Ay-Pee. HT to weasel zippers
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is extending shortage creation price controls and will place limits on profits as he extends attempts to curb the galloping inflation that is eroding support for his rule.
Maduro made the announcement in a late-night television address Sunday in which he also vowed to step up inspections of businesses selling shoes, clothing, automobiles and other goods to make sure they aren't gouging consumers.
"We can't just close the businesses; the owners have to go to jail," Maduro said in an impassioned speech in which he cited Jewish, Muslim and Christian texts to harangue businessmen he accuses of usury. "We can't allow our hard currency to be used to rob people through the sale of these goods." there won't be any goods to sell, pendejo
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2013
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#2
Stand back, Economic Creationism at work. The 'red' star stage when it start consuming the last of its fusionable resources, just before it blows itself apart or imploding to a dark cinder of its former self.
[Al Ahram] The Italian navy said Sunday it has enjugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! 16 human traffickers aboard a so-called "mother ship" in international waters off Libya.
Submarine surveillance ahead of Saturday's raid was "of particular importance, notably for gathering proof" against the traffickers, it said in a statement. "Ciccolini, we shall gather evidence!"
"Si, signor Commodore!"
The fishing boat served as a staging area from which the traffickers dispatched their clients -- Syrian migrants seeking asylum or a better life -- aboard smaller, often rickety vessels to destinations in southern Europe. "Signor Commodore! I have evidence that's a mother ship!"
"Really, Ciccolini? Have you been drinking?"
The boat had been under surveillance, including by drones, hi-tech radars, night-vision equipment and the submarine, under stepped-up operations launched after two shipwrecks last month claimed some 500 lives. "All compartments, secure for action!"
It was located some 500 kilometres (300 miles) southeast of Sicily, near Libya, the navy said. "Ciccolini, that smudge off the port bow? Is that Libya?"
"I'm afraid so, signor Commodore!"
Also Saturday, the navy rescued 176 Syrian migrants from one of the boats dispatched by the "mother ship", it said. "You're sure that's a ship, Ciccolini?"
"Well, I have testimony that it is, signor Commodore!"
The navy said the "mother ship" itself had sunk after it took on water while being towed towards an Italian port. "Forward room, make ready the forward tubes."
"Ready, signor Commodore!"
"Fire one... two... three... four!"
"One away... two away... three away... four away!"
"Ciccolini, you're sure that's a ship?"
"Not anymore, signor Commodore!"
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Village elders and Islamic clerics in the Russian republic of Ingushetia agreed to hike unofficial fines for bride kidnapping in an effort to stop the custom that led to a bloody shootout last month.
Stealing a woman to take her as wife will now cost the groom $6,100, up from $305, participants decreed at the ongoing Islamic Conference in the capital of the republic, Magas. Groom's helpers, local elders who endorse the kidnapping and the owner of the house that hosts the kidnapped woman would pay up to $3,050 each, a spokesman for the republican government said Saturday.
The fines are not official, but decisions of clerics and elders carry much weight in the traditionalistic southern republic.
The majority of bride kidnappings in the North Caucasus are believed to be mock incidents. However, three people, including a pregnant bystander, were killed in a street fight between two Ingush clans that followed a bride kidnapping in October.
The neighboring Chechnya set up a fine of $30,500 for bride kidnapping in 2010, but Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov later admitted it hasn't stopped the custom.
[An Nahar] Gunmen attacked five farming villages in volatile central Nigeria's Benue State, killing six people and burning many houses, police said Sunday.
"Five Agatu villages were attacked yesterday by suspected Fulani cattle herdsmen who killed six people," state police front man Daniel Ezeala told AFP.
He said "many houses" were razed during the violence, the latest on mainly ethnic Tiv people, who are predominantly farmers.
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[BREITBART] According to new national polling data from Pew Research, the American people have revolted against President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... 's and the GOP establishment's efforts to grant amnesty to America's at least 11 million undocumented Democrats through general amnesty.
"Only about a third of the public (32%) approves of the job Obama is doing on immigration policy; 60% disapprove," Pew wrote. "Obama's ratings for this issue among Democrats are mixed: About half (53%) approve of his handling of the issue while 42% disapprove."
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#1
No shit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) on Sunday denied demanding the release of Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi chief Sufi Muhammad against the release of Islamia College University Vice Chancellor Professor Ajmal Khan.
Talking to a private TV channel, TTP front man Shahidullah Shahid said the Taliban have never made any demand for the release of Sufi Muhammad, father-in-law of new TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... .
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP) experiences division, as 280 members, including provincial leaders, submitted their resignation citing internal conflicts.
Those who resigned include; Cairo secretary Akram Ismail, Alexandria secretary Suzan Nada, media spokesperson Mona Ezzat, deputy president for political public affairs Emad Attiya, member of the central committee Elham Eidaros, among others.
In a collective statement outlining their reasons for leaving the party, the resigning-members expressed their dissatisfaction over recent internal elections.
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Quebec's policy of favoring French-speaking immigrants has been like a welcome mat to thousands of francophone Muslims from countries like Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon who now call Montreal home. But some believe the Charter of Quebec Values tabled in the National Assembly last week will do just the opposite; its ban on the wearing of religious symbols by public sector workers discouraging not only Muslim immigrants, but others who will see it as a sign of intolerance toward minorities or of an unstable social climate.
Jean-François Lisée, the minister in charge of the Montreal region, said he believes the charter will eventually prove an asset to Quebec's immigration program, attracting "moderate" members of various religions who want to live in a secular state. He said, "Immigrants who have been coming here for the past several years have to sign a declaration in which it is written that Quebec is a secular state.
"I think there are a lot of people from Maghreb and Lebanon and elsewhere who choose Quebec because it is a secular society. If we send a message that here in Quebec we take secularism seriously, we will have moderate Muslims, moderate Christians, and moderate Sikhs, who say 'I like my religion a lot at home, but I like a secular state,' and Quebec is a progressive state that sends that message."
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#2
"Jean-François Lisée, the minister in charge of the Montreal region, said he believes the charter will eventually prove an asset to Quebec's immigration program, attracting "moderate" members of various religions who want to live in a secular state"
Funny that this fascist speaks out of two sides of his pie-hole...by 'secular' he means a Catholic state as the crucifix is still prominently hung in his fascist National Assembly and by 'moderate' he means lilly-white and francophone.
#3
Funny that this fascist speaks out of two sides of his pie-hole...by 'secular' he means a Catholic state as the crucifix is still prominently hung in his fascist National Assembly and by 'moderate' he means lilly-white and francophone.
So wanting a French-speaking and white immigrant population makes him fascist? Wouldn't that make most governments around the world fascist? How many countries actively make a point of encouraging the large-scale immigration of people who neither speak their language nor look like them?
One would think that, being an enlightened Canadian leftist, you would know better to engage in ethnic slurring, plus a repeated violation of Godwin's Law.
Fascism is described as "everything is the business of the state". If that sounds more like the Tea party than the democratic party then you're more stupid than can be imagined.
#8
I'm sorry you didn't realize that Rantburg is private property. And here you are, defecating all over it as if you own it and crying "censorship" as if you had a right to.
Yes, that's right - private property. It's not government owned, like most of Canada. No tax dollars used to build and maintain this. Just Fred's money, donations, and volunteer labor.
It's private property, in case you didn't read it the first two times.
It's really not fun doing this. Because, aside from your one "Russia in WWII" remark, you're really not intelligent enough to defend your positions. And we've had, and have, some quite intelligent opposition here over the years.
Most sites now have a policy up front regarding 'trolling' or posting even remotely political commentary. Democratic Underground would've deleted and blocked their version of "troll." Same with the Kos site. Rantburg doesn't.
So we'll keep doing this, and end up having to ban you.
[The Hindu] Excise officials jugged You have the right to remain silent... two men from Karnataka at Muthanga on the Kerala-Karnataka border on Sunday night for allegedly smuggling 6,750 kg of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in explosives.
They seized the chemical and the vehicle used for transportation.
Those arrested have been identified as Isahak, 35, and Hakeem, 25, of Hanthi village in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka.
The seizure took place during a routine inspection at the excise check-post.
The arrested men told the excise officials that they were transporting the explosives to a granite quarry at Kondotty in Kozhikode district, M. Surendran, excise inspector, said.
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#1
Just a couple of nice Hindu lads making a delivery.
Christians and Muslims Locked in Dispute over Prayers in Córdoba
The Mezquita in Córdoba, Spain, was originally built by Muslim moors but has been used as a church ever since the reconquest in the 12th century. Now a Spanish Muslim has suggested an "ecumenical transformation" of the building.
#1
Any thought to cutting the 'pay and benefits' of the butchers at Planned Parenthood, the trouble making State Department, the feckless UN, the PLO, or the Paks ?
#4
The USA use to spend ~62% of the budget on defense and ~22% on entitlements; today that is flipped. You would think the few constitutional federal departments would be the last place to cut. Particular during national threats.
[Libya Herald] Libya's Grand Mufiti, Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ghariani, yesterday condemned the armed violence that shook Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... on Thursday night, leaving two men dead and a further 29 injured.
In a sermon at Friday prayers, Ghariani condemned what he termed the "blind tribal allegiances" of some regions. He called on tribal elders, including from Misrata, Zintan and Tajoura, to disown armed militias from their cities and regions. Misrata officials already made such a move on Friday.
Ghariani also called on gangs from outside Tripoli, which claim to be securing the capital, to return to their own cities and regions. He added that Tripoli should be rid of any armed presence and called upon locals to stand up to these groups.
Ghariani accused Libyans, as well as the government, of doing nothing to putting an end to acts of violence against people and property.
"It is up to the government to stand up to its responsibilities," said Ghariani.
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[TOLONEWS] The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) saw a dramatic rise in casualties this year, but not as much as was claimed by coalition assessments, said Afghan security officials on Sunday.
Afghan forces were applauded for their performance this year, which saw nearly most responsibility for security around the country placed on their shoulders and an aggressive Taliban offensive subdued. But as the security transition process wears on ahead of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... combat mission's end in 13 months, the Afghan forces have seen that taking the lead comes at a high cost.
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[Pak Daily Times] In a rare but furious reaction, Pakistain Army on Sunday lambasted head of a religious party for declaring forces of Evil killed in the war against terror 'deaders' but denying the honorific for army soldiers killed in battle with the Taliban.
In a strongly worded statement, the ISPR asked Munawar Hassan to clear the position of his party on the issue. Families of martyred army personnel and people who lost their loved ones in the terrorist attacks demand Jamaat-e-Islamai chief to tender an 'unconditional apology', it said.
Munawar Hassan had told a private television channel that he considered TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike in North Wazoo, a 'martyr'. However,
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was the subject of mocking at a Lebanese television program this week, raising anger among his supporters who protested against the show.
His supporters erupted into the streets on Friday, burning tires and blocking roads in several parts of Leb. "We will have Dire Revenge!!"
It wasn't the first time Nasrallah was mocked in Basmat Watan, a slapstick program aired by LBC TV.
In 2006 Nasrallah's character appeared in the program and the result was a similar one; people protesting and burning tires in the streets.
This week's program poked jokes at Hezbollah's role in Syria, with Nasrallah's character lamenting what he said was a late intervention.
"Our weapons should have included planes and submarines," he said.
Charbel Khalil, the producer of the program, said on Twitter that mocking religious figures is an integral part of the program and no one should be bothered.
Those who support mocking Nasrallah say the Hezbollah leader is a political figure who should not be spared jokes.
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#2
He looks sorta like a "bearded Wimpy" actually. Oh, and he wears a Turban and should never be photographed from behind when he is bending over, its not his best side.
[Pak Daily Times] The new government seems to be in control and a policy of peace is what the authorities have developed and are eager to employ in the backdrop of a chaotic security situation. The government even after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud has reiterated its original stance that only dialogue with them would bring peace to the country. The Pakistain prime minister said that the efforts would be made that would take the grinding of the peace processor forward, and surely, that is the best way to move ahead. Not because there is or was no need to fight, but because whatever that had to be done in terms of military operations is now complete. There is a dire need to take the counter insurgency plan to the next level where negotiations ought to be made for a peaceful future co-existence.
