THE British navy has completed a discreet clean-out of the senior figures involved in the debacle over the arrest by Iranian Revolutionary Guards of 15 British sailors and marines.
Those involved in the Royal Navy's humiliation at the hands of Tehran have been pushed out of their high-profile jobs as part of an attempt to sweep away any reminder of the debacle, regarded as one of the biggest humiliations to befall the navy since the failure of Admiral Byng to relieve Minorca in 1756. He was executed for his incompetence.
The victims include two vice-admirals, the captain of the ship on which the boat crews served and a senior official in the failed public relations operation that followed their return to Britain.
There was widespread anger when the 15 sailors and marines, including a woman, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, gave up without firing a shot after being left with no helicopter cover during the standoff in March last year when they were boarding suspect vessels in the Gulf to check for insurgents or contraband.
Tehran said they were in Iranian waters when seized by Revolutionary Guards. The British insisted they were in international waters.
The crew were released after 13 days' captivity and shown in front of television cameras in ill-fitting suits talking to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They thanked the Iranian authorities for their good treatment. The seven sailors and eight marines were then given "goody bags" to take home.
The navy's embarrassment was compounded by the decision to allow two of the arrested sailors, Turney and Able Seaman Arthur Batchelor, the youngest at 20, to sell their stories to British tabloid newspapers. Batchelor made it worse when he revealed the extent of his ordeal while in Iranian custody involved his jailers flicking their fingers against his neck, calling him "Mr Bean" and confiscating his iPod.
Then prime minister Tony Blair insisted there would be "no witch-hunt" and no individuals were blamed for the fiasco or the decision to allow the sailors to sell their stories. Behind the scenes, however, senior figures have departed. The most senior was Vice-Admiral Charles Style, assistant chief of the defence staff in charge of operations, who had the job of explaining to the media what had happened. Defence sources claim he was unfairly treated. Vice-Admiral Sir Adrian Johns, the second sea lord, who publicly took the blame for approving the decision to allow Turney and Batchelor to sell their stories, was also replaced.
William Pitt the Elder, then Leader of the House of Commons, told the king: "the House of Commons, Sir, is inclined to mercy", to which George II responded: "You have taught me to look for the sense of my people elsewhere than in the House of Commons."
Byng's execution was satirized by Voltaire in his novel Candide.
Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres
"in this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others"
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008 19:53
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#2 It's a start. Posted by: Nimble Spemble
Only if they intend to continue to have a Navy. The Labor Party in peacetime has always wanted to slash the Navy to the bone. They still believe it's "peacetime". That may be enough to bring them down come the next election, but I won't be placing any bets.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/07/2008 19:55
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Byng was railroaded. Fighting Instructions was crap anyway. Read Tuchman.
THE head of the UN nuclear watchdog has said international efforts to halt Iranian nuclear activity have been a failure.
"We haven't really moved one inch toward addressing the issues," said Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the Los Angeles Times. "I think so far the policy has been a failure."
Oh, you really think so? Thanks for speaking up AFTER the American election, jerk.
Iran has faced three sets of UN security council sanctions over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment activities, but over the past five years Tehran has pressed on with its controversial nuclear work.
Demonstrating, as Saddam did, that UN sanctions are toothless and aren't worth the effort.
The IAEA said last month Iran had more than 5000 uranium enrichment centrifuges in operation.
Mr ElBaradei, 66, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and frequent critic of the administration of US president George W. Bush and its hardline approach to nuclear talks, said White House successor President-elect Barack Obama gave him "lots of hope".
"He is ready to talk to his adversaries, enemies, if you like, including Iran, also (North) Korea," he said of Mr Obama, who has advocated the abolishment of nuclear weapons and more dialogue with political foes. "To continue to pound the table and say 'I am not going to talk to you' and act in a sort of a very condescending way - that exaggerates problems," he told the newspaper.
Because as we just demonstrated, talking will solve the most intractable problems ...
Mr ElBaradei, who has headed the IAEA for 11 years, said sanctions may have led to "more hardening of the position of Iran", the report said. "Many Iranians who even dislike the regime (are) gathering around the regime because they feel that country is under siege."
Then again, they may be losing hope since no one in the West will speak up for them ...
#1
So lessee - the greenest president ever is gonna build more ROADS for all those eeeevil internal combustion engine cars to drive on? Whut will algore say?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/07/2008 18:25
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It's cool. O's gonna build it out of hemp.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 18:50
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Pakistani security forces took over a camp used by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Pakistani Kashmir on Sunday, a witness and an official from a charity linked to Lashkar said.
"This happened this afternoon, security forces took over the camp," said an official with Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity.
A resident close to the camp on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad said he had seen security forces raid it. The charity official said there were fighters there from Lashkar, the prime suspect in the attacks on Mumbai last month that killed at least 171 people
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
16:01 ||
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Too bad. How long will it be before LeT is back? The Indians probably should have leveled the camp days ago.
Really an Opinion piece, but it seems perfect for the new category...
The more things change, the more they stay . . . well, you know. And looking at President-elect Barack Obama's top appointments, it's easy to wonder whether convention has triumphed over change - and centrists over progressives.
A quick run-down: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who supported the Iraq war until she initiated her presidential bid, has been handed the Cabinet's big plum: secretary of state. And Bush's second defense secretary, Robert Gates, will become Obama's first defense secretary. The Obama foreign policy adviser regarded as the most liberal in his inner circle, Susan E. Rice, has been picked for the U.N. ambassador slot. Obama is elevating this job to Cabinet rank, but he's still sending Rice to New York - and in politics and policy, proximity to power matters. For national security adviser, Obama has picked James L. Jones. The retired four-star general was not hawkish on the Iraq war and seems to be a non-ideologue who possesses the right experience for the job. But he probably would have ended up in a McCain administration, and his selection has not heartened progressives.
Obama's economic team isn't particularly liberal, either. Lawrence H. Summers, who as President Bill Clinton's Treasury secretary opposed regulating the new-fangled financial instruments that greased the way to the subprime meltdown, will chair Obama's National Economic Council. To head Treasury, Obama has tapped Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the New York Federal Reserve, who helped oversee the financial system as it collapsed. Each is close to Robert Rubin, another former Clinton Treasury secretary, a director of bailed-out Citigroup and a poster boy for both the corporate wing of the Democratic Party and discredited Big Finance. Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board will be guided by Paul Volcker, the former Fed chairman whose controversial tight-money policies ended the stagflation crisis of the 1970s but led to a nasty recession. (A genuinely progressive economist, Jared Bernstein, will receive a less prominent White House job: chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.)
It's no surprise that many progressives are - depending on whom you ask - disappointed, irritated or fit to be tied. Sure, Obama's appointments do represent change - that is, change from the widely unpopular Bush-Cheney status quo. But do these appointments amount to the kind of change that progressives, who were an essential part of Obama's political base during the campaign, can really believe in?
Perhaps Obama is trying to pull off something subtle - a sort of stealth liberalism draped in bipartisan centrism. But it's understandable that progressives are worried. "I feel incredibly frustrated," OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers exclaimed. "Even after two landslide elections in a row, are our only governing options as a nation either all right-wing Republicans, or a centrist mixture of Democrats and Republicans? Isn't there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?" Only of one is voted it, dipstick.
And he asks, "Why isn't there a single member of Obama's cabinet who will be advising him from the left?" Writers at the Nation have decried Obama's national security team as a "kettle of hawks," denounced his economic aides as acolytes of "recycled Clintonism" who fancy "straight-up neoliberal deference to the market," and assailed the retaining of Gates as a move that "has a dispiriting, stay-the-course feel to it."
The other day, two prominent labor officials who toiled mighty hard for Obama during the campaign told me they had this message for the new president: Please, please give us David Bonior as labor secretary. They were referring to the populist former House member who has been a leading critic of NAFTA-like trade pacts. "Don't we deserve at least one Cabinet appointment?" one remarked.
I, too, have huffed about Obama's staffing decisions. It remains a mystery to me why Obama would want to bring into his Big Tent the Clinton circus, which frequently features excessive spin, backstabbing, leaking and messy melodrama. Sen. Clinton is a smart woman who has stature and globetrotting experience. But as health-care czar in her husband's administration, she set back that cause, which is near and dear to the hearts of progressives, by nearly two decades.
Also unsettling is Obama's decision to re-up Gates at the Pentagon. Gates is certainly an improvement on his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. He's no ideologue. And by placing a Bush appointee who happens to be pragmatic in charge of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Obama might avoid a bruising political wrangle over his Iraq policy. But on Gates's watch, there has been little, if any, progress in Afghanistan. And Gates has not truly taken on the Pentagon's biggest domestic problem: its bloated, out-of-control budget. Obama transition team officials reviewing the Defense Department have told colleagues that they are stunned by the mess they are finding. With the military budget expanding wildly, largely because of hundreds of billions of dollars in cost overruns for questionable weapons programs, the Pentagon is the federal agency most in need of change. That change has to be driven from the top.
As for Summers, he blew one of the more significant policy calls of the 1990s. When regulators wanted to rein in the use of derivatives, he let the free market rule. Now he's being rewarded in an it-takes-a-thief-to-catch-a-thief manner. And the fierce partisan who will be managing the White House for Obama, future chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, was known during the Clinton years as the White House aide who said no to bolder, progressive policy initiatives in favor of modest, centrist proposals.
So with these hawkish, Rubin-esque, middle-of-the-road picks, has Obama abandoned the folks who brought him to the dance?
When asked at a Nov. 26 news conference whether his appointments of old Washington hands indicated that his administration was not going to be a festival of change, Obama replied, "What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking. But understand where the - the vision for change comes from first and foremost. It comes from me." His job, he added, was to "make sure . . . that my team is implementing" his policies. In other words, la change, c'est moi.
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Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2008
12:00 ||
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chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden
Isn't that like ambassador to Antartica?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/07/2008 14:09
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The leftists made much noise and of course the feel entitled....
The Presidency starts already divided and Obama will not have good results to show in a long time to applacate the supporters.
Big troubles ahead...
It wasn't enough for Natalie to wreck a popular singing group with her goofy mouth. Now this:
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines is the target of a defamation lawsuit by the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old boys slain in 1993. Maines spoke out for three people convicted of the slayings and alleged the stepfather was instead involved in the killings.
Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed in 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25. The suit names all three members of the Dixie Chicks, but focuses on Maines. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hobbs claims he suffered loss of income, injury to his reputation and emotional distress.
Maines attended a Dec. 19 rally in Little Rock, where she claimed Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley -- known to sympathizers as the "West Memphis Three" -- were innocent and that supposed new evidence pointed to Hobbs. Her comments echoed a Nov. 26, 2007, letter that was still on the Dixie Chicks' Web site on Thursday, in which she claimed that new DNA testing of hair from the crime scene linked Hobbs to the killings and that his behavior after the slayings indicated his guilt.
The lawsuit says the claim is false.
Hobbs told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a Feb. 1 interview that his reputation was in tatters and he wanted to clear his name. "I want people to know I haven't done nothing wrong," Hobbs said. "I want them to hear it from me."
The lawsuit says Maines' statements were "so extreme in degree as to be beyond the pale of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society."
Assertions similar to those made by Maines were also made by lawyers seeking new trials for the three convicts.
The boys' bodies were found by police a day after they vanished from their quiet, tree-lined neighborhood May 5, 1993. Police arrested the three after a confession by Misskelley in which he described how he watched Baldwin and Echols sexually assault and beat two of the boys as he ran down another trying to escape. A jury gave Misskelley a life-plus-40-year sentence for the killings. A later jury gave Baldwin a life sentence without parole. Echols, then 19, the oldest of the three, received the death penalty.
The Arkansas Supreme Court later upheld the convictions, but a later documentary sparked interest across the Internet, as well as among celebrities, including Maines, who felt the teens were railroaded by police for their interest in heavy metal music and the occult. Supporters say they raised more than $1 million for a legal defense fund for the three, enough to pay for lawyers, new DNA testing and a second federal appeal on behalf of Echols.
A judge has since denied defense motions for a new trial.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
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Baldwin and Echols sexually assault and beat two of the boys...
Notice how much news coverage expands when its a gay killed for his/her behavior [documentaries, Hollyweird tv and big screen movies], but when gays do this to kids, the MSM and culture elites seems to lose their self righteous outrage?
#2
If the documentarians who made "Paradise Lost" are to be believed, Maines may actually have a point. It's hard to watch that movie, and its sequel, without feeling that there has been a serious miscarriage of justice. The boys convicted in the killing were young, stupid and weird. Echols was trying to seem creepy. But there's not much reliable evidence, and some reason to suspect the stepfather.
To prove defamation, the stepfather would have to prove she knew her statement to be false, something he may not be able to do.
I expect I disagree with Maines on just about everything politically. This, though, isnt politics.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
12/07/2008 14:53
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Actually I could care less abotu that little bitch Maines. Someone ought to throw her headfirst into a post. Or maybe already has given the amount of brian damage she shows.
Karen Dunnell, the National Statistician, will bring together a wide range of evidence on the growing number of older people, and examine the changes this will bring to society and the economy. It is the first time the National Statistician has focused on the issue in her "annual article", which offers an in-depth examination of a particular aspect of Britain's population figures.
At the same time, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish figures showing that the UK's birth rate surged last year to a 30-year high, driven by a baby boom among immigrant families. Among all babies born in the UK, 23 per cent had mothers who were born abroad. Whereas British-born women have only 1.7 children each on average, the figure is 3.9 for Bangladeshi-born women in Britain, and almost five for Pakistani-born women.
