From Ambrose Evans-Pritchard I don't wish to become entangled in debate over whether other states impose such ADIZ identification zones beyond their territorial waters, as asserted by Beijing. It is political infantilism to see and judge such disputes through a moral prism, as if our Hobbesian world conforms to codes of right and wrong. What we are dealing with is a great power collision of epochal proportions.
The Asian arms race is young, but clearly under way already. China has launched its first stealth drone, known as Sharp Sword. It developing indigenous aircraft carriers. Its Two-Ocean-Strategy implies a fleet of five or six carrier battle groups.
Japan is already rearming. It is building a de facto marine force. It has launched its largest warship since WW2, an 800-foot long DDH-class helicopter carrier, an aircraft carrier in all but name. Tokyo is developing its own version of the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency. Spending on warships and aircraft will jump by 23pc this year.
When I visited the spanking new buildings of the Japanese defence ministry in Tokyo in March, it already seemed like another world from the run-down digs of the old Self-Defence Force that I had visited six years earlier.
You could feel the emergence of a new military power, pacifist still in name only. The message that came through loud and clear from talking to officials is that Japan is ready for a fight if necessary, and is convinced that it can sink or shoot down any force sent by China into Japan's waters and airspace whether to close in on the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, or to ratchet up pressure against Okinawa.
I was shown detailed maps tracing movements of Chinese DDG warships and Yuan-class submarines that left me deeply alarmed over where this is going. Japanese officials said Chinese naval officers on patrol were not responding to normal signals.
"What we don't know is whether Chinese officers follow any international code of conduct? Do they understand what is banned and not banned? Does the Communist Party control their own military?" said one defence planner.
"Two thousand years ago under the Han Dynasty, the emperor put his right hand on the wheel of his chariot and told his general that everything inside the borders was the domain of the emperor, and everything outside was left to the commander. That has plagued China throughout its history, and it is the delicate issue we now face," he said.
There is no red telephone between Tokyo and Beijing to defuse a crisis if it erupts, nothing comparable to the Washington-Moscow "hotline" during the Cold War.
While the US and China were able to calm the waters after an American military jet collided with a Chinese fighter in 2002 killing the Chinese pilot it is unlikely that any such mishap between China and Japan could be contained at this stage.
FYI LATE 1970's ADAGE = IFF A US-SOVIET NUKE WAR EVAR! BREAKS OUT, GRAB THE FIRST CHICK YOU SEE + RUN, RUN TO THE HILLS".
Anyhoo ...
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > CHINA'S BEEF WID JAPAN IS ALSO A WARNING TO THE USA | KILLER APPS.
KILLER'S Bonnie Glaser = HHHHMMMM, HHHHMMMM, any relation to underclassman Virginia Glaser from St. Francis school, Yona, Guam???
just askin'.
* SAME > OBAMA HECKLED IN CHINATOWN.
* BIG NEWS NETWORK > [Market Watch] CHINA SILENT AFTER US AIR INCURSION REPORT.
Have bad vibes about this.
Historically, Imperial + Kai-Shek + Commie China likes to go tit-for-tat, IFF NOT AN OUTRIGHT MILITARY RESPONSE THEN SOMETHING SUBTLE-BUT-VIOLENT/COSTLY ["soft power"].
To include Islamic-Jihadist-style "Death by a Thousand Cuts/Wounds".
Lest we fergit, many in post-911, "post-US", "Mahanist" China's Political, Military inner circles are calling for Beijing Govt. to end or minimize traditional "soft power" approaches in favor of "hard" or Military-led approaches.
#2
We saw it in the SCS agz PHIL + Vietnam - China kept putting out PCorrect, pro-Diplomacy/
Compromise/Peace feelers ... ... and then one day just suddenly opened fired + killed everyone, anyone widin their weapons range, even those whom had surrendered properly.
#3
Lots of bad blood between the Chinks & Japs left over from WWII. I can understand the Chinese wanting vengeance. If they plan on getting it, things will have to jump off before the Japanese can build up. Wouldn't want a repeat of last time.
I further suspect the Chinese have a whole list of historical slights and grievances they are looking to correct. SCS and Japan are just the first innings of a long game.
[Aypee] LOS ANGELES President Obama has visited with the family of a Transportation Security Administration officer who was killed at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama gathered with relatives of officer Gerardo Hernandez at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday. Obama was in Los Angeles to attend Democratic Party fundraisers. Both events were actually Democratic fund raisers.
Obama also met with TSA agents Tony Grigsby and James Speer, both of whom were wounded in the shootings. Men with Anglo sounding names, also involved.
On Nov. 1, a gunman pulled a semi-automatic rifle from a bag and shot the TSA officers. Hernandez died from his wounds. Authorities have said 23-year-old Paul Ciancia had a vendetta against the federal government and was targeting TSA officers.
Hernandez had a wife, Ana, and a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. No presidential stops in rural Peoria or Washington, IL where nearly 500 suburban homes were destroyed and half a dozen people died. I guess that's why they call it 'fly-over country'.
#4
IIRW, Obama handed out signed copies of his Vegas itinerary, Biden mumbled stuff about peoples' balls, and Hillary! said they'd nail that sonobich filmmaker if its the last thing she does before leaving State.
US president approved final language on American side of accord reached in Geneva; Obama seeking to use deal as legacy-shaping foreign policy accomplishment at time of low domestic approval ratings. I guess I'm a racist
Obama left the troubleshooting to Secretary of State John Kerry and gave him much of the credit for securing the diplomatic coup.
That doesn't sound like our Champ. Not the same guy who dispatched bin Laden all by his lonesome.
His engagement - at a level of minute detail - is in contrast to a more aloof approach as Egypt came under military rule and Syria descended into civil war.
Details have not been his strong suit. A detail guy does not vote "present".
"It's the top item on his foreign agenda for the rest of his term. He doesn't want to leave anything to chance."
As opposed to O'care, his first signature achievement, where it seems he left everything to chance.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2013 8:08
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#2
Iran nuclear deal bears Obama ValJar's personal stamp
I'm visualizing an old-fashioned document stamp with FUBAR across it in large letters.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/26/2013 19:41
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#5
Uh oh, looks like IRAN is claiming that the Bammer + SecState Jaaawhn "Presidential" Kerry lied about a few Nuke Deal thingys.
* DRUDGEREPORT > IRAN REJECTS "INVALID" NUKE DETAILS | [Washington Free Beacon] IRAN: WHITE HOUSE LYING ABOUT DETAILS OF NUKE DEAL. IRANIAN OFFCIALS SAY WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET [Nuke Deal Primer]"INVALID".
* TOPIX > IRAN: RIGHT TO NUCLEAR/URANIUM ENRICHMENT IS PERMANENT [forever-n-ever-n-ever ... + not-a-day].
Boy o boy, can't wait to see what Diplomatically/ Pol-Correct deal the Bammer + Jaaawhn will make iff Why-yes-we-do-have-ICBMS-n-SLBMS China starts shooting at Japan, etal in NE andor East Asia.
[An Nahar] Phalange Party The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology. MP Sami Gemayel slammed on Monday the actions of Hizbullah supporters at Universite Saint Jospeh, questioning the purpose of the party's provocations at the campus.
He declared: "The identity of USJ will not be altered and we will not remain silent against those who provoke us."
He made his remarks during a presser to address recent developments at the university's Huvelin campus in Beirut on Monday morning.
He revealed that Hizbullah supporters had written graffiti on the walls of the university hailing Habib al-Shartouni, who was convicted with the liquidation of former President Bashir Gemayel in 1982.
"The graffiti provoked all students at USJ regardless of their affiliations," added Gemayel.
Moreover, he said that the Hizbullah supporters continued on provoking the students for several hours until the security forces and army intervened.
He criticized the security forces' late response in containing the tensions, warning that the situation could have gotten out of hand.
"A major problem was averted in Ashrafiyeh today," he stated.
"The situation could have been contained as soon as the tensions began, but for some reason the security forces took at least four hours to intervene," remarked the MP.
"The army only intervened when it seemed that a clash was going to take place, which demonstrates that the state does not take immediate action to contain any tensions. Why do we leave matters to reach such a tense stage?" he wondered.
"We thank the army and security forces for containing the situation, but they could have been faster in doing so," he noted.
Addressing Hizbullah, Gemayel asked angrily: "Why are you creating hate among the people against you? What do you have to do with Habib al-Shartouni? What are the purposes of your provocations? What is the reason for this spite?"
"Do you seek to separate yourselves from the rest of the state? You must state your intentions openly," he demanded.
"Do we provoke you when it comes to your resistance and deaders?" he added.
"Why are you provoking and challenging us?" he wondered.
"I do not understand how Hizbullah is allowing its supporters to create such divisions among the people, instead of working on uniting them," he said.
"USJ is a symbol of civility and Leb and we will not allow anyone to alter its identity. We urge the administration to also preserve its identity," urged Gemayel.
"We will no longer remain silent over any provocation," he warned.
Later on Monday, the Army Command issued a statement clarifying that "the dispute that erupted at one of the universities over student elections did not involve any violation of security that requires the intervention of army units," noting that "the army's entry into any university requires a prior request from its administration or from the security forces tasked with protecting it.
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11/26/2013
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[Al Ahram] A Cairo airport official says a prominent Bahraini activist was barred from entering Egypt, but denies opposition claims that he was mistreated.
A statement issued on Monday by the Waad political society in Manama said its deputy head Abdulla Janahi was interrogated for hours.
The official said Janahi was barred from entry on Saturday upon the request of a security agency, but said he was allowed to move freely inside the transit hall until his departure. The official spoke anonymously as he is not authorized to brief the media.
Last year, another prominent Bahraini activist was barred from Egypt.
Bahrain has seen nearly three years of unrest, pitting mostly Shiite protesters against its Sunni rulers.
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11/26/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] An international peace conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war will be held on January 22, the first face-to-face talks between the government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... and rebels seeking to overthrow him, the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... said on Monday.
The United Nations is hoping for a peaceful transition in Syria, building on an agreement between world powers reached in June last year in Geneva.
"We have a clear goal," UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... told news hounds in New York. That was the "full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012", including the establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive powers, including over military and security entities.
Ban said nothing about who had been invited to the talks and took no questions from news hounds.
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11/26/2013
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[Libya Herald] A three-day general strike has been called in Benghazi following this morning's festivities between members of Benghazi Special Forces and Ansar Al-Sharia that left nine dead and at least 23 maimed.
As the fighting subsided this afternoon, Takbirs ("Allahua Akbar") could be heard being broadcast from mosques throughout the city to a backdrop of low-flying Air Force jets.
This evening, crowds started gathering outside Benghazi's Tibesti Hotel to protest against today's violence, as well the liquidations which have destabilised security in the city for much of this year. Demonstrators declared a complete general strike from today, saying this would continue: "Until Benghazi has been cleansed of Ansar Al-Sharia and all other unofficial gangs."
Protestors declared their support for Benghazi Special Forces in the fight against Ansar Al-Sharia but rejected the local council, denouncing it as deceitful and saying its authority was no longer recognised.
The council has apparently since announced three days of mourning during which there would be a general strike. This, it said, would include educational institutions, banks, shops and businesses, although hospitals and food shops would remain open.
Further demonstrations have been reported in other areas of Benghazi.
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11/26/2013
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[NEWS.INVESTORS] Iran isn't the only nuclear threat to worry about. As its military and economy have grown, so too have China's dreams of dominating an island chain centered on Taiwan and including Japan's Senkakus.
China's increased belligerence in the region is part of its plan to control the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea and the larger East China Sea. Its military doctrine refers to dominance over the "first island chain," which encompasses the East China Sea.
The next step is dominance over what Beijing calls the second island chain extending from Japan to Indonesia. Some analysts have even speculated about plans for a third island chain strategy extending as far as Hawaii.
As part of its plans, China on Saturday announced an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea effective Nov. 23. Its military will take "defensive emergency measures" if aircraft enter the area without reporting flight plans or identifying themselves.
China's defense ministry warned in a statement that all aircraft that fail to comply with its new rules for transit through the zone could be shot down.
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11/26/2013
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#1
I hope Japan isn't stupid enough to believe that Obama will back them up...
#2
The US + Japan + Seoul have all formally rejected China's claim of aerospace sovereignty rights in the ECS.
China is more likely to attack and destroy SOKOR + Nippon long before they can dev any effective indigenous nuclear arsenal as deterrence or utility agz the PLA.
Again, unless China is assured that the Bammer's POTUS successor after Jan 2017 is another ANTI-US GLOBALIST = MARXIST-ANARCHIST-GLOBALIST, it behooves China to make its Military or MilPol moves now while the "weakest/worst POTUS since Jimmy Carter" occupies the US White House Dec. 2013 - Jan 2017.
* JAPAN TIMES > US VOWS TO DEFEND JAPAN IFF CHINA AIR ZONE SPARKS CRISIS.
* BIG NEWS NETWORK > [Voice of America] US PENTAGON PREPARED TO [militarily]DEFEND US PLANES IN CHINA DEFENSE ZONE.
* SAME > [Global Post] WAR BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN IS AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN.
* SAME > [China Daily] REGISTRATION OF CHINESE PEOPLE [Nationals] IN JAPAN CALLED A SAFEGUARD, in case of major emergency = contingency.
Ditto repor as for Mainland Chinese in TAIWAN + SOKOR.
IMO Artic read = CHINA WANTS TO KNOW WHO, WHERE CHIESE IN JAPAN + OTHER ARE IN CASE OF PLA AIR ATTACK ANDOR GROUND INVASION.
Sakhalin Island I'm a'lookin at you.
* GLOBAL TIMES > FM SPOKESMAN: US SHOULD "CORRECT ITS MISTAKES" OVER CHINA'S SET-UP OF AIR DEFENSE IDENTIFICATION ZONE.
RELATED RENSE > CHINA TELLS US TO BUTT OUT OF ISLAND ROW WID JAPAN |[CNN.com] CHINA SLAMS "INAPPROPRIATE" US REMARKS ON TERRITORIAL DISPUTE WID JAPAN.
Beijing to US-Allies = ITS YOUR BAD, NOT OURS, SO CHANGE IT.
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > CHINESE SCOLARS: CHINA'S NEW AIR DEFENCE ZONE INTENDED TO MAKE JAPAN AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY RECOGNIZE THE DANGER THAT WAR IS VERY POSSIBLE/REALISTIC IN EAST CHINA SEA.