The APC held in September had decided to give peace a chance and had authorised the government to hold talks with the krazed killers. Thus, in a special meeting of the cabinet the government has presented its firm stance that it stands determined on negotiations with the Taliban post Hakeemullah Mehsud's killing. The time is surely ripe; we have had 12 very long and painful years of war in our country with a future prospect of suffering the fallout of the 2014-withdrawal in Afghanistan. With thousands of people, including civilians and soldiers, being killed its finally time to exit the fighting phase and enter the peaceful one.
Major stronghold of Death Eaters have been dismantled by our security forces, and whatever has been left is the last minute hiccups that the Taliban are taking after their strangulation. Based on this premise of peace, Pakistain had protested the untimely killing of Mehsud through a drone strike that has stalled the process right at its infancy. What this incident alludes to is the killing of rogue operators by the high command once they do not remain useful for them, something that one sees in every movie. But, since we are ardent believers that the show must go on, so it definitely must, and at any cost.
According to the US State Department's Deputy Spokesperson Ms Marie Harf, Mehsud was a direct threat to US national interests and had extensive links to the al Qaeda. Well, after his killing, has the direct threat decreased to a considerable proportion? What about the new TTP chief? Does he also pose a similar threat or would things be different? If the killing of Obama bin Laden still has not settled the monster of the direct threat to the US's interests, (I don't know about them being of national security), then nothing ever would. The US psychology needs to be traced for symptoms of other variety, that is, the insecurity of losing its power over other nations and their resources.
Thus in this background, instead of employing the famous victimisation narrative, the opposition along with the government, need to develop a clean and workable multi-tiered plan for negotiations along with a measuring mechanism that would provide the degree of success and level of success achieved to make it more transparent for all. This need for peace is not a new phenomenon, but one that has been sung by our security forces for a long time. Being so intimately involved in the war, keeping track of the strengths and weaknesses of the Death Eaters while fighting with them had provided them ample insight to conclude the time for changing the strategy of employment. One thing, however, was sure that both do not go hand in hand. Either you fight or you talk. Doing both simultaneously is known as treachery, and whether we like it or not, talking to the enemy must be done honestly if desired and long lasting outcome is to be achieved.
It needs to be known that the Pak authorities are interested in peace not only in the process of reconciliation with the krazed killers, but have voiced their thoughts to denounce that "senseless use of force won't help". This statement uttered by Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... refers to the B.O. regime against the use of indiscriminate drone strikes that are established to be counter-productive in every war effort.
The Pakistain Foreign Office has issued a statement regarding drone strikes after the prime minister's visit to Washington, where he met and talked about the issue with the US President Barrack Obama. The Drone issue, like all others associated with the global war on terror has developed and grown over a period of a decade to attain complexity, controversy and continuity. There is a lot that has been said about it in every part of the globe but very little has changed on ground. Considered as the easiest means of maintaining a position of dominance during war times, drone attacks have become a signature strategy adopted by the western powers droning innocent people and Death Eaters alike while sitting thousands of miles away. Therefore, when the Foreign Office calls for a halt to drone strikes, by stating 'strikes no more', this is taken as a positive and brave attribute of the current regime.
Prime Minister Sharif is trying to construct a strong voice and ideologically positions himself within the struggle of opposing forces in the political environment where the strong centripetal forces are interpenetrated by centrifugal dynamics. Here language becomes, in the words of Bakhtin, a site for struggle of power. Thus, the narrative of peace becomes the narrative of hope and change that the ruling party had projected during its pre-election campaigning. The only thing that remains is that the ideology ought to be felt through action so that they become meaningful.
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[Libya Herald] An Air Force Colonel who played a leading role in the uprising against Qadaffy thwarted a suspected attempt to kidnap him on Friday night, according to military sources.
Colonel Abd Nasser Bousnina was confronted by around 100 gunnies outside his Benghazi home shortly after 9pm, a source from the Armed Forces told the Libya Herald. It is not clear exactly what the men wanted but it is believed they intended to either kidnap him or make an attempt on his life.
These men were unaware, however, that Bousnina had a small number of Air Force personnel nearby, who immediately appeared on the scene. A non-violent altercation followed and the situation was apparently resolved peacefully.
Spokesman for the Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR), Abdullah Zaidi, denied there had been any attack on Bousnina. There was a problem, not an attack, which he solved, Zaidi told the Libya Herald.
A number of Air Force officers have been targeted in a string of liquidations leading to the deaths of nearly 100 senior military and security personnel that have rocked Benghazi this year. Last month the head of Benghazis Air Traffic Control, Colonel Adel Al-Towahni, was rubbed out outside his home.
Towahni had also played an important role in the revolution, and the incident provoked an angry response from the Air Force. Some complained that, despite clearly being at risk, the government had provided no training, equipment or financial support to help officers protect themselves against possible attacks. One said Air Force personnel even had to buy their own pistols.
Bousnina led a defection of Air Force officers in the east of the country against Qadaffy in the early days of the revolution. He has since worked on raising the profile of the Libyan Air Force abroad, attending the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in March. He is also expected to be one of a number of Air Force and Ministry of Defence representatives heading to next weeks Dubai Air Show.
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#1
Keeping a full charge on the golf cart is always a must. You'll lose most of your pursuers by the 4th hole.
HARGEISA, Somalia -- The fourth round of a dialogue process between Somalia's Federal Government (SFG) and the country's separatist region of Somaliland has been postponed following an announcement from Mogadishu-based government, Garowe Online reports.
Try to contain your disappointment...
Speaking to the media at his office in Somaliland capital of Hargeisa, Somaliland Foreign Minister Mohamed Bihi Yonis said that Federal Government of Somalia asked Turkey government which has been hosting the bilateral talks the postponement as it continues to resolve political and security issues on Saturday.
"We reacted immediately and accepted that demand," added Yonis, noting that Somaliland expressed its willingness and readiness of attending the next talks to Turkish officials.
As Jigjiga, the capital city of Somali Regional State of Ethiopia prepares for Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Day, the close neighbor's Foreign affairs Minister says Ethiopian consulate in Hargeisa has averted the issuance of visas and tough curbs have been imposed on the people crossing the border into Ethiopia from Somaliland.
The third round of Federal Govt-Somaliland talks concluded with three points including the establishment of bilateral control body based in Hargeisa to co-manage Somalia national airspace in the Turkish city of Istanbul on July 10.
Somaliland Civil Aviation Minister, Mohamed Abdi Hashi recently accused the Somali Federal Government of flouting airspace control agreement.
On the other hand, The President of Somalia's northeastern State of Puntland Abdirahman Mohamed Farole called on International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) not to handover the control of the national airspace since the country's reconciliation process is far from over on 16th of October while he was addressing the media members in Garowe shortly after he returned from a diplomatic visit to Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, Belgium and UAE.
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President Hasan Rohani said on Sunday Iran will not abandon its nuclear rights, including uranium enrichment, media reported a day after a fresh round of talks with world powers.
Remember, he's the "moderate" according to the NYT...
"There are red lines that must not be crossed," Rohani told the conservative-dominated parliament in remarks quoted by the ISNA news agency.
"The rights of the Iranian nation and our national interests are a red line. So are nuclear rights under the framework of international regulations, which include enrichment on Iranian soil," he said.
His remarks came a day after intensive negotiations with world powers -- despite making progress -- failed to produce a long-elusive deal that would curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Rohani pleaded for parliament's backing.
"If we want to succeed in these negotiations, we need the support of the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and of lawmakers," he told them.
"We can still sucker the United States. Youse guys have to stay quiet a little while longer!" he told them softly after the press left...
With the final say on the nuclear issue, Khamenei had expressed support for Iran's negotiators but also voiced pessimism about the possibility of a breakthrough, citing decades of hostility and mistrust in the West.
Hardliners in Iran
...which includes all the Mad Mullahs without exception...
had also been sceptical, fearing that the negotiating team led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would offer too many concessions.
Rohani said Iran would "not bow to threats from any power", while also insisting that sanctions battering Iran's ailing economy had not forced it to the negotiating table.
"We have practically and verbally told the negotiating sides that threats, sanctions, humiliation and discrimination will never produce a result," he said.
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[Pak Daily Times] That you should never underestimate your enemy is common sense. Tragically, it seems in Pakistain common sense is in short supply. Our old hands, who continue to pontificate on strategies as if the world was a board game, are almost patronising in the way they talk about the Taliban. "They are our boys", "We have to win their hearts and minds", "Taliban were our allies", "We can still convince them", "We can bring them in the framework of our constitution", etc, are the kind of statements that we have heard for over a decade now. These statements are beginning to sound quite hollow.
This is a disastrous miscalculation. First of all, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) is a subsidiary of the Afghan Taliban. The presence of Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... in Afghanistan, and the fact that Latif Mehsud was captured from there, are all indications of that. The Taliban in Afghanistan are not merely fighting the Americans and the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... forces. Their stated objective has been constant since they first emerged as a force in the mid-1990s, i.e. the establishment of an Islamic Emirate. This would be a universal Islamic Emirate not concerned with borders, hell bent on conquest and defeat of all those who disagree with its brand of Islam. It is an entirely different worldview, but a view that festivities not just with the non-Moslem world but within the Moslem world as well. The TTP is their Pak chapter. Those geniuses who think that the Constitution of Pakistain with its Islamic provisions will be enough to mollify the Taliban's Islamic sensibilities are living in a fool's paradise. The Taliban look at our constitution and do not see a document promising them their version of Islamic rule but the sheer hypocrisy of the people of Pakistain. The constitution speaks of fundamental rights including freedom of religion, equality of citizenship regardless of religion or gender, freedom of expression and speech, etc. These fundamental rights are fundamentally opposed to the Taliban worldview, and in particular, their view of Islam. So are things like courts, banks, schools, etc. Our memories are short. Such an Islamic Emirate has already been tried once: the Taliban rule over Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. They plan on resuscitating that model and imposing it on everyone they can.
So those who want to talk to the Taliban, and admittedly that is the stated position of both the PML-N and PTI, have to decide what the cost of talking to the Taliban is. Any such talks will only give the Taliban both the legitimacy and the space to regroup and strengthen. Nor is a cessation of hostilities, drone or otherwise, going to end their campaign. The Taliban did not emerge after the war on terror nor after the Afghan War. The Taliban were there in Balakot in 1831. They fought against Lord Curzon under the leadership of Mullah Pawindah. Then in 1936, they regrouped under the leadership of the Faqir of Ipi. The Faqir of Ipi, who has a road named after him in the federal capital, waged a 'jihad' against the Pak state, duly backed by the Pashtun nationalists of the time. Today, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Faqir of Ipi's grandson, leads the Taliban in North Wazoo. He is considered a 'strategic asset' by some quarters. It remains to be seen whether he is the asset or his handlers are.
The choice from a constitutional point of view is clear. Any talks with the Taliban will be unconstitutional. So long as we claim the territories of North and South Waziristan as part of Pakistain, the Taliban are to be considered rebels and enemies of the state. It is the constitutional responsibility of the state to utilise whatever means necessary to subdue them, arrest them, and try them in a court of law. Any constitutional negotiations with the TTP would have to be within the purview of Article 256 of the Constitution, which makes all private military organizations unlawful. Therefore, the scope of the negotiations can only be limited to the terms of surrender. The state as the guardian and protector of the country cannot allow the TTP to exist as an gang, let alone use that as a means to overturn the established constitutional order. The TTP's actions, therefore, are not just illegal but fall squarely within the meaning of Article 6 of the Constitution. An argument then can be made that those who favour talks with the Taliban unconditionally are equally guilty of treason.
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#1
You CAN "Talk" to the Taliban, nobody says they have to listen, just die.