Which means that as Britain ages, the younger crowd will be increasingly disinclined to pay for them, since the younger crowd will be increasingly disaffected and pushing for a different system of governance and beliefs ...
An ONS spokesman said: "We will make some projections on what is going to happen. They will be based on existing statistical factors and will not take account of any circumstances that may change between now and then. The National Statistician is presenting a picture of society as it is now and how it could develop, to help policy-makers in their future decisions."
The NHS already restricts access to expensive new drugs that could benefit older age groups -- such as sufferers of Alzheimer's and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness -- amid fears that the costs could cripple the health service.
Which is already crippled and is going to get worse even if they restrict access to drugs. It's the 'Children of Men' scenario even though babies are still being born.
Three months ago the ONS revealed that Britain is home to more pensioners than children for the first time in the country's history. There are 11.58 million pensioners - classed as men over 65 and women over 60 - compared with 11.52 million under-16s. In 1971, a quarter of the nation was under 16, while 15 per cent were of pensionable age.
The number of over-80s has almost doubled to 2.7 million over the past 30 years. They are the fastest-growing age group as a result of medical advances, and their number is expected to continue rising dramatically. The state retirement age is to increase to 68 for men and women by 2050, but the sharp rise in the elderly population is likely to lead to calls for the retirement age to be raised still further.
Britain's population profile is ageing despite record immigration and the rise in the number of immigrant women having children. According to the ONS a record number of immigrants settled in the UK last year. Around one in 10 of the population was born abroad, 6.3 million people in all.
Statistics from the European Union in August said Britain's population is set to grow from the current 61 million to 76.6 million by 2060, outstripping Germany's along the way to become the largest in Europe. The same report said that the EU as a whole is facing a "pensions timebomb", with a prediction that there will be only two people of working age to pay the pension and healthcare costs for each person aged 65 or over when the EU population reaches 506 million by 2060. At present there are four people of working age for each person aged 65 or over.
Earlier this year a House of Lords committee chaired by Lord Wakeham, the former Conservative cabinet minister, and including two former Tory chancellors, Lord Lawson and Lord Lamont, warned that continued immigration would not help to defuse the "pensions timebomb".
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
11:38 ||
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warned that continued immigration would not help to defuse the "pensions timebomb".
How very insightful. Lord Wakeham, do you have any comments on the long term effects to civilized society of birth control by chance?
#4
Which means that as Britain ages, the younger crowd will be increasingly disinclined to pay for them, since the younger crowd will be increasingly disaffected and pushing for a different system of governance and beliefs ...
Actually this class will not be paying because they are used to collecting.
#5
the purpose of loose immigration was no doubt to bring in workers who would subsidize the pensioners. Trouble is, every time I read about some Pak mook or "Firebrand" Islamospokeshole, they and their brood are already on the dole, and not working
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2008 13:06
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Yes. They tried to prop up the welfare system by bringing in people to drain it.
Further proving that the wests dominance is a result more of everyone else being dumber than us being smarter.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/07/2008 14:25
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Of the 1 in 10 people who are foreign born, how many are on welfare? My guess would be at least 4 of 10, maybe more.
#8
Either way, the populations of Britain and Western Europe along with their socialist desires are unsustainable. Either have more of the native population have babies, bring in people that WANT to assimilate or prepare for the death of your national identity.
At 28 minutes before air time, an assistant is lint-rolling Father Zakaria Botros' cassock, polishing the pectoral cross...Botros, an Egyptian, will host the live show about to be broadcast via Cyprus-based satellite channel Al-Hayat, which will last 90 minutes and may have an audience of up to 60 million viewers across the Arab world and beyondfrom the Middle East to Europe to North America to Australia. And most of the viewers who sit down to watch the televised ruminations of a 75-year-old Christian will be Muslims....Twice authorities jailed him for preaching the gospel to Muslims, once in 1981 for one year, and again in 1989. A judge sentenced him to life in prison but ordered him released on the condition of forced exile: He had to leave Egypt and never return. By that time he had ministered in Cairo for over 30 years but moved to England with his wife where he ministered in a Coptic church for 11 years before he said he "retired" to begin the television and internet ministry.
#2
In his last year of high school he had a Muslim teacher who regularly challenged him for worshipping "a dead God." Botros said he realized, "If I answered him from the Bible it would be no good. I had to read the Muslim books and the Quran itself." Throughout his university years, he said, he read all the teachings of Muhammad as a way to answer Muslim questions about Christianity.
Indeed. And then about Islam itself. A very clever and insightful man. Are the Muslim authorities still claiming six million are converting to Christianity annually?
#2
Backwoods, racist Louisiana elects the first Vietnamese-American to Congress - in a district that was specifically created to give blacks an overwhelming advantage. The Democratic primary runoff had almost three times the turnout of yesterday's general - it was held on Obama Day instead of in October because the primary was delayed by Hurricane Gustav. 130,000 of the 160,000 Democrats who voted on Obama Day either stayed home or switched parties yesterday - most stayed home, being too ignorant to realize they still had to vote again after the runoff. I wonder if there are lawyers looking for some grounds to appeal.
We had another Congressional District runoff yesterday too - it also was won by the Republican. As of course was the Georgia Sente seat last week. I guess Obama's mandate wasn't as overwhelming as hyped.
#3
I really don't know much about Congressman-elect Cao, but I can say he had all the enthusiastic supporters out in the streets yesterday. Every street I drove down had swarms of people waving signs and jumping up and down hollering. Lots of Asians, lots of Caucasians, young students and old folks, but almost no blacks. Significantly, I saw virtually no Jefferson sign wavers - even at the major instersections where you usually almost need police to keep the different factions from bopping each other on the heads with their signs. That suggests to me that Jefferson did not have much official party backing for this election - he should have won easily, but maybe even they wanted an end to the embarassment (Cao's campaign slogan - 'End The Embarassment')
#7
Hey, I dont want to badmouth all of you hippie states, but we not only have the only Indian hardcore conservative governor, but we now have a hardcore conservative Congressman from Vietnam. What have YOU done lately?
#9
Jefferson deserves to be tried for treason, convicted, and sent to the gallows. I'd pay for the privilege of opening the trap door to send him to Hell.
A verdict is due Tuesday in the trial of a Lebanese man accused of a botched attempt to bomb German passenger trains that investigators say could have ended in a bloodbath.
German authorities say Yusef Mohammed al-Hajj Dib, 24, was a hardened Islamic extremist who was trying to kill as many people as possible in revenge for the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in Europe.
Men identified by police as Dib and a Lebanese associate, Jihad Hamad, were captured on security cameras placing suitcases packed with homemade explosives on two trains carrying 280 people on July 31, 2006. The images ran in heavy rotation on national television as the country digested how close it may have come to the first Islamist attack on German soil since the anti-US suicide hijackings of September 11, 2001, which were planned in part in the German port city Hamburg. Germany was never closer to an Islamist attack, state prosecutor Duscha Gmel said.
Prosecutors argue that the explosions could have killed up to 75 people, saying only a technical fault prevented a massacre in a plot allegedly modelled on the deadly train blasts in Madrid in 2004 and London the following year.
Dib could face life in prison, generally 15 years in actual jail time in Germany, if he is convicted on multiple counts of attempted murder. He told the regional superior court in this western city on December 2 at the end of his year-long trial that he had never planned to murder anyone but had aimed to frighten the German public over the Mohammed cartoons. I swear by God Almighty that it was never my intention to kill, he said in a final statement to the court, adding that he knew there would be no explosion when he left the device on the train.
He said Hamad, who is serving a 12-year sentence in Beirut over the case, was lying when he told Lebanese investigators that the two had plotted mass murder. It is because he was tortured, Dib asserted.
Both men had lived as students in Germany. After putting the suitcases on the trains, they each disembarked at the next station and flew from Cologne to Istanbul and then Lebanon, where Hamad was captured. Dib was arrested after he returned to Germany days later.
His defence lawyer Bernd Rosenkranz told the court that Dib had made a conscious decision not to include oxygen in gas canisters used in the homemade bombsthe missing ingredient necessary for an explosion. The aim was to frighten people with a mock-up, he said.
Presiding judge Ottmar Breidling expressed doubts about this version of events in a hearing in late October, noting that dummy explosives would have no need for detonators, as were found in the suitcases on the trains.
#1
Dib swears, in the name of God, that meant to harm noone. Seems to me that he may have some explaining to do when he knocks on the doors of heaven and asks to enter.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 10:30
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Former Inter-Services-Inetlligence chief Hamid Gul on Sunday dismissed as "nonsense" reports that Pakistan has agreed to arrest and hand him over to India in connection with the probe into the Mumbai terror attacks.
"It is nonsense, it is disinformation because (Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice and America want my name to be included," Gul told a private Indian channel from Rawalpindi. He was reacting to a Washington Post report that said Pakistan has agreed to a 48-hour timetable set by India and US to take action against Lashkar-e-Toiba and arrest at least three Pakistanis believed to be linked to the Mumbai attacks.
Citing a top unnamed Pakistani official, the Post said among the people India asked Islamabad to arrest and hand over is the former ISI Director Gul. "The US doesn't like this loud voice in which I condemn them, their aggression, their oppression, their invasion over Afghanistan and lies in Iraq. I expose them, their 9/11 was a fraud, it was an inside job," he told NDTV.
"I want to say to the Indian public and the Indian leadership please don't fall into their trap, look at what they have done to us, they are deceitful and they will use you for their own purpose," he said.
No more "India will give its land when it will be divided into many pieces. India will have to break. If India does not give us our land we will go to war and divide India." Hamid?
On his links with the Pakistani spy agency, Gul said: "I left the ISI 20 years ago ... I have no contact with ISI." The former ISI head claimed that the US now wanted Indian troops to be "committed" to Afghanistan "because they have run short of their own troops and NATO is pulling out." Asked whether he will cooperate with India in probe into the deadly attacks, Gul said he is ready to help if his government tells him to do so. However, he said New Delhi [Images] should show "more sagacity" in dealing with Islamabad.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
08:31 ||
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Anh Joseph Cao, a little-known 41-year-old community organizer and GOP attorney, knocked off nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson in a stunning upset in Louisiana's Second District to become the first Vietnamese American elected to Congress.
In recent years Jefferson has been fighting scandals and a federal indictment for money laundering, bribery and misusing his congressional office, which he denies. Last year the FBI reported finding $90,000 in marked bills in Jefferson's freezer.
#1
Does anyone else see the trend I see in Louisana politics? They seem to be going for nonwhite, nonblack Republican candidates who are . They have a long sad history of corrupt white and black politicans. Looks like a good move to me.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 9:26
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Hey, I dont want to badmouth all of you hippie states, but we not only have the only Indian hardcore conservative governor, but we now have a hardcore conservative Congressman from Vietnam. What have YOU done lately?
India's foreign minister said on Sunday that Pakistani reports about a hoax call made in his name during the Mumbai siege were an attempt to divert blame for the attacks.
The call, from someone claiming to be Pranab Mukherjee to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, put Pakistan on high alert of a military strike by India while militants were still fighting security forces in Mumbai. The caller told Zardari that India would take military action if Islamabad did not hand over those behind the attacks, Pakistani newspapers reported on Saturday.
"I had made no such telephone call," Mukherjee said in a statement explaining how India rushed to clarify that the call was a hoax. "I can only ascribe this series of events to those in Pakistan who wish to divert attention from the fact that a terrorist group operating from Pakistani territory planned and launched a ghastly attack on Mumbai."
Pakistan responded to the hoax call by putting its air force on stand-by, and the incident triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity as world leaders feared a row between the nuclear-armed rivals could lead to war.
Mukherjee said it was "worrying" that Pakistan could "even consider acting on the basis of such a hoax call".
In another sign of how high cross-border tension rose last week, Pakistan's ambassador to Britain said international diplomats also feared India was about to launch a military strike on Pakistan. "There was circumstantial evidence that India was going to make a quick strike against Pakistan to teach her a lesson," Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pakistan's high commissioner to London, told the BBC. "This is what we were told by our friends -- that there could possibly be a quick strike at some of the areas they suspect to be the training camps, an air raid or something of that sort," he said on Saturday.
The US sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India and Pakistan last week to keep a lid on tensions between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan has repeatedly called for " concrete proof " from India, which says the only gunman captured alive has admitted that all the attackers had come from across the border.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry on Sunday dismissed as "rubbish" reports that it had agreed to a 48-hour timetable to take action against Pakistanis accused of involvement in the attacks. The Washington Post said on Saturday that Pakistan had agreed to a deadline imposed by the United States and India to arrest three people, including the head of the Islamist Lashkar-e-Taiba group alleged to be behind the strikes.
Indian police resumed interrogation on Sunday of two men arrested on suspicion of providing mobile phone SIM cards to the attackers. One was reported to be from Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in whole by each. Both men are said to be Indian nationals.
Suspicion in the Mumbai attacks has fallen on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has fought Indian rule in Kashmir and was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.
Pakistan, a supposed close US ally in the "war on terror," is half-heartedly fighting its own brutal Islamist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, and officials seemingly reject claims that the government supports terror groups.
But elements in the country's powerful military intelligence service are widely suspected of at least tacitly supporting some militant groups.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
08:13 ||
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LAHORE, Pakistan -- For a suspected terrorist watched by Washington and wanted in New Delhi, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed seems remarkably carefree. He lives openly in Lahore, and on Friday, he led prayers at his group's mosque, lecturing about sacrifice to almost 10,000 followers as three armed men stood behind him.
