Garza said the Durango state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado (SSPE) or public safety ministry, would have single control over the operation. With the absence of 158 municipal police agents, who were detained two weeks ago in an investigation of corruption, Mexican security forces are currently supplying much of the manpower for patrolling the Durango side of La Laguna. At last report, the Mexican Army was answering 066 emergency telephone calls in the region and coordinating security patrols.
Mexican Naval Infantry and Policia Federal Preventativa forces have been in the region for at least two weeks, since the mass detentions of Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio municipal police agents. Durango state has assigned police cadet volunteers to help fill out the police rosters. It is known from news accounts that security forces from all three levels of government patrol in mixed patrols on the Durango side of La Laguna.
The area itself has suffered a large increase of violence since the old Laguna Seguro was cancelled by then Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB) or interior minister Alejandro Poire. The spike in violence, according to a claim last week by Durango governor Jorge Herrera Caldera, has been reduced to a lower level in the past two weeks.
But problems in the region persist.
According to a tweet posted by Durango journalist Ruben Cardenas, the residence of Gomez Palacio mayor Rocio Rebollo was attacked Tuesday night, presumably by small arms fire. No one was reported hurt in that attack.
In another example, an official in Gomez Palacio was reportedly found dead last Saturday. Víctor Habib Nieto, 58, was found dead on Bulevar Ejercito Mexicano in Chapala colony.
According to a news account from El Contexto de Durango news daily, Habib Nieto, his wife, Rafaela Araluce, 58, and his 24 year old son were kidnapped last Friday night. Habib Nieto was a department head of Gomez Palacio's traffic police corporation, Secretaria de Proteccion y Vialidad.
A separate news account posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango said that Habib Nieto has been dismembered.
Also, according to a separate news brief published on the website of El Siglo de Durango, an unidentified pregnant female in her 20s was found shot to death and dumped near ejido Huitron Jimenez in Gomez Palacio municipality.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com.
[FRANCE24] Iran is to discuss its disputed nuclear programme with world powers in Kazakhstan on February 26, however news of the announcement on Tuesday was tempered after an Iranian official said the Wests' goal was to undermine Tehran. And everybody is expecting different results this time because... ummm... it's another time.
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[An Nahar] Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Tuesday backed a call by the leader of Syria's main opposition group for talks with the Damascus regime aimed at ending nearly 23 months of bloodshed in the country.
Arabi also offered to play a role in any negotiations for a democratic transition in Syria, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting between rebels and President Bashar Assad's forces.
He expressed hope "the Syrian government would respond positively to the proposal" Khatib made last week, saying it would "take advantage of every opportunity to break the cycle of violence and to end the bloodshed".
Arabi appealed for a transition agreement for "real change that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom, democracy, social justice and human dignity".
The bloc was ready to "provide all the support... needed to facilitate the holding of dialogue and help the Syrians out of the tunnel of this crisis, and spare it and the region the dangers of its painful consequences," he added.
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Four men in their 20s were found executed in a remote area of Sinaloa state Sunday, according to Mexican news accounts.
A news report posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily said that the four men were found in Sinaloa municipality on a road leading to Bacubirito.
The victims were identified in a separate news report which appeared on the website of El Debate news daily as Joel Lopez Cabrera, 25, La Jaina, Jose de Jesus Elizade 25, Los Mochis, Avetano Hernandez Elizade, 29, Los Mochis and Juan Carlos Valdez Sanchez, of El Gallo.
All four victims were shot at the scene. Police found 20 spent AK-47 and two .38 Super cartridge casings at the scene. Reports are two of the victims attempted to flee the shooting before they were caught by the gunfire.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[Dawn] Chief of the Pakistan Muslim League -- Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, said on Tuesday that 'certain forces' were conspiring to delay the elections, DawnNews reported.
Nawaz, who was speaking to the media in Jeddah, added that postponing the 2013 polls was against the interests of the nation. He said his party would not allow for such a delay to take place, and that the elections would take place as per schedule.
The PML-N chief's statements on a 'conspiracy' to delay the elections come in the wake of similar statements from Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Senator Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
He further told reporters that overseas Pakistanis should be allowed to vote in the upcoming general elections and that it was necessary to pass legislation in this regard.
Nawaz added that the incumbent government was reluctant to pass legislation which would enable overseas Pakistanis to vote.
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A St. Paul policeman seen dressed as a female Muslim Target store employee in a widely circulated and criticized Internet photo gave an apology Tuesday saying the image was "never meant to become public."
Officer Robert Buth said the photo was taken at a private Halloween party on personal time. In a statement, he said, "I apologize to anyone who may have been offended by the recently publicized photo."
He expressed his regret that the image "may have been viewed to be insensitive to the Muslim community."
Immediate reaction to the apology was mixed. Some said it didn't go far enough and called for his firing. Others said they wanted more discussion about why the photo was offensive. Still others said the controversy was political and overblown.
St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith also issued a statement Tuesday, saying he thinks Buth's apology is sincere and that the officer "will work to correct any negative perceptions brought about by the image."
For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here
Seven unidentified individuals were found shot to death in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas last Saturday, according to Mexican news accounts.
A news report posted on the website of Vanguardia news daily Monday said that four men were found shot to death near a beer dispensary known as Super Plus Carmen, which is near the intersection of calles Ocampo and Gutierrez.
The article, which was a news dispatch from an El Universal wire service said that three of the dead were partially identified. A fifth victim, an unidentified minor, was also found at the scene.
Later the same night, two unidentified men in their 20s were found shot to death at a a beer dispensary known as Modelorama near the intersection of calles Dr. Mier and Aquiles Serdan. The article said that a third victim was taken for medical treatment, but later died. He was identified as José Luis Pérez Vargas.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Monday (February 4th) declined to announce his resignation, TAP reported. In a televised address, Marzouki said he would carry out his duties until the next elections. The president also reiterated his call for a Tunisia coalition government that would reflect the country's political and social diversity.
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[Al Ahram] The Islamic Forces Coalition, which consists of 13 Egyptian Islamic parties and movements, has called for the criminalisation of all "disruptive" political activity, including the blocking of streets and public squares.
In a Tuesday statement, the coalition -- which includes the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Call -- called for reopening Tahrir Square to traffic. It also called for investigations into recent incidents of rape in Cairo's best-known protest venue.
Traffic through Tahrir has been closed since December, when demonstrators converged on the flashpoint square to protest a controversial decree issued by President Mohamed Morsi. Tahrir remained closed off to traffic during subsequent protests marking the second anniversary of Egypt's January 25 revolution.
In its statement, the coalition went on to urge the Egyptian media to refrain from publishing "seditious content" and to select with caution the material they chose to run. The coalition also criticised what it described as "increasingly anti-Islamist sentiments" in the local media.
"We condemn all television channels and newspapers that incite or justify acts of violence and vandalism," the coalition declared. "We hold them fully responsible for the recent [political] crisis and see them as spearheading the ongoing counter-revolution."
The coalition also called on the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt's parliament, currently endowed with legislative powers) to issue laws regulating protest activity.
Opposition forces, for their part, have voiced disapproval for any proposed anti-protest legislation, which they see as a potential breach of human rights.
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[MAGHAREBIA] A Tunisian judge on Monday (February 4th) barred private radio station Mosaique FM from broadcasting an interview with the alleged organiser of the US embassy attack, AFP reported.
The interview "might contain coded messages capable of influencing the investigation and disturbing public order", Judge Jalel Eddine Boukhtif said in a statement read on the air.
Abu Iyadh (real name Saif Allah bin Hussein) leads radical Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia. He is wanted on several terrorism-related charges, including "voluntary homicide with premeditation".
Abu Iyadh risks the death penalty if convicted.