Listen or not, we win.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/11/2013 0:21
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KABUL A growing number of Afghan interpreters who worked alongside American troops are being denied U.S. visas allotted by Congress because the State Department says there is no serious threat against their lives.
Meanwhile we allow tens of thousands of mostly ungrateful Somalis to settle in the U.S. as refugees. Once again Barack Obama makes clear his politics: disdain and abandonment of our friends and embracement of our enemies.
But the interpreters, many of whom served in Taliban havens for years, say U.S. officials are drastically underestimating the danger they face. Immigration attorneys and Afghan interpreters say the denials are occurring just as concerns about Taliban retribution are mounting due to the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
There are tons of Talibs in my village, and they all know that I worked with the Americans, said one interpreter, Mohammad, who asked that his last name not be published for security reasons. If I cant go to the States, my life is over. I swear to God, one day the Taliban will catch me.
Mohammad received a U.S. form letter saying he had failed to establish that there was a serious threat against his life. He had explained in his application that the Taliban had spotted him on the job and spread word in his village that he was a wanted man.
You'd think that would be enough...
In one particularly dangerous assignment, he was asked to mediate between U.S. soldiers and locals after an American convoy ran over and killed an Afghan child, he said.
In the initial phase of the visa process, an applicant has to establish that he or she has experienced or is experiencing an ongoing serious threat as a consequence of employment by or on behalf of the U.S. government, said Robert Hilton, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
Who, I imagine, has never been outside the compound his entire tour...
He said the applications were examined by an embassy committee, which decided whether they should move forward to Washington. Hilton and other U.S. officials would not explain what constitutes a serious threat or respond to specific cases in which applicants were denied visas.
Another interpreter who was denied a visa had worked for years at a U.S. military prison, screening visitors. U.S. military officers wrote several letters stating that his job put him in particular danger because of his constant contact with the families of detained militants. But the State Department review board said those concerns didnt amount to a serious threat, the man said.
And of course the embassy people wouldn't believe our military...
A third interpreter who received a similar denial, and gave only his partial name, Naseri, had survived three attacks by improvised bombs on the military units he accompanied during a five-year stint. He said he explained in a visa interview at the U.S. Embassy that hed been called a spy and a traitor while on patrol with his American unit and that the Taliban knew where he and his family lived. This year, he said, someone called his father and threatened to kill members of his family.
Several U.S. military officers wrote letters to the State Department about the role Naseri played.
Every house we went into, he went into. Every firefight we went into, he went into, said Lt. Matt Orr, who worked with Naseri in one of the most dangerous corners of eastern Afghanistan. He said he was baffled when Naseri received his denial.
I feel a real sense of frustration with the bureaucratic mess that would do something like this, Orr said.
Afghan interpreters who work with the U.S. military generally wear masks and assume phony American names to disguise their identities. But they say the Taliban often hears about their association with American forces, particularly if they are from small villages where the insurgency has influence.
One former U.S. Marine interpreter named Mustafa was kidnapped and killed outside Kabul in August. His colleagues said he had completed his visa interview several days before his death. A photo of his body circulated on the page of a Facebook group interpreters use to exchange information about their visa applications.
Since the programs inception four years ago, 1,648 interpreters have received the Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, out of the 8,750 allocated by Congress.
The program has been dogged by delays and other problems. The State Department was criticized this year for temporarily revoking one interpreters visa without explanation and for denying other applicants based on vague accusations that they were affiliated with terrorist groups.
But the most recent spate of denials could affect a broader range of interpreters. They go to the core reason the program exists the threat facing Afghan men and women who worked for the U.S. government here.
The core reason for the program is honor: we have to take care of those who risk their lives to help us. Otherwise no one in the world will help us. I suspect there are people at Foggy Bottom -- and above -- who are fine with that...
Supporters of the program in Congress expressed anger at the latest controversy to hit the program.
I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the threat posed to interpreters by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are being downplayed or disregarded, said Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a veteran of the Afghan war, when asked for reaction. The current process for approving visas threatens to undermine the commitment we made to stand with them.
We have to keep our promise to individuals who risked their lives serving alongside our troops. Failing to act puts lives at further risk and hurts our credibility around the globe, said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
More than 6,000 Iraqis have received visas through an analogous program over the past five years. Immigration attorneys representing interpreters from both countries say the serious threat denials have been issued only to their Afghan clients.
For the past few months, we have been seeing an alarming number of Afghan SIV applicants denied by Embassy Kabul for allegedly not facing a threat, said Becca Heller, the director of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, which represents both Iraqi and Afghan clients.
These are people being hunted down by Taliban forces because of their work with the United States, she said. Many of them have been shot at or kidnapped, and others have hard evidence in the form of death letters and death lists from the Taliban.
Some worry that the United States is denying the visas in order to prevent talented, English-speaking interpreters from leaving Afghanistan. Those men and women would be assets to any long-term American presence in the country, some U.S. officials have said in the past.
Not if they're dead...
This act could drain this country of our very best civilian and military partners: our Afghan employees, former ambassador Karl Eikenberry wrote in a February 2010 cable to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that was obtained a year later by the Associated Press. He went on to warn that the program could have a significant deleterious impact on staffing and morale, as well as undermining our overall mission in Afghanistan. Local staff are not easily replenished in a society at 28 percent literacy.
Interpreters whose visa applications are being denied say they are puzzled by the standards being used.
Whats a serious ongoing threat for them? Do they need someone to bring in my decapitated head? said another interpreter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons. The Taliban posted a letter on our house saying next time I come inside my house, they will kill my whole family. Thats still not good enough?
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2013
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#1
As the vanquished sail away, history treats most collaborators very unkindly. The US State Department and regime are probably not seeking additional pro American types at the moment. Sorry.
In 1935, you ran guns to Ethiopia. In 1936, you fought in Spain, on the Loyalist side.
Rick: I got well paid for it on both occasions.
Captain Renault: The *winning* side would have paid you *much better*.
#2
If everything's so safe and secure, then I guess there's no need for an armed security force at the State Dept's embassy or their residential compounds, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2013 8:16
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#3
Maybe they can change their names to Lopez & Garcia and sneak in across the Mexican border - then they'd be acceptable, right?
#4
...pretty much. Maybe some of the Afghan vets will sponsor an 'underground railway' as fitting that the Plantation Party is in charge among the Beltway Bureaucracy.
The Western-backed Syrian opposition has agreed to participate in international peace talks in Geneva, according to a statement by the Syrian National Coalition. The statement, translated from Arabic, outlined conditions that must be met before the talks, which aim to end the Syrian civil war by creating a transitional governing body.
The Syrian National Coalition's leader has expressed a willingness to attend the U.S and Russian sponsored talks but this is the first time the group as a whole has committed to the proposed conference, while making stipulations.
It was hoped that talks might take place before the end of November but the Syrian coalition's failure to come up with a clear position, as well as differences between Washington and Moscow over the purpose of the talks and opposition representation make delays likely.
Major Islamist rebel forces have declared their opposition to the Geneva process if the conference does not result in Assad's removal and some have said they would charge anyone who attended the planned international talks with treason. With this in mind, Monday's statement said that a committee had been assigned to continue discussions with revolution forces inside and outside Syria to explain its stance on "Geneva 2."
The Syrian National Coalition reached the consensus decision after two days of discussions. Adib Shishakly, a member of the coalition, said, "All we can do is hope is that these (Geneva) talks will end with the departure of Bashar al-Assad."
[Al Ahram] The head of the UN atomic watchdog said Sunday he hoped the agency would still reach a deal with Tehran on probing alleged efforts to build nuclear weapons despite the lack of progress in talks between Iran and world powers in Geneva.
ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said as he left for talks in Tehran that the negotiations between Iran and six world powers that ended in Geneva Sunday without a deal were "different, independent and separate" to those with the UN body.
"Iran presented a new proposal (to the IAEA) last month that includes practical measures to strengthen cooperation and dialogue, and we hope to build on it," Amano told news hounds at Vienna airport.
"I hope the coming meeting will produce concrete results," he said. "We are coming to a very important point."
The IAEA conducts regular inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but for two years has been fruitlessly pressing Tehran to answer allegations that it was trying before 2003, and maybe since, to develop a nuclear weapon.
Iran's parallel talks with the United States, China, Russia, Britannia, La Belle France and Germany, known as the P5+1, are focused more on Tehran's current activities, in particular uranium enrichment.
Three gruelling days of P5+1 talks ended with no agreement but the two sides will meet again on 20 November.
The two diplomatic "tracks" are closely related, however, since world powers want Iran to answer the IAEA's questions in order to ease fears about its nuclear programme.
The six countries also want Tehran, which denies it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, to submit to more intrusive inspections by the watchdog as part of a wider accord.
The IAEA would also be closely involved in monitoring any freeze in enrichment activities and Iran sending its stockpiles of nuclear material to a third country.
Tehran has so far resisted IAEA requests to visit sites where the alleged activities took place as well as to consult documents and speak to Iranian scientists.
Iran's new envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, said on Saturday he was more optimistic about the chances of signing a deal during Amano's trip, his first since May 2012.
"We foresee that the text will be finalised on Monday and that the two sides will reach agreement," Najafi told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
A Deal?
A FUCKING Deal?
With the Iranians?
The Iranians have proven any deal with them is not worth the paper it is written on before the ink is dry.
Why are we talking to these people. Doesn't the IAEA, the UN and Obama know we are getting played on this thing.
We should have freaking bombed the dang thing four years ago. Hell, the Saudis would have boosted oil production and kissed our shoes if we had.
Radioactive crude oil has a half life of about 8000 years so the Saudis are not too keen on the Iranians having a nuke...one of those Sunni Shi'a things...
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/11/2013 10:04
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Prime Minister Ali Zeidan warned Libyans of the possibility of foreign powers intervening unless the country's current chaos ends, in an appeal Sunday aimed at rallying his campaign against militias, Agence La Belle France-Presse reported.
"The international community cannot tolerate a state in the middle of the Mediterranean that is a source of violence, terrorism and murder," AFP quoted Zeidan as saying.
Citing the example of Iraq, he warned against "the intervention of foreign occupation forces" in Libya.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
The Libyans made nice with the militias because the militias bore the brunt of the effort against Kaddafi. Unfortunately, the militias outlived their usefulness about a year ago and the new Libyan Government doesn't have the guts to step up and disarm them all.
No good will come in Libya as long as the militias are allowed to parade around in their equipment and flaunt the government's authority.
We really and truly will have a tribes with flags fiasco on our hands if some sense doesn't come on the scene soon.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/11/2013 10:08
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[Pak Daily Times] Sindh Rangers have been given special powers under the recently promulgated Tahaffuz-e-Pakistain Ordinance on Sunday. The provincial government empowered the Rangers on the directives of the Federal government for four months. According to sources in Rangers, a notification in this regard has also been issued, adding that with these special powers, Rangers would be able to keep suspects in jug for three months for investigation, after producing them before a court within 24 hours. Rangers have also been given special powers to shoot and kill the 'culprits' if they face resistance from criminals. It should be mentioned here that earlier Rangers had to handed over the suspects to the police within 24 hours of custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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Three soldiers and two civilians were injured when a bomb exploded in Narathiwat province yesterday. The home-made bomb, contained in a gas cylinder, had been planted next to the concrete wall of a house owned by the mother of a former mayor of tambon Rueso municipality. The bomb was detonated as a truck with 18 soldiers was passing on patrol.
Meanwhile, earlier yesterday morning, a village leader was gunned down on a road in Pattani province. Nimu Niloh was followed by attackers in a truck. He was driving his motorcycle when his assailants fired at him. He died at the scene.
On Saturday night, one man was gunned down and his two friends were wounded in an ambush in Narathiwat. Abdulloh Muso's motorcycle ran out of gas as he was driving down a local road. He called his friend, Korsem Sa-a to pick him up.
Mr Korsem drove his motorcycle to help Abdulloh and asked a friend, Sakoree Aming to come with him. As the three were heading home, an attacker shot at them from a roadside rubber farm. Abdulloh was killed on the spot while Mr Korsem and Mr Sakoree were injured.