* SAME > CHINA'S NEW AIR DEFENCE IDENTIFICATION ZONE IS CONSISTENT OR CLOSELY LINKED WID CHINA'S OFFSHORE SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS AS PER ITS CONTINENTAL SHELF AND THE DELINEATION OF CHINA'S OWN TERRITORIAL WATERS IN THE EAST CHINA SEA.
THE ZONE'S AIRSPACE, SURFACE WATERS, + SEAFLOORS RIGHTLY/CORRECTLY BELONG TO CHINA.
versus
* GLOBAL TIMES > WEAK-NATION MENTALITY LIMITING CHINA'S POTENTIAL ON WORLD STAGE.
Beijing to US-World = In case you haven't noticed yet, thingys have changed.
#4
Another grand Beltway scheme coming to fruition. The strategy in Washington was to engage the Chinese economically so that 'war' would be unthinkable, thus avoiding the nastiness of the first half of the 20th Century. So they sold out millions of American jobs and industry to the Chinese and even tolerated the Chinese artificially pegging their currency to the dollar to insure that their output was undervalued for over a generation. What the 'smart' people in the Beltway forgot is that the scorpion can't change its behavior, as the resurgence of 'Imperial' China demonstrates. Looks like there'll still be a war.
#5
Another grand Beltway scheme coming to fruition. The strategy in Washington was to engage the Chinese economically so that 'war' would be unthinkable
You're going back a few years P2k. Nixon, Kissinger and his legacy Kissinger Associates.
#9
This just in from CNN.
Two U.S. Air Force B-52 aircraft on Monday flew into China's newly claimed air defense zone over the East China Sea without identifying themselves as China would have wanted, a U.S. official confirmed to CNN's Barbara Starr.
China declared the new air zone last week over islands that both China and Japan claim. The United States said it would continue with its own air operations in the region and not recognize China's new restrictions, which require aircraft entering the zone to identify themselves and file flight plans.
The B-52s, which flew from Guam and returned there without incident, were not armed because it was a training mission. The mission lasted for several hours, but the aircraft were in the newly declared Chinese air zone for about an hour, according to the U.S. official.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/26/2013 15:35
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In their statements, both Washington and Tokyo accused China of undermining the stability of the Asia-Pacific region by so doing, but in fact, it is Washington and Tokyo that pose threat to the peace and stability in the region.
U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice recently reiterated that Washington is to send 60 percent of its naval forces to the Pacific region and it is to provide more advanced weapons to its armed forces in the region.
For Japan, Abe has taken a series of worrisome actions, including increasing Japan's military budget for the first time in 11 years, staging more military exercises and even openly announcing the intention to revise Japan's pacifist constitution.
The Diaoyu Islands are an inherent part of the Chinese territory and it is natural for China's East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone to cover the area.
Therefore, it is Washington and Tokyo who are indulging in the trick of calling white black. It is high time they stopped doing so.
At least they didn't use terms like "running dogs".
#11
The US defence secretary Chuck Hagel called it a destabilising attempt to alter the status quo in the region and warned that the US would defy the order. The Pentagon has since stated that US pilots will not switch on their transponders to comply, and will defend themselves if attacked. Think about this for a moment.
Mr Hagel asserted categorically that Washington will stand behind its alliance with Japan, the anchor of American security in Asia. The United States reaffirms its long-standing policy that Article V of the US Japan Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands, he said.
* WAFF > [Bloomberg]US TO CONTINUE FLIGHTS IN DEFENSE ZONE CLAIMED BY CHINA.
* PACIFICNEWSCENTER, FREEREPUBLIC > GUAM-BASED B-52S CHALLENGE DISPUTED CHINESE "AIR DEFENSE ZONE" OVER EAST CHINA SEA | US DIRECTLY CHALLENGES CHINA'S "AIR DEFENSE ZONE".
* Also from FREEREPUBLIC > [Business Insider] ONCE CHART SHOWS THE MAGNITUDE OF US NAVAL DOMINANCE.
Which Bammerika's future OWG "Co-Superpower", "post-US", "Mahanist" CHINA would like to de facto see changed in East Asia + Pacific.
* SAME > [Politico] CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: [Interim Iran nuke deal] WORSE THAN MUNICH.
NOT China but IMO similar principles are applicable.
IIRC RELATED TOPIX > OBAMA [+ Kerry] IS NELVILLE CHAMBERLAIN, IRAN NUKE DEAL IS MUNICH.
OWG Bammerika demands that its rivals + enemies righteously expand their borders as Amerika proudly surrenders + falls back like 1940/Vichy France.
[AMERIKAN "DUNKIRK" here].
Amerika wants to make it absolutely positively categorically undeniably ... clear that it was not militarily defeated or forced to retreat - D *** NG IT, WE VOLUNTARILY "LEFT" AS PER OUR COMPLIANCE WID THE UNO-N-ONLY-UNO LED "DIPOMATIC COMPROMISE/SOLUTION"!
So there.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > JAPAN GOVT. RECEIVES [International] SUPPORT ON CHINA'S FLY ZONE, [domestic] AIRLINES COMPLY.
Japan AIrlines [JAL] + All-Nippon Airways [ANA].
UPDATE = Tokyo is repor demanding that Japanese airlines do NOT comply wid China's new requirements.
* SAME > CHINA CARRIER HEADS TO SOUTH CHINA SEA FOR DRILLS | REUTERS.
* TOPIX > [SCMP] PROTESTED AIRSPACE OVER EAST CHINA SEA TO REMAIN FOREVER.
Artic again illustrates Ambassador Caroline Kennedy's dilemma.
China wants guraranteed or unfettered strategic access = overseas "sole" Milbases for the PLA vee the "First Island Chain", + isn't taking "no for an answer; US East Asian allies want to protect their claims of sovereignty over disputed ECS + SCS islands, + also don't want to hear "no" for an answer.
Perts say the post-1945/Cold War "status quo" in NE Asia M-U-S-T change, but acknowledge that such requires a formal + permanent, Regionally + Internationally-recognized resolution to the TAIWAN + NORTH KOREA/KOREAN REUNIFICATION QUESTIONS.
Iran + China's moves will MAKE-OR-BREAK the Globalist concept of a OWG "Multipolar/
Polycentric World", i.e. iff the "Sole" Superpower USA can unilaterally or aysmmterically give up major power-n-influence to Lessors in deference to [rough] OWG GLOBAL OR GEOPOL PARITY widout its actions being seen as major or catastrophic strategic weakness by other "Great Power" wannabes.
CAN THE ABOVE GLOBALIST AGENDA BE SAFELY CONTROLLED/MANAGED, OR NOT - going by how many DemoLefties + aligned are jumping off the Bammer's ship or desire to jump off as per OBAMACARE, THE ANSWER IS "NO"???
At best a mighty, resounding, you-betcha
"Maybe/Iffy"???
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: A devout Shia man along with his wife was slain in North 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... on Monday.
43-year-old Munir Hussain, son of Ashiq Hussain, along with his wife Razia Hussain, 40, was bumped off near Sanobar Cottage, North Karachi, within the jurisdiction of New Karachi cop shoppe. Both were on their way on a cycle of violence when unidentified armed riders intercepted them and opened indiscriminate firing, resulting in both the victims dying instantly. Their bodies were taken to a hospital for an appointment with Dr. Quincy and later handed over to their heirs.
Their funeral prayers were offered at Khair-ul-Amal 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... in Ancholi Society, Federal B Area Block-20, which was attended by a large number of Shia Ulema, workers and family members. Both the victims were later laid to rest at Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard with deep sorrow.
Body found: A perforated carcass of a man was found from a graveyard in Kati Pahari, within the remits of Pirabad cop shoppe. The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed hospital and later moved to mortuary for identification.
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Hah. I'll be snickering at that for days. How about Endive-Khedive? The salad Caesar. Labour camp? Mais non, citoyen, are we barbarians? All aboard for the Frisee-corvee!
[An Nahar] Tensions were high at the Universite Saint Joseph in the Huvelin neighborhood in Beirut on Monday in light of Hizbullah supporters' protest against recent student elections results, reported MTV.
It said that the supporters surrounded the campus in protest, sparking tensions between them and the March 14 students.
The army soon intervened however averting any clash between the rival camps, reported the National News Agency on Monday.
Students have since left the scene and security forces are working on ensuring security around the campus.
Earlier, Phalange Party The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology. MP Sami Gemayel contacted Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji and USJ's President Father Salim Daccache demanding that they "assume their responsibilities regarding the provocations at the campus."
The student elections were held at USJ last week.
An alliance between the Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... and March 14 forces won the majority of seats at three of the campus's four faculties, while independent students swept the last faculty.
Gemayel later revealed during a presser that the tensions were caused in light of Hizbullah supporters' painting of graffiti in the campus hailing Habib al-Shartouni, who was convicted of the liquidation of former President Bashir Gemayel in 1982.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Rebels pressed an offensive east of Damascus and in southeastern Aleppo, in an escalation that in the past three days has killed scores of fighters on both sides, a monitoring group said on yesterday.
Rebels in Eastern Ghouta east of Damascus are trying to break the army siege on opposition areas there, taking over several small villages and checkpoints, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"In the past three days, the rebels have taken over small villages and checkpoints east of Damascus and southeast of Aleppo, after launching counter-offensives on those fronts," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Southeast of Aleppo, rebels also battled troops after a recent advance by the army, he added.
Troops loyal to Assad had for several weeks gained the upper hand against the rebels at key battle fronts across the war-ravaged country.
"Now the army is no longer advancing there," he added.
Fighting yesterday was focused around Marj, east of Damascus, and Khanasser, southeast of Aleppo, Abdel Rahman said.
Opposition activists have described the latest counter-offensive as a bid to break the siege, which has prevented weapons and humanitarian supplies from entering the Eastern Ghouta area.
The main opposition National Coalition has linked the rebel advance to Friday's merger of Syria's biggest Islamist rebel groups, which did not include jihadists.
According to the Observatory, on Sunday the army used intense firepower to fight back, launching air strikes near Aleppo and around Damascus, while firing a surface-to-surface missile against Eastern Ghouta.
A security source in Damascus meanwhile told AFP "the gunnies (rebels) are trying to secure some progress, but the tight ring around them means they will not succeed."
The source also said the army was conducting "operations... to secure the areas that were reclaimed" from rebel hands in southeastern Aleppo in recent weeks.
Pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper said the army was deploying troops in the majority Christian town of Deir Attiyeh, north of Damascus, "in preparation to take it back" from rebel hands.
Located in the strategic area of Qalamoun along Leb's border, Deir Attiyeh was taken over last week by rebels, among them jihadists.
In two and a half years, Syria's war has killed at least 120,000 people, and forced millions more to flee their homes.
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[Tolo News] A young girl was recently publicly flogged in Jaghori District of Ghazni province after a local holy man ordered the punishment based on allegations of her having sexual relations with a boy out of wedlock. Since then, the girl's father, Iqbal Masoomi, has demanded things be made right.
The young girl's named was Sabira, and according to her father, she was psychologically traumatized by the harsh public punishment. Reportedly, the young boy she was accused of having improper relations with was only asked to pay a fine.
"The allegations against Sabira are completely baseless," the father claimed. "She was whipped in public and the boy was freed by paying a fine and now she is suffering from psychological damage and won't leave the house...I want her honor and dignity to be restored," Masoomi said.
Having sexual relations out of wedlock is not against civil law in Afghanistan, but it is against locally practiced Islamic law, which is implemented by religious courts and adjudicators such as holy mans.
Public punishments such as flogging, stoning or even executions were a staple of the brutal Taliban regime that was ousted by the U.S.-led coalition in 2001.
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[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain on Monday inducted the first fleet of indigenously developed strategic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), namely Burraq and Shahpar, in the Pakistain Army and Pakistain Air Force.
The induction of UAVs, which are very effective force multipliers, to the inventory of armed forces is a landmark achievement. In the future these UAVs can also be gainfully employed in various socio-economic development projects. The induction ceremony was attended by Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... , Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Strategic Plans Division Director General Lieutenant General (r) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai and senior officers from the armed forces, scientists and engineers, said an ISPR blurb.
While appreciating the work of National Engineering and Scientific Commission's scientists and engineers, Kayani noted that the induction of the indigenously developed surveillance capable UAVs in the armed forces was a force multiplier, and would substantially enhance their target acquisition capabilities in real time. The announcement comes as some of the country's political parties and thousands of people have protested US drone strikes in the tribal region.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
Again, 'tis Pakland whom historically hoped to become the world's first true Islamic Superpower - IMO Islamabad's pwers that be in the Govt-Army must covertly be cursing Allan for Shia Iran's successes agz the Bammer.
Iff the Sunni KSA, Egypt, Turkey, + Gulf States etal. all go Nukulaar in response to the rise of Nuclear Shia Iran, PAKISTAN COULD EASILY ITS POSITION OR RANKING IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD + INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DEGRADE TO ONLY ALLAN KNOWS WHERE.
[Al Ahram] Ukrainian police fired tear gas Monday at pro-European demonstrators staging a second day of protests outside the government seat in Kiev over a decision to scrap a key pact with the EU.
Scuffles broke out outside the government headquarters shortly before the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... said the offer of a broad political and economic deal this week was "still on the table".
A day earlier, tens of thousands swarmed central Kiev chanting 'revolution' and waving flags, in the biggest rally since the 2004 Orange Revolution overturned a rigged presidential poll and forced a new ballot.
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11/26/2013
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[Libya Herald] Reports that Tunisians were involved in Benghazi's festivities between the Saiqa Brigade and Ansar Al-Sharia Libya have been denied by a Tunisian Salafist living in Benghazi.
It was reported on Libya Al Ahrar TV that Tunisian passports were found in Ansar Al-Sharia's headquarters in the city when it was stormed this morning.
"They actually belong to Tunisian workers in a Libyan-Tunisian construction company in Benghazi," claimed the man, said to be close to Ansar Sharia in both Libya and Tunisia and who wished not to be named.
He told the Libya Herald that the passports had been "seized by an unknown group". He also denied that Ansar Al-Sharia in Tunisia had any links to today's festivities today.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Attackers killed a Rwandan peacekeeper in an ambush on a UN convoy in conflict-stricken Darfur on Sunday, the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... said.
At least 12 UN-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... peacekeepers have been killed in the troubled Sudanese region in the past five months.
The ambush took place near Kabkayiya in North Darfur, said the UN front man Martin Nesirky.
UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... "was deeply disturbed to learn of another attack today by unidentified armed assailants on a convoy of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)," said Nesirky.
