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African Union troops say seize major al Shabaab base
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
17:29 4 23:17 Shimble Guelph5793 [1]
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Caribbean-Latin America
AZ House OKs warnings for travel north of Mexican line
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 17:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yuma Marine Air Station, Goldwater Bombing Range, Davis-Montham AFB, and Fort Huachuca are in this Zone.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 17:31 Comments || Top||

#2  why not declare them 24/7 shooting ranges, all weapons welcomed? I bet the coyotes would find other ground
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2012 19:13 Comments || Top||

#3  So in effect, the border has just been moved 62 miles North.

Posted by: crosspatch || 03/03/2012 20:35 Comments || Top||

#4  I think LA is quite a bit further than 62 miles.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/03/2012 23:17 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria's desperate rebels flee new northern offensive by Assad's army
Far from bowing to international pressure over the brutal siege of Homs, Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is extending his military clampdown across the country.
he last defenders of the free Syrian village of Ain al-Beida were huddling from a biting wind in a Turkish border town. They were still covered with mud from their desperate escape over the mountains.

The previous day, the unit of 50 ragged fighters were driven out of their village by 500 Syrian soldiers backed with tanks. Afterwards, President Bashar al-Assad’s forces burnt the buildings and planted landmines.

"We’ve never seen them fight like that before, they were crazed," said Jamal, a rebel commander, on Saturday. "You shot them and they didn’t drop. They must have been drugged or something."

Many other villages in Idlib province, in the north along the Turkish border, got the same treatment last week. While the world's attention was focused on the horror being inflicted on Homs, where Syrian troops were accused of "medieval barbarity" by David Cameron, President Assad expanded his scorched-earth policy northwards in an apparent bid to destroy the rebel movement altogether.

"There are soldiers everywhere now," said one man who escaped out of Idlib province on Friday night. "They have flooded the countryside, shelling the villages, searching and raiding everywhere."
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 17:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Test
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 18:49 Comments || Top||

#2  "We've never seen them fight like that before, they were crazed," said Jamal, a rebel commander, on Saturday. "You shot them and they didn't drop. They must have been drugged or something."

The Islamists are merely fighting for the right to liquidate non-Sunnis at their whim. The Alawites, Christians and other religious minorities who are the core of Assad's military are fighting for their lives. I would expect their motivational levels to be somewhat different.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 18:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes - Islamists claim to love offing themselves as we love life, but the reality is that the number who actually believe that is probably zero - just about every Islamist who has conducted a self-immolation has required major monetary payments to his family members by sponsoring terror groups/Muslim governments.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 18:52 Comments || Top||

#4  If they really believed checking out while slaughtering infidels would be rewarded by Allah with places in heaven for them and 72 other favored friends and family, why the need for earthly compensation? Not to mention major narcotics-binging prior to the attacks?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 18:54 Comments || Top||

#5  "Sl0ts" spelled with an "o" is apparently a banned word, so I replaced it with "places".
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 18:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Drugs have been used in the past. Super warrior. I have heard of this being done many times in history. "they were crazed", this will put fear into any opposition. Biting wind is because it has been snowing and cold.
Some were saying the rebels cause had been lost last week.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 20:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Zhang Fei, Muslims are not above holding mutually contradictory thoughts. 9/11 hijackers went to a strip club before going on their holy mission.
Posted by: gromky || 03/03/2012 22:50 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel delivers ultimatum to Obama on Iran's nuclear plans
At Monday's meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama the Israeli prime minister will deliver a stark warning.
Their relationship, almost from the outset, has been frostier than not, a mutual antipathy palpable in many of their previous encounters.

Two years ago, Barack Obama reportedly left Benjamin Netanyahu to kick his heels in a White House anteroom, a snub delivered to show the president's irritation over Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank. In May, the Israeli prime minister struck back, publicly scolding his purse-lipped host for the borders he proposed of a future Palestinian state.

When the two men meet in Washington on Monday, Mr Obama will find his guest once more at his most combative. But this time, perhaps as never before, it is the Israeli who has the upper hand.

Exuding confidence, Mr Netanyahu effectively brings with him an ultimatum, demanding that unless the president makes a firm pledge to use US military force to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb, Israel may well take matters into its own hands within months.

The threat is not an idle one. According to sources close to the Israeli security establishment, military planners have concluded that never before has the timing for a unilateral military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities been so auspicious.
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 17:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wehell, iff the Bammer doesn't, the US may be at war wid Iran sometime this Summer thru the Fall Quarter???

Israel doesn't trust Iran to keep Mil-oriented Nuctechs [Nukes-WMDS] away from the hands of Islamist Militant-Terror Groups - Shia or Sunni, Govt. or Proxy NGO, "OWG/GLOBAL CALIPHATE" IS ON THE MINDS OF THE ISLAMISTS, SHARIA-ISTS, + ALIGNED ETHNO-ISLAMIC RADICALS, + THAT MEANS CONQUERING TERRITORIES + GOING NUCLEAR.

While the Commies work to finally impose Leftism-Socialism on the US-West, vee SECULAR "POLITICAL-LEGAL-ELECTORAL JIHAD" so to speak, Radical Islam on its part is waging Regional, Global Jihad "where the US-West + Commies aren't", + dev the Nuclear Capabilities, etc. to one day unilaterally challenge [iff not destroy] the Commies.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/03/2012 21:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Lest we fergit, LENIN > the Capitalists will buy or sell to us the Rope we will use to hang them with.

Surprise, surprise, many dedicated Muslims have similar attitudes toward non-Muslims, in particular main rival JudeoChristianity???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/03/2012 21:17 Comments || Top||

#3  WAFF > HUGE NEW OIL FIELD DISCOVERED IN SOUTHERN IRAN.

* VARIOUS PRO-IRAN =ANTI-US MILBLOGGERS/POSTERS = opine that this oil news may be bad news for Iran as it will serve only to inspire the Bammer + NATO to attack Iran ASAP this year???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/03/2012 21:37 Comments || Top||

#4  The USA has been at war with Iran for the last 30-40 years. Only *we* have never acknowledged it.

Don't forget all the IED's Iran supplied the terrorists in Iraq which killed hundreds of Americans and probably thousands of Civilians.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/03/2012 22:46 Comments || Top||


Europe
Denmark charges 4 suspects in terror plot against Prophet Muhammad cartoons
Danish prosecutors on Friday charged four people with terrorism for allegedly planning a shooting attack on a newspaper that had printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The four men — Swedes living in Denmark — wanted “to seriously frighten the population” and destabilize Denmark by planning a shooting spree inside the Copenhagen offices of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, Svend Ulrik Larsen, Denmark’s top prosecutor, said.

The paper published 12 cartoons of the prophet in 2005, sparking riots in Muslim countries and calls for revenge against the Danish publishers and cartoonists.

Larsen said the group traveled to Copenhagen with arms and ammunition, aiming to kill “a larger number of people.”

Swedish and Danish intelligence officials said they have followed the men for months and tailed the their hired car from Stockholm before arresting them at a flat near the Danish capital.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service described some of the suspects as “militant Islamists with relations to international terror networks.”

“This is a very serious case. We believe they wanted to attack the (Copenhagen) newsroom of the Jyllands-Posten daily, possibly because of the Muhammad cartoons,” Gyrithe Ulrich, the prosecutor who handles the case, told The Associated Press.
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 16:24 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CHOCOLATE + RED HERRINGS ...

versus

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [DailyMail.UK] 2030: THE YEAR BRITAIN WILL CEASE TO BE A CHRISTIAN NATION WID THE MARCH OF SECULARISM.

Lots of the formerly Faithful converting to Atheism or Agnosticism.

[COMET APOPHIS = GUAM, EARTH-VISIBLE MOON EXPLOSIONS? here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/03/2012 21:43 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya Instability Only Deepens
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 16:22 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan’s lukewarm welcome for Gazan job seekers
Reconciliation with Hamas prompts easier rules, but native Jordanian East Bankers are still nervous.
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 14:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
'Torture' video shows 'Gaddafi's black African mercenaries locked in a zoo cage
A shocking video that appears to show Libyan rebels torturing a group of sub-Saharan African detainees has appeared on YouTube.

The footage shows a dozen or so men - presumably captured mercenaries suspected of fighting for the toppled government of Muammur Gaddafi last year - held in what looks like a caged zoo enclosure.

They each have their hands tied behind their back and are sat on the cage's dirty floor.

More objectionably, each has the old Libyan flag stuffed into his mouth.
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 13:25 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The man filming the scene, who remains off-camera, can be heard shouting: 'Eat the flag, you dog. Patience you dog, patience. God is great.'

R2P...Islamic style


Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/03/2012 16:19 Comments || Top||


Saudi funded Salafists hold photos of bin Laden in a protest in front of U.S. Embassy in Tunisia
Dozens of Tunisian Salafists on Friday afternoon, a protest outside the headquarters of the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, which raised the pictures of late leader of "Al Qaeda" Osama bin Laden who was killed by a U.S. force in May.

Gathered about 100 people, supporters of the Salafist movement in front of the Tunisian embassy, ​​to protest the burning of the Koran in a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, and to demand the release of a number of Tunisians detained in Guantanamo.

The participants in the demonstration raise black flags and chanted slogans against America.

The disclosure of U.S. soldiers burning the copies of the Koran at the base of Bagram, north of Afghanistan on Tuesday, launched a wave of bloody demonstrations in several Afghan cities, along with registration of more than a military attack bomber.
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 13:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saudi is Mordor!
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 03/03/2012 13:43 Comments || Top||


Quangos: Democracy Activists or American Spies?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 11:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Outlawing occupy: H.R. 347
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 10:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jeez, a lot of links to disreputable liberal sites today.
Posted by: gromky || 03/03/2012 11:07 Comments || Top||

#2  "Know your enemy"
Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 11:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Probably be only deployed against the Tea party...

Occupy served the interests of its political owners, and the MSM covered up the more grisly truth.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/03/2012 16:52 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Wikileaks: Stratfor Affairs
Wikileaks has begun publishing millions of emails from global espionage and intelligence contractor Stratfor, dating between 2004 and 2011.
Believing everything you read in Stratfor is like believing everything you read in Debka...
"You have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase," CEO George Friedman told Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011 in an email on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala Hugo Chavez.

In another email, about the 19 Pakistani brigadiers promoted to major generals, Stratfor member and journalist Kamran Bokhari says: "We have a source among these 19 and he is a rising star within the hierarchy, and is seen as having a really good shot at the top job."

In a conversation with Kamran Bokhari, Fred Burton said "mid to senior level ISI and [Pakistani military officers] with one retired [Pakistan Army] general" had "knowledge of the OBL arrangements and safe house." He said their names and ranks were unknown. "But, I get a very clear sense we know names and ranks. I also do not know if we have passed this info to the [government of Pakistan]. If I was in command, I would not pass the info to the GOP because we can't trust them. I would piece meal the names off and bury in a list of other non-related names for internal ISI traces in a non-alerting fashion, to see what the [Pakistanis] tell us. I may also trade one or two names for the captured tail rudder."

Bokhari wrote in response: "You know this reminds me of a discussion I had on NPR's Diane Rehm Show back in July '07. I was on with Peter Brookes (former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs in the second Bush administration) and the State Dept's current CT Coordinator, Daniel Benjamin. These two guys kept saying how ObL was in the tribal belt while I argued that he was much deeper in K-P province. God knows how many years were wasted chasing [him] in the tribal belt."

Pakistan Army strongly denied the statements. According to a news agency, its spokesman Major Gen Athar Abbas said in a statement that he rejected the "so-called leaks" and that "they are nothing but a baseless fabrication".

"These kinds of charges are not new," he said in the statement. "These leaks are actually old wine in new bottle."

The emails also contain information about the US government's attacks on Julian Assange and Wikileaks, and Stratfor's own attempt to subvert Wikileaks. There are more than 4000 emails mentioning Wikileaks alone.

The leaked information shows how private intelligence agencies works, and how they target individuals for their corporate and government clients.

For example, Stratfor monitored and analysed the online activities of Bhopal activists, including the "Yes Men" for the US chemical giant Dow Chemical. The activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. The disaster led to thousands of deaths, and affected more than half a million people, with lasting environmental damage.

Stratfor did realise that its routine use of secret cash bribes to get information from insiders is risky. In August 2011, Stratfor CEO George Friedman confidentially told his employees: "We are retaining a law firm to create a policy for Stratfor on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. I don't plan to do the perp walk and I don't want anyone here doing it either."
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 10:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Believing everything you read in Stratfor is like believing everything you read in Debka...

I believe that. ;-) But, and it's a big but, can the Pakistanis, who believe as firmly in conspiracies as they do in Mohammed, and whose religion requires magical rather than logical thinking, afford to assume that anything revealed is in any way untrue? A leak among the new brigadier generals, Stratfor passing on to clients the idea that senior men in the army (and the ISI contains very senior army men, indeed) have been lying about knowing about Osama bin Laden... And if Hamid Gul was indeed connected with Stratfor, as either a source or a client, as is claimed elsewhere, that could make things even more interesting for the generals of the Army of the.Pure, whether from the troops, the Pakistani people, or the Americans.

The people of Pakistan loathe their corrupt politicians, as far as I can tell, and legitimately resent that nothing on the civilian side works even after paying the necessary bribes. But up 'til now at least the army could be trusted to take care of whatever it deemed within its area of responsibility -- except actually winning wars, but still. The Stratfor cache, however riddked with forgeries it may be, reveals for all to see that there are those within the leadership of the Army of the Pure who cannot be trusted by their peers.

