The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes. Kandahar is in Taliban hands all but a square mile at the centre of the city and the first Taliban checkpoints are scarcely 15 miles from Kabul. Hamid Karzai's deeply corrupted government is almost as powerless as the Iraqi cabinet in Baghdad's "Green Zone"; lorry drivers in the country now carry business permits issued by the Taliban which operate their own courts in remote areas of the country.
The Red Cross has already warned that humanitarian operations are being drastically curtailed in ever larger areas of Afghanistan; more than 4,000 people, at least a third of them civilians, have been killed in the past 11 months, along with scores of Nato troops and about 30 aid workers. Both the Taliban and Mr Karzai's government are executing their prisoners in ever greater numbers. The Afghan authorities hanged five men this month for murder, kidnap or rape one prisoner, a distant relative of Mr Karzai, predictably had his sentence commuted and more than 100 others are now on Kabul's death row.
This is not the democratic, peaceful, resurgent, "gender-sensitive" Afghanistan that the world promised to create after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. Outside the capital and the far north of the country, almost every woman wears the all-enshrouding burkha, while fighters are now joining the Taliban's ranks from Kashmir, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and even Turkey. More than 300 Turkish fighters are now believed to be in Afghanistan, many of them holding European passports.
"Nobody I know wants to see the Taliban back in power," a Kabul business executive says anonymity is now as much demanded as it was before 2001 "but people hate the government and the parliament which doesn't care about their security. The government is useless. With so many internally displaced refugees pouring into Kabul from the countryside, there's mass unemployment but of course, there are no statistics.
"The 'open market' led many of us into financial disaster. Afghanistan is just a battlefield of ideology, opium and political corruption. Now you've got all these commercial outfits receiving contracts from people like USAID. First they skim off 30 to 50 per cent for their own profits then they contract out and sub-contract to other companies and there's only 10 per cent of the original amount left for the Afghans themselves."
Afghans working for charitable organisations and for the UN are telling their employers that they are coming under increasing pressure to give information to the Taliban and provide them with safe houses. In the countryside, farmers live in fear of both sides in the war. A very senior NGO official in Kabul again, anonymity was requested says both the Taliban and the police regularly threaten villagers. "A Taliban group will arrive at a village headman's door at night maybe 15 or 16 of them and say they need food and shelter. And the headman tells the villagers to give them food and let them stay at the mosque. Then the police or army arrive in the day and accuse the villagers of colluding with the Taliban, detain innocent men and threaten to withhold humanitarian aid. Then there's the danger the village will be air-raided by the Americans."
In the city of Ghazni, the Taliban ordered all mobile phones to be switched off from 5pm until 6am for fear that spies would use them to give away guerrilla locations. The mobile phone war may be one conflict the government is winning. With American help the Interior Ministry police can now track and triangulate calls. Once more, the Americans are talking about forming "tribal militias" to combat the Taliban, much as they did in Iraq and as the Pakistani authorities have tried to do on the North West Frontier. But the tribal lashkars of the Eighties were corrupted by the Russians and when the system was first tried out two years ago it was called the Auxiliary Police Force it was a fiasco. The newly-formed constabulary stopped showing up for work, stole weapons and turned themselves into private militias.
"Now every time a new Western ambassador arrives in Kabul, they dredge it all up again," another NGO official says in near despair. "'Oh,' they proclaim, 'let's have local militias what a bright idea.' But that will not solve the problem. The country is subject to brigandage as well as the cruelty of the Taliban and the air raids which Afghans find so outrageous. The international community has got to stop spinning and do some fundamental thinking which should have been done four or five years ago."
What this means to those Westerners who have spent years in Kabul is simple. Is it really the overriding ambition of Afghans to have "democracy"? Is a strong federal state possible in Afghanistan? Is the international community ready to take on the warlords and drug barons who are within Mr Karzai's own government? And most important of all is development really about "securing the country"? The tired old American adage that "where the Tarmac ends, the Taliban begins" is untrue. The Taliban are mounting checkpoints on those very same newly-built roads.
The Afghan Minister of Defence has 65,000 troops under his dubious command but says he needs 500,000 to control Afghanistan. The Soviets failed to contain the country even when they had 100,000 troops here with 150,000 Afghan soldiers in support. And as Barack Obama prepares to send another 7,000 US soldiers into the pit of Afghanistan, the Spanish and Italians are talking of leaving while the Norwegians may pull their 500 troops out of the area north of Heart. Repeatedly, Western leaders talk of the "key" of training more and more Afghans to fight in the army. But that was the same "key" which the Russians tried and it did not fit the lock.
"We" are not winning in Afghanistan. Talk of crushing the Taliban seems as bleakly unrealistic as it has ever been. Indeed, when the President of Afghanistan tries to talk to Mullah Omar one of America's principal targets in this wretched war you know the writing is on the wall. And even Mullah Omar didn't want to talk to Mr Karzai.
Partition is the one option that no one will discuss giving the southern part of Afghanistan to the Taliban and keeping the rest but that will only open another crisis with Pakistan because the Pashtuns, who form most of the Taliban, would want all of what they regard as "Pashtunistan"; and that would have to include much of Pakistan's own tribal territories. It will also be a return to the "Great Game" and the redrawing of borders in south-west Asia, something which history shows has always been accompanied by great bloodshed.
BAGHDAD Eighteen young women purportedly belonging to a suicide bombing network in northern Iraq surrendered to U.S. forces on Wednesday, a top U.S. commander said.
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, who leads U.S. forces in northern Iraq, said the women turned themselves in after a local cleric and their families persuaded them that suicide attacks violated the tenets of Islam.
The number of bombings carried out by women has spiked this year even as overall violence has declined, and Hertling said Wednesday's surrender would deal a significant blow to recruitment efforts.
U.S. military figures show 31 attacks by 35 female suicide bombers so far this year, compared with eight in 2007.
Hertling said the cleric approached U.S. forces earlier this week to tell them about a group of 21 women who were part of a suicide bombing network. On Wednesday, 18 of the women surrendered and signed a form promising not to conduct attacks as part of a reconciliation program, Hertling said.
"This will significantly affect at least part of the female network cells in the northern area of operations," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
He said the women were young and from prominent families headed by sheiks, but he refused to give other details, including their ages or locations, citing ongoing interrogations and the need to protect the cleric.
Hertling also declined to say what would happen to the women but said they were currently being confined together while the case was investigated and preliminary indications were that Al Qaeda in Iraq was to blame.
The use of female suicide bombers is part of a shift in insurgent tactics to avoid detection at U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoints that have become ubiquitous in Iraq as part of increased security measures.
Iraqi women often are allowed to pass through male-guarded checkpoints without being searched, and they traditionally wear flowing black robes that make it easier to hide explosives belts.
To counter the threat, the U.S. military has stepped up efforts to recruit women for the Iraqi security forces.
Hertling said 17 female suicide bombers had struck northern Iraq in the 15 months since his unit arrived, killing 79 people and wounding 183, but he welcomed a recent downturn with only one attack this month and one in October.
The main targets were Iraqi police and civilians in public places, he said.
Some female bombers appear motivated by revenge, like the woman who killed 15 people in Diyala province on Dec. 7. She was a former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath party whose two sons joined Al Qaeda in Iraq and were killed by Iraqi security forces.
But activists and U.S. commanders also believe Al Qaeda in Iraq is increasingly seeking to exploit women who are unable to deal with the grief of losing husbands, children and others to the violence.
Officials in Southern California issued mandatory evacuation orders Wednesday for residents of a sparsely populated area in the city of Yorba Linda after torrential rain threatened to spark landslides in canyons denuded of vegetation by recent fires.
"We have had no slope failures at this point," said Mark Alders, a public information officer for the city.
He estimated the number of houses under the mandatory evacuation order -- all of them in the city's North Fairmont neighborhood -- at 300 to 400.
Ground crews were evaluating the slopes' safety, he said.
The alerts started after 1.5 inches of rain fell in four hours overnight, he said. Concerns grew Wednesday morning, when a 3.1-magnitude earthquake struck. Though it was not strong enough to be felt, officials felt that it might increase the odds of a landslide, Alders said.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued before dawn for nearby Box Canyon, Brush Canyon and San Antonio, but they were changed to voluntary orders later Wednesday morning, he said.
The structural integrity of the area's canyons was threatened November 15 and 16, when the Triangle Complex Fire, also known as the Freeway Complex Fire, swept through the area. The blaze destroyed 118 houses and damaged many others, but no one was killed.
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Bonfire sparked wildfire, California authorities say
The fire stripped the area's slopes of trees and brush and left behind a layer of ash that could easily be washed away by rain.
But $1 million in mitigation efforts undertaken in the past 11 days appears to have worked, Alders said.
With the heavy rain ended and only light showers forecast, he predicted that the last of the mandatory evacuation orders would be rescinded Wednesday.
#1
The alerts started after 1.5 inches of rain fell in four hours overnight
O.M.G! Get Noah on the phone.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 20:53
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#2
Call Noah? Wellll, better read this before you call him!
I'll tell you an old-fashioned story
That Grandfather used to relate,
Of a joiner and building contractor;
'Is name, it were Sam Oglethwaite.
In a shop on the banks of the Irwell
Old Sam used to follow 'is trade,
In a place you'll have 'eard of, called Bury;
You know, where black puddings is made.
One day, Sam were filling a knot 'ole
Wi' putty, when in thro' the door
Came an old feller fair wreathed i' whiskers;
T'ould chap said 'Good morning. I'm Noah.'
Sam asked Noah what was 'is business,
And t'ould chap went on to remark
That, not liking the look of the weather,
'E were thinking of building an Ark.
'E'd gotten the wood for the bulwarks,
And all t'other shipbuilding junk,
And wanted some nice Bird's Eye Maple
To panel the side of 'is bunk.
Now Maple were Sam's Mon-o-po-ly;
That means it were all 'is to cut,
And nobody else 'adn't got none;
So 'e asked Noah three ha'pence a foot.
'A ha'pence too much,' replied Noah,
'Penny a foot's more the mark;
A penny a foot, and when rain comes
I'll give you a ride in me Ark.
But neither would budge in the bargain;
Whe whole daft thing were kind of a jam,
So Sam put 'is tongue out at Noah,
And Noah made 'Long Bacon' at Sam.
In wrath and ill-feeling they parted,
Not knowing when they'd meet again,
And Sam had forgot all about it,
'Til one day it started to rain.
It rained and it rained for a fortni't,
And flooded the 'old countryside.
It rained and it kep' on raining,
'Til the Irwell was fifty miles wide.
The 'ouses were soon under water,
And folks to the roof 'ad to climb.
They said 'twas the rottenest summer
That Bury 'ad 'ad for some time.
The rain showed no sign of abating,
And water rose hour by hour,
'Til the only dry land were at Blackpool,
And that were on top of the Tower.
So Sam started swimming to Blackpool;
It took 'im best part of a week.
'Is clothes were wet through when 'e got there,
And 'is boots were beginning to leak.
'E stood to 'is watch-chain in water,
On Tower top, just before dark,
When who should come sailing towards 'im
But old Noah, steering 'is Ark.
They stared at each other in silence,
'Til Ark were alongside, all but,
Then Noah said: 'What price yer Maple?'
Sam answered: 'Three ha'pence a foot.'
Noah said 'Nay; I'll make thee an offer,
The same as I did t'other day.
A penny a foot and a free ride.
Now, come on, lad, what does tha' say?'
'Three ha'pence a foot,' came the answer.
So Noah 'is sail 'ad to hoist,
And sailed off again in a dudgeon,
While Sam stood determined, but moist.
Noah cruised around, flying 'is pigeons,
'Til fortieth day of the wet,
And on 'is way back, passing Blackpool,
'E saw old Sam standing there yet.
'Is chin just stuck out of the water;
A comical figure 'e cut.
Noah said: 'Now, what's the price of yer Maple?'
Sam answered: 'Three ha'pence a foot.'
Said Noah: 'Ye'd best take my offer;
It's last time I'll be hereabout;
And if water comes half an inch higher,
I'll happen get Maple for nowt.'
'Three ha'pence a foot it'll cost yer,
And as fer me,' Sam said, 'don't fret.
The sky's took a turn since this morning;
I think it'll brighten up yet.
'Thou art WRONG,' said Noah
'It will rain a lot more, I'll be bound,
Now sell me some of yer maple'
'Bugger off,' said Sam, and then drowned.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2008 21:10
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#3
we got an inch last night and some more tonight, but no slides, and I drove up by the Cedar fire burn area (SR67/SR78) this afternoon to get some real Mom's Pies in Julian for tomorrow....mmmmmmm
Those who've lived here know what I'm talking about....
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2008 21:17
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#4
Stay safe, Frank, and enjoy the pies.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/26/2008 23:25
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A U.S. Marine and a soldier were shot to death Tuesday while conducting a humanitarian mission north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Protesters demonstrate Friday in downtown Baghdad against a deal to keep U.S. forces in Iraq.
Protesters demonstrate Friday in downtown Baghdad against a deal to keep U.S. forces in Iraq.
Another two Marines and three civilians also were wounded in the attack, which occurred in Baaj, in the northern province of Nineveh, the military said.
Military officials said the unit came under fire from two men -- one of whom appeared to be wearing an Iraqi military uniform.
"The attack appears to have been unprovoked," said Col. Bill Buckner, spokesman for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq. "It is unknown if the attacker was an Iraqi soldier or an insurgent in disguise."
The incident is under investigation and the names of the U.S. troops are being withheld until their families are notified.
Thank goodness our lord Obabma has ascended into Washington so that our war is now a humanitarian mission.
RUSSIAN ANALYST PREDICTS DECLINE AND BREAKUP OF USA
Tue Nov 25 2008 09:04:22 ET
A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.
Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily IZVESTIA published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."
The paper said Panarin's dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year's events.
When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: "It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world's financial regulator."
When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said: "Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia."
Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles."
He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions."
He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.
He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.
#1
Seems the Russian experts don't really understand the US. If we didnt break up prior to WW2 it seems unlikely we would now. Wishful thinking or just intended for an internal Russian audience.
#2
I predict one half of Russia will be speaking Chinese and the other half bowing to Mecca before any Russian fantasy come true.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 19:47
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#3
You forget they get their 'info' from the MSM and Hollyweird. So, why shouldn't they come up with that impression. I recall the CIA was reading internal papers they got from the Soviet Union. They just didn't understand that the low and mid level bureaucrats were lying up the line telling the boss man what he wanted to hear. Soviet Union collapses and no one at the big intel op had any idea. Same here.
#4
To quote Mark Twain, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Same for the U.S. of A. We have survived many crises in the past; the Civil War was a traumatic as anything in our history or Russian history and we survived. We survived the Great Depression. We survived WWII. We survived Korea and Viet Nam. We have survived many other crises. I guess we will survive a bit longer.
#6
Nope. We is broke and getting broker.
US foreign debt is $14 trillion
US Public debt is $10.6 trillion.
Unfunded future federal obligations is another $50 trillion.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 21:04
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#7
BTW, foreigners hold $3 trillion of US T-bills. Think they will be eager to roll over or buy more when when they need cash at home and at the same time US debt skyrockets several trillion $ in a year.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 21:12
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears says her life is so dull under her father's watchful eye that she feels old and boring.
With her new album "Circus" out next week, the 26-year-old singer is working on a comeback after seeing her life spiral out of control with a run of strange behavior, a bitter custody battle over her two sons and the loss of her rights to administer her own affairs.
"I feel like an old person now," Spears told Rolling Stone in an interview for the music magazine's December 11 issue.
"I do! I go to bed at, like, 9:30 every night and I don't go out or anything, you know what I mean? I just feel like an old fart."
In 2007, the Louisiana native was a near-constant figure on the Hollywood party scene. She shaved her head, then wore a pink wig and spoke with a fake British accent. By early this year, she was hospitalized twice for psychiatric evaluation.
By February, a California court named her father as a conservator of her estate, giving Jamie Spears control over her personal and business affairs. Since then, she seems to have put her life back in order.
"Womanizer," the first single from "Circus," reached the top of Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in October. The album is set for release on December 2, the singer's 27th birthday, and she plans to tour this spring to promote it.
In excerpts posted online on Tuesday, the story "Britney Returns" -- www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/24612561 -- details limitations put on her life by her conservatorship and notes she is watched constantly by guards hired by her father.
The interviewer was restricted from asking Britney about her troubled months.
Instead, she talks about her current life and going on chaperoned dates with men who failed to impress her. She jokingly describes one as "an older version of Harry Potter but skinnier."
Spears also discusses being a mom to her two sons, Sean Preston, 3, and Jayden, 2, whom she sees three days a week.
"To be a really good mom, I feel your child needs to be your full-time job," Spears told the magazine. "I want to raise my kids and share all of those precious moments with them."
The People's Bank of China cut interest rates by more than 1pc point as the economy crumbles and millions of jobs are predicted to go ahead of Christmas.
The move came just one day after the World Bank predicted that China would grow by 7.5pc next year. The level of growth may appear robust by Western standards, but it would represent the slowest economic expansion in China for the last two decades.
It is also perilously close to the 7pc minimum level of growth that Chinese economists believe is necessary in order to create enough jobs for the 6m university graduates who will enter the jobs market next year.
It is the fourth interest rate cut from the Chinese central bank in the last ten weeks as the government desperately battles an evident economic collapse. "China is out to save itself here," said Patrick Bennett, an analyst with Societe Generale in Hong Kong.
The PBOC reduced its main borrowing rate by 1.08pc points to 5.58pc, the biggest one-off cut since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.
In recent weeks, a series of riots across central and southern China have flowered as disgruntled employees aired their grievances at the downturn.
Today, around 500 protesters rioted at the Kai Da toy factory in Dongguan in the Pearl River delta, flipping over a police car and trashing computers in a dispute over payoffs to 80 fired workers. Tens of thousands of factories across the region have already shut their gates.
Yin Weimin, China's Social Security minister, has revealed that employment is the Communist Party's number one concern in the downturn and said the "situation is critical". Unemployment is expected to rise from 4pc to 4.5pc by the end of the year and anecdotal reports have suggested that 3m people have already been fired in the industrial province of Zhejiang alone.
Two major provinces, Shandong and Hubei, have already responded by banning companies from firing staff without permission from the government.
The Chinese government has also announced a £373bn bailout to stimulate domestic growth by investing in infrastructure. However, only a fifth of the money is likely to come from central government coffers, with the rest coming from a mix of private enterprise and local government funds.
"We're seeing a government that steps in, that is trying to do everything it can to keep growth at a decent rate, and has the financial means and the administrative capacity to make that happen," said Louis Kuijs, the head of the World Bank's China economics analysis.
"All my colleagues were shocked by such a big easing. It signals the government may believe the economic situation is really serious for it to call for such a drastic move," said Liu Dongliang, a currency analyst at China Merchants Bank in Shenzhen.
The reserve requirements of Chinese banks were also cut by 1pc point, and 2pc points for smaller banks, freeing up around 360 billion rmb (£34bn) for lending.
#2
No doubt. But I'm not sure how much is due the economic meltdown and how much is due to completing Christmas buildup orders. September's US-China trade deficit was almost $28 billion, the largest on record. November's trade deficit numbers will be the first to show any effects from the financial meltdown.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 20:14
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After eight years of resisting cap-and-trade proposals as offered in the Kyoto Protocol, for instance, America is back as a leader on the issue of climate change and will press ahead with policy changes that address environmental and economic challenges that are now interlinked, according to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) Global Warming
Kerry, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made those comments in speaking with reporters during a conference call Tuesday. The call was organized to address an upcoming climate change conference (Dec. 1-12) in Poznan, Poland.