"The secretary general condemns in the strongest terms this attack on UNAMID and expects the government of Sudan to take swift action to bring the perpetrators of this and previous attacks on UNAMID to justice," Nesirky added.
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11/26/2013
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[Al Ahram] Eleven people were killed on Monday in mortar fire on a regime-held district of Syria's northern city of Aleppo, state media reported.
"Eleven killed and 20 others injured in a terrorist mortar attack on Jamilia district," the news agency SANA reported, citing a police source in the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that 11 people were killed in the attack, saying rebel fighters had fired the mortar rounds.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the dead were civilians, and included three children.
He said the number of fatalities could rise as several of the maimed were at death's door.
Jamilia lies in just west of central Aleppo, which is divided between rebel and regime control.
Fighting began in Syria's second city in mid-2012, with rebels forces capturing large swathes of the east, but the regime maintaining control of much of the west of the city.
Once a key economic hub for the country, much of Aleppo has been reduced to ruins by more than 18 months of fighting.
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[DAILYPOST.NG] Alhaji Abubakar Gula, Chairman of the Borno State butchers association has denied the allegation by the Gwoza Christian Community Association (GCCA), that they were using the Maiduguri abatoir as a breeding ground for the Islamic sect, Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... .
He described the allegation as reckless, false and a misrepresentation, under the guise of religion, advertently to disrupt the relative peace being enjoyed by the citizens of Borno State.
The Christian Community in Gwoza Local Government Council of Borno State had in the recent past suffered numbers of attacks, which they claimed was caused by some politicians, who allegedly use the butchers of Gwoza community in Borno to slaughter Christians.
The butchers' association in a statement made available to DailyPost in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Monday, also stated that the sum of N25, 000,000 (twenty-five million naira) given to the butchers by Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, was a grant to the National Butchers' Union of Nigeria, Maiduguri Branch.
"It is a common knowledge that such a gigantic commercial site cannot be said to have consist of only people from Gwoza, but it comprises of people from different states of the federation irrespective of their religion or tribes as well as people from the neigbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroon republic", the statement signed by Alhaji Gula stressed.
They condemned the allegation that the abattoir was a breeding ground for insurgency in the state, describing it as malicious, baseless and devilish, intended only to instigate hatred and disaffection among the peace loving people of the state.
Also, Alhaji Mala Modu, the Chief Butcher at the Borno Abattoir, said the allegation by GCCA was a deliberate attempt to paint the group black and also tarnish the image of its operators.
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[An Nahar] President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... on Monday defended his administration's approach to Iran, insisting that "tough talk" alone would not guarantee U.S. security.
"Huge challenges remain, but we cannot close the door on diplomacy, and we cannot rule out peaceful solutions to the world's problems," Obama said following the landmark agreement reached in Geneva over the weekend concerning Iran's nuclear program.
"We cannot commit ourselves to an endless cycle of violence, and tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically, but it's not the right thing for our security."
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#3
See FREEREPUBLIC > [Breitbart]DEAL LETS IRAN KEEP HALF OF 98%-ENRICHED URANIUM STOCKPILE.
and
* SAME > [NYT] OBAMA SIGNALS A SHIFT FROM MILITARY MIGHT TO DIPLOMACY.
Given the traditional reluctance of Muslim Govts-Societies to take direct action, espec Mil action, agz other Muslim Govts-Societies, BAMMERIKA'S NEW BFF + FUTURE OWG GLOBAL "CO-SUPERPOWER" SHIA IRAN MUST SHOW THAT THINGS ARE PROACTIVELY "DIFFERENT" NOW, OR WILL BE FROM TIME HENCE.
#4
Good that Obama rejects tough talk, because coming out of his mouth, nobody believed it anyway. That is, unless it was directed at the Tea Party and other domestic "enemies".
#5
Its such a good deal, which is why is was signed at 03:00 local time, I think that would be right after the second half kickoff, in a palace on foreign soil, blindsiding the general press other than the morning bobbleheads who hardly anybody watches?
And with this administrations track record, and concerning Iran, the response to people who have questions or concerns is, "Shutup; we have to ratify the treaty for you to find out what is in it."
We have heard these promises before Mr. President. How about
"If you like your nuclear non-proliferation treaty, you can keep it. Period."
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2013 12:33
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#7
Bobby, when Tel Aviv disappears under a mushroo cloud, Obama will be very, very angry at Iran. That's his red line. Of course he won't do anything about it other than to introduce a UN resolution condemning Israel for their response.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/26/2013 12:57
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#8
I'm going to take exception to the general consensus here.
First, I'm not clear when the 'deal' actually begins. There have been no inspections scheduled and no sanction changes yet. It may be that another 'deal' implementing the 'deal' needs to be done.
Second, depending on the extent of the inspections, we could learn quite a bit about Iran's program including how to destroy key pieces of it, how to sabotage and the extent of damage done by malware attacks. The latter could be used relatively quickly in implementing follow up malware attacks.
Third, while it is true that the mullah economy gets some pretty big goodies, it remains to be seen how much they will actually benefit. Iran oil production has been ramped way down the past few months. It is obvious that sanctions are part of the reason but also, there may be long term damage to their oil reservoirs. Additionally, there are a lot of oil sellers (one big one in Saudi Arabia) who will be aggressively competing for customers and Iran might not be able to regain all the buyers they had two years ago.
Fourth, although the 'deal' doesn't cover ballistic missiles (unfortunately) and Iran will continue to develop those, Israel will continue to develop its ballistic defenses. I'm not sure who the timing favors here but it certainly is more of a mixed bag than a completely one sided Iran favored bag.
So it is not as gloomy as it could be.
Notwithstanding the above, I wish Iran was getting less sanction relief and I wish Iran would have been compelled to eliminate their enrichment capability.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/26/2013 14:02
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#9
There may be more at play here than simple inspections and sanction lifting, especially since it has been made a big deal out of, rather than we agreed to some mutual concessions to be followed through we have policy dancing and detractor insulting - which will tie the administration to any threat of cancellation the Iranians wave about; can't have champ embarrassed and we have seen the lengths they go through to protect the image. IMHO, with the threat to walk away from talks, Iran also gets:
Assad will get to keep Syria, with Iranian reinforcements.
USA cannot get caught supplying weapons to anti-Assad groups.
Pappy pointed out yesterday Iran can increase its influence in Lebanon.
Iran has been working on the cheap for some time now, and now has a return on investment via military actions. Why not take the prize money and make other military investments?
Prevent the Washington carrier group from returning.
And Obama gets his piece of paper allowing him to not participate in any fighting, and to even scold governments who participate in any strikes or overt war.
If I have my timeline right, these negotiations were going on the same time there were war drums for Syria. I thought I saw something about this deal being a year in the making...if true, what happened just a bit over a year ago?
#10
Makes one wonder if perhaps the Iranians many have had a little something to do with events in Benghazi, or elsewhere. Certainly appears to be an ongoing reluctance by the regime to discuss the poo or provide an accounting. Just a thought.
#13
Makes for an interesting story. Iranian hit squad ambushes US Personelle supplying weapons to anti-Assad forces. Talks open after the election is concluded, in the meantime every effort possible is made to not have a finger point at anyone to avoid going to war comments until after the election results. Negotiations and ops continue in Syria's back and forth. The mysterious gas attack in Syria opens an opportunity for the US/Euro to use real force rather than proxy armies and get talked down by poor messaging and strong Putin, reducing the US hand at the negotiating table. Egypt boots Morsi, also eroding the US hand. Iran sees the ACA face plant, says they walk with everything if there are additional sanctions. So we get this.
We'll find out soon enough - iff Rising Shia Iran hopes to achieve + prove its worth as the World's first Islamic Superpower/Nuclear Superpower = OWG Global "Co-Superpower" par wid the US + Other, IT CAN DO SO HELPING TO DEFEAT OR DESTROY THE PRO-SUNNI, PRO-JIHAD QAEDA BOYZ + ALIGNED.
RISING IRAN + RISING CHINA = THE WORST-CASE? "LITMUS TESTS" FOR THE POST/EXTRA-NATIONALISM-SOVEREIGNTY-CONSTITUTIONALIST FUTURE OWG-NWO = FUTURE SPACE GOVT-ORDER + GLOBALIST PREMISE/CONCEPT OF A POST-COLD WAR "MULTIPOLAR/
POLYCENTRIC WORLD".
Thusly of course ...
* TOPIX > [Right Wing News = RWN] AMERICA'S ENEMIES ARE ACTIVELY PREPARING FOR NUCLEAR WAR.
* SAME > [Japan Times] CHINA PLAYS LONG GAME WID NEW AIR DEFENSE ZONE.
Ditto IRAN + IRAN'S NEW EXTERNAL PROTO-
"SUPERPOWER"? "SPHERE(S) OF INFLUENCE", I.E. IRAQ + SYRIA + LEBANON, ETC. TO COME???
* TOPIX > [Lucianne] IRAN, NORTH KOREA SECRETLY DEVELOPING LONG-RANGE ROCKET BOOSTER FOR ICBMS.
* SAME > IRAN, NORTH KOREA SECRETLY DEVELOPED NEW ROCKET BOOSTER DURING GENEVA TALKS.
As per the DPRK, NE ASIA = the only Pert-verified remaining region in the world where the POST-1945 = COLD WAR "STATUS QUO" still exists.
Something has to change the Balance of Power = Geopol/MilPol Calculus per the above in NE Asia, + THAT SOMETHING IS NOKOR HAVING NUKES.
NOKOR NUKES = SOKOR, ETAL. HAVING NUKES + US-LED GMD-TMD = STRATEGIC OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE DETERRENCE AGZ CHINA = FORMAL KOREAN REUNIFICATION CAN FINALLY TAKE PLACE.
Again, as per the "Great Game" + "Murphy's Laws" [anything that can go wrong will go wrong], the danger for [pro-Parity] US Globalists is that such moves will be interpreted as de facto strategic weakness on the part of America's = Amerika's competitors + enemies, INSPIRING THEM TO ATTEMPT TO TAKE OVER FROM THE US BY ANY AND ALL MEANS NECESSARY, PEACEFULLY OR MILITARILY.
REAGAN-BUSH 42 "PEACE THRU STRENGTH" + "TRUST BUT VERIFY" = OWG GLOBALIST, OBAMA "PEACE THRU WEAKNESS" OR "D *** NG IT, YOU CAN KEEP IT [SSSHHHH...CCCC NOT]"???
[An Nahar] La Belle France is ready to send 800 extra troops to reinforce its presence in Central African Republic, the leader of the strife-torn nation said Monday after talks in Gay Paree with La Belle France's foreign minister.
Nicolas Tiangaye told Agence La Belle France Presse that Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius "had spoken of sending 800 men" in addition to the 410 already in the country.
"There is general insecurity... serious war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in Central African Republic, said Tiangaye.
"La Belle France has the military, financial and diplomatic means for efficient intervention."
Spiraling violence in La Belle France's former colony has sparked international alarm and last week French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... hinted at a "sensible" increase in troops.
A coup by the Seleka rebel coalition in March that toppled president Francois Bozize has unleashed chaos in the large country of 4.5 million, including sectarian bloodshed between Musselmens and Christians.
The U.N. Security Council plans to vote next month on a resolution that would allow Central African Republic's neighbors, the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... and La Belle France, to intervene.
The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... , United States and La Belle France have all recently warned that the country could be headed for genocide.
The unrest has displaced almost 400,000 of the country's estimated 4.6 million people, left 2.3 million in need of assistance and some 1.1 million scrambling to find food, according to the latest U.N. figures.
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[THISDAYLIVE] The Nigerian Army yesterday demanded discipline from the youth vigilante group, popularly called Civilian JTF, which has been assisting security agents to smoke out Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... bully boyz from Borno State.
The General Officer Commanding 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj, Gen. Obidah Ethan gave this warning while paying a follow-up visit to the training site of the youth.
It would be recalled that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika had earlier visited training camp this week during a tour of military formations in Borno State.
Ethan while commending the impressive zeal demonstrated by the youth presently undergoing empowerment training, said he cannot but be satisfied with the training package and conduct of the youths at the training Camp.
The GOC equally commended the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima for the laudable step taking towards giving the youth reorientation through Borno State Youth Empowerment Scheme (BOYES) so as to achieve good things in their lives.
He urged the youth to pay good attention to the training package and lectures which was aimed at changing their mindset for a positive development.
"The youth have proved to the world that they are formidable partners in the fight against insurgency" he said, adding that: "You have equally proved that you are agents of developmental change in Borno State."
He tasked the youth to continue to be disciplined, while acknowledging the efforts of the trainers and resources persons from the military, police, paramilitary organizations and other security agencies in the training camp.
Over 800 Youths are current undergoing training under Borno State Youth Empowerment Scheme.
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[Bangla Daily Star] A court in Azerbaijan yesterday sentenced three people to life in prison and another 26 to lengthy jail terms on charges of plotting attacks during the Eurovision Song Contest last year.
A source at the court for serious crimes in the capital Baku told AFP that three Azerbaijani citizens were given life sentences, while the remaining defendants were sentenced to jail terms of between nine and 15 years.
Yesterday's hearing brings to at least 36 the number of people convicted on charges of planning attacks during the Eurovision, which Azerbaijan hosted in May 2012, after seven others were found guilty at earlier hearings.
The security ministry in the tightly controlled Caspian Sea country claimed to have foiled a bid to stage "terrorist" attacks during the glitzy songfest and tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! some 40 suspects.
The ministry said at the time that the group had links with neighbouring Iran and was planning attacks on the concert hall where Eurovision was held, as well as on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, police buildings, hotels used by foreigners and mosques and other religious sites.
Security services in the oil-rich nation incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! the alleged gang during operations in various Azerbaijani cities, the ministry said without giving dates.
Eurovision, watched by more than 100 million people worldwide, was the biggest cultural event staged in Azerbaijan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The authorities spent hundreds of millions of dollars building the Crystal Hall venue and beautifying Baku ahead of the competition in an attempt to win acclaim for the Caucasus state, previously known mainly as an energy exporter on Europe's eastern fringe.
But the run-up to the competition was marked by demonstrations by opposition activists against the country's poor human-rights record, which saw dozens of people detained by police.
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[Pak Daily Times] Unknown gunnies on Monday assaulted a senior doctor of General Hospital in his room, breaching all the security layers of police and the hospital management.
Culprits tortured the doctor severely on a gunpoint without explaining any reason.