The extradition of Saeed, founder of the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "army of the pure," was demanded by Indian authorities after the 60-hour siege in Mumbai that killed at least 171 people. He is a suspect in several other attacks in India; the U.S. has listed both Lashkar and its parent group, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, as terrorist organizations.
But Saeed's apparently lax treatment in Pakistan highlights the challenge facing the fledgling civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani: how to restrain militant groups once and still supported by the security forces but now refueling animosity with Pakistan's archfoe India and immense new pressure from the U.S.
Without directly pointing fingers on her visit to Islamabad last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded Pakistan actively respond to India's allegations that Lashkar or other Pakistani militants were responsible for the Mumbai attacks.
Lashkar and other groups were founded in the 1980s and early 1990s with the help of the military and spy agencies to fight in the conflict over Indian-controlled Kashmir, disputed since the independence of Pakistan and India in 1947. Although Pakistan banned the groups in 2002, most kept operating and just took new names.
For many Pakistanis, Saeed, 63, is a hero. His group, which reverted to its original name of Jamaat-ud-Dawa after being banned, now professes to perform only charity work.
Just providing a little help for the Widows Ammunition Fund ...
His group's spokesman claims that Saeed is barely involved with Lashkar and describes the group as based in India. And while he has been placed under house arrest several times in the past, Saeed is allowed to go wherever he wants nowadays.
The country's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, helped create most of the Kashmiri groups, experts say. But it's not clear what role the ISI or the army have had with the groups recently. Most analysts doubt any government agency had a role in the Mumbai attacks, although rogue and former government operatives may have been involved.
Since winning power, the civilian leaders, have tried to rein in the ISI. Last summer they attempted, without success, to place the agency under the control of the Interior Ministry. They also nominated a new ISI chief, considered a U.S. ally, and pushed to dismantle the agency's political wing.
Analysts said that it was extremely unlikely that Pakistan would turn over Saeed or 19 other men on India's wanted list, or two Lashkar leaders Indian authorities say masterminded the Mumbai attacks. If they did so the already weak government would face a major backlash.
Saeed and the Jamaat group are very popular in Lahore. On Thursday, the group's spokesman offered reporters a tour at the group's elaborate compound outside the city.
At Friday prayers, everyone waited quietly to hear every word Saeed said. According to a Pakistani journalist who heard the sermon, Saeed said Muslims should not fear bloodshed nor sacrificing themselves for Islam but denied that Jamaat-ud-Dawa had anything to do with the attacks in Mumbai.
He is hardly the only militant wanted by the Indian government who appears to operate freely in public in Pakistan. Maulana Masood Azhar, a militant leader released by India in exchange for hostages on a hijacked airliner in 1999, is building a giant mosque in Bahawalpur.
Jamaat also seems more out in the open than ever, even though many experts say the group uses relief work to recruit new militants. Last month, it held two large meetings in Lahore's Punjab province, the first large meetings Jamaat held since Lashkar was banned. Saeed talked about the idea of jihad, and some women were so impressed with his speeches that they gave the group their gold jewelry, said Jamaat spokesman Muhammad Yahya Mujahid.
There are now also posters, even in relatively moderate Lahore, advertising the group. One billboard proclaimed: "We can sacrifice our lives to preserve the holiness of the prophet."
This article starring:
Hafiz Mohammed Saeed
Maulana Masood Azhar
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
07:58 ||
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#1
Perhaps now would be a good time to help our Indian friends learn to fly drones. Just like Allah's Angels of Death, these things rain down from on high and they is no way to escape their destruction.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 10:24
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NEW DELHI: India has rejected a demand from Pakistan officials for "compensation" for alleged "reduced flows" into the Chenab river after the first and one-time filling of the newly constructed Baglihar dam in Jammu and Kashmir, maintaining that the charge was "unsubstantiated." The 450 MW hydroelectric project was commissioned in August last.
An Indian team of experts led by Commissioner (Indus) in the Water Resources Ministry G. Aranganathan that visited Pakistan for on the spot inspection held the view that there was discrepancy in the manner in which water flows were measured at Merala barrage on Chenab. The team returned here on Thursday after a three-day visit.
While the outflows were measured, there was no mechanism to measure inflows into Merala barrage. Pakistan has charged India with not maintaining an inflow of 55,000 cusecs at Marala, as is mandatory under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, during the initial filling of the Baglihar dam. The filling is a one-time event.
The Indian side was unable to inspect the records at Merala so as to verify the veracity of Pakistan claims with regard to water flows, according to sources. According to the official sources, the data supplied to the Indian delegation was of the outflows, while there was no mechanism to measure inflows. "The water level data was fluctuating and did not reflect the inflows at Merala," the sources said.
During the period there was flooding in Ravi, which waters were used for irrigation in addition to the Chenab waters, the sources claimed.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
07:57 ||
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#1
God, i wish India would just smoke the pakis already
I've been more of a lurker, lately - long hours at work - so I may have missed this in last month's 'Burg. It came from my sister, whose step-son just finished Boot Camp, and it sounded like a story two years old. But it's only three weeks old. All we had was the headline. This is the full story.
In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.
Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district. The city is home to several major insurgent leaders. Reports indicate that more than 250 full time fighters reside in the city and in the surrounding villages.
Shewan had been a thorn in the side of Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan throughout the Marines' deployment here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, because it controls an important supply route into the Bala Baluk district. Opening the route was key to continuing combat operations in the area.
"The day started out with a 10-kilometer patrol with elements mounted and dismounted, so by the time we got to Shewan, we were pretty beat," said a designated marksman who requested to remain unidentified. "Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our 'humvees' was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast."
The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades. After recovering the Marines trapped in the kill zone, another platoon sergeant personally led numerous attacks on enemy fortified positions while the platoon fought house to house and trench to trench in order to clear through the enemy ambush site.
"The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can accomplish when they're given the opportunity to fight," the sniper said. "A small group of Marines met a numerically superior force and embarrassed them in their own backyard. The insurgents told the townspeople that they were stronger than the Americans, and that day we showed them they were wrong."
During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn't miss any shots, despite the enemies' rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.
"I was in my own little world," the young corporal said. "I wasn't even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target."
After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies' spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.
"I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured."
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2008
07:19 ||
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#1
And they had a well deserved supper afterward, I would guess.
Don't know enough about this to judge how promising this technology is, or how well researched the article is - but, this part caught my eye:
The US military has plans to build a plant off Diego Garcia, their base in the Indian Ocean, which should have an output of 8MW and be running by the end of 2011; another project is underway to build a 10-20MW plant off the coast of Hawaii. The US government granted $600,000 to Lockheed Martin, a company well known for their aeronautics research, in hopes that the technology will eventually lead to a plant capable of producing 500MW of power.
#1
Some years ago, the MMGW crowd were bemoaning that very deep, very cold water current patterns were slightly warming and changing, and beyond a certain threshold would no longer continue, radially altering world weather patterns.
Well, some ingenious individual came up with a brilliant solution to that problem.
There is a time bomb of sorts under large areas of the world's sea floors. Methane clathrate, or methane ice, if warmed just a few degrees, can explode, converting into hundreds of thousands of tons of methane gas, erupting into the atmosphere.
So, the theory went, why not start mining this undersea methane ice, and use its energy to chill coolant inside a large, metal pipeline that cuts across the deep sea current?
All it has to do is cool it a degree or two over the course of years, acting like a big stick of ice in a drink, and not only would be dangerous methane ice be dissipated safely, but the deep water current would be slightly chilled to its optimal temperature.
#2
This technology requires an enormous amount of pipes, all of which have to be resistant to corrosion. It also requires heat exchangers which are incredibly efficient and durable. It requires lots of other stuff too.
My hats off to any engineering group that can pull this off.
#3
The science is well-known and used extensively in other applications. Once you build the apparatus to extract the power, the power is essentially free and very clean. Geothermal works on the same principle and with a much larger temperature differential and should be even more efficient. The question is economics. It seems like the costs should be able to be determined to a considerable degree of accuracy. So why don't we have a these things all over the place?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 9:58
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#4
Geothermal requires high cost wells with even more extremely corrosive fluids. But you can drive your pick-up truck up to the bulk of the pipes and equipment to maintain them. The pressure and temperature changes associated with the energy extraction would simultanously 'exctract' minerals from solution, which should tend to plug up all the tubing with scale. Hmmm.
#5
So why don't we have a these things all over the place?
Because all the costs are up front. I have one at my house, but it added about 4% to the cost of the house and there is nothing you can see to brag about. It also required 1/4 acre of lawn. But I have about a $75 per month heating and a/c bill for a 4,000 sq ft house in PA. That will go to $100 or $125 when they dereg electricity in two years, but it will still be cheaper than oil.
#7
So, the theory went, why not start mining this undersea methane ice, and use its energy to chill coolant inside a large, metal pipeline that cuts across the deep sea current?
#9
The materials tech for such a project would have to be leading edge and the same for the tech required to maintain it. The petroleum industry has developed a lot of it already but are we there yet with the economics? Only the Engineers know.
Note that the two sites they are discussing are islands with a LONG logistics train and a requirement for power not subject to interruption. Cost is probably secondary. I wonder how they would defend the complex from underwater attack?
#11
"OTEC is basically a large tube running one kilometre into the ocean off a floating power plant; but ocean currents put a huge amount of stress on the pipe and the power plant... A 100MW plant might require a pipe 30 feet in diameter, which would be very difficult to anchor and install."
30 FEET IN DIAMETER! Take it from this mechanical engineer, friends, it ain't gonna happen.
#15
How about 6, 5 foot pipes, no make that 7, (Bundles easier, allows for friction)
That's doable.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
12/07/2008 20:28
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#16
It would take a bundle of 36. And the bundle's diameter would be a bit larger than 30'.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 20:36
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#17
long pipes are very flexible, a pipe-lay barge will make you realize just how flexible. Stainless Steel is even more flexible, but a project like this would warrant a new product, like a composite or a nano material. The theory is sound, but capitalizing it will cost someone a fortune, and nowdays people don't seem to want to tolerate the inevitable failures that would occur along with the successes to develop something like this.
Dolohalem Tapu, 49, a headman of Dusongyoh village, died in hospital and became the sixth victim of Friday's bomb attack at a grocery store in Chanae district. He succumbed to his wounds on Friday night.
Police are searching the possible hideouts of suspects thought to be behind the attack which also left 11 people injured. They also have asked witnesses to come forward and are questioning the injured in hospital. Four victims are still in intensive care. Police hope the account of shop owner Wilawan Satigoragul, who is also injured, would be useful.
Four men posing as robbers made off with her gold necklace after planting a bomb outside the store. The bomb was detonated when the officers arrived at the scene. Ms Wilawan was asked to go through a photo file of suspected Muslim terrorists militants active in the South.
Authorities believe the same bombers were behind an attack outside Sungai Kolok police station in August and the November car and motorcycle bomb attacks against the Sukhirin district office.
Police said at least one person was killed as more than 250 gunmen attacked the terminal near the city of Peshawar using rockets and guns. Some of the lorries were laden with Humvee armoured vehicles. The road is a major supply route for US and Western forces battling against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan. Hauliers say that over 350 trucks daily carry an average of 7,000 tonnes of goods over the Khyber Pass to Kabul.
The attack occurred around 0230 on Sunday (2130 GMT, Saturday) as up to 250 militants stormed the Portward Logistic Terminal. "They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks," Reuters news agency quoted a police officer, Azeem Khan, as saying.
"They were shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and Down With America," a security guard told Reuters. They broke into the terminals after snatching guns from us," Mohammad Rafiullah said.
Another report said 106 lorries had been set on fire - 62 laden with Humvees. Most supplies for US and Nato forces in Afghanistan go through Pakistan's Khyber Pass.
#7
Start having the trucks driven by Marines, with someone riding "shotgun" in each truck. Add a Bradley at the front and rear of the convoy, and between every ten trucks. Rules of engagement: drive from Karachi to Kabul. If fired upon, return fire with maximum effectiveness. If the rubes complain, tell them you'll stop using Marines when the route is totally secured.
Anybody remember the Red Ball Express? Hmmm?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/07/2008 12:24
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#8
"after snatching guns from us,"
Perhaps it is just a poor translation, but that sounds like a pathetic defense.
#11
This is a travesty. We "trust" Pakis for the conveyance of our supplies ? No US military, no Pak military, no so-called Police anywhere within miles. The first responders, who were local cops, arrived 40 minutes after the force made it's getaway. This wasn't a set-up ? A reprisal for our Predators ? Give me a break. If this is our level of competence there, get the hell out now. To see some chirper on the telly saying that this will not affect our military's operations is a joke. Those Hunvees were no doubt desperately needed to replace the ones blown to hell the previous fortnight. This is maddening.
One security official said they had struck as police were busy investigating Saturday's huge bomb blast in Peshawar that killed 34 people and wounded 120 others.
"It was also a weekend and security was relatively relaxed because of Eid vacations," the official said.
#14
Another graphic lesson on why one doesn't have supply lines controlled by the enemy (and paying a king's ransom to ship through it). Is anyone in D.C. paying attention?
Better to have minimal forces in Afghanistan and acknowledge terrorism is a two way street.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 16:40
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#15
Seems to me that if the PAKIwakis wanted to 'send a message' regarding our support of India, they would have stopped this attack from occurring, or at least given the pretext of counterattacking to minimize the damage.