With scientific evidence weighing in favor of the idea that global warming is man made, it is imperative for the global community to shift away from dependence on fossil fuels and to a green economy as a matter of survival, Kerry said.
You cant be half-pregnant on this issue, he said. You cant accept the science and say yes, global warming is man made and yes, climate change is happening faster than the scientists in fact thought it was going to, and then not accept the same scientific conclusions with respect to what that impact is and what were already witnessing.
Kerry expressed concern over melting ice caps, rising ocean levels, weather pattern changes, forest migration, agricultural changes and potential draughts.
The PolandClimate Change Conference should be viewed as a steeping stone to help set up a framework for future discussions and is not meant as a substantive negotiation session, said Kerry. The December meetings will instead lay the groundwork for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark where a treaty could be produced, he said.
We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Kyoto Protocol where disagreement over the structure resulted in the president signing a treaty the Senate would never ratify, Kerry said. We intend to be a full partner with the administration in defining the contours of a global agreement and leading the global community in addressing this challenge.
With President-elect Barack Obama coming out openly in favor of a cap-and-trade system in combination with additional votes in the House and Senate, Kerry said he is encouraged about the future prospects for climate change legislation.
Its a very exciting time, its a moment weve been waiting for, for many of us, for some period of time well, for eight years to be blunt, he said. We intend to pick up the baton and really run with it here.
Under cap and trade, electric utilities, manufacturers, and other firms would be limited in the amount of carbon dioxide they could release in the air. Companies that emitted more than the limit prescribed to them would then have to buy carbon allowances in a government-contrived system from companies that had carbon credits. Those companies would largely include green firms that are environmentally friendly in their production and what that they produce, e.g., possibly solar-powered generators.
The Kyoto Protocol of 1997, named after the Japanese city where it was formulated, called for participating countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by about 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.
In a video message to governors attending a two-day summit (Nov. 18-19) on global warming in California, organized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the states Republican governor, Barack Obama outlined his own federal proposal.
We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 level by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050, Obama said. Further, we will invest $15 billion each year to catalyze private sector efforts to build a clean energy future.
Kerry commended Obama for setting a specific goal and target for 2050 and said that in the intervening years it would be important for law-makers to recognize the reality of the science.
In the question-and-answer session on the conference call, Kerry was asked about the possibility of obtaining concessions from countries like China and India, which are also reliant on fossil fuels as an engine of economic growth.
Kerry said that would be a challenge in light of current economic conditions. But he was optimistic about the prospect for international partnerships. Because the science is compelling, industrialized nations like the United States must be willing to make investments that will translate into better economic returns over the long term and a safer environment, he said.
Negotiations with the Chinese have been particularly difficult over the years, Kerry observed. However, he did detect and a change in attitude the U.N. environmental summit held last year in Bali, Indonesia.
Ive been meeting with the China delegation going all the way back to the first meetings, he said. Usually, we just stare at each other and sort of have conversation, which was not a conversation. They just wouldnt hear of anything. They saw any of this effort as a Western conspiracy to prevent them from growing.
But that changed in Bali, Kerry recalled, when one environmental minister from communist China arrived ahead of his delegation to discuss new initaitives.
There is now a significant transformation effort underway that involves green roof houses and emissions controls, Kerry said. The leadership in developed countries such as China now recognize that there is a genuine danger connected with climate change, he observed.
#1
"With scientific evidence weighing in favor of the idea that global warming is man made"
Lurch, there's a big difference between man causing and man contributing, and the jury is still out as to whether man-made is a drop in the bucket or something more. Also, aren't you true believers calling it "climate change" now?
We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Kyoto Protocol where disagreement over the structure resulted in the president signing a treaty the Senate would never ratify,
Did Clinton sign? I believe the Senate warned him off. I thought Gore just over-extended himself at Kyoto and then the Senate overwhelmingly clipped his wings. Well, I'm sure you're not bothered by technical details. None of you advocates are into details.
#3
... it is imperative for the global community to shift away from dependence on fossil fuels and to a green economy as a matter of survival, Kerry said.
Does this mean your family will sell the 5 SUV's you own?
#4
It takes 6000 gallons of jet fuel to fill up John and mamma Teresa's Gulfstream 5. That's 10 years worth of gasoline usage by the average family. John the Environmentalist burns that in a weekend.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 19:27
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#5
So Senator when do you plan to introduce the Kyoto Treaty for ratification to the whole body of the Senate?
Canvassing Board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the arguments made by Franken's attorneys, and they made it clear that they expect the issue to go to court.
The state Canvassing Board, a panel of five arbiters charged with determining the winner in the overtime election tussle between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Al Franken, unanimously voted this morning to deny the Franken campaign's request that rejected absentee ballots be included in the recount.
During the discussion, the board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the merits of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys. They also made it clear they expect the issue to be litigated separately from the recount procedure.
Also this morning, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who chairs the Canvassing Board, said that attorneys from each campaign have said they can find a way to trim the pile of ballots being challenged in counties across the state. Combined, the two sides are so far contesting more than 3,600 ballots.
"This would be a very great benefit to the Canvassing Board and the citizens of the state," Ritchie said early on at the board's meeting this morning.
Tuesday night, the Coleman campaign said that its senior counsel, Fritz Knaak, acknowledged in a fax to the Franken campaign that observers for both sides were being overly aggressive in challenging ballots "in a mounting game of ballot challenging that serves no useful purpose."
"This is not the way the recount process was intended to work," the correspondence continued, "and we are trying the patience and goodwill of election officials and volunteers throughout the state.
"While the Franken campaign began [Tuesday] morning challenging 25 ballots in one Sherburne County precinct, the vast majority without merit, it's obvious that our campaign volunteers felt the need to match these growing and unnecessary challenges throughout the day."
Knaak called the back-and-forth "an artificial game which has virtually no bearing on the outcome of this recount, as we know that the vast majority of these challenges will be rejected before we even get to the Canvassing Board on December 16th."
Knaak then asked Franken's camp to "join us ... in standing down in the game of ballot challenge one-upsmanship."
Rejected ballots
The Canvassing Board then turned its attention this morning to taking up Franken's request to include rejected absentee ballots in the final tally.
At stake are an unknown number of absentee ballots, out of several thousands rejected, that Franken's campaign says weren't counted because of administrative mistakes.
The board gave Franken a glimmer of hope after voting his motion down. Members agreed to seek legal advice and meet again soon to decide whether local election officials should sort through the rejected ballots. That would help determine whether any that were actually accepted didn't get counted and whether any rejections fell outside the rules for disqualification. But the board didn't speculate as to what would happen with those ballots.
At a subsequent news briefing, Franken recount attorney Marc Elias said the campaign is not going to appeal the Canvassing Board's decision. He said the camp was disappointed in the ruling but encouraged that it left open the possibility of sorting the ballots.
Elias declined to say whether the campaign is headed to court. He did say, "I'm certainly not going to take off the table the possibility of an election contest."
Coleman ended Election Night ahead of Franken but well within the margin needed to trigger a mandatory recount. The hand recount of every ballot, occurring in offices across the state, has done little to clarify who the winner might be as it nears completion.
The Star Tribune has analyzed reasons for absentee ballots being rejected in 28 counties, and only Ramsey and Itasca specifically cite election officials' error. In Ramsey County, it appeared that 53 rejections were tied to administrative error.
After the full recount is done, the board will meet on Dec. 16, review disputed ballots and assemble a final report. The board aims to be done by Dec. 19, but it will take as long as needed. However, even after the board's work is done, court challenges are possible.
The Canvassing Board is chaired by Ritchie and includes Minnesota Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson and Ramsey County District Judges Kathleen Gearin and Edward Cleary. Magnuson and Anderson were appointed by GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Gearin was elected to the bench in 1986, and Cleary was appointed in 2002 by Independent Gov. Jesse Ventura.
Who is Timothy Geithner that upon news of his impending nomination by Barack Obama, Matt Drudge would wonder -- in huge headline type -- if he was the man would "save the economy?"
Timothy Franz Geithner. New York Federal Reserve President. Technocrat. Bureaucrat. Career civil servant. Didn't like Paulson's financial regulation overhaul. Engineered the Bear Stearns "rescue." Heartily agreed that Lehman shouldn't be saved. Kinda thought Lehman should be saved. Worked at Henry Kissinger's consulting firm. A moderate Republican turned registered independent turned Obamacrat. Has a master's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins. Put together the AIG rescue plan. Just 14 days younger than Obama. Dartmouth guy. Has lived in Japan, India and Thailand. Had a "general understanding" of the complex issues involved when Long-Term Capital imploded (via Alan Greenspan.). Worked at the Treasury department under Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers. Faced a "steep learning curve" when he came to the Fed (via Gerald Corrigan.). Good softball player. Self-deprecating sense of humor. Thinks income inequality and entitlements and too little saving are big problems. Not an economist. Never run a company. Married with a couple of kids. Surfs.
Enough answers for you? I dunno, I still have a few questions I would love to ask him. "Please describe your role during the the demise of Lehman." "How has the AIG bailout been good for taxpayer?" "What role did did Fannie and Freddie play in the subprime mortgage bubble?" "What role has government policy played in creating the housing and credit crisis?" "How does tax policy affect economic growth?" "What should be done to fix Social Security?" "Should the government more directly aid homeowners?" "What is the growth potential of the U.S. economy?" "Should unions represent more workers and how would that affect productivity?" "Should China be pushed to strengthen its currency." "Does America need a stronger dollar?" "How do budget deficits affect real interest rates."
But this is the most important one: "Mr. Geithner, the job of the New York Fed is to -- now I am quoting its own web site -- 'supervise and regulate financial institutions in the Second District [Wall Street]. Its primary objective is to maintain safe and competitive U.S. and global banking systems.' You have been in your current post since 2003 and during that time the U.S. financial system has come close to complete disintegration. Why do you deserve a promotion?"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
14:25 ||
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As the U.S. Senate contest lurches forward, with nearly 80 percent of the ballots recounted and Norm Coleman clinging to a roughly 200-vote lead over Al Franken, a resolution finally looks to be on the horizon. But as events have repeatedly proven over the last three weeks, nothing is as simple as it seems when a Senate seat that potentially could give Democrats a fillibuster-proof 60-seat majority is on the line.
All eyes will now turn to the five-member statewide canvassing board as it meets Wednesday morning to deal with the thorny question of whether to consider absentee ballots that were rejected by local election officials. The Franken campaign believes that the panel must do so in order to compile a complete and credible vote tally; the Coleman campaign argues such rejected ballots are outside the body's jurisdiction.
But no matter the canvassing board's decision, the issue is likely to ultimately end up in court. "I'm expecting somebody to be filing a motion in court by the end of day tomorrow," says David Schultz, a political science and law professor at Hamline University. Schultz figures the losing side, whether the Democrats or Republicans, will immediately seek a temporary restraining order or injunction barring the decision from being implemented.
The only real question, he believes, is whether the jilted campaign will turn to federal or state courts for relief. The Franken campaign already has a case pending in Ramsey County District Court related to the rejected absentee ballots, but that doesn't mean it's the only possible venue for litigation. "Clearly the Franken campaign has done a really good job raising both federal and state claims, giving it options to go to either or both of the court systems at the same time," Schultz says.
The rejected absentee ballots are not the only issue that seems ripe for litigation. The challenged ballots, which now number more than 3,000, could also prove irresistible to the teams of attorneys assembled by both sides. Schultz says that the key for whichever campaign looks likely to end up on the short end of the tally will be to keep the canvassing board from certifying the results. Until that happens a winner can't be sworn in to office come January. "Whoever's behind has every motivation, once it looks like it's clear that they may loose this one, to prevent the canvassing board from acting," he notes.
Perhaps the most intriguing wrinkle to consider when looking at possible litigation is the makeup of the canvassing board. Minnesota Supreme Court justices Eric Magnuson and G. Barry Anderson are both serving on the panel. This means that they would need to recuse themselves from any litigation related to the senate recount that comes before the state's top court. Given that both were GOP appointees, this would seem to be an unwelcome development for the Coleman campaign. "It gets two potentially partisan Republicans off, although I don't think they're that partisan myself," Schultz says.
If the contest drags on into January with no resolution, the opportunity to fill the seat would likely fall to Gov. Tim Pawlenty. That undoubtedly would result in Coleman being re-appointed to his post. But it would only be, at best, a temporary solution. If there's no resolution, a new election would need to be held next November to determine who would fill the final five years of the term. "We'd have to run through the whole damn thing all over again," says Schultz.
That's a prospect that should be terrifying to Minnesotans of all political stripes.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
14:24 ||
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Cuban President Raul Castro is open to meeting U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on neutral ground to try to resolve the island's four-decade-old feud with Washington, according to an interview with a U.S. magazine.
The interview for The Nation was conducted by U.S. actor Sean Penn, who traveled to Havana after meeting Cuban ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and before Obama won the U.S. presidential election on November 4.
"You asked if I would accept to meet with (Obama) in Washington. I would have to think about it. I would discuss it with all my comrades in the leadership," Castro tells Penn in the interview for a December 15 issue published on its website.
"Personally, I think it would not be fair that I be the first to visit, because it is always the Latin American presidents who go to the United States first. But it would also be unfair to expect the president of the United States to come to Cuba. We should meet in a neutral place."
Obama has said he will reverse the Bush administration's policies that restricted Cuban Americans visiting Cuba and sending cash to their families there. He is willing to talk to Castro but would keep the 46-year-old trade embargo as leverage to influence democratic changes in the one-party state.
"Perhaps we could meet at Guantanamo," Castro says, referring to the bay where the U.S. maintains a naval base, which Cuba considers a violation of its sovereignty.
"We must meet and begin to solve our problems, and at the end of the meeting, we could give the president a gift ... we could send him home with the American flag that waves over Guantanamo Bay."
#1
I think Hollywood should start paying Spicoli in Cuban pesos and carbon credits instead of evil US greenbacks. Either that, or beat him with a shovel...
Three people were killed and 25 injured in multiple attacks across India's financial capital, with shots fired near luxury hotels and the city's main railway station, CNN-IBN reported.
The shootings took place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, one of the two stations in downtown Mumbai, CNN-IBN said. There were also reports of explosions and continued firing, the channel said.
"Some terrorist incidents are happening. Some grenades were lobbed,'' A.N. Roy, director general of police for Maharashtra state said over the telephone from Mumbai. "Our men are dealing with the situation. Please give us some time to get a clearer picture."
Shootings also took pace outside Café Leopold and at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel, both in the Colaba area of south Mumbai, CNN-IBN reported
Police threw a cordon around the Trident hotel in Nariman Point, the central business district, CNN-IBN said. One eyewitness said there was a fire in the lobby and that some of the guests were still inside there.
#2
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Grenade and gun attacks erupted today across Mumbai, Indias financial capital, killing 60 and injuring at least 200, the Press Trust of India said. Shots were reported near luxury hotels and one of the citys main rail stations.
The Times of India newspaper, quoting unidentified hospital sources, said the death toll could reach 80, with 250 hurt. Press Trust of India said there were 60 dead and 200 injured at St Georges Hospital in south Mumbai. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Police ringed the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Trident and Oberoi hotels and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in the south of the city, NDTV reported.
Some terrorist incidents are happening, some grenades were lobbed, A.N. Roy, director general of police for Maharashtra state, said in a telephone interview. Give us some time to get a clearer picture.
Police said the two attackers at the Oberoi had escaped, Times TV reported. Two suspected terrorists were subsequently killed when driving away from the direction of the Oberoi, Times TV reported. There was no one other than the two in the car, Times TV said. It wasnt clear whether any guests remained inside the hotel, Times TV said. Police didnt say whether the two men were the terrorists who attacked the Oberoi, it reported. Times TV also reported a blast at the rooftop of the Taj hotel, located near the Gateway of India in the Colaba area.
Shootings also took place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, CNN-IBN television said. There were reports of explosions and continued firing, the channel said. Shootings also took pace outside Café Leopold and at the Taj Mahal hotel, both in the Colaba tourist area of south Mumbai, CNN-IBN reported.
We are all fine and safe within the hotel, said a Taj employee who answered the telephone at the hotel. I cant say anything more since we are still collecting information, and are all busy.
Multiple attacks have rocked Indias cities this year with bombs planted in markets, theaters and near mosques. While previous attacks have been blamed on foreign terrorists, police arrested members of the Indian Mujahadeen after a shootout in Delhi in September.
The two attackers at the Trident had entered one of the hotel restaurants and said they were looking for U.S. and British nationals, the channel said. They had taken about 15 people hostage, an eyewitness told Times TV.
There was an explosion near a junction in Vile Parle, near the airport, Times TV said. The remains of a taxicab were strewn at the blast site, television pictures showed. Another explosion was reported at Mazgaon dockyard road in a taxi, PTI said.
The government has previously blamed terrorist attacks on organizations linked to foreign powers, without offering evidence or making arrests. Local media often blame the attacks on groups backed by Pakistan or Bangladesh, without identifying the security officials who provided the information.
#3
When my former company sent me to New Delhi, India in 2002 (soon after the attacks on the Indian parliment), I made it a point to find multiple ways out of the hotel and the local business building we were working in. Probably wouldn't have helped if the Amish (ha) had a good plan, but it was something I could do at least.
We'll see more and more of this type of thing (attacks in general), especially as the West (or the US, anyway) stops responding now that we voted for "change."
Now I'll be waiting to find out if anybody I know is over there (my former company had business in Mumbai, though I never went there). Bleh.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
11/26/2008 15:02
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#4
Hey, the Amish Liberation Army is always militating against one thing or another.
#5
The terrorists, all clad in jeans and tee-shirts and carrying assault rifles are apparently searching for American and British citizens. One report says a group of westerners are hostage in a hotel. The board of Hindustan Lever are trapped in a hotel. One hotel lobby is afire.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 15:28
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#6
A facility used by the Jewish community has been attacked. Some Israeli citizens are thought to have been killed.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 15:34
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#7
Looks like a wild night in Mumbai. From the Mumbai Mirror...
1.55am: Fire in the old Taj Mahal Hotel building, started after the blast in the dome.
1.35am: Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar killed in gunfight with terrorists. Anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare also reported killed! Additional Commissioner Ashok Tampte also killed in firing at Metro. Cops are in a complete state of shock!
1.32am: There is no official line of information forthcoming. Even the television channels are flashing contradicting reports. But it has been established that it is a terrorist attack
1.15am: Firing reported at Hotel Ramada, Juhu. Four policemen killed in gun fire.
1.05am: One more blast at the Taj Hotel and one at the Oberoi Hotel
1.04am: Firing continues at CST station. 1 journalist injured. Firing from police van
1.02am: Two terrorists driving a state government car is reported to be heading towards Malabar Hill where the chief minister and other dignitaries stay.
12. 57am: Terrorists are reportedly holed in Room No 360 and 361 of Taj hotel.
12.55am: 45 police personnel have entered New Taj Mahal Hotel. Entire area cordoned off. Entire police force is on the streets.
12.52am: 2 terrorists shot dead at Girgaum Chowpatty and 2 terrorists have been arrested. They were attired in army fatigues, were clean-shaven and fair
12.48am: Blast on dome of Old Taj Mahal hotel. Heavy smoke visible. 150 employees of Hindustan Lever who were having a seminar there, trapped inside the hotel. HLL Managing director suspected to be among them
12.46 am: 2 terrorists in black Honda City reportedly firing randomly
12.41am: Firing reported from outside Maharashtra assembly! Stations evacuated. Police sealed a suspicious boat at Mazagaon Dock - an extremely sensitive area.
12.40am: Terrorists reported to have escaped in a police van from Cama Hospital!! This is the height!
12.37am: 100 reported injured. CST station (outstation) littered with blood. Two terrorists have escaped from Cama hospital.