According to details, around six to seven armed assailants tried to barge into the room of gynecology head of the department General Hospital Dr Aslam, at around 10am, his peon and gate keeper tried to stop them but the gunnies beat them mercilessly and then forcibly entered in the room and also beat Dr Aslam without any reason. Later, the unknown armed persons managed to escape from the scene after creating terror and panic among the patients, attendants and hospitals staff.
Kotlakhpat police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against six to seven unknown persons on the complaint of Dr Aslam under section 506, 148/149 of the PPC. No arrest has been made so far.
Pakistain Medical Association (PMA) Lahore president Dr Tanveer told Daily Times that Dr Aslam was present in his room after routine round of its department wards when some unknown persons forcibly entered the room and severely tortured him. As a result, Dr Aslam and his two subordinates received injuries and admitted to the hospital emergency ward where their condition was said to be out of danger.
Dr Tanveer cited Dr Aslam as saying he had no enmity with any one and expressed his ignorance about the men who attacked him.
He added that Dr Aslam was also a chairman of inquiry committee of General Hospital and dealt several inquiry issues of the hospital. He said that somebody might have a grudge with Dr Aslam that resulted such an incident.
Sources said hospital administration also took a serious notice on the issue and constituted an inquiry committee led by senior doctors. Sources said an inquiry committee was investigating the hospital responsible staff who were present in outdoor wards. Sources said the inquiry committee and police also took help with CCTV cameras, which were installed at different areas of the hospitals.
Other senior doctors of the hospital said the incident created insecurity, mental stress and terror among the medical community. They said without assurance of proper security by the government medical staff could not perform its duties properly.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
I thought this was gonna be about Luke & Laura...
[Al Ahram] Bangladesh announced plans Monday for a general election in early January but they were rejected by the main opposition party, which called for the polls date to be suspended and declared fresh protests from Tuesday.
In an announcement on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, Chief Elections Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad urged all parties to take part in the contest for the 300-seat parliament and said that the army would be deployed across the volatile nation to prevent festivities between political rivals.
"The election will be held on January 5," Ahmad said in his widely-anticipated address.
An alliance of 18 opposition parties immediately rejected the plans and called a 48-hour nationwide blockade of roads, railways and waterways from Tuesday morning in protest to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. to quit and make way for a caretaker government to oversee the election.
"We reject the election schedule. We ask the election commission to suspend the date until a political consensus on election-time government is reached. We won't take part in any farce in the name of elections." opposition front man Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told news hounds.
Commissioner Ahmad said he had asked President Abdul Hamid -- whose post is largely ceremonial -- to negotiate an end to the dispute between Hasina's Awami League and the opposition which is dominated by former premier Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... 's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
"We've asked the president to personally initiate special steps and end this unbearable impasse," Ahmad said.
"I've asked all political parties to uphold the will of the people, maintain peace and compromise."
Hasina has rejected the calls for a caretaker government, and instead formed a multi-party interim cabinet last week which is largely made of her allies.
She asked the BNP to join the cabinet but her invitation was bluntly refused by the opposition.
While previous elections have been organised by non-party caretaker governments, Hasina scrapped the arrangement in 2011.
She argued that the system had previously paved the way for the army to seize power in a country which has witnessed at least 19 coups since 1975.
The announcement of an election date is expected to add to the tensions in the violence-plagued country, after weeks of deadly protests by the BNP and its Islamists left at least 30 people dead and hundreds injured.
Security has been tightened with the deployment of paramilitary border guards in major cities, private television station Somoy said.
A police front man told AFP that a senior BNP leader was tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! on Monday night.
This year Bangladesh has been reeling from the worst political violence since its independence after a controversial war crimes court handed down death sentences to the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , the largest Islamic party which is banned from fielding candidates on January 5.
At least 150 people have died in the festivities, pitting tens of thousands of Jamaat supporters against police, paramilitaries and ruling party activists.
US Ambassador Dan Mozena met Bangladesh's new Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali Monday, stressing the need for dialogue between the two major parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#2
...DOD is absolutely denying this and I think they're safe for now. My guess, however, is this was a trial balloon. They'll be back.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/26/2013 5:14
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#3
Not certain which ones will close, but I'm quite certain that the Fort Belvoir commissary will be the LAST to close. Used to be almost comical to watch the beltway foreign embassy crowd shop [for the folks back home] at Fort Belvoir.
#4
For some places it might make sense, but for others, no way. Hell, they'd do better if they would just outsource the whole thing to Walmart, put the thing inside the fence and keep the taxes (state and federal) outside the fence.
#5
As for shutting down the Stars-n-lies, meh. It aint the same Army I was in. Same goes for AFN. I still remember when it had some splash. Desert Shield? Rock the Casbah, by The Clash, memorable. Trivia note: one AFN Vietnam DJ was Pat Sajak. Zoomies pretty much run the show these days, I think.
#7
He also has a hospital wing named after him in Annapolis. I assumed he was a big donor.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2013 8:28
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#8
Grocers have been pushing this for many generations. Now with Crony Capitalism the rage of the Beltway, I suspect it's just another trading card in gathering PAC and reelection monies on the campaign trail (like when did 'you know who' give a real frig about the troops?). My weekly experience is that the local commissary is anywhere about 50 cents to over a dollar cheaper per item than at Walmart. Walmart supplements with a few items that the commissary discontinued or on a very limited lists beats the commissary (why is a jug of water 89 cents at Wallysworld and 99 cents at the commissary?).
#9
Makes no sense, there is a 5% surcharge added to costs to cover expenses, and staff is non appropriated, meaning not a budget line item.
but then again coming from Champ and his SecDef butt buddy, anything to negatively impact the military is one thing he is good at.
#10
I don't have a problem with this - I never understood why it was necessary after about 1955. Walmart can do it cheaper and faster. As far as AFN and Stars n Stripes - who the hell listens or uses those? We didn't utilize them when i was in and that was almost 20 years ago. They served their purpose but they have always been and are still nothing more than money pits. Troops today can find faster ways to get info, music etc via the internet, satellite phones, skype, email.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
11/26/2013 12:05
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#11
How about merging the commissaries and the exchanges? The exchanges don't use appropriated funds, IIRC. There might be some increases in prices, though.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/26/2013 12:53
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#12
..yep. The army used to operate quartermaster clothing sales stores. Same logic used to move the function to AAFES. Strange how the old generic clothing items disappeared and the higher priced commercial alternative dominated the shelves.
[COURANT] Citing "philosophical differences" with Democratic party leadership, school board Secretary Neal Leon said Monday that he will not seek the nomination to continue in that position and will leave the party.
The board is scheduled to meet Monday at 7 p.m. in Lincoln Center.
Leon, who is serving a 2012-15 term, said he would be "switching to an Independent in the near future."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
Too late asshole, we remember what you did, and Democrat or not, You'll do it again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/26/2013 20:06
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[Pak Daily Times] Law enforcers claimed to have held around 87 suspects including four alleged hit mans involved in 70 cases during separate targeted raids and operations conducted across the city on Monday.
In the first happening, District East police apprehended four alleged hit mans involved in 70 cases of assassination. SSP East Pir Mohammad Shah while addressing a presser at his office disclosed the arrests, he said that the police locked away Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! the accused separately from Jamshed Quarters and Gulshan-e-Iqbal locality.
The accused were identified as Faraz alias Latoo, Sohail alias Sannata, Kamran alias Dama and Imran alias Langra, who were involved in 70 cases of assassinations, including coppers.
The accused Faraz alias Latoo killed 14 people, including two students of Jamia Binoria in Jamshed Quarter area on November 5. The accused confessed that he killed seven political workers on the directives of gang war criminal Shahid.
The accused Sohail alias Sannata was involved in 34 cases of murder, including coppers. Sannata along with his lover companion Qasim killed a Zuljina ahead of the month of Muharram. Qasim was already arrested from Mobina Town locality.
Kamran alias Dama was involved in 29 cases of murder, while Imran aka Langra, who according to the police belongs to a political party, killed 34 people, including coppers. All the accused were assassins.
Separately, Pakistain Rangers Sindh has conducted targeted raids in Afshani Gali - Lyari, Drigh Colony, 36/G Landhi, Sector 5/F and 5/E New 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... , North Nazimabad Block N, FC Area, Vita Chowrangi - Korangi, Green Town, Iqbal Nagar - Gaddap and Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 17 last night. Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... snap checking was carried out on University Road and Badar Commercial - DHA areas. During the above mentioned actions 15 hardened criminals were arrested, and weapons recovered.
Similarly, Karachi police arrested 68 criminals during various targeted raids and operations conducts across the metropolis. The officials also recovered weapons and drugs from their possession.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah on Monday noted that "the nuclear deal between the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran and the P5+1 world powers is an exemplary victory and outstanding global achievement which the Islamic republic has added to its record that is full of triumphs and accomplishments."
In a blurb, the party said Tehran's "active diplomacy managed to reach an agreement based on the firmness of the Iranian stance and principles regarding the issue of the peaceful nuclear program."
"This agreement is a major victory for Iran and all the peoples of the region and a defeat for the enemies of peoples and the forces that are plotting against the region," Hizbullah added.
It congratulated Iran's supreme guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani and the Iranian government and people on "this great achievement that will be added to the victories of our nation against the greedy powers and occupiers and all the forces of Istikbar and their proxies in the world."
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that his country's historic deal with world powers preserves the structure of the country's nuclear drive, while insisting the international sanctions regime had crumbled.
Iran has insisted that its "right" to enrich uranium as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty was accepted in the deal but U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... strongly denies this.
The long-elusive interim accord commits Iran to limit uranium enrichment and curb expansion of its nuclear drive in exchange for limited relief from the sanctions and the freeing up of some of its frozen assets.
The West and Israel suspect Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside its uranium enrichment program, which Tehran insists is entirely for peaceful purposes.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[Bangla Daily Star] The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance this evening announced a 48-hour countrywide blockade from tomorrow rejecting the parliamentary polls schedule.
In a press briefing arranged minutes after the schedule announcement, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam called upon the Election Commission postpone the polls schedule until a consensus on polls-time government is reached among the political parties.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed in an address to the nation declared the schedule of the parliamentary polls.
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11/26/2013
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[BREITBART] With the sun finally setting on the Bloomberg empire, New York City's fastidious mayor attempts to seal his legacy by tackling the most dangerous threat facing America's largest city: styrofoam cups?
Yes, it's true--the non-biodegradable material is Public Enemy Number One these days at City Hall, where the City Council's Sanitation Committee is holding a hearing on banning the use and sale of "plastic foam cups and plates" at the request of the mayor. The ban had been proposed earlier this year, but with little time left in Bloomberg's tenure, he is making sure the city addresses the foamy material haunting New York with its ability to retain heat for years. Styrofoam is a particularly difficult material to recycle because it does not naturally degrade, and so lives on for decades in already overcrowded landfills across the state in New Jersey.
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11/26/2013
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[Tolo News] A number of political parties and analysts have spoken out against 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... 's recent statements regarding delaying the signing of the Kabul-Washington security pact until after the April elections and the imperative of his numerous "preconditions" being met by the U.S.
A unanimous majority of the 2,500-member Loya Jirga in Kabul voted on Sunday recommending the Afghan government sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), which would ensure a close military partnership with the U.S. after the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... combat mission ends in 2014, by the end of this year. The BSA would guarantee some U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan post-2014.
But the Afghanistan's Caped President has announced he will not sign the accord until after the elections, despite the Jirga's recommendation. He further laid out three preconditions to the U.S. for signing the pact: transparent elections in April, no U.S. raids on Afghan homes and a breakthrough in talks with the Taliban.
Many experts have said Karzai is thinking emotionally rather than practically, overstating the leverage Afghanistan has in the negotiations, which began over a year ago. They have argued that Kabul needs the BSA more than Washington, yet Karzai persists with his demands out of pride instead of strategy.
"Unfortunately, as it is getting closer to the end of President Karzai's term, he is not thinking about the national interests of Afghanistan and is acting emotionally instead," Afghan political expert Jawed Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... i said.
The issue of U.S. unilateral operations in Afghanistan did not take center stage until just last week, days before the Jirga began. Reportedly, Karzai and his negotiating team raised issue with U.S. operations in villages and inspections of Afghan homes unexpectedly and refused to budge on it once debate began.
"If President Karzai asks the Americans to stop their operations in the villages of Afghanistan then he should have also asked Afghans to stop providing shelter to bully boyz in their homes," Afghan military expert Helaluddin Helal said.
Karzai's preconditions caught many by surprise, and have been called contradictory in part because they don't match-up to stances the President has taken in the past. Regarding the April elections and talks with the Taliban, in particular, Karzai has been adamant about those being Afghan-led and managed. Yet now he demands the U.S. get involved.
"This time, the elections will be under the leadership of Afghans, President Karzai didn't even accept the two members of United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... for the Independent Elections Commission," National Coalition Party front man Said Agha Sangcharaki said. "It wasn't the foreigners in the last elections who cheated in Kandahar and a number of other provinces, it was government and groups associated with the government."
Prior to the last week's Loya Jirga, President Karzai said that the decision of the Jirga, which was not required by law but rather was convened at the behest of Karzai himself, would be respected by the government. Although the National Assembly must still ratify the pact, it was expected that officials would go with whatever the Jirga recommended.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... Karzai's announcement of his preconditions and that the agreement should not be signed until after the April elections caught most off-guard and led many to question the President's intentions.
"President Karzai has turned this agreement as a way to pressure United States and receive benefits from them...he wants assurances for his safety in the future or may be wants his elections team to be supported by the Americans," Sangcharaki said.
Following Karzai's comments about waiting until after the April vote to sign the accord, Sebghatullah Mujaddadi, the Chairman of the Loya Jirga, he might flee the country in the next three to four days.
Washington has said that it's "neither practical nor possible" to delay the signing. Although no public response to Karzai's preconditions has been offered by the U.S., it is likely they will be the subject of conversation between American National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Karzai this week as she arrives in Afghanistan to meet with him.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[Libya Herald] A failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! to murder a Derna judge and an RPG attack on the gates of the port kicked off a day in Derna in which Ansar Al-Shaira units were prevented from leaving the town, apparently en route to the fighting in Benghazi.
The attack on the judge Councillor Yufu Lkraimi happened just before midnight last night near the Bab Tobruk mosque. The judge was driving when he was shot and maimed in the right shoulder. He was taken to Al-Hareesh hospital, where his condition is not thought to be life-threatening. The courts in Derna have not been working since the summer, because judges have been on strike following the murder of two of their colleagues.