I think our course of action needs to be the oft-wished ARCLIGHT plus whatever expired shelf life radioactive ordnance we just happen to have sitting around. Get a two fer: open roads and no added HAZMAT waste disposal costs.
But it will never happen; we will just send these savages some more $$ or airplanes, or both.
#19
The only viable military solution to a breakdown of Pakistan supply lines to Afghanistan is a 'Free Baluchistan'.
No amount of bombing (or nuking) is going to open supply lines through Pakistan proper, once closed.
Now AQ/the Pashtuns have figured out the Achilles Heel of the Afghan War, this problem will only get worse, with or without complicity from the ISI, etc.
#20
No amount of bombing (or nuking) is going to open supply lines through Pakistan proper, once closed.
I'm not sure you understand how enhanced radiation weapons work. And after the massacre I anticipate, I would not be surprised to find out that Bambi learns how to use them.
For the past year, we've been inundated with news of radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al Sadr's power and influence. Last year, the American Spectator's George H. Wittman asked if Sadr was a kingmaker or a king. This spring, just days after the fighting in Basrah began, Time magazine's Charles Crain wrote an article explaining how Muqtada al Sadr won in Basrah.
Just before the fighting against the Mahdi Army began in lat March, Patrick Cockburn, The Independent's Middle East correspondent, lauded Sadr by saying the Shia "regard Muqtada as a sort of god." Sadr plays "a very critical role" in Iraqi politics, Cockburn told us. He is "the biggest Shia leader with the most popular support. If there were elections tomorrow he would probably sweep Shia Baghdad and most of the south."
How quickly the narrative on Sadr has changed. Today, the Washington Post describes a weakened Sadr, with a near-toothless political movement, struggling to find its path after suffering a stinging defeat after the passage of the Status of Forces agreement between the United States and Iraq.
The day after the agreement's passage, anger lined the face of Hazim al-Araji, Sadr's top aide. Inside a gold-domed shrine in Baghdad's Kadhimiyah neighborhood, he railed against Iraq's lawmakers. "They ignored our ideas and thoughts when they signed this agreement," he said from his pulpit. "They paid no attention to all our martyrs who gave their blood fighting the occupation."
Araji, 39, stands at the center of Sadr's efforts to shape his followers into a religious and social movement that can maintain his popularity. In interviews across Baghdad and in the Shiite religious heartland of Najaf, where Shiite groups are vying for their community's leadership, Sadrists insist they still have the power to divide Iraq or keep it together.
Melding Koranic verse with political invective, Araji urged the crowd to resist the pact and their movement's foes. "Iraq has been killed! Iraq has been sold!" he thundered. "America is now the enemy of God."
The congregation of a few thousand was smaller than usual, a sign of the Sadrists' uncertain future.
The decline in Sadr's power and influence began long before the Iraqi government's offensive to drive his Mahdi Army from the streets of Basrah, Baghdad, and the cities of central and southern Iraq. Despite media accounts to the contrary, Sadr declared a six-month ceasefire in Najaf in August 2007 because his forces suffered a stinging defeat at the hands of the Iraqi security forces when his thuggish Mahdi Army initiated fighting during a religious festival. Despite the ceasefire, U.S. and Iraqi forces continued to dismantle Sadr's Iranian-backed Mahdi Army. In February, Sadr renewed the ceasefire as Iraqi and U.S. forces stepped up pressure and targeted senior Mahdi Army ands Sadrist leaders.
Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki became overconfident and jumped the gun in late March, launching an offensive to clear besieged Basrah of the Mahdi Army. The initial offensive stumbled, but elite Iraqi units, more than a division's worth, were rushed to Basrah. Sadr soon capitulated. The fighting spread to Sadr City, but the Mahdi Army relented after suffering staggering casualties during six weeks of fighting. Sadr then ordered the disbandment of the Mahdi Army and pulled the Sadrist movement from the upcoming election. Still, Iraqi security forces pressed against the Mahdi Army in southern and central Iraq.
Sadr's militia was systematically being taken apart for well over a year, and his political capital started to wane during that time. The vote over the status of forces agreements showed just how isolated and out of the mainstream the Sadrist movement is in Iraqi politics. Of the 199 votes cast, 149 voted for the agreement, 35 voted against, and 15 abstained. Thirty of the votes against the agreement came from the Sadrist bloc. All of the signs of the demise of Sadr and his movement have been there. The media either missed it, or chose to ignore it, until now.
#2
It's time for Sadr to get his teeth fixed and to look for a new job. This one is about over.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 10:19
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#3
Atari Boy was an outgrowth of US passivity and Iraqi chaos.
He actually lost most of his military cred long ago, when his guys were routed from Najaf and Karbala (2004). That was the first of a perfect record of no wins in every confrontation with the US.
His influence grew mostly due to US inactivity during the barbarous Sunni terror offensive of 2005-2006. Iraqi Shi'a who loathed him and his ilk for all of the conventional reasons (they were seen as underclass thugs and gangsters, and tools of Iran's IRGC), in their desperation, came to support him, if only briefly (I saw this with my own eyes).
Once we re-seized the initiative, the JAM's days were numbered (that is, as anything more than a drug or oil smuggling gangster outfit). Then we finally adopted a delicious, almost Israeli-bold strategy of publicly praising the cease-fire (which was a surrender, like the "stand-off" in the south in '04) while continuing to pick his organization apart, esp. his most Iranian-linked elements, at our leisure. Recall how MNF-I consistently referred to "rogue" or "break-away" elements as the targets of our ops?
Naturally the whole time the "press" talked of him and his outfit in terms that were utterly delusional (hopeful?). Nice to know many of us saw it clearly from the start. Still an inexcusable outrage that we allowed him to become more than a rabble-rouser through our passivity during the "lost years," which of course also put the entire enterprise in peril.
#2
My uncle was with the 72nd Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field. That morning he was waiting for a bus to take him to Honolulu and heard this song playing on a radio in the barracks. He saw Japanese planes approaching the field & wondered why there had been no publicity for their visit. Then he saw a bomb drop from one of the planes.
The picture thar.... is a kinda good summation of Pearl Harbour... that's the destroy Shaw in what looker likes a cataclismik boiler explosion. It was..... not quiet....
she was too old for retention in the post-war fleet and was sent to the U.S. east coast for inactivation. Decommissioned in October 1945, USS Shaw was scrapped in July 1946.
Shoulda held on to that one... better lucky than good. And speaking of which.... Hai Lucky!
#5
When we were attacked 60 years ago the world was already at war. Nanking had been raped, Korea had been occupied for 40 years, Marshal Petain was governing his piece of La Belle France from Vichy and Dunkirk had been evacuated. Norway had been occupied the previous April.
Had Europe and most of Asia been at peace, they'd have tut-tutted and sent men with high silk hats to conferences as their response to Pearl Harbor.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008 14:05
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#7
I found a you tube video on The Niihau Incident, a work in progress and I can never get links to imbed so here it is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FarIFRY5fqs
Seems the Zero pilot's plane was damaged by an American fighter. So this started as better plane vs better pilot.
Posted by: bruce ||
12/07/2008 17:17
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#12
Actually the American Spirit has not changed. In the 3rd year of WWII people were tired of the war as every town and city had lost sons and daughters. Many protest were going on and some in congress pushing for a deal with Japan. In many ways the raising of the flag by Marines at IWO sparked public awareness to continue the war. It was a secret that up to 1.5 Million casualties were expected in the invasion of Japan as the Military and Congress thought that the Americans at home would go nuts.
Then there was Korea - we used the Nuke threat to stop that one
Vietnam where we gave up to doing what was popular and not what was right - and lost.
Only G.W. could have kept the Iraq War against Terror going like it did. Everyone else wanted to fold and abandon the Iraqi people to their fate. I can just here faintly G.W. saying. "Not on My Watch !"
#13
The Japs attacked. Japan ended up looking like Charleston after Sherman got done with it, after someone else attacked America military installation. Come to think of it, someone attacked another military installation on 9/11 and seems to be living in as much luxury as the two aforementioned groups did towards the end as well. Seems to be a pattern there.
However, before the patron saint of the left can duck and cover, FDR himself would launch an unprovoked attack and invasion of French North Africa, while maintaining open diplomatic ties with neutral Vichy France, and no declaration of war or Congressional authorization. Lots of French died fighting defending their sovereign territory. Strategically necessary, most likely, but using the standards of today to adjudge the actions of people who lived in earlier times is a big lefty power game. That's why its sometimes entertaining to watch them twist and turn trying to rationalize their articulated 'standards'.
THE 10 terrorist commandos who shot dead more than 160 people in Mumbai last month were among 500 trained to elite standards by Pakistan army and navy instructors, according to an Indian intelligence report seen by The Sunday Times.
Details were leaked as Indian officials accused Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) of directly supporting the attack. They claimed to have the names of the gunmen's ISI trainers and handlers and to have intercepted internet phone calls between them.
Last week Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, flew to Pakistan to intensify pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari and General Ashfaq Kayani, his army chief of staff, to appease Indian anger and stop tension between Delhi and Islamabad from escalating into war.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
00:00 ||
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Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 10:31
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#3
Well, not an official-based report, but Indian police are going door to door in some (if not all) provinces of Muslim homes insuring that those in residence there are registered. Those not registered are being returned to their proper registered homes and are being closely scrutinized/interrogated.
#4
Trained "to level of SEALs" - uh, don't think so. "Elite" by regional standards, sure. SEALs would've probably still been fighting it out with local authorities a week later, if their performance in Afghanistan is any indication.
Note the pitch-perfect mirror image b.s. spewed by this guy Khawaj. He takes the idiotic western apologist/defeatist premise - you must surrender to barbarism and extortion, otherwise it will only get worse if you resist - and offers it as "strategic analysis". The incredible/nauseating thing: this sort of idiocy has a wide following in the national security bureuacracies aside from DOD, and surely is familiar territory to a huge % of appointees of The One.
#5
Ok, time to ARCLIGHT Islamabad, followed up with napalm and cluster munitions. That speaks with "words" that the Pakistani ISI can understand. Do it again in 48 hours, and repeat as necessary until Pakistan as a nation either surrenders or is totally destroyed. There are NO ROGUE ELEMENTS in the ISI. Everything is controlled, and the ISI is the controller. The sooner Pakiwakiland becomes a smoldering desert, the sooner this crap will stop, whether against the US, Afghanistan, or India.
When you have a fire ant infestation, you don't kill individual worker-ants. You destroy the hive. The same principle applies to islamists, who are more like fire ants than cockroaches.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/07/2008 12:47
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#6
The Indian Home Ministry's NSG commandos reported that the fiyadeen terrorists were not up to their standards, far less the Indian Navy MARCOS who first fought them at the Oberoi hotel. The first MARCOS units were trained by the SEALs and the British.
But note that the US resumed training of Pakistan's SSG commandos last year. The SSG are based at Mangla dam. Guess where these terrorists were trained ... Mangla. They were then sent to the Pakistan's Navy commando school in Karachi.
So US military aid has been misused by Pakistan to produce a unit of fiyadeen tasked with assaulting major cities.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008 13:13
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#7
[Indian officials] claimed to have the names of the gunmen's ISI trainers and handlers and to have intercepted internet phone calls between them.
It sounds to me like the NSA is sharing info with India. Does anyone know whether India is offically a part of the Echelon agreement?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/07/2008 14:22
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#8
They've taken the UK seat as the UK is more Muslim than India.
Bombers and gunmen targeted Iraqi police recruits and U.S.-allied Sunni guards in a series of attacks Saturday that killed at least six people and wounded dozens, officials said.
Iraqis, meanwhile, welcomed the U.S. indictments of five Blackwater Worldwide security guards in last year's shooting that killed 17 Iraqi civilians at a central Baghdad square.
The deadliest attack on Saturday was an ambush on a checkpoint manned by members of an armed Sunni group that has joined forces with the United States against al-Qaida in Iraq. Gunmen opened fire on the checkpoint in the village of Ousoud, northeast of the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, killing three of the Sunni guards and wounding four, according to police at the regional security headquarters.
A bomb also exploded inside a Baqouba cafe that is frequented by so-called Sons of Iraq, the name given to the Sunni groups working with the U.S., wounding eight of them and 11 civilians, police and hospital officials said.
In Baghdad, a bomb attached to a police truck exploded near a popular vegetable market in a southern neighborhood, killing a Sunni tribal leader who was a member of a group that has joined forces with the Americans against al-Qaida, and his driver, police and hospital officials said.
The Sunni revolt in Iraq has been one of the key factors in a sharp decline in violence over the past year, and members of the group have frequently been targeted as insurgents try to derail the security gains.
A wave of violence also has targeted official Iraqi security forces following the approval of a security pact with the United States that allows American forces to remain in Iraq for three more years.
A suicide bomber targeted police recruits near a checkpoint in the northern oil town of Kirkuk, killing at least one and wounding 14 other people, police Brig. Gen. Burhan Tayeb Taha said.
The explosion occurred during a recruiting drive at the academy, another police official, Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir, said, adding that the aim was to recruit 1,000 people but only 150 were present when the explosion happened.
Ali Mahmoud, 24, a recruit, said the blast was so powerful that it threw him to the ground. "The explosion caused panic and chaos. Most of the recruits were very young men and they were shivering in fear," he said.