12.30 am: Army stationed across Mumbai. 200 NSG commandos expected to land in Mumbai any moment. Police about to launch offensive inside Taj Mahal hotel and Oberoi hotel. First priority is to take hostages out safely.
Report 12.20am: Terrorists lob hand grenade from Taj Hotel. Another blast outside Oberoi Hotel. 4 injured.
Report 12.18 am: Terrorists using AK 47 guns.
Report 12.13 am: 18 people reported dead. 30 injured.
Report 12.08 am: 10 people reported killed.
Report 12.02 am: Firing still reported from CST station. Grenade lobbed at police van. 2 terrorists holed up inside Capitol Cinema.
Report 11.59 pm: Terrorists enter Cama hospital. Firing reported from there. Trains stopped at Byculla. Firing still reported from Oberoi Hotel. 3 people arrested at Oberoi hotel. Not sure if they are the terrorists.
Report 11.52 pm: 3 police officers injured.
Report 11.47 pm: 2 terrorists are holed up inside Oberoi Hotel. 2 terrorists reach GT hospital. Maharashtra DGP A N Roy advises Mumbaikars to stay indoors. Railways IG KP Raghuwanshi confirms it's a terrorist attack. Fifteen people have been injured (which includes a tourist) in seven separate instances of firing at CST station, Colaba (near Taj Mahal hotel), Vile Parle, and Nariman Pt. According to reports, it was an attempt to take over the Taj Mahal hotel, and latest reports indicate that all the occupants of Taj Mahal hotel have been bundled into three rooms and are safe. Two terrorists are still inside Taj Mahal hotel, and paramilitary forces have entered the building. The lobby of the hotel is full of blood stains. Latest reports indicate that one more blast has been reported at Vile Parle. Office-goers in all these three areas have been stuck in their offices as the police has asked companies to shut their gates. Says Jasleen Kaur Gupta, who works with The Times of India, "We have been locked inside our offices and can hear huge bullet shots and even loud noises that sound like bomb blasts. We are very scared."
First gun shots were heard around 9.15 pm. Latest reports indicate Leopold Cafe has been vacated. Unconfirmed reports indicate two groups as being involved in the fracas. All these three areas are deserted. Cars were seen backing off hastily, and people were seen running helter-skelter.
According to reports, Nigerian terrorists are suspected to be involved.
There is also news that there has been a blast in a Colaba building. Police and paramilitary forces have arrived on the scene.
#10
Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar has been killed fighting terrorists outside the Oberoi Hotel.
We have featured him on the Burg in the past.
RIP
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 16:17
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#11
Searched for Vijay Salaskar. Found this interview with rediff.com. A Hero indeed. RIP.
Why did you join the police force?
Even as a young boy, I was very attracted by the idea of working for the enforcement of law and order.
Who was the first criminal you caught?
It was a hit-and-run case. A car accident. The chap had knocked down someone and instead of reporting it, he ran away. Someone managed to get the number of the vehicle and gave it to me. I traced it from the RTO and found the person who was driving the car. It was quite a simple case to solve.
Which was your first shootout?
It was in 1983. There was this chap called Raju Shahabuddin. He was basically a rapist, who also attempted to commit several murders. The shootout took place in Malad. One day I got the information that he was coming to Malad. We tracked him down quietly but he smelt the police was after him. So the moment we encountered him, he started shooting. In retaliation, we also fired. That was my first experience in getting shot at.
How did you acquire this reputation as a sharpshooter, an encounter specialist?
Frankly, I do not see myself in any such role. But people see me as that. The media sees me as that. Gradually perhaps I am coming to accept myself in the role. Though I must confess, I do not like such a reputation. It unnecessarily creates a bad impression, particularly among human rights activists. They feel I am a trigger-happy policeman. Famous for killing others. I do not enjoy having such a reputation, sir. I just do my job.
Why are you carrying two cell phones? Is one a hot line for informers?
Yes, you could say that. Informants contact me all the time. If I am busy with one phone, they can reach me on the other. This kind of information cannot wait.
Why do so many informers reach out to you? Is it because they get some kind of a reward? Or is it because your name is well known by now?
I think it is because they believe in me. They believe I will not relay the information to others, that I will not disclose their names. Reliability is very important. If people rely on me, they will tell me things that they will not tell others easily. That is the way we can anticipate crime, contain it.
Do you also believe that popular cinema has made an impact on crime in the city?
Yes, I do. I think crime is increasing because of many reasons. Films are one of them.
Why has crime become so romantic in our time?
You are referring, I think, to the film Satya. It has created a new sympathy for the underworld. If you see the Gawli gang, you will find that many among them marry each other in Dagdi Chawl. They have countless love affairs there. People, in fact, describe Dagdi Chawl as Prem Nagar. They fall in love with each other out there very easily. Women there have affection for and are attracted to criminals.
But why? Why is the criminal becoming such a colourful figure?
Can you blame these people? He wears so many gold chains around his neck, has ample money, cars, social recognition. People come to him for settling their disputes. One crore (10 million) here. Two crores there. Three crores somewhere else. You can see it with your own eyes, how these chaps wield so much power, so much importance.
Is it because traditional ways of seeking justice are failing or getting compromised? The courts take too long. The cops get bribed. The common man has nowhere to go.
That's right. That's why people go to them. Otherwise, why should they? Mostly they deal with civil matters because the police have no jurisdiction to get involved in civil crimes. If someone is cheated of Rs 500,000 today, where can he go? The courts will take years. So people find it simpler to go to criminals to recover their money. It is out of desperation more than anything else.
But the criminal extorts a huge fee for the service?
He does. But at least some money is recovered. The man feels that he has got something back. If you recovery even Rs 200,000 out of the Rs 500,000 (cheated from you), even that is something. It is better than losing the entire money. And the more important thing is that the money comes back immediately. You do not have to wait for years. If you go to court, what is the guarantee that even after 10 or 15 years you will get your money back?
From your experience, what kind of people are getting attracted to crime?
Young people. Anonymous people. People you cannot trace back.
Where do they come from? UP, Bihar, the interiors of Maharashtra?
Most of them are from Bombay itself.
Young, unemployed Maharashtrian boys?
Yes.
But why are they getting so attracted by crime? The absence of jobs?
After the Datta Samant strike, many mills closed down, many workers lost their jobs, their livelihood and went back to their roots. But their children refused to leave Bombay. They had become too used to it. They did not want to go back to the village and start life afresh in an unfamiliar environment. So they stayed back. But because they could not find proper employment, they slowly drifted into crime.
Which is the most powerful group in the criminal underworld today?
All of them are equally powerfully. Dawood, Chhota Rajan. Gawli. But Gawli is the most organised among them. He has to stay here in Bombay and, therefore, has no choice. The others live in Karachi and Malaysia and do not have to worry about their own safety. He lives here. He has to be better organised just to stay alive and in business. That is why he is putting so much effort into building his political empire. Every month he spends at least Rs 40 lakh (4 million) on his Akhil Bharatiya Sena.
Do you feel your life is constantly under threat?
Yes, but what can I do? On a job like this, what protection can anyone give you? In any case, we do not ask for more protection. What we ask for is recognition. We may get monetary rewards every time we catch a criminal or confiscate their weapons. But that is not what we risk our lives for. We risk our lives for recognition, for official acclaim. And we do not get enough of that, sir.
In other states, policemen of our rank are promoted when they capture or kill the most wanted criminals. I have captured and killed the biggest among them. I have risked my life many, many times. My family lives under the constant shadow of fear. On my job, I get a lot of support from my superiors but that is not the same as official recognition, promotions.
How does it feel to kill a man, looking him in the eye?
In a shootout, no one has time for such niceties. Either you kill or you get killed. I am plain lucky to still be alive. In this job, you know, we take one day at a time. Who can predict what tomorrow will bring?
#18
3 hostage situations, 16 groups of terrorists attacked targets
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 17:57
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#19
Terror attacks like this, targeted against broad groups like - 'Westerners, 'Jews', 'wealthy', 'Christians', etc. without any concern about specific targets is very likely to eventually lead to similar reprisals: "Attack by Muslims - ok, take out a Muslim district, pick one." Escalation leads of course to: "Nuke Mecca."
#20
All hostages at Nariman house are dead.
Victims were Indian Jews and Israelis.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 18:01
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#21
I encourage the Indian government to, once they exterminate these scum, that they invite their extended families to move to Pakistan, with transportation provided by Indian army trucks.
Three police officers, including chief of ATS Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and additional commissioner Ashok Kamte succumbed to their injuries in Wednesday's terror attack.
Karkare, IPS officer of the 1982 batch, had served in RAW for nine years and was made the ATS chief in January this year.
Vijay Salaskar, officer of the 1983 batch, had till recently killed around 75 dreaded criminals in police encounters. After being out of the spotlight for quite sometime, the encounter specialist was given the plum posting of heading the anti-extortion wing of the crime branch.
Ashok Kamte was the DCP, Zone 1, in Mumbai and was also the key officer in state police. He had also served as the commissioner of Solapur and was always known to be in the thick of action.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 18:27
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#23
Sorry this is happening to your people, John Frum.
This is the terroism that the US libs say 'isn't a problem', all hype from GWB's neo-cons, blather blather. BhzerO will have his hands full in less than 60 days, as will the rest of the civilized world.
#24
Motive? Clearly not the death of the victims, per se. And no chance of military victory over India. Seems like they are trying to crack the Indian economy to foster internal dissent. And/or to incite some reprisals to force a broader conflict, either within India or between India and Pakistan: in either case they would anticipate being able to pick up the pieces from the resulting chaos. Tried & failed with the strategy in Iraq, & seems even less likely to work here, but .....?
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 18:40
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#26
Navy commandos have reportedly stormed the Oberoi hotel where hostages are being held
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 18:58
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#27
Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, left, is the co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai, India. His whereabouts are unknown following one of the worst terrorist attacks in India's history.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 19:00
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#28
The reason, in my humble opinion, is to divide India from the West. To make the West reluctant to invest in and deal with India and to make Indians willing to allow potential targets into their nations.
The result, as far as I'm concerned is to give India carte blanche to deal with Kashmir however they damn well feel at this point.
#31
Rarely do I watch CNN but was trying to get various news feeds. This bitch on now is already talking about disaffected Muslim youth who were left behind by the tech boom and that they were angry with the harsh treatment by the CTS when they cracked down on Islamic terrorist recently. WTF
#32
A friend of mine is from Mumbai, and his family still live there. He's obviously on the phone, since I can't get in touch with him. Whoever is behind this needs to pay a HEAVY, HEAVY price. If it's the ISI (most likely), Islamabad needs to become part of Indian territory - along with much of the rest of Failedistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/26/2008 21:37
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#33
Long time the muzzies where thrown out of India. They have been nothing but a cancer.
#39
CBS radio reporting that Delta has cancelled today's flight to Bombay (presumably from NY) and is contemplating cancelling the flights for the rest of the week. Northwest and Continental are considering following suit.
#46
IBN is also reporting that the curious are coming to see what's going on. Why don't they have the immediate area around the hotels locked down? Also reporting a cinema being targeted.
This is an English translation, rough in spots, from a blog entry originally written in French. The reference to the "TV series" appears to be to "Band of Brothers" You won't find anything like this in the MSM.
RTWT.
from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he would protect the fugitive leader of the insurgent Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, in return for peace whether his international partners liked it or not.
Karzai reiterated though that the extremist Islamic leader, who is wanted by the United States, would have to accept the Afghan constitution, a pro-democracy document drawn up after the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001.
If Mullah Omar announced he accepted the constitution and "asks us to give him protection and support, I, as the president of Afghanistan, based on Afghan customs, will give him protection," Karzai told reporters.
Even if the "international community is happy with it or not, I would provide them protection," he said at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Scheffer, head of an alliance that leads a military force of nearly 51,000 troops helping Afghanistan fight a Taliban-led insurgency, said peace talks and political reconciliation with the insurgents was an Afghan issue.
"I would, of course, applaud reconciliation," he said, adding that military warfare would not end the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Nearly 1,000 international troops in a campaign to fight the insurgency have lost their lives in Afghanistan since 2001, as have thousands of Afghan civilians and troops.
Mullah Omar is wanted by the United States and has a 10-million-dollar reward out for his capture.
Seven years after the ouster of the extremist Taliban regime in a US-led invasion, Afghanistan's security is deteriorating with increasing insurgent attacks and crime leading many Afghans to despair about the future.
The increased violence has given new impetus to calls for peace talks with militants who lay down their weapons and reject Al-Qaeda, which is said to support the Taliban and their leaders.
But the White House said last week there were no positive signals Mullah Omar is ready to renounce violence.
WASHINGTON -- Pakistan has replaced Iraq as al Qaeda's main focus, and the terror group has stepped up its efforts to destabilize the nuclear-armed South Asian nation, according to a senior U.S. military commander.
"Iraq is now a rear-guard action on the part of al Qaeda," said Gen. James Conway, the head of the Marine Corps and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in an interview. "They've changed their strategic focus not to Afghanistan but to Pakistan, because Pakistan is the closest place where you have the nexus of terrorism and nuclear weapons."
Gen. Conway also offered a stark assessment of the Afghan situation, saying the Taliban has built a rudimentary command-and-control network that enables the group's leadership to direct attacks across the country.
"They move troops around. They resupply. They provide money," he said. "It's effective and it's real. It's not just happenstance that these guys know where to go and what to do."
Senior U.S. military and civilian officials have grown increasingly pessimistic about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Last month, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told lawmakers he was planning to develop a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan that would for the first time focus on both countries, which he said were "inextricably linked in a common insurgency that crosses the border between them."
Seven years into the war in Afghanistan, the resurgent Taliban carries out daily attacks on U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces. More U.S. troops are killed in Afghanistan each month than in Iraq, and Afghan civilian casualties have been soaring. U.S. intelligence officials say that foreign militants who once flocked to Iraq now travel to Afghanistan instead, bringing more sophisticated bombs and weapons with them.
The top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, has asked for at least 20,000 additional forces, and the incoming Obama administration has signaled that it will send the reinforcements sometime next year. The influx will push U.S. troop levels there to more than 52,000, a record.
Still, many senior U.S. officials fear that the additional American forces won't be enough to stabilize Afghanistan unless Pakistan takes stronger measures against the militants who operate in havens in its anarchic tribal areas. U.S. commanders say militants operate training camps in the tribal areas and also cross freely from Pakistan into Afghanistan to carry out attacks there.
Gen. Conway said Pakistan's best troops were deployed along its border with India and weren't being used in the fight against the country's militants. Pakistan's leadership doesn't yet seem to accept that terrorism poses an existential risk to the country's future, he added. "Pakistan has to understand there's a dire threat there that they have to act against," he said.
Pakistan's failure to take concerted action against the Islamist fighters has led the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military's secretive Special Operations Command to launch a wave of missile strikes against insurgent targets inside Pakistan.
The attacks by unmanned aerial drones have killed at least eight senior al Qaeda figures along with dozens of Pakistani civilians. Islamabad has given tacit approval to the strikes, a source of public anger across Pakistan.
Gen. Conway said the attacks had killed al Qaeda figures involved in planning attacks on targets in Europe and the U.S. "It is important that we keep them on the run," he said. Still, he described the strikes as a "high-wire act" that risked damaging relations.
The Pakistani government has bristled at such criticism and insisted that it is firmly committed to defeating the country's militants. Officials at Pakistan's embassy in Washington weren't available to comment.
Gen. Conway said the U.S. military needed to reorient itself in response to the changing conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq's security situation has improved so much that for the first time it "smells like victory" there, he said. The gains should clear the way for the withdrawal next year of many of the 20,000 Marines currently deployed to the country, he added.
The departures, in turn, would free up additional Marines for Afghanistan, where the fighting is likely to accelerate in 2009. The war on terror began in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Gen. Conway suggested that it would need to conclude there rather than in Iraq.
"I don't think there is anybody in Iraq these days planning a strike on the U.S.," he said. "But I fear there are people in Afghanistan or Pakistan who could be doing that very thing."
Separately, Pakistani officials said they need billions of dollars more to stabilize the economy, battered by high oil prices and an increasingly bloody fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda, even after agreeing with the International Monetary Fund on a $7.6 billion loan.
A senior finance ministry official said: "We plan to go back to our friends, America, to London, to Berlin and the rest of Europe, to China, to ask for help." But hopes for cash infusions from allies facing their own economic problems "may not be realistic."
The announcement of the loan capped a humbling two months for President Asif Ali Zardari, who leads Pakistan's first democratically elected government in almost a decade. On taking office in September, he had insisted Pakistan wouldn't need IMF aid.
#2
If al-Qaeda loses Pakistan, there is no place left to run. They are fighting for their survival as an organization. Without Pakistan, they are just armed gangs on the run from the local police, wherever they are.
Plenty of people on the left are unhappy about the idea of keeping Robert Gates on as defense secretary in the Obama administration. It's fair to wonder when the president-elect will find an important job for someone who opposed the Iraq war. But Gates represents the opposite of the type of thinking that got us into Iraq. And keeping him on may be the best way for Obama to keep his pledge to leave with all deliberate speed.
Gates is portrayed as a hawk because he's part of the Bush administration. But President Bush brought him on precisely because he needed a drastic change at the Pentagon from the gung-ho, cavalier approach of Donald Rumsfeld. People forget that Gates was a member of the 2006 Iraq Study Group, which endorsed negotiations with Syria and Iran and recommended steps that would end U.S. involvement.
In fact, had Gates had his way, we'd be well on our way out by now. "By the first quarter of 2008," said the report, "subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of Iraq." That would have cut U.S. forces in half.
So Gates should not be mistaken for an unrepentant supporter of the war. And because he has Republican credentials and presided over the surge, he has unique credibility in managing our departure from Iraq.
If he says conditions allow us to leave, it will be hard for Republicans in Congress to argue. And if he weren't ready to undertake the job of getting American forces out of Iraq, it's hard to to believe Obama would keep him on--or that he would want to stay.
#3
There is always more to the story. While Gates is not an Iraq hand, he will be a far better SecDef than some of the abject losers picked by previous Democrats, like draft dodger Harold Brown, wormy Senator Cohen under Clinton, and Robert MacNamara under Johnson, who thought he could treat the military like a business.
In September, General Powell asked Aspin to approve the request of the U.S. commander in Somalia for tanks, armored vehicles and AC-130 Spectre gunships for his forces. Aspin turned down the request. Shortly thereafter Aideed's forces in Mogadishu killed 18 U.S. soldiers and wounded more than 75 in attacks that also resulted in the shooting down of three U.S. helicopters and the capture of one pilot.
From a Nov 24 email to the Volokh.com site from a Constitutional scholar.
The Emoluments Clause of Article I, section 6 provides "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time." As I understand it, President Bush's executive order from earlier this year "encreased" the "Emoluments" (salary) of the office of Secretary of State. Last I checked, Hillary Clinton was an elected Senator from New York at the time. Were she to be appointed to the civil Office of Secretary of State, she would be being appointed to an office for which "the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased" during the time for which she was elected to serve as Senator. The plain language of the Emoluments Clause would thus appear to bar her appointment ... if the Constitution is taken seriously (which it more than occasionally isn't on these matters, of course).
#5
To leftists, the Constitution is a living document. Besides, Bush shredded the Constitution for the inmates at Gitmo, so anything that is in the constitution that is inconvenient can be safely ignored.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/26/2008 14:56
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#6
Clinton might offer to take the office for say a dollar; then the emoluments from Senator to Secretary of State would not be increased. As has been said, these are liberals and they will try to do as they damn well please. They think the Constitution as are the Ten Commandments mere guides for behavior and not binding but subject to loose interpretation. Same for laws. In other words, according to liberals, one can pick and choose which ones to adhere to as is convenient.