Paranoia, conspiracy mongering, back stabbing, ass covering...it's going to get considerably more interesting within and without the Pakistani halls of power. I suspect the fallout will spread widely, contaminate many, and may well seriously degrade the ruling oligarchy, one way or another -- which could not happen to a more deserving bunch of miscreants, in my opinion. .
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 13:37 Comments || Top||

#2  "Believing everything you read in Stratfor is like believing everything you read in Debka."

I'll second that. Both pretty much make up plausible scenarios out of thin air but even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and again. Stratfor was a bit less likely, though, to make stuff up and post it is "fact". They would label speculation as such more often than Debka does. Every time a carrier group is relieved in the Persian Gulf region, Debka has us ready to attack Iran. Maybe some day they will be corrrect, but not by any feat of intelligence, but simply through repeating the same thing often enough.

It is sort of like "predicting" a stock market crash every day. Eventually you will be correct. But nobody is going to pay much attention to it.
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/03/2012 16:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Reaper Replacement Rescinded
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 08:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

Nice looking but gotta save a buck.
Posted by: Fat Bob Unotch3711 || 03/03/2012 12:07 Comments || Top||

#2  IIRC RUSSIA TODAY = [US] AIR FORCE DROPS/CUTS US$3.0BILYUHN WORTH OF DRONES, as per its share of USDOD interservice budget cuts.

How will this go iff a US-Iran war breaks out???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/03/2012 20:52 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Former Bush Staffer Says Obama Drones Destroy Good Terrorist Intelligence
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 04:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There is always the tension between "justice" and intelligence. On the one hand you want to bring terrorists to account. On the other hand you want to "follow the ants" so that more of the terrorist network becomes exposed. Perhaps it is best that the FBI isn't in charge of fighting the foreign war on terror (sorry John).

The US doesn't use drones to zap terrorists in friendly countries (where we would grab them). The US uses drones to zap terrorist where there would be substantial risk to ground forces trying to capture a high valued target.

All that being said, I can't help thinking that given B.O.'s politics, just deserts "murder" is a better option than standard S.E.R.E. training "torture". Go figure.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 8:04 Comments || Top||

#2  I agree about the balance between information and action; but the serious question has to be asked, at what point are we just playing whack-a-mole with what are effectively bands of renegades, of little or no intelligence value?

At this point, you reach a different level of operations. For example, discern what Pakistani madrassas are cranking out future fighters, and use a little counter-terrorism on them, wiping them out, and making it look like a competing sect did it.

By now, we should have created an "anti-al-Qaeda" organization, with fabricated radical Islamic doctrines, focused entirely on exterminating other radical Muslims. Utterly disinterested in infidels, they work completely within the Ummah to wipe out Islamists.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 9:19 Comments || Top||

#3  ...discern what Pakistani madrassas are cranking out future fighters, and use a little counter-terrorism on them, wiping them out...

Those would be the ones teaching Qutbism, aka the Muslim brotherhood.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Qutbism, aka the Muslim Brotherhood, is only the most prominent of many Muslim organizations advancing Islamic conquest of the world. The root of the problem isn't the Muslim Brotherhood or Al Qaeda or Taliban or Salafism Deobandism or Twelver Shiism or Hizb Allah or Hizb ut Tehrir, it is Islam, the death and sex cult.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/03/2012 18:13 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Anti-Black Journalist Andrew Breitbart Dies Suddenly
Hate and anger beyond the grave.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 03:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Why Taliban are so strong in Afghanistan
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 03:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  BBC? Not exactly a credible source. Why are we linking there again?
Posted by: gromky || 03/03/2012 4:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Can you bring modern democracy to a mullah led intolerant religious people who still want to live in the 7th Century?
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 03/03/2012 7:35 Comments || Top||

#3  We had the opportunity to do so early on, but because of damned stupid "cultural sensitivity", we blew it and condemned them to more of their perpetual Hell.

To make matters worse, we could have done it on the cheap.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Why Taliban are so strong in Afghanistan

Because of the sanctuaries in Pakistan, incubated by the ISI?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Because they blend in and we stick out.
Posted by: Fat Bob Unotch3711 || 03/03/2012 12:09 Comments || Top||

#6  Soddies pay the bills for the madrassas, so who to blame, the stone maker or the stone?
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 12:40 Comments || Top||

#7  The Taliban aren't strong, or they'd be inflicting more casualties on ISAF. The daily GI body count is 1, as compared to 2 dozen during the Vietnam War. The press's daily diarrhea of defeatist rhetoric is obscuring the fact that the Taliban are inflicting minimal casualties on US forces. The real problem isn't that the Taliban is strong - it's that we're weak, with ROE's that defy belief.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 20:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Here's what happened to Najibullah after the Soviets withdrew:

Without the Soviets

Pakistan, under Zia ul-Haq, continued to support the mujahideen even if it was a contravention of the Geneva Accords. At the beginning most observers expected the Najibullah government to collapse immediately, and to be replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist government. The Central Intelligence Agency stated in a report, that the new government would be ambivalent, or even worse, hostile towards the United States. Almost immediately after the Soviet withdrawal, the Battle of Jalalabad broke out between Afghan government forces and the mujahideen. The offensive against the city began when the mujahideen bribed several government military officers, from there, they tried to take the airport, but were repulsed with heavy casualties. The willingness for the common Afghan government soldier increased when the mujahideen began to execute people early on during the battle. During the battle Najibullah called for Soviet assistance. Gorbachev called an emergency session of the Politburo to discuss his proposal, but Najibullah's request was rejected. Other attacks against the city failed, and by April the government forces were on the offensive.[40] During the battle over four hundred Scud missiles were shot, which were fired by a Soviet crew which had stayed behind.[44] When the battle ended in July, the mujahideen had lost an estimated 3,000 troops. One mujahideen commander lamented "the battle of Jalalabad lost us credit won in ten years of fighting."[45] A officer of the Inter-Service Intelligence, Pakistan's intelligence agency, said "The Jihad has never recovered from Jalalabad.".[45]

From 1989 to 1990 the Najibullah was partially successful in building up the Afghan defence forces. The Ministry of State Security had established a local milita force which stood at an estimated 100,000 men. The 17th Division in Herat, which had begun the 1979 Herat uprising against PDPA-rule, stood at 3,400 regular troops and 14,000 tribal men. In 1988, the total number of security forces available to the government stood at 300,000.[46] Sadly for Najibullah, this trend would not continue, and by the summer of 1990, the Afghan government forces were on the defensive again. By the beginning of 1991, the government controlled only 10 percent of Afghanistan, the eleven year Siege of Khost had ended in a mujahideen victory and the moral of the Afghan military finally collapsed. In the Soviet Union, Kryuchkov and Shevardnadze, had both supported continuing aid to the Najibullah government, but Kryuchkov had been arrested following the failed 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt and Shevardnadze had resigned from his posts in the Soviet government in December 1990 – there was no longer any pro-Najibullah people in the Soviet leadership. It didn't help either that the Soviet Union was in the middle of an economic and political crisis, which would lead directly to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991. At the same time Boris Yeltsin became Russia's new hope, and he had no wish to continue to aid Najibullah's government, a government which he considered a relic of the past. In the autumn of 1991, Najibullah wrote to Shevardnadze "I didn't want to be president, you talked me into it, insisted on it, and promised support. Now you are throwing me and the Republic of Afghanistan to its fate."[47]
[edit] Fall from power

In January 1992, the Russian government ended its aid to the Najibullah government. The effects were felt immediate, the Afghan Air Force, the most effective part of the Afghan military, was grounded due to the lack of fuel. The mujahideen, in contrast to Najibullah, continued to be supported by Pakistan. Major cities were lost to the rebels, and terrorist attacks became common in Kabul. On the fifth anniversary of his policy of National Reconciliation, Najibullah blamed the Soviet Union for the disaster that had stricken Afghanistan.[47] The day the Soviet Union withdrew was hailed by Najibullah as the Day of National Salvation. But it was to late, and his government's collapse was imminent.[48]

In March Najibullah offered his governments immediate resignation, and followed the United Nations (UN), to be replaced by an interim government. In mid-April Najibullah accepted a UN plan to hand power to a seven-man council, few days later on 14 April, Najibullah was forced to resign on the orders of the Watan Party because of the lose Bagram airbase and the town of Charikar. Abdul Rahim Hatef became acting head of state following Najibullah's resignation.[49] Najibullah not long before Kabul's fall, appealed to the UN for amnesty, which he was granted. But Najibullah was hindered by Abdul Rashid Dostum to escape, instead, Najibullah sought haven in the local UN headquarters in Kabul.[50] The Afghan civil war did not end with Najibullah's ouster, and continued until 1996 when the Taliban took power.[51]
[edit] Death

When the Taliban were about to enter Kabul Ahmad Shah Massoud offered Najibullah, a political enemy but someone he had known since childhood as they had lived in the same neighborhood, twice to flee Kabul. Najibullah refused, believing the Taliban, Ghilzai Pashtuns like Najibullah, would spare his life and not harm him. General Tokhi, who was with Dr. Najibullah until the day before his torture and murder, wrote that when three people came to both Dr. Najibullah and General Tokhi and asked them to come with them to flee Kabul, they rejected the offer. This proved to be a fatal mistake. Najibullah was at the UN compound when the Taliban soldiers came for him on September 27, 1996. He was castrated[52] before the Taliban dragged him to death behind a truck in the streets. His blood-soaked body was hanged from a traffic light.[53] His brother Shahpur Ahmadzai was also with him throughout this whole ordeal at the UN compound, and was shot to death.
[edit] International reaction

There was widespread international condemnation,[54] particularly from the Muslim world.[55]

India, which supported Najibullah as a proxy against Pakistan, strongly condemned the public execution of Najibullah and began to support Ahmed Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance in an attempt to contain the rise of the Taliban.[56]


If we get out and don't continue our subsidies to Karzai, his government will be in a pickle, because Pakistan will continue to subsidize the Taliban. It's not a sure thing, but India, Iran, Russia, the Central Asian states and China might subsidize Karzai to keep him standing, because an Afghanistan under Taliban control would once again be a nearby font of terrorists heading into their territory.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 20:18 Comments || Top||


Europe
Three men sentenced over 1988 Greek cruise ship attack
A court in Paris has sentenced three ex-members of a radical Palestinian group in absentia to 30 years in prison for an attack on a Greek cruise ship over two decades ago. Nine people were killed in the attack.

Three men were found guilty in absentia at a French anti-terrorism trial on Thursday for their role in an attack on a Greek cruise ship more than two decades ago. The men, who are suspected ex-members of the Palestinian group Abu Nidal, were each sentenced to 30 years in prison.

On July 11 1998, at least one gunman on the City of Poros cruise ship opened fire on passengers as the ship was returning to Athens after a one-day cruise, before throwing a grenade and a fire bomb. Nine people, including three French citizens, were killed and dozens more were injured.

"The message from this trial is that French justice never gives up on those who commit terrorist acts," the victims' lawyer Francis Szpiner said.

Lebanese-born Adnan Sojod was convicted of murder and attempted murder after being identified by some thirty witnesses as the main shooter. Meanwhile Abdul Hamid Amoud and Palestinian-born Jordanian national Samir Mohammed Ahmed Khaidir were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to attempt murder.

New arrest warrants were issued for the men whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Until Thursday's ruling, no one had been convicted in connection with the attack.

Abu Nidal's faction is believed to have killed or wounded nearly 1,000 people in 20 countries in a string of attacks between 1970 and 1988. For years it was on the US State Department list of terrorist organizations.
This article starring:
Abdul Hamid Amoud
Adnan Sojod
Samir Mohammed Ahmed Khaidir
Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 03:22 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In absentia? Yeah, good job French justice. Never rest.
Posted by: gromky || 03/03/2012 4:29 Comments || Top||


Economy
No Union, No Problem: Tennessee Auto Industry Thrives
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 03:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
'Death on wheels' offered to Dutch
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2012 02:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Song of the One-Legged Revolutionary
Being a Jihadi is a wonderful occupation. "Stumpy" can now hop off to Somali and become a one legged pirate. Beautiful recycling in action, absolutely no waste. Win/win for Allen.
"People want freedom, Bashar leave... Freedom is beautiful, Bashar go to the moon, we need freedom," the man sings feebly, in a teenager's untrained voice, trying to keep rhythm with his arms, one covered in bandages, the other connected to a drip. He is a munshid al-thawra, a singer of the revolution, he says, and this is his favorite song, the one he would usually bellow to the swelling crowds during the protests back home. Home, till now, had been a village near Hama in Syria. Today, it is a hospital bed in Antakya, across the border in Turkey.

He is a handsome kid, just turned 18, his eyes dulled by the medicine but unmistakably alert, a crop of dark hair framing his smooth, evenly chiseled face, one of the few parts of his body not riddled with shrapnel. Of his left leg, the only flesh exposed to the elements is a row of misshapen, iodine-stained toes, which sprout, like black-orange mushrooms, from beneath thick folds of bandage and gauze. All that remains of the right leg is a stump. For all he knows, the rest of it, sheared off by shrapnel from a mortar shell, lies among the debris of his family home.