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[FRANCE24] An archaic by-law banning Parisian women from wearing trousers has finally been repealed 214 years after it was originally introduced.
The November 1799 decree stipulated that any woman wishing to wear men's clothing in the French capital had to seek official permission from the city authorities.
It was amended two times a century later, when women were given the freedom to don "pantalons" [trousers] if they were "holding the handlebars of a bicycle or the reins of a horse."
The decree was passed when the working class fashion of wearing long trousers (as opposed to the aristocratic knee-length "culottes") became a symbol of the French revolution. The rule therefore symbolically barred women from the revolutionary rank and file, known at the time as the "sans-culottes".
'A museum piece'
In 2010, a group of Green Party lawmakers began a campaign to get the absurd by-law, held in the archives of the Paris Prefecture [police headquarters] and technically still in force, struck off permanently.
The group faced surprising resistance from the prefecture, which considered the effort "removing a piece of judicial archaeology" a "waste of time".
A fresh application for the decree to be officially removed from the prefecture's official documentation was made in 2012 by a member of parliament for the opposition UMP party.
This time, the request was taken seriously, and the 1799 law was last week officially confirmed null and void.
French Minister for Women's Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the rule was "incompatible with the principles of equality between men and women that are written into the constitution, as well as in France's European engagements."
"Because of this incompatibility, this by-law is implicitly repealed," she added. "It has absolutely no legal effect. The document is nothing but a museum piece."
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[FRANCE24] Major Jean-Noel Abehi, a key figure in former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo's security forces, has been arrested in Ghana and extradited back to Ivory Coast, a security official said on Tuesday.
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[Bangla Daily Star] At least three people were killed and around 100 injured across the country yesterday as Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a dawn-to-dusk hartal protesting the war crimes trial of its leader Abdul Quader Mollah.
As the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Quader Mollah to life imprisonment yesterday, Jamaat called another countrywide daylong hartal for today demanding cancellation of the ICT and release of its top leaders detained on war crimes charges.
The government last night deployed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members in different strategic points of the capital to avert any subversive activities over the verdict.
Around 6:30pm yesterday, Jamaat-Shibir cadres swooped on law enforcers in the port city's Dewanhat area. They opened fire and hurled hand-made bombs at police.
A pedestrian suffered injuries in the blasts.
Admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), he succumbed to his injuries immediately after being taken to an operation theatre, doctors said.
The victim, Afzal Ahmed, 25, was a vendor from Pahartali, Chittagong.
Another pedestrian, Shafiqul Islam, 24, a garment worker, suffered serious injuries being hit by sticks as he was caught in the clash.
Shafiqul breathed his last at the CMCH around 9:15pm, Assistant Sub-Inspector Pankaj Barua of CMCH Police Camp said.
Earlier around 12:30pm, a man was killed in a gunfight between police and pro-hartal activists in the port city's Alankar intersection.
The victim, Imran Khan, was a first-year student of Chittagong Polytechnic Institute. Jamaat claimed the youth was its activist but his father told The Daily Star that he was not involved in politics.
Soon after the tribunal pronounced its verdict around 11:30am, Jamaat and its student body Islami Chhatra Shibir went berserk and vandalised more than 100 shops and automobiles at different parts of the country, said witnesses.
The rioters also torched at least 30 vehicles including five police vans.
Equipped with firearms and sharp weapons, Jamaat-Shibir men attacked police and hurled bombs at three places including Nababganj in Dinajpur leaving four police members injured.
Over 35 people in Chittagong and 65 more elsewhere suffered wounds when the Jamaat-Shibir cadres fought pitched battles with the law enforces. The injured include at least 25 policemen.
Witnesses told The Daily Star that several hundred pickets equipped with sticks and brick chips attacked police at Alankar intersection in Chittagong and blasted hand-made bombs around 1:00pm.
In Bahaddarhat intersection, over 2,000 Jamaat-Shibir men wielding guns brought out a militant procession around 1:00pm. They went on the rampage smashing shops and torching at least 20 vehicles.
The activists marched towards Panchlaish Police Station while firing shots. Police had to fire back to disperse the attackers.
At least eight people including an additional deputy commissioner and a constable of Chittagong Metropolitan Police were injured in clashes in the port city. They were admitted to CMCH.
Police nabbed 15 persons in connection with the Bahaddarhat incident.
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[Dawn] Chadian troops swarmed into the desert town of Kidal in northeastern Mali on Tuesday, securing the last militant bastion as global players met in Brussels to carve out a path back to stability for the troubled west African nation.
The French defence ministry said 1,800 Chadian troops had entered Kidal to "secure" the Saharan outpost, after days of air strikes in the surrounding mountains where extremist insurgents are believed to be hiding in hillside caves.
"The French are controlling the airport with the back-up of two paratrooper units," a ministry official said, adding that nearly 4,000 French troops were now on the ground in its former west African colony.
The official said French air strikes had hit 25 targets in recent days, "mainly logistical depots and training centres" in the areas of Aguelhok and Tessalit, near the Algerian border.
French-led forces have driven out the extremist fighters, who had controlled the north for 10 months, from their key strongholds in Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal after sweeping to Mali's aid on January 11 to stop the rebels from advancing on the capital Bamako.
The rebels melted away into the Adrar des Ifoghas massif around Kidal, a craggy mountain landscape honeycombed with caves where they are believed to be holding seven French hostages kidnapped in Mali and Niger in 2011 and 2012.
Dozens of French warplanes have carried out air strikes in recent days on rebel training and logistics centres in the region, near the Algerian border and some 1,500 kilometres northeast of Bamako.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday the strikes were aimed at blocking the rebels' supply routes to flush them out.
Some 600 French troops based in the fabled city of Timbuktu prepared to withdraw on Tuesday, crossing the Niger River and making their way to Gao before heading to Kidal, a military source told AFP.
On Monday Fabius said France was working to "very quickly" withdraw its forces from Timbuktu and hand the baton over to African troops.
In Brussels, global players met to carve out plans for Mali's future once the 26-day-old offensive draws to an end.
"When a state falls apart it takes time to put it together again, like Humpty Dumpty," a European Union official said on condition of anonymity. "It's going to take years to achieve the end outcome. But I hope it will only take months to achieve a secure enough environment."
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Armed men tied up four Buddhist fruit traders then shot them in the head one by one in the latest horrendous attack in Yala province early yesterday. Police found the bodies of the victims, including one woman, with their hands tied behind them, in a house in Krong Pinang district at about 1 a.m. The four, a couple and two men, were from the eastern province of Rayong.
Seven gunmen dressed in black arrived in a pickup truck, ambushed the group who were eating their dinner, tied their hands behind their backs and gunned them down. Police suspect the shootings are the work of an terrorist insurgent group led by Issamaae Layalong, which has been involved in the killing of soldiers, police and villagers in Krong Pinang district.
Pol Maj-General Pira Boonlieng said, "The attack was outrageous and has affected people inside and outside the area, as the victims had come to Yala to buy fruit."
He expressed his belief police would be able to take legal action against the gunmen because there was plenty of evidence at the scene. He said, "I already ordered a check be made to see if there are other Thai-Buddhists who have come to the area to buy fruit so we can provide protection for them."
The killings took place less than a week after two rice-farming trainers from the central provinces were killed in Pattani. The two were in Yala to train local farmers to work under the government's project to rehabilitate abandoned paddy fields.
Meanwhile in Pattani, Pisarn Mawae, the district chief of Ma-Yor, who survived an attack in broad daylight on Monday, said he still wished to continue his work and would be more cautious.
Pisarn and other three officials were in a pickup when another pickup with six gunmen traveling in the opposite direction suddenly switched lanes and blocked their vehicle at an intersection. The gunmen then opened fire on the district chief's bullet-proof car. After seeing Pisarn's vehicle could take the bullets, one of the gunmen jumped from the vehicle and fired directly at Pisarn. A bullet hit the leg of a female student on a motorcycle who was nearby.