At about the same time as the attack on Lkraimi, an RPG was fired from the harbour bridge at the gates to the port. There were no injuries in the blast and the harbour is still functioning, a local told the Libya Herald. The port is protected by the Army's Omar Mukhtar Brigade.
Early today, as news of the fighting in Benghazi began to spread, an eye witness said he saw ten Ansar Al-Sharia technicals leave the organization's base in the former police high school, near the western entrance to the town. However it is understood that not only were streets in the town blocked with vehicles that delayed the column's progress but, beyond the town, army units from Al-Marj and Beida had blocked the road linking Tobruk with Ajdabiya.
It is reported that fixed wing aircraft from the Gamal Abdul Nasser airbase at Tobruk and at least one helicopter from the Benina airbase in Benghazi were on patrol in the area.
The Ansar Al-Sharia column returned to its HQ. The two other radical Islamist militias in Derna, the Army of the Islamic State of Libya and the Abu Selim brigade remained neutral throughout the day's events.
Earlier this evening there was a protest of some 50 men and women at the Sahaba mosque, demanding proper security in Derna. A general strike has been called for tomorrow.
However tonight the Army of the Islamic State of Libya had resumed it usual nighttime patrols. It was reported that it had set up a checkpoint manned by three technicals at the Harbour Roundabout.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[Libya Herald] A representative of the Libya-based Death Eater group Ansar Al-Sharia said today in a live television interview that those who did not comply with Sharia Law would be fought and killed.
During the telephone interview on Libya Al-Ahrar TV, Derna-based Death Eater Mahmoud Al-Barassi declared that anybody against Ansar Al-Sharia was an enemy and said the group would "fight people who seek democracy, secularism, and the French." He added that the group took its legitimacy from Allah.
He spoke out against the Libyan authorities and said that Libyans "know very well that they chose the wrong people" to rule the country. He called the government, the General National Congress (GNC) and the Libyan Armed Forces "apostates."
Barassi also accused Prime Minister Ali Zeidan of "knowing nothing about Islam". He added that the revolution was fought by Libyans while Zeidan was "living among women in a foreign country".
He was speaking following the festivities last night and this morning in Benghazi between Ansar Al-Sharia and the city's Saiqa Brigade Special Forces which left at least nine dead and up 50 more injured.
The statement, and the air-time Barrasi was given, provoked an angry response from Benghazi residents and across the country. Feelings are running high against groups that threaten the stability and future of Libya, after the bloody festivities between peaceful protestors and armed militias in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... 's Gharghour district, when 48 people were killed some hundreds injured.
Shortly after the interview with Barassi, former first Deputy President of the GNC Juma Ateega was interviewed by telephone on the same channel. He said Barassi's comments underlined the seriousness of the threat that Ansar Al-Sharia posed to Libya.
Barassi had, however, given a clear message to all Libyans about who was responsible for the liquidations in Benghazi, Ateega said.
He added that Barassi was "a victim of the Islamist groups in Libya" and suggested that he should read more abut Islam since he appeared to be merely repeating what he had learned.
The belligerent comments by Barassi are thought to have caused huge embarrassment to Ansar Al-Sharia, which is now believed to be trying to mount damage-limitation action.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia
#1
Knowing the Libyan mentality toward Islamic extremism...they want none of it, and look upon terrorism as contrary to the Quran, this bit of foaming at the mouth barking dog mad drivel from Ansar Al-Sharia is not going to play well on the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, with the true motives of these Islamic militias being very much anti-democratic pseudo-Taliban Sharia nonsense, I bet the momentum against the militias will increase and we may yet see Libya turn the corner. The militias have stood in the way of progress in Libya in the transition to a constitutional democracy.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/26/2013 11:46
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[An Nahar] Activists on social networking websites are circulating pictures of what they said are "Hizbullah captives" captured by the Free Syrian Army during the ongoing battles in the Eastern Ghouta region just outside Damascus.
The Lebanese party has not yet confirmed or denied the authenticity of the published material.
One of the pictures shows a supposed FSA fighter serving drinking water to handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners.
Syrian rebels have pressed an offensive in the Damascus and Aleppo provinces, in an escalation that has killed 194 fighters on both sides in the past three days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday.
Rebels in Eastern Ghouta, east of Damascus, are trying to break the army siege on opposition areas there, taking over several small villages and checkpoints, according to the Observatory.
Since Friday, 194 fighters on both sides have been killed, as well as seven anti-regime media activists.
On the rebel side 115 rebels were killed, including 50 jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and al-Nusra Front, according to the Britannia-based watchdog.
The dead on the loyalist side included five members of Hizbullah and 20 fighters from the Iraqi Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas militia, as well as 46 government troops and eight members of a pro-regime militia.
"Hizbullah is leading the fighting. Hundreds of its fighters have been deployed to Eastern Ghouta," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[MIAMIHERALD] Rebels on the outskirts of the Syrian capital launched an offensive over the weekend that apparently succeeded in breaking the government siege of several contested villages in a long battle that apparently involved the Lebanese Musselmen Shiite bad boy group Hezbollah.
Three rebel commanders confirmed to McClatchy on Monday that the offensive was ongoing, but each refused to provide details, saying that the newly dominant faction that controls rebel forces around Damascus had put a news blackout in place.
Abu Yaser, a front man for Jaysh al Islam, a coalition of Islamist rebel groups, said details of the fight would be made public when the operation was completed.
Photos posted on Facebook and Twitter showed rebels celebrating what appeared to be a series of bloody victories over Hezbollah fighters who'd been supporting the Syrian army in the area. Rebels appeared to be holding prisoners, and some of the photos depicted apparent executions.
Word of the fighting came the same day that the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... announced that the United States and Russia had agreed to Jan. 22 as the date for the so-called Geneva 2 peace talks, intended to find a political solution to the civil war.
U.N. Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... announced the date in New York. If the talks take place as planned, it will be the first meeting between representatives of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... 's government and the opposition since the civil war broke out in 2011.
"At long last and for the first time, the Syrian government and opposition will meet at the negotiation table rather than the battlefield," Ban said.
It was still unclear who'd be attending the conference, which was originally called for in the so-called Geneva Communique agreed to by the United States, Russia and several other countries in June 2012. Assad has said he'll send a representative, but it's been unclear which rebel factions will appear and whether countries such as 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... , which supports the rebels, and Iran, which supports Assad, will be invited.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
Hezbollah is looking at the Iran/5+ agreement as promising more financial, logistical and other support for their Syrian offensive.
Probably they are correct.
I'm not sure it means that much in the strategic balance. The rebels seem to come together more when Assad is on offensive and then the rebels fight each other more when Assad is not on offensive. Thus the equilibrium may not change much.
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/26/2013 9:41
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[Al Ahram] Attacks in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and north Iraq killed 15 people Monday as La Belle France joined the list of countries offering help in combatting a protracted surge in bloodshed months ahead of elections.
The rise in violence, which has left more than 150 people dead in the past week alone, has fuelled fears Iraq is on the brink of falling back into the brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that plagued it years ago.
Officials have also voiced concern over a resurgent Al-Qaeda emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has provided jihadist fighters in Iraq with rear bases to plan operations.
Attacks on Monday struck the capital and predominantly Sunni Arab areas of north Iraq that have borne the brunt of the worsening unrest, which has killed more than 5,900 people this year.
On Monday, a blast at a local market in central Storied Baghdad killed at least four people and maimed 12 others, officials said, while a boom-mobile targeting a cop shoppe in the capital's northeastern outskirts killed four coppers.
Another bombing, this one targeting Sahwa anti-Qaeda militiamen, killed one fighter and maimed four others.
From late 2006 onwards, Sunni tribal militias, known as the Sahwa, turned against their co-religionists in Al-Qaeda and sided with the US military, helping to turn the tide of Iraq's insurgency.
But Sunni snuffies view them as traitors and frequently target them.
Also on Monday, three separate attacks in the capital killed three people, among them a justice ministry employee.
In the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , meanwhile, a boom-mobile in a residential area in the city's west killed two people, while a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to a car left its driver dead.
And police found the body of a woman who was rubbed out the previous night near the restive city of Tikrit.
The government and security forces have insisted that raids and operations across much of western and northern Iraq, areas dominated by the country's Sunni minority, are having an impact.
But diplomats, analysts and human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. groups say the government is not doing enough to address the root causes of the unrest, particularly disquiet among minority Sunnis over alleged mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led authorities.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki nevertheless used a recent trip to Washington to push for greater intelligence sharing and the timely delivery of new weapons systems in a bid to combat Death Eaters.
Turkey has also pledged to help, and La Belle France on Monday offered weapons, training and intelligence cooperation.
"We are absolutely willing to help Iraq in its fight against terrorism, in terms of equipment, training, intelligence, and care for the maimed," French Ambassador to Storied Baghdad Denys Gauer said in a speech marking the visit of a French trade delegation to Iraq.
Asked after his speech, which he gave at the Rasheed Hotel in Storied Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, if that help included the sale of weapons, Gauer responded: "Yes, of course."
Iraq has thus far made its biggest purchases of weapons systems from the United States and Russia, but with the country looking to modernise and expand a struggling military, it is likely to be a major arms buyer in the years to come.
The latest violence comes with Iraq due to hold parliamentary elections on April 30, its first such polls in four years.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq
#1
Here we go again, the French are leading where US foreign policy fears to tread.
Our President(?) doesn't want to help Iraq because his nutjob fringe special interest leftists couldn't stand for it and would whine and snivel as they wrote their latest campaign checks.
It is a disgrace to see our foreign policy and our international prestige, built up years of sacrifice and hard work by the military and real diplomacy not the never ending story of protracted negotiations our current department of state is want to favor.
Since Obama is gutting the military to pay for his socialist follies in domestic programs, our current state is not "guns or butter," it is "bullets or ObamaPhones."
I pity the next President and the next elected Congress that has to pick through the rubble of our crashed domestic and foreign policies financed with crazy crap and nonsensical monetary policy.
I really believe the Socialists in Congress want to see a complete collapse of the country so they can install a permanent leader, a la the National Socialists when the Weimar republic disintegrated.
Those who do not study the past are doomed to repeat it...the left has studied history and WANT to repeat it with a failed economy ripe for the picking of a megalomaniac and his satraps in the media.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/26/2013 11:40
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#2
When was the private ownership of guns restricted in 1930's Germany, Bill C? Wouldn't our Socialist want to lock up all those death-dealing, baby-killing, fuzzy-bunny-slaughtering guns?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2013 12:52
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[Pak Daily Times] Lawyers for seven Paks accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks Monday said the case against them "lacks evidence", a day before the fifth anniversary of the assault that left 166 people dead.
The three-day onslaught by 10 heavily-gunnies on high-profile targets in India's financial capital was blamed on the Pakistain-based 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) bad boy group and relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours plunged. Pakistain charged seven men in 2009 over the attacks, but has insisted it needs to gather more evidence in India before proceeding further, infuriating New Delhi. Rizwan Abbasi, a lawyer for the men, on Monday said the Indians only had themselves to blame for the slow progress.
"This case has many legal flaws and lacks evidence. It is being delayed in Pakistain because India has failed to provide required evidence against the accused," he told a news conference. The only gunman to survive the siege, Ajmal Kasab, was tried in Mumbai and hanged late last year for waging war against India, murder and terrorist attacks. "By hanging Kasab, India destroyed the only living evidence of these attacks and created problems for investigations in Pakistain," Abbasi said.
New Delhi has branded Pakistain's attempts at prosecuting the men a "facade" and has insisted it has already handed over enough evidence to convict the accused. In July last year Pakistain told India that fresh evidence in the case was inadmissible because Pak lawyers were not given the chance to cross-examine Indian officials. Abbasi claimed the dossiers handed over by India contained only "information and no solid evidence".
"There was also no proof that the attackers had any link with my clients because the phone numbers Indian authorities said were used for the contacts were not of Pak companies," he said. New Delhi has accused elements of the Pak state, - notably the Inter-Services Intelligence -- of involvement in the attacks, which Islamabad denies. The failure of the legal process in Pakistain to convict anyone over the bloodshed, which was broadcast around the world on live television, has hampered efforts for a lasting peace agreement with India.
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11/26/2013
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[VOA News] The Libyan government declared a state of emergency in the country's eastern port city of Benghazi Monday after heavy festivities between the Libyan army and members of an Islamist group believed to be behind last year's attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission. At least seven soldiers were reported killed and more than 39 people maimed.
Heavy artillery and rocket fire shook parts of Benghazi Monday as Islamist Death Eaters continued to battle an army brigade loyal to the government. Libyan government television showed civilian victims of the fighting at a Benghazi hospital being treated for gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
Fighting has been going on since late Sunday between government forces and fighters from Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... , whose members stand accused by U.S. authorities of having participated in the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate that led to the deaths of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stephens.
Militiamen attacked an army patrol near a mosque in the central Birqa district of the city. A number of government soldiers were killed in the attack.
Incoming Interior Minister Sabri Abdel Karim told a presser in the capital, 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... , that the government is demanding Death Eaters leave Benghazi and that the Libyan Army and police hope to assume control of the city.
He said the fighting in Benghazi demonstrates the need to enforce a government decree requiring all armed militias to withdraw from the city and hand over control to the police and army. He said the armed forces must be allowed to fulfill their legal role and impose order.
Members of Libya's National Assembly representing Benghazi met to discuss the fighting, urging militias to pull out of the city and other cities across the country. Deputy Parliament Speaker Ezzedine al-Awami urged the parties to use reason and behave responsibly.
He called on a government resolution to be enforced that mandates militias to withdraw from Libyan cities. He asked civic leaders to engage in mediation with the parties in order to restore order.
The fighting in Benghazi came just a day after an official visit by Libya's interim Prime Minister Ali Zeidan to London, where he met with U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... and British Foreign Secretary William Hague. Zeidan said that Libya is trying to achieve democracy:
He said that the plan is to put an end to armed militias and is a move in the direction of democracy. He says it answers the demands of the Libyan people whose blood was spilled in the quest for democracy.
Abdel Hafiz Gogha, front man for Libya's former Transitional National Council, told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that Death Eaters were "running amok" in Benghazi and that the interim government should have found a way to disarm them sooner.
Human rights activist Zahra Lanfy told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that a plan is needed to "incorporate young fighters into the army and other government institutions."
Along the outskirts of the capital Tripoli, an armed militia with reported ties to former Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... seized control of a government arms depot, causing panic in several neighborhoods.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[BOSTONHERALD] A stunning 40 percent of the staff at the state agency that oversees the glitch-plagued, befuddling $69 million Obamacare website earn six-figure salaries, according to payroll numbers obtained by the Herald.