Iraqi police acting on tips also found the remains of 27 people in two mass graves Saturday in separate areas. A senior police official in Babil province said 18 were unearthed south of Baghdad near the former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold of Arab Jabour. The victims included two women and a boy and were all apparently killed by hanging more than two years ago, the official said, adding that rope was found among the remains.
Nine other bodies were discovered near the northern city of Tal Afar after a detained Sunni insurgent confessed to helping murder nine Shiite civilians about two years ago and revealed the grave's location, according to police and hospital officials.
The U.S.-Iraqi security pact that was ratified by Iraq's presidential council this week would lift the blanket immunity currently granted to foreign private security contractors in Iraq.
That issue came to the fore after Blackwater guards opened fire in Nisoor Square on Sept. 16, 2007, killing 17 people in what witnesses said was an unprovoked attack. The shootings outraged Iraqis and embarrassed the United States, further straining relations between the two nations. Five of the guards have been indicted and the charges are expected to be unsealed on Monday. A sixth suspect was in negotiations to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for his cooperation against his former colleagues.
Qais Rahim, a 44-year-old engineer in Baghdad, said it was important to hold those responsible "accountable for their vicious crime" to prevent other private security contractors from mistreating innocent civilians.
Rasim Hussein, a 55-year-old retired army officer under Saddam Hussein, said that other private security companies should be held accountable for wrongdoing in Iraq. "This indictment is not enough because there are still dozens of criminal security company employees on the loose in Iraq," he said.
The Iraqi government has retained a law firm to pursue compensation for the families of the victims, spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
Just out of curiousity Fred, why is the Nisoor incident mentioned in this news article, when it was initially included - and then removed, from the article posted 11/29? http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=256211&D=2008-11-29&SO=&HC=1
It's still included in the Google cache.
http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:dazyt9dTQ2AJ:www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php%3FID%3D256211%26D%3D2008-11-29%26SO%3D%26HC%3D1+Nisoor+site:rantburg.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Was it verboten then, and permissible now?
President-elect Barack Obama today will introduce retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as his nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, bringing to his Cabinet a career military officer best known for running afoul of the Bush administration by questioning the Pentagon's Iraq war strategy.
Shinseki, a four-star general and 38-year veteran who retired shortly after the fall of Baghdad in 2003, will appear with Obama in Chicago at a news conference today commemorating the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Obama said Shinseki agreed to join the incoming administration because "both he and I share a reverence for those who serve."
Military leaders and veterans advocates hailed Obama's selection of Shinseki, describing the nominee as a soft-spoken, dynamic leader who is widely respected by rank-and-file service members past and present.
Retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, who was President Bush's secretary of state at the time of the Iraq invasion, called Shinseki "a superb choice. . . . He is a wounded hero who survived and worked his way to the top. He knows soldiers and knows what it takes to keep faith with the men and women who went forth to serve the nation. He also knows how to run large and complex bureaucratic institutions. His is an inspired selection." Powell, also a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, supported Obama's election.
Shinseki, 66, was twice awarded a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in Vietnam.
Kori Schake, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution who served on Bush's National Security Council during the run-up to the war, said Shinseki is "a great choice. . . . Shinseki will be a terrific advocate for and leader of our Veterans Administration. He distinguished himself in caring for wounded warriors while chief of staff, and I'm certain he will serve veterans and the country well."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
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#1
Didnt care for some of his stuff as a commander, but for the VA he may be the right guy.
#5
Nimble and Spemble, beat me to it (on both bits of snark!).
This may indeed be a good choice for VA. Obviously Shinseki deserves the plaudits as a committed vet who served and sacrificed. My only question here is, why embarrass himself with the line about The One sharing his reverence for soldiers?
Not saying it's untrue - just that it seems extremely unlikely, and all known opportunities to assess said reverence have turned up "negative". If anything, the new boss seems likely to be uncomfortable around the uniforms, much as Billy Joe Bob was.
Shinseki shoulda confined his remarks to the usual (and true) boilerplate about being glad of the opportunity to serve those who served, etc etc.
Three suspected criminals were killed in 'crossfire' during separate incidents of shootout between their cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in the capital and on its outskirts early yesterday.
The deceased are Abdus Salam Sikder, 37, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Italy, Selim Miah, 36, owner of a grocery shop, and Rafiqul Islam Sardar, 32. Rab sources said all the three are criminals and members of notorious 'Nasir Group', which is accused of drug trading and other illegal activities in the city's Sabujbagh and adjacent areas.
Now they're dead and no one other than their mothers (maybe) grieves for them.
Acting on a tip-off that a gang of criminals were holding a secret meeting, a team of Rab-10 conducted a raid at Kamalapur in Sabujbagh area at about 3:45am.
Must have had an earlier appointment with another unfortunate 'criminal' ...
Sensing the presence of the elite force, the criminals opened fire on them, forcing Rab personnel to fire back.
Spider-sense, aimless fire, and a cross-fire ...
Sources said the criminals finally retreated after a 20-minute gun battle.
In which no round of bullet left a mark on anything or anyone except our heroes ...
Rab members later found the bullet-riddled bodies of Abdus Salam and Selim Miah ...
... right where they left them ...
... on the spot of the fighting ...
"Which spot?"
"THAT spot!"
... but other criminals managed to flee, ...
... vanished into the night as if they'd never been there in the first place ...
... said a Rab press release.
They just xerox those of course ...
Rab members also retrieved two foreign-made pistols, a revolver and 126 rounds of bullet from the spot. Salam was wanted in twelve systems eight criminal cases while Selim in two cases.
Family members of the deceased claimed that Rab arrested Salam and his friend Selim from Maniknagar area in Sabujbagh on November 29, nine days after Salam returned from Italy. Salam was a citizen of Italy, they said.
Should have stayed there, too ...
Both Salam and Selim had connections with Nasir group in the past but the duo left the gang a couple of years ago, they claimed.
So that they could open the branch office in Naples ...
They also alleged that there is no criminal case against them and Nasir having a good link with Rab members used the force to kill both Salam and Selim.
Meanwhile, another team of Rab-10 raided Ainta in South Keraniganj at about 3:15am after receiving information that Rafiqul Islam, a business partner of Nasir, and his cohorts were holding a clandestine meeting there.
There's the earlier meeting we mentioned earlier ...
Sensing the presence of the elite force, the criminals fired bullets on them forcing Rab to fire back.
You'd think an elite force could sneak up on the criminals without being sensed ...
The body of Rafiqul was found on the spot following the gun battle.
Right where they had dumped him from the truck with one round of bullet behind each ear ...
Rab claimed that Rafiqul was a resident of RK Mission road in the capital. He was wanted in twelve systems too six criminal cases.
The force also recovered a pistol and 12 bullets from the scene.
None of these guys rated a shutter gun?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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A senior Anglican cleric says Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe should be removed from power and tried by a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
Archbishop of York John Sentamu says "Mugabe and his henchmen must now take their rightful place in The Hague and answer for their actions. The time to remove them from power has come."
The Uganda native says on his Web site that the crisis in Zimbabwe is comparable to the suffering caused by Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin.
Sentamu is an outspoken critic of Mugabe. Last year he cut his white collar to pieces on national TV, saying he would not wear one again until Mugabe was out of power.
Along with the archbishop of Canterbury, Sentamu is one of the top clerics in the Anglican Church.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai 10 days ago, speculation has been rife about the birthplace of the lone surviving gunman, Ajmal Amir Kasab. India and Pakistan have clashed over reports that he came from the Punjab. Saeed Shah, after spending days travelling throughout the region, tracked down the killer's home - and his grandfather - and found conclusive proof of his identity
The little house was certainly that of a poor family, with a courtyard to one side and a small cart propped up in one corner. The old man and middle-aged woman who answered the door were not the owners. No, they insisted, the owners were away.
'They've gone to a wedding,' said the old man, identifying himself as Sultan. He was, he said, Amir's father-in-law. So, that would make him Ajmal's grandfather? At last, it seemed, this was the right place.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
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Islamist militants who attacked Mumbai and killed more than 160 people probably took drugs to stay alert throughout their murderous siege, a report quoting senior police officials said Saturday.
Police said 10 gunmen who held hostages at two hotels and a Jewish prayer centre for 60 hours last week had likely taken amphetamines to remain alert without food or sleep for long stretches, the Hindustan Times reported.
"We believe that the terrorists had consumed amphetamines," the Hindustan Times quoted deputy police commissioner Vishwas Nagre Paril of the anti-narcotics division as saying.
Amphetamines, which are readily available on the sub-continent, would have kept the men awake, alert and focused, and suppressed their appetites, said Rajendra Chikle, a police inspector from the same division. He told the newspaper amphetamines also heightened the senses so the "terrorist hence can hear the noise of the lowest decibel and remain awake for a very long time".
Media reports have said that an autopsy on one of the militants had found his stomach empty, indicating he had not eaten for days and raising suspicions that the attackers were on drugs.
Earlier this week the Indian Express said the body parts of Abu Dera Ismael Khan had been kept at Mumbai's Nair hospital for further tests.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
i thought it was nagainst islamic law too take drugs?
MOGADISHU - The hardline Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab has taken control of a central Somali trading town after fighting that killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens of others, residents said on Saturday. The capture of Gurael, 370 km (230 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, adds to the growing hold al Shabaab has gained across south and central Somalia in a two-year insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian military allies.
Locals said al Shabaab, which means youth in Arabic, took Gurael after three days of fighting with a government-allied moderate Sunni Islamist group in the area. The battle began after al Shabaab fighters arrested a local Koranic teacher of that group, they said.
I have counted 10 dead men myself, one local resident, Ali Aden, told Reuters by telephone from the area. Six died yesterday and four were lying in the paths of the deserted town this morning. It is now under control of al Shabaab.
Witnesses spoke of chaos in the area, with bullets being fired on vehicles full of fleeing residents. Three women were killed in one lorry, they said. More than 5,000 Gurael residents had fled to the protection of nearby woods, a local human rights group said.
Medical staff were overwhelmed. We received 15 injured people including civilians and fighters. And we hear many families fled with injuries to other towns, said Ismail Ali, a nurse at Guarel hospital.
In further violence, fighting between al Shabaab and local militiamen killed seven people near the southern town of Dobley on Saturday, local residents said. The militant group is strong in that area, near the border with Kenya.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
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President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday he's asked his economic team for a recovery plan that saves or creates more than 2 million jobs, makes public buildings more energy-efficient and invests in the country's roads and schools.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
There are what, 13 million, illegals---just deport them and you'll have 13 million jobs.
#3
... invests in the country's roads and schools.
So where's all that federal gas tax money been going to? [Rhetorical question - its been dumped into general revenue and an ever smaller cut committed to the actually roads and bridges it was justified upon.] And as for the schools, compare local and state government increases in outlays since 1980 with most other aspects of the society and you'll find you haven't got any return on investment. So, what makes anyone think that throwing more money [to the same suspects responsible for poor performance in the first place] is going to change anything.
You want 2 million new jobs? How about 100,000 new border guards and another 25,000 lawyers and 25,000 lobbyists paper expediters for ICE to enforce existing laws? Are we going to see that rather and Chicago style work handouts projects to build a dependent patronage clientele to vote to keep their jobs next time around? Socialism is marvelous.
Instead of reading up on the mythology of FDR, put down that book, and start watching a couple seasons of Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" and see the kind of work that Americans are willing to do, at least those who 'want' to work.
#4
A plan like this *could* help, given a downturn in economic activity, and taken in moderation. Especially since America's infrastructure needs shoring up. Now is the time to build.
However, the democrats will go totally overboard. Then add the lard. Public projects are their stopped clock solution in good times and bad. Given the excuse of bad times and with single party federal power, it will be pigs at the trough^n.
As to the "miracle" of FDR, read Amity Shlaes "The Forgotten Man".
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
12/07/2008 9:41
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#5
So, what makes anyone think that throwing more money [to the same suspects responsible for poor performance in the first place] is going to change anything.
P2K, you sadly miss the point ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008 10:13
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#6
Construction jobs are tough, isn't this is one of the jobs Americans don't want to do? Most of the construction workers I see are immigrants so I would think that most of the money will go back to Mexico. I'm sure Calderon is pleased.
#7
...isn't this is one of the jobs Americans don't want to do?
As the aforementioned Mike Rowe series shows and the long lines of Americans at packing plants the days after a major ICE raid demonstrate, Americans will do the jobs, but not under a thuggish management which treats them like disposable crap. Particularly, management which suspects some one in the group might actually understand the law, like the Fair Labor Standards Act. That kind of management prefers peons who don't talk back and can be threatened with arbitrary firing.
#8
Dunno, Min of Funny Walks, this "infrastructure" mantra has been the generic macro stimulus thing pushed by Dems for two decades now. As you note, it's their "stopped clock" solutions to downturns.
However, I question whether that nice metaphor really applies, since that stopped clock is probably not "correct" even in a downturn. First, I am skeptical that there is net benefit from any stimulus, of any kind - and fairly certain there is far less benefit than one would obtain from superior choices, all of which consist of the state sector getting out of the way (lower taxes, deregulation esp. on small business).
Second, the "infrastructure" string has been pushed on for some time now. Does everyone forget the worst of the bloated Bush II era spending bills - the "highway bill"? Besides, states have most of the responsibility for infrastructure, and I don't see too many states that have been exactly restrained in their spending lately.
I find it very very difficult to believe that infrastructure is any sort of real problem across America today, any more than it usually is. And where it is, states are the primary culprits in falling behind on maintenance.