In related news, a 100-strong security team yesterday at 2 p.m. arrested a suspected bomber of the Lee Gardens Hotel in Songkhla on March 31 last year, identified as 36-year-old Jehmha Wani. Songkhla Court had issued seven warrants for the arrest of Jehmha, three for arson attacks on schools in Chana district in August 2007.
[An Nahar] The Syrian National Council, the main component of the opposition National Coalition, on Tuesday rejected the possibility of holding any talks with the regime as offered by the head of the umbrella group.
"The Syrian National Council has already told the people of the revolution of its commitment to its principles and objectives... the overthrow of the Syrian regime and all its parts, the rejection of any dialogue with it, and the protection of the revolution so that it does not become hostage to any international commitments," it said in a statement.
National Coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib announced last week he was willing to hold talks with the Assad regime, subject to conditions including the release of 160,000 detainees.
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[UPI] Nigerian officials warned Islamic militant sect Boko Haram not to join forces with Malian rebels in terrorist attacks after promising a cease-fire in Nigeria. If they think that'll do some good, why not warn them not to murder their Christian brethren?
Officials in Mali indicated Islamic militants, who recently took control of the north part of the country but were dislodged and sent into hiding by French forces last week, might try to join with Boko Haram in Nigeria, Leadership Newspapers reported Monday.
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An all-female rock band in Jammu and Kashmir - a first for the region - was forced to break up after a senior cleric called the musicians un-Islamic. He banned them in a controversy that has gripped the region.
The three-member group Pragaash was also the target of an online hate campaign. They had won a talent contest in December. Now Bashiruddin Ahmad, the grand mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, has issued a fatwa ordering the band to break up.
Many in the Kashmir Valley support the girls' right to make music. Prabod Janwal, editor of the Kashmir Times, said the controversy was "one of the major stories, since it involves all the civil society, general public, citizens and everybody in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked if the clash reflected a division in society, Janwal said he believed "Jammu and Kashmir is not a highly-conservative society, it has been very open society, very progressive. I think women have every right to education and performances and other sorts of activities related to culture, literature and the performing arts."
But "now and then, clerics have been acting on their own, or trying to enforce their own sort of Islamic fundamentals on the whole of the society."
He said the current issue started a month ago after some people "posted abuses" and objected to the performances of the all-girl rock band.
Janwa said the state government has been reluctant to stand up to the mufti. He asked, "When the whole of the society is opposed to the utterances of the cleric, why should the government remain silent?"
[Bangla Daily Star] In a strong warning to Jamaat-Shibir activists, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... yesterday asked them to stop destructive activities or face the worst consequences of their acts.
"Stop these destructive activities; otherwise the consequences will be the worst," she told the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected mayor and councillors of Rangpur City Corporation at her office.
Those involved in destructive activities in the name of saving war criminals are also equally guilty, she noted.
About the trial of war criminals, she said the verdicts in the war crime cases will be executed, Inshallah (if Allah wills it).
Mentioning that these anti-liberation forces had killed people, raped girls and helped the Pak occupational forces, the prime minister said Bangabandhu had started the trial of war criminals by promulgating an ordinance in 1972.
"But after 1975, Zia had stopped the trials, set the war criminals free and brought some war criminals back home from Pakistain," she said adding, Zia made them ministers, prime minister and advisers to rehabilitate them politically.
Those who were defeated in 1971 had their Dire Revenge™ in 1975, mentioned Hasina. "After 2001, Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... had made the war criminals ministers to destroy the spirit of the Liberation War."
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[An Nahar] Israel has deployed a third Iron Dome missile defense battery to the north of the country a few days after carrying out an air strike inside neighboring Syria, Israeli media said on Tuesday.
"The deployment of several Iron Dome batteries in the north of the country comes as part of the setting up of the system," an army spokesman was quoted as saying.
The third Iron Dome battery's dispatch comes after Defense Minister Ehud Barak implied Israel was responsible for a January 30 air strike inside Syria that was immediately attributed to the Jewish state.
The strike targeted a military complex near Damascus that a U.S. official later said contained surface-to-air missiles, and an adjacent facility said to house chemical weapons.
Israeli media last month reported the deployment of two Iron Dome batteries to the country's north as a precaution against potential attacks from Syria or Lebanon.
The Jewish state fears the possibility of chemical weapons falling into the hands of Islamist militants should Syrian President Bashar Assad fall, as Damascus continues to fight a two-year uprising that has turned into a bloody civil war.
The Iron Dome batteries -- which can shoot down missile attacks with a range of up to 70 kilometers (44 miles) -- would allow Israel to launch a quick strike on targets in its two northern neighbors, a security source told Agence France Presse.
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[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... condemned on Tuesday the Arsal clash, saying that it has demonstrated that the Lebanese people have become embroiled in the Syrian conflict.
He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: "The Arsal clash should not be turned into a factional issue."
He also urged the state to crackdown on gunmen, while highlighting Arsal municipality head Ali Hujairi's statements that he controls some 100 kilometers of the Lebanese-Syrian border.
"The clash is the result of the ongoing failure to impose security in the area," remarked Aoun.
"The state must regain its sovereignty and apprehend the gunmen," he demanded.
"We no longer want to hear talk of disassociating Lebanon" from regional issues because this policy has failed, continued the lawmaker.
He also offered his condolences to the families of the officers who were killed during Friday's clash.
"The army belongs to all citizens," he stressed.
"How many more of these clashes will take place?" he wondered, while saying that some politicians and clerics are accomplices to the criminals.
"The resistance has never killed a soldier and none of its members ever directed their weapons against the army," Aoun added.
"Resistance groups differ from terrorist ones in that they do not employ sectarian rhetoric or kill based on the victim's identity," he noted.
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[Dawn] FUNDAMENTALISM is a controversial term, ascribed first to 19th-century American Protestant groups which preached strict adherence to basic biblical tenets.
It is now applied loosely to all groups exhibiting broadly similar tendencies. While a consensus definition eludes scholars, certain key characteristics are generally ascribed to fundamentalists.
Firstly, they desire strict adherence to their interpretation of an earlier ideology which they view as being perfect and timeless. Their interpretation often distorts the original ideology. Usually, the idealised ideology is religious since religious reverence makes it easier to recruit followers, though political, economic and nationalistic ideologies also occasionally spawn fundamentalism.
Secondly, fundamentalists see only black or white, viewing themselves as perfect and others as wrong.
Thirdly, fundamentalists often invoke the memory of a past community which prospered by supposedly following the idealised ideology.
Fourthly, they believe in manifest destiny, i.e., that they have been prophesised to prevail universally. The more a group exhibits these characteristics, the more fundamentalist it is.
Not all fundamentalists are faceless myrmidons nor are all faceless myrmidons fundamentalists. Fundamentalist groups fall into three categories.
The first includes reclusive fundamentalists who practise their traditions in isolation, e.g., the American Amish and the Pak Kalash, and show little interest in converting others. Beyond adherence to traditions, they share little else with other fundamentalists, being fairly egalitarian in their practices.
The second category includes pacifist fundamentalists who non-violently want to establish states run strictly on "divine" laws though no religion provides detailed divine rules to cover all or even most present-day complexities. Religions do however provide timeless general principles.
The third category includes violent fundamentalists, whom Paks know well. Pacifist and violent fundamentalists believe that a small, morally superior vanguard group must carry the burden of converting the morally inferior majority. Thus, they generally adopt a top-down disciplinarian approach where the vanguard group leads while others follow their wisdom unquestioningly.