Some 21 of the 53 employees at the Massachusetts Health Connector make more than $100,000 a year, even as Bay Staters struggle to sign up for health care through a website beset by slow speeds and technical difficulties and a call center with frequently long hold times.
Topping the list is Executive Director Jean Yang, who is pulling down $179,243. Chief Operating Officer Roni Mansu earns $178,415, while General Counsel Edward DeAngelo makes $175,621. Chief Information Officer Scott Devonshire makes $164,545, and Director of Business Development David Kerrigan brings in $164,545.
And those figures don't include fringe benefits.
Former state Inspector General Gregory Sullivan said the tally "appears to be very high" and that Massachusetts should endeavor to compare its salaries with those of other states as they roll out their own connectors to administer Obamacare.
"I think what the public is owed is a straightforward comparison, position-by-position, including the number of positions, of all the states," Sullivan said. "Certainly these salaries are far in excess of salaries of comparable state employees, no question about that. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... we also have to consider the nature of the job. It's expensive to hire IT people. But that's true around the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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I'm worried about Champ packing the courts, but almost more worried about the billions flowing to people who will use that money to fund the Left for the next 50 years.
[BREITBART] After the Senate Conservative Fund (SCF) endorsed Matt Bevin, the Tea Party challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), McConnell has reportedly gone on a rampage against SCF allies and the conservative candidates it has endorsed.
Most recently, McConnell reportedly directed his anger at Nebraska conservative Senate candidate Ben Sasse, whom the SCF has endorsed in the open primary.
According to National Review, on November 12, "Sasse walked into Mitch McConnell's office to clear the air" and let him know he never intended to oppose McConnell's leadership, but McConnell was having none of it. The outlet notes that McConnell's incident with Sasse in his war with SCF is "notable" because "it involves an attractive, promising candidate in an open primary as collateral damage in the intramural fight."
Josh Holmes, McConnell's top adviser, "privately told friends afterward it was the most uncomfortable meeting he'd been in"; Sasse reportedly turned to Holmes when he walked out of meeting and said, "That didn't go well!"
McConnell reportedly "lit into" and grilled Sasse about "exactly when Sasse had first interacted with Matt Hoskins, the hard-charging executive director of SCF" who is "working to elect McConnell's primary challenger." The SCF was started by former South Carolina Senator and current Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint ...junior U.S. Senator from South Carolina, distinguished by not being Lindsey Graham. He is a member of the Republican Party and a well-regarded leader in the Tea Party movement... , who feuded with McConnell because he backed candidates--like Marco Rubio and Rand Paul--that went up against McConnell's handpicked candidates in Republican primaries.
McConnell reportedly asked Sasse about the YouTube video (embedded below) that was highlighted on the Drudge Report in September in which Sasse said it was time for "every Republican in Washington, starting with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to show some actual leadership."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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McConnell has realized that the nuke option Reid played means RINOs have no uses. Before they could rationalize they held the 'central' position to keep the Donks from pushing through their agenda. Now, no such position exits. See-Downfall rage fits.
- Sasse is everything you want from a candidate, running in a relatively conservative state. So all the hogwash you hear about Tea Party candidates not being ready for prime time is just that - hogwash. It's about ideology. McConnell doesn't want any more conservatives in the Senate.
- McConnell is at war with conservatism and the Tea Party. Open war.
- McConnell does not believe his leadership would survive more conservative wins. Otherwise he would not be alienating potential future Senators. This puts him in a position to make common cause with Reid and the Democrats, which explains a lot.
[JPOST] The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... unleashed a new tactic in its war to obliterate Christianity in northern Nigeria: convert or die.
Two gunnies from Boko Haram kidnapped Hajja, a 19- year-old Christian in July as she picked corn near her village in the Gwoza hills, a remote part of northeastern Nigeria where a six-month-old government offensive is struggling to contain an insurgency by Boko Haram.
"If I cried, they beat me. If I spoke, they beat me. They told me I must become a Mohammedan but I refused again and again," Hajja told Rooters in an interview.
The Islamists threatened her with a knife pressed to her throat and said her options were to convert to Islam or die.
Aaron Jensen, a front man for the United States government's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, "We have seen reports of forced conversion and enslavement.
The United States strongly condemns any acts of forced conversion or enslavement if true. These alleged actions violate fundamental human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , including the right to freedom of conscience."
Boko Haram is generally translated as "Western education is sinful." In a telephone interview with the Post about Boko Haram and radical Islamist groups, David Cook, a professor of religious studies at the Houston-based Rice University, said Boko Haram's methods are "part of a pattern you can find in a lot of groups, Salafi Jihadists, for example, in Syria."
Cook, a leading expert on Boko Haram, estimates core membership to be a few thousand to perhaps as many as 5,000.
Tiffany Lynch, senior policy analyst at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, told the Post by email that "Boko Haram's stated goal is the implementation of Shari'a nationwide and in 2012 called on all Christians to leave northern Nigeria. With this goal, Boko Haram attacks churches during worship services to maximize its killing, kills individual Christians, forces Christians to convert to Islam or die, kills persons engaged in what it believes is 'un-Islamic' behavior, and kills Mohammedan critics."
Lynch added that from January 1, 2012 through July 31, 2013, USCIRF found that Boko Haram had initiated religiously motivated attacks on 50 churches that were "bombed, burned or attacked, killing at least 366 persons." She continued that there were 31 seperate attacks on Christians or southerners perceived to be Christian, "killing at least 166 persons."
Lynch added that "23 targeted attacks on holy mans or senior Islamic figures critical of Boko Haram" resulted in the killing of at least 60 persons.
Hajja said, "I can't sleep when I think of being there," about her captivity during the three month period of forced slavery.
She had watched Boko Haram members slit the throats of prisoners that were captured.
The US designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organization in November. The United Kingdom outlawed the organization in October. Neither the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... nor Canada have placed Boko Haram on their terrorism lists.
Hajja, whose last name cannot be disclosed because of remaining family members in northern Nigeria who could face retaliation from Boko Haram, currently lives in the capital Abuja.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[Bangla Daily Star] A man was killed and 10 were maimed when the activists of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... clashed with law enforcers and blasted crude bombs in Sadar upazila of Comilla tonight.
The dead victim is identified as Delwar Hossain, 35, of South Chartha area in the upazila, reports our correspondent.
Kawsar Ahmed, general secretary of the district unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal ...student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)... , student wing of BNP, claimed that Delwar was their activist, a claim, which was denied by the family of the victim.
Fazar Ali, father of the dear departed, claimed that Delwar was a human hauler driver.
The clash ensured around 9:00pm when the activists of BNP and its key ally Jamaat brought out a procession at Kandirpar area rejecting the schedule for 10th parliamentary election and police resisted them, said Md Shamsuz Zaman, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Sadar Police Station.
During the nearly one-hour clash, the party men went kaboom! around 30 crude bombs while police retaliated with several rounds of rubber bullets and teargas shells, the OC added.
At one stage, Delwar sustained bomb injuries at his head.
He succumbed to his injures at Comilla Medical College and Hospital around 10:45pm, the police official added.
The 10 more injured people sustained injuries from rubber bullets and teargas shells.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[An Nahar] The EU ambassador-designate to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, on Monday sought to reassure the Israelis over a nuclear deal struck with Iran.
"You and what army, Lars-chen?"
Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program for the next six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief following marathon talks with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany in Geneva that ended Sunday.
But Israel slammed the deal as an "historic mistake," having urged for months to keep up sanctions pressure.
"We very much have Israel's security at heart," Faaborg-Andersen told a meeting of EU ambassadors with Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz in Jerusalem.
Really, Lars, how many battalions has the EU, and how does it plant to get them to Iran to fight? That new, "moderate" Iranian president is already crowing how he fooled the lot of you into going for a meaningless treaty.
Faaborg-Andersen condemned "inflammatory statements (on Israel) coming out of Iran," saying it was "only natural that Israel wants to weigh in on these important negotiations that have been conducted with Iran."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
"We'll build a beautiful museum, so Israel will never be forgotten."?
[Pak Daily Times] The Pakistain People's Party (PPP) on Monday submitted an adjournment motion in the Upper House of parliament against the US drone strike in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... 's Hangu District, which killed at least five people. The motion was submitted by senior PPP leader Raza Rabbani in the Senate Secretariat to be taken up for discussion in the next session. On Monday, President Mamnoon Hussain summoned the session of the Senate on December 2. The motion mentioned that drone strikes conducted in settled areas of Pakistain are a blatant violation of international laws and the issue needed immediate discussion in the Upper House. The PPP had already moved a motion against the drone attack in Hangu in the National Assembly. It was moved by MNAs Shazia Marri, Azra Afzal, Nafeesa Shah, Abdul Sattar Bachani, Syed Naveed Qamar and Imran Zafar Leghari and is to be discussed in the next session of the House that will be held on December 5. The US drone strikes are the hottest issue in the country, and another opposition party, 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), has taken the extreme step of blocking 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... supplies in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, presently ruled by it, against the Hangu drone strike, which also killed a key member of the Haqqani network, dreaded by the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[InvestorsBusinessDaily] Terrorism: Al-Qaeda's abilities to strike in the U.S. are "more dangerous and more numerous than before 9/11," says House intelligence chief Mike Rogers. Why is his hair on fire? Bigger question: Why isn't our president's?
Al-Qaeda forces of Evil linked to wars in Iraq and Syria -- including several dozen whom Homeland Security mistakenly let into the U.S. as war "refugees" -- have recently been found stockpiling heavy weapons and possibly building cells in Kentucky and North Carolina and other unlikely places in the heart of America.
Rogers, who as head of the intelligence panel is routinely privileged to some of the same super-classified terrorist threat matrixes as ithe president, says the increasing likelihood of forces of Evil who work for, or are inspired by, al-Qaeda carrying out more Boston Marathon-style attacks inside the homeland "keeps guys like me up at night."
We should take his warnings seriously, for the following reasons:
A recently unsealed terrorism case in North Carolina reveals a dangerous bridge between American-raised jihadists and al-Qaeda's growing network in Syria. The FBI tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! Pakistain-born Basit Javed Sheikh, living here as a legal permanent resident, for providing material support to al-Qaeda.
The 29-year-old is just one of a suspected 1,000 or more jihadists with U.S. and other Western passports who are traveling to Syria to train to kill Christians there and possibly return here to kill Americans.
They follow al-Qaeda's new strategic criminal mastermind, Abu Musab al-Suri, a red-haired, blue-eyed Syrian who many experts say may be more dangerous than the late Osama bin Laden ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... . Al-Suri, who is said to have helped plan the 2004 train bombings in Madrid and the 2005 train bombings in London, has called for a series of similar small-scale attacks in America, culminating in the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Several dozen suspected terrorist bombmakers -- including some thought to have killed U.S. troops -- have been given asylum inside the U.S. as refugees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to ABC News, the FBI in 2011 busted two Iraqi "refugees" trying to buy Stinger missiles and other heavy arms in Kentucky. Turns out Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi were members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. They bragged to an informant about killing American troops there.
Alwan, who built a dozen deadly IEDs in Iraq and used a sniper rifle to kill U.S. soldiers, said he had them "for lunch and dinner." Yet the unvetted terrorists, who also traveled to Syria, were invited to resettle here and even receive welfare. They were allowed to move into public housing near high-security Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, where the Army Nightstalker pilots involved in the raid on bin Laden were based. Alwan spoke of targeting an Army captain in the U.S. and possibly attacking other homeland targets.
They are just two of more than 70,000 Iraqi war refugees who have passed through the flawed U.S. refugee screening system. Thousands more have streamed in from Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia.
These failed Islamic states, along with Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria and Mali, have become safe havens akin to pre-9/11 Afghanistan. Rogers believes the next attack on America might originate from one of them, most likely from Syria.
Al-Qaeda in Syria has already projected violence outside Syria to Beirut, where two al-Qaeda jacket wallahs Tuesday blew up the Iranian embassy to intimidate Shiite Tehran into cutting off support to the Assad regime.
Despite all these Mohammedan countries harboring new al-Qaeda threats, the B.O. regime is pressing ahead with "piecemeal" reforms to open the U.S. border and relax immigration. Now is not the time.
Iff its too econ or $$$ costly for the Bad Econ, Sequester, Shutdown + post-Shutdown, etc. affected Amerika to intervene agz China in East Asia, the ECS + SCS + India, THEN BY DEFINITION ITS SIMILARLY "TOO COSTLY" FOR THE FED TO RELIABLY PROTECT MUSLIMS IN AMERIKA FROM ANY + ALL THREATS, THUS THE "DESPERATE" NEED FOR MUSLIM-LED, MUSLIM-CONTROLLED DOMESTIC SHARIA LAW IN THE US.
UK, EURO-STYLE "SHARIA ZONES" = LEGAL ENCLAVES???
Welcome to OWG-NWO + "Islamerika/Islamoamerika/
Amerikastan".
Do the Hispanics = Hispanomerika know, or the Chinese = Sinoamerika [need 1/2 of CONUS-NORAM for "living space", ya know]???
[Libya Herald] There are unconfirmed reports that people in Ajdabiya today ejected members of Ansar Al-Sharia from the town, while units of the self-styled Cyrenaican Army set up road blocks to stop Ansar Al-Sharia fighter moving from Sirte to Benghazi.
The Libya Herald has been told that an unknown number of Ansar Al-Sharia members was forced out of Ajdabiya. It was not clear where they went. Meanwhile army forces from the Barga region are reported to have set up their own control points on the Sirte-Benghazi road, at Wadi Ahmar, to interdict the movement of any Ansar Al-Sharia reinforcements towards Benghazi.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[News24] Zim-bob-wean authorities say they have given foreign shop-owners - mostly Chinese and Nigerian nationals - an ultimatum to shut down their businesses by 1 January. Bob is kinda like the captain of the Titanic, except that he's turning the crank on the freezer to generate his own iceberg.
A top official of the black empowerment ministry said only Zim-bob-weans had the right to run shops that have sprung up across the country and are termed foreign businesses targeted under the nation's black empowerment laws, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Friday.
Those laws, passed in 2007, demand foreign businesses to cede 51% control to local blacks.
The foreign shop owners have been criticized for taking retail trade opportunities from Zim-bob-wean traders by selling cheap imports.
Poor townships and city flea markets have in recent years been inundated by shops run by foreigners.
According to state media, shop owners who fail to comply will be tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! .