Posted by: tipper || 03/03/2012 02:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


French Officers Captured in Homs
Up to 19 French Officers have been captured in Homs by the Syrian Government.

There are also reports of France and the UK supplying anti-aircraft missiles - Just like the US did in Afghanistan when it armed Al-Qaeda.

The funniest part is the officers were captured by the rebels first and then handed over to the Government forces.

No wonder the French ambassador has scuttled quick-smart back to Syria.
Grain of salt?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2012 02:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could be the Legion. Might not even be French. If I were Lebanese or Algerian and caught in Syria, I might claim I was French.

Or it might not have happened at all. I can't see Legion allowing themselves to be "captured" under such circumstances and by the rebels? And then turned over to the govt by the rebels? That would assume the rebels and the govt. are on speaking terms.

I say bull.
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/03/2012 2:52 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure people are getting captured all the time in Homs, who they really are & who they're working for, now that's the question.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2012 2:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Equality or Inequality
h/t Gates of Vienna
Rick Santorum's speech at the Detroit Economic Club stirred a bit of controversy when he said: "I'm not about equality of result when it comes to income inequality. There is income inequality in America There always has been, and hopefully -- and I do say that -- there always will be..
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2012 02:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Politics, its the nature of the beast.

Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 10:52 Comments || Top||

#2  The only real way to prevent income differences is to prevent people working.

The soviet union effectively did this.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/03/2012 20:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
New York man gets 27 years for plot to kill US troops
NEW YORK - A federal judge sentenced a New York man on Friday to 27 years in prison for his attempts to join an al-Qaida-linked group and fight US soldiers, federal prosecutors said.

US District Judge John Gleeson sentenced Betim Kaziu, 23, who was convicted by a jury after a trial in Brooklyn federal court last July. Prosecutors had sought life in prison for him.

Kaziu, an American citizen, had sought to link up with militants in retaliation for perceived abuses against the global Muslim community, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in August 2009 in Kosovo, where prosecutors said he was seeking to join up with al Shabbab, a militant Somali insurgent group linked to al-Qaida and designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Brains Behind NJ Temple Bombings Arrested
Officials release graphic chat transcripts from Temple bombing suspects gallery

HACKENSACK -- Nineteen year old Aakash Dalal was the brains behind a string of attacks that terrorized the Bergen County Jewish community between December and January, police alleged on Friday.

Aakash Dalal, a Lodi resident and student at Rutgers University, is the second man jugged in connection to the attacks, which began as petty vandalism and took a violent turn with the Molotov cocktailing of two synogogues last month.

Another 19-year-old Lodi man, Anthony M. Graziano, is accused of wielding the Molotov cocktails that were thrown into the window of the Congregation Beth El temple in Rutherford. But police say Dalal, Graziano's childhood friend, was behind the scenes, prodding him along.

He is charged with aggravated arson, conspiracy to commit aggravated arson, bias intimidation and two counts of criminal mischief. He's being held on $2.5 million bail.

Graziano, who has already plead not guilty to his charges, faces additional counts after the investigation found that both men were present in the cases of anti-Semitic graffiti at Jewish temples in December of last year, Molinelli said.

Dalal, whose academic status at Rutgers is unclear, was described as a religious agnostic.
How very odd. Is this the kind of behaviour we expect from agnostics?
It remains unclear where he and Graziano allegedly developed anti-Semitic views. The two were not members of any known hate groups, Molinelli said.

It was the Congregation Beth El temple in Rutherford, where authorities allege Graziano flung Molotov cocktails into the windows of the upstairs residence while Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his family slept on Jan. 11.

"In hindsight, it makes sense that they are two [suspects]," Schuman told The Record Friday. "The person they caught today is more the criminal mastermind behind the attacks, and Graziano is the pawn carrying out the attacks."

Molinelli also revealed Friday that Graziano was in the process of obtaining a gun when he was apprehended in January.

"I am certain that we were within weeks away of a tragedy," he said.
Jammie Wearing Fools digs into the background.

This article starring:
Aakash Dalal
Anthony M. Graziano
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Brains' just doesn't seem like a useful word to describe either of these clowns. Zombies would starve.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/03/2012 8:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Aakash Dalal is not a Muslim? Well then, what kind of a name is that?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/03/2012 12:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Abu, according to Wikipedia (yeah, yeah, I know....), "Dalal is a surname of a family which is mainly found in Bangladesh [and also India]. . . . Dalals claim to be descendants of Dalla Bhatti Yadav" (whoever the hell that was).
Posted by: Barbara || 03/03/2012 18:36 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanese report: 2 men arrested for collaborating with Israel
Media reports in Lebanon claim that Lebanese intelligence officials have arrested two men suspected of collaborating with Israel.
 
A security official told Lebanon's "As-Safir" newspaper reported both suspected had worked for the Telecommunications Ministry and for rigo Communications Corporation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iran, Hezbollah secretly discussed strike scenario
Kassam Salimani, commander of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Special Forces unit, secretly visited Leb to meet with Hezbullies officials, Al-Arabiya news channel reported.
 
Sources claimed the officials discussed how they might react in case of a strike against Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One would assume that they are pretty much in constant contact with each other....
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 8:07 Comments || Top||

#2  sometimes Skype isn't enough
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2012 9:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Have Former Le Pen Ex- Wife Pose Nude For Sarkozky Party And Win For Frogs : Oui
Posted by: Sleresh Darling of the Hatfields8985 || 03/03/2012 14:51 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
African Union troops say seize major al Shabaab base
African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
and Somali government troops seized control of an al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
krazed killer base in the north of the capital on Friday, a move the AU troops said would reduce the rebels' capacity to launch attacks in the city.
 
"In a swift move that started this morning, the Uganda Contingent helped capture Maslah which the Death Eaters have been using as a base to launch attacks on the city," AMISOM said in a statement. AMISOM Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Fred Mugisha said the operation "extended the city's defenses and will deny the forces of Evil important ground from which they have been attacking the population."
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu in Canada: Israel has right to defend itself
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has the right to defend itself against Iran, which he said calls and works for Israel's destruction.
 
Netanyahu made the remarks Friday in a photo opportunity before meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Prime Minister Bi-bi,

Please do not feel compelled to meet with Pharaoh. PLEASE!

I'm sure that Sarah Palin, John Bolton, Dick Cheney and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore would love to sup and speak with you. In fact, many of us here in what remains of the USA, support and love you, Sir. Long live the Almighty State of Israel!
Posted by: Thosh Omugum4787 || 03/03/2012 23:12 Comments || Top||


Hamas blames power crisis on Egypt
Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
says new Cairo regime responsible for lengthy blackouts in Gazoo by charging high prices, insisting that fuel passes through Israel
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/03/2012 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Jessica Biel aka Sophie in "The Illusionist (2006)" aka Erin in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)" aka Charissa Sosa in "The A-Team (2010)" aka Mary Camden in "7th Heaven (TV Series 1996–2007)" aka Lt. Kara Wade in "Stealth (2005)" aka Abigail Whistler in "Blade: Trinity (2004)" aka Vanessa Price in "Home of the Brave (2006)" (age 30)



I Dreamed I appeared in the Rantburg Defender-Scimitar wearing my "Good Hands" Bra.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/03/2012 2:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Very interesting features. Her mother is a spitural healer. She has some Choctaw Native American Indian in her. Her voice has a soft tone to it. Seems so calm.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 8:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Can't remember where I saw it, but Jessica Biel's looks were mentioned as positive proof of God's existence.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 03/03/2012 12:04 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Suicide blast hits Nato convoy, 7 wounded
[Bangla Daily Star] A jacket wallah on a cycle of violence attacked a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
convoy in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar yesterday, wounding seven people including four soldiers, an official said.

"A suicide kaboomer rammed his explosives-laden cycle of violence into a convoy of NATO troops in Dand district injuring four foreign soldiers, one policeman, one translator and one civilian," provincial governor Toryalai Weesa told AFP.

The attack bore the hallmarks of Taliban bully boys, who on Monday targeted NATO troops in a suicide car booming at an airport in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine people but no foreign soldiers.

The Taliban said that attack was in Dire Revenge™ for the burning of Korans at a US military base at Bagram north of Kabul, an incident that ignited days of violent anti-US protests and led to an apology by US President Barack Obama
I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick...

The only NATO soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan in the 10 days since the demonstrations erupted have died at the hands of Afghan colleagues.

Two Americans were killed at a military outpost in Kandahar Thursday, taking the number of Americans killed by Afghan associates to six since outbreak of the protests.

NATO withdrew all its advisors from Afghan government ministries after two American officers were shot and killed inside the interior ministry last Saturday, apparently by an Afghan colleague.

Two days earlier, two American troops were killed by an Afghan soldier who turned his weapon on them as demonstrators approached their base in the east of the country.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Home Front: Culture Wars
US congressional nominee: Holocaust 'blackest lie' in history
A US Republican congressional hopeful has emphasized that "Holocaust never happened" and that such an event amounts to "the blackest lie in history."

Arthur Jones, who hopes to challenge Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District,
Illinois. Cheez. Why is it always Illinois?
noted that the claim of killing millions of Jews and other people by Nazis during the World War II "is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews," Huffington Post reported.

"It's the blackest lie in history. Millions of dollars are being made by Jews telling this tale of woe and misfortune in books, movies, plays and TV," he said

"The more survivors, the more lies that are told," the 64-year-old candidate said.

Jones said he hopes to win the Republican primary nomination and move on to challenge Democrat Dan Lipinski next November.

He also questioned Lipinski's strange affiliation with powerful pro-Israeli lobby group in the US-- American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Jones underlined that the pro-Israeli lobby "was bragging on their website" on how Lipinski is "spearheading an effort in the [US] House of Representatives with a Jewish Congressman from Virginia named Frank Wolf to get tough with Iran, including closing off any oil exports to China that could lead to World War III."

Jones, a Vietnam War veteran, also compared current conditions in the US to the situation in Germany following the end of World War I and insisted that "our country is falling apart economically, politically, culturally, militarily."

"We are going down," he noted angrily.

"These war-mongering fools in congress like [Republican presidential candidates] Rick Santorum
...candidate for president and former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He was a lawyer before becoming the Representative for suburban Pittsburgh in 1991. He lost his Senate seat in 2006 to Bob Casey, a Democrat machine politician and political dynast. Santorum is a social conservative whose primary attraction is seemingly that he is neither Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich...
and Newt Gingrich
...former Speaker of the House, author of the Contract with America. Gingrich gave the country welfare reform and a balanced budget and the Publicans a landslide House victory in 1994. On the downside, he has a roving eye and a loose fly, he's opinionated, and he's abrasive despite his ability to work with the other side of the political aisle...
and Mitt Romney
...whose real first name is actually, no kidding, Willard, was governor of Massachussetts and is currently the front-runner for president on the Publican ticket. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's foot is in an ideological bucket because of Romneycare, a state-level experiment that should have been a warning against Obamacare if anyone had been paying attention. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field...
-- we can't let Iran have one nuclear weapon but we let Israel have all the nuclear weapons they want," Jones said. "This is ridiculous."

Iran's President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has called on a number of occasions for a historical examination of 'the Holocaust' in an effort to uncover realities of the much publicized World War II event. His remarks, however, have sparked outrage among pro-Israeli Western powers, labeling him as a "holocaust denier."

This article starring:
Arthur Jones
Dan Lipinski
Huffington Post
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Borderline traitor in my book.
Posted by: Uleatch Dribble8106 || 03/03/2012 1:09 Comments || Top||

#2  I really hope there are more possible candidates to represent the Republican Party.
Posted by: tipover || 03/03/2012 1:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Suck my ass, Jones. POS
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2012 5:22 Comments || Top||

#4  The whole party is diminished by this fellow. Hope he gets crushed in the primaries. If he wins I hope he loses the big race as I want the GOP to have no connection to the swine.

Would make an interesting dirty tactic. Provide money to the vilest folk you can and encourage them to run then plaster quotes everywhere to gradually create the opinion that they represent the opposition. Not saying that is what happened here (only takes signatures and a bit of cash to get into a primary) but I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of thing happens.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/03/2012 7:14 Comments || Top||

#5  "I hate Illinois Nazis" scene from The Blues Brothers.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 9:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Dang. Why couldn't he be a Democrat?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/03/2012 12:57 Comments || Top||

#7  The cuckoo clock is certainly appropriate, but couldn't this also be a Socialist Democrat Party "false flag" op? I think the dems have been running apparatchiks under the "R" banner for at least 50 years.
Posted by: PBMcL || 03/03/2012 12:59 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
On the Sunday Morning Coffee Pot: The Mexican Food Crisis

The Mexican food crisis enters a critical stage in the next six months.

Despite the needed snowfall, the expected runoff is expected not to impact agriculture in the region much, nor in regions in the lower elevations. As bad as the news has been for Mexican farmers and ranchers since the drought began 20 months ago, conditions are expected to intensify the problems in the next six months.

More on Rantburg's Sunday Morning Coffee Pot.
Posted by: badanov || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mexican food is delicious. Just saying.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/03/2012 7:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Our Southwest is in a dust bowl now. Looks like another summer of no rain. The same for Mexico.
Obama has fixed our farmers in California. No water for irrigation. So with no efforts to correct these problems more chronic problems. Obamas stash will only go so far. Food items will be very expensive. Another government decision that creats an investment opportunity for a few.
Thats why wall street loves the guy and will be big donors. Its like a hostile takeover. The business is gutted or canabalized. The people, well they are an afterthought. Only the government will be allowed to manage the mess they created and you know how well they will do at that.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 8:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Since a lot of the damage is man-made the next administration can pull miracles by reversing a few key policies. Imagine opening up oil drilling in the US, keystone pipeline and all the jobs created. The effect that would have on fuel prices. Then think about reversing a few decision like the water one in California and how that would affect food prices. Probably take two years into the next administration to really see the affects but they would be noticeable.