[An Nahar] Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu landed in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Sunday for a slew of meetings with top Iraqi officials as the two neighbors seek a "fresh start" to chilled ties.
Relations between Ankara and Storied Baghdad, which had been on the upswing as recently as 2011, fell off as the two countries clashed over the war in Syria, Turkey's ties with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, and sharp words between their prime ministers.
But the two sides have made moves in recent weeks towards a gradual rapprochement, with Turkish officials pegging Davutoglu's visit as focused on promoting a "fresh start", as well as concentrating on the violence in their common neighbor Syria.
The two-day visit, which follows a similar trip by Davutoglu's counterpart Hoshyar Zebari last month, includes talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... and Zebari, as well as several other officials and politicians in Storied Baghdad and the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
"They are going to discuss a fresh start to relations," a Turkish official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered...
"They will mostly discuss bilateral issues, what is happening in the region, and Syria."
Ties between Iraq and Turkey had been rapidly improving in the run-up to the Syrian conflict, with multiple visits to Storied Baghdad by both Davutoglu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Sunday asked the Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... to order Pak Taliban to stop terrorism in Pakistain. The SIC sought support of Mullah Omar for the establishment of peace and urged him to play his role in ending insurgency in Pakistain. The SIC chairman said that Mullah Omar should order the Pakistain Taliban to stop violent attacks in Pakistain, local media reported. He said that the Pak Taliban are acting against the principles of jihad. The spokesperson also sought Afghan Taliban chief's orders to the Pak outfit to accept the constitution of Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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[HOSTED.AP.ORG] In an unabashed - and likely successful - bid for attention, singer Miley Cyrus smoked a joint on stage and twerked with a dwarf during the MTV Europe Music Awards.
The 20-year old singer also won the Best Video award for her hit song "Wrecking Ball."
Sunday's strong lineup of performers also included Eminem and Katy Perry.
Cyrus opened the space-themed show singing the song "We Can't Stop," while wearing a silver spandex suit and gyrating her buttocks in the move known as twerking.
Marijuana is not legal in the Netherlands, but smokers can't be prosecuted for possession of small amounts and it is sold openly in cafes known euphemistically as "coffee shops."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
Miley Cyrus is an example of "Your Brains on Drugs".
Yes, she is very wealthy financially, but she is a very poor human, an example of hedonistic depravity, which has no bounds.
First, she str!p>er dancing, not twerking. At the first one her backup dancers were doing it.
Second, she needs a booty larger than a hinge. Dang, I've seen pinewood derby races with more curves.
Third, I don't think she is a natural dancer..well trained and in shape, dedicated, but she is as smooth as those wind up robot toys after being left in the rain - compared to natural dancers.
Fourth, whoever did her teeth made her look like she has in granny dentures.
Fifth, as P2K said but I would have stopped at five. Coming from the entertainment beauty pool she is a toe dip, there really is not an it..other than another teenage star burnout story...smoking a j in Neder, dry humping a dwarf. Yawn. She's not the first entertainer to get naked and put balls between the legs, amIright Tom Cruise?
#9
Where's the hook that kindly pulls her off the stage before she has a chance to make too much of a fool of herself? Honestly, this girl acts like she is a few bricks short of a load.
[CHRON] A teenager who attended a large house party where two Cypress Springs High School students died says gunshots began in the house and continued outside as people ran into the streets seeking cover.
Shaniqua Brown, 17, says Saturday evening's birthday party "was not rowdy at all," and many people were dancing when they heard the shots.
[Al Ahram] Syrian troops have regained full control of a key base in northern Aleppo province near its international airport, state television said Sunday, after several days of clashes with rebels. "Our brave armed forces have complete control over Base 80," state television said in a breaking news alert. Tune in tomorrow, when Sparkle Farkle will say: "Rebels retake key base near Aleppo!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Given the number of participants and interested parties in the Afghan drama of the last 12 years, the amount of mistrust and duplicity between the so-called allies, and the divisions and factions within some countries, it is not difficult to see how complex and chaotic the situation has become when most actors are either secretly or openly working at cross-purposes. Unravelling this web of conspiracies and bringing peace to the region seems far away, which makes Pakistain's position rather precarious, with the fragile condition of law and order and the economy.
The main players in this conflict are the US/NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... , Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Taliban, Pakistain, and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), with India as the active non-participant. Not to mention the factions within Taliban and theTTP, the Iranian concern and the interest of China and Russia from a global perspective.
The mistrust between Afghanistan and Pakistain developed in the very early stages when the hostile Northern Alliance came to power in Kabul. This led Pakistain to make one of its biggest mistakes: getting involved in the Afghan war. Pakistain's weak-kneed ruler, who was conveniently forced into this second foray in the region by the US, erred grievously by taking the military option to covertly support the Taliban rather than a diplomatic route to repair relations with Kabul and thereby attempt to block India also. The US would have made us assist forcefully, as it was clearly in their interest to do so. It is not possible to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds without it soon becoming evident to both. Our duplicity did not allow us to satisfy the demands of both our partners, and also created conflicts with the Taliban, who then in 2006/7 created an offshoot consisting of those Taliban who were Paks into what we now know as the TTP. The TTP was formed to pressurise Pakistain to give up its support to the US. The results of their mayhem are in front of us. The double games pursued by General Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and his commanders failed miserably, as Pakistain was at sea, mistrusted by all and friends with none.
First, the Musharraf government and then the civil-cum-military leadership proved inept at containing or eliminating the Taliban and TTP onslaught, which has since spread all over the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Province and most parts of the country. Actually, the Taliban's capture and occupation of Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... would be considered the nadir of our political and military history since 1971. Surely this was a massive failure on the part of the intelligence agencies. Somebody else's war is now being propagated as our war without saying that it has become our war only due to our incorrect policies and our failure to deal with it effectively at an early stage.
It seems the operations in the South Wazoo and elsewhere may have flushed the Taliban and others from there to move them to our cities and to the North Waziristan. Not much help, is it? Comprehensive steps to deal with the insurgency were never taken; did someone have a soft corner for them? Were there some in positions of power who subscribed to their aims? Or was it simply a failure to perceive the seriousness of the threat?
Mian Nawaz SharIf and his party were crying hoarse during and before the election campaign that there should be talks with the TTP, but it seems no homework, no planning, and no strategy was developed beforehand, as it took them months to get their act together and call the All Parties Conference (APC). Even after the APC, the monumental dithering continued, and we are now told that a delegation of some Learned Elders of Islam was to deliver an invitation for talks on November 2, eight weeks after the APC. What was holding the government back? Chaudary Nisar tells us that he was laying bricks for seven weeks to get an invitation across; pray tell how many of those bricks were to get over the dithering in the inner cabinet and how many to plead for the establishment's approval and the few remaining to open channels of communication with the TTP?
International media has reported conspiracies hatched against Pakistain by Afghanistan and India, whereby a group of hard boyz has been trained and installed on the Pakistain side of the Afghan border to carry out bombings and other sabotage activities to destabilise and also derail any talks with the TTP. It was also reported that the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. church bomb was probably their handiwork. Is our intelligence aware of these activities? The Indians and Afghans are succeeding in destabilising us, sabotaging our talks, building the pressure on Pakistain; what are we doing to defend ourselves? It is quite amazing how these days Americans can drone us, the Indians, Afghans can bomb us, the TTP can hit us at will, and we are like sitting ducks.
In our country, the civil and military rulers, the upper classes, feudal and a majority of intelligentsia are wedded to the idea that the US is our lifeline and saviour, and many are still deluded that the US is our friend. The US is nobody's friend; it worships only its self-interest. It carries out illegal wars, topples regimes, supports coups, flouts illusory sovereignty, subverts, sabotages, and behaves unjustly -- all to protect its perceived interests. A close ally like the German Chancellor was not spared so who are we? It is quite clear that the Americans blew up Hakeemullah Mehsud at this time to sabotage any chance of immediate talks with the TTP. Their reasons could be, among others, that if we get any semblance of peace from these talks, the argument that this is 'our war' is weakened. Moreover, if the TTP are less involved in Pakistain they would move their sights to the Afghan theatre, which NATO wants to leave in 2014.
Unfortunately, doublespeak and hypocrisy have become a part of our civil and military rulers' official vocabulary, and also the bureaucracy that serves it. Therefore, scepticism is a natural reaction to their utterances and mistrust automatically creeps in. For instance, since 2004, we are being lied to about drone strikes, and now we know that Musharraf made a secret agreement allowing drones. That means Musharraf, the establishment and Zardari's government all lied to the nation! One, therefore, wonders what to make of the interior minister's recent anti-US tirade. Do we take it on face value, or is it a political act of doublespeak? It is embarrassing, but one needs to be reminded that truth is one of the essential core values of Islam while hypocrisy is shunned, without any exceptions.
It is said that for a successful drone strike ground support in the form of intelligence is required, which means spies, chips, and lasers etc would be needed. Then the question arises who has been providing this intelligence and hardware and why? If it was provided by our intelligence agencies in the past as a result of the secret agreement, should it not have been stopped with the coming of the Nawaz government and its publicly announced policy against drones? One can either conclude that the government's writ does not extend to the defence establishment or that the Nawaz government is also complicit and hypocritical. In both cases it raises serious issues for the nation to ponder.
The hue and cry and vilification of the proposal to hold talks belies comprehension. After all, the Americans also want talks with the Afghan Taliban in an ongoing war where many have been killed on both sides. The IRA and the Unionists negotiated an end to a long and bloody war by talking. Forget the rest; our Prophet (PTUI!) negotiated the famous Sulaih Hudaybia. Talking to the adversary does not imply surrender, does not mean weakness; all it means is to explore whether peace is possible so that further bloodshed and destruction can be avoided. Is that such a reprehensible idea to explore?
It looks like these talks are now derailed; the US and its supporters within have successfully sabotaged them. It is not quite clear whether the Nawaz government is complicit or another Kargil ... three months of unprovoked Pak aggression, over 4000 dead Paks, another victory for India ... has been delivered to them; time will spill the beans. If the PM is really keen to talk, a breakthrough has to take place very soon as we cannot afford to delay taking military action too long.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Presidential elections in the Maldives were thrown into disarray on Sunday after the Supreme Court suspended a run-off vote, denying former president Mohammed Nasheed the chance to return to power 21 months after he was ousted.
Despite growing international concerns over the Indian Ocean atoll nation's failure to elect a new president, it is the third time in two months that authorities have stepped in to prevent polls taking place, leaving the nation in political limbo.
Nasheed on Saturday garnered 46.93 percent of the popular vote but fell short of the 50 percent needed to win outright in the country best known as a honeymoon destination, with a run-off scheduled for the following day. The 46-year-old also came out on top on September 7 in elections that were subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court.
And police action prevented a second vote on October 19 following another court order that said procedures had not been followed, adding to suspicions among foreign governments that the authorities were determined to prevent Nasheed returning to power at any price.
"All relevant state authorities are informed that today's election cannot take place," the Supreme Court said in a pre-dawn decision that came just hours before the re-run was due to begin.
The man who came third in Saturday's vote, business tycoon Qasim Ibrahim, had asked the court for more time to tell his supporters which way to vote in a run-off pitting Nasheed against Abdulla Yameen, half brother of former autocrat Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
The court order came after Chief Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek announced he was going ahead with the vote timetable agreed with all the candidates before the first round.
The United States and the Commonwealth had both warned against delaying the run-off vote.
"It is now imperative that the second round take place immediately and in line with Elections Commission directions in order to ensure the Maldivian people are led by an elected president of their choice," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
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[Al Ahram] Æthiopia is considering integrating its troops in Somalia into the bigger UN-backed African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... force amid efforts to boost operations against Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab rebels, officials said Sunday.