I fear the current approach - addressing a downturn stumble resulting from an over-leveraged economy by creating even MORE leverage in the form of sovereign debt and money creation - cannot end well. It surely poisons the investment environment - which is battered enough by the absurd bail-outs, the "anything goes" mentality they reveal, and the prospect of even dumber excesses by the incoming jacka, er, Donk admin.
#9
project delivery is a defined schedule for most large infrastructure projects. 1-2 yrs prelim engineering 2-3 yrs enviro process (even longer if it's controversial), 1-2 yrs final design, right-of-way acquisition 6 mos bidding, and voila! you're right into the next administration. Perhaps the O will be willing to waive environmental review? Didn't think so.
There aren't a lot of huge (or medium) projects sitting on a shelf for bailout funds to kickstart the construction. He's an idiot
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2008 13:22
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#10
Maybe the enviro process could be collapsed, like totally, as part of a bi-partisan effort.
#11
Every one of these jobs will have UNION companies getting preferential bidding contracts. We are going to use tax dollars to create an enormous resurgence of UNION jobs who will in turn create UAW like monsters again, whose dues coffers are going to sustain the Democrat party's dominance over the US for decades. Right in front of your eyes they are cementing one party rule...... and making you even more of a tax-serf than you are now!
Change you can believe in - changing your basic political rights to those of an indentured servant, whoase earnings are used to pay the compant store!
project delivery is a defined schedule for most large infrastructure projects. 1-2 yrs prelim engineering 2-3 yrs enviro process (even longer if it's controversial), 1-2 yrs final design, right-of-way acquisition 6 mos bidding, and voila! you're right into the next administration. Perhaps the O will be willing to waive environmental review? Didn't think so.
There aren't a lot of huge (or medium) projects sitting on a shelf for bailout funds to kickstart the construction. He's an idiot.
Fixed that for ya', Frank. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/07/2008 16:32
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A week after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indian officials on Friday stepped up their efforts to draw a connection between the violence and Pakistani government agencies.
In New Delhi, a high-level source in the Indian government, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said India has "clear and incontrovertible proof" that an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan, Lashkar-i-Taiba, planned the attacks and that the group's leaders were trained and supported by Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI.
"We have the names of the handlers. And we know that there is a close relationship between the Lashkar and the ISI," the source said.
U.S. intelligence officials, however, were more cautious in their interpretation of the evidence. Although U.S. analysts acknowledged historical ties between Lashkar and ISI, as well as more recent contacts between militants and Pakistani intelligence officers, they said they were not convinced that Pakistan supported the attacks in any significant way.
"Even if there were contacts between ISI and Lashkar-i-Taiba, it's not the same as saying there was ISI support," said a U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official would not dismiss the possibility that further evidence would reveal active ISI involvement but said: "The evidence we've seen so far does not get you there."
Indian and U.S. investigators have identified Yusuf Muzammil, a Lashkar-i-Taiba leader, as the mastermind behind the attacks, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged Pakistan to hand him and other suspects over. Pakistan denies any involvement in the attacks and has called on India to divulge its evidence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Aswat al-Iraq: Two policemen were wounded on Saturday when an improvised explosive device went off near their patrol in western Mosul, a security source in Ninewa said. "An IED blew up near a National Police patrol on Saturday near the area of Qabr al-Bint, western Mosul, leaving two patrolmen injured," the source told Aswat al-Iraq. "The two policemen were rushed to the al-Jumhuri hospital for treatment," the source added, not giving more details on the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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TEHRAN - Iran will give a tooth-breaking response to a Sunni Muslim rebel group which has killed 16 policemen it abducted in June, a senior official said in comments broadcast on Saturday.
The official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday that all the seized police had been killed, after they were taken hostage six months ago from a checkpoint in the town of Saravan in Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering Pakistan.
The mad Balochis aren't just at war with the Sindhs and Punjabis ...
Shiite-dominated Iran says the rebel Jundollah (Gods Soldiers) group, which demanded that Iranian authorities release 200 of its jailed members, has links with al Qaeda.
I'm somehow feeling short of sympathy for the Mad Mullahs, seeing as they're getting a taste of their own medicine ...
We will give a firm and tooth-breaking response to armed rebels in border areas, Iranian Prosecutor-General Qorban-Ali Dori-Najafabadi was quoted as saying by state radio, without elaborating on what action the Islamic Republic would take.
A member of parliament from Sistan-Baluchestan, Abdulaziz Jamshid-Zehi, said the bodies of the policemen had been found, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. But he said there were 14, not 16 as said by other officials quoted by Iranian media. Officials are trying to identify the bodies found and it is as yet not clear when they were martyred, Jamshid-Zehi said.
Jundollah, which reportedly transferred the hostages to Pakistan after their abduction, had said earlier it had killed four of them.
The rebels operate mainly in Sistan-Baluchestan, home to mostly Sunni ethnic Baluchis and notorious for clashes between security forces and drug smugglers. In August 2007, Iran accused Jundollah of kidnapping 30 people in the province. The hostages, who were taken to Pakistan, were freed later by Pakistani forces.
Jundollah earlier in 2007 claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus carrying Iranian Revolutionary Guards that killed 11 people. Iran says the groups head Abdolmalek Rigi is a leader of the al Qaeda network in Iran.
In an interview in August, Rigi told Al Arabiya television that he was thinking of expanding its operations to defend the rights of Sunni Muslims in the Islamic state. Iran denies Western allegations that it discriminates against minorities.
Iran has in the past accused the United States and Britain of trying to destabilize it by supporting ethnic minority rebels operating in sensitive border areas.
We wish ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
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The NWFP government has 'lost control' of Swat district, Awami National Party (ANP) Senior Vice President Haji Adeel said on Saturday.
What was your first clue, Your Enormity?
The ANP leader also questioned the role of thousands of army and paramilitary troops engaged in combatting militancy in the valley for more than a year. "What will be the credibility of the military operation in Swat when houses of ministers are destroyed and their family members are queued up for shooting," Adeel said at a one-day seminar organised by the Joint Action Committee.
"What I see is that the situation has gone out of control of both the federal and provincial governments and the people have lost confidence in the government and the army," Adeel said. The ANP leader said that in spite of the fact that Swat did not share a border with Afghanistan, it was still restive, adding that the armed forces failed to control the Taliban. He once again offered an olive branch to the Taliban and said the ANP government in NWFP was ready to revive the May 21 peace agreement if the Taliban agreed to lay down weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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A barrage of Qassam rockets and mortar shells was fired on Saturday from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, striking targets as far north as Ashkelon. No injuries were reported in the attacks.
Late Saturday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered Israel's border crossings with Gaza to remain closed Sunday in response to the rocket fire, his office said.
Also Saturday, an Israel Air Force aircraft targeted a rocket launcher in Gaza, apparently striking him, but Palestinian security officials said there were no casualties.
Gaza militants fired four Qassam rockets and at least ten mortar shells at the Negev region on Saturday, in addition to six Qassams that pelted area on Friday. One rocket hit the industrial zone in southern Ashkelon, while two others struck open areas in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. A mortar shell was also fired.
Earlier Saturday, a mortar shell exploded near the Gaza border town of Kerem Shalom while another landed in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported. No one was injured by the projectiles.
On Friday, one rocket exploded in a residential area of the western Negev towno of Sderot, and another landed on the grounds of the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council.
Earlier Friday, a Qassam exploded near Sderot and a mortar round also landed in Sha'ar Hanegev. Two more rockets exploded near the Eshkol regional council. No injuries and damage were reported in any of these incidents.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's military wing, claimed responsibility for launching two Qassam rockets at Israel, Army Radio reported on Saturday morning. The group said the shooting was in response to Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Palestinians hurled two Molotov cocktails on Friday afternoon at Israeli motorists driving near the West Bank village of Azun east of Qalqilyah. No injuries were reported, although one car did sustain damage. Israel Defense Forces soldiers combed the area in search of the perpetrators.
The launching of Qassam rockets prompted Israel to maintain the closure of the Gaza Strip's border crossings for the entire week. Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday authorized the entry of 40 trucks carrying basic foodstuffs, 30 trucks filled with cereal, and industrial fuel for the power station.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are planning to offer loans of around $2 billion to Pakistan to help the country fight its financial crisis, a private TV channel reported on Saturday.
According to the channel, former International Monetary Fund (IMF) director for Middle East and South Asia Mohsin Khan told a small group of experts in Washington about the amounts Pakistan could expect from other donors, including those from Riyadh and the UAE. He said the IMF programme had paved the way for other funds to be mobilised toward Pakistan, adding he expected to see $1 billion from the UAE and between $500 million to $1 billion from Saudi Arabia for Pakistan's recovery programme, the channel added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Just what the doctor ordered...prolonging the existence and arming further of a failed state.
The death toll from Friday's car bomb explosion outside an imambargah in Peshawar has risen to 34 as officials said police had launched an investigation into the attack.
Rescue workers retrieved nine more dead bodies from the debris on Saturday, SP Chaudary Asharf told Daily Times, but put the death toll at 29.
According to Lady Reading Hospital's records, 165 victims of the blast were taken to the hospital and 34 of them were dead, while 131 were injured. Around 90 people -- with 10 in critical condition -- are now being treated at the hospital, the remaining have been discharged. Twenty-one bodies have so far been identified, while 13 bodies burnt beyond recognition are being kept at the hospital's morgue.
Most of those who died or were injured were residents of Parachinar in Kurram Agency. The imambargah, Alamdar Karbala, is also known as 'the imambargah of Parachinar'.
Mohammad Asif, a resident of the area, told Daily Times his 12-year-old daughter died in the blast, and his house had been completely destroyed.
Meanwhile, a senior police official told Daily Times it was not yet clear whether a timed-device was placed in the car or a suicide bomber carried out the attack. He said that the police had collected severed parts of around 10 bodies, and it was therefore difficult to say with certainty what method had been employed by the attackers.
Police officials going through the debris found the engine of the car used in the attack, and said they were trying to locate the owner of the vehicle. A bomb disposal squad official told Daily Times that the vehicle was carrying more than 80 kilogrammes of explosives.
Teams from the Federal Investigation Agency's Special Investigation Group visited the site on Saturday to collect evidence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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OPEC president Chakib Khelil says oil markets should prepare for a "surprise" output cut after the organization's Algeria meeting. "A consensus has formed for a significant reduction of production levels" by the 14-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Khelil told AP on Saturday.
The OPEC head's warning comes as markets have already been expecting an output reduction; however, Khelil said that it could be "severe," suggesting cuts of as much as 2 million barrels per day. A decision that startles markets would help bolster slumping oil prices, Khelil said. "The best way is to surprise them," he said. "I hope it (the decision) will."
Khelil urged oil producers outside OPEC to help the organization boost prices, especially Russia. Moscow had earlier said it could sign a cooperation memorandum with OPEC in Oran.
OPEC members are expected to announce their decision during a summit in Oran, Algeria, on December 17. The decision comes as crude prices slipped to $40.81 a barrel on Friday, the lowest level since May 2005. This is while only in July, prices peaked at record highs above $140 a barrel.
The Saudi Arabian king earlier said that $75 a barrel would be a fair price, an idea that has received the support of other members of the organization. Khelil urged oil producers outside OPEC to help the organization boost prices, especially Russia. Moscow had earlier said it could sign a cooperation memorandum with OPEC in Oran.
"We hope that Russia will apply (quota decisions) ... as if it were an OPEC member,'' he said, adding that the OPEC decision is not intended to "hurt the world economy."
Exporters have been pummeled with low prices, falling demand and declining revenue as a result of the dark outlook of the global economy. Earlier in November, Khelil was quoted by the Algerian newspaper El Khabar as saying that the group's member states had lost about $700 billion due to falling oil prices.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
If they did this BHO might be backed into a corner so he couldn't block oil, gas, clean coal, nuclear development as he wants to do.
#2
Khelil, you lying MF, you and your thieving bastard friends haven't got the stones to do it. Screw you. I dare you to cut production and make it stick.
#5
Production cuts at a time of reduced demand? Makes sense to me. There are really only so many storage tanks and the stuff is bloody auwful to drink.
#6
Remember that Obambi's power is rather limited, and that the spineless Democrats in congress know that if they cut off the oil, there are going to be very irate voters outside their offices with torches and pitchforks.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2008 8:52
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#8
This part of the cycle will play out as it must. OPEC is still in denial. Don't look for a bottom just yet. When the Arabs despair of oil ever returning to profitibility, we will see a bottom. It can't rise much, though, until demand increases. If most of the world's production areas use Obama's formula, that demand could be a long time coming. For FDR, it took a war, a very big war.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 10:10
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#9
The Paks are doing all they can to help the Zero be another FDR.
#10
Announcing a production cut is one thing, actually cutting production is quite another. Most of the OPEC countries have little else to sell. What good does it do to cut your production in half unless it at least doubles the price of oil? They are preparing to shoot themselves in the foot, I hope we can be of assistance.
#11
"We hope that Russia will apply (quota decisions) ... as if it were an OPEC member.''
As much, if not more then ever, itll be extremely difficult for the Russkies to maintain a sustained loss of market share. Of course, if they give the turbans the finger they risk an outright price war. Dance Big Bear Dance!
#12
OK, let me get this straight. They have seen revenue fall by 70% and now they're going to cut it further by reducing output? I think even Keynes would understand why that ain't gonna happen.