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
Sounds rather harsh. Why not push them into some type of costly medical scheme and force them out of business ?
#1
FTA:
"Its a coincidence that of the thousands of pages of U.S. and Allied intelligence information stolen by Snowden and published around the world, none of it reveals Russian security matters."
#2
I discovered this site only recently. Appears to be just over one year old. I've not read each of the articles yet, but if you scroll down on this link to April, there is an excellent piece entitled 'Unraveling Boston'.
[An Nahar] Kuwait's supreme court Monday upheld a death sentence for a member of the Gulf state's ruling family convicted of killing his nephew, also a royal, according to the verdict.
Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah was convicted of shooting Sheikh Basel Salem Al-Sabah to death at the latter's palace in June 2010, apparently over a dispute on board membership at a sports club.
The sentence is final but can be commuted to life in jail by the emir of the Gulf state where executions are carried out by hanging.
Sheikh Basel was the grandson of the late former emir Sheikh Sabah Salem Al-Sabah and the son of late minister of defense and interior Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah.
Courts in Kuwait, which has an elected parliament and a vibrant political life, have in the past handed down death sentences to members of the Al-Sabah ruling family.
Kuwait resumed executions earlier this year after a moratorium since 2007. Around 50 prisoners are currently on death row.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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I thought killing off kinfolk was a respected and traditional hallmark of all royalty?
[Al Ahram] UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... on Monday reiterated that a Jan. 22 international peace conference on Syria would seek to establish a transitional government in the war-ravaged nation and he left open the question of the attendance of Iran.
"We have a clear goal," Ban told news hounds. "The full implementation of the Geneva Communique of 30 June 2012, including the establishment, based on mutual consent, of a transitional governing body with full executive powers, including over military and security entities."
Ban said nothing about the list of invitees and took no questions from news hounds. The United States and European governments have said Iran could only attend the so-called "Geneva 2" talks if it embraces the outcome of the June 2012 conference in Geneva, which called for a transitional government to replace Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... 's cabinet.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] A special court will start functioning in the first week of December for the trial of former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... on treason charges.
The federal government on Monday issued a notification regarding appointment of Akram Sheikh as special prosecutor in the case but the lawyer could not obtain a copy of the notification.
Akram Sheikh had also represented Mansoor Ijaz in the memo commission case, which was filed by incumbent Prime Minister 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... in November 2011.
Sheikh is known as a pro-judges lawyer and has appeared in several high profile cases, including those involving the Sindh High Court Bar Association, NRO and 18th Amendment.
Sources told Daily Times that Pervez Musharraf was contacting senior lawyers, who had played a pivotal role in the lawyers' movement, to evolve a strategy for his case. Earlier, the Law Ministry on November 18 sent a one-page letter to the Supreme Court requesting the chief justice of Pakistain (CJP) to propose the names of judges for the special court.
CJP Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, instead of deciding the names himself, asked the chief justices of all the high courts to nominate a judge of their respective courts. On receiving the names from all the high courts, the CJP sent them to the federal government for selection of three.
Out of the five nominees, the prime minister nominated Justice Faisal Arab of the Sindh High Court, Justice Mohammad Yawar Ali Khan of the Lahore High Court and Justice Tahira Safdar of the 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... High Court for the special court. A three-member bench on July 3, 2013, in view of the federal government's undertaking given on June 26, 2013, while disposing of the petitions that demanded registration of high treason case against Musharraf, directed the government to conclude the investigation without unnecessary delay.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#1
Just as a general comment, does it makes sense to try former dictators for crimes after they step down? Doesn't that give them essentially a life or death choice on stepping down in the first place?
#3
We are taking Pakistain here - to steal a phrase from John Derbyshire - an anarchic slum populated by superstitious peasants and ruled by thieves. One might think they could find something more productive than chasing after Perv. IMHO, he was one of the better things to happen to Pakistain lately. And yes, that's a pretty low bar.
[DAILYPOST.NG] Despite the state of emergency imposed on three states in the Northern Nigeria, there appears to be no end to deadly attacks by suspected members of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect.
A resident of Maiduguri from Sandiya village, who did not want his name in print told DailyPost that some group of Death Eaters laid ambush on Sandiya villages of Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State killing no fewer than 12 people and setting ablaze many houses.
Damboa, which is about 85 kilometres South of Maiduguri, the state capital, has witnessed deadly attacks by the sects, especially through attacks on the roads.
Although, the military had been curtailing the activities of the sect members in the area by killing and destroying their various camps along the Sambisa Game forests in an offensive raid, it was gathered that the gunnies have continued to haul deadly attacks.
It was reported that some of the suspected Boko Haram members, who fled military raid along the Sambisa forests, were later captured by the security operatives.
This development, according to the source, did not go down well with the terrorists, who mobilized and arrived Sandiya village in the midnight on Saturday, opened fire on residents and set ablaze some residential houses.
Residents told DailyPost that the gunnies numbering about 30, fully armed, stormed the village with three Hilux vehicles and cycle of violences, and started chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great), before opening sporadic gun fire on the helpless and unarmed residents.
The attack led to the killing of 12 persons while several others sustained gunshot wounds.
Confirming the incident, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Tanko Lawal said, "the story is true, hoodlums invaded the community and killed 12 people, burnt houses, stole vehicles/ cycle of violences".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2013
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#3
Since they did not identify him as a Republican, which the media will always do if it is a Republican politician who acts thusly, I can almost bet with near absolute certainty, this idiot is a Democrat...I have trouble with a null hypothesis to prove my theory because of a lack of evidence in the story.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/26/2013 11:53
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Evidence? You want evidence?
Jenkins pleaded guilty three years ago for selling knock-off sneakers at his local store. He was arrested again last year for allegedly hitting a police officer. Jenkins also raised eyebrows earlier this year when he appointed his longtime girlfriend to the village Board of Trustees.
I think he's a (D).
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2013 12:27
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#5
If you go to the Wikipedia entry for Monticello, NY, and follow the link to the village web site, you will find a link to "Who we are". That site has hizzoner's picture. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide his party.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/26/2013 12:48
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#6
You know something, Davis? he says to the officer in the video. Im the one that hired you in this job, man. I mean, it doesnt matter. It doesnt matter about that. But you know something? How the f**k you guys going to play the game?
When the officer later addresses him as sir, Jenkins replies: Dont call me sir.
Mayor? Is that better? the officer says.
Dont call me mayor, Jenkins replies. Call me n****r, because thats what I am when Im right here in handcuffs. But you know something? I dont give a f**k.
[NY Times] President B.O.'s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, imposed an ultimatum on 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... of Afghanistan on Monday, telling him to stop his delay in signing a security agreement or potentially face the complete and final pullout of American troops by the end of 2014, according to American and Afghan officials.
But while Mr. Karzai was said to have assured her he would sign the deal at some point, he gave no time frame for it. And over dinner at the presidential palace in Kabul, he later insisted on difficult new conditions as well, including the release of all inmates at the American prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, adding to the perception of crisis between the two nations, officials from both countries said.
"Ambassador Rice reiterated that, without a prompt signature, the U.S. would have no choice but to initiate planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no U.S. or 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... troop presence in Afghanistan," according to a summary of the meeting released by the White House.
The meeting comes a day after Mr. Karzai rejected a recommendation from his own handpicked assembly of Afghan leadership figures, a loya jirga, that by year's end he should sign the bilateral security agreement, which would allow for an extended American military presence in Afghanistan after 2014. Mr. Karzai told the loya jirga that he wanted to wait to sign it until after the Afghan presidential elections next April, while continuing to negotiate with the Americans.
In response, the White House summary said, "Ambassador Rice stressed that we have concluded negotiations and that deferring the signature of the agreement until after next year's elections is not viable, as it would not provide the United States and NATO allies the clarity necessary to plan for a potential post-2014 military presence."
Ms. Rice arrived in Afghanistan under a cloak of secrecy on Saturday, and the White House did not confirm she was here until after she was already meeting with Mr. Karzai on Monday evening, along with other brass hats from both Washington and Kabul, and Mr. Karzai's senior aides.
The meeting lasted several hours, and it continued into what Aimal Faizi, Mr. Karzai's front man, who was there, described as a working dinner. And while the tone was said to be generally diplomatic and polite, the president at one point became angry at the American ambassador, James B. Cunningham.
Mr. Cunningham voiced objection to an extra demand by the loya jirga: the release of all Guantanamo inmates. He insisted that United States law governs the release of the prisoners and that the issue had no bearing on the bilateral security agreement, or B.S.A.
"That made the president very angry; his reaction was very strong and intense," Mr. Faizi said.
"That made the president very angry; his reaction was very strong and intense," Mr. Faizi said. "The president said we cannot separate the recommendations of the loya jirga from the B.S.A. now -- we cannot pick and choose. All those recommendations have to be taken seriously."
He was referring to all 31 recommendations issued by the loya jirga on Sunday, the main one being that the Afghan president should sign the agreement within one month.
Nearly all 50 committees of the jirga recommended that deadline, while the other recommendations came from various committees and ran the gamut from allowing Afghan observers to attend American military trials to banning Christian religious observances on American military bases. Another recommendation was for an American military base in the remote province of Bamian, the most peaceful place in the country.
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#1
Threaten Karzai and insure you get what you want - an immediate pullout.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2013 8:30
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#2
Isn't Karzai's security provided by U.S. troops? Maybe, they just don't show up for work one day.
Then see how he likes his backside hanging in the breeze. Piker!
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/26/2013 14:35
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#3
Mr. Cunningham voiced objection to an extra demand by the loya jirga: the release of all Guantanamo inmates
"In Canada, the five imprisoned leaders of Liberte de Quebec. In Sri Lanka, the nine members of the Asian Dawn movement... "
I think that's what the called themselves after splitting with Tony Orlando.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/26/2013 19:14
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#5
Fear notteth, Amerika, our new BFF in Syria + OWG "Co-Superpower" IRAN will keep those wily dastardly Jirgas in Kabul + Islamabad in check after 2014.
RELAX, ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY TURKEYS + OBAMA'S DEBT-BUSTING NEW QES COME JANUARY - IRAN'S GOT THE BALL NOW AGZ THE HARD BOYZ IN ME + AFPAK.
SNIFF, SNIFF, OBAMA KEPT HIS PROMISE, OUR BOYZ CAN FINALLY COME HOME!
[Al Ahram] The US national security adviser met Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... Monday in Kabul, while the Pentagon urged the leader to change his mind and sign a security pact that would allow thousands of American troops to stay in the country beyond a 2014 withdrawal deadline.
Karzai's decision to ignore Sunday's recommendation to sign by an Afghan assembly of dignitaries has cast doubt on the future presence of thousands of American and allied troops with the main mandate of training and mentoring Afghan soldiers and police to face a persistent Taliban insurgency.
The two-term Afghan leader insisted that the winner of an April 5 election to succeed him should be the one to sign the deal. But the US administration says insists the deal must be finalized by the end of this year to give enough time for planning to keep the troops in the country. More than $8 billion in annual funds for Afghanistan fledgling security forces and development assistance also is at stake.
Col. Steven Warren, a Defense Department front man, told news hounds in Washington that it's very difficult for the US to plan troop movements if the deal is not sealed by year's end.
The Pentagon hopes Karzai will sign the agreement "as quickly as possible," he said.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice met with Karzai at the end of a previously unannounced three-day trip to Afghanistan to visit US troops and civilians for the Thanksgiving holidays, the White House said, adding that the meeting was at Karzai's request. Her front man, Patrick Ventrell, said the meeting was the last stop on her trip.
The US Embassy said the meeting was held in the heavily fortified presidential palace in downtown Kabul, but it gave no further details. Karzai's front man Aimal Faizi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Karzai rebuffed the American demands Sunday at the end of a four-day meeting of 2,500 tribal elders and regional leaders known as a Loya Jirga, which not only overwhelmingly approved the deal but urged him to sign it by Dec. 31.
Karzai, who had convened the assembly, complicated the debate by announcing on the opening day that he wanted delegates to endorse the deal but he would not sign it.
He repeated that stance Sunday laying down a series of ill-defined conditions and promising to continue negotiations with the United States. They included demands that America ensure peace in a country that has been at war for more than 12 years and guarantee transparent elections.
Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from running in the upcoming presidential vote, also accused the United States of meddling in the 2009 elections, which were marred by fraud, and said he wanted to keep that from happening again.
Even if the mercurial president changes his mind and signs the document, it still must be approved by the Afghan parliament, then finally signed into law by Karzai.
"The critical next step must be to get the bilateral security agreement signed in short order, and put into motion an agreement which will lay a firm foundation for our two countries to continue working together toward a more secure and prosperous future for Afghanistan," US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said Sunday in a statement.
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[Pak Daily Times] Analysing Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... 's politics, one notices a clear disconnect from ground realities. His opposition to drone strikes, rather fixation on them, is beyond the understanding of thinking Pak citizens who have started questioning his stance on drones and militancy. Imran Khan's quick fix solution to all the ills of Pakistain is, one, halting drone strikes in the tribal belt, and, two, holding talks with the Taliban without having a 'plan B' if the former two do not materialise.
In his speech in 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. recently, for the dharna (protest) held against 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... supplies, he said that he would put pressure on the US and that the protest would continue if drone attacks were not stopped. His rhetoric on how the illusory sovereignty of Pakistain has been violated by the drones hardly mentions those foreign gunnies who are sitting in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). One hardly hears him expressing his outrage or condemning the Taliban for carrying out attacks targeting innocent people. He seems to be least bothered about the challenges the people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... are suffering from.
Let us first talk about the drones. For some politicians, like Imran Khan, the drones have become an obsession. When 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai was attacked by the Taliban for simply going to school, some of our mediocre television anchors -- most are mediocre -- connected this incident to the drone attacks in the tribal belt and had the outlandish temerity to suggest that this little girl was a US agent. Even giving them the benefit of the doubt that such statements were merely meant in jest, they were in extremely bad taste.
It is unfortunate that successive governments in Pakistain have been playing the victim, despite the fact that Pakistain has secretly acquiesced to the use of drones in the tribal areas. Instead of owning up to the drone strikes, it propagandises against drone strikes using the media and right wing politicians. The sooner it faces this fact, the better for Pakistain.