Æthiopian troops entered Somalia in November 2011 to support the African Union mission in Saomalia (AMISOM) and local government forces, but has resisted integrating its soldiers into the mission.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[APNEWS.MYWAY] As many as 10,000 people are believed dead in one Philippine city alone after one of the worst storms ever recorded unleashed ferocious winds and giant waves that washed away homes and schools. Corpses hung from tree branches and were scattered along sidewalks and among flattened buildings, while looters raided grocery stores and gas stations in search of food, fuel and water.
Officials projected the death toll could climb even higher when emergency crews reach areas cut off by flooding and landslides. Even in the disaster-prone Philippines, which regularly contends with earthquakes, volcanoes and tropical cyclones, Typhoon Haiyan appears to be the deadliest natural disaster on record.
Haiyan hit the eastern seaboard of the Philippine archipelago on Friday and quickly barreled across its central islands before exiting into the South China Sea, packing winds of 235 kilometers per hour (147 miles per hour) that gusted to 275 kph (170 mph), and a storm surge that caused sea waters to rise 6 meters (20 feet).
It wasn't until Sunday that the scale of the devastation became clear, with local officials on hardest-hit Leyte Island saying that there may be 10,000 dead in the provincial capital of Tacloban alone. Reports also trickled in from elsewhere on the island, and from neighboring islands, indicating hundreds, if not thousands more deaths, though it will be days before the full extent of the storm's impact can be assessed.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
Wake me when they claim a Million.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/11/2013 0:29
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#2
The typical Pino house looks like it was built from stuff scavenged from the dump, and probably was.
#5
As has been written elsewhere, the Filipino social network will be a great help during the recovery process. That's something not to be underestimated - look up stories about various neighborhoods in the NYC area after last year's storm.
#6
"uh huh huh, remember when bush sent an aircraft carrier to invade the ocean floor. What a dumbass."
"Yeah! yeah! They like, needed a ship with helicopters and doctors and food, and Bush was like, Yeah, I'm gonna go bomb brown people! I am the Great Bongholio...I need TP for my mouth hole."
A popular mayor [of Stuttgart], Mr. Rommel made bold and sometimes controversial decisions. He drew criticism for allowing German Red Army Faction terrorists Gudrun Ensslin, Andreas Baader and Jan-Carl Raspe to be buried together in Stuttgart after their collective suicide in the Stammheim prison.
I am of the opinion that all wrath, justified as it may be, must end with death and that there are no first- and second-class graveyards and that all graveyards are the same, he said at the time.
A very interesting quote from a very interesting man. Excellent obit at WaPo.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2013
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Truly an interesting man. His father was one of the most brilliant strategists that ever walked the battlefield.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/11/2013 11:38
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49 Pan, absolutely agree with your assessment of Erwin Rommel. In addition, he was a man of honor. While fighting in North Africa, the Germans captured some Free French. Hitler ordered that they be executed, since France had surrendered. Rommel refused, treating them as prisoners of war.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/11/2013 13:45
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Rommel Sr. was a construction guy. "After the war is over" (if the Nazi's could secure their territories) he wanted to build magnificant buildings. The construction of the Atlantic wall that killed many GI on the beaches of Normandy was still in the works and if finished, would have days and many more casualties to break trough.
But, just like many brilliant minds, he served a mad man.
[WASHINGTONTIMES] President B.O.'s approval ratings may be stuck in a sand trap, but that has not deterred him from sticking to his weekly round of golf. After teeing off on Saturday at the private course in Florida where the film "Caddy Shack" was filmed, Mr. Obama hit the milestone number of 150 golf rounds in less than five years in the White House.
The Secret Service loaded Mr. Obama's golf clubs bag emblazoned with the presidential seal into the motorcade Saturday morning to head to the private Grande Oaks Golf Club. Sporting a blue polo shirt with tan slacks and a cap, he spent five hours on the private course with former NBA star Alonzo Mourning, friend Cyrus Walker and former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
Mr. Obama wasn't much of a duffer before he ran for president. His regularity on the green started on April 26, 2009. He played 27 times that first year in office, seven of which were during his vacations on Martha's Vineyard and Hawaii.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Wish I had time for 150 rounds of golf . Too busy though , perhaps Obama should take note of what hours and effort stock Americans put into living their lives and adjust his holiday ridden timetable suitably . That being said , its probably safer for the whole world that hes on the 12th green juggling his balls
#3
Other than getting the approval of Congress and the UN, your personal 'international' law seems to be confined to your mother's basement and the limited cranial space you inhabit. However, please keep it up, as Bearing False Witness is one of the three fundamentals of Progressive Socialism. We need the examples laid before us regularly to remind us of its bankrupt principles.
#6
I don't begrudge him, or anyone, golf playing time. It's an excellent way to get away from the pressures of problems one has caused oneself, or crises one is not mentally or emotionally capable of dealing with.
#11
The more he golfs, the less time he has to make things worse for the rest of us.
That notion assumes he is in charge, he isn't. He is just the facade, the real power is ValJar and whomever is giving her, her marching orders.
In fact, if you view Obama as the distraction and misdirection that he is, then one has to wonder what VJ and all those 40+ Czars are doing behind the scenes.
It ain't good.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/11/2013 11:23
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Very good point SAM - One of the few times where Obama made a decision - Osama bin Laden was killed. Since then ValJar and his other handlers have kept him on a very tight leash.
#13
I'm reluctant to give Champ any credit on OBL. At the very best it was about getting reelected -- as in someone looked at the polls in early '12 and said 'the only way we're going to win this thing is if we kill OBL.'
And that's by far the most generous intepretation of events.
#14
I think Pappy has a great point. Only a self starting volunteer would have the right stuff to handle all this. Voters realizing he is just a face man is the number one concern.
Wonder what Duffy the High Score Slayer's call sign would be?
Worm Burner
Jed Klampart
[TOLONEWS] A gathering of tribal elders and religious scholars from around the country was organized in Kabul on Sunday in which opposition was voiced against both the Loya Jirga organized by President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... and the Washington-Kabul security pact it is expected to decide on.
There have been many commentators over the past couple months offering criticism or support for Karzai's decision to leave the fate of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), which would outline the U.S.' involvement in Afghan national security after the troop withdraw at the end of 2014, up to a Loya Jirga. Most have generally agreed that the BSA is advantageous for Afghanistan.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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A gathering of tribal elders
Somehow the use of this phrase in the 21st century rings a cracked bell to me. The modern world doesn't work well with tribes........even if they do have flags.
[Al Ahram] Senior member of the Moslem Brüderbund Mohammed El-Beltagy has condemned the detention of the 21 female protesters who were tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! last Thursday in a demonstration at Alexnadria's Corniche.
The protesters, who had organised a human chain in support of ousted President Mohammed Morsi
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Posted by: Fred ||
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[The Hindu] Two ITBP jawans were maimed in an IED blast in the Maoist-hit Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh on the eve of the first phase of Assembly elections, police said.
"The incident occurred this afternoon near Baldongri village under Aundhi cop shoppe, located around 125 km from Rajnandgaon district headquarters, when a polling party was heading towards its destination," Rajnandgaon SP Sanjeev Shukla said.
The polling party was on its way to Baldongri booth when the low-intensity IED blast was set off near a rivulet, leaving two ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force) personnel injured, he told PTI.
"The jawans were provided primary treatment at a local health centre and are being brought to the Rajnangdaon headquarters," he said, adding the polling staff reached their destination safely.
Eighteen constituencies of Maoist-affected Bastar and Rajnandgaon districts are going to polls on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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More deliciousness from the leftist Guardian UK. Who knew French soc1al1sm was the same as American neocons.
From TFA:
France's role in Geneva talks that ended with no agreement over Tehran's nuclear programme has prompted bewilderment and anger inside Iran.
Iranians, who stayed awake all night to find out whether their negotiators have reached a breakthrough with the west, were disappointed that France was prepared to defy the Americans and block a stopgap deal, and that western sanction would not end any time soon.
The Irna state news agency reported that Iranian businessmen were considering reducing their trade ties with France, saying they no longer considered it as a good partner because of its "adventurist and immature behaviour" at Geneva.
#6
Yep. Funny thing is, if you pronounced 'Détroit' the way the French do, not a single person living in the city would even know what you were talking about.
"Mr. Obama also said that, because he's run his last political campaign, he's looking to build his legacy and leave the U.S. a bitter better place."
Rule by Decree. What a happy legacy. He'll be remembered for years.
Remember the story about the Three Wishes: no matter what you wish for with your first two wishes, unless the Good Fairy specifically forbids it, your third wish is always for more wishes. Keep that in mind when Champ starts ruling by decree: one of those decrees might be to reset certain, ah, electoral issues that have been vexing him and his supporters.
Paranoid? Perhaps. I prefer to think of it as 'wary'...
#1
Rule by Decree. What a happy legacy. He'll be remembered for years.
Yes, remembered, but not as some may think. Revisionist history will treat him most kindly, and he is fully cognizant of this fact. His leftest puppet master(s) would never permit him to be removed from office, or spoken about disparagingly in future years. Just as his academic records, early activities and background are masked today, all of the unseemly events of late will be wiped away by the hand of inclusion, political correctness, and revisionist history. All of his media recorded misdeeds will be pruned from history like player gang signs and signals from NFL games. Of all regrets, the failures of truth must surely be the most painful.
#4
I [Obumble] want to know that what I did made the world a better place for them [for the children], he said.
The jury came in a long time ago on that one; the news; it's not looking good for your legacy. Don't muck it up more by playing dictator the last three years of a failed presidency. Go work on your golf game and leave the rest of us alone.
#5
Champ is a man who has always managed to stay one step ahead of his reputation -- until now. The problem for him is that there is no going back. He can't re-become a cipher onto which the credulous project their hopes and dreams.
If Champ thought he could accomplish all he likes with EO's then that's what he would be doing -- not issuing threats. He need Boehner's help. Let's pray to God he doesn't get it.
#9
Forbes predicted Obamacare would be repealed (possibly before the 2014 elections). Amazing. Wasn't too long ago they called you a kook for hoping for that.
#11
Nah - his staff will probably do something chickens*t, like pry all the 'O's from the keyboard, hack the White House website on Inauguration Day, and redirect all its phone calls to Weepy Boehener's office.
#13
Any doubt in anyone's mind he will leave the office peacefully?
Hell No. He's already trying to start a war.
(Unsuccesfuly, at present.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/11/2013 18:33
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"Not my ideas mind you. But they are ideas. Suggestions, orr, ummm, uuuhh, possibilities, (unintelligable) umm, actions. But let me be clear - they are in a drawer."
#16
I have to broadly agree wid #14, widin the context that the Bammer is empowering + entrenching the anti-US Marxist-Globalist agenda where the US-N-ONLY-THE-US has to unilaterally or forcibly lose its "sole" Superpower authority-n-influence, etc. around the World.
To recall POTUS CLINTON = "THE US MUST BE RESTRAINED OR CONTROLLED".
Unless "post-US", "Mahanist" China already knows whom wil be Obama's POTUS successor come Jan 2017, + that the same is another anti-US Marxist-Globie, IT BEHOOVES CHINA TO MAKE ITS MILITARY MOVES IN EAST ASIA + WESTPAC WHILE THE PERT, MSM-NET ALLEGED/PROCLAIMED "WEAKEST US RESIDENT SINCE JIMMY CARTER", OR "WORSE/WEAKER THAN CARTER", ETC. IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE + IS COMMANDER-OF-CHIEF OF ANY EACH + ALL US MILITARY FORCES IN CONUS + AROUND THE WORLD, I.E. THE ONE WHOM GIVES THE USDOD ITS FINAL GO-TO-WAR-VERSUS-NOT-TO-WAR MARCHING ORDERS.
As a good or proficient Politician, the Bammer's cover story = political excuse is that the US can no longer econ afford to go to war for any reason - TECHNICALLY, HE WILL BE CORRECT.
What is NOT being said is that it is INTENTIONAL + WAS PRE-PLANNED/CALCULATED LONG AGO.