#13
Our country is in deep economical trouble and it just amazes me how little credit has been given to the high cost of fuel this past year. That one single factor alone has been solely responsible for putting more businesses out of business and more homeowners out of their home than any other factor. The historically high cost of gas affects every single aspect of our economy and society. Most family's went broke filling up at the pump alone. Then added to the burden was the higher cost of every consumer product because the increased production and shipping cost due to the higher fuel was passed on to the consumer. Let me ask you this, have you seen the price of groceries come down since the price of gas came back down. NOOO! Freddie and Fannie are taking most of the blame for homes being lost. Of all the homes I have seen lost in my area of the country S FL and I have seen many and many more in the process, not one was due to an adjustable rate mortgage. It was due to lack of work. When we pay more for gas and products we naturally cut back spending, that is a domino effect, less consumer spending = more jobs lost. We seriously need to get on about the business of becoming energy independent. Jeff Wilson just released a book called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. He outlines all our uses of oil, things I never even considered. Our depletion, which is even scarier, this is a finite source of energy. It will run totally out and not in the too distant future. We have so much available to us, wind and solar which are free, we just need to harness them. And plug in car technology. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to charge an electric car with the average home electric rates. That is insanely cheap. That electricity to charge the car could be generated from wind or solar. A company called Better Place in Palo Alto CA is in the beginning stages of setting up the infrastructures needed to support electric car use in the bay area in CA and now in Hawaii. WE need to take some of these billions and get ourselves out from under our dependence on foreign countries supplying our main source of energy. I encourage you to read this book www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com. I also have quickly become a "Better Place" junkie and applauded their work as they move our country forward and away from our dependence on foreign oil. Check out their web site as well. http://www.betterplace.com/ click on their get involved button on the top right side of the main page. You can sign a petition there. WE have to move this country forward. Use some of that stimulus money to bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil. Create badly needed new green collar jobs and at the same time provide clean , cheap energy. There is no one single factor that effects our economy more than the cost of our main source of energy. This past year is a testimony to that!
#14
oh puhleeez. Handwringing aside. Very few homes were lost, and most were due to people getting in over their heads with loans they couldn't afford, expecting the increase in value to allow them to re-fi or sell and pocket the increase. Gas prices haven't helped, but only a very few lost their jobs due to the gas prices, otherwise we'd be in a hiring frenzy at $1.70/gal. Prices reflect gas and trans costs, but also credit cost and availability, supply/demand....you may have heard some issues about that lately, or not?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2008 13:18
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#17
In other words, I should replace the sun roof on my car with solar panels... and put a sail on the roof. No? Then we're going to have to double the number of power plants in the U.S. to feed the demand from the electric vehicles, and the power plants will perforce need to be powered either by natural gas or nuclear reactors. Which do you prefer, Thutle Hapsburg6846, and how many jobs will be created for the construction and then running of the plants?
#20
You do not charge electric cars with thermal power plants. It is inefficient because of the thermal cycle. If you want to build thermal power plants, build nuclear ones, and use the rejected heat for district heating, process heating, or running greenouses, or something useful requiring low level heat.
[paragraph end, start new one]
We have adequate oil to make the transition. What we need are brains, basic understanding of energy, physics, and engineering principles, and a national policy or direction if you will.
We are stuck with a congress of thieves, morons (no disrespect to honest mentally challenged), and traitors, and a weak president. This country is going nowhere on national energy policy that makes sense until the present Congress, at least is literally and figuratively thrown out.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2008 15:23
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#21
Most commuters drive less than 40 miles/day. An electric car should get 4-5 miles/kWh, so say 10kWh/day for the average commuter. The nuclear electric power capacity is currently 100,000 MW. That's enough to charge 240 million of the 10kWh electric/hybrid cars. But given that most charging will be at night (10 hrs) that's still enough nuke juice to charge 100 million cars/night. And nukes are less than 20% of US electric generation capacity (coal is 50%). So the energy is already available.
That's why I advocate subsidizing the first 5kWh of batteries and really pushing hydridization for every car sold in the US (~$2-2500). Not only will the first 15-20 miles be all electric, but the car itself will be at least 50% more efficient on gasoline (average). The $30-40 billion/year for 15 or 16 million cars is 3 months cost of the Bush's Muslim Reeducation Initiative (has it been 7 years already). In 10 years, the US will be exporting excess oil.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 15:56
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#22
Have to disagree with you Paul, electric vehicles are actually more efficient than gasoline powered cars, even when the electricity is coal generated. It's all about well to wheels efficiency.
Two other energy advantages of electric transportation are:
1. Cheap and domestic fuel source.
2. Waste heat from a power plant can be used for other purposes, that from a tail pipe can't.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 16:07
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#23
I just walked in the house. It's windy and cold here. And I'm just in PA. How do you heat an electric car in winter?
BTW, the air conditioner works much more efficiently off electricity than the accessory belt. And AC is just another name for a heat pump.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 17:07
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#25
In case the first part of #24 is too obtuse, the engine can be run to heat the car, drive the electric motors and charge the batteries.
When batteries have the charge, the AC can be used as a heat pump.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 17:13
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#26
It's 17º. I don't need a/c. Electric resistance heating takes a lot of juice, especially when the battry won't hold a lot of charge. What's that do to mileage.
#27
Nimble. Who mentioned resistance heating? That is a waste of both engine and battery power. You must be from the heated fanny, Volvo riding set.
There are two efficient sources of heat. First there the AC/heat pump. Even a cheap $100 Walmart AC moves 10 units of energy for every unit of electrical energy. That is for when you have plenty of battery capacity. Then when the battery is being charged, there is the waste heat from the engine as used in cars today. Both systems work.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 17:33
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#32
Actually, I made a mistake. I used the SEER number which is BTU/Watt-hour, but there are 3.4 BTUs/Watt-hour. So a 12 SEER heat pump would move 3.5 units of heat per unit of electrical energy.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 17:52
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#34
Sorry, Ed. Didn't see your shift to plug in hybrid.
Heating remains a problem at low temps if you don't have that excess heat from a combustion engine. And no I don't have a seat heater in my 16 year old Toyota. Heat pumps at 17º aren't very effective even if they are efficient. And after you leave the car outside all day at work, they're going to be really cold for a long time ifv you don't have combustion.
#35
Efficient heating is a problem. But it's not an all or nothing scenario. Any combination of heat pump and engine heat will do. For instance, during a winter start, the car's computer can run the engine first for a few minutes to heat the interior and the battery pack. Then shut the engine down for 5-10 minutes, run on batteries and use residual engine heat to warm the interior. Then start the engine again. Whatever parameters give the best overall efficiency and comfort.
But to return to subject, we have to reduce our oil usage by at least half. At the peak oil price, Americans were spending at a rate of $1 trillion/year for oil with $700 billion/year of that leaving the US. No wonder it triggered a recession.
As long as those who want to kill or enslave us can bleed us and vastly enrich themselves by destabilizing the energy supply, then this war will go on and the west will die by a thousand tiny cuts. Either cut off their heads or cut off their access to the west's teats. So far no inclination has been shown to cut off heads, so let's try isolating them from us and our goodies. Take care of the energy problem and not only can the muzzie problem become a pimple, but the majority of the other badly behaving states also lose their leverage.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 18:31
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#36
If you want to build thermal power plants, build nuclear ones, and use the rejected heat for ... or running greenouses
That was tried at the Bruce nuclear facility in Ontario, incidentally the largest in the world. The greens were all over it with Frankenfoods and it never went anywhere.
BTW, the solution to the nuclear siting NIMBY problem is to offer free heating to the local community. That would be a big incentive in colder regions.
#37
The energy problem is relatively easy. Variable import fee to keep the price of imported oil at $100 per barrel adjusted for inflation. The will to do it is the problem.
#38
Interestingly, what is taking off is electricity generation from waste domestic heating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroCHP
Grid distribution of electricity only makes sense if your energy source is cheap and can't easily be distributed (nuclear?). Although, production of small 'community sized' nuclear plants has started.
TORONTO (Reuters) - The leader of Canada's main opposition party faced a growing chorus of calls on Saturday to step aside immediately just two days after he looked poised to take power in the country as head of a center-left coalition.
Members of Stephane Dion's Liberal Party and editorials called for his quick ouster after Prime Minister Stephen Harper won a rare suspension of Parliament, allowing his Conservative government to avoid being defeated in a confidence vote. Concerns about Dion's ability to keep leading the Liberals -- and the multiparty coalition formed to defeat the Harper government over its response to the economic crisis -- intensified as Canadians gathered at raucous rallies across the country Saturday in support of both sides in the battle.
The most prominent call for a speedy exit came from former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley, who said Dion had become an obstacle who had bound the party to the coalition with the left-wing New Democratic Party with the support of the Bloc Quebecois, which wants to take Quebec out of Canada.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
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#1
looks like the opposition overplayed their hand and tried for political gain during teh econom ic crisis. I've read that they've taken a huge beating in public opinion polls over their bungle
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2008 0:34
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One security personnel and 13 Taliban were killed in two clashes in Swat district on Saturday, officials said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) officials in Mingora said 11 Taliban were killed in shelling by helicopters in Nalkot area of Matta tehsil.
Matta: Two more Taliban were killed and four wounded in an exchange of fire in Sambat area of Matta. The officials also confirmed the killing of one security personnel in the same incident. Meanwhile, unidentified armed men killed three people in two separate attacks. Two were killed in Shah Darra area while the third was shot dead in the city, police said.
Camp: Separately, suspected Taliban attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) camp in Mahmatghat area of Safi tehsil of Mohmand Agency on Saturday.
The Taliban attacked the camp with rockets at around 7pm. The attack continued until the filing of the report. No casualties were reported. Meanwhile, security forces vacated a camp they have set up in Subhan Khawr High School building in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda district and went back to Ghalanai and Peshawar.
Meanwhile, Peshawar Police chief Safwat Ghayoor visited the Machni and Shabqadar areas of Charsadda.
The Tribal Areas became a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after the Unites States-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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A U.S. lawyer, of Lebanese origin, has filed a claim with the Supreme Court challenging President-elect Barack Obama's presidency, citing suspicions over his birth certificate, a Saudi newspaper reported on Friday.
Somehow I have my doubts anything is ever going to come of this, regardless of the merits of the case...
The people pushing these cases are for the most part Troofers and wingnuts of various types.
Joseph Farah argued that Obama does not have a birth certificate to prove that he was born an American--as opposed to being naturalized--which might contradict the U.S. constitution, the London-based al-Hayat reported.
Farah alleges that Obama was not born in Hawaii but in Mombasa, Kenya and has gathered more than 45,000 signatures to petition constitutional authorities to force Obama to present his original birth certificate to make sure he is suitable for the presidency before Jan.20.
According to article 2, section 1 of the American constitution "No person except a natural born Citizen...shall be eligible to the Office of President" effectively excluding naturalized citizens.
The Lebanese Christian lawyer--who heads an anti-Arab and Islam website--has previously launched a campaign against former president Bill Clinton through a series of news features over the suicide of the White House lawyer Fence Foster in 1993.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
And just what do they expect to do if they are right?
President Biden? YIKES.
If Hillary becomes VP in that corcumstance, I'd lay 8:5 on Biden haveing a stroke fairly soon after takling office.
#3
Stroke? Shit, he'll just turn up missing and be found on a table in the WH after a few years, probably having suffered a self-inflicted gunshot complete with suicide note.
Last I looked, Farah's petition had over 160k signatures, not 45k.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008 1:26
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#5
I have to wonder what these kooks think they are accomplishing.
What would happen in the unlikely event that they succeed and Obama is somehow determined to be ineligible?
Under the 12th Amendment, the winning candidate must receive an absolute majority of electoral votes. McCain cannot become president no matter how this shakes out. Complicating this is the fact that 24 states have laws requiring electors to vote for the person to whom they are pledged, but I haven't checked to see how this affects the vote count. If enough Democrat electors can switch their votes to someone else, presumably Biden, he could still get an absolute majority. If not, nobody has an absolute majority and the election goes to the Democrat controlled house.
If Obama is declared ineligible after the electoral college vote, the result is the same yet again, Biden becomes VP since his eligibility is not in dispute and immediately succeeds to the vacant presidency on January 20th.
One odd possibility is that Biden could actually be elected to both offices; if Obama's ineligibility is declared before December 15th and enough Obama electors can switch their votes to him. He can only accept one though, so, once again, he ends up as POTUS and has to nominate a new VP.
#7
They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow
Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you
Babe
I got you babe I got you babe
They say our love won't pay the rent
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got
Babe
I got you babe I got you babe
I got flowers in the spring I got you to wear my ring
And when I'm sad, you're a clown
And if I get scared, you're always around
So let them say your hair's too long
'Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong
Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb
[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe
I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand
I got you to walk with me
I got you to talk with me
Igot you to kiss goodnight
I got you to hold me tight
I got you, I won't let go
I got you to love me so
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
#8
It seems extremely unlikely that Obama is not a 'natural born' citizen - but it IS bothersome that he refuses to release the original long-form document. Why not? What unpleasant information could possibly be on it? Is he just doing it on general principle, like the Republicans resisting release of the Cheney files? (If so, I think it is misguided principle, and I think a process should be established where all candidates are required to prove their eligibility.)
#9
I don't care who ends up with it, but they should be a natural born citizen. If you let this guy slide in there with a 'close enough', it will be the thin end of the wedge.