British Islamist Kamal Al-Hilbawi and Liberal Nabil Yassin Debate: Are Israeli Children Legitimate Military Targets?
Following are excerpts from a TV debate featuring Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi, introduced on the program as director of the LondonCenterfor the Study of Terrorism, and political analyst Dr. Nabil Yassin. Dr. Hilbawi is also former spokesman of the international Muslim Brotherhood in the West. [1] The debate aired on BBC Arabic TV on October 17, 2008:
Al-Hilbawi: "I Believe That Every Israeli Civilian is a Future Soldier... Even If He Is a Child"
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "I condemn the targeting of any civilian, but incidentally, I believe that every Israeli civilian is a future soldier."
Interviewer: "He is what?"
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "A future soldier."
Interviewer: "Even if he is two years old?"
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "Even if he is a child. A child born in Israel is raised on the belief that [the Arabs] are like contemptible sheep, and that this is a land without a people, and they are a people without a land. They have very strange concepts. In elementary school, they pose the following math problem: 'In your village, there are 100 Arabs. If you killed 40, how many Arabs would be left for you to kill?' This is taught in the Israeli curriculum. What would you say about that? Should a child studying this be considered a civilian? He is a future soldier." I think there may be JUST a bit of projection, here...
[...]
Dr. Nabil Yassin: "What Kamal said is very dangerous. He is familiar with the case of the Kharijites. He takes us back to the Azariqa, the Kharijites who were most lethal to Muslims. They used to cut open the bellies of pregnant women, because they believed that the child would become an enemy of the Kharijites."[...]
Yassin: "I Do Not Condemn the Child, Who Still Doesn't Know How He Will Kill the Arabs in 20 Years' Time, When He Becomes A Soldier"
"If we, as Arabs and Muslims, condemned every operation targeting civilians anywhere, we would be able to demand that all parties - not only the U.S. - commit themselves to the same position. I condemn the Israeli governments for teaching children such things, but I do not condemn the child, who still doesn't know how he will kill the Arabs in 20 years' time, when he becomes a soldier. We should differentiate... These things lead us back to the root of the problem: Who is a civilian, and who is a soldier, who is being targeted, and who is targeting me? We must not include civilians in the list of military targets." [...]
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "We must first ask ourselves, with regard to the Polish or Russian Israeli, who came with his children to occupy a land and a home that are not his, expelling the Palestinians to America, Britain, France, and Lebanon - what is his status according to international law?"
Interviewer: "We don't want to limit the show to the Palestinian cause and the Arab-Israeli struggle, we are talking about terrorism in general."
Al-Hilbawi: "In My View, Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi is One of the People Responsible for the Development of Religious Violence"
Dr. Kamal Al-Hilbawi: "Allow me. I absolutely do not condone the killing of civilians. But those responsible for the killing of these civilians are sometimes their own relatives and their own country. [...]
"In my view, Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi is one of the people responsible for the development of religious violence, I'm sad to say."
Interviewer: "Dr. Nabil, we don't want to..."
Dr. Nabil Yassin: "Let's be clear on that... Religious scholars issued fatwas..."
Interviewer: "We are not here to pass judgment on Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi or anyone else."
Yassin: "Jurisprudents... Fuel the Phenomenon of Religious Violence"
Dr. Nabil Yassin: "We need to be realistic. For 1,400 years, we've been speaking in the name of Islam, while concealing the facts of reality. There is a movement among the clerics - and I don't believe in clerics, because there is not supposed to be any clergy in Islam... There is a group of clerics, or religious jurisprudents, who fuel the phenomenon of religious violence, provide religious justifications [for terrorism], and allow people to go to Paradise and marry the black-eyed virgins, by killing themselves and others, some of whom are Muslims."
[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), February 17, 2006.
#1
So, who wins? Reason doesn't seem to come into play here. Are all Islamists children potential future soldiers? Then if you are an Israeli, is any Islamic child a legitimate target? Flip the debate over, as I have done, and see what, if any changes there would be to the dialogue. That would be more interesting than this rheortic without end.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 14:35
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US says 2 servicemen killed in shooting in Iraq
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press
BAGHDAD Two American servicemen were killed Tuesday when a gunman in an Iraqi army uniform opened fire while they were distributing humanitarian aid in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.
It was the third such shooting in the Mosul area in less than a year purportedly involving Iraqi soldiers, raising concerns about infiltration of the Iraqi security forces in one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq.
The shooting, southwest of Mosul near the Syrian border, came on the eve of a parliament vote on a pact that would allow American troops to remain in Iraq three more years. Iraq's government says its police and army are not ready to maintain security on their own.
The attack killed a Marine and an Army soldier on a transition team working with the Iraqis, a military statement said. Two Marines and three Iraqi civilians also were wounded, it said.
"The attack appears to have been unprovoked," Col. Bill Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman, was quoted as saying.
He said it was unknown if the attacker was an Iraqi soldier or an insurgent in disguise, saying a joint investigation was under way. The statement said another man also was involved.
Other U.S. military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said the gunman was in Iraqi army custody and appeared to be an Iraqi soldier. Could be an interesting discussion.
The American servicemen and Iraqi soldiers were passing out blankets near Baaj, a mainly Sunni Arab area near the border, about 75 miles southwest of Mosul, when the midday attack occurred, one of the officials said.
The gunman, who fired from about 50-100 yards away, fled after the attack, the official said.
#1
Let's see. I believe that the Iraqis want first crack at American soldiers if they commit some kind of criminal offense while in Iraq. I sort of understand that, but I don't trust their system any farther than I can throw it.
In any case, does that mean reciprocity is in order? Do we get to try Iraqis who commit murder against Americans soldiers?
#3
In any case, does that mean reciprocity is in order?
No.
Do we get to try Iraqis who commit murder against Americans soldiers?
No. We didn't have that in the Phillippines, nor in Japan, Germany, or Korea. It's been that way since we signed SoFAs with those countries. What makes you think we'd have it in Iraq?
why didn't this man die on the spot
Because it's difficult to beat information out of a dead man?
Oh-oh. Mo will be...unpleased.
Five Iraqi Muslims whose religion forbids them from contact with pork were caught trying to sneak illegally into Britain - in a lorryload of ham. Ha! They'll never look in here! Heeheehee heeheehee...
UK Border Agency officers searched the truck and found the gang hiding inside among tons of the meat. The Polish-registered lorry, bound for Haverhill in Suffolk, was stopped at the French port of Calais. The five were detained and handed to the French immigration authorities. Hey, Mahmoud. Ya smells like...filthy infidel ham!
The attempt, last Wednesday, was all the more bizarre because Muslims are banned from eating or touching ham. Well..maybe they didn't know?
A UK Border Agency spokeswoman said: "We use heartbeat and breath detectors, sniffer dogs and visual searches to find illegal immigrants. A million lorries were searched last year" Tell em to come out. Or we're sending in the mustard.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway and train systems during the holiday season, and police are beefing up security in preparation. An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI has received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.
A person briefed on the matter, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence-gathering work, said the threat may also be directed at the passenger rail lines running through New York, such as Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road, which are particularly busy with Thanksgiving holiday travelers. A U.S. counterterror official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly, said senior government officials have been briefed because the FBI very recently received credible information about possible attacks over the holiday season, and authorities are particularly concerned about this long holiday weekend.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed only that his agency and the Homeland Security Department issued a bulletin Tuesday night to state and local authorities, and the information is being reviewed. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the warning was issued as a routine matter, but added that there may be an increased police presence in New York and other large cities.
The internal bulletin says al-Qaida terrorists "in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway/passenger rail systems," according to the document. "We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season," according to the warning dated Tuesday.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said they have received an unsubstantiated report and as a result have "deployed additional resources in the mass transit system."
While federal agencies regularly issue all sorts of advisory warnings, the language of this one is particularly blunt.
Intelligence and homeland security officials are working with local authorities to try to corroborate the information "and will continue to investigate every possible lead," the memo says.
Rep. Peter King, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said authorities "have very real specifics as to who it is and where the conversation took place and who conducted it. It certainly involves suicide bombing attacks on the mass transit system in and around New York and it's plausible, but there's no evidence yet that it's in the process of being carried out," King said.
Knocke, the DHS spokesman, said the warning was issued "out of an abundance of caution going into this holiday season." No changes are being made to the nation's threat level, or for transit systems at this time, he said. "However, transit passengers in larger metropolitan areas like New York may see an increased security presence in the coming days," Knocke said. The increased personnel could include uniformed and plainclothes "behavior detection" officers, federal air marshals, canine teams, and security inspectors, Knocke said.
#1
Law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com, the plot involved a "Madrid-like attack," a reference to the synchronized bombing of the commuter rail system in Spain in March 2004 that killed 191 people.
A terror suspect arrested in Pakistan by the FBI in recent days provided authorities with details of a bomb plot against the Long Island Rail Road and other information that led to series of high level intelligence and law enforcement conference calls over the past 24 hour and the issuing of a bulletin warning of an unspecified holiday attack on the New York City region's commuter rail system, ABC News has learned.
The suspect - according to some reports the arrest took place in Pakistan - recently met with Al Qaeda leaders and was able to provide authorities with significant detail as to how the plotters would have carried out an attack if their plans had gotten beyond the so-called "aspirational" stage.
Authorities had no evidence to substantiate the suspect's charges and there is no evidence of any active plot, multiple officials said. The suspect is believed to have in the past resided in Suffolk County, Long Island.
Iraq's parliament on Wednesday delayed a vote on a landmark pact setting a deadline for U.S. troops to leave, after agreeing to Sunni Arab demands to make it dependent on a referendum but rejecting other conditions.
The deal paves the way for U.S. troops to withdraw by the end of 2011, bringing closer to an end the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted former dictator Saddam Hussein only to usher in years of sectarian bloodshed.
Once-dominant minority Sunnis are concerned their departure may dilute their influence in the Shi'ite-led country. They have proposed several political reforms they want adopted before they approve the pact.
The vote has been postponed to Thursday.
The Iraqi National Dialogue, one of two Sunni political blocs whose blessing for the pact is seen as key to achieving a broad consensus, said it had demanded reforms that would defang efforts to find and try members of Saddam's former Baath party.
"We refused the Iraqi National Dialogue's two requests," said Jaber Khalifa, a senior member of the ruling Shi'ite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance.
Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and its Kurdish partners, who together hold most of Iraq's 275 parliamentary seats, had already agreed in principle to Sunni demands for a referendum on the security deal in mid-2009.
The pact has been approved by the cabinet and signed with Washington.
Maliki was probably popular enough after presiding over a sharp drop in violence to ensure approval of the U.S. troop deal in a referendum, said political analyst Kadhim al-Miqdad.
#1
Ah yes, good old Putt-Putt. I've always liked the NPP idea, though today they wouldn't be using big whopping great nukes.
But the subhumans always whine so nobody has the stones to go ahead and do it. I forget what magazine it was, but it came with a poster of a drawing of an Orion. Always liked that poster. Much more than of the white ape we used to use to chase our sister around with.
#6
1st Generation was whopping big nukes.
2nd Generation was micro nukes fired much faster
3rd Generation (Daedalus Project) was basically a pellet version triggered by deuterium/tritium.
4th Generation is antimatter catalyzed nuclear fuel. (Sub critical masses set off by thumping them with a bit of antimatter.
Sadly, nobody is going much beyond computer models, despite the fact that Nuclear Pulse Propulsion would be the fastest, most effective drive system we can currently produce.
#1
Bambi will soon find out that when he gores someone's ox, the ox will turn on him and stomp him to death. Bambi doesn't run the gov't, he just imagines he does. Passing a budget eliminating someone's favorite subsidy will be tough. There's lots of agricultural representation, from Oregon and California all the way to Florida and the Carolinas. So having some boy genius saying we're going to eliminate all these programs from budgetary funding and really getting it done is a long, bumpy path. So, what's likely to happen? Same as always. Spend more and more while the party lasts. Party may be over though as it sounds like some sad economic news coming out of the China piggybank too.
#3
It was interesting to watch the ag subsidy grow from a few million to billions. There have to be a lot of hogs that have gotten fat at that trough. And most of them political donors.
#5
I have a soft spot for shameless hypocrites. Especially Chester Arthur-type hypocrites who do the right thing in the tight spot despite a life-time of Wrong.
So if Obama actually gets out the long knives for agricultural subsidies, despite the fact that it will probably wreck my company and kill my job, both of which are funded indirectly from the sea of bullshit government money sloshing about the agricultural business community, he'll have my respect.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/26/2008 15:48
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
10:01 ||
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#1
Even for Jane Mansfield I am not going to becaome a supporter of the Dawgs. I am and will ever be a Bronco supporter since that game Dawgs scored with 90 seconds to go. Several times in teh followup broncos were in the situation of in 1 to go and 15 or seventy yards to gain. And each time John Elway made a superpass and they gained several yrds more than needed. A couple times in those agonizing 90 seconds referees had to mesure the distance in the third run and the Broncos had gained something like ten yards and one inch. Then in the last second Elway (I believe) scored a touchdown.
#2
"Mr. Perkins from Portland" was a famous American humor short story written in 1900. Mr. Perkins was the ultimate ad man who saw advertising as more important than the product. It was later added to a collection of short stories in the book "Pigs is Pigs", which is a classic in its own right.
"What are the priorities, guys? Do you want to have a war? We can probably have one. But is that what you really want? Is that really in our interest? Because I don't think so."
If this was a serious statement the man is a buffoon of the first order. No one WANTS war; but if the alternative is surrencer / appeasement what are you going to do?
Would Fallon sell out Taiwan? How about SKor or Japan or Siberia or India?
This pacific nonsense always seems to be predicated on a belief that all the world will act according to US desires and therefore if there is a war it is always our fault.
Tell me, how successful have all those years of EU diplomacy been in cooling down Iran, hmmmm?
The capture of Abdel Rahman Awad, the elusive Fatah al-Islam fugitive, is being delayed due to the delicate politics that govern life in the sprawling Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp where he is thought to be hiding, Palestinian sources have told The Daily Star.
Lebanese authorities have issued a warrant for Awad's arrest for his alleged involvement in a series of deadly bombings which targeted the army in Tripoli over the summer. The militant, who is known as the "Prince of Al-Qaeda" for his ties to international Islamist networks, has also been linked to a suicide bombing in Damascus in September.
Security forces have asked their Palestinian counterparts, who are responsible for law and order in the camp, to capture Awad as quickly as possible, but despite promises that action will be taken no substantial progress in bringing him to justice appears to have been made.
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) held a meeting with senior Palestinian figures last week in which the military accused the militant of holding the inhabitants of the camp "hostage." But Awad has supporters inside the camp, where there is talk of a fatwa (religious edict) binding Islamist groups to protecting him. But the imam of Al-Quds Mosque in Sidon, Sheikh Maher Hammoud, has issued a fatwa of his own calling for Awad's surrender.
A senior Palestinian source told The Daily Star that while the major political parties in the camp were in agreement that Awad should be handed over as soon as possible, the opposition of armed splinter groups has made such a decision politically sensitive. "There is so much politics among the parties involved," the source said. "Otherwise, why would we have this delay?"
Secular Fatah officials in the camp are said to fear a collapse in support if they hand over Awad, a Palestinian, to Lebanese security forces and are trying to build cross-party support for his arrest with religious parties rather than risking instability by acting unilaterally.
The source said this approach meant that the prospect of serious unrest in the camp over Awad's potential arrest was unlikely. "All the major parties in the camp are in favor of his capture or surrender," the source said. "There are a few Islamist splinter groups who disagree, but I don't think they will dare to stand in the face of the main parties."
This article starring:
Abdel Rahman Awad
Fatah al-Islam
Sheikh Maher Hammoud
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
09:55 ||
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#1
So the politics of life in Ein El-Hellhole are "delicate." I did not know that.
#2
Security forces have asked their Palestinian counterparts, who are responsible for law and order in the camp, to capture Awad as quickly as possible, but despite promises that action will be taken no substantial progress in bringing him to justice appears to have been made.
Yeah. Kinda funny how that always seems to happen...
The investigations into the July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial blasts on Tuesday looked set to get a big push with the detention of a prime
suspect, who's alleged to have funded the operation, by the Interpol in London.
Raheel Sheikh, one of the key accused in serial train blasts, was detained by the British Interpol on Tuesday. He is one of the alleged masterminds of the conspiracy and was involved in the funding of the bombings that killed 200 and wounded another 700.
The Interpol action came in response to a request from the Mumbai ATS, which had supplied relevant details to the international agency. A Red Corner notice was subsequently issued against Raheel Sheikh.
There are two ways available with India to seek his custody. First, by initiating extradition procedures, in which a request is sent through diplomatic channels. The matter is finally decided in a court. The other way is to seek his deportation, which is an executive decision.
Raheel Sheikh is supposed to have strong links with the Pakistan-based jihadi outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), where he was supposedly involved in imparting training to new recruits.
Seven deadly blasts occurred in Mumbai local trains on July 11, 2006, that were caused by RDX and Ammonium Nitrate packed in pressure cookers. The ATS had alleged that Pakistan's ISI had a direct role in the planning and execution of the terror act.
The ATS had set up a separate team to investigate the alleged LeT operative's involvement in the blast. He was also wanted in the serial blasts that rocked Delhi on the eve of Diwali in October, 2005. Raheel Sheikh was cornered in Mumbai, but managed to escape. A crime branch team, however, stumbled upon his name while interrogating Pune-based ex-Simi activist Feroz Deshmukh. He revealed that Raheel Sheikh had taken a loan of Rs 15,000 in May, 2006, and promised him that a certain Noman would return it to him. The trail led to Noman who confirmed that he was supposed to collect the same amount from Faisal Sheikh.
While the police couldn't get Raheel Sheikh it managed to nab Faisal Sheikh, who's alleged to be closely associated with Azam Cheema, on July 27 from Mumbai. All the 16 accused arrested so far by the Mumbai ATS have been booked under Mcoca.
This article starring:
Azam Cheema
Simi
Faisal Sheikh
Simi
Feroz Deshmukh
Simi
Raheel Sheikh
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
09:39 ||
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#1
ABSOLUTELY FAKE NEWS I THINK THERE WILL A SUIT FILE AGAINST THIS NEWS AGENCY SOON AND IT WILL BE SUED.. WE HAVE TAKEN THE DETAILS OF THIS NEWS AGENCY
Posted by: Harry Thomotch5824 ||
11/26/2008 10:49
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#2
Fake news? Prove it, bugwit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/26/2008 11:49
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#3
What??????
"WE HAVE TAKEN THE DETAILS OF THIS NEWS AGENCY"??????
Better give 'em back, dude, or the cops will get involved.
Flying chairs and punches thrown by women students at a Gaza university [I'm assuming it is Al Alzhar because Hamas controls the other Universities in the Gaza pretty tightly] this week may seem a rather minor manifestation of the factional fighting that has riven Palestinian society over the past year or so....
#4
I guess we won't be hearing much about "corporate welfare" anymore, eh?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
11/26/2008 10:36
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#5
"Easing the crisis" is the best result we can hope for. There is a huge bill yet to be paid for the Kredit Kool Aid party of 1998-2008. Please keep in mind that debts which cannot be paid shrink the money supply, and that no one knows how many debts have gone under, and how many will go under.
#6
1 Trillion divided by 300 million (America's population) gives $333,333,333.33
Think of it as three hundred,thirty three million per person, every single Man Woman and Child.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/26/2008 14:03
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#7
1 Trillion/300 Million is about $3300
Posted by: Chris in Fort Worth ||
11/26/2008 15:08
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#8
RJ ran out of fingers and toes.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/26/2008 19:33
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#9
*snort*
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2008 19:36
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#10
And whose ass do they propose to pull the $800 billion from?