Fundamentalism has mushroomed recently largely in reaction to the uncertainty and tumult caused by the spread and dominance of Western liberal civilisation globally. A civilisation is a large national group spread over a large territory for several centuries with a distinct combination of cultural, religious, economic, political and epistemic institutions which make significant contributions to overall human progress.
The distinctive coordinates of Western liberal civilisation include capitalism, democracy, science/rationality, materialism, secularism, individualism and imperialism. Imperialism along with capitalism has been a key factor in spawning resistance to Western civilisation globally despite its other sterling features, e.g., democracy and science.
To date, Western liberalism has faced three generations of global challenges: Nazism/ fascism ...a political system developed in Italia symbolized by the Roman fasces -- thin reeds, each flimsy in itself but unbreakable when bound into a bundle. The word is nowadays thrown around by all sorts of people who have no idea what they're talking about... (a political philosophy); Soviet communism (an economic philosophy); and religious fundamentalism (a cultural philosophy). Common to all three were vanguard groups who attempted to convert the "impure" majority through strong discipline and even force.
Ironically, each succeeding challenger initially cooperated with the West to defeat its predecessor before becoming the West's nemesis. Communism helped the West defeat fascism in 1945 and fundamentalism helped defeat communism in Afghanistan.
Fundamentalism exceeds the other two in the totality of its rejection of Western liberalism and the barrenness of its own ideas. While fascism and communism at least achieved significant geographical and scientific progress before their demise, fundamentalism cannot even boast of that and will fail too.
Humanity's most glorious achievements ever have undoubtedly occurred under Western liberalism, notably the immense freedom provided by democracy and the spectacular technology provided by science.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... it is equally true that individualism, materialism, free-market capitalism and imperialism are causing today's most serious global threats, including climate change, nuclear proliferation, unsurpassed inequality, anomie and economic
depressions.
Thus, there is scope to challenge those specific liberal coordinates. Any successful challenge to Western liberalism must match its positive aspects (i.e., freedom and technology) while avoiding its weaknesses.
By basing their strategy on top-down discipline and even totalitarianism, the three challengers each instantly failed this test and consequently could not attract large numbers of people. Fortunately, other non-violent movements like the global green movement (a political, economic as well as cultural movement) meet this test better, though it has a long distance to travel before it becomes a coherent intellectual challenge.
While all major religions have fundamentalist groups, the most virulent ones today are Al Qaeda-cum-affiliates and the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (the former being far more potent globally).
Consequently, some argue that revealed Middle Eastern religions generally encourage fundamentalism more since each claims to be the only right religion unlike South and Southeast Asian ideologies, e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism etc. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... Abrahamic religions also emphasise rationality, tolerance and moderation.
Opinions differ on why people become fundamentalists. Some view poverty as the main cause. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... the motivations of its leaders rather than its foot soldiers represent the root causes of any movement. Poverty supplies fundamentalism its foot soldiers, but not its leaders.
What motivates the leaders remains a mystery. Psychologists define defence mechanisms as mental processes people adopt to deal with uncertainty and challenges. One such mechanism is regression, i.e., mentally living in the past when life was better instead of tackling present challenges bravely. The desire of fundamentalists to recreate the distant glorious past literally represents collective millennial regression. Something in the socialisation of fundamentalists gets them hooked to regression.
For anyone dissatisfied with liberalism's downside and contemplating embracing fundamentalism, violent or pacifist, the message is clear -- fundamentalism represents regressive escapism and a blind alley.
Despite their developing nature, progressive global movements already provide better answers to liberalism's downside while embracing its many positive features. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... to wean impressionistic minds away from fundamentalism, progressives must articulate their ideas more loudly and clearly.
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#3
Fundamentalism has always been a *relative* term, because its always relative to a specific document that is read literally: a fundamentalist Christian takes the New Testament as primary and interprets the Old Testament in light of the New, while interpreting the New as literally as the language permits, while a Fundamentalist Jew would take the Old Testament as primary and read it as literally as the language permits. An Islamic fundamentalist would take the Koran as primary, interprets the Old and New Testaments in light of the Koran, and read it as literally as the language permits. Anyone who then says that the behavior of a fundamentalist is the "same" clearly flunked basic World Religions class because religions clearly differ because their base documents are different.
This might offend some Rantburgers at first blush, but I would say that over 90% of our regular visitors and commentators are Fundamentalists with regard to the Constitution of the United States: you probably wouldn't call yourself fundamentalists, but if you are a constitutionalist who holds to the current applicability of the language of the Constitution read as literally as the language of that day allows, then you are a fundamentalist in the strict sense of the term.
Given this, then it should be obvious why Christianity has as many denominations as there are "alternate readings" of the Second Amendment: People have agendas that cannot be fulfilled IF the literal meaning of the text was followed, so they come up with different ways to read the text so that a "figurative but accurate" alternate meaning can be conjured up with the hope that it would be accepted, and followed, as seriously as if it was the literal meaning of the text. When a liberal Catholic Bishop accused me of being a "Fundamentalist like the Taliban", I accused HIM of profound ignorance of the Biblical scriptures, of the Koran, or both. He never brought it up again, because he knew the REAL meaning of what "fundamentalist" really was, knew that I knew it as well, and knew that I had seen through his lame attempt at verbal intimidation.
The second category includes pacifist fundamentalists who non-violently want to establish states run strictly on "divine" laws...
I am rather proud of being a "real" Christian fundamentalist who can read the NT and notice the absolute lack of guidance for governing a nation. If you want an example of what the editorial is describing, look no further than the oh-so-very liberal (politically and theologically) United Methodist Church hierarchy, who think nothing of urging government to TAKE money from the rich and spend it on the poor, and don't mind higher taxes on everyone else. When God wanted to punish the house of Solomon for his idolatry, God let him jack taxes sky high and allowed his son to be too proud and too stupid to lower them, causing a revolution that split the nation.
[Iran Press TV] The United States "is engaged in a war on the Muslim nations of the Middle East over control of oil and other natural resources and strategic shipping lanes", says Joe Iosbaker, spokesperson of the United National Antiwar Coalition.
Iosbaker says the U.S. war on Muslim countries is the real reason behind the assassinations of American citizens abroad.
The fact that the U.S. government's can order the killing of American citizens is a "terrible development", Iosbaker said in an interview with Press TV's U.S. Desk.
"The justification can only be one of an imperial president who takes powers greater than that allowed or provided in the constitution".
A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be "senior operational leaders" of al-Qaeda or "an associated force" -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
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#1
Well, you Muslims always warring with each other.
Everytime we turn around, every two-bit turban is issuing fatwas or declaring war on the "Great Satan" and "Little Satan" and "Mid-size Satan" and "Giant Economy sized Satan".
This should make them happy. We're giving them what they want. (in my dreams /sarc)
As we say at the 'Burg, FIFY. You mean the US that liberated Kuwait from their brother Muslim oppressor? That protected Muslim Kurds from the same Muslim oppressor? That stop ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the Balkans? All for which both institutional governments and financial/cultural leaders in Muslim countries have provided aid and comfort to those who organize and finance a war directed at the US.
even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
This is a lie. The memo says the exact opposite.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/06/2013 10:42
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#6
After 911, IMO we were too patient and restrained. We didn't wage war with all those who were financing terror such as the Sauds or Iranians. As mentioned earlier, had it been about oil we would not have been concerned about liberating Iraq and Kuwait. We have taken nothing for what we have given.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's net foreign reserves are currently enough to cover only three months of the country's imports, Ashraf El-Arabi, minister of planning and international cooperation, stated on Tuesday.
Earlier the same day, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that Egypt's total foreign reserves had dropped by $1.4 billion in January to reach their lowest levels -- $13.6 billion -- in more than a decade.
The government pays roughly LE5 billion (roughly $746 million) per month on imports, El-Arabi said in a speech at Cairo's International Book Fair.