While sitting in a restaurant in District Tank, which shares a border with South Wazoo, an old university friend from the Mehsud tribe glanced nervously over his shoulder, inched closer to me so as not be heard by other customers sipping their tea, and said, "The drone is the best weapon ever produced by human beings. It never misses the target and the people in North and South Waziristan are very happy with it. It does not uproot whole tribes and communities like gunship helicopters and mortar shells do, it does not destroy our cattle, it does not destroy our crops; it simply hits its target. There is very minimal collateral damage in such attacks. But it happens only if you are present in the room with the terrorists. Stay away from them and you are safe. Remember what we used to say in university, 'a person is known by the company he avoids.'" He winked and burst into laughter.
During my extensive travelling recently in the tribal belt, I was told that the only people scared of drones are the Taliban. Consequently, they neither dine together, nor sit together to crack jokes or share stories. The gunnies can neither attend weddings, nor go to burials. They cannot sleep in their houses, nor can they travel together in one vehicle. Locally, drones are called 'da Talibano plaar' (father of the Taliban) as they are the only thing that keeps them on the run for their lives, certainly not the friendly firing of the Pak military. Top Taliban capo, Mullah Nazir, who was killed by a drone strike in the tribal belt of Pakistain, once told a friend of mine that drone strikes had rendered the Taliban completely neurotic, as they could hit them anytime, anywhere, "The drones have traumatised my soldiers. There is no escape from them," he said.
In another instance, I enquired of a colleague from the Wazir tribe of North Waziristan, if it was true that drones hit innocent civilians and thus, ultimately, nurture militancy. He replied that this assumption was baseless, "It is simply the media and some politicians that are misguiding people. The same media and politicians are mute when suicide kabooms hit innocent people in our mosques, markets and offices. What about that collateral damage?"
And now, about talks with the Taliban even though the Taliban have shown little interest in negotiations. Let us assume that the government initiates such talks -- who will represent the Taliban and what will be the agenda of the negotiations? And if the negotiations succeed, what will this success look like? Will the Taliban lay down arms and reinvent themselves? Will all the Taliban capos become law abiding, good citizens? Will schools re-open in FATA and the bordering districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa? Will the internally displaced people go back to their houses and will the security forces start patrolling these areas? Will thousands of jihadis be given jobs so that they become responsible citizens?
I know Mr Imran Khan, US bashing is both fashionable and a part of our national psyche, despite the fact that Pakistain is among the largest recipients of US foreign aid. So here I humbly submit that the difference between a predator Taliban and a Predator drone is that the latter does not intentionally target innocent people but forces of Evil who kidnap children and strap them into boom jackets do purposefully target unarmed civilians.
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[Al Ahram] Anti-government protesters forced their way inside Thailand's Finance Ministry and burst through the gates of the Foreign Ministry compound on Monday, in an escalating bid to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The seizing of government buildings by protesters, led by the opposition Democrat Party, plunges Thailand into its deepest political uncertainty since it was convulsed three years ago by the bloodiest political unrest in a generation.
The protesters accuse Yingluck of being a puppet for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and convicted two years later of graft - charges he denies. Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile but exerts enormous influence over his sister's government.
About 1,000 protesters swarmed the Finance Ministry, filling its cavernous marble-floored halls and occupying six other buildings. Many gathered in first-floor meeting rooms, blowing whistles and laying out plastic mats for resting and eating. Occupying its grounds is symbolic, they said, of targeting the money at the heart of the "Thaksin regime".
Staff left the building and moved to a parking lot.
"I invite protesters to stay here overnight at the Finance Ministry," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told the crowd.
"Our only objective is to rid the country of the Thaksin regime," added Suthep, a former deputy prime minister under the previous Democrat-led government.
Yingluck, 46, was defiant, saying she would not step down.
Her broad support in Thailand's vote-rich north and northeast - rural regions that are among the country's poorest - helped her win a 2011 election by a landslide, making her Thailand's first woman prime minister.
That election was seen as a defeat for the traditional Bangkok elite of generals, royal advisers, middle-class bureaucrats and business leaders - a group that backs the Democrats and deeply mistrusts Thaksin and his sister.
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[Pak Daily Times] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government Monday asked for nomination of the US and CIA in the FIR registered against the Hangu drone strike.
The provincial government Monday handed the US consul general a memorandum against drone strikes, asking Washington to halt these attacks. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister Sirajul Haq and Information Minister Shah Farman led a joint team of 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.... and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... to the US consulate in the red zone of 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. cantonment where they delivered the memorandum. The move comes four days after the first-ever drone strike inside Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa when a madrassa was targeted in Thall Tehsil of Hangu District on November 21, leaving six dead and scores injured.
"The resolution, which the KP Assembly passed on November 4, had demanded of the federal government to take action against drone strikes by November 21, otherwise, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will take its own course against the drone strikes," Shah Farman told media after the memorandum was handed over. US diplomat Christopher Beacon received the memorandum at the main gate of consulate general.
"We made it clear to the Americans the drone issue is serious and sensitive and we will not let such attacks happen again," the provincial information minister said, adding that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government would protest against the drone strikes outside parliament and the UN office in Islamabad. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... he did not give a date for these protests. The PTI and JI ministers, and the two parties' supporters rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud after the American diplomat received the memorandum.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police chief Monday directed the police to take further legal steps in the Hangu drone attack case after "proper verification and investigation". IGP Nasir Khan Durrani issued the order after the ruling Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf submitted an application, becoming party to the November 21 attack by the US on a madrassa in Hangu District that killed six dead and injured scores. PTI Central Secretary (legal affairs), Barrister SLearned Elders of Islamn Afridi submitted an application with the police chief.
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#4
Hostility? Yeah and Obama deserves every bit of it. He generated it all with his lying, overtly racist, baldly partisan, strong-arm, thuggish, Chicago politics and the corruption that comes with it.
#6
We can only assume this is meant to exclude white male *homosexuals*.
Can Axelrod be first? Michael Moore? Matt Damon? Justice Breyer? Senator Leahy? I'm afraid I can't take this seriously until its proponants take it seriously. Some dead bodies would go a long way toward convincing.
#10
I ceased in the year 1764 to believe that one can convince ones opponents with arguments printed in books. It is not to do that, therefore, that I have taken up my pen, but merely so as to annoy them, and to bestow strength and courage on those on our own side, and to make it known to the others that they have not convinced us. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.
The point to note here is that it is no longer possible to distinguish between hoax, satire and the bollocky gibberish that comes out of the academic world on a regular basis. See Chomsky, Krugman, and others for examples.
[Al Ahram] Nasserist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi chosen by Revolution's Candidate campaign as potential presidential candidate to represent revolutionary current
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[Libya Herald] The corpse count in fighting in Benghazi between the army's Special Forces Saiqa Brigade and Ansar Al-Sharia is now put at nine, according to the Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Interior Minister, Sadiq Abdulrahman. He made the announcement on TV early this afternoon.
The situation in the city was reported early this afternoon to be calm with Ansar forces said to have disappeared. Saiqa appears to be in control of the streets.
The armed forces meanwhile have warned that any convoy moving inside Benghazi or trying to enter the city without a permission be will attacked by the airforce, according to Captain Ibrahim Shara, the new Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR) front man.
"As long as there is resistance on the ground, we will continue fighting to maintain security and legitimacy," Shara told the Libya Herald. He added that there had been a meeting between the Benghazi Elders Council and BJSR commanders this morning at which the elders demanded that civilians be protected.
Planes have been flying over the city today, but there have been no reports of any strikes.
Reports that a convoy heading towards Benghazi from Sirte had been stopped at Wadi Al-Ahmar have been denied by Colonel Ali Sheikhi, front man for the Chief of Staff. There is an Ansar Al-Sharia camp outside Sirte.
There is still confusion as to the cause of the fighting. It appears to have started in Benghazi's Birkah district after Ansar Al-Sharia set up checkpoints there. Some reports say that members of the Islamist militia then shot at a vehicle belonging to Benghazi Security Directorate. Others say that Saiqa intervened after a shootout at the checkpoint between a private individual and Ansar members.
Armed local Benghazi residents have been fighting alongside Saiqa against Ansar. Saiqa commander Wanis Bukhamada has, however, asked them to go home and leave the fighting to his forces. One local group is reported to have attacked Ansar's headquarters in Ras Obeida district at about 8 am, setting it on fire. There was no one in the building at the time as Ansar forces were out on the streets.
All Ansar bases in the city are now reported to have been destroyed.
Dr Mohammed Belaid, the director of Al-Jalaa Hospital, close to the fighting and where many of the inured are being treated, told this newspaper that it had received seven killed and 23 maimed, three of whom were in a serious condition. he would not say who were Saiqa and who were Ansar members. He added that the hospital was short of medicines and had asked the Medicine Supplies Department to send supplies.
This morning, the hospital put out an appeal for blood. that the hospital's team had been working very hard since the start of the festivities to treat the patients.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... Benghazi Congressman, Mohammed Busidra, an independent but close to the Justice & Construction Party, told this paper that Benghazi Congress members were travelling back to the city to monitor events. He added that Congress and the government had been in close contact since the start of the festivities.
He confirmed that the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief of General Staff, Major-General Jaddallah Al-Obeidi, had flown to Benghazi.
"Our main object now is to stop bloodshed between the two sides", Busidra said, added that a "neutral" force was now needed in Benghazi. He claimed that the Omar Mukhtar Brigade headed by Ziyad Balaam was such as a neutral force and that it had started setting up checkpoints at Benghazi's main gates to prevent any convoys trying to enter the city.
This, however, has been denied by the BJSR front man.
The brigade is widely seen as Islamist and close to Ansar Al-Sharia.
Three of the dead have been named as Sulaiman Daqli, Saleh Abdel-Salam and Ahmed Magrisi. No casualties have been reported by Ansar Al-Sharia.
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[Tolo News] Ghazni Deputy Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi on Monday raised concerns about a number of candidates from his province who were approved by election officials yet are affiliated with Taliban myrmidons.
His comments come after the Independent Election Commission's (IEC) release of the final list of eligible candidates for the spring Provincial Council elections last week.
Ali Ahmadi said that, "On one hand Mullah Mohammad Omar sends his candidates to go and run in the election but on the other hand he says that the election is only a foreigners' political game," Ahmadi said referring to the elusive man thought to be the leader of the Afghan Taliban. "Gulbudin Hikmatyar is also sending his representatives," he added regarding the founder of Hezb-e-Islami, another anti-government group.
Ahmadi declined to provide any specific names of candidates from Ghazni associated with the krazed killers.
Earlier this year, 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... denounced the elections as a "waste of time" and there have been multiple incidents of violence against election officials that the Taliban has grabbed credit for.
Security for the upcoming elections is a top priority, and anxiety, for Afghan officials. Many of them fear threats at the polls could repel voters from participating, and in turn, undermine the credibility of the elections.
Ahmadi's remarks come as the first time an Afghan official has claimed the Taliban is directly involved in the elections. Though previously 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... called on the bully boyz to lay down their weapons and engage the political process.
Ahmadi was optimistic was optimisitc about voter participation in the upcoming elections, which over three million Afghans have been registered to vote in this year. He said a good election cycle could mean all the difference in terms of the country's stability and prosperity in the coming years.
"The election is the people's moment, and the more public participation, the more legitimate the election will be," he said.
With the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... coalition withdrawing at the end of next year, and President Karzai stepping down, the April elections will come at a pivotal time for Afghanistan.
With a history of voter fraud and other improprities in past Afghan elections, especially the Presidential vote in 2009, many fear the upcoming elections will be similarly marred in illegitimacy. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... election officials have maintained that a high voter turnout would ensure credibility.
The IEC announced the final list of contenders after over a month of evaluations and assessments by the IEC and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). The final list contained a number of changes from the preliminary list released back in October, accounting for the findings of the ECC during its review of complaints against candidates and challenges from contenders who were previously disqualified by the IEC.
After 17 Presidential hopefuls who were cut from the preliminary list by the IEC last month filed challenges to the ECC, only one -- Daoud Sultanzoy -- was readmitted into the race. His addition brings the number of Presidential candidates for the April vote up from 10 to 11.
The number of Provincial Council candidates totaled 2,713.
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[Al Ahram] The trial opened Monday of two Tunisian rappers and a journalist accused of insulting public officials after another musician was convicted in June, with the verdict expected later in the day.
Aymen Feki and Moustapha Fakhfakh, as well as the French-Tunisian journalist Hind Meddeb, are charged with abusing public officials and attacks on public morals, crimes punishable by jail terms of one year and six months respectively.
The charges relate to a confrontation between police and protesters in June outside the same courthouse in a suburb of the capital where rapper Weld El 15 was tossed in the calaboose Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! for insulting the police in a song.
After a 40-minute hearing on Monday, the judge announced that he would deliver his verdict later in the day, an AFP journalist reported. Defence lawyer Ghazi Mrabet said the ruling would be made public at around 1700 GMT.
"Mustapha, Aymen and I are here to give a sign of good faith. We believe we have done nothing wrong," the journalist Meddeb told AFP.
She admitted to shouting insults when the scuffles broke out after the conviction of Weld El 15 -- who was later freed on appeal when his jail term was reduced to a six-month suspended sentence.
But she insisted that the insults "were not addressed" to the police or the judiciary.
The two rappers also pleaded innocent. No, no! Certainly not! to the charges against them.
Mrabet asked the judge to drop the charges against all three accused, stressing that Meddeb had been questioned by the police without an interpreter present, even though "she doesn't speak Arabic."
Since an Islamist-led government took power after Tunisia's 2011 revolution, trials of musicians and journalists have multiplied, sparking charges from human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups that the authorities are stifling freedom of expression.
Weld El 15 has been on the run since August when he received a 21-month jail sentence in absentia, on separate charges of performing songs deemed insulting to the police at a concert in the eastern town of Hammamet.
He plans to appeal the verdict in court on 5 December, after a fellow rapper, Klay BBJ, who was convicted on the same charges, was released on appeal in September after contesting the ruling.
Since the mass uprising that ousted former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, attempts to reform the Tunisian judiciary and the security forces have stalled.
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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.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: A devout Shia man along with his wife was slain in North 
[Bangla Daily Star] Rebels pressed an offensive east of Damascus and in southeastern Aleppo, in an escalation that in the past three days has killed scores of fighters on both sides, a monitoring group said on yesterday.
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
Khaleda Zia
[Pak Daily Times] Law enforcers claimed to have held around 87 suspects including four alleged 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Bangla Daily Star] A man was killed and 10 
[Pak Daily Times] The Pakistain People's Party (PPP) on Monday submitted an adjournment motion in the Upper House of parliament against the US drone strike in 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Pervez 
Nawaz Sharif
[Al Ahram] The US national security adviser met 
Wazoo