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 19:44
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#11
1040 Supplement
Line 1: Got your $2400 yet?
Line 2: Good, send it back to us
Line 3: No? We don't believe you
Line 4: Send penalty and interest
#12
Dumping capital into the markets is NOT a solution. It is a temporary bandaid. Once that capital is burned through, they will just need more unless something is done that creates VALUE.
Home equity was the dominant driver in the markets with things like mortgage-backed securities being purchased by banks around the globe and people using home equity loans as an ATM card for "durable goods" purchases, vacations, and tuition. Simply dumping capital into the markets won't do anything long term unless something is done to increase the value of some other investment.
Maybe something like eliminating capital gains tax altogether would spur investment and raise the value of corporate equity.
In the spring of 1977, Menachem Begin was elected prime minister of Israel and surprised everyone by choosing as his foreign minister not someone from his own Likud Party, but a star of the opposing Labor Party, Moshe Dayan. It proved a brilliant choice, as Dayan helped direct the peace process with Egypt that culminated with the Camp David accords.
In the fall of 1968, Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States, and rather than choose as his secretary of state someone from among his own supporters, he chose Henry Kissinger, a supporter of Nixons arch-rival, Nelson Rockefeller. Again, that proved a fortuitous choice, as Kissinger helped orchestrate a rapprochement with China, as well as accords in the Middle East and with the Soviet Union.
President-elect Barack Obama has now done something similar, picking a rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, to be his secretary of state, rather than someone from among his own supporters. It could also end up a fortuitous choice. Clinton may not be as steeped in foreign policy expertise as a Dayan or a Kissinger, but neither is she a neophyte. Moreover, she will build a strong team at State from among her own supporters, notably former United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.
But the real reason that Obama and Clinton might enjoy success is something that goes barely mentioned in the media. Obama and Clinton are buying into a bottomed-out market vis-à-vis Americas position in the world. It is as if they will be buying stock after the market has crashed, and just at the point when a number of factors are already set in motion for a recovery. For President George W. Bush did not just damage Americas position in the world, he has also, over the past two years, quietly repositioned himself as a realist in foreign policy, and that, coupled with a bold new strategy in Iraq, known as the surge, has poised America for a diplomatic rebound, which the next administration will get the credit for carrying out.
Consider the following:
Iraq is on the mend, with local and national elections scheduled for 2009 and 2010 respectively, which could well solidify our withdrawal under better-than-previously-expected circumstances. Afghanistan is not on the mend, but Obama will have the benefit of moving more troops there from an improved Iraq, as well as putting into place the new strategy of Army Gen. David Petraeus, who has just taken over Central Command, giving Petraeus responsibility not just for Iraq, but for the Greater Middle East. Moreover, Al-Qaeda may be on the run, thanks to a quiet agreement that President Bush negotiated recently with Pakistan for aerial strikes against enemy targets inside Pakistani territory. Then there is Iran, perhaps about to become more reasonable, given the collapse in the price of oil. Syria has been subtly re-engaged by both America and Europe, and may be about to inch away from Irans orbit. And Arab-Israeli peace negotiations have been making a little headway over the course of 2008, even as there has been almost no coverage of it. Here, too, Team Obama is poised to get the credit for break-throughs.
Indeed, the Middle East may just possibly be on the brink of a positive rearranging of pieces over the next few years, thanks to a new American president with the clout derived from high approval ratings both domestically and internationally, that will, in turn, affect decision-making in places like Teheran and Damascus, whose citizenries likely have a higher opinion of Obama than they have of their own leaders. Do not underestimate the importance of a popular American president coupled with increased stability in Iraq, which will be progressing from one democratic election to another.
Then there's China, India, and Russia. China and the United States may be about to move closer together, thanks to the world economic crisis, which now increases the degree to which each of these two great powers will depend on the other. In India, Bush has left a legacy of improved relations, thanks in no small measure to the recently concluded nuclear pact. And Obamas promise to engage Russia, while perhaps calling a halt to NATO expansion - even as Russia is weakened by falling oil prices and a negative international reaction to its adventure in Georgia could signal improved ties on that score. And improved ties with Russia could mean more Russian pressure on Iran.
In South America, Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez has become measurably more unpopular according to recent polls, even as he, too, is weakened by falling oil prices. Obama can also look forward to the end of the Castro regime in Cuba and that of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe over the next four years. Burma may be edging towards a transition away from its aging, implacable dictator, Than Shwe. North Korea is a dicey call, as Kim Jong Il continues to manipulate negotiations, but the overall trend there is in the direction of a comprehensive agreement.
So, yes, this may be a market where buyers are once again starting to trickle in, signifying that a bottom has been reached. Good timing for Hillary.
#2
Can Kaplan explain why this is the bottom? Seems to me, it could go either way. Is Hillary really that much more qualified for Secretary of state than Martha Stewart? Her 'experience' centered around hosting and toasting, not negotations. Unlike Hillary, Martha has actual business experience and real jail time in her resume.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 7:59
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#3
It proved a brilliant choice, as Dayan helped direct the peace process with Egypt that culminated with the Camp David accords.
#5
Would someone please tell this constitutional scholar (aka Obama) that Hillary cannot be SoS?
There's this little clause in the constitution, Article 1 section 6 paragraph 2, that makes her Thighness ILLEGAL!
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time;..."
The pay of the SoS and others was increased while Hillary has been a Senator, ergo she can't be SoS.
#7
GWB did not "damage America's position in the world". The world adopted a pose of antagonism toward America because GWB was not a socialist/pacifist. It's the same old story every time a Republican is President, except that most people aren't old enough to remember how it was with Reagan and Nixon. Now that O is President, America is wonderful.
#8
What BS. Dubya's failings have been only to achieve less than he might have, while still having achieved much. "Realism", like almost all words ending in "ism", is meaningless. Dubya has been utterly realistic, and has had the sense of responsibility (unlike almost all in the political class) to take short-term risks and abuse to enhance long-term prospects for security.
AQ has been severely battered and is under tremendous pressure, their primary failed state/sanctuary (Afghanistan) has been turned over, one of the most reckless likely facilitators/suppliers (Iraq) has been changed, their far-flung operations from the Philippines to the Horn to the tri-border region of South America have been attacked and pressured.
North Korea remains a dropped ball (after Dubya at first adopted a realistic policy), the Israel-Arab thing remains right where it was and will always be, and of course Iran clicks along towards fission. None of those things are new, and none of them are the fault of the current crew, though they coulda/should done more on all, esp. since they at some point took a realistic approach to them.
Kaplan's facts aren't (mostly) facts, his analysis is rubbish, and his metaphor is crappy, too. I see The Atlantic continues its decline.
For most of the past two weeks, prosecutors at the trial of five suspected South Jersey terrorists watched defense attorneys hammer away at their star witness, an FBI informant who infiltrated the group. So when the two assistant U.S. Attorneys resumed their case yesterday, they tried to refocus jurors on some of their more compelling evidence.
They showed photos of the defendants, some clad in camouflage garb, hoisting rifles and shooting at balloons that allegedly represented human heads. They presented agents who recalled shadowing the lead defendant, Mohamad Shnewer, one summer night as he drove himself three hours from Cherry Hill to Fort Monmouth, ostensibly to study it for an attack. And they played videos retrieved from Shnewer's computer that depicted U.S. troops and convoys under attack in Iraq and Afghanistan. At one point, Deputy U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick froze the footage on the courtroom screen to let jurors absorb the image of a face and name: Danny Dietz.
Dietz was a Navy SEAL from Colorado who died during an ambush in the Afghanistan mountains in June 2005. With Islamic music in the background, the video first showed militants combing through charred or bloodied corpses of American servicemen, stealing their weapons, watches and personal items. Then one proudly displayed the take: a GPS device, a grenade-type weapon and Dietz's Navy identification. The videos represent a pillar of the prosecution case, sometimes stomach-turning images they say proved the men's deep hatred for the United States and helped prepare them to attack.
Under questioning from the prosecutor, Thomas Falletta, a New Jersey State Police detective assigned to the case, testified that "at least 80 percent" of the 125 files retrieved from Shnewer's laptop contained videos depicting attacks on U.S. troops. The rest, he said, showed attacks against Russians or Israelis. Each time a video has been shown, the defense has quickly sought to neutralize its impact, pressing witnesses to point out that the videos aren't illegal and that there's nothing to tie the defendants to the violent acts on screen.
Shnewer's attorney, Rocco Cipparone, noted during his cross-examination of Falletta yesterday that all but four or five of the videos on Shnewer's computer were downloaded in the summer of 2006. That was long after prosecutors contend Shnewer and the others hatched plans to attack Fort Dix or another local military site but around the same time that the FBI informant, Mahmoud Omar, kept pressing Shnewer to finalize his plans.
Shnewer, 23, is a native of Jordan who drove a cab in Philadelphia and worked at his family's Pennsauken market. The other defendants include brothers Shain Duka, 27, Eljvir Duka, 25, and Dritan Duka, 30, Albanian roofers from Cherry Hill; and Serdar Tatar, 25, a Turk who worked at a Philadelphia convenience store.
Around 20 percent of Jordanian women approve being beaten by husbands to discipline them, according to a survey conducted by the department of statistics that was published today. The study included nearly 15,000 families and 11,000 women who got married, said the report. Most of the respondents aged between 15 to 49 years old. Luck Steve, representative of UN Agencies which helped conduct the study, said measures must be taken to fight violence against women following surprising results of the survey. "The result of the survey shows we have work to do regarding state of women in the society and how they are being treated," said Steve. The study was conducted during 2007 and made public during a public ceremony held at the department of statistics. Activists have been campaigning to improve conditions of women in this tribal community, but they are faced with resistance from traditional politicians. Queen Rania has been pushing for more rights to women since she was crowned nine years ago, with her efforts resulting in allowing married women to divorce their husbands, a measure that has been an exclusive right for men since decades. Every year between 15 to 20 women are killed in the name of honour, with killers receiving sentences for just a few months behind bars.
#2
The ironic part is this factually incorrect "argument" was proposed by someone representing science students. That does not speak well of the caliber of instruction at Carleton.
#5
One of the councillors who voted in favour of switching the charity said Monday night that the information provided to the panel prior to the vote was factually incorrect, and he will be seeking support from other members to hold an emergency meeting to reconsider their decision.
I'll translate. "We got caught. But it wasn't our fault."
Harrrumph harrumph harrumph...
Hate to admit it, but gotta give the hat tip for this to Puget Pravda the Seattle P-I
Somewhere out in the fleet, there's a Navy medical officer who earned the Navy Cross during vicious, hammering combat five years ago.
And he's not authorized to wear the award -- second only to the Medal of Honor.
That's because the 2003 mission, during which the officer fought like a demon and put himself in the line of fire to save several wounded American and Afghan comrades from al-Qaida and Taliban forces, remains classified.
And so does his identity.
A spokeswoman for the Navy secretary confirmed the existence of the Navy Cross recipient after Navy Times forwarded her a copy of the officer's citation, in which his name is redacted. I'm hoping to see some input from serving folks on this...seems to me that the citation could have been written vaguely enough to eliminate any concerns re OPSEC or the recipient's own safety.
So secret was the award that the Navy did not include it when queried as to the number of sailors who have earned the Navy Cross since Sept. 11, 2001. The Navy has now changed the number of recipients from six to seven, even though the seventh award was presented more than a year ago. RTWT at the link. You'll wonder how he's able to walk right with those enormous brass testicles getting in the way...anyhoo, this old ex-squid and Good Conduct Medal recipient salutes you, wherever/whoever you are.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/26/2008
01:42 ||
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#1
What? Everybody is going to get all pissed off because we can't get his name? Somethings are better left unsaid for a reason. In this case it is classified. But no, someone wants to keep digging so they can be the first moron to put a life in jeopardy. Think. There may be a reason that they don't want to give his name.
Posted by: Art ||
11/26/2008 10:16
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#2
I expect this is not the first case like this.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/26/2008 10:52
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#3
Thank you, brave patriot, whoever you are. You probably didn't earn the award so you could impress your friends. You did it because you are a tremendously brave individual who went to extraordinary lengths to complete your mission. People like you are essential to our continuing survival.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 10:56
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#4
Nobody's suggesting "digging" to paint a target on this guy's back NY Times-style; seemed to me the Navy Times was pretty circumspect in how it handled this story. My point is that the Navy might have been able to handle the security issues (like I said, with a VERY vaguely written citation) to at least allow the guy to wear the award on his uniform. And anyway, I wanted to salute the guy, anonymous or not.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/26/2008 11:01
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#5
You cut two citations. One for public and one for the restricted files. Geez..no creative thinking in the personnel section. However, now they've screwed the process cause we know who the others are so any new name by logical inference is the real McCoy.
#9
This happened many, many times during the Vietnam War. Sometimes, the medal request was simply destroyed, because just the names of the personnel would have given something away. When someone is supposed to be in one place, but does something that deserves a medal at another place, it's impossible to do anything BUT either withhold the award or classify all the data pertaining to the award, including the name of the person receiving it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/26/2008 13:34
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#10
Is that allowed for doctor-types?
For self-defense. The med battalion's TO&E is a little 'different' from other battalions in that it didn't have any bayonets in the inventory cause bayonets are considered 'offensive' weapons. It's the lawyers again.
#12
During command inspections, it was not unusual for the inspecting party to stop and query an individual about an award. the problems that would cause with a Navy Cross in ranks could be bad. although with a bit of prior planning the CO of the outfit could do a little one on one with the inspecting officer to 'ignore' the circumstances.
Back in the day, VA-165 had an AD2 that was a Seal; nobody knew it, until a big inspection. Then the Admiral stopped and asked Brian where his Trident was. Seems they had 'worked' together at some time in the past. got dicey for a bit and then Brian disappeared (early transfer).
#1
Just to remind people that UAW is not the only and probably not the main cause of Detroit's problems. Poor engineering, poor marketing (marketing is not about half nude girls in your advertisements but on knowing who will buy your product (1) and what will make them buy your product) and above all poor management since it is management who sets constrints and deadlines for engineers, managemnt who is able to tell: "Your design sucks, we are not going to sell it and BTW you are fired" and approves or vetoes an advertising campaign.
(1) A well known example is an American beer firm (Budweiser?) in the 5às who issued a series of advertisements with well dressed, obviously rich people drinking its beer. Problem is that the people who drank it were mostly blue collars. End result was that the white collars continued not drinking it since in their minds it was a blue collar thing they wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole while for the blue collars it ceased being "our" beer and became "enemy's beer" so the sales between them took a hit. That is what happens when you don't know your market.
#4
The American auto industry is broken. It's not just one thing. But the UAW is in contention for #1. Not only as a symptom, but as a cause. I would rank dealers as problem #2. Then we could get to design and the rest of marketing. But no matter how well designed and marketed, products assembled by overpaid workers who don't build in quality and sold by sleazeballs who try to rip you off at service time aren't going to sell well.
#7
But no matter how well designed and marketed, products assembled by overpaid workers who don't build in quality and sold by sleazeballs who try to rip you off at service time aren't going to sell well.
If you check the list you will notice that most of the models listed had serious design flaws and had not been adequately tested before going into production. Quality in the manufacturing process was also an issue but here you must factor lousy work and use of substandard parts or materials and that is a managerial decision.
#8
The Japanese (particularly the automakers) learned quality from us. Post-war W. Edwards Deming went to Japan (after US manufacturers showed no interest) and taught statistical quality control. The US didn't adopt his methods until Japan started kicking Detroit's butt in quality and sales. Japan has a national quality award named after Deming.
#10
Um, Cornsilk, the purpose of a business is to sell product. To do that it has to meet the market's desires. The market has spoken and they WANT Bud.
Personally I think it resembles cold horse piss, but that's just me. It's not like there are only a small number of alternatives out there which is where you Obama analogy breaks down.
McCain v. Obama was the equivalent of Coors v. Bud. There were no Sam Adams, Wachusett, Anchor Steam, etc. in play.
#11
Damn, that picture of the Vega makes me wish I had one in my garage right now. Feed it a little E85 with 16 pounds of boost and enjoy life. Seriously, the Vega was what it was. A cheap car with very good mileage capability. It was excellent for those who wanted such a car. They experimented with aluminum blocks with no liners to reduce costs. They utilized high silicon load alloy to prevent cylinder wear. It did. Problem was, they were also using cheap, low carbon rings and cast pistons. Blocks endured..pistons and rings eroded. Replace them and quit squawking. Christ, I'm surprised they forgot the Covair. I had a couple in high school and I could out handle any car in the county. I loved them, except in winter. They wouldn't start due to long intake runners. And, they leaked oil like Harleys. But, what the hey, they were fun for me. I'm now collecting them. Got one with a 600hp small block and one with an aluminum big block both mid-engine mounted. Will out run any Corvette around. I don't think the Big 3 can continue on as they are. What comes next ? Who knows, maybe start-ups like Tesla. But he's way out of price range for commoners. I think we need simple, dependable autos for much less cost. How to do it ???
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/26/2008 12:05
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#14
The article left out #11, which is ResCap Mortgage.
The sad truth is GM has not been an auto company for ~10 years. It has been a mortgage banker and a benefits/pension fund manager. It was a major player in the sub-prime mortgage market.
Making autos became a sideline for them, and it showed on the showroom floor.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/26/2008 12:05
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#15
I think we need simple, dependable autos for much less cost. How to do it ???
Economic justice can best be won by free men, through free enterprise.
The market has been killing them for years. Maybe it should finish the job?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2008 12:17
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#16
Anybody out there happen to know what Cadillac's motto is was?
#17
All those Bud drinkers are stupid/nasty/nutty/ugly/etc. It's silly to argue about tastes.
One counterexample for GM. One of the best cars GM ever produced was the Geo Prizm. It consistently got & still gets rave reviews from users. Reasonably priced, needed few repairs, terrific gas mileage, unusual comfort for its size, durable, etc. etc. etc. Discontinued after just a 5-year production run. Nothing stylish, attractive, or hoo-ha about the model. Yes, it had Japanese tech in it, but it was not sold or warranted by them. I think if GM just started producing them again, they would have a winner. The fact that GM stopped producing it without developing a replacement is another black mark against GM.
#18
I remember reading the car mags and the cars that GM and Ford made for Europe were always better than the ones they made for the US. It didn't make a lick of sense to me. Basically there was too much crap here for too long. Detroit got a bad reputation and the market never forgot it. Funny how that happens.
These guys need to go under and be started over. Some (Chrysler and some GM brands) need to stay dead. Both management and the UAW need to be tossed. It is a harsh world out there. This is the only way they are going to get better.
#20
had my 1980 X car ( 6 cyl. Phoenix) for 14 years.bought it newand sold it at 200k, and only problen was i blew the tranny pulling a trailer. dealer service did suck how ever.
kept it long enough for #1 son to learn to drive ( and not have to worry about hurting it)
#6
Two ships constitutes an "armada" these days? I guess standards for everything really have been lowered. But at least they didn't call them "battleships"...
The U.S. military has decided to transfer Osama bin Laden's former driver from custody at Guantanamo Bay to his home in Yemen, ending the seven-year saga of a man the Bush administration considered a dangerous terrorist but whom a military jury found to be a low-level aide.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan is expected to arrive within 48 hours in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, where he will serve out the rest of his military commission sentence, which is set to expire Dec. 27, two government officials said. The Pentagon's decision to send Hamdan home narrowly avoids what could have been a sticky diplomatic situation, as Bush administration officials had long contended they could hold Hamdan indefinitely.
It also prevents President-elect Barack Obama from having to decide Hamdan's fate early in his term. Obama has said he wants to close the U.S. military prison in Cuba.