According to CBE figures, Egypt's total import bill in 2012 stood at $58.6 billion.
El-Arabi called on the government to set an "urgent plan" aimed at easing the state's widening budget deficit and raising foreign reserve levels by June of this year.
He went on to point out that talks between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund over a proposed $4.8 billion loan were currently on hold until the government modified its economic reform programme.
"Egypt's decreasing foreign reserve levels raise serious concerns about the country's fiscal situation," former finance minister Hazem El-Beblawi told Ahram Online.
"As long as the government fails to set limits on needless imports, it will be unable to equalise its balance of payments," added El-Beblawi.
Economists put Egypt's total luxury imports at roughly $4 billion per year.
"I can't say we're on the brink of collapse, but the real problem is that Egypt lacks the domestic resources that would allow the government to deal with anticipated shortfalls," he said.
El-Beblawi went on to say that the proposed IMF loan would help restore the CBE's dwindling foreign reserves and offset the government's widening budget deficit.
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[TOLONEWS] Isaf and Afghan officials are seeking to reassure the people that the insurgency is weakening, despite an apparent increase in Taliban-led suicide attacks this winter season in Afghanistan's capital. So lemme get this straight: if they actually overrun the country they'll be so weak they'll disintegrate?
Isaf spokesman Gen. Günter Katz said that the increase in suicide attacks and planting of roadside bombs shows the weakness of the Taliban in engaging in any serious combat against the Afghan National Security Forces.
"They use the media, that is right, so they give a wrong sense of security. But overall, security -- particularly in Kabul -- is stable and we don't see any worries in terms of violence. And clearly they will continue to lose that fight and what they are doing is they continue their suicide attacks," Katz said at a press conference Monday.
The Ministry of Defense agreed saying that the insurgents no longer seek to fight face-to-face with Afghan security forces, instead opting for suicide attacks and hidden bombs which end up mostly killing civilians.
"The attacks launched in the past two months in Kabul and other provinces have mostly struck civilians. So the attacks don't benefit them because they mentally make people feel uncomfortable, but they launch such attacks [anyway]," spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi told TOLOnews Monday.
Ministry of Interior spokesman said that the Taliban tactic was largely aimed at increasing fear and terror in the people more than actually inflicting damage to the security forces.
"In this winter, the Taliban has launched more suicide attacks [but] they only show more terror to the people," Sediq Seddiqi said TOLOnews Monday.
In the past, the winter season has had fewer insurgent attacks compared to the warmer months, however with three attacks executed or planned in Kabul in three weeks, this appears to be changing.
Two of the attacks were carried out in the second and third week of January on security offices in Kabul, but the third was foiled late Sunday night when six equipped suicide bombers were detained in Kabul's district 4.
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#1
So lemme get this straight: if they actually overrun the country they'll be so weak they'll disintegrate?
Reminds me of the 60s-70s FBI crime stats which would dutifully report that percentage rate of the increase in crime was decreasing.
[An Nahar] Egypt's top cleric told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday not to interfere in the affairs of Bahrain or other Gulf states, and to uphold the rights of his country's Sunni minority.
Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Cairo's al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, also denounced what he described as the "spread of Shiism in Sunni lands".
Tayyeb, who made the remarks in a statement after meeting Ahmadinejad, demanded "the Iranian president respect Bahrain as a brotherly Arab nation, and not interfere in the affairs of Gulf states".
In October, Bahrain summoned an Iranian envoy to protest at Tehran's "interference" in the Gulf state's internal affairs. Shiite-ruled Iran has supported protests by Bahrain's Shiite majority against the Sunni monarchy.
Following Tuesday's meeting, Ahmadinejad gave a news conference at al-Azhar in which he said he "came from Iran to say that Egypt and the Egyptian people have their place in the heart of the Iranian people".
But senior al-Azhar cleric Hassan al-Shafie, who spoke after Ahmadinejad, launched into a tirade against "some Shiites" for insulting some of the Prophet Mohammed's companions as the Iranian president listened with noticeable unease.
"The discussions were frank," Shafie said of Ahaminejad's meeting with Tayyeb.
Shiites revile some of the Prophet Mohammed's companions they accuse of usurping power from his nephew Ali, whom they believe was designated as his rightful heir.
Sunnis view this position as heresy, but al-Azhar had traditionally taken an ecumenical stance on Shiites.
But the Sunni institute has adopted a much harsher tone in the past year, accusing Shiites of trying to spread their doctrine in Egypt and even issuing a statement that used a pejorative term for Shiites -- rafidah, or rejectionists.
Al-Azhar's hardened stance is thought in part to stem from the increased pressure of more conservative Salafi clerics, who share doctrines of Saudi Arabia's interpretation of Sunni Islam.
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#1
Short of any internal "Saudi Spring" which induces the collapse of the KSA Monarchy, "strategic defensive" minded Iran will interven only iff restive local Shia communities are at direct threat of attack or annihilation from ruling Sunni Govts.
The above being said, IMO ANY NON-IRAN LED COLLAPSE OF THE SAUDI STATE WILL BE TOO GOOD AN OPPORTUNITY FOR "MAHANIST" = AMBITIOUS, OWG "CALIPHATE" HAPPY RISING IRAN TO MISS.
Ditto as per EGYPT, etal. ME Muslim States.
[USS "ENTERPRISE" CO FRED "THIS WILL GET OUT OF CONTROL + WE'LL BE LUCKY JUST TO LIVE THROUGH IT" THOMPSON here].
[An Nahar] A Tunisian Salafist leader wanted for deadly violence said the government is in thrall to Western powers, according to an interview banned by the authorities but posted Tuesday on the Internet.
Abu Iyadh, who heads the radical Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, also said however he was ready for dialogue with the country's ruling Islamist party Ennahda.
"We make a difference between the government and the Ennahda movement. The government does not represent Islam, but we work with Ennahda as an Islamic movement independent of the government," he said in the interview that was to be broadcast on Mosaique FM radio before it was barred by a Tunisian judge.
"Our enemies want a conflict between Islam and Islam. Ennahda wants to meet us, but their hands are tied by the government, because it obeys the orders of the West," added the fugitive imam.
Ennahda heads Tunisia's coalition government in partnership with two left-leaning secular parties, including the Congress for the Republic of President Moncef Marzouki.
The judge on Monday barred the private radio station from broadcasting the interview, saying it might contain "coded message" capable of "disturbing public order".
Abu Iyadh, who is accused of orchestrating a deadly attack on the U.S. embassy in Tunis last September in which four people died -- charges he denies -- insisted in the interview that his movement was not seeking to wage holy war in Tunisia.
"There is no reason to carry out jihad in Tunisia, that's why dozens of young Tunisians leave for Syria or elsewhere... We are involved with social work, charity and preaching," he said, adding: "We do not have a stash of weapons."
The Salafist leader, whose real name is Seif Allah Ibn Hussein, said he opposed the departure of Tunisian militants for the battle zones of Syria and Mali, as it "emptied Tunisia of its young" Salafists.
Dozens of Tunisian jihadists are reported to have been killed in Syria in the past 12 months.
Referring to his flight from the authorities, he said they were pursuing him under pressure from Western powers who feared the growing popularity of Ansar al-Sharia since the revolution two years ago "because of its charitable work".
Abu Iyadh, a former pro-Taliban combatant who was jailed under the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben, has refrained from openly supporting the violence that has rocked Tunisia since the January 2011 uprising, and to which he has been linked by the authorities.
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[Iran Press TV] US President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... has passed legislation that suspends the nation's borrowing limit, averting a default and pushing debt talks until later in the year.
Obama signed into law the new bill on Monday, which postpones the USD 16.4 trillion limit on federal borrowing until May 18 and at the same time urges lawmakers to adopt a budget resolution by April 2015.