Just sad that folks have such poor long term memories. Communism's complete and utter failure wasn't all that long ago and people still gave it a second shot twenty years later. We will probably go through one last 'attempt' in twenty years.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/03/2012 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  rjschwarz maddening isn't it. So much water north central US. Pipe it down. One lake of fresh water is flooding lands now. Long ago it grew larger than the great lakes. This happened before the last mini ice age by the way. Get government out of the way and the people will solve this problem fast. Look at Isreal where they make the desert bloom.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 10:16 Comments || Top||

#5  http://news.ninemsn.com.au/floods/

"Climatologists kept repeating the message that climate change meant that Australia was headed for permanent drought. They convinced gullible politicians to waste billions on useless infrastructure to prepare for neverending drought"

Things are difficult again this year. Several areas of the world are not following the plan.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 17:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Man I am buggared. Tallygaroopna and Katamatite are some of the towns dealing with the flood. Must be a local thing. Just trying to say or spell them is so my bad. Crikey!
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 18:36 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Reacting to the reactionaries
[Dawn] THE systematic, cold-blooded murder of 16 Shia passengers on a bus in Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
this past Tuesday elicited the by now typical reaction from progressives and reactionaries alike; the former denouncing the rising tide of 'extremism' and the latter blaming the 'enemies of Islam'.

The rites of passage having been administered, we will all hold our collective breath and await the next massacre, after which condemnations and obfuscations can begin all over again.

That many even in the progressive camp have become so dehumanised to political violence has at least something to do with the media barrage to which we have all become so accustomed in the short span of a few years. The absence of a genuine political alternative to status quo further deepens the sense of helplessness that afflicts many who are otherwise committed to social change.

Notwithstanding the ability of the media to shape public opinion and political attitudes, I, for one, do not believe that all is lost.

If more of us spent less time wallowing in self-pity about the raging mullahs, or wishing that the Empire really was serious about ridding the world of jacket wallahs, a viable political alternative might still be constructed in less than a generation. But that is a separate matter entirely.

What I believe a much wider cross-section of progressives can and should agree on is the need to generate a substantive body of empirical information about the context within which the right-wing does its bidding.

In short, it is necessary to move beyond moral indignation, speculations on the inner workings of the establishment and musings on regional geo-politics and try and elucidate the sociological bases of right-wing political organizations.

This is necessary both to understanding the extent to which the mullahs have actually succeeded in making zealots out of ordinary people, and relatedly to developing meaningful long-term strategies to redress xenophobic trends. It goes without
saying that much of the wind will be taken out of the religious right's sails the day our establishment stops its (selective) patronage of Islamist militancy.

By this I mean not only discontinuing the use of bully boy organizations as tools of strategic policy but also a fundamental revision of the official narrative that finds its way into our school textbooks and popular media accounts.

Such transformations await the emergence of the political alternative to which reference was made above. Until such an alternative does come to the fore, much can and needs to be learnt about the economic and cultural spaces occupied by the right and how these spaces are either being expanded or shrunk.

First and foremost, the religious right is heavily patronised by moneyed commercial classes. The rise of the contemporary brand of Islamist organizations can be traced back to the 1970s when trading and merchant segments were becoming
increasingly bigger economic and political actors in Pak society.

The close link between the Zia regime and urban commercial classes has been documented, but the link between the latter and
the religious right has not been emphasised in the same measure by scholars and media persons alike.

It is not by accident that traders' associations in the majority of urban centres tend to be at the forefront of the plethora of 'defence of Islam' campaigns that litter our political landscape.

Second, and relatedly, the religious right does not, by any stretch of the imagination, represent the poor and downtrodden segments of society. The fact that many right-wing organizations -- particularly of the military variety -- have in their fold a large number of foot soldiers hailing from the subordinate classes should not be taken to mean that the right's rhetoric of emancipation actually appeals to a wide cross-section of underrepresented and excluded segments of society.

In fact, it is amongst the toiling classes that the attraction of the right seems to be diminishing most rapidly.

Third, the urban professional, salaried classes are the right-wing's most important political constituency. Historically, it has been lower-middle class folk with Urdu-medium backgrounds that have tended towards right-wing causes but a more affluent,
English-educated segment is increasingly being drawn to reactionary populism.

The lower middle class has traditionally been drawn to organizations such as the Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
whereas the English-speaking constituency, in keeping with its liberal lifestyle choices, seeks more a more palatable rightist politics.

Hence it is flocking in droves to the new kid on the block -- Imran Khan's
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI).

The upper middle class Pak diaspora has also evinced a liking for the PTI, which may or may not last given the overall anti-politics attitudes that prevail amongst this class.

More generally Paks living abroad have always donated generously to right-wing organizations, although many believe rather innocently that they are contributing to 'welfare' initiatives being undertaken by charity groups. In fact, it has now been
definitively established that the religious right fronts numerous NGOs with no overt links to their parent bodies.

Needless to say, these broad generalisations have to be put into their proper context. There is, for example, negligible support from within the Baloch middle class for religious organizations, and the Baloch diaspora is at the forefront of a bully boy
movement of the secular, ethno-nationalist variety, as opposed to the millenarian type.

In similar vein, the Urdu-speaking middle class in urban areas of Sindh is implicated in the distinct right-wing politics of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...

The point that needs to be emphasised is that there is much more to the politics of the right than just an unholy nexus between the establishment and bully boy organizations.

Neither should the brutalisation of society by right-wing forces overwhelm progressives to the point of intellectual paralysis.

The story of the religious right in Pakistain is a long and complex one, and intertwined with a wider story of social change.

If we take seriously the need to understand and tackle the phenomenon which is all too simplistically called 'extremism', we need to outline a clear agenda which prioritises both intellectual inquiry and political action. Identifying the social bases that have both facilitated and resisted rightist politics over time is only the tip of the iceberg. Continuing to react to the
reactionaries will not make them go away.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  One day, it's really going to suck being a Moslem. Not to say that that day is today but looks it from what I see.

Judgement day is every day.
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2012 5:25 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
AU troops target rebels' stronghold
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops in Somalia on Friday began an operation aimed at capturing an Al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban...
stronghold in the outskirts of Mogadishu.

The operation involves a contingent drawn from the Uganda People Defence Forces alongside the Transitional Federal Government troops, fighting to drive out the terrorist militia from Maslah region.

Amisom said the operation was "in response to attacks by the terror group Al-Shabaab originating from their base in the northern fringes of Mogadishu."

"It will extend the city's defences and deny the Al-Qaeda backed hard boyz important ground from which they have been targeting the city's population," said Amisom force commander, Maj Gen. Fred Mugisha.

Burning flags

At the same time, a statement released by the Somali army reiterated that armed personnel had been ordered to refrain from burning or abusing the flag of the retreating Al-Shabaab.

All armed personnel in the upcountry regions have been instructed to stop burning the black banner of Al-Shabaab. The statement added that the flag contains Islamic scripts.

Al-Shabaab's distinctive black flag has shahâdah (the Mohammedan profession of the oneness of Allah and the acceptance of Muhammad as God's final prophet), extolled on it.

"No soldier is allowed to burn the flag with shahâdah," said the statement.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
75 Killed across Syria amid Demos Under Fire in Aleppo, Damascus
[An Nahar] Syrian security forces on Friday killed 75 people across the country and opened fire to disperse demonstrations in the cities of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
and Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
as thousands erupted into the streets, activists and monitors said.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said among the victims were several children, two women and 14 summarily executed in the flashpoint Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr.

Thirty-four people were killed in Homs province, 11 in the northwestern province of Idlib, eight in the northern province of Aleppo, nine in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, nine in the central province of Hama, two in the Damascus suburb of Douma, one in the coastal province of Latakia and one in the southern province of Daraa, the LCC said.

The northern city of Aleppo was the scene of 12 protests, with demonstrators chanting support for Homs and other areas besieged by regime forces, according to local activist Mohammed al-Halabi.

"Hundreds were taking part several demonstrations in the Halab al-Jadida district, while thousands demonstrated in other areas such as Salah el-Din, Fardoss and Marjeh," he told Agence La Belle France Presse.

He said security forces fired live rounds at protesters in Salah el-Din and Saif a-Dawla neighborhoods, where several people were maimed and others incarcerated.

Five demonstrators were shot and maimed as security forces fired to disperse a protest outside Salam mosque in the Barzeh area of Damascus, after weekly Mohammedan prayers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Activist Mohammed al-Shami told AFP that thousands of demonstrators turned out in several areas of the capital and its suburbs, such as Mazzeh, Hajar al-Aswad, al-Aasali, Douma, Qadam, Qaboon and Kfar Sousa.

'We shall not abandon Homs. We shall not abandon Daraa," protesters chanted in a video posted online, hailing the main centers of dissent against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
's regime.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion...
a Red Thingy relief convoy was poised to enter the battered Baba Amr neighborhood of the city of Homs, a day after regime forces overran it, ending a nearly four-week pounding.

More than 20,000 civilians are believed to have been trapped in the district through the prolonged bombardment with a lone doctor reported to be tending to the scores of casualties in a single makeshift clinic.

As rebel fighters pulled out on Thursday in the face of the regime's overwhelmingly superior fire power, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) warned of "barbaric" reprisals against the neighborhood's residents.

The U.N. rights body appealed to Syria to respect international law after receiving unconfirmed reports of 17 "grisly" executions as regime forces took control of Baba Amr.

Rupert Colville, front man for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the OHCHR had received information "suggesting a particularly grisly set of summary executions" on Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said another 10 people were rubbed out in Baba Amr on Friday, but its head, Rami Abdul Rahman, added: "The circumstances of their deaths are not clear."

La Belle France announced it was closing its embassy in Damascus, mirroring similar moves by Britannia and the United States.

"What is going on is scandalous, there are more than 8,000 dead, hundreds of children, and the city of Homs faces the risk of being wiped off the map," French President Nicolas Sarkozy
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit...
said at the close of an EU summit.

A first International Committee of the Red Thingy and Syrian Arab Red Islamic Thingy relief convoy was poised to enter Baba Amr with seven truck loads of desperately needed supplies, an ICRC front man said.

"We are preparing to enter the district of Baba Amr," deputy ICRC front man Sebastien Carliez said in Geneva.

The Observatory urged the ICRC to use the access to the neighborhood to inspect a shopping center it said was being used by regime forces as a makeshift detention center.

The rebels said they had pulled out "tactically" from Baba Amr on Thursday, the second day of an all-out ground assault by the feared Fourth Armored Division led by President Bashir al-Assad's younger brother Maher.

The storming of the rebel bastion began early Wednesday, following 27 straight days of relentless shelling that has made the neighborhood an icon of the more than 11-month uprising against Assad's regime.

Other parts of Homs, including the Khaldiyeh, Bayyada, Bab Sbaa and Hamidiyeh neighborhoods, remain in the hands of the "terrorists" and still have to be "dealt with," a security source in Damascus told AFP.

Activists called for nationwide protests on Friday to demand the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) to give it the fire power to defend itself against regime forces.

"Assad, don't delude yourself, there are a thousand and one Baba Amrs," the activists said on their "Syrian Revolution 2011" Facebook page.

"Soon, we'll be back even stronger," it added, next to a picture of rebel fighters.

The SNC announced on Thursday that it was forming a military bureau to coordinate the flow of arms to the rebels after calls from Gulf Arab states for weapons deliveries ran into opposition from Washington, which said it feared al-Qaeda might exploit the situation.

Two French journalists, trapped for days in the bombardment of Baba Amr, were headed home in a hospital plane after being brought out to safety in Leb on Thursday, the French embassy in Beirut said.

Syrian authorities, meanwhile, said they located the bodies of U.S. journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik in Baba Amr after the rebels retreated. The journalists were killed in the same rocket attack.

The FSA's Al-Farouk Brigade said a number of its fighters were killed or maimed evacuating foreign journalists from Homs.

In Brussels, EU leaders "horrified" by the atrocities taking place in Syria called for those responsible to be held to account.

EU president Herman Van Rompuy said at the close of the two-day gathering that the 27 EU leaders had adopted a text stating that "the European Council remains determined to ensure that those responsible for atrocities in Syria are held accountable for their actions".

"We are horrified by the atrocities that have been committed and are still being committed," Van Rompuy said.

As pressure mounted on key Damascus ally Moscow to harden its stance against Assad's regime, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
in talks with foreign news executives late Thursday rejected the idea that Russia was taking sides in what he described as an "armed civilian conflict."

"Our aim is not to help one of the sides -- not the Syrian authorities nor the armed opposition -- but to obtain an all-round reconciliation," he said in comments published on the government website Friday.

"We have no special relationship with Syria," he added.

Both Russia and China backed a U.N. Security Council statement on Thursday calling on Syria to allow "immediate" humanitarian access to protest cities, after vetoing two resolutions on the conflict last October and again in February.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Arabia
If Saleh continues political activities he would end up in jail, opposition leader
[Yemen Post] A high-ranking opposition leader said that if the former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salah continues his political activities as the head of the General People Congress, which he founded in 1982, he would be held to accountable for all massacres and crimes committed during his rein including the massacres against peaceful protesters.