Hamdan's attorneys were poised to fight the assertion that their client could be held indefinitely, a case that probably would have brought Hamdan back to the Supreme Court to challenge his detention. Instead, he will serve out the remaining month of his sentence in a Yemeni prison before being released to his wife and two young children, one of whom has never met him. Hamdan is about 40.
"Legally, we absolutely have a right to hold enemy combatants, but politically is he the guy we want to fight all the way to the Supreme Court about?" said a defense official familiar with the release negotiations. "I think we came to the conclusion that, no, he wasn't. This is a win for everyone."
A senior diplomatic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Hamdan had not yet arrived in Yemen said last night that the conditions of Hamdan's release are that Yemen will hold him until Dec. 27 and will then let him go and continue to mitigate any threat he might pose to the United States and its allies, a standard part of U.S. agreements with countries calling for the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Military prosecutors and Hamdan's attorneys said yesterday that they could not confirm his impending release. It is standard Defense Department policy not to discuss detainee transfers until they are completed because of operational security, said Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman. "Hearing that [Hamdan] may be returned in the near future doesn't surprise me," said Michael Berrigan, deputy chief defense counsel at the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions. "That's the wise thing to do. But I can't confirm it."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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(AKI) - One of Pakistan's senior military leaders, Chief of the Air Staff, Tanvir Mahmood, said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Air Force was fully capable of stopping drone flights and missile strikes. He said that it was now up to the government to decide whether it wanted to benefit from the country's capabilities or fight a war with aggressors.
According to Pakistan's Geo News, the Air Chief Marshall made the remarks to reporters during a visit to a defence equipment exhibition in Karachi.
The number of attacks has increased sharply in recent months and there was widespread outrage over a US military raid that resulted in the alleged deaths of 20 Pakistani villagers in the village of Musa Nika, near the Afghan border in September.
Tanvir Mahmood said most of the fighter aircraft of Pakistan's Air Force would be replaced by JF-17 thunder fighters that would fill the gap. The fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force are fully capable to carry all types of warheads, he said.
Meanwhile the Pakistani daily, Dawn, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has assured Pakistan that NATO forces respected its sovereignty and had no mandate to enter the country.
Nisar A. Memon, head of a senate defence committee delegation, told the media the news on Monday on his return from a visit to the United Kingdom and Belgium. He said the delegation told NATO officials that drone attacks inside Pakistan were a serious cause of concern because they infringed on the sovereignty of the country and caused collateral damage and suffering to innocent people.
The delegation also expressed concern about the tremendous increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan without any checks by NATO forces and intensifying terrorist operations in the region.
A suspected missile strike from a US drone killed at least four people in a house in Pakistan's volatile North Waziristan region on Saturday. The attack was considered the fourth on Pakistani soil in November.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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"The events of September 11, 2001, and Pakistan's agreement to support the United States led to a waiver of the sanctions, and military assistance resumed to provide spare parts and equipment to enhance Pakistan's capacity to police its western border with Afghanistan and address its legitimate security concerns. In 2003, President Bush announced that the United States would provide Pakistan with $3 billion in economic and military aid over 5 years. This assistance package commenced during FY 2005."
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:28
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#3
Of course they can stop the drones - they're slow, non-stealth, come from limited bases, and are not quick & agile. The Pak AF has radar, interceptors and weapons - should be pretty easy to whack a fair number of the predators.
#4
Of course they can stop the drones - they're slow, non-stealth, come from limited bases, and are not quick & agile.
As opposed to their protective big brothers, the F-22's, which are very fast, very stealthly, can appear anywhere and are very agile. And are flown by pilots eager to prove you can't do without manned fighters.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/26/2008 12:42
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#5
'Pakistan seeking friends' help to counter drones'
Maybe NorK or Iran could help. Or the Taliban or Al-Quaeda.
#6
Yeah, Steve, their big brothers could protect them, but it would mean killing Pakistani pilots over Pakistani territory - not practical if one is trying to maintain the logistically-challenged forces in Afghanistan and avoid real war with Pakistan.
At some point I expect they will blast a Predator and we'll accept it, as part of the price of continuing the current smoke screen of 'don't ask, don't tell' Pakistani-style.
#10
Then suddenly, on a nape-of-the-earth, comes the stealth Chickenhawk of the Rantburg Air Force, scaring the hated terrorists back into their caves with a subsonic boom!
Here is a just-wired pic of the crew and their aircraft, having just returned from the mission in the Dreaded Afghanistan Winter.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2008 20:47
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#11
Musta been a successful mission. Your bomb racks are empty.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2008 20:49
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#12
good looking kid on the left, but who's the geezer on the right? He looks like an engineer!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2008 20:50
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#13
We took out the back seat and stuffed the ordinance in the back. My son opened the passenger window and dropped the surplus mortar shells, carefully avoiding the landing gear.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2008 20:53
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A Dubai appeals court Tuesday freed two British citizens convicted of having sex on a public beach, sex outside of wedlock and assaulting a police office. The court suspended three month jail terms against Michelle Palmer, 37, and Vince Acors, 34, and the pair will now be deported.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Which is NOT the same as "Free sex on the beach.."
KUWAIT - Kuwait's ruler decided to put on hold the resignation of the OPEC country's cabinet on Tuesday, leaving his options open for intervention to end a crippling crisis between the government and parliament.
The cabinet tendered its resignation as parliament was about to look into a request by three legislators to question the prime minister, a member of the royal family, over the visit of an Iranian Shi'ite cleric accused of offending Sunni Muslims. But the three deputies had also wanted to question Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah over a wide range of accusations including alleged corruption and mismanagement in the world's seventh-largest oil exporter.
The impasse jeopardises crucial economic reforms such as a plan to set up a markets regulator and recent measures to tackle the impact of the global financial crisis by pumping cash into the Arab world's second-largest bourse hit by a slide.
State news agency KUNA said the Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah ordered ministers to continue to carry out their duties pending a decision. After meeting with the emir earlier on Tuesday, Parliament Speaker Jassim al-Kharafi said Sheikh Sabah will not dissolve the house -- an elected legislature dominated by Islamist and tribal politicians with a history of challenging the cabinet. 'I can confirm there will be no dissolution, constitutional or unconstitutional,' Jassim al-Kharafi told reporters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2008
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The Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal here yesterday sentenced Chittagong divisional chief of banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Javed Iqbal and three other JMB cadres to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) each for bomb attack on a judge in 2005.
With this punishment, Javed has so far been awarded 164 years' imprisonment in eight bomb blast and arms cases, according to Public Prosecutor (PP) Qumrul Islam Sajjad. Javed is an accused in 13 more cases, including one for murder, and was acquitted in another bomb blast case, the PP said.
After pronouncement of the verdict by tribunal Judge Md Shafiqul Karim yesterday, Javed told reporters that he has no faith in such trial.
According to the prosecution, the four JMB men tried to enter the court of Second Joint District and Assistant Sessions Judge Abu Syed Dilzar Hossain on the first floor of Chittagong Judge's Court Building on October 3, 2005 but were halted by the on-duty constables. Being resisted, the militants threw a bomb at the judge but it missed the target and fell on a table in front of the judge. No one was hurt, as the bomb did not explode.
Police arrested Shahadat on the spot and recovered another bomb from his possession while Javed and Laltu were arrested later. A case was filed with Kotwali Police Station in connection with the bomb attack the following day. Police submitted the charge sheet to the court on November 2, 2005. Directed by the court, police did further investigation into the case and submitted additional charge sheet on May 8, 2006.
This article starring:
ABDUL MALEK ALIAS LALTU
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
JAVED IQBAL
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Judge Abu Syed Dilzar Hossain
Judge Md Shafiqul Karim
MD SHAHADAT ALI
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
MIZAN ALIAS 'BOMB' MIZAN
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Public Prosecutor (PP) Qumrul Islam Sajjad
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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BAGHDAD- Iraqi MPs are expected Wednesday to endorse a wide-ranging accord that will allow US troops to remain another three years, despite reservations by Sunnis and fierce opposition by Shiite hardliners.
The 275-member assembly is due to vote by a show of hands on the wide-ranging accord, which would require US troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011. The measure enjoys the support of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Kurdish alliance, and a number of independent MPs -- enough for it to pass with slightly more than the requisite simple majority of 138 votes.
But deputy parliamentary speaker Khaled al-Attiya said the government and the UIA were making a last-minute push to assemble a broader coalition. "We do not want to pass this agreement with a difference of two or three or four votes," Attiya told AFP on the eve of the vote. "For this reason there are continuing efforts to achieve a vast majority."
The agreement -- the product of nearly a year of hard-nosed negotiations -- was approved by Iraq's cabinet over a week ago with support from the major blocs representing the country's Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish communities. Iraq won a number of concessions in the deal, including a hard timeline for withdrawal, the right to search US military cargo and the right to try US soldiers for crimes committed while they are off their bases and off-duty.
The agreement also requires that US troops obtain Iraqi permission for all military operations, and that they hand over the files of all detainees in US custody to the Iraqi authorities, who will decide their fate. The pact also forbids US troops from using Iraq as a launch-pad or transit point for attacking another country, which may reassure Syria and Iran.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2008
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Federal law enforcement sources believe that a Twin Cities man blew himself up in a suicide bombing in Northern Somalia last month. The FBI and Homeland Security are investigating whether Shirwa Ahmed has developed a terrorist recruiting network in the area.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS learned that Ahmed came to the Twin Cities in 1996 and graduated from Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
More than a dozen20 young men of Somali descent, mostly in their 20s, from the Minneapolis area have recently disappeared, U.S. law enforcement officials tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. All are thought to be associates of Ahmed. U.S. officials suspect most of the young men have departed for Somalia to fight in ongoing violence there or to train in terrorist camps.
This article starring:
Shirwa Ahmed
SHIRWA AHMED
al-Shabaab
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Or more likely Somali pirates are hiring english speakers to deal with captured crews, monitor radio transmissions and handle negotiations.
#2
I said it time and time again during the 'No Hams in Cabs' debacle that the TC Skinnies were going to be trouble. I was racist of course and this guy blowing himself up doesn't prove there were any radicals in 'The Community'.
Believe it or not, the biggest potential civil unrest problem isn't L.A. or illegal immigrants in the southwest, it's the upper midwest. The longterm trend in Michigan and Minnesota is going to put a lot of pressure on Wisconsin to join in the welcoming party. If the radicals get their nose in the tent there as well, I predict the upper midwest being where our unrepairable civil problems will begin. The enemy isn't just a bunch of hajis 'over there'
Americas future doesn't depend on voting patterns in some state in the electoral map. The real battleground state is Wisconsin.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/26/2008 1:24
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#3
Its too bad they didn't take their local congressman with them to Somalia for Jihad ops.
#5
Another potential hotbed is the Twin Cities of Lewiston-Auburn in Maine, of all places. Maine, the welfare capital of the United States, has been identified by Somali leaders as a great place to get unlimited freebies, forever. Lewiston has an estimated 7,000 of them standing around, collecting bennies. The money flies out of here fast, extracted from the unwitting Democrats, headed back to the mother country.
Posted by: Dr. Hassan Bin Sobah ||
11/26/2008 10:02
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#6
Can't frickin' believe we let these people into the country in the first place. Nothin' but trouble.
#7
Why we allowed 25% of all immigrants (20004-2005)
to settle in the USA from an Al-Qaeda strong-hold (Somalia)is beyond me. This question was posed to US Gov officials, citing an assured future burden on local Law Enforcement/DHS/FBI due to their adherence to Wahabbi Islam and lack of assimilation, and the informal answer, "We're a country of immigrants". OK, now I feel better.
#8
This is going to be a huge problem in the future, count on it. These assholes are going to bitch and moan, try and force their barbaric customs on our country. Then some of them are going to get violent. They are going to do some very terrible things that will likely kill a lot of our countrymen, in the name of allen. Then they will feel our wrath (I hope).
But I have no idea why we've let so many of these bums come here either. Nice job INS.
The head of a Fatah-aligned clan who fled the Gaza Strip into Israel four months ago following a bloody gunbattle with Hamas has returned home. Ahmad Hilles was greeted by family Tuesday and taken away in a small sedan.
Hilles fled Gaza in early August after his clan was routed by Hamas security forces. He escaped into Israel along with 180 others, mostly members of his heavily armed extended family. The clash left 11 dead and marked the end of one of the last pockets of potential opposition to Hamas rule in the territory. Most of the others have already returned to Gaza with Hamas' permission.
Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Ghussen said the group welcomes Hilles' return and hopes he will help bring about reconciliation.
This article starring:
Ahmad Hilles
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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The Kuwaiti government has handed in its resignation to avert a questioning of the prime minister in parliament but it was unclear whether it had been accepted by the ruler, two members of parliament said on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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Mr Wicharn told reporters in Bangkok that the Ekawat Nava 5 had been headed from Oman to Yemen last Tuesday to deliver fishing equipment when it was approached by Somali pirates in two speed boats in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates were in the process of boarding the vessel and seizing control when the Indian navy frigate, the INS Tabar, sailed into view and demanded it stop for investigation, he added.
"The sunken ship which the Indian navy claimed was a 'mother ship' of pirates was not the 'mother ship' at all," he said.
That's what he's saying now ...
Mr Wicharn said he had learnt the fate of his trawler from a Cambodian crew member who had survived the INS Tabar's bombardment and had been rescued by a passing ship after six days adrift in the Indian Ocean. The sailor was now recovering in a hospital in Yemen, he said.
Later, an Indian navy spokesman insisted that the Tabar had fired only upon a pirate "mother ship" which had threatened it. "We fired in self-defence and in response to firing upon our vessel. It was a pirate vessel in the international waters and its stance was aggressive," Commodore Nirad Sinha told CNN. As much as I would like to see some modern naval forces go "old school" against the pirates, I guess this incident highlights the risks involved in misidentifying brigands
#2
I'll trust the Indian Navy's account until it's proven to be wrong.
It is not uncommon for pirates to hire on as crewmen to help in taking a boat. It is not uncommon for people that screw up (such as allowing your boat to be captured) to lie. It is also, oddly enough, not uncommon for people to claim they were crewmen when they were actually someplace else. Who knows at this point.
#3
Highlights the problem I talked about earlier. You can't go around sinking ships that might be pirate vessels without boarding them first to verify. Boarding a pirate vessel is extremely hazardous and likely to get your people killed.
#5
Well, they could have hove to and surrendered. Instead a couple of blokes shot at the Indians, and the Indians defended themselves. End of story. Watch where you sail, Mr. Wicharn. There are nasty folks mucking about the Horn of Africa.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2008 1:30
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Apparently this company has had boats confiscated for illegal fishing in the past. This claim of 'hijack in progress' seems aimed at insurance or compensation claim.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 5:31
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#9
You can't go around sinking ships that might be pirate vessels without boarding them first to verify.
The Tabar ordered them to stop for boarding. There were pirates on deck, armed with AK-47s and RPG7s. They refused to stop and fired on the Tabar.
What do you call a large trawler full of pirates with smaller pirate speedboats in tow ?
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 5:57
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#10
Hey, these so called pirates own Citigroup now.
#11
India acted where others merely whinned. Set up a round for the Indian maties. Hip, hip, hooray! Investigations may show the need for adjustments in procedures, but the direction is correct.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:07
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#12
What do you call a large trawler full of pirates with smaller pirate speedboats in tow ?
#14
After the USS Cole, no warship will allow a suspect vessel that is firing on it to approach. The Tabar's 30 mm Gatling guns spun up a full five minutes after the pirates first fired at them. At no time did the pirates announce that they had hostages.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 9:13
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#15
delivering 'fishing equipment'
boats confiscated for illegal fishing in the past
secondary explosions
Coulda been some of that redneck fishing equipment. If so, then at least the Greenies should be on our side here.
#16
I believe the Indian navy. All the secondaries prove there was something that shouldn't have been on a normal commercial vessel. Now the ship could have been hijacked and the crew members abandoned by the pirates.
#17
Any bets on crew members claiming they were 'impressed', shanghaied, or 'forced' to do the dirty deeds when the 18th Century Royal Navy caught up with pirates in the real Caribbean. "Honest gov'nor, me's was just a victim of circumstances. Don't be too hasty with that rope."
#18
"to Yemen last Tuesday to deliver fishing equipment"
Give a Yemeni a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a Yemeni to fish and he'll import explosives forever.
#24
We deeply condole the loss of lives. But it has to be kept in mind that the trawler was under the command of pirates. As per international law and practice, the vessel is sunk if the pirates do not surrender. It [the firing] is perfectly within our rights and as per international law, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told newspersons here.
In the prolonged conversation between INS Tabar and the pirate mother ship, which took place on open frequencies and during which the Indian Navy repeatedly asked the ship to open itself for inspection, the pirates threatened to blow up the naval vessel as well as their ship if the Tabar did not move away to a distance of at least 20 km. Then, the pirates opened fire on the Tabar forcing the Navy personnel to retaliate.
This threat to blow up the naval ship appears strange if they had hostages aboard as is being claimed from Thailand. All their operations have involved hostages as human shields. Why did they not say they had hostages? the sources wanted to know, adding that in that case the naval vessel would have certainly backed off.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2008 19:21
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WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has agreed to serve in President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet, advisors said Tuesday, setting up the unusual situation in which a wartime Pentagon chief remains to work under a president who has condemned the previous administration's policies.
An official close to the Obama transition team said it was likely Gates would be named Defense secretary when the president-elect begins to unveil his national security team in announcements expected next week.
A former government official who has advised the Obama transition said that it was "99% certain" that Gates would remain as Defense secretary for about a year in the Obama adminitration. "Nothing is definitive," the fomer official said. "But Gates did agree to stay on."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Probably the security briefings scared the sh*t out of the Big O. And that was just the executive summary, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2008 11:24
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A Justice Department lawyer urged an appeals court yesterday to overturn a judge's decision to release a group of Chinese Muslims at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay into the United States.
Solicitor General Gregory G. Garre contended that U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina had overstepped his authority in ordering the release of the 17 men, all Uighurs, a group that seeks a separate homeland in western China. Garre argued that only the president and Congress have such power.
The government "has the authority to hold these men pending resettlement efforts," he told the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, calling Urbina's ruling "an unprecedented order."
The government is appealing Urbina's October decision to release the Uighurs, who have been held at the Cuba facility for nearly seven years. The United States no longer considers the men enemy combatants and would like to release them. But it will not send them back to China, where the government considers them terrorists and where they might be tortured or killed, and it has been unable to find another country willing to take them.
Albania accepted five Uighurs in 2006, but other countries have refused for fear of offending China. When the government provided no evidence to justify the Uighurs' continued detention, Urbina ordered their transfer on Oct. 7 to the Washington area, where they would have been resettled temporarily with Uighur families.
The appeals court stayed Urbina's ruling by a 2-to-1 vote, and it appeared from the questioning of lawyers yesterday that the judges might be inclined to overturn Urbina's decision. Judges A. Raymond Randolph and Karen LeCraft Henderson, appointees of Republican presidents, seemed sympathetic to the government's arguments. Judge Judith W. Rogers, a Clinton appointee, dissented from issuing the stay and appeared more skeptical.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Force the terrorists to live with the judges who ordered them freed.
Security forces ambushed and killed scores of Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka yesterday, the defence ministry said, adding its troops were poised to take the rebels' political capital. Government soldiers occupying a newly-captured bunker line from the Tiger rebels in the Jaffna peninsula carried out the ambush early Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement. It did not say if there were casualties among troops.
However, the ministry said government soldiers in the northern mainland were set to take the town of Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Heavy fighting was raging along three fronts on the outskirts of Kilinochchi despite monsoon rains, the ministry said.