[Al Ahram] A Bahraini court Sunday nabbed Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! for life two Shiites convicted of blowing up a car outside a Sunni mosque in an attack that caused no casualties, a judicial source said.
The criminal court sentenced three others to 15 years in prison for their involvaement in the July 17 attack near the royal court in the Sunni-majority Rifaa district south of Manama, the sources added. The defendants complained in court that they had been "tortured during interrogation", the source said.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Ahram] Paleostinian officials say Gazoo's power plant is not operating and the territory is facing power outages due to a fuel shortage caused by political infighting.
Ihab Ghussein, front man for Gazoo's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government, said Sunday that the rival government in the West Bank has stopped transferring fuel to Gazoo because the Gazoo government won't pay a newly imposed tax. Hamas says it cannot afford the tax.
In recent months, Egypt has closed smuggling tunnels along the Gazoo border that provided fuel to the Paleostinian territory. Egypt also has halted transfers of Qatari-funded fuel because of Death Eater attacks on Egyptian security forces in the lawless Sinai Peninsula. Higher-priced Israeli fuel transfers are continuing.
Power outages in Gazoo now last 12 hours because of the fuel shortage.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
perhaps they'll figure out nobody likes them and change? Nahhhhh
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2013 8:00
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[An Nahar] Syria's fractious opposition coalition announced Sunday it will not attend mooted peace talks in Geneva unless it received the backing of rebels on the ground.
Spokesman Khaled Saleh, speaking to news hounds in Istanbul on the second day of a coalition meeting there, said the opposition and the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) "are on the same side and we are fighting a common enemy."
"If we are going to be in Geneva, they are going to be part of that delegation. They have as much interest in a successful and free democratic Syria as we do."
The opposition coalition's gathering was meant to forge a common position on the Geneva talks, which world powers want held to find a negotiated solution to Syria's conflict.
But rivalries, disagreements and disparate ambitions have splintered the opposition. And rebels fighting Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's troops are split between the FSA and al-Qaeda linked guerrillas.
Saleh said the Turkey-based coalition would send two delegations into Syria to discuss with FSA leaders and civilian groups the prospect of participating in the Geneva talks.
The coalition was also continuing to work on a statement setting out its formal position on the talks, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
Just another reason why Amerika's future OWG "Islamic/MIddle East/Persian Gulf Union" "CO Superpower" Shia Iran, to include Hezbollah + IRGC + Quds Force, etal. is now our anti-Qaeda BFF in Syria + ME.
Again, either that of the Ban Econ, Sequester, SHutdown + post-SHUtdown affected Amerika redeploys its forces from [pst-2014?]Aghanistan proper to the new "Afghanistan/AFPAK II" in Syria.
WHICH WILL UNDOUBTEDLY P.O. NUKE-ARMED, MILITANT-TROUBLED, MOSTLY ANTI-SHIA SUNNI PAKISTAN BECAUSE IT HISTORICALLY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE WORLD'S FIRST ISLAMIC SUPERPOWER, NOT SHIA IRAN OR OTHER???
[Al Ahram] A Syrian politician who was kidnapped by opposition jihadist fighters earlier this year has been executed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday. A parliamentary source in Damascus, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , confirmed that Mujhem al-Sahu, from eastern Deir Ezzor province, had been executed, without specifying who was responsible.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... on Sunday urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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[Al Ahram] Former presidential hopeful Khaled Ali announced on Sunday his resignation from Egypt's Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP), in another blow to the group amid recurrent walkouts.
On Saturday, the leftist group received the resignation of some 280 of its members, who cited disenchantment with the party's internal policies and leadership decisions.
[Al Ahram] Some 109 corpses remain in Zeinhom Morgue of a total of 120 unidentified since 30 June and the eruption of widespread violence in the country, front man of Egypt's Forensic Medicine Authority Hesham Abd El-Hamid said on Sunday.
Clashes broke out nationwide after the army deposed president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... 3 July amid mass protests against his rule. His supporters, mainly from the Moslem Brüderbund, from which he hails, locked horns in the aftermath with opponents or security forces, leaving hundreds dead in widespread violence.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Ahram] Tens of thousands of Thai pro-government "Red Shirts" massed in Bangkok on Sunday, police said, in their first show of force since a wave of opposition protests against a controversial political amnesty bill.
Television footage showed a sea of people decked out in red, many bussed in from the country's hardscrabble northeast, at a noisy rally in a suburban park in support of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her ruling Puea Thai party.
About 45,000 Red Shirts joined the rally, a front man for the national police office said, adding 13,000 anti-government protesters held a separate demonstration elsewhere in the city a few kilometres from Government House.
The major mobilisation of Reds follows several days of protests by various opposition groups against a deeply divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... amnesty bill backed by Yingluck's government, which has inflamed festering political wounds.
Thailand's Senate was due on Monday to debate the bill, which critics say has been crafted to pave the way for a return of the polarising ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Yingluck's brother.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The main opposition Syrian National Coalition on Sunday has renewed its rejection of any future role for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
and other regime members who have "tainted their hands with blood."
The group's front man Khaled al-Saleh said in a presser in Istanbul that while the coalition is committed to a "political solution," it will not participate in the proposed peace talks in Geneva to end the 32-month Syrian conflict unless certain demands are met.
"The six principles [included in Geneva I that took place last year] are frames and not preconditions. They are needed to create a real political process [to form a transitional government] and this is what we are asking for. It includes ceasefire, the release of detainees and formation of a transitional government, and yes it mandates no role for Assad in any political process in Syria," Saleh said.
He also highlighted what has been included in a declaration in London last month by the Friends of Syria pro-opposition alliance. The declaration has ruled out any role for the Syrian president in a transitional administration.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... he said his group's stance regarding Iran is "very clear."
Iran needs to "withdraw all of its militias," including the departure of fighters hailing from the Lebanese Shiite guerilla group, Hezbollah, and from Iraq's Abu Fadhl al-Abbas.
"If they do that, then we can discuss the Iranian attendance in Geneva II."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] In the on-going drive against criminals, Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... police nabbed Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! 88 accused from different parts of the metropolis during the last 24 hours. A police front man said here on Sunday that those arrested included 14 absconders and proclaimed offenders as well as those allegedly involved in murders, robberies, and other crimes. Police also recovered as many as 13 weapons of various calibres from the possession of the suspects.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
SEARGEANT ,
Si Mon Capitaine?
ROUND UP THE USUAL SUBJECTS,
Si Mon Capitaine, a hundred this time?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/11/2013 0:37
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#2
Crazy 88's
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2013 8:22
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[Al Ahram] Two Egyptian coppers were killed late on Sunday when unknown assailants attacked a security checkpoint on the outskirts of the Suez Canal city of Ismailia.
In another drive-by shooting, gunnies riding a microbus shot up the checkpoint, killing two conscripts, according to Ahram's Arabic news website.
Two coppers were also killed after a checkpoint was attacked on the Cairo-Ismailia road last week. Last month, three coppers were killed in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura when four assailants on cycle of violences shot up them.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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At least one person was killed during a bomb attack on a liquor store on Friday in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
An unidentified security official said the store may have come under attack because it sold alcohol. He said, "It is not the first time that this store has been bombed. The first time it happened was on August 3."
An unidentified person entered the store, shot the security guard and left the bomb inside the premises, the official said. The attacker later detonated the bomb by mobile phone. The Investigative Committee said two other people were wounded in the explosion, which completely destroyed the store.
Stores selling liquor have come under sustained pressure from radical Islamists in Dagestan. Police are also considering the possibility that the attackers were terrorists militants demanding protection money.
The attack is similar to an incident late last month in which a double bombing struck a liquor store and adjacent shop in Makhachkala, killing at least one person and wounding several others.
[Pak Daily Times] A potential terror bid was averted on Sunday night with the arrest of three suspected forces of Evil and seizure of a huge quantity of explosives.
The arrests were made after personnel of law enforcement agencies raided a house in the capital sources informed Daily Times, and added that firearms were also seized from the tossed in the calaboose Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! men. According to details, a search operation was conducted by law enforcement agencies in Sector I10/2.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Of late Punjab has witnessed some gruesome sectarian violence that provides the much needed reminder that Punjab is sitting on a sectarian powder keg. The killing of three Shias including an office bearer of the Shia Ulema Council and a prayer leader in two different Imambargah ...since they're religiously correct™, Shia Moslems in Pakistain can't call their houses of worship 'mosques,' which are reserved for Sunnis. It's not clear if imambargahs are used for explosives storage like mosques are... s at Gujranwala on November 8 before daybreak reveals once again the inability of the government to protect its citizens, especially in the month of Muharram. In the aftermath of Hakeemullah Mehsud's death, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has pledged to carry out attacks across the country. What could have been better timing than to start their Dire Revenge™ orgy in Muharram. Taking the TTP lightly after what they have done to the country through their consistent and predictable behaviour can only be termed irresponsible. And if the government had considered small cities such as Gujranwala immune to terrorism because of their size or relevance, it has committed a double sin: one of ignoring the recent history of sectarian violence in relatively smaller cities of Punjab such as Bhakkar and Gujrat, and another of forgetting the arrest of a number of forces of Evil from Gujranwala madrassas last month following the arrest of an al Qaeda operative from Punjab University. On the flip side, security in the bigger cites, since it has been stepped up, gives more reasons to the forces of Evil to aim for the smaller cities. This is no rocket science. For how long will this situation persist? We hear that new laws have been prepared to take on the culprits involved in terrorism. The reality however speaks a different language. We are as unprepared as we have been five years or ten years down the road from when terrorism began shaping up in this part of the world. The police have so far tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! nine suspects of the attack in Gujranwala, all belonging to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
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Posted by: Fred ||
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[WORLDNEWS.NBCNEWS] Pak private schools have been barred from buying a book written by Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old activist who was shot in the head by Talibs last year for defying the Islamist myrmidon group and advocating for girls' right to an education.
"Yes we have banned Malala's book because it carries the content which is against our country's ideology and Islamic values," Kashif Mirza, chief of All Pakistain Private Schools Federation, told the Agence La Belle France-Presse news agency.
And Mirza told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that Malala, who has received significant global media attention, had betrayed Pakistain.
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One of the quiet things happening in the Middle East is that energy needs are reshaping alliances. Countries that were at each other's throats a few years back are becoming quite chummy. This is one of those situations.
IRBIL, Iraq -- As the rest of Iraq descends into a crisis of deepening violence, the autonomous enclave of Kurdistan is enlisting the help of an unlikely ally, Turkey, to reach for a long-delayed dream of independence.
In many ways, Iraqi Kurdistan already acts like a sovereign state. Kurdish authorities provide all public services, command their own army and control their own borders -- including their heavily guarded southern border with Arab-majority provinces of Iraq. In Irbil, the Kurdish capital, most government buildings fly the Kurdish flag -- not the flag of Iraq -- and many members of the younger generation never learned Arabic and speak only Kurdish.
Until now, however, the Kurds have remained tightly tied to Baghdad because they depend on the Iraqi treasury for the vast majority of their regional budget.
That could soon change.
Putting aside years of hostility, Turkish and Kurdish leaders are quietly implementing an energy partnership agreement, signed earlier this year, that promises to provide the Kurdistan region with an independent stream of oil revenue.
So do the Kurds take advantage of the Turks to form a greater Kurdistan, or do the Turks take advantage of the Kurds to quiet the Turkish southeast?
It depends. Do you think demography is destiny? Because the kurdish birthrate is about four times that of the native Turks, and the Turks are for the most part below replacement, last I looked.
The first major step in the plan is a pipeline that runs directly to Turkey, beyond Baghdad's reach, and that will begin operating by the end of the year, according to the Kurdistan region's minister of natural resources, Ashti Hawrami.
"It is our duty as Iraqis to pursue export routes for oil and gas, to secure our future," Hawrami said.
But more as his duty as a Kurd...
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Obama administration have balked at Turkey's budding alliance with the Kurds, saying that it could further destabilize Iraq. They worry that a push toward Kurdish nationalism could raise ethnic tensions with Iraq's Arab majority, especially those who live along the disputed boundary between the Kurdistan region and the rest of the country.