This comes while on May 19, the debt limit will be raised, allowing the government to have access to approximately USD 450 billion to avert a default.
The Senate approved the bill last week after the Democratic members including Obama warned that failure to pass the bill would threaten economic recovery.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives approved to lift the country's debt ceiling late last month, with the Republicans including a provision that temporarily denies lawmakers' pay if they fail to create a budget plan.
As lawmakers avoided the fiscal cliff about a month ago, deep spending cuts are expected to hit the Pentagon and federal agencies on March 1.
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#1
Its offcial - the US is now copying France + a few other Euros in hoping that temporarily expanded or limited deficit spending will stimulate the Econ just enuff to increase revenues to pay off select near-term liabilities = accounts payable.
IMO its the same as saying the national debt burden is so hopelessly in the red that Govt focii is no longer on paying off LT liabilities. but near-term or very near term/immediate liabilities.
COLD WAR-ERA SOVIET COMPLAN, GOSPLAN, + ACCOUNTING, BUDGET WRITEOFFS WHERE IFF-WE-TELL-OURSELVES-WE-HAVE-NO-DEBT-WE-DON'T HERE WE COME.
SOCIALISM-GOVTISM = NEW "SOVEREIGNTY/
NATIONALISM" IN THE AGE OF ANTI-NATIONALIST, ANTI-SOVEREIGNTY, ANTI-BORDERS, + ANTI-[State]CONSTITUTIONAL OWG + NAU 2015 + TRANS/INTERIM.
The US or National Welfare-Nanny State = given sway to the OWG Global Govt/Fed Union [GGU/GFU]
"Regional Welfare-Nanny State", "Trans-Regional/Continental Welfare-Nanny State" + ultimately the OWG/Global Govt-level Welfare-Nanny State.
AN INTENTIONALLY BORDERLESS USA + NAU + TRANS/INTERIM = THE FED/WASHINGTON DC IS THE NODE OR MECHANISM FOR DEFINING OR DIFFERENTIATING WHAT USED TO BE "SOLE" SOVEREIGN AMERICA FROM THE OTHER NAU, ETC. MEMBER-STATES.
A "Border" now is just a line on a future Kiddie Map + Space University Archaeo-Histoire'/Science Book about our primitive pre-OWG/Space Govt. Ancestors.
Reminds me of a FUTURAMA Episode where the gang travels centuries back in time to 1947 Roswell > "ZOOOOOOMG, [Old Earth = mid/late 20th Century] ITS MORE HORRIBLE THAN I EVER IMAGINED"!
The former imam of the controversial Ground Zero mosque used millions of dollars in donations to fund a lavish lifestyle of travel and cars, a bombshell lawsuit charges.
The court papers, filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, allege that Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf pocketed $3 million from the Malaysian government and another $167,000 from private donors.
The money intended to fund a pair of non-profits was used by Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan to buy real estate, pricey trips and vacations, entertainment and a luxury sports car, the suit charged.
Posted by: lord garth ||
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#1
Islamic Bernie Madoff? So it was all about the money.
Tipper posted a BBC account of this yesterday, and Fred found this version at France24. I'm providing the NYT version here for the implications not voiced explicitly in either of those two accounts-- that Europe now finally might be forced to consider Hezbollah to be a 'terrorist organization'. Really. Apparently this is bad. I'm snipping the parts that aren't on-point.
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- The Bulgarian government said on Tuesday that two of the people behind a deadly bombing attack that targeted an Israeli tour bus six months ago were believed to be members of the military wing of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The announcement could force the European Union to reconsider whether to designate the group as a terrorist organization and crack down on its extensive fund-raising operations across the continent. That could have wide-reaching repercussions for Europe's uneasy détente with the group, which is an influential force in Middle East politics, considers Israel an enemy and has extensive links with Iran.
"There's the overall fear if we're too noisy about this, Hezbollah might strike again, and it might not be Israeli tourists this time"
Bulgaria's interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, said at a news conference that the investigation into the bombing in Burgas in July 2012 found that a man with an Australian passport and a man with a Canadian passport were two of the three conspirators involved in the attack, which claimed the lives of five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver.
Bulgarian investigators had "a well-founded assumption that they belonged to the military formation of Hezbollah," Mr. Tsvetanov said.
Bulgarian officials have found themselves under pressure from Israel and the United States, which consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization, to blame it for the bus attack. But the Bulgarians also have been facing pressure from European allies like Germany and France, which regard Hezbollah as a legitimate political organization, to temper any finding on the sensitive issue.
The United States welcomed the finding. "We call on our European partners as well as other members of the international community to take proactive action to uncover Hizballah's infrastructure and disrupt the group's financing schemes and operational networks in order to prevent future attacks," said John O. Brennan, President Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser and his nominee to run the Central Intelligence Agency, in a statement Tuesday.
But Catherine Ashton, the European Union's high representative for foreign policy, responded with caution. "The implications of the investigation need to be assessed seriously as they relate to a terrorist attack on E.U. soil, which resulted in the killing and injury of innocent civilians," she said in a statement.
The new secretary of state, John Kerry, released a statement urging "governments around the world -- and particularly our partners in Europe -- to take immediate action to crack down" on Hezbollah, and made a phone call to Ms. Ashton. Asked if he had pressed for Hezbollah to be blacklisted, the State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said that Ms. Ashton "knows where we want to go."
An E.U. official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said that the question of listing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization would have to be a unanimous decision by all 27 member states.
Mr. Tsvetanov spoke to reporters here after briefing top government officials and security personnel about the state of the investigation.
"We have followed their entire activities in Australia and Canada so we have information about financing and their membership in Hezbollah," he said. Mr. Tsvetanov did not mention Iran, however, Hezbollah's ally and chief backer.
The Israeli official, along with an Israeli counter-terrorism expert, said that it was not surprising that Iran was not mentioned, because Bulgaria's investigation did not extend beyond its own borders, and was focused on what happened on the ground, not the larger question of who approved or financed the operation.
"The fact that they didn't put their finger in front of Iran and leading to the responsibility of Iran, one cannot blame them," said Boaz Ganor, head of the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzilya, Israel. "You need a different level of intelligence, a different level of facts in your hands, to prove the next level, which is that Hezbollah was conducting that under the initiation or the approval of Iran. That they probably don't have right now."
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the bombing. Amin Hotait, a retired general in the Lebanese army close to Hezbollah, said the decision "Lacks the unequivocal evidence."
"The party doesn't usually retaliate against Israeli attacks by killing civilians," Mr. Hotait said. "This decision is political in nature, since Bulgaria is not independent country, but politically dependent on the West."
But analysts said the bombing was one chapter in a shadow war pitting Israel against Iran and Hezbollah. Israel is believed to be behind the killings of Iranian nuclear scientists. Operatives of the Iranian Quds Force, an elite international operations unit within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, were believed to be behind a series of plots against Israeli targets in Thailand, India, Georgia and elsewhere. Israeli officials said the Burgas attack bore the hallmarks of a Hezbollah operation.
The European calculation all along has been that whatever its activities in the Middle East, Hezbollah does not pose a threat on the Continent. Thousands of Hezbollah members and supporters operate in Europe essentially unrestricted, raising money that is funneled back to the group in Lebanon.
Changing the designation to a terrorist entity raises the prospect of unsettling questions for Europe -- how to deal with those supporters, for example -- and the sort of confrontation governments have sought to avoid.
"There's the overall fear if we're too noisy about this, Hezbollah might strike again, and it might not be Israeli tourists this time," said Sylke Tempel, editor in chief of the German foreign affairs magazine Internationale Politik.
Bulgarian officials would like to maintain strong ties with Israel and the United States, and European allies like France and Germany. They had maintained a studied silence for more than six months since the attack.