"Soldiers are busy with strengthening the supply backbone for troops in the forward areas with loads of food, drinking water and medicine being transported there," the ministry said. "Troops await the next move. 'Kilinochchi we are coming' is their motto," the statement added.
On Monday, the ministry said 27 soldiers had been killed and another 70 wounded in fighting around Kilinochchi. The Tigers said they killed 43 troops while the military claimed they had killed over 120 Tigers.
A pro-rebel report, meanwhile, said the guerrillas killed 43 soldiers in a separate battle Sunday and halted the government's march toward a strategic crossroads northwest of Kilinochchi. TamilNet quoted unidentified rebel officials as saying the clash occurred in Nalloor village. The rebels took away the bodies of eight soldiers, it said.
Rebel officials could not be contacted for comment on the government report because communication lines to the north have been severed.
The head of the government's security information centre, Lakshman Hulugalle, declined to comment on the report by the pro-rebel Web site, saying the government would not respond to accounts by rebel supporters.
The government has vowed to crush the rebels and end their decades-old separatist campaign. Government soldiers in recent months have captured a number of key rebel bases and large swaths of land previously controlled by the guerrillas, seizing the country's entire west and forcing the insurgents into a shrinking territory in the northeast.
However, the rebels have offered stiff resistance as the soldiers approach Kilinochchi.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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The Thai government insisted yesterday it was "fully functional" but refused to disclose where officials were working to avoid provoking more protests with anti-government activists who have vowed to bring the administration to a standstill.
If you're in hiding to escape the mob then you're not 'fully functional'.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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After searching for a year for a fitness routine compatible with her Islamic faith, Fatima Ismael, a 32-year-old British mother of three discovered Rakha, a new yoga-like workout that incorporates Islamic chants rather than Hindu mantras.
The new Islam-inspired total body fitness routine, designed by a British convert, may be the yoga alternative Muslims are searching for following a fatwa, or religious ruling, by a Malaysian sheikh denouncing yoga as un-Islamic.
Rakha, the Arabic term for prosperity, is gaining popularity among British Muslims eager for healthy lifestyles. A basic routine begins stretches and light cardiovascular exercise, which raises energy and increases awareness. This is followed by a series of steps emulating prayer movements mixed in with tai chi techniques. Yoga breathing and stretching techniques are used throughout the routine to help center the body and relax.
Instead of Hindu mantras, anasheeds or Islam-inspired religious hymns are used to trigger the spiritual state of mind.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Islamic Yoga = put both ankles behind your head and kiss your ass goodbye
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2008 0:50
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Venezuela's opposition has been energized by Sunday's regional elections, in which its candidates won five states and important urban centers in the country's most economically vital and populous regions. Opposition leaders on Monday characterized the victories as a product of the frustrations urban Venezuelans feel with mounting crime and other social ills.
"I'm convinced that people manifested the desire for change across Venezuela," said Leopoldo López, an opposition politician who campaigned for Antonio Ledezma, elected mayor of greater Caracas.
The government of President Hugo Chavez stressed that most voters supported the president's United Socialist Party in balloting for 22 governorships and more than 320 mayoral posts. The president's allies won 17 states, including Barinas, where Chavez grew up and where one of his brothers, Adan, faced a stiff challenge. Government candidates also turned back dissident politicians who had broken with Chavez.
"Without a doubt, we are on the right path," Adan Chavez said on state television Monday night.
But leading Chavez associates, some from the most radical fringe of the president's movement, lost key races here in the bustling capital and elsewhere as the opposition increased the number of states it controls from two to five. About 40 percent of Venezuela's population lives in the electoral corridor the opposition now controls.
The government candidates who went down in defeat include two longtime Chavez allies, Diosdado Cabello, the incumbent governor here in Miranda state, and Aristóbulo Istúriz, who was running for the mayor's post in greater Caracas. Mario Silva, a television talk show host who specializes in deriding opposition leaders, lost in the industrial state of Carabobo.
The president had vigorously campaigned for his candidates, because an overwhelming victory would have given him more political leverage to reform the constitution and run for office when his term ends in 2013.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Do I hear a recount coming on?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:14
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#2
"...an overwhelming victory would have given him more political leverage to reform the constitution and run for office when his term ends in 2013."
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - While the western media raised hopes of a reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan government when Saudi Arabia sponsored talks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the man named as one of the main negotiators, Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, denied any involvement. "No, no! Certainly not!"
The Saudi government owned Al-Sharq al-Awsat even quoted the Afghan Minister of Information, Sheikh Mohammed Tashkiri, who said a second round of negotiations took place in Dubai between a delegation from Kabul and one from the Taliban movement. According to Tashkiri, "on both occasions representatives of Mullah Omar participated in the meetings, the most authoritative among them was Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani".
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
MULLAH MOHAMAD HASAN RAHMANI
Taliban
Sheikh Mohammed Tashkiri
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Looks like we need to send in a couple more troops and ask the question again.
(AKI) - Multiple attacks in Pakistan's volatile North Western Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas took place on Tuesday that killed at least 13 people and injured several others. Early on Tuesday, unidentified gunmen killed four people in the town of Kohat. Two others were injured, said Pakistan's Geo News TV.
In a separate incident in the neighbouring Hangu district, a shooting at a hotel killed three more people. Nine other were wounded in the attack.
Also on Tuesday, a remote-controlled bomb was detonated near a convoy carrying Pakistan's NWFP's Minister for Labour, Sher Azam. The minister reportedly escaped unharmed.
The Pakistani army killed at least six militants in Bajaur's tribal region near the Afghan border overnight and on Tuesday, security officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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British officials announced a $30 billion economic stimulus package Monday that they said was needed to jump-start the British economy in the face of a looming recession. Opposition politicians, however, called it an "unexploded tax bombshell."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Spitting into the ocean, in hopes of turning it sweet.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/26/2008 10:58
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Somali pirates on Tuesday were engaged in talks over ransoms for several vessels, including a Saudi oil tanker, an Ukrainian freighter carrying arms and their latest catch, a Yemeni cargo ship. As the world mulled a response to the problem that has sowed panic in the shipping industry and threatens an ailing global economy, increasingly brazen pirates continued to dodge navy ships to prey on foreign vessels.
Officials from Yemen, which shares the Gulf of Aden's shores with Somalia, said Tuesday that a Yemeni cargo ship carrying building materials was seized last week. "The pirates are demanding a ransom of $2 million," said one official.
Somali pirates have carried out around 100 attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean since the start of this year. They still hold 17 ships and more than 250 crew.
The pirates - a rag-tag army of an estimated 1,500 clan militiamen and former coast guards divided into four or five groups - have been in the world's spotlight since hijacking a 330-meter Saudi supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil on November 15. Mohammad Said, the leader of the group holding the Sirius Star who announced to AFP last week that he was demanding $25 million to free the ship, said on Tuesday that talks were ongoing.
"The negotiations with the owners of the tanker continue. I hope they understand the situation," the pirate said. "We're treating the people on the ship very courteously and this will not change unless the other side behaves aggressively," he added.
The ship is currently a few kilometers at sea, off the shores of the pirate lair of Harardhere, north of Mogadishu.
Islamist fighters controlling much of southern and central Somalia have vowed to clamp down on piracy as they did while in government in 2006, but the pirates have beefed up their military set-up around Harardhere and warned that any attack would have "disastrous" consequences.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
"Somali pirates warn against aggression." That's a hoot.
A German court on Monday ordered the release of a former leader of the Red Army Faction, the Marxist group that terrorized West German industrialists, bankers and politicians, as well as U.S. military officials, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Christian Klar, 56, will be freed on parole in January after serving 26 years for murdering nine people and attempting to kill 11 others, according to a decision handed down by a panel of judges in Stuttgart.
Only one other member of the Red Army Faction remains behind bars, as German judicial authorities have gradually allowed several convicted murderers from the group to rejoin a society they once swore to tear apart.
In August 2007, Eva Haule, 53, was released after serving 21 years for the 1985 murder of a U.S. soldier, Spec. Edward Pimental, and other crimes. Pimental, 20, was shot after he left a dance club in the city of Wiesbaden. RAF members later used his military identification to drive a bomb-laden Volkswagen past a checkpoint at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt. Two Americans, Airman 1st Class Frank Scarton and Becky Jo Bristol, a civilian employee, were killed when the bomb exploded outside the base headquarters.
In March 2007, German officials paroled Brigitte Mohnhaupt, now 58, another leader of the RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group. Among other crimes, she and Klar organized a 1981 rocket attack in Heidelberg that nearly killed Army Gen. Frederick J. Kroesen, who was then commander of U.S. forces in Europe, and his wife.
Unlike some RAF members, Klar has never apologized or expressed remorse for his crimes, stirring a public controversy in Germany over whether he ought to be freed. In January 2007, he wrote a rambling letter to a conference of left-wing political groups in Berlin, urging them to "complete the defeat of the plans of capitalism."
This article starring:
Brigitte Mohnhaupt
Christian Klar
Eva Haule
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
When does his comfotable retirement pension kick in?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:40
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#2
Cause he must travel to DC and take position in the new admin?
#3
If we had any leaders with spines, all of these KGB tools would have committed suicide in prison. As it is, they should be having fatal accidents upon release.
President Hamid Karzai demanded at a meeting with a UN Security Council team Tuesday that the international community set a "timeline" for ending military intervention in Afghanistan, his office said. Karzai told a delegation from the Security Council that his country needed to know how long the US-led "war on terror" was going to be fought in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
how about "today", dickhead?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2008 0:27
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#2
He wants to know when to buy his plane tickets and transfer the opium money to Swiss accounts.
I've always thought that aiming relatively low in Afghanistan was prudent. Iraq's quite a different place, its importance and location are different. In Afghanistan, I've defined "victory" as just barely keeping the lid on, at minimal cost. Admittedly there are two flaws with this approach: surrendering the initiative to some extent, and no-end-in-sight.
But I think it's possible both problems can be finessed. Patience, quiet aggression (esp. against hardboyz seeking sanctuary next door), and careful expectations management. I think the fever will pass (organized global terror jihadism), if we soldier on long enough, and make sure defeat is the only result anyone ever sees at the end of the jihadi road.
#7
I'm sick of this fucking Taliban appeaser. Has he ever said that the Taliban are enemies of the Afghan state who must be defeated? That's not a 'War on Terror', you prick, it's a war to stop these fanatics hanging you from a tree.
#8
The Taliban are in some ways analagous to the ex-Baath Sunni in Iraq; they have a history of being the 'legitimate' government, they have a substantial, dedicated, and to a degree desperate following, they know how to be ruthless. Like the Baath though, they are not monolithic - I suspect there is hope that there is a less-dedicated/radical subset that can be pulled off. No matter how much we don't like the idea, it is probably not possible to create stable A'stan without involving (or killing) them. (The story with the Shia relative to Mookie and his gang is not all that different either.)
#11
Karzai is a drug dealer. Nothing more and nothing less. A-stan is not sustainable. This is a regional problem that combines A-Stan, FATA, Pakistan, Kashmir and India. In the long run, I think only India is going to be able to deal with it.
Geography plays a big role in why this area is going to remain a goat-bugger's paradise for years to come. The terrain is simply not conducive to the formation of a national identity since it breaks the area into isolated regions/tribal areas.
We are wasting $$ and lives in this dump. I agree with Verlaine that our objectives there need to be very low as that will enable us to perform the appropriate diplo-kabuki to say we are leaving under our own terms.
Those terms need to be made very clear to all players. Should some islamo-nut from there decide he wants to kill Americans, and makes good on that desire, then our airforce will return and flatten several locations. Screw nation building in a trbal backwater.
#12
The Battle of Kabul and the retreat to Gandamak
War: First Afghan War
Date: January 1842.
Place: Central Afghanistan.
Combatants: British and Indians of the Bengal Army and the army of Shah Shuja against Afghans and Ghilzai tribesmen..
Generals: General Elphinstone against the Ameers of Kabul, particularly Akbar Khan, and the Ghilzai tribal chiefs.
Size of the armies: 4,500 British and Indian troops against an indeterminate number of Ghilzai tribesmen, possibly as many as 30,000.
Uniforms, arms and equipment:
The British infantry, wearing cut away red jackets, white trousers and shako hats, were armed with the old Brown Bess musket and bayonet. The Indian infantry were similarly armed and uniformed.
The Ghilzai tribesmen carried swords and jezail, long barrelled muskets.
Winner: The British and Indian force was wiped out other than a small number of prisoners and one survivor.
As the United States and NATO attempt to stamp out an increasingly potent insurgency on the doorstep of the Afghan capital, the senior U.S. Army commander in eastern Afghanistan said he plans to send hundreds of troops to two volatile provinces immediately south of Kabul that have traditionally lacked Western forces.
Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, said in an interview this week that a portion of the estimated 3,500 additional U.S. troops expected to arrive in Afghanistan in January will be deployed to Logar and Wardak provinces. Neither has been a major center of U.S. or NATO military activity, even though both provinces are directly adjacent to Kabul and are home to critical transit routes. Schloesser, who spoke at his headquarters at Bagram air base, said he anticipates a rise in clashes with rebel Afghan fighters in Logar and Wardak.
"I would expect from this winter on an increase in violence south of Kabul caused by us, caused by us and the Afghans working together," Schloesser said. "Then, over a period of several months, as we are more successful in separating the enemy from the people and consolidating gains, the violence will come down."
NATO and U.S. military leaders have consistently said that Western forces in Afghanistan are stretched too thin and that more troops are needed to eliminate insurgent havens. Fighters in Wardak and Logar who are allied with veteran Afghan rebel commanders Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani have in recent years exploited the absence of any significant Western troop presence in the mountainous region, transforming it into a militant stronghold.
The two provinces have experienced a rash of attacks this year on NATO troops and military supply convoys, as well as a rise in high-profile kidnappings. In June, Taliban insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades and mines to lay an ambush in Wardak that killed three U.S. soldiers and their Afghan interpreter. That month, seven Afghan truck drivers were beheaded after insurgents attacked a convoy of about 50 NATO fuel tankers and supply trucks in Wardak.
In September, the governor of Logar was killed along with his driver and two bodyguards when his vehicle drove over a remote-controlled mine. A month later, insurgents in Wardak shot down a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter. The crew escaped, and the helicopter was recovered after an airstrike killed 12 insurgents.
There have also been a growing number of attacks on foreign civilians in Wardak and Logar. In August, three foreign female aid workers were killed in Logar when Taliban fighters sprayed their vehicles with gunfire on a roadway. Last month, U.S. Special Forces mounted an operation that freed an American engineer who had been held captive in Wardak for two months. And this month, a Canadian journalist was released from Taliban captivity in a cave in Wardak. The stretch of highway through Wardak near the western edge of Logar provides a crucial link between U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan and NATO-led troops in the southern province of Kandahar. Taliban and other rebel fighters have targeted the area heavily, blowing up several bridges this year and mining the road with explosives.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Foreign troops are sustaining heavy losses and have no prospect of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to a senior Taliban leader. Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani, former governor of Kandahar province and a close adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the Taliban was having "great success" in its attacks on foreign forces.
"All places in Afghanistan are under siege by the Taliban, they are sustaining huge losses. During the night the Taliban are able to carry out action anywhere in Afghanistan in any street," he told AKI. "Their main targets are government installations, the police and the army."
The Taliban is having "great success" with these few targets, he said.
Fifty-year-old Mullah Hasan Rahmani was appointed governor of Kandahar under the former Taliban regime and remains a close adviser to Mullah Omar. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1978-79, he was part of Hezb-i-Islami, a fundamentalist faction of the mujahadeen which opposed the Soviet occupation. He remains a top Taliban leader.
He lost his left leg during the long-running war against the former Soviet Union and has an artificial limb.
In an interview with AKI in an undisclosed location, Hasan Rahmani said foreign forces, including the Canadian troops stationed in Kandahar, would not succeed in defeating the Taliban. "Nobody is successful against the Taliban" he told AKI. "As far as Canadian forces are concerned, they are fighting against the Taliban only under American pressure.
" I wonder why any country should send their sons to any other country and get them killed for a cause which is not his. This kind of war which is fought for somebody else cannot be successful, neither it can be in the future."
Rahmani said the Taliban would not seek any reconciliation with the Canadian troops stationed in Kandahar. Asked whether the Taliban would negotiate, he said: "Not at all. Not for a single inch."
"Leave Kandahar alone," he added.
He said the Afghan people appreciated that the Taliban had brought peace to Afghanistan while the Americans had invaded the country and brought destruction. "Once again the Taliban are fighting to restore peace and prosperity like they provided the Afghan nation during their rule. Afghanistan understands and appreciates this fact and that's why they are supportive of the Taliban."
He said the Afghan nation understands that the foreign troops of America and NATO are responsible for the bombardment and destruction of Afghanistan and the Taliban is simply resisting them.
This article starring:
Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rahmani
Mullah Omar
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#1
he's correct. Foreign troops alone won't defeat them. Their automatic weapons and steely resolve on the trigger, UAV's armed with missiles, spies amongst the inner circle, surveillance tricks, tips from pissed-off locals and general assholerey on the part of the Taliban will defeat them. You goat-f*cking ignorant bastards will die.ut, it will be at the hands of those foreign troops. Get over it. Your surviving families will
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2008 0:13
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#2
I'm at a loss for words. This man's fantasies are beyond any possible discussion. He could have a brillant future in San Francisco politics.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:33
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#6
And actually, one way to defeat them is to absolutely humiliate them. When they run from a battle, there should be very loud audio broadcast in the local dialect that both the villagers and the Taliban can hear. We should be taunting them for running away like little girls ... in front of the locals. We should address them in the feminine gender. These are simple people without much education. Their personal honor means a lot to them. Humiliating them in front of the locals makes it harder for them to show their faces and when they do, they would be more likely to mistreat the locals in order to show their dominance. But after it happens enough times, the locals will begin to want to have little to do with them.
Things like leaflets don't work in an area where the vast majority of people can't read. But radio carrying jokes like "What is the fastest thing in the world? A Taliban who has just seen a Marine." might. It has to be verbal and they have to hear it AND the townsfolk have to hear it. We need to make a laughingstock of them.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The police in Kandahar Province arrested 10 Taliban militants they said were involved in an attack this month on a group of Afghan schoolgirls whose faces were doused with acid, officials in Kandahar said Tuesday.
The officials said that the militants, who were Afghan citizens, had confessed to their involvement in the attack on the schoolgirls and their teachers on Nov. 12 and that a high-ranking member of the Taliban had paid the militants 100,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,275) for each girl they managed to burn.
The girls were assaulted by two men on a motorcycle, apparently because the girls had been attending high school. The men drove up beside them and splashed their faces with what appeared to be battery acid.
Zalmay Ayobi, the spokesman for Gen. Rahmatullah Raufi, the governor of Kandahar, said the orders to carry out the attack had been given from a foreign country, although he did not identify it.
The militants were arrested by the police last week. Mr. Ayobi said a joint delegation from the Interior Ministry and the office of the attorney general in the capital, Kabul, had arrived in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, on Monday to evaluate the cases of the suspects. The delegation, led by the deputy interior minister along with the governor of Kandahar, announced Tuesday that the suspects confessed their involvement in the attack, Mr. Ayobi said. He said Afghanistan's courts would decide the attackers' fate after the investigation was completed.
At least two of the girls were hospitalized by the attack, their faces blackened and burned. The attack was condemned at the time by Laura Bush, who described the Taliban as "cowardly and shameful" for carrying out the attack. "The Taliban's continued terror attacks threaten the progress that has been made in Afghanistan," the first lady said in a statement, adding, "These cowardly and shameful acts are condemned by honorable people in the United States and around the world."