More than 5,500 people have been killed in attacks in 2013, Iraq's deadliest year since 2008. The Kurdistan region has remained safe, with the exception of one major attack on an intelligence headquarters in the Kurdish capital, Irbil, in September. But the war in neighboring Syria has helped reenergize al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliates, which are waging an escalating campaign of bombings, assassinations and prison breaks.
It also presents a perilous opportunity to unite the Syrian Kurds in the northeast of that country with Kurdistan. But that could also trigger more problems inside Turkey.
Leaders in the Kurdistan region have tried to quell the concerns of Iraqi and American officials, giving assurances that they have no plans to formally secede from Iraq, even as they lay the groundwork for increasing autonomy.
"Independence is an aspiration in the heart of every Kurd," said a senior Kurdish official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of political sensitivities. "But we need to be strategic."
It's smart in many ways. The Kurds had to overcome their own factionalisms of the 80s and 90s, which they've seemed to do. If the present situation plays out another generation it works to their advantage. They've got time for the long game.
Ironically, Turkey could become a key enabler of Kurdish dreams.
In the past, Turkish leaders opposed political autonomy for Iraqi Kurds, for fear that Turkey's own sizable Kurdish minority might be emboldened toward separatism. As recently as 2008, Turkey massed tens of thousands of troops on its southern border and launched major ground attacks on Kurdish militants in Iraqi territory, prompting Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani to threaten violent retaliation.
But Turkey's policy toward the Kurds has shifted dramatically. Relations warmed as Turkey began to see growing economic opportunities in Iraqi Kurdistan, including several unexploited natural gas fields. Turkey needs cheap and plentiful energy supplies to keep its economy growing quickly.
In March, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Kurdish region's prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, finalized a comprehensive energy agreement. It calls for a new state-owned entity called the Turkish Energy Co. to explore for oil in several parts of Iraqi Kurdistan and to facilitate the pipeline export of oil and natural gas. Most details of the deal have been kept secret, but two senior Turkish government officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of political sensitivities, outlined its broad parameters and confirmed the signing.
Beyond the oil sector, Turkish companies are helping transform Irbil, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, into an aspiring capital of commerce with a skyline full of cranes. In the past five years, Turkish companies have built an international airport, two luxury hotels, gated communities for expats and a towering office park named Empire World.
But the oil deal has raised alarms in Washington. When Erdogan visited the United States in May, President Obama emphasized his administration's opposition, according to two government officials, one American and one Turkish, who were briefed on the meeting but were not authorized to speak to the news media. The White House pushed Turkey to reformulate the agreement to address the concerns of Iraq's central government, which claims primary authority over oil development and exports.
The Turks have long coveted the energy fields that used to be part of the Ottoman Empire. They don't necessarily need to own the land if the state-owned company gets the right concessions. For Erdogan it removes a potential source of unrest amongst his people. For the Kurds it's cash and independence from Baghdad. It's a match made by shared problems.
But that proposal went nowhere with the Kurds, who keenly remember the oppressive policies of previous Arab-majority governments in Baghdad. From the Kurdish perspective, one of the primary benefits of an alliance with Turkey is the validation of an expansively federalist interpretation of Iraq's constitution, under which the Kurdistan region claims almost total autonomy.
"We have learned a lesson from history," said Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of the Kurdistan region's Department of Foreign Relations. "Our natural resources have strengthened our hand, our position, our political weight."
The regional government has signed more than 50 contracts with dozens of oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron. But the landlocked Kurds can only persuade their private-sector partners to develop billions of dollars worth of oil production if there is a reliable way to transport all of that crude to international markets -- and that means pipelines.
In the past, the Kurds have struck a series of temporary agreements with Baghdad to export through federal Iraqi infrastructure. But Baghdad, loath to condone independent oil ambitions, has accepted the Kurdistan region's crude while withholding most of the expected payments.
Turkey has guaranteed that Iraqi Kurdistan will receive revenue from its oil and gas sales directly, circumventing Baghdad.
The Turkish state company Botas has begun building a gas pipeline toward the Kurdish border, according to a senior Turkish energy official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivities. Under the terms of the March agreement, the Kurdistan region will ultimately export at least 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year -- enough to meet more than one-fifth of Turkey's current consumption.
The Syrian civil war has helped push Turkish and Kurdish leaders together. Seeing growing instability in the largely Kurdish areas of northern Syria, Erdogan has been eager to enlist Massoud and Nechirvan Barzani -- the uncle-nephew team that leads the Kurdistan Regional Government -- to exert a moderating influence on militant Kurdish groups.
For the Kurds, deteriorating security in the rest of Iraq has helped create political opportunity. Maliki, who is seeking reelection as prime minister next year, faces widespread public frustration and political challenges from the fractious Shiite parties that form his base and is likely to need Kurdish support to win another term.
In the Kurdistan region, the Barzanis just led their political party to a victory in regional elections through a campaign that proudly linked oil with Kurdish nationalism. In one television commercial, a young boy in the desert smiles with delight as he walks along the region's new pipeline, following the path of oil flowing toward a sunset in Turkey.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/11/2013
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#1
IIRC, the Turks have long referred to the Kurds as "Mountain Turks". Will the Kurds soon begin referring to Turks as "Coastal Kurds"?
[The Hindu] A unknown attacker shot and killed an Iranian deputy minister on Sunday, a government front man told the ISNA news agency. Deputy Industry Minister Safdar Rahmatabadi was killed in his car on Sunday afternoon. Police are investigating the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[FRANCE24] Hundreds of illegal migrants targeted in a Saudi nationwide crackdown turned themselves in on Sunday after security forces besieged a Riyadh neighbourhood where riots had killed two people.
Men, women and kiddies lined up carrying their belongings to board police buses transferring them to an assembly centre before their deportation, a week after a seven-month amnesty expired.
Police said they intervened on Saturday following riots in the poor Manfuhah neighbourhood of the capital after foreigners attacked Saudis and other foreign expats with rocks and knives.
Continued on Page 49
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[Pak Daily Times] Three more suspected gangsters were killed during ongoing gang war and encounters with the law enforcers in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... on Sunday.
Lyari continued to echo with gunshots and kabooms where routine and commercial activities were also suspended. The dear departed persons are yet to be identified. Police officials said that two gangsters were killed during the ongoing gang war between Baba Ladla and Uzair Baloch groups; however, another was killed during an encounter with the law enforcers.
One suspected gangster was killed in a firing incident near Tanga Stand in Bihar Colony. Another was killed in Koila godown area while the third suspected gangster was killed during an encounter with the law enforcers in Chakiwara locality.
Moreover, Rangers recovered a hostage during a raid at the hideout of Lyari notorious gangster Faisal Pathan. On one hand the gangsters were attacking each other by resorting to indiscriminate firing as well as throwing hand grenades and rockets, and on the other law enforcers also took action against them. "Still, we do not have any idea whether the gangsters killed belong to Baba Ladla group or Uzair Baloch group," said DSP Shakeel Ahmed. Talking about the situation in Lyari, the DSP informed, "Continuous firing from all around has not stopped, but we are still engaged in action against both the groups."
Bodies found: At least six bodies were found from Lyari and its neighbourhood areas in the fresh spate of gang war late Saturday night. According to details, police found six bodies that are yet to be identified. Initial investigations suggest that the dear departed have been killed after kidnapping by rival group members.
In the first incident, the bodies of two men were found from Bihar Colony area of Lyari within the limits of Chakiwara cop shoppe. In another incident, body of a man was found from Mirza Adam Khan within the same jurisdiction.
Another unidentified young man's body was found from Bakra Piri area, the dear departed has been shot multiple times and also slaughtered. Two more bodies were found from Nappier and Sher Shah localities. The bodies were sent to Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... for an appointment with Dr. Quincy; however, no one arrived at the hospital to claim the bodies.
According to DSP Shakeel Awan, the initial investigations suggest all victims were shot and killed after kidnapping, and it was linked to the gang war in Lyari. He further informed that the police have reports about several more kidnappings of gangsters by both rival groups - Baba Ladla and Uzair Baloch.
An extra contingent of law enforcers, including Rangers and police, has been stationed in the area to keep vigilance.
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[Al Ahram] As the 50-Member Committee reaches the half-way point in its work, controversial issues -- mainly centred on the role of Islamic Sharia -- continue to cause rifts between seculars and Islamists
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After a speech given by Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at a forum hosted by The Economist (UK), Miguel Osorio Chong, Peña's Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB), or interior minister spent time in the press last week clarifying Pena's remarks.
According to a news report posted on the website of Yancuic.com, president Peña told the forum that a reduction of violence has occurred in Mexico since the end of 2012, but, according to a news account Peña gave no details.
According to the news account, president Peña used the term appreciably with regard to the drop in violent crime in Mexico, and even when asked about what metric could used to show any decline in violence, Peña did not answer.
One criticism from the publisher of The Economist news weekly, unidentified in the article, was that when president Peña spoke of the reduction of crime he failed to make note of events in Michoacan, easily one of the most violent states in Mexico, and one which potentially threatens Pena's security strategy.
Another problem with president Peña's claims is that, according to the news account, if the drop in homicides in Mexico state only are taken into account, then Peña told the truth. Which means that Peña likely lied to the forum in his claims.
According to the data supplied by The Economist, officials in Mexico state had changed the methodology of reporting statistics for violent crime, which showed a steep drop the year Peña's term as governor ended in 2011. Now, two years later, Peña is applying apparently similar methodology by eliminating drug related deaths from statistical compilations. That statistical trick has indicated a dramatic reduction in violent crime starting in August -- when the new method went into place -- by 20 percent.
Osorio Chong responded to critics the next morning by claiming Peña's anti crime strategy deals with people not statistics. Osorio Chong before a senate committee last week combatively also denied a conspiracy of silence existed between the federal and state governments in reporting violent crime in Mexico.
That statement by Osorio Chong may well be the epitaph of transparency laws in place since 2005 under the Vicente Fox presidential administration.
Having pushed an across the board income tax increases as well as levies on other items including sugary drinks, Peña is now pushing to eliminate transparency reforms dealing with security policy in place since 2005.
An editorial which appeared earlier in the week in El Siglo de Durango news daily written by Jorge Perez Arellano said that the new national expenditure law, approved in the Chamber of Deputies and now being considered by the Mexican senate, was passed without Article 9 or Article 15, two 2005 reforms which forced state and municipal governments to report certain classes of spending back to the federal government.
The Presupuesto de Egresos 2014, or Expenditure Act of 2014 is set for a vote November 16th in the Senate when it is expected to pass, then go to the plenary session for final approval.
State and municipal governments in Mexico are severely restricted in how much of their own revenue they can raise and spend. The Mexican federal government provides the lion's share of money for state and local police corporations. Under the current law any monies provided by the federal government for security not spent 90 days after the funds are originally transferred, must be reported and any use of those funds by state of municipal entities must be publicly available for anyone to see.
Another reform expected to be removed from 2014 spending program is the requirement that state and municipal public servants must report to the Chamber of Deputies and to the national auditor's office any complaints against those officials.
For the average Mexican citizen, the reform meant that any complaints pressed against an errant officials would be sent to the Chamber of Deputies and to the auditor. With the new reform, now the average Mexican citizen will be forced to go to Mexico City to press complaints since municipal and state officials will no longer be required to send them on to the federal government.
According to Perez Arellano, the gutting of the reforms will allow public servants to grant themselves and their subordinates salary increases, presumably without any legislative oversight.
According to a separate report in El Diario de Chihuahua news daily, Veracruz Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) deputy Juan Bueno Torio warned that the elimination of the reforms will give state and local officials a "big spoon", and that gutting reform could lead to increased indebtedness in states and municipalities.
Bueno Torio, formerly a senator, had spent some time towards the end of his term warning about the dire condition of Mexican municipalities with indebtedness. At the time in 2012, he warned that 80 percent of all municipalities in Mexico were having dire economic problems due to increased amounts of debt.