"If you factor in the suspicion that there are political implications beyond Bulgaria's borders, it's completely understandable that they've been playing for time," said Dimitar Bechev, head of the Sofia office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Bulgarian officials are acutely aware of the consequences of their findings even though larger European Union members did not exert blatant pressure on them regarding the Hezbollah question. "It was not a campaign," said Philipp Missfelder, a leading member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and the foreign policy spokesman for the party in Parliament. "Some German officials dropped a few words."
But Mr. Missfelder said that attitudes toward Hezbollah were gradually shifting. "It's clear that they are steered from Iran and they are destabilizing the region," Mr. Missfelder said. "The group that thinks Hezbollah is a stabilizing factor is getting smaller."
Hezbollah's dual nature as what Western intelligence agencies call a terrorist organization and a political party with significant social projects, including schools and health clinics, make it more difficult to dismiss. Hezbollah is a significant political actor in Lebanon, and many European officials are particularly wary of upsetting the status quo as the civil war drags on in Syria.
A sort of modus vivendi exists where Hezbollah keeps a low profile for its fund-raising and other activities and Europeans do not crack down. In Germany alone, 950 people have been identified as being associated with the organization as of 2011. The group has always been treated as a benign force, even if assessments of the danger it presented vary greatly.
The senior Israeli official said Jerusalem was pleased with the Bulgarian report, which he said would "make it much more difficult" for European countries "to circumvent debate about the true nature of Hezbollah."
"We quickly came to the conclusion that Hezbollah was behind it," the official said. "The Bulgarians wanted to dig deeper before they were willing to say in public what they found. And who that led to. They dug deeper and deeper, and the deeper they dug, the closer they got to Hezbollah."
The official said that Israel had shared intelligence reports with the Bulgarian authorities and that the Bulgarian investigators had briefed Jerusalem about their findings, but that Israel purposely kept its distance because an independent report from a European country would be more powerful. "We didn't know what they were going to say," he said. "It was up to them to decide how they want to play this politically."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2013
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[FRANCE24] With their faces obscured behind prodigious indigo turbans and their uncanny navigational skills in a primordial landscape, the Tuareg are perfect Orientalist fantasy material and the French have been working that narrative for over a century.
From the line-etched logo of the famously difficult Dakar Rally, to tourist brochures offering encounters with les mysterieux hommes bleus du Sahara, the mysterious "blue men" are portrayed as "aristocrats of the desert, proud as princes" with a fierce fighting record in a fierce terrain.
"It started with the colonial imagination of looking at a group of people and deciding that one group is more 'interesting' compared to the other," said Mamadou Diouf, director of the Institute for African Studies at Columbia University, New York.
"It was the French who invented the title 'the blue men' because of their clothes and their ability to appear and disappear in the Sahara and it was very much part of the French colonial ethnology," explained Diouf.
More than a century after the French conquest of the Sahara, much has changed in the terrain that stretches across present day Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
But following last week's liberation of the northern Malian city of Kidal - marking the end of the first phase of the intervention in Mali - the French discourse on the Tuareg has a ring of déjà vu.
This time, the narrative centres on the latest incarnation in a long list of postcolonial Tuareg rebel groups - the MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad).
With the Islamist militants retreating to the remote Ifoghas mountains near the Mali-Algeria border, the French-led mission has reached a difficult phase in terrain far from the Malian capital of Bamako. Once again, the Tuareg are being sought for their desert navigational skills, this time in the crackdown against al Qaeda-linked militants.
"They are important allies for Bamako," said Pierre Boilley, director of the Paris-based CEMAF (Centre d'Études des Mondes Africains) who believes that without the MNLA, the war against terrorism in the region is doomed to failure.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
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#1
sadly the usa has already spent time and money on this
our method was to find some leader-potential guys and train them a little and give them some nice looking vehicles and some nice looking guns and then influence them at key moments--- pretty standard stuff -- didn't work the way it was supposed to
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/06/2013 18:17
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#2
The Taureg isn't that good of a car....
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/06/2013 18:48
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[TOLONEWS] The Afghan government has welcomed the IMF's move to reopen credit lines to Afghanistan two years after corruption fears surrounding the Kabul Bank crisis had stopped most funds being sent.
Ministry of Finance officials said the International Monetary Fund's restored aid will encourage other donors to give to Afghanistan.
"We are not concerned about the amount of aid, what is important is that the [renewed] aid will encourage others to help Afghanistan," Finance Ministry adviser Najibullah Manili told TOLOnews Tuesday.
The IMF on Monday released a statement saying it had reached an agreement with Afghanistan on what reforms were needed for the country to receive the next aid installment.
It granted Afghanistan a US$133.6 million line of credit in November 2011 but to date has only disbursed two installments of about US$18 million each.
The statement comes after a two-week IMF visit during which Afghan authorities agreed on key certain conditions for the release of funds, including a tightening of monetary policy, the implementation of key structural benchmarks for submission of laws to parliament and strengthening banks' capital, according to the IMF statement.
Afghan authorities also agreed on implementing a value-added tax (VAT) in 2014 and increasing revenues by strengthening customs measures, the IMF said.
Indicating that growth and inflation were better than expected in 2012, the IMF said "the economic outlook for Afghanistan is broadly positive".
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"the economic outlook for Afghanistan is broadly positive".
As compared say to Uranus.
[Dawn] Measles cases continue to rise, as 51 more children were shifted to various hospitals of the provincial capital on Monday.
Health officials have confirmed 16 deaths from measles all over the province since Jan 1.
Health Special Secretary Babar Hayat Tarar briefed the media about measles prevalence in Punjab on Monday. He said 2900 cases of measles were reported throughout Punjab from December 2012 to date and 99 per cent of patients recovered. He said measles reporting and medical facilities had been provided at every level from basic health units to teaching hospitals.
Health Director General Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema, World Health Organization and Unicef representatives Dr Wende and Dr Mushtaq Rana, respectively, were also present.
Tarar said the measles epidemic was not a new thing, as it spread four times in a developed country like America last year. He said the Punjab government took immediate steps to contain the disease after its outbreak in Sindh.
Dr Cheema said children of the area where measles cases were initially reported and the surrounding areas were immediately vaccinated by initiating a campaign there. He said steps were being taken to improve the routine EPI coverage to eradicate measles. He said a meeting of steering committee of paediatricians on measles was attended by Children Hospital Dean Prof Tahir Masood, Prof Agha Shabbir Ali and Prof Tariq Bhutta from the Lahore General Hospital.
He said medical experts were working to save precious lives and treatment was being provided to measles affected children under the guidelines given by the WHO and paediatricians. All necessary medicines had been provided to health centres and separate wards had been set-up for measles patients, Dr Cheema added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
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[MAGHAREBIA] Facing fresh threats of home-grown terrorism and following the terror siege at the In Amenas gas complex, Tunisia is beefing up security at oil installations, particularly along its southern border.
"Highly trained and armed combat units were sent to important sites in the Tunisian desert to protect oil and gas fields in the desert triangle of the country," TAP quoted security sources as saying on Tuesday (January 29th).
Given a rise in terrorist threats and the expansion of Islamist militant movements in the Maghreb, the Tunisian government put the nation's armed forces on high alert to prevent terrorists from launching any attacks in the coming days, national security experts said.
The new security measures went into effect after Tunisian security officials recently dismantled suspected terrorist cells, discovered illicit caches of weapons scattered about the country and the government extended the state of emergency through March 2nd.
the same time, the recent ouster of terrorist groups by French forces in northern Mali forced terrorists to flee into the Libyan desert near southern Tunisia, said Bassel Torjmen, an expert on terrorism in the Maghreb.