In an interview on Wednesday with Radio Sawa, Mohammed Qahtan, a leading figure in the main party in the opposition bloc Joint Meeting Parties, said that if Saleh seeks to resume work in politics that would be a clear breach of the GCC-brokered deal signed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh by Saleh and the JMP. Subsequently he would stand trial for the crimes and massacres committed during his reign as Yemen's President.

He stressed that the Yemeni people would not accept or tolerate seeing Saleh returns to politics after he plainly proved his ultimate failure in it.

"The GCC-crafted power transfer deal, which was pushed through by the entire international community and their mounting pressures on us, has guaranteed a safe and honourable exit for him[Saleh] with the aim of averting more bloodshed or potential armed conflict. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
If Saleh stood defiant and stubborn he would end up in jail," said Qahtan.

While his cronies at the General People Congress insist that Saleh would lead his party and stay in Yemen, national and international media outlets has reported in the couple of days ago that Saleh would seek exile and that he would leave the country soon for unspecified destination.

Saleh came back to Sana'a on Saturday to attend the official power handover ceremony of his successor Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who has won the presidential polls with 99.8 percent.

After more than 9 months of being defiant in the face of unbeatable massive protests calling for his ouster, Saleh, 70, signed a deal under which he transfered his power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Saleh quit his post as the President, his relatives, however, still in control of most military institutions in the country. Ahmed, Saleh's elder son, for example, is the commander of the elite Elite Republican Guards, the best trained and equipped military troops in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russian bank blocks Iran embassy accounts in Moscow
[Iran Press TV] A Russian state-controlled bank has closed down the accounts of Iranian embassy staff in Moscow in obvious submission to unilateral sanctions imposed by the West against Iran.

Iran's Ambassador to Moscow Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi was quoted by Dow Jones as criticizing the measure on Friday, accusing the Russian bank of surrendering to US-led financial sanctions against Tehran.

He added that shutting down the embassy's accounts were ordered at short notice by VTB 24, the retail banking arm of Russia's second-largest bank VTB, and even his own credit card has been blocked.

"The bank said that this was an order from their top management, and they couldn't do anything about it," Sajjadi wrote in a blog post.

"This behavior on the bank's part is ill-mannered, unprofessional and characteristics of Third World countries. Even banks in Britannia and La Belle France are not ready to take such liberties with our embassy employees," he said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed this guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread...
a front man from VTB 24 said the move was a "purely economic" one, saying the bank's wage project with the embassy was being closed because it is unprofitable.

The embassy had been informed a week in advance of the closure, he claimed.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  The Russians policy is that when they send a message, they want it understood clear as a bell.

In this case, when the balloon goes up, don't even think you can store your loot in Moscow.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 9:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Can't Iranian embassy staff just put their money in a privately-run Russian bank??
Posted by: American Delight || 03/03/2012 10:22 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya to Donate $100m in Aid to Syrian Opposition
[Tripoli Post] In a further sign of its strong support for forces fighting Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
, Libya is to donate $100 million in humanitarian aid to the Syrian opposition, SNC, and allow them to open an office in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, a government front man said on Wednesday.

The head of Libya's National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdu-Jalil is reported to have made the initial offer to host an SNC office there last month.

Way back in October, Libya's interim government was one of the first foreign states to recognise the SNC as the legitimate authority in Syria. It said at the time, that the gesture showed solidarity following Libya's own struggle to oust Muammar Qadaffy
...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them...
and end 42 years of autocratic rule.

Asked whether Libya, which has its own hefty reconstruction needs after last year's war, could afford such aid, an NTC front man Mohammed al-Harizy is reported telling Rooters: "There is no problem."

However he said it was too early to determine how the aid, including medicine and food, would be delivered: "We will see how this aid can be delivered. We don't know yet."

At an earlier news conference, Harizy said the NTC had decided on "financial support for humanitarian needs to the equivalent of $100 million."
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Asked whether Libya, which has its own hefty reconstruction needs after last year's war, could afford such aid, an NTC front man Mohammed al-Harizy is reported telling Rooters: "There is no problem."

....the stuff just keeps turning up here, and we simply don't know what to do with it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 3:06 Comments || Top||

#2  We will see how this aid can be delivered. We don't know yet.

Ummm yeah...we're not sure yet but we was thinkin' of using The Doha Delivery Company. Yeah...dat's da ticket. Hey...when it comes to dat humanitarian stuff...dem Qatari's got da best shit. They sure hooked us up. Noumsayin?
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/03/2012 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  If you can't trust Libyan Islamists, who can you trust?
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 23:31 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
PPP makes gains in Senate polls
[Dawn] Pakistain's ruling party made gains in the country's upper house of parliament in legislative elections on Friday, a boost for beleaguered President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
in his long-running conflict with the country's top court and it's military.

By late evening, Zardari's Pakistain People's Party (PPP) appeared to be on course to get control of the Senate, giving him valuable political firepower for several years to come. The results were expected, given the PPP's lower house majority and strong presence in provincial legislatures, which elect the senators.

Just surviving to Senate elections was an achievement for the government, which has faced relentless political attacks since it took office in 2008. Like others before it, it has largely failed to make any progress in fixing the daunting challenges facing Pakistain, and has been mired in alleged corruption and mismanagement.

Some rivals had hoped that Zardari would be forced into calling early general elections, be ousted by the Supreme Court or even subject to a coup before the Senate vote could be held.

About half of the 104 senators are being replaced because their terms have come to an end.

The votes were still being counted, but the PPP and its allies won 32 out of 49 seats; five seats were yet to be announced.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


'Hindu girls being forcibly converted'
[Dawn] Hindu community representatives in the province on Thursday expressed their serious concern over "a rising sense of insecurity" among their people mainly in the interior of Sindh following some recent incidents of "kidnappings of Hindu community girls and their forced conversion to Islam".

The leaders of the Pakistain Hindu Council also sought intervention from the Supreme Court and criticised the local and the provincial administrations for their alleged failure in addressing their issues which, they said, needed immediate action.

"Recently a girl was kidnapped in a Mirpur Mathelo area," Jethanan Kohistani said while speaking at a presser at the Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Press Club.

"We have also heard of similar incidents happened with some Christian girls in Sindh. They were kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. The matter was raised before the local and police administration several times, but they never paid any heed," he said.

He said the Hindus in Pakistain in general and in Sindh in particular pinned their hopes on the Supreme Court and expected from the chief justice to take suo motu notice of the situation.

"The Hindus are loyal to Pakistain and all their stakes and hopes are attached with this country. But the situation has alienated hundreds of thousands of members of this patriotic community strangers within their homeland," added Mr Kohistani.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad


Arabia
Exchange of gunfire outside Yemen's Presidential Palace
[Yemen Post] Exchange of gunfire between rival Yemeni military forces occurred on Thursday on the footsteps of the residence of the new President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who was sworn in on Saturday in front of the Yemeni Parliament.

‏Gunfire battle broke out on Thursday evening between military forces loyal to defected Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who abandoned former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
and pledged support to the revolution in March, and security forces under Saleh's nephew's, Yahia Mohammed Saleh, command, eyewitnesses told Yemen Post.

‏As of yet, the reason of the clash is still unclear with conflicting news circulating in the streets. However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
security sources confirmed that the gunfire lasted only for a few minutes.

‏No reports of causalities have been released.
‏The incident happened only hours after Hadi issued his first presidential decree in which he appointed new military commanders and changed others.

‏Hadi has moved to the Presidential Palace on Monday after the official inauguration of him as the new Yemeni President.
‏He won the presidential election which is a part of the GCC-initiated power transfer deal signed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in November 23.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Culture Wars
Stunner. Georgetown “Coed” Sandra Fluke Is a 30 Year-Old Women’s Rights Activist
What a shock! It was all a BIG PRODUCTION!

The Democrat’s token abused college coed is actually a 30 year-old hardcore women’s rights activist.

Sandra Fluke is also the past president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice.
Posted by: Beavis || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
Afghan clerics demand punishment for Quran burners
[Dawn] Senior Afghan holy men said on Friday the Koran burning
...One of the basic tenets of Islam is that once a Koran has been printed it is expected to last for all time, no matter how old, ratty, and smelly other, lesser holy books may become. Should it actually become necessary to put a Koran out of its misery there is a ritual that includes extensive charivari, featuring long drawn-wailing and head bonking, ritual wife beating, and the sacrifice of dozens of women's noses and pubic lips. When the actual disposal has been completed there is a prescribed period of celebratory gun sex with the expectation of a minimum of two hundred casualties. Should actual infidels dispose of a Koran, Islamic custom calls for three weeks of rioting and a minimum of three dozen dead, which is a holdover from the days of Moloch worship...
at a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
base last month was an "evil act" that must be punished, a demand that could deepen widespread public anger over the incident.
This is what happens when you apologize to Muslim crazies...
"The council strongly condemns this crime and inhumane, savage act by American troops by desecrating holy Koran's," members of a council of holy mans said after meeting President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
, according to a statement issued by his office.

"The council emphasised that the apology for this evil act can never be accepted. Those who committed this crime must be publicly tried and punished."

Despite the apology from US President Barack Obama
I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick...
, the desecration of the Koran's at Bagram air base ignited a wave of anti-Western fury across the country. Moslems consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.

At least 30 people were killed in the protests. The Koran's had been confiscated from prisoners at the base and mistakenly discarded in an incinerator, US officials said. Afghan labourers found charred remnants.

The Koran burnings have hurt a US campaign to win the hearts and minds of Afghans in order to weaken the Taliban and force the turban group to negotiate an end to the war now in its eleventh year.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hearts and minds winning daze are over. The Taliban saw opportunity knocking and they went for it. The clerics will keep the pot boiling an people will continue to go ape sh*t. Welost the propaganda war a long time ago. We are not loved, respected or even feared.

This land is frog-in-a-box mental.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/03/2012 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  80% of this shit is a direct result of the Idiot Obumbles apologizing instead of telling them to fu*k off and die already.

If we stay then we need to change from a 'nation building' force to a occupation force - even a brutal occupation force.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/03/2012 1:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Deport them, and all their compatriots, from the country.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2012 1:42 Comments || Top||

#4  I DEMAND an apology of the lives of these GOOD men you took for this cooked up koran bullshit.

You may suck my ass.
Any Military Judge that touches one hair on those Soldiers head is in my purview for corrupt conduct as this is not a battle issue.

The Commander in Chief has lost his position.

If the Military continues this idiocy, we will never be out of a hornets nest - ever.

Posted by: newc || 03/03/2012 2:05 Comments || Top||

#5  All part of a very successful and continuing Taliban recruitment drive.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2012 2:52 Comments || Top||

#6  The US government officially accepted and legitimized Afghan interference in internal affairs of the US.

Why then shouldn't the Afghans expect submission from US forces IN Afghanistan?
Posted by: Chuckles Barnsmell5410 || 03/03/2012 6:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Its so one way!

When was the last time the muslims apologised for terrorism,preaching hatred or intolerance?
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 03/03/2012 7:25 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe American Christians should petition their government to severely apologize for the intentional burning of Holy Bibles.

Disciplinary action against those responsible would be in order as well.
Posted by: Chuckles Barnsmell5410 || 03/03/2012 8:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Korans are defiled by writing in them, and can then be burned or buried by Islamic law. Afghan interpreters determined which ones were burned--yet the laborers pulling out charred remains were upset over the messages destroyed.
From AP/Fox:

A NATO military official said last week that it appeared detainees were exchanging messages by making notations in the texts. The Western official confirmed reports that after the writings were discovered, two Afghan-American interpreters were assigned to go through the materials at the library and that 1,652 items were removed.
The items, which included the Korans, were placed in boxes and the Western official confirmed that a decision was taken to dispose of them because of a lack of storage space and because of the notes scribbled in them.
At some point a group of soldiers on a work detail came and removed the books to throw them away. The Western official told The Associated Press on Saturday the three soldiers on the garbage detail had no idea what they were carrying to the burn pit.
The Afghan workers then realized what was being burned and tried to extinguish the flames, some burned their fingers trying to salvage the books. Afghan government officials said initial reports indicated four Koran texts were burned.

Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162 || 03/03/2012 10:37 Comments || Top||

#10  To clarify my point--1652 items removed and only 4 were defiled Korans, the same they were pulling out of the incinerator. Sounds like proper procedures and those leading the uproar are most likely the instigators....and should be incinerated, too.
Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162 || 03/03/2012 10:44 Comments || Top||

#11  Let Allah punish them if he is offended. These clerics should not presume to know his will or speak for him.