It was a massive increase of public debt from 2005 to 2011 that led the populist former Coahuila governor and former PRI president Humberto Moreira Valdes to resign.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com
#1
Not to worry - the neighboring country to the north will once again act as a pressure valve.
And as badanov mentioned elsewhere, the Mexican press has essentially agreed to the Peña government's tactic of non-reporting narco-war deaths, for the "good of the country."
And that, my dear Canadian 'friend', is an example of fascism.
#2
I visit Tijuana regularly and my counterpart there agrees w/ the tone of this article; the new pres is in the tank w/ the drug cartels and suppression of bad news is the norm.
[NY Times] With millions of Americans frustrated and bewildered by the trouble-prone federal website for health insurance, con men and unscrupulous marketers are seizing their chance. State and federal authorities report a rising number of consumer complaints, ranging from deceptive sales practices to identity theft, linked to the Affordable Care Act.
Madeleine Mirzayans was fooled when a man posing as a government official knocked on her door. Barbara Miller and Maevis Ethan were pitched by telemarketers who claimed to work for Medicaid. And Buford Price was almost caught by another trap: websites that look official but are actually bait set by fly-by-night insurance operators.
Some level of fraud or abuse is predictable with any big government program, and administration officials expected a few bad actors to emerge. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.; Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services; Edith Ramirez, the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission; and other officials met at the White House in September to discuss possible pitfalls.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
It's a cluster already, why not scammers, No Not the Giverment.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/11/2013 0:24
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The biggist scam is the [non]Affordable Care Act itself.
I'm sure they will jump right on this - the government hates competition.
#3
Attorney General Eric HHolder Jr.; Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services; Edith Ramirez, the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission; and other officials met at the White House in September to discuss possible pitfalls. .
Those ARE the con men
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2013 8:33
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#6
Heh, morning news segment 2 was how to sign up to Obamacare (pencil and paper), segment 3 was about how some people may be brain wired to unflenchingly believe everything they are told.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The trial of nine al-Qaeda suspects accused of plotting to assassinate Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi by placing a roadside kaboom on his motorcade route in Sanaa began Sunday.
The defendants are charged with "being part of an gang belonging to al-Qaeda to carry out criminal acts targeting members of the public authorities and foreigners."
Six of the defendants had placed an "bomb on the Sittin road through which the president's convoy regularly passes... aiming to kill the president and his lover companions," according to charges published by the official Saba news agency.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The Hazaras constitute a distinct ethnic group. Hazaras are of Mongolian and Central Asian descent and legend has it they are descendants of Genghis Khan and his soldiers who invaded Afghanistan in the 13th century. Almost all belong to the Shia Musselmen sect, speak a dialect of Farsi, and are also concentrated in central Afghanistan. There are some 600,000 to 700,000 Hazaras in Pakistain. In Quetta, many of them live on the Alamdar Road. Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... (HRW) research indicates that at least 275 Shias, mostly of Hazara ethnicity, have been killed in sectarian attacks in the southwestern province of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... alone since 2008. Sectarian preference is a form of racial prejudice, and like prejudice, it is closely linked with the urge to obtain and keep power over others.
Ethnicity is usually defined as that part of a person's identity that is drawn from one or more 'markers', like race, religion, shared history, region, social symbols or language. It is distinct from that part of a person's identity that comes from, say, personal moral doctrine, economic status, civic affiliations or personal history. Parlaying these into a concept of ethnic nationalism is tricky however; growing hatred as an ends-based concept does not make any sense if the motivating purpose of contention is some matter of specific relevance to an ethnic group. The inherent complexity and dynamism of ethnicity itself makes understanding this concept difficult. Constructing superior racial or religious ethnicity is a dangerous and contested target and so explanations of ethnic conflict with reference to such ethnic nationalism is liable to produce ominous harm. Unlike 'class conflict', which can be proved or disproved by using pretty stable measures of the people involved, like income, education, occupation, etc, the same cannot be said of ethnicity. Prejudices against other ethnic groups that appear 'essential', wax and wane as conditions change but the mere existence of conflict with other ethnic groups may shift the meaning of ethnicity on all sides. It is crucial that we focus on ethnic prejudice, and specifically on the sociological understanding of prejudice against certain minority groups.
Ethnic nationalism is one of the main causes of the present plight of rhe Hazara community and the increasing flow of immigration to Europe and Australia. This kind of nationalism emerges from biased ethnic beliefs among certain groups in the community towards other ethnic groups through vernacular mobilisation of ancient deeply held religious concepts. Self-introspection and de-politicising ethnic nationalists and its members would draw into purifying the concepts prescribed in Islam and its elements, which, in turn, may lead to protecting against the expulsion of communities like the Hazaras in Pakistain. The Australian government has offered asylum to 2,500 Hazara families of Pakistain who have been affected by terrorism on humanitarian grounds. Many young Hazaras have left Quetta, and it is estimated that 90 percent of those fleeing the violence do so illegally. Widespread fear of harassment, discrimination and killings has made Hazaras escape their plight.
The Hazaras, who are Shias and are distinguishable due to their features, have been a target of ethnic cleansing by bully boy organizations for political and religious ideological reasons. 'Outside hands' being behind the violence cannot be underestimated, and such perceptions are not as simple because the sources of violence in Balochistan are multifactorial in themselves. Grouping up of snuffies in Balochistan has certainly contributed to an increase in the Hazara-Shia violence and is evident in many ways, such as the relations between the Hazara and Baloch communities. Moreover, it could also be inflamed by the current demand for military intervention by the Hazaras in the province. This promulgates its own set of violence against Baloch nationalists, and thus draws the rift between the two communities even deeper.
Shias and other minority communities say banned Sunni bully boy organizations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LeJ) and Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT)/Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) are those behind the violence. These groups have been banned by the Pak government, but the LeT has rebranded itself as the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat ...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous banned extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the political wing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... . The fact remains that theLeT/JuD has not withdrawn a fatwa condemning Shias to death. Geo-political influences sour the analysis with the notion that the Hazara killings are an extension of the old Iran-Saudi cold war, and Sunni bully boy organization leaders get funding from Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... . There are some who would suspect Hazaras getting money from Iran as a possible reason for being targeted. The Iran gas pipeline and Gwadar port project have significant geo-political significance and add to the continuing domestic terrorism in subtle ways. There is a deep-set suspicion that Iran may be interfering in Pakistain's security establishment, which dates back to the confrontation over Afghanistan and the Taliban. Moreover, easy trade through a functional Gwadar Port would draw another dimension to the strategic importance of Balochistan province.
The Pakistain government has faced widespread criticism for its inability to stop the violence. Pakistain government cannot ignore the innocent killing of the Hazara community, and has to investigate these killings. As Hazaras continue to be slaughtered in cold blood, the callousness and indifference of the authorities offers a damning indictment of the state, its military and security agencies. Pakistain's tolerance for bully boyforces of Evil is not just destroying lives and alienating entire communities, it is destroying Pakistain's image across the world. Government has to make transparent efforts to promptly apprehend and prosecute those responsible for attacks and other crimes targeting the Hazara population. The government's consistent failure to protect the Hazara community from sectarian attacks by Sunni bully boy groups is reprehensible and amounts to complicity in the brutal killing of Pak citizens.
The extreme violence in Quetta means many Hazaras are fighting for survival and feel pessimistic about their future in Pakistain. Faced with the security risks, Dr ZZ (name cannot be disclosed due to security reasons) had to give up his years of successful GP practice in Quetta and is now residing in the UK, desperately demanding justice from the Pakistain government for the loss of his homeland and years of true love for his country. He is hopeful to reach the oasis but is worryingly afraid of his fast growing unforgiving anger. Dr ZZ is just an example of the hundreds of Hazaras who would love to live in Pakistain, adore their country, want to be treated like normal human beings and would like to see a safe homeland.
Ethnic conflict might be defined as a sustained and violent conflict by ethnically distinct actors, in which the issue is integral to one ethnicity. It seems at least possible that some longstanding disputes seen in recent years are enduring enough to qualify. The Ayodhya temple, the Temple Mount and the Orange Day parades may suggest this kind of ethnic conflict purely identificational, often irrational, and deeply impervious to amelioration. Yet such instances are rare. Chronicles of Serbian aggression against Kosovars in terms of the 'ancient hatreds' of Yugoslavia were seen in history but Bill Clinton's words fell silent when the Serbians voted their tyrant Slobodan Milosevic out of office in 2000, and sent him to stand trial for war crimes. Distinctive political systems have spawned religion-based civil wars not because 'religious identity is fixed and non-negotiable' but because basic human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... freedoms are fixed and non-negotiable. Religious identity is almost certainly dynamic and elastic and ancient hatreds are simply the ignored chapters in social phenomena.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/11/2013
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#1
A very long-winded way of saying, Hazaras look different.
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.
Village elders and Islamic clerics in the Russian republic of Ingushetia agreed to hike unofficial fines for bride kidnapping in an effort to stop the custom that led to a bloody shootout last month. 
[BREITBART] According to new national polling data from Pew Research, the American people have revolted against President 
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP) experiences division, as 280 members, including provincial leaders, submitted their resignation citing internal conflicts.
Wazoo
Nawaz Sharif
HARGEISA, Somalia -- The fourth round of a dialogue process between Somalia's Federal Government (SFG) and the country's separatist region of Somaliland has been postponed following an announcement from Mogadishu-based government, Garowe Online reports.
President Hasan Rohani said on Sunday Iran will not abandon its nuclear rights, including uranium enrichment, media reported a day after a fresh round of talks with world powers.
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
[Pak Daily Times] Sindh Rangers have been given special powers under the recently promulgated Tahaffuz-e-Pakistain Ordinance on Sunday. The provincial government empowered the Rangers on the directives of the Federal government for four months. According to sources in Rangers, a notification in this regard has also been issued, adding that with these special powers, Rangers would be able to keep suspects 
Nouri al-Maliki
[HOSTED.AP.ORG] In an unabashed - and likely successful - bid for attention, singer Miley Cyrus smoked a joint on stage and twerked with a dwarf during the MTV Europe Music Awards.
[CHRON] A teenager who attended a large house party where two Cypress Springs High School students died says gunshots began in the house and continued outside as people ran into the streets seeking cover.
Pervez 
[WASHINGTONTIMES] 
[TOLONEWS] A gathering of tribal elders and religious scholars from around the country was organized in Kabul on Sunday in which opposition was voiced against both the Loya Jirga organized by President 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Al Ahram] A Syrian 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The main opposition Syrian National Coalition on Sunday has renewed its rejection of any future role for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Pak Daily Times] In the on-going drive against criminals, 
[Al Ahram] Two Egyptian 
[Pak Daily Times] A potential terror bid was averted on Sunday night with the arrest of three suspected 
[Pak Daily Times] Of late Punjab has witnessed some gruesome sectarian violence that provides the much needed reminder that Punjab is sitting on a sectarian powder keg. The killing of three Shias including an office bearer of the Shia Ulema Council and a prayer leader in two different 
[The Hindu] A unknown attacker shot and killed an Iranian deputy minister on Sunday, a government 
[FRANCE24] Hundreds of illegal migrants targeted in a Saudi nationwide crackdown turned themselves in on Sunday after security forces besieged a Riyadh neighbourhood where riots had killed two people.
[Pak Daily Times] Three more suspected gangsters were killed during ongoing gang war and encounters with the law enforcers in 
[Al Ahram] As the 50-Member Committee reaches the half-way point in its work, controversial issues -- mainly centred on the role of Islamic Sharia -- continue to cause rifts between seculars and Islamists
[NY Times] With millions of Americans frustrated and bewildered by the trouble-prone federal website for health insurance, con men and unscrupulous marketers are seizing their chance. State and federal authorities report a rising number of consumer complaints, ranging from deceptive sales practices to identity theft, linked to the Affordable Care Act.