"This situation exacerbates the risk of terrorist operations similar to In Amenas in the Algerian desert and the southern Tunisian region of the oil fields, where many oil companies operate, and could become a potential target for these groups that have started experiencing organizational collapse and disintegration due to the fighting in Mali," Torjmen told Magharebia.
"There is another threat ... to be expected from groups linked to al-Qaeda in Tunisia. They could launch terrorist acts to draw media attention away from Mali, and to try to confuse the countries in the region and compel them to put pressure on France to halt its military operations in Mali," he added.
Young Tunisians have joined the ranks of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali, and AQIM could activate its sleeper cells in Tunisia in "just a matter of time", Torjmen said.
A jihadist in police custody recently confessed that AQIM was planning a series of attacks in Tunisia similar to the Algeria gas field siege last month, Echorouk reported.
Jihadist Derbala Laaroussi (aka Abu Talha Tounsi) told police interrogators that dozens of fellow militants were training in northern Mali for imminent terrorist attacks to be co-ordinated with Tunisian sleeper cells, the Algerian daily reported.
"The current security situation requires vigilance by Tunisian security forces, and regional security co-ordination, in view of the difficult situation faced by countries in the region," Mohamed Benzekri, a professor of international relations at the Université de Droit Tunis, told Magharebia.
"Thus we are in need of solidarity and security co-operation to ensure comprehensive control of common borders and find ways to combat terrorism, a problem that is complex and ever growing," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[TOLONEWS] At least four civilians have been killed and nine more injured in a bomb blast in northern Faryab province, local officials said Tuesday.
The incident took place in a hotel in the Khwaja Sabz Posh district about 10:30am local time, when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off, provincial police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhil told TOLOnews.
The injured have been shifted to a hospital in the district, he added.
Two suspects have been arrested over the incident and police investigations are continuing, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ALLAFRICA] The military in Nigeria has advised the leadership of Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect to embrace peace or face its full wrath. That's two warnings in a single day! Surely the Bokeaux can't take much more!
This warning is sequel to signals coming from Northern Mali indicating that the rebels, having been dislodged from all their hideouts, join their Nigerian allies to continue their terrorist attacks in the country.
But the military authorities, at the weekend, disclosed their readiness to deal decisively with the sect members if they failed to embrace the olive branch they earlier promised.
"We are aware of speculation that the Boko Haram leaders who are fighting with the Malian forces of Evil might likely come back to the country to continue bombing people and places of worship. The earlier they buried that thought the better. We are ready for them, we are policing our borders and if they are coming back with the intention of continuing the fight, we would deal with them decisively," a military source disclosed at the weekend.
"With the new development in Mali, the only wise path for the forces of Evil is to allow peace, they should welcome the dialogue being suggested by some highly placed Nigerians. This is because to do otherwise is to face the consequence now that Mali is becoming a no-go-area for them and here in Nigeria, there is no hiding place for them."
The out-going front man of the Army, Major General Bolaji Koleosho, reiterated the position of the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ibrahim that the military and indeed the government would not take the olive branch of the Boko Haram seriously until they were able to stop their terrorist attacks for one month.
"The Boko Haram members are Nigerians and by now they must have seen the futility in their agitation and by now, with the situation in Mali, they should listen to the voice of wisdom coming from the Chief of Defence Staff asking them to stop their attacks for one month if they are sincere in their call for a ceasefire. This is the best option left to them."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
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[An Nahar] A Chinese police chief is alleged to have had at least 192 houses and a fake identity card, state media said Tuesday, the latest in a number of similar cases that have sparked outrage online.
Zhao Haibin, a senior police official in Lufeng in the southern province of Guangdong, was reported by a businessman to have accumulated the properties under his name and his company's, the Guangzhou Daily said.
The businessman, Huang Kunyi -- who was involved in a dispute with the officer -- also said Zhao used a fake identity card to record a different name on company documents, the newspaper reported.
Authorities cancelled the false card after Huang's report in 2011, it added.
An official of the Communist Party's discipline department for Lufeng told Agence France Presse Tuesday that Zhao -- who is also the vice party secretary of a local county -- had been investigated but the inquiry was over and he retained his public offices.
According to the newspaper, Zhao said the properties were owned by his younger brother, a businessman, and that he was only "managing" them for him.
A separate report said Zhao or the company had 192 properties in the city of Huizhou, also in Guangdong, and others in the cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
The case is the latest of a series of reports involving officials owning multiple houses with different identity cards and residence permits.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2013
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#1
What's the problem? Did he take tax deductions on 200?
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.
North Korea
Mahmoud 
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Coptic patriarch delivered a cautious but unusually sharp criticism of the nation's Islamist leadership in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, dismissing the new constitution as discriminatory and rounds of national dialogues sponsored by the president as meaningless.
[Iran Press TV] An analyst says France is in cahoots with British colonial policy and terrorist funders Saudi Arabia and Qatar and this war begun in Mali is not intended to end.
[MAGHAREBIA] The Algerian army beefed up its positions on the border with war-torn Mali, a Tamanrasset parliamentarian said on Monday (February 4th).
[Dawn] In what appears to be a first of its kind incident, an undertrial prisoner facing trial in a kidnapping for ransom case managed to escape from the heavily guarded anti-terrorism courts complex on Monday.
[Dawn] Chief of the Pakistan Muslim League -- Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, said on Tuesday that 'certain forces' were conspiring to delay the elections, DawnNews reported.
[Al Ahram] The Islamic Forces Coalition, which consists of 13 Egyptian Islamic parties and movements, has called for the criminalisation of all "disruptive" political activity, including the blocking of streets and public squares.
[Bangla Daily Star] At least three people were killed and around 100 injured across the country yesterday as Jamaat-e-Islami enforced a dawn-to-dusk hartal protesting the war crimes trial of its leader Abdul Quader Mollah.
[Dawn] Chadian troops swarmed into the desert town of Kidal in northeastern Mali on Tuesday, securing the last militant bastion as global players met in Brussels to carve out a path back to stability for the troubled west African nation.
Armed men tied up four Buddhist fruit traders then shot them in the head one by one in the latest horrendous attack in Yala province early yesterday. Police found the bodies of the victims, including one woman, with their hands tied behind them, in a house in Krong Pinang district at about 1 a.m. The four, a couple and two men, were from the eastern province of Rayong.
An all-female rock band in Jammu and Kashmir - a first for the region - was forced to break up after a senior cleric called the musicians un-Islamic. He banned them in a controversy that has gripped the region.
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
Michel Aoun
[Dawn] FUNDAMENTALISM is a controversial term, ascribed first to 19th-century American Protestant groups which preached strict adherence to basic biblical tenets.
[Iran Press TV] The United States "is engaged in a war on the Muslim nations of the Middle East over control of oil and other natural resources and strategic shipping lanes", says 
[Al Ahram] Egypt's net foreign reserves are currently enough to cover only three months of the country's imports, Ashraf El-Arabi, minister of planning and international cooperation, stated on Tuesday.
[TOLONEWS] Isaf and Afghan officials are seeking to reassure the people that the insurgency is weakening, despite an apparent increase in Taliban-led suicide attacks this winter season in Afghanistan's capital.
[An Nahar] 
[FRANCE24] With their faces obscured behind prodigious indigo turbans and their uncanny navigational skills in a primordial landscape, the Tuareg are perfect Orientalist fantasy material and the French have been working that narrative for over a century.
[TOLONEWS] The Afghan government has welcomed the IMF's move to reopen credit lines to Afghanistan two years after corruption fears surrounding the Kabul Bank crisis had stopped most funds being sent.
[Dawn] Measles cases continue to rise, as 51 more children were shifted to various hospitals of the provincial capital on Monday.
[TOLONEWS] At least four civilians have been killed and nine more injured in a bomb blast in northern Faryab province, local officials said Tuesday.
[ALLAFRICA] The military in Nigeria has advised the leadership of 