The CIA should be taking notes and work on humiliating these instigators, opportunists and charlatans.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/03/2012 11:51 Comments || Top||

#12  The Republican party should be rejoicing over this news. All they have to do now to win the election in November is publish Obama's apology. The only question is will they put up a candidate with sufficient dangly bits to make an issue of it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/03/2012 12:07 Comments || Top||

#13  Sounds like self identify practice points for drone targeting.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/03/2012 12:23 Comments || Top||

#14  Strategy Page has the Real story behind the burnt Koran rent-a-mobs
Posted by: Frozen Al || 03/03/2012 13:15 Comments || Top||

#15  Everyone knows the proper way to dispose of qurans is to dump them in sewage canals. Infidels, give Mohamed's Molesting Manual the respect it deserves.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/03/2012 15:48 Comments || Top||

#16  Nuke the entire country from orbit--it’s the only way to be sure
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 03/03/2012 17:59 Comments || Top||

#17  Never did I want a laser so bad as to zap their little books mid rent-a-mob so they would catch fire right then and there, in-hand. Would have been great optics.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/03/2012 18:00 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi Arabia holds Pakistanis over drugs bust
[Dawn] Soddy Arabia has tossed in the calaboose 11 Paks and Iranians allegedly involved in smuggling hashish from Iran into the kingdom, the interior ministry said on Friday, a charge that carries the death sentence.

Saudi security services "foiled an attempt to smuggle half a tonne (1,102 pounds) of hashish through the kingdom's eastern coasts," the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

"The narcotic was seized and 11 people involved in its smuggling were tossed in the calaboose -- six Paks and five Iranians."

"Preliminary investigations have shown that those tossed in the calaboose are part of a criminal network involved in drug trafficking from Iranian territories into the kingdom and Gulf Cooperation Council states," it added.

The group was tossed in the calaboose while they were "handing over the drugs" in Soddy Arabia's territorial waters, it said.

The ultra-conservative Mohammedan kingdom imposes the death penalty on people convicted of drug trafficking.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Africa North
Rage as Egypt aid workers freed
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Egyptian newspapers accused the ruling military on Friday of caving in to US pressure to allow foreign NGO workers, including a number of Americans, to escape trial on charges of illegal funding.
Substantial ransoms were paid to the Egyptian treasury, as kaffirs are traditionally required to do. Why then such a fuss?
One of them also accused the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of trashing the concept of an independent judiciary, insinuating that it had strong-armed the courts into lifting a travel ban on the suspects.

Amid the growing furore, American and other foreign democracy activists flew out of Cairo on Thursday night, airport officials said, a day after the judiciary lifted the travel ban.

They travelled to Cyprus, from which they were expected to head home, possibly on Friday.

Their departure is expected to ease tensions with Washington, which had urged the SCAF to resolve the case.

American officials and politicians had suggested the row could imperil $1.3 billion in US aid to its key Middle Eastern ally.

Independent daily Al-Tahrir summed up the general mood with its front-page headline: "Scandal. Under orders from the military, the judiciary freed the Americans and let them travel."

"In only 24 hours, the military council proved to the world that any talk of judicial independence in Egypt is no more than an illusion," the paper said.

It accused the SCAF of backing off under "pressure, negotiations and visits from American officials to Cairo."

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Liberatress of Libya and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Jeremiah S. Black ...
had said there were "very intensive discussions with the Egyptian government" and "I think we are moving toward a resolution."

"But I don't want to discuss it in great detail because it's important that they know that we are continuing to push them but that we don't necessarily put it out into the public arena yet," she added.

The activists working for four American and a German NGO are accused, along with a number of Egyptians, of receiving illicit foreign funds and operating without licenses.

State news agency MENA said chief judge Mohammed Shukry wrote to the head of the appeals court, saying they could not continue the trial.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Substantial ransoms were paid to the Egyptian treasury, as kaffirs are traditionally required to do. Why then such a fuss?

Because the ragers didn't get their part.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2012 1:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Baloney charges anyway, welcome back home.
Posted by: Fat Bob Unotch3711 || 03/03/2012 12:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Highly political charges, looking at the group there is a chance they were meddling and got too obvious about it.

Interesting to see whether this gives the anti-us groups more ammo for political gain. With the mark of one year of dismal public diplomatic failure* from Tripoli to Kabul, I would not be surprised.

*Obviously I cannot speak for the private stuff which happens, and it is that public and private diplomatic moments are not always the same, yet for some reason the public opinion usually trumps the private especially when gov buildings get stormed.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/03/2012 17:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Interesting to see whether this gives the anti-us groups more ammo for political gain.

Muslims are one big anti-US group. They might like our stuff, but they definitely hate our guts.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 20:21 Comments || Top||

#5  You know, it'd be funny if every time they do one of these rage riots, people here rioted and burned down their mosques.

Just speculating.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division || 03/03/2012 21:19 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Mohmand elder, son killed in Afghanistan
[Dawn] Taliban rubbed out a pro-government tribal elder of Mohmand
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
Agency along with his nine-year-old son in Ghoshta area of Afghanistan near the border.

Malik Nasrullah, an elder of Mamad Kor Khwezai, and his son Yasir were killed by Orcs and similar vermin in Afghanistan, sources said here on Thursday.

Mohmand Taliban spokesperson Mukarram Khurasani talked to local journalists by telephone from an unspecified location and grabbed credit for killing Malik Nasrullah and his son.

He claimed that the tribal elder was using his son as a shield.

In Swabi, Orcs and similar vermin blew up a government school in Razaar tehsil on the night between Wednesday and Thursday.

It was the fourth incident of its kind in Razaar during the last one week. Officials said that Orcs and similar vermin planted two bombs at Government High School for Boys Yar Hussain No.1 that went off at 2:30am. They said that the kabooms rocked the entire
area.

Officials said that about 1,000 students were enrolled in the school. The school was kept open on Thursday owing to preparation for the upcoming annual examinations.

Officials said that so far 12 educational institutions were destroyed by Orcs and similar vermin in the district. They said that Orcs and similar vermin had targeted schools in Marghuz, Aman Kot, Tand Kohi, Khalil Banda, Karnal Sher Kallay, Shewa Adda, Shiekh Jana, Muradabad, Swabi, Panjpir and Yar Hussain. Two watchmen were present in the school at the time of the kabooms. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
no casualty was reported.

Officials said that owing to presence of watchmen, Orcs and similar vermin planted bombs near the outer wall of classrooms. Both the watchmen said that they didn't see any suspected person before or after the blasts.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Iraq
Maliki Says Qaida Moving from Iraq to Syria
[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda is moving from Iraq to Syria, where the government is carrying out a bloody crackdown on an uprising, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
said in an interview published on Friday.

"Al-Qaeda has started migrating from Iraq to Syria, and maybe it will migrate from Syria to another country, to Libya or to Egypt or to any region where the regime is unstable and out of control," Maliki said in an interview with Saudi daily Okaz.

"Yesterday, Syria was considering itself outside the circle of the terrorism problem, and today, it is in the heart of the terrorism problem," Maliki said.

Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
has been carrying out a bloody crackdown on an uprising against his rule since March 2011, in which more than 7,500 people have died, according to the U.N.

Iraq's deputy interior minister told Agence La Belle France Presse last month that jihadists were moving from Iraq to Syria and arms were being smuggled across the border to opponents of Assad's regime, but Maliki's remarks are the first time an Iraqi official has said specifically that al-Qaeda is moving from Iraq to Syria.

An al-Qaeda front organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, has waged a bloody campaign of attacks that has spanned years, especially targeting members of Iraq's Shiite majority and security forces.

Excerpts of the interview were released by Maliki's office on Tuesday, including one in which he said that "Iraq backs change in Syria."

"Change is necessary. The situation will not be stable without change."

Maliki did not elaborate on what kind of change he wished to see, but said Syrians "must receive more freedom, and form a national unity government as a first step, and free elections should be held under Arab and U.N. supervision."
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


India-Pakistan
SC rejects Waheeda Shah's apology
[Dawn] The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an unconditional apology sought by Syeda Waheeda Shah in a case of manhandling an Election Commission (EC) official at a polling station during recently held by-elections.

The Pakistain People's Party's (PPP) Sindh Assembly candidate had slapped a polling staff in Tando Muhammad Khan. She was repeatedly shown on TV, physically attacking the polling staff on the election day.

The EC had started the paperwork but haven't done much else against the candidate and decided to withhold the official result of by-election in the constituency, Sindh Assembly seat PS-53.

While hearing of the suo moto notice of the incident, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry showed his announce when he told Ms Shah: "You have slapped the whole nation. The matter is not related to the court now --the state has also become a party in it."
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
Al-Qaeda seeks help from Maghreb affiliate
[Magharebia] It is a desperate time for the once-dreaded al-Qaeda.

Funds are depleted, long-time figurehead the late Osama bin Laden
... who was laid out deader than a mackerel...
is dead and counter-terror operations in Afghanistan and Pakistain keep operatives on the run or in hiding. The embattled terror group is now counting on al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other organizations for restored credibility and rescue.

When Ayman al-Zawahiri
... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
needed to overcome a shortfall of funds after the death of Bin Laden, he looked to the Sahara.

"After Osama bin Laden was killed, it became likely that the future of al-Qaeda would involve Maghreb countries," university professor Ely al-Sheikh Ould Bah said.

Arms and drug trafficking, along with abductions for ransoms, have produced a revenue stream for al-Qaeda's North African branch. But all is not as it appears, security experts caution.

The high-profile kidnappings of westerners in the Sahel-Saharan region in recent months do not necessarily indicate "an increase in the organization's capacity to strike", a UN Security Council report noted in February. The abductions "might just imply a need to raise money and get international attention, or be the result of internal power struggles".

Security analyst Hamadi Ould Dah agrees that al-Qaeda "had no other option but to resort to its Arab Maghreb branch".

"However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable...
this group seems to be unable to provide any support for the main al-Qaeda organization because of the internal problems facing it, and also because of crippling security crackdowns by Sahel countries," he tells Magharebia.

Given significant attrition among its ranks, as well as its poor media skills, the Maghreb branch appears unlikely to live up to Zawahiri's expectations.

The Madrid-based Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH) recently confirmed that al-Qaeda's Maghreb offshoot faces problems of its own.

"Internal fractures within AQIM lead us to question the real cohesion of the organization," Madrid-based Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH) observed in a February report.

"Its activities in the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
seem to better reflect the action of different cells with varied driving forces rather than a co-ordinated action with a clear identity and rationale," the IECAH said.

And as al-Qaeda gets more connected with criminal activities "and disconnects with the ideological discourse as justification of its actions, its tactics are subject to increasing criticism and rejection by religious leaders in the Maghreb and Sahel", the report added.

Al-Qaeda has long prepared its branch in the Islamic Maghreb to assume the mantle when it collapses. To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, the terror group posted a video in which al-Zawahiri announced that Algeria's "Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb...
" (GSPC) had become part of al-Qaeda.

GSPC emir Abdelmalik Droukdel
... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb....
was eager to mount a serious media campaign. The only problem: no one knew how to do it.

Abu Yasser Sayyaf, GSPC's webmaster, had to issue an online plea for help uploading content and using different programmes, "which shows how far behind GSPC was technologically", terrorism analyst and academic Manuel Torres Soriano explained in a January analysis, "The Road to Media Jihad: The Propaganda Actions of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb".

Sayyaf's excuse for the second-rate video and audio was the group's isolated location in the mountains of Algeria.

Things changed in 2007. The GSPC's adoption of the name "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM) coincided with a media outreach initiative modelled after the parent group to which AQIM had become allied. More media production was compulsory for GSPC if it were to merge with al-Qaeda as an official branch.

The newest members of the global terror organization quickly recognised the merit of visual and audio messages, Torres Soriano says. More media production was compulsory for GSPC if it were to merge with Al-Qaeda as an official branch.

For example, in 2007 -- the year of the name change -- AQIM released six videos, almost double the number of all videos it produced during the previous eight years.

Al-Qaeda had been trying for years to solidify its support in the North Africa desert, but the GSPC was still a long way from performing like an affiliate of a global terror group.

"Although the GSPC started its activities at the information era par excellence, its method was more that of a traditional gang than that of a group 'apprenticed' by Osama bin Laden," Torres Soriano points out. After AQIM's merger with al-Qaeda, however, "it turned into a group with its own media strategy".

"Ayman al-Zawahiri urged AQIM to develop its own propaganda machine," journalist Mohamed Ould Sid al-Moktar tells Magharebia. Now that AQIM has met the challenge, Bin Laden's successor and his top aides believe it to be a group upon which al-Qaeda can depend, al-Moktar adds.

They forget that the Maghreb branch is under siege from Sahel security services.

"Al-Qaeda's dependence on AQIM is similar to a weak entity leaning on another weak entity; something that will take both of them down," al-Moktar says.

Abdel-Rahim Al-Manar Slimi of Mohammed V University in Rabat noted that "al-Qaeda's branches are prospering in areas where the state is absent or is failing; a situation which didn't exist in North Africa until the fall of Qadaffy's regime, and Libya's entry into a transitional status".

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

AQIM is trying to expand relations with terrorist movements in Africa, especially Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie...
. Al-Qaeda's Maghreb branch may also try to exploit the recent festivities between Touareg rebels and Malian army.

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz recently suggested in an interview with Le Monde that al-Qaeda was involved in the northern Mali conflict. A spokesperson for the Touareg rebels countered that the National Movement for the Liberation of Azaouad (MNLA) "neither has interests nor shares any policies with that terrorist organization".

Instead of turning to AQIM, Ayman Al-Zawahiri could have chosen to depend on al-Qaeda branches, in the Arabian Peninsula or Iraq, Boko Haram or Shabaab al-Mujahideen.

But these branches are not based in the Sahara.

Analysts believe that "al-Qaeda Central" sees the desert as a place where its leaders can escape, and where rampant criminal activity keeps the money flowing.