Mrs. Bush has been an advocate for the women of Afghanistan during her husband's tenure. She has visited Afghanistan three times to put a spotlight on development and women's issues, most recently in June, a trip cloaked in secrecy so she would not become a target of terrorists.
This article starring:
Rahmatullah Raufi
Zalmay Ayobi
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2008
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#1
$1275 for each girl? A small price to pay to please Allah and ensure one's eternal bliss.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:44
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#2
Dip them in acid, feet first, and slowly immerse...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/26/2008 9:56
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#5
Chain 'em to a couple of big rocks, spread-eagle, and let every school girl, wife, mother, and sister come by and take a whack with an axehandle. Take lots of photos (none showing women) and post them around the countryside. Let everyone know that any further attacks will draw the same punishment. Very little recidivism with that kind of punishment.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/26/2008 12:54
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#6
Yes, OP. There are those who believe that hate crimes should draw enhanced sentencing.
#7
OP, how about a shoe with some lead shot in the toe for a real insult (I've never heard why slapping someone with a shoe is an insult but if it works!!).
#8
OP, how about a shoe with some lead shot in the toe for a real insult (I've never heard why slapping someone with a shoe is an insult but if it works!!).
A senior Iranian military official has said Iran's military might deters the US from taking any military action against the Islamic Republic.
"The US has mobilized all its power against Iran and it has set up military bases in all Iran's neighboring countries, but Iran's military might has deterred the US from launching an attack on the country," said Rear Admiral Morteza Saffari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy.
"Any attack against Iran will trigger a crushing response to the enemies," IRNA quoted Saffari as saying on Tuesday. "They know that any aggression against Iran will prompt a decisive response, and this is why they will not make any insane move against Iran," he added.
Iran does not want war but is fully prepared to defend itself against any enemy threat, he explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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#2
We're probably more deterred by their mutual defense treaty with Russia. That is why Iran is so adamant in trying to provoke an attack. The defense agreement would not hold if Iran were the attacker.
#3
I wish that you would prove to us that you believe your own words. Come on, show us your stuff. Perhaps, Israel will help us out for a share of the booty. They could use some new territories to occupy.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:26
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#4
First, there was "Baghdad Bob" who brought you such stirring words as "We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back."
Now there's "Tehran Saffron"!.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/26/2008 9:57
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#5
Let's be honest
We are deterred by two things
1) Negative PR
2) Cost of occupation.
Israel's prime minister says Washington has not rejected a request by Tel Aviv to take any action it deems "necessary" against Iran. Ehud Olmert, the outgoing premier, said Tuesday that he had extensively discussed Iran and its nuclear program with "Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the (US) president".
"There is a basic, deep understanding about the Iranian threat and the need to act in order to remove the threat," Olmert told reporters.
Israel insists that a nuclear Iran would pose an existential threat to Tel Aviv, claiming that Tehran has "plans to build a nuclear weapon." Under the allegation, Israeli echelons and army brass have long argued that militarily taking out Iran's nuclear infrastructure is a legitimate option.
An earlier report by Time suggested that Washington had expressed its opposition to an Israeli military strike on Iran before President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. "We have been warned off," the American magazine quoted an Israeli Defense Ministry official as saying.
However, the outgoing Israeli premier dismissed the Time report. "I don't remember that anyone in the administration, including in the last couple of days, advised me or any other of my official representatives not to take any action that we will deem necessary for the fundamental security of the state of Israel, and that includes Iran," said Olmert, who is forced to leave office following a corruption scandal.
On Sunday, in a leaked annual National Security Council assessment, Israeli army chiefs advocated a timely military strike on Iran before a "limited" window of opportunity is missed. The intelligence assessment declared that Tel Aviv must draw up "contingency plans to attack Iran" even if it means courting a confrontation with Washington.
Earlier in July, Texas congressman Ron Paul warned that any Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would take place with the explicit backing of the US government. The outspoken congressman told Press TV that, "No matter what they do, it is our money, it is our weapons, and they are not going to do it without us approving it."
Olmert's remarks, meanwhile, suggested that should Israel involve in a military conflict with Iran, there would not be a quarrel between Tel Aviv officials and the Obama administration.
President-elect Obama has vowed to 'engage in aggressive personal diplomacy' with Iranian leaders to resolve the controversy surrounding the country's nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Israel's prime minister says Washington has not rejected a request by Tel Aviv to take any action it deems "necessary" against Iran.
#2
Perhaps it's so right on so many levels because it's so inscrutable.
Posted by: Titus Gruting5237 ||
11/26/2008 11:28
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#3
This will er, er, ah er, ah take delicate preparation during the transfer of power in Washington. One can't have Israel bombing Iran while negotiations without preconditions are going on by the U.S.
Inappropriate displays of affection, mixing between unmarried men and women and offensive writing are a few of the crimes the Saudi religious police are tasked with monitoring, and they appear to be on the rise if recent arrest rates are anything to go by
A report issued by the Saudi religious police indicated a remarkable increase in the number of arrests as well as in the type of cases it dealt with over the past year, local press reported Tuesday, with 19 percent more arrests this year than last.
The annual report of the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice indicated that only 27 percent of the 434,000 people who were arrested were Saudi.
Eighty-five percent of Saudi cases resulted in the defendants writing pledges not to commit the offnense again while 17,000 were referred to the relevant authorities, the Saudi edition of the London-based newspaper al-Hayat reported Tuesday.
The rest of the arrests were foreign residents, of which 92 percent ended in pledges while eight percent were referred to the relevant authorities.
The reasons for the arrests varied, but most cases were related to religion, public decency, and drugs. Possession of pornographic material and blackmail also figured among the cases. Most cases that were not referred to the authorities were closed in compliance with the principle of satr, or concealment, an Islamic concept that advises not disgracing sinners if possible.
Mecca ranked first in the report with 114,844 arrests, followed by Riyadh with 105,085.
The commission presidency called in the report for hiring more security personnel in all the headquarters, especially since some stations have no security at all. The report also recommended increasing the budget and paying an extra 20 percent to the commission's field officers and providing them with wireless communication.
Among the requests in the report was the creation of a television programs dedicated to highlighting the commission's achievements. The commission said it wanted right to defend itself before the media and respond to all unjustified criticisms.
The religious police have been the target of criticism over the past year for exceeding its authority, unlawfully arresting and detaining suspects and causing car crashes during suspect chases. Earlier this month the commission announced a new council tasked with monitoring its activities.
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11/26/2008
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WASHINGTON - The United States on Tuesday cooled its support for a formal path to help Georgia and Ukraine join NATO, amid opposition not just from Russia but also from Germany and France.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting next week in Brussels, senior US diplomat Daniel Fried sounded conciliatory notes about how the two former Soviet republics should join the transatlantic alliance.
The issue of an alliance membership action plan (MAP) for Georgia and Ukraine had taken "on a life of its own" since a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Bucharest in April, he said.
Don't expect Bambi to push this forward. The Georgians are going to be on their own ...
In April, the 26-member NATO postponed any decision on offering the two nations a MAP until the December foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
Fried stressed that the controversy was over the MAP -- which is only a "way station" and "mechanism" to achieving full membership -- rather than over the long-term goal of having the two join. "MAP is not the only way to get there," he said. "I cannot tell you where foreign ministers will come out in this debate," said Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs who will travel to Brussels with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"But we think, rather than have a huge debate on MAP, ... we ought to concentrate on the areas where the alliance is already agreed, which is that these countries will join NATO but they have a lot of work to do," he added.
With nine former Soviet bloc countries already NATO members, Russia is fiercely opposed to more Soviet-era Warsaw Pact neighbors like Georgia and the Ukraine even starting the process of joining the western military alliance. NATO set up the MAP program in 1999 to support prospective members of the military alliance while they carry out the economic, legal, military and political reforms needed to join.
"Let's not debate theology. Let's help Georgia build up much stronger institutions, consolidate its democracy....," he said. "I think it's fair to predict there would be no NATO membership offer for some years to come -- just taking a look at these countries (Georgia and Ukraine) realistically," Fried said.
In October President George W. Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said that there was "no reason" why Georgia and Ukraine should not be given a MAP. Perino also said Washington had seen "growing support for Georgia and Ukraine given what happened this summer when Russia invaded Georgia," referring to the armed conflict between the neighbors over Georgia's breakaway regions.
NATO members are divided, however, because they see that while membership could stabilize Georgia and Ukraine, it may also raise tensions with Moscow, which considers the move a threat to its own security.
And the Rooskies could turn off the natural gas ...
France and Germany are opposed, arguing that the early August conflict between Russia and Georgia shows how the move could exacerbate tensions in the Caucasus region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2008
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#1
Not the Ukraine, unless that sellout takes over.
#2
Yes. The franks and krauts are worried that the conflict in Georgia shows that they could potentially have to actually fight the Russians.
I can't say I don't see their concern, but I can say they're bullshitting me, you and themselves by trying to hide behind words like 'rising tensions'.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/26/2008 1:33
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#3
The franks and krauts are worried that the conflict in Georgia shows that they could potentially have to actually fight the Russians
#5
Once again, we prepare to screw over potentially valuable friends. But all this talk of Franks and Krauts is making me hungry. Do you have any potato pancakes to go with that? It would be very nice.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/26/2008 8:12
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#6
The franks and krauts are worried that the conflict in Georgia shows that they could potentially have to actually fight the Russians
With what?
Actually the Russian Army could not even deal with either the German or French Army without resorting to nukes. Yes it has fallen this low.
The chiefs of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have declined to participate in a major U.N. conference next week on the financing of development assistance for poor countries, upsetting an effort to secure high-level attendance at a meeting aimed at goading the beleaguered financial giants into stepping up aid.
World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick and IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn confirmed Monday that they will not lead their agencies' delegation at a four-day conference in Doha, Qatar, beginning Saturday. But they will send senior advisers and remain committed to the goals of the conference, which will be attended by all of the 192 U.N. members, said officials from the two financial institutions.
Some top U.N. officials were visibly infuriated by what they viewed as a snub of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. One official accused Zoellick of trying to ensure that the major decisions on the financial crisis would be made by the less unwieldy Group of 20 nations, which met in Washington on Nov. 15 to try to coordinate international response to the meltdown. "It's fair to say that the secretary general was very disappointed and doesn't understand completely" why they will not be attending, the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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Even Chiefs of World Bank and International Monetary Fund had enough of UN?
The U.N.'s Palace of Nations is falling apart. The Palais des Nations is the U.N.'s European headquarters, flanked by the Swiss Alps to the west and Lake Geneva to the east. Peacocks roam freely on the grounds of the pristine, 111-acre Ariana Park that surrounds it.
But on the inside, the onetime home to the League of Nations is plagued by 70-year-old wiring, fire hazards and miles of rusty pipes that have flooded the archives repeatedly. Asbestos lines some of the walls, and the roof is in danger of caving in. The palace is in need of a major facelift. The tab: one billion dollars, says Director General Sergei Ordzhonikidze, who heads the U.N. Office at Geneva.
Or this...
The U.N. Human Rights Council, frequently accused of coddling some of the world's most repressive governments, threw itself a party in Geneva Tuesday that featured the unveiling of a $23 million mural paid for in part with foreign aid funds.
In a ceremony attended by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo told the press that his 16,000-square-foot ceiling artwork reminded him of "an image of the world dripping toward the sky" but it reminded critics of money slipping out of relief coffers.
"In Spain there's a controversy because they took money out of the foreign aid budget took money from starving children in Africa and spent it on colorful stalactites," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch.
Or maybe this...
U.N. Renovation Costs Balloon
Meanwhile, the six-year renovation project began with much fanfare in May. Originally projected to cost $1.8 billion, it now is more than $200 million beyond its expected costs, and the overruns are likely to get much worse.
Recently, the U.N. was hit with an unanticipated bill "exceeding $10 million," says one U.N. veteran.
Ah, yes. Ye Olde "Unanticipated Bill". NYC contractors musta had to carry drool buckets around when they first heard about this job.
The contractor, Skanska USA, was forced to install fireproof doors temporarily throughout U.N. headquarters during renovation work. The New York Fire Department reportedly insisted on the measure as a precaution during the reconstruction.
The U.N. thought the bill would be no more than $2 million, but the final tab was more than five times greater, a U.N. official said.
Grease a fire inspector with a coupla grand and that one coulda "went away".
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan troops pushed further into rebel-held territory, fighting through monsoon rains to capture a village on a key northern highway, the Defense Ministry said. Soldiers gained control late yesterday of Olumadu, southeast of the coastal town of Mullaitivu that is controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site.
President Mahinda Rajapaksas government has pledged to capture the LTTEs headquarters in Kilinochchi by the end of this year as it seeks to end the 25-year civil war. The military said in October its forces had advanced to within 2 kilometers of the town, though has since revised their positions to about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away.
The army said last week soldiers broke through the Tamil Tigers northern defense line on the Jaffna peninsula and that troops are now advancing on Kilinochchi from the north, south and west.
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After a six-year heated debate, the UK government has finally made it mandatory for foreign nationals to obtain identity cards.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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The program, started on Monday, will initially cover roughly 50,000 foreign students and spouses of permanent residents who will receive their identity cards if they qualify for visa extensions.
The card, more accurate and harder to forge than a passport, will include the holder's personal details, fingerprints, and a facial image and will thus allow them to easily and securely prove their identities, the press release said.
Good idea, but the beginning of the secibd sentence is interesting.
After a two-month ordeal, five crew members of a cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates returned to India on Monday.
Scenes of their tearful homecoming played on all the major television channels even as the Indian navy prepared for an aggressive anti-piracy campaign in the world's busiest and most dangerous shipping lanes.
The MV Stolt Valor ship was taken over by armed Somali pirates off the Yemeni coast in September and was released last week after its Japanese owner paid an undisclosed ransom.
The crew members came home to a euphoric welcome as people swarmed the Mumbai airport singing, beating drums and offering garlands. A replacement crew will bring back the ship to India on Tuesday.
"The past two months were horrific. I wouldn't even wish this for my enemies. We were always kept at gunpoint 24 hours and asked to stay on the bridge," said Alistair Fernandez, a crew member. "We were allowed to go inside the ship only for showers. It was very strict, and without their permission, we could not do anything."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2008
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Israel again sealed the borders of the impoverished Gaza Strip on Tuesday following rocket fire, with Palestinian officials saying the territory's sole power plant was forced to shut down because of the crippling blockade. Palestinian fighters in Gaza fired a rocket at southern Israel on Monday, causing no casualties or damage, an Israeli military spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Israel seals Gaza again after retaliatory rocket fire
I was in Israel last week visiting daughter. We had cable in the room. Interestingly, Al Jazeera English had less bias than the BBC (an far less sneering).
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes. Kandahar is in Taliban hands all but a square mile at the centre of the city and the first Taliban checkpoints are scarcely 15 miles from Kabul. Hamid Karzai's deeply corrupted government is almost as powerless as the Iraqi cabinet in Baghdad's "Green Zone"; lorry drivers in the country now carry business permits issued by the Taliban which operate their own courts in remote areas of the country.
BAGHDAD Eighteen young women purportedly belonging to a suicide bombing network in northern Iraq surrendered to U.S. forces on Wednesday, a top U.S. commander said.
Officials in Southern California issued mandatory evacuation orders Wednesday for residents of a sparsely populated area in the city of Yorba Linda after torrential rain threatened to spark landslides in canyons denuded of vegetation by recent fires.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears says her life is so dull under her father's watchful eye that she feels old and boring.
Today, around 500 protesters rioted at the Kai Da toy factory in Dongguan in the Pearl River delta, flipping over a police car and trashing computers in a dispute over payoffs to 80 fired workers. Tens of thousands of factories across the region have already shut their gates. 
After eight years of resisting cap-and-trade proposals as offered in the Kyoto Protocol, for instance, America is back as a leader on the issue of climate change and will press ahead with policy changes that address environmental and economic challenges that are now interlinked, according to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) 
Canvassing Board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the arguments made by Franken's attorneys, and they made it clear that they expect the issue to go to court.
The Star Tribune has analyzed reasons for absentee ballots being rejected in 28 counties, and only Ramsey and Itasca specifically cite election officials' error. In Ramsey County, it appeared that 53 rejections were tied to administrative error.
WASHINGTON -- Pakistan has replaced Iraq as al Qaeda's main focus, and the terror group has stepped up its efforts to destabilize the nuclear-armed South Asian nation, according to a senior U.S. military commander.
The attacks by unmanned aerial drones have killed at least eight senior al Qaeda figures along with dozens of Pakistani civilians. Islamabad has given tacit approval to the strikes, a source of public anger across Pakistan.
Plenty of people on the left are unhappy about the idea of keeping Robert Gates on as defense secretary in the Obama administration. It's fair to wonder when the president-elect will find an important job for someone who opposed the Iraq war. But Gates represents the opposite of the type of thinking that got us into Iraq. And keeping him on may be the best way for Obama to keep his pledge to leave with all deliberate speed.
British Islamist Kamal Al-Hilbawi and Liberal Nabil Yassin Debate: Are Israeli Children Legitimate Military Targets?
The capture of 
The investigations into the July 11, 2006, Mumbai serial blasts on Tuesday looked set to get a big push with the detention of a prime 
The U.S. military has decided to transfer Osama bin Laden's former driver from custody at Guantanamo Bay to his home in Yemen, ending the seven-year saga of a man the Bush administration considered a dangerous terrorist but whom a military jury found to be a low-level aide. 
(AKI) - One of Pakistan's senior military leaders, Chief of the Air Staff, Tanvir Mahmood, said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Air Force was fully capable of stopping drone flights and missile strikes. He said that it was now up to the government to decide whether it wanted to benefit from the country's capabilities or fight a war with aggressors.
The Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal here yesterday sentenced Chittagong divisional chief of banned 
Federal law enforcement sources believe that a Twin Cities man blew himself up in a suicide bombing in Northern Somalia last month. The FBI and Homeland Security are investigating whether 
The head of a Fatah-aligned clan who fled the Gaza Strip into Israel four months ago following a bloody gunbattle with Hamas has returned home. 
Security forces ambushed and killed scores of Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka yesterday, the defence ministry said, adding its troops were poised to take the rebels' political capital. Government soldiers occupying a newly-captured bunker line from the Tiger rebels in the Jaffna peninsula carried out the ambush early Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement. It did not say if there were casualties among troops.
Venezuela's opposition has been energized by Sunday's regional elections, in which its candidates won five states and important urban centers in the country's most economically vital and populous regions. Opposition leaders on Monday characterized the victories as a product of the frustrations urban Venezuelans feel with mounting crime and other social ills. 
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - While the western media raised hopes of a reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan government when Saudi Arabia sponsored talks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the man named as one of the main negotiators, 
A German court on Monday ordered the release of a former leader of the Red Army Faction, the Marxist group that terrorized West German industrialists, bankers and politicians, as well as U.S. military officials, in the 1970s and 1980s. 
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Foreign troops are sustaining heavy losses and have no prospect of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to a senior Taliban leader. 
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The police in Kandahar Province arrested 10 Taliban militants they said were involved in an attack this month on a group of Afghan schoolgirls whose faces were doused with acid, officials in Kandahar said Tuesday.
Inappropriate displays of affection, mixing between unmarried men and women and offensive writing are a few of the crimes the Saudi religious police are tasked with monitoring, and they appear to be on the rise if recent arrest rates are anything to go by 
The chiefs of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have declined to participate in a major U.N. conference next week on the financing of development assistance for poor countries, upsetting an effort to secure high-level attendance at a meeting aimed at goading the beleaguered financial giants into stepping up aid. 
After a two-month ordeal, five crew members of a cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates returned to India on Monday. 