Mohamed Ould Zain of the Sahara Media network points out, however, that both al-Qaeda and its offshoot AQIM face difficult times in the wake of the Arab Spring.

"There is growing recognition that peaceful struggle and democracy are the most effective way to make progress, not violence and killing," Ould Zain says.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Obama Warns against Premature Iran Strike, Says Assad Days 'Numbered'
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama
I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go...
warned a premature attack on Iran would allow it to play the "victim" in the nuclear crisis, noting that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
's "days are numbered," in remarks published Friday days before he meets Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

In some of his toughest comments yet on Tehran's nuclear drive, Obama also warned Israel and Iran should take seriously possible U.S. action against Iranian nuclear facilities if sanctions fail to stop the country's atomic ambitions.

"I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff," Obama told the Atlantic Monthly magazine.

"I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say."

Netanyahu arrived in Canada early Friday ahead of discussions Monday with Obama at the White House, and the Israeli leader this week said Iran's nuclear program will be "at the center of our talks."

Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only but Western nations suspect the Islamic republic is leading a covert program to develop a nuclear weapons capability and is not far from achieving its goal.

Netanyahu's government has maintained that all options remain on the table with regard to action on Iran, whose firebrand
...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
leader Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has questioned Israel's right to exist.

But Obama issued a blunt warning against any premature strike.

"At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?" Obama said.

Even if Israel were not a specific target of Iran's wrath, Obama said "it would still be a profound national-security interest of the United States to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon."

Obama said the U.S. strategy to thwart Iran's ambitions of developing a nuclear weapon included various components, including isolating Tehran politically, sanctions and diplomacy.

"And it includes a military component. And I think people understand that," Obama said, adding he thought Americans did not believe that "I hesitate to make decisions as commander in chief when necessary."
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "Decades, not centuries!"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2012 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  "U.S. President Barack Obama warned a premature attack on Iran would allow it to play the "victim" in the nuclear crisis,..."

Translation: Wait until after the November elections.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 8:14 Comments || Top||

#3  ...do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?

Soooooo, lemee get this straight. The One says blowin' the bejeesuz outta the Persians' nuclear facilities would be a "distraction"? Boy Howdy...that Grand Strategy the Smart Power crowd keeps talking about must be a real doozy.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/03/2012 8:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Because waiting until they are just about to have a functional weapon relies on our really rock solid intelligence sources inside Iran?
Gee, than makes me so much better.......
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 03/03/2012 11:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Translation: Wait until after the Mad Mullahs have a nuke.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/03/2012 12:44 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen's new President appoints military commander, governor, and security chief
[Yemen Post] Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi issued on Thursday a republican decree in which he assigned two military commanders and a governor.

In his first decree as President, Hadi appointed Waheed Ahmed Rashid as the governor of the port city of Aden, Salam Qatan as the commander of the southern military area, and brigadier Saleh Hameed as the security chief of Aden.

His decision came only three days after he was officially inaugurated as the new president for the Republic of Yemen.

Hadi, who was sworn in on Saturday, has a lot of challenges to tackle in this "delicate and complex stage". One of the most pressing of which is restructuring the Yemeni army and make be led by unified national leadership.

Even though restructuring the army was a part of the GCC-initiated power transfer deal, many political analysts think achieving that is the most difficult test for Hadi as President.

Former Yemeni President ALi Abdullah Saleh has assigned a corrupt network, which drained the resources of the country for decades, and put the country at their hands.

Saleh's relatives still control key military institutions, including the elite Elite Republican Guards, National Security, Central Security Forces, Air Force. Also his close circle leads the most powerful facilities in the country.

The revolutionaries said they would give Hadi some time to deliver promises of reforms and heed their rightful demands of a modern, civil state, or else they would bring him down just as they had done to his predecessor.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Netanyahu warns against renewed talks with Iran
[Dawn] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday the international community should not fall into the "trap" of renewed nuclear talks with Iran and said the international community should make its demands clear.

In comments after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Netanyahu said Iran could try to evade pressure by entering talks and pursue and exploit the talks, as it has done in the past.

Netanyahu also will meet with President Barack Obama
The Cambridge police acted stupidly...
on Monday, and Iran will be a major concern.

"Right now, Iran is feeling the pressure from the economic sanctions, and it could try to evade that pressure by entering talks," Netanyahu said.

"I think the international community should not fall into this trap. I think the demands on Iran should be clear: Dismantle the underground nuclear facility in Qom, stop enrichment inside Iran and get all the enriched material out of Iran. And when I say all the material, I mean all the material."
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Afghanistan
Karzai for deeper Pak-Afghan collaboration
[Dawn] Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
stressed equitable and deeper collaboration between Pakistain and Afghanistan to sustain brotherly and close ties.

Karzai in a letter to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
, mentioned the Third Afghan-Iran-Pakistain Trilateral Summit in Islamabad that offered yet another opportunity to pursue bilateral dialogue between the two countries.

The president said he has often mentioned both privately and publicly that Afghanistan and Pakistain were twins and it was essential that they sustain a brotherly and equitable collaboration.

Karzai said he had a strong sense of a shared determination to ensure peace, security and prosperity for both the countries, assuming his government's full cooperation in realising the mutual commitments made in Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Analysts: Syrian Regime Won Baba Amr Battle, Not the War
[An Nahar] The Syrian regime may have won the battle of Baba Amr against lightly armed rebels, but spreading protests indicate this victory on the ground is unlikely to clear the country's political impasse, analysts said on Friday.

The small district in the central city of Homs had become a symbol of the almost year-long uprising against the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...

But after being besieged and bombarded for nearly four weeks, rebels staged what they called a tactical withdrawal from the battered district in the face of an all-out offensive by Assad's forces.

"The regime has only proven the obvious: a balance of power that leans heavily in its favor militarily," said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group, arguing that "regime victories are only very temporary."

He said the problem is not confined to a military win at Baba Amr or elsewhere, but is related to the inability of the regime to solve the crisis that has pitted it against "hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of Syrians, Harling said.

Armed with very little, rebels and deserters defended Baba Amr during 26 days of bombardment, but as the feared Fourth Armored Division led by Assad's younger brother Maher moved in, they announced a withdrawal to spare the lives of civilians.

Well over 7,500 people have been killed in violence since protests against Assad broke out in mid-March last year, according to U.N. figures.

"It does give the regime momentum," said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center, speaking of its taking control over Baba Amr.

But "the rebellion has not been crushed" and "the opposition and the rebellion have lost too much to stop," he said.

"The regime can boast of a victory, but it is clear that it has not won the war," according to Gay Paree-based Middle East expert Anges Levallois.

Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
could not afford to allow the rebels to maintain a stronghold in Homs because of the strategic importance of the third largest city in Syria, she said, adding, however, that this "would not stop the opposition from fighting."

A security official in Damascus said that gaining control over Baba Amr was important "because it was the final destination of arms entering Syria, before being distributed."

Although the Assad regime may have scored, the game is far from over, analysts agree.

"Politically speaking the regime has not advanced. It is mobilizing its social base while crushing the rest of society, and this so far has not produced any durable results," said Harling.

Assad's show of force in Baba Amr would seem to indicate his preference to resorting to the military option to fight the opposition, ignoring Arab and international calls to end his regime's deadly crackdown on dissent.

"The more the regime thinks it can win, the less likely it will engage in diplomacy," Hamid said.

"Assad still believes in a military solution ... As long he thinks he can win and ... wipe out the opposition," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  'Tis but a scratch.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/03/2012 17:56 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
More confrontations in Zacatecas state lead to 10 dead bad guys

For a map, click here. For a map of Zacatecas state, click here

By Chris Covert

Mexican security forces in Zacatecas state fought four gun battles with armed groups since last Wednesday, killing 10 armed suspects and seizing a number of weapons, according to Mexican news accounts.

Policia Federal units along with a detachment of Mexican Army troops of the 11th Military zone encountered an armed group near the village of Chaparrosa in Villa de Cos municipality. Gunfire exchanged between security forces and the armed group led to eight individuals killed, including three women. Two Policia Federal effectives were reportedly wounded in the exchange of gunfire.

The remainder of the armed group managed to escape from security forces heading towards Panuco, towards the southwest.

In the village of Milpillas de Allende in Teul de Gonzalez Ortega municipality at around 1910 hrs Thursday morning, a detachment with the Mexican 11th Military Zone observed three vehicles with armed suspects aboard.

The suspects attempted to flee, then opened fire on the army patrol. All three vehicles were abandoned by the armed group.

Soldiers found one unidentified dead individual aboard one vehicle, and seized nine AK-47 rifles, one AR-15 rifle, weapons magazines, 8,000 rounds of ammunition and the three vehicles, all reported as stolen.

Early Friday morning at around 0045 hrs, an army patrol detachment came under small arms fire from armed suspects travelling aboard a Jeep Patriot near the village of El Salero in Concepcion del Oro municipality. Army return fire forced the suspects to abandon the vehicle. The suspects left behind nine rifles, 52 weapons magazines, 512 rounds of ammunition, one grenade, tactical and communications gear, personal quantities of marijuana and the vehicle.

Thursday morning near the village of Sierra Milpillas in Valparaiso municipality, a patrol with the Mexican 53rd Infantry Battalion came under small arms fire. Army return fire hit and killed one unidentified individual. An unknown number of others escaped.
Posted by: badanov || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
FBI Turns Off Thousands of GPS Devices After Supreme Court Ruling
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  After the ruling, the FBI had a problem collecting the devices that it had turned off, Mr. Weissmann said.

No kidding.
Posted by: Phil_B || 03/03/2012 0:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I have often feared that the tactics, techniques, and procedures used for so-called nation building in the "Good War" are perhaps little more than a rehearsal for what might one day also be used for nation rebuilding elsewhere. The militarization of domestic law enforcement only reinforces my fears.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 2:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Geez, knock out all of our military GPS so some asshat democrat can get a contract to make an inferior yet destabilizing device?

FU Democrats. You are not competent in anything. FOAD or move to Europe.
Posted by: newc || 03/03/2012 5:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I hope this will be just the first of a long series of rollbacks to federal police authority.

The bottom line is that the absence of the 4th amendment actually doesn't let them do their job better. They were doing fine for many years while respecting the constitution. They can go back to doing it that way again.

And if you think that "police theory" about what *should* work is any good, "because they know what they're doing", just remember that for many years, police were *certain* that strict gun control would reduce crime.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/03/2012 9:48 Comments || Top||

#5  The west no longer has Police
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/03/2012 10:51 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Oxygen envelops Saturn's icy moon
[Bangla Daily Star] A Nasa spacecraft has detected oxygen around one of Saturn's icy moons, Dione.

The discovery supports a theory that suggests all of the moons near Saturn and Jupiter might have oxygen around them.

Researchers say that their finding increases the likelihood of discovering the ingredients for life on one of the moons orbiting gas giants.

The study has been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

According to co-author Andrew Coates of University College London, Dione has no liquid water and so does not have the conditions to support life. But it is possible that other moons of Jupiter and Saturn do.

"Some of the other moons have liquid oceans and so it is worth looking more closely at them for signs of life," Prof Coates said.

The discovery was made using the Cassini spacecraft, which flew by Dione nearly two years ago.

Instruments on board the unmanned probe detected a thin layer of oxygen around the moon, so thin that scientists prefer to call it an "exosphere" rather than an atmosphere.

But the discovery is important because it suggests there is a process at work around the solar system's gas giants, Saturn and Jupiter, in which oxygen is released from their icy satellites.

It seems that highly charged particles from the planets' powerful radiation belts split the water in the ice into hydrogen and oxygen.

Dione's sister moon, Enceladus is thought to harbour a liquid ocean below its icy surface. The same is thought to be true of Europa, Callisto and Ganymede which orbit Jupiter.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Send Dione into Titan and that would make one hell of an explosion with Titan's ethane atmosphere and Dione's oxygen.

Heck, that's a lot of rocket fuel up there. Mine Dione for oxygen and Titan for hydrocarbon and you have a ready source of water and CO2 for photosynthesis.
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/03/2012 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Assuming you can create enough electric power to generate light for photosynthesis.
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/03/2012 1:07 Comments || Top||

#3  crosspatch: to get there you need something, considerably, better than rocket fuel.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/03/2012 1:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Crosspatch, the trick is to get enough monoliths together to start fusion on jupiter




Posted by: Pstanley || 03/03/2012 2:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, my point is that once you got out that far, maybe a thousand years from now if we haven't staved ourselves to death due to the ice age we will be in by then, you have a ready supply of water by taking hydrocarbon from one body and oxygen from the other and combining them. The result is CO2 and water. Having a source of water at the orbit of Saturn would be pretty handy.
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/03/2012 2:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Pstanley, in the book the monolith was around Saturn. In one of Bob Zubrins books he talks about the Saturn system as the emergy depot for space fairing culture. Gotta get there in force first though.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/03/2012 7:09 Comments || Top||

#7  If you have oxygen, and you have methane, you can make moonshine, no pun intended.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/03/2012 20:47 Comments || Top||


Economy
US gasoline prices rise for 24th straight day
[Iran Press TV] Gasoline prices are up for the 24th straight day as service stations continue to price in a 10-percent rise in oil this year.

The national average for gasoline hit $3.741 per gallon on Friday. That's an increase of 46.5 cents per gallon since the start of 2012. Gasoline has never been this high at this time of year, and analysts say it could reach a record of $4.25 per gallon by late April.

Gasoline has surged as its primary ingredient, oil, gets more expensive. Oil prices have climbed since January on fears that world supplies could be reduced as the West confronts Iran over its nuclear program.

Benchmark crude fell by $1.66 to $107.18 per barrel Friday after Soddy Arabia denied an Iranian media report of a Saudi pipeline kaboom. ABC News
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Public transportation and church buses will enable urban dwellers to reach the polls in November. Remember, these are the people that count!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 2:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Gas prices are going up in spite of lower demand in the USA because the US is exporting so much gasoline that the domestic supply is being impacted. Lower supply --> higher prices.

Isn't globalization great?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 8:19 Comments || Top||

#3  One of the main reasons for this inflation is the unprecedented printing of money. That's a text book method, to inflate the money supply defates the value of the money and causes prices to rise. Gas prices as a valued in other commodities (like food) have not increased all that much.

ALL prices of consumables (ie short term) have gone up due to this administrations ungodly money printing (aka QE I, II, III etc.)
Posted by: AlanC || 03/03/2012 9:35 Comments || Top||

#4 
Who benefits from higher gasoline prices?

a. The administration benefits as oil company and investor earnings rise and taxes increase.

b. The administration benefits as pressure builds to replace government oil and gas exploration subsidies with windfall profits.

c. The administration benefit as production and delivery costs increases for food and durable goods which creates additional tax revenue from consumers.

d. The administration benefits as oil speculation rules are adjusted and gasoline prices fall in the weeks and months leading up to Election Day.

e. OPEC benefits as the price of their crude oil is artificially elevated.

f. Terrorist rogue nations benefit as America's strategic reserves are depleted in order to provide temporary price relief.

g. The administration benefits as strategic reserves are replenished during periods of crude oil price deflation. (buy low - sell high)

h. Urban real estate speculators and developers benefit as workers move away from bedroom communities and into urban environments to avoid costly commutes.

i. Airlines realize short-term benefits as higher ticketing prices are levied against lower priced fuel contracts.

j. The administration benefits as highter airline ticket prices produce additional sales tax income.

k. Green energy investors and speculators benefit as carbon energy and combustion engine use is strangled.

l. The administration benefits as untapped off-shore leases owned by the government increase in value.

m. The administration benefits as inflation rises, the value of the dollar falls, debt interest and repayment are facilitated.

n. The administration benefits as oil companies, big business, and Wall Street are seen as evil villans in need of harnessing or outright nationalization by government.

...and so it goes.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/03/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||

#5  AlanC yes. I think possibly another plan is in the works. I believe another QE3 will be sprung at the best possible time to save Obama's bacon. We should see summer gas prices go up even more. I understand this is putting the hurts to the spring break crowd already. Suburban housing also should continue value downward trend. The construction trades should also be hurt. Then again at the right time gas prices will drop. So they can say ,see our programs are working. The people that support Obama believe "he is the best man for the job". That "he hasn't been given a chance". That "things were so bad when he became president" he will need "four more years at least".We have a third world leader. The Constitution means nothing to him.
Posted by: Dale || 03/03/2012 10:41 Comments || Top||

#6  For those opposed to globalisation, fuel would cost a hell of a lot more with no imports of it.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/03/2012 16:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Any of you folks have any idea why the last 3 data point on this chart are outliers? Specifically: it appears that deliveries of retail gasoline by US refiners took a sudden 25% drop 3 months ago and have held roughly steady at this level since.

Did we lose that much refining capacity overnight?
Posted by: AzCat || 03/03/2012 21:26 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Suleiman: Any Attack against our Oil Wealth Will Lead to War
[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
noted on Friday that Leb is witnessing a period of stability despite the unrest in the region, hoping that any action regarding oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean would not take place against the country's interests.

He said: "Any violation of our petroleum rights will lead to war."

He made his statements at the end of his trip to the Czech Republic where he met with Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

Suleiman continued: "We never assaulted Israel, but it always attacks us, the last of which was its violations against our exclusive economic zone."

Addressing regional developments, the president noted: "Democracy is not being applied fairly when it comes to the Paleostinian cause."

He therefore warned of the emergence of a new wave of Arab extremism to confront Israeli extremism, hoping that the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
would "resume its normal role" to tackle such issues "after it had steered away from its main goals."

"The Paleostinian cause is a constant source of regional and global tension," added Suleiman.

A dispute emerged between Leb and Israel regarding the demarcation of maritime borders in light of the discovery of offshore oil and gas along each country's coasts.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like the Joooos' chances
Posted by: Frank G || 03/03/2012 9:54 Comments || Top||


Iran parliament vote seen bolstering Fearless Leader
[Dawn] Iranians voted on Friday in a parliamentary election likely to reinforce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power over rival hardliners led by President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad.

Iranian leaders were looking for a high turnout to ease an acute crisis of legitimacy caused by Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009 when widespread accusations of fraud plunged the Islamic Theocratic Republic into the worst unrest of its 33-year history.

Iran also faces economic turmoil compounded by Western sanctions over a nuclear programme that has prompted threats of military action by Israel, whose leader meets US President Barack Obama
In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed...
in the White House on Monday.

The vote in Iran is only a limited test of political opinion since leading reformist groups stayed out of what became a contest between the Khamenei and Ahmadinejad camps.

"Whenever there has been more enmity towards Iran, the importance of the elections has been greater," Khamenei, 72, said after casting his vote before television cameras.

"The arrogant powers are bullying us to maintain their prestige. A high turnout will be better for our nation ... and for preserving security."

The vote will have scant impact on Iran's foreign or nuclear policies, in which Khamenei already has the final say, but could strengthen the Supreme Leader's hand before the presidential vote next year. Ahmadinejad, 56, cannot run for a third term.

Iranians may be preoccupied with sharply rising prices and jobs, but it is Iran's supposed nuclear ambitions that worry the outside world. Western sanctions over the nuclear programme have hit imports, driving prices up and squeezing ordinary Iranians.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


India-Pakistan
Seventy dead in NW Pakistan violence: official
[Dawn] At least 55 people were killed Friday in violence in Pakistain's troubled northwestern tribal region of Kyhber, which borders Afghanistan, local officials said.

Twenty-two people were killed in a suicide kaboom targeting a mosque after Friday prayers in the Tirah valley, while at least 10 soldiers and 23 forces of Evil died in an earlier clash around 10 kilometres away (six miles).

Fifteen forces of Evil were also killed when Pakistain fighter jets blitzed various suspected turban hideouts in the Orakzai Agency
... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...
.

Kyhber is a haven for forces of Evil linked to the Pak Taliban and the threat of renewed fighting there between the army and bully boyz prompted some 18,000 people to flee their homes in October last year.

Local administration official Jamilur Rehman told AFP that the suicide kaboom killed at least 22 people and maimed more than 20 others, adding the toll may rise.

"The bomber let 'er rip near the gate of a mosque in Tirah valley of Khyber tribal region when people were returning from the prayers," he said.

The mosque is located in an area controlled by warlord Mangal Bagh
...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency...
, he said, adding that most of the dead were from his Lashkar-e-Islam --a group widely linked to forces of Evil and criminal gangs.

The attack and the toll was confirmed by Khyber administration chief Mutahir Zeb Khan.

"It was a suicide attack. The bomber went kaboom!" at the entrance of the mosque when the worshippers were returning after the Friday prayers," he said.

ARMY-MILITANTS CLASH:

Khan earlier said at least 10 Pak soldiers and 23 forces of Evil were killed in a shootout in the Tirah valley.

"At least 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom and three others were maimed," a security bigshot told AFP, adding that the fighting lasted for nearly six hours.

"All law enforcement agencies' posts in the area were intact and the situation was stable," the official said, blaming the Lashkar-e-Islam group for attacking the outpost.

Military officials in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties, but it was not possible to independently verify the official account of the incident as access to the area is restricted.

ORAKZAI OPERATION

Separately, fifteen forces of Evil were killed and 10 others maimed when Pakistain fighter jets blitzed various suspected turban hideouts in the Orakzai Agency.

Five suspected hideouts were destroyed in the operation in Akhunkot and Balras areas, said official sources.

PESHAWAR:

Gunmen on cycle of violences Friday rubbed out an intelligence official in Peshawar, police said.

Bashir Khan, a 38-year-old Intelligence Bureau inspector, was on his way to work on his cycle of violence when gunnies also riding a motorbike shot him, senior police official Tahir Ayub told AFP.

Ayub said it was not immediately clear who shot Khan.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami

#1  It's a start....
Posted by: Barbara || 03/03/2012 18:37 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea threatens 'sacred war' despite deal with US
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] North Korea Friday renewed threats to launch a "sacred war" against South Korea, indicating cross-border ties will remain icy despite Pyongyang's surprise nuclear deal with Seoul's close ally Washington.

The North's agreement to freeze some nuclear and missile activities in return for massive US food aid has raised cautious hopes of eased tensions under its new young leader Kim Jong-Un.

In statements released late Wednesday announcing the deal, both Pyongyang and Washington pledged to work for better relations.

But Friday's comments from the North's supreme military command struck a different tone with the South.

The command accused South Korean troops of displaying slogans or placards slandering the North's top leaders at their barracks, shooting ranges and other military facilities.

The soldiers "openly slandered and defamed the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK (North Korea) after creating a touch-and-go situation", it said in a statement on the official news agency.

The command "solemnly declares once again that it will indiscriminately stage its own-style sacred war to wipe out the group of traitors".

"Those who hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK even a bit will find no breathing spell in this land and sky," it said.

The command vowed to "mercilessly" wipe out anyone who "slightly insults and defames" the dignity of the North's supreme leadership.

Under the agreement with the US, the communist state promised to suspend a uranium enrichment programme and declare a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

It would also re-admit UN nuclear inspectors. China welcomed the deal and pledged to push ahead with efforts to revive the wider nuclear dialogue.

The US said it would provide the impoverished country with 240,000 tonnes of food for children and pregnant women.
Posted by: Fred || 03/03/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Which may explain why CHINA is repor NOT OPTIMISTIC about the DPRK's nukes-for-food deal wid the US.

* OTOH WORLD MIL FORUM > CHINA LOSES NORTH KOREA! NEW US-DPRK ANTI-NUCLEAR DEAL IS INTENDED TO REDUCE NORTH KOREA'S DEPENDENCY ON CHINA. THE US' "C" ENCIRCLEMENT STRATEGY AGZ CHINA IN FIRST ISLAND CHAIN STEADILY DEVOLS INTO "O" OR TOTAL ENCIRCLEMENT STRATEGY AGZ CHINA ACROSS MAINLAND AND EAST ASIA.

* CHINA DAILY > CHINA OPPOSES JAPAN NAMING OF DAOYUS ISLANDS.

* TOPIX > CHINA'S MILITARY BUILDUP IN PACIFIC INDEPENDENT OF US MOVES.

FYI as per recent maritime incidents invol China versus Nippon Survey Ships [East China Sea], disputed Philippine offshore or coastal areas, + now Vietnamese fishing boats [Paracels = Xishas], CHINA MILBLOGGERS/NETTERS are saying that CHINA IS PUTTING OUT "WARNING FIRES" INDIRECTLY TO THE US VEE ITS REGIONAL ALLIES???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/03/2012 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  If the West submits to occupied Afghanistan's hostile ideology why shouldn't undefeated nuclear North Korea expect equal submission from South Korea?

When Gen Allen apologized to the treacherous noble Afghan people he did so on the world stage. A weak apologetic posture might make sense in Afghanistan (calming down the natives) but it fatally undermines Western deterrence globally.

Western defeat to Afghanistan will have global consequences far worse than defeat in Viet Nam.
Posted by: Chuckles Barnsmell5410 || 03/03/2012 4:19 Comments || Top||

#3  "...threats to launch a "sacred war" against South Korea....

Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/03/2012 8:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Dang, what ever happened to "running dog imperialist lackeys" and "sea of fire" Even with juche they seem to be using less stirring words, maybe they need a snickers? No worries, Obumbles and Hillary (smartest woman ever) are on the verge of giving them one.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 03/03/2012 11:37 Comments || Top||

#5  I.e. give us more free stuff, capitalist pigs.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 03/03/2012 23:16 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1Global Jihad
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2012-03-03
  African Union troops say seize major al Shabaab base
Fri 2012-03-02
  39 Dead as Syrian Army Seizes Baba Amr and Rebels Withdraw 'Tactically'
Thu 2012-03-01
  Syrian rebels pull out of Homs after siege
Wed 2012-02-29
  Singapore: Iran assassination plot against Israeli Defence Minister Barak foiled
Tue 2012-02-28
  Yemen's Saleh formally steps down after 33 years
Mon 2012-02-27
  Congressmen Attacked on Mount of Olives
Sun 2012-02-26
  Afghan interior ministry employee sought in NATO killings
Sat 2012-02-25
  Yemen gets new president after 33 years
Fri 2012-02-24
  Air strke kills al-Shaboobs
Thu 2012-02-23
  Ansar as-Sunna Chief Arrested on Syria-Iraq Border
Wed 2012-02-22
  Hugo has new tumor
Tue 2012-02-21
  Afghans rescue 41 child suicide bombers
Mon 2012-02-20
  Syrian army reinforcements head to Homs
Sun 2012-02-19
  Iran stops oil sales to British, French
Sat 2012-02-18
  SWIFT To Cut Off Iran - No Financial Telecommunications

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