#13
oldfolk, atomic conspiracy, et al, you miss the point. Is he qualified or isn't he? If he isn't and is allowed to assume the office then we've said the constitution doesn't matter.
Posted by: Boss Flealet4612 ||
12/07/2008 12:26
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#14
If O(shit) gets in next time I nominate Arnold Swarcheneger (SP?)
I think the governator is probably overqualified, just born in the wrong place.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
12/07/2008 12:55
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#15
Hellfish nails it. The Constitution makes it clear who is qualified to become President. If the Big O did not qualify, then he is committing fraud. However the Constitution does not specify minimum qualifications to apply for the job. Too bad, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2008 15:30
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#16
My gut feeling says this will be thrown out and not to waste any more brainpower hoping.
Posted by: Grolush Darling of the Hatfields3195 ||
12/07/2008 16:49
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#17
What worries me is that they refuse to release the birt cert. Its a simple thing. WHy not?
#20
Too bad Obama won't have to go through a security clearance check. I would like to hear his explanation counting US Navy ship traffic into Pearl with his old man Frank. I bet the Japanese wished they had a few Franks in their employ in 1941.
Posted by: ed ||
12/07/2008 17:38
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#21
Good afternoon Ed, I am Special Agent Smith with the Defense Security Service. Mr. Obama has listed you on his ESPQ as a character reference. Would you know of any reason why Mr. Obama should not be trusted with the safeguarding of our nation's classified materials......?
#22
I did have to prove my birth, and produce a birth certificate, as well as qualify for my security clearance. I'll grant the clearance comes with the job, (not the other way around liek iti did for me), but basic qualifications shoudl be answered. They were for McCain in terms of his being born in a O-CONUS hospital.
Why can I not ask the same for someone taking the highest office in the land?
And by the way, NS, Fuck you. I never clainmed to have a halo. Who the hell or you to drag such things up you asshole?
#23
And one other thing Nimble Spin-ble, its not *my* halo thats in question in incredibly annoying piee of shit. Quit goignoff topic and talk about Obama's qualifications if you have the guts and brainpower (neither of which are your strong suits).
#24
And FYI, I believe this is all a big bunch of nothing and probably a waste of time. I have a feeling the natural born citizen thing will resolve eventually as a vanity issue for "Barry", considering his ego. Its probably somethign liek a different named father or different birth name on the birth cert.
But don't go after the questioners or call into question their "halo" - they are NOT the ones taking office -- thats an old lefty distraction tactic used only be feeblminded idiots. The questioners, no matter how stupid themselves, have a right to an answer to this particualr question. We should know that whoever takes office does so constitutionally -- like the election and Electoral College -- this is just part and parcel of the same. (Unlike Andrews Sullivan's addleminded pursuit of "Trig was not Palins son", or other fringe truther/winger issues).
The Islamic Jihad on Saturday urged all Palestinian factions in the territories to immediately retaliate for the assaults on West Bank residents carried out by riotous settlers following the evacuation of a disputed home in the town of Hebron, Israeli media reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#3
A classic case of "Hey, let's you and him fight!" Might as well go ahead. It's not like the Israelis are strangers to kicking your asses. And with any luck, you'll have Rooters or an NGO in audience for another round of "Help, I'm being opressed!"
Washington -- The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will take up a controversial Bush administration legal policy and decide whether the president has the power to order the military to arrest and hold a civilian in the United States on the basis of suspected ties to terrorists. The justices voted to hear the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, the only person who remains in military custody in this country as an "enemy combatant." Administration officials say he came to the United States on a "martyr mission" for Al Qaeda.
Once again courts that have no clue how to handle the war on terrorists will judge the people who do ...
The court will hear arguments in March, two months after the Bush administration has left office. The case presents an interesting test for the incoming Barack Obama administration, which could defend the government's handling of Marri's case or change course and prosecute him in criminal court.
"The Supreme Court's decision to grant review will compel the incoming Obama administration to quickly focus on U.S. detention policy," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, a lawyer for the Constitution Project. "We hope that President-elect Obama will resoundingly reject the current administration's breathtaking claim that the United States may hold a civilian in military detention indefinitely."
He's not a civilian. He's an agent in a time of war.
Marri, a native of Qatar, entered the United States with his family on Sept. 10, 2001, and said he was seeking a master's degree at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. He had earned a bachelor's degree there a decade earlier. Three months later, the FBI arrested him and said agents found on his laptop computer information about cyanide and other poisonous chemicals. Officials said they also learned that he had received payments from Al Qaeda financiers.
At first, the government intended to try Marri on charges of credit card fraud. But in June 2003, President Bush signed an order designating Marri as an "enemy combatant," and he was taken to a military brig in South Carolina. He has been held there in virtual isolation for more than five years.
The Supreme Court will not decide whether Marri is an agent of Al Qaeda. Instead, the justices will decide whether the Bush administration had the legal authority to bypass the nation's civilian laws and to hold a civilian in military custody.
The 5th Amendment says "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law," and that constitutional protection has been interpreted to apply to all persons in this country, not just citizens.
Does it apply to enemy agents?
In their appeal on Marris behalf, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union said his case raises "a question of exceptional national importance." Since the nation's founding, they said, the Constitution's due process provision has been understood to mean "people arrested in this country have the right to a speedy criminal prosecution."
Reacting to the court's announcement, ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro said he was hopeful the justices would "ensure that people in this country cannot be seized from their homes and imprisoned indefinitely simply because the president says so."
The Marri case is separate from the litigation over detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Those prisoners were captured abroad and have not officially entered the United States.
Earlier, Jose Padilla, a native New Yorker, had been held in military custody in the U.S. as an enemy combatant. He had been arrested at O'Hare Airport in Chicago in 2002, on his return from Pakistan. The Supreme Court did not rule on his case, however. One of his appeals was on its way to the court when the administration switched course and brought criminal terrorism charges against Padilla in Florida. He was convicted and imprisoned.
Bush administration lawyers had urged the court not to hear Marri's appeal. They said his "military detention is lawful given [his] close association with Al Qaeda and entry into this country for the purpose of committing hostile and war-like acts."
Sorta like when the Germans sent agents into the U.S. early in 1942. That didn't work out so well for the guys involved ...
They argued that the president was given the power to hold "enemy combatants" when Congress adopted the Authorization for the Use of Military Force:S.J.RES.23.ENR: a week after the 9/11 attacks. It says the president may use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."
Some Democrats in Congress have said that the resolution gave the president the power to use military force abroad but did not change the law in the United States.
In July, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Virginia issued a fractured ruling in Marris case. The court ruled 5-4 that the president could indefinitely hold an alleged terrorist in military custody. By the same margin, the court also said Marri deserved a hearing before a judge to review the evidence against him.
Pepperdine Law Professor Douglas Kmiec said the Supreme Court's vote to hear the case "is quite a surprise." He said the justices could have allowed the hearing to continue, while the Obama administration formulates a new policy on how to handle such cases.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008
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#1
Sorta like when the Germans sent agents into the U.S. early in 1942. That didn't work out so well for the guys involved ...
You're dealing with facts. Justice Kennedy has no need for facts, or for that matter precedent. Justice Kennedy's only basis for leading these charges is to reinstate the old saying - "L'Ãtat, c'est moi."
#2
Fortunately, it will probably be decided 5-4. That's why it's good to be heard now. Once Bambi starts stocking the Court, things may not end well at all.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe came under fresh international pressure yesterday over his country's economic collapse as his government announced plans to introduce a 200 million dollar bill.
The country's political deadlock, soaring inflation and a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 600 prompted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to urge world powers to pile pressure on Mugabe saying "enough is enough".
Brown said the crisis in Zimbabwe was now "international" and that he hoped the United Nations Security Council would meet urgently to consider the situation.
Zimbabwe's situation has continued to deteriorate in nine months of political limbo since elections in March, and declared a cholera outbreak a national emergency this week as rampant inflation hampers the daily lives of citizens.
Government announced in its gazette Saturday that it would put a 200 million dollar note into circulation, just days after a 100 million dollar note was released -- which is worth only about 14 US dollars.
Brown's comments came amid mounting pressure from around the world with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying it was "well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave" and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband calling the Zimbabwean government a "rogue" regime.
"This is now an international rather than a national emergency," Brown said in a statement released by his Downing Street office.
"International because disease crosses borders. International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken. There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people.
"International because -- not least in the week of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- we must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough."
In its latest bulletin, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the outbreak had now claimed 575 lives. The capital Harare is the worst-hit district with 179 deaths and 6,448 cases as of December 4.
The disease has spread to surrounding countries with deaths recorded in Botswana and South Africa where the influx of Zimbabweans across the border seeking help has grown.
South Africa -- which will send a team into Zimbabwe on Monday to probe how it can assist with food and humanitarian aid -- said it hoped the cholera outbreak would spur political leaders to urgently resolve their issues.
Brown said he had been "in close contact with African leaders to press for stronger action to give the Zimbabwean people the government they deserve".
Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai, and a smaller political party are deadlocked in discussions over a stalled political agreement in which they agreed to share power three months ago.
The deal has yet to be implemented as parties fail to agree on who should control key ministries.
As his country flounders, Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, on Friday brandished the threat of fresh elections in the next year or two if the power sharing deal did not work.
"We agreed to give them (the MDC) 13 ministries while we share the ministry of home affairs, but if the arrangement fails to work in the next one-and-a-half to two years, then we would go for elections," Mugabe was quoted as saying by government newspaper, The Herald.
While the leaders haggle the situation on the ground has steadily deteriorated, with the army staging its first ever protest against the government, looting and beating up citizens in the street last week.
The Herald reported Saturday that those involved would face a court martial.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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But Prime Minister Brown, Great Britain has had it's "No Independence Before Majority Rule" (NIBMAR) for decades now." To what do you attribute this disaster? Could Smith have been right?
Somali opposition fighters, Al-Shabaab set up a regional administration in a southern region increasing their footholds in the country.
Al-Shabaab appointed a regional governor to the Lower Shabelle region marking off their expanding territory from the areas held by the transitional government, the Press TV correspondent in Somalia reported.
The group's spokesman Sheikh Mukhtar Robow reportedly said Sheikh Abdulrahman Siiro was inaugurated as the governor during a ceremony held in the regional capital Merka. The fighters had seized the capital from the government troops last month.
Siiro's inferiors such as the head of the Supreme Court and the region's security chief were also named.
The fighters have captured most parts of the country thanks to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG)'s declining power. They have been struggling for power since 2006 when their leadership, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), were removed on the back of an Ethiopian intervention.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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The United States is dusting off a long-discarded proposal to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism. But with the Bush administration now in its final six weeks in office, a decision in this regard is being left to the incoming Obama government, sources said, contingent on corrective actions taken in the meantime by Islamabad to the satisfaction of India, US and other countries affected by Pakistan's toxic export of death. Welcome to DC, Zero. Now let's hear more of that that tough talk about invading Pakiland.
The White House itself lost faith in the Pakistan Army's bonafides several months ago which led to Washington's decision to withdraw support to military ruler Pervez Musharraf and back a new civilian government, officials and congressional aides who spoke on background explained. The decision to dump Musharraf was taken at vice-president Dick Cheney recommendation, they added, because of evidence that Pakistan was continuing to help Taliban elements attacking Nato forces. Nice going away gift. Teach you to be careful what you wish for. On the other hand, anonymous sources laying it all at the evil Cheney's feet doesn't build credibility.
Washington has little doubt that the terrorist attack on Mumbai was sponsored and planned with state support, US officials are saying privately. One things is certain; this was not a run-of-the mill LeT operation.
"I think this event looks a lot more like a classical Special Forces or commando-style raid than it does like any terrorist attack we've seen before," David Kilcullen, a counter insurgency military analyst who served as an advisor to Gen. Davis Petraeus tells Fareed Zakaria in the upcoming edition of his program GPS, articulating what US officials are saying in private. "No al-Qaida-linked terrorist group and certainly never Lashkar-e-Taiba has mounted a maritime raid of this type or complexity."
Lieutenant Colonel Chris Nash, who worked with the Afghan police, made a widely discussed slide presentation on his return to Washington, saying "ISI involved in direct support to many enemy operations ... classification prevents further discussion of this point." The support included "training, funding, [and] logistics," he added.
But the most damning, and most recent, piece of evidence came after the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul when US intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack. The messages, US officials said later, indicated that the ISI officers involved in the bombings were not "renegades," or "stateless actors," and "their actions might have been authorized by superiors."
Washington now believes that is also the case with Mumbai, which is why, notwithstanding a soft public stance, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has conveyed to President Zardari what her predecessor Baker told Nawaz Sharif: Pakistan is on track to being declared a state sponsor of terrorism if it does not act.
It was because of this long history of Pakistan's corrosive terrorist record that an outraged Rice dismissed Islamabad's request for evidence this time, saying, there is a "lot of information about what happened here, a lot of information... And so this isn't an issue of sharing evidence."
#1
I've got this nasty itch on the back of my skull that says Mumbai was just a rehearsal for a larger raid "elsewhere". I would say the US was the logical target, and Obama's inauguration would be the planned event to disrupt. However, I don't believe it's JUST the US that's being targeted. We may see multiple, coordinated hits in several capitals around the globe. I do hope our intelligence services are on the ball.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/07/2008 21:48
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ISLAMABAD: United States Senator John McCain has said there is enough evidence of the involvement of former Inter-Services Intelligence officers in the planning and execution of the Mumbai attacks.
If Pakistan did not act swiftly to arrest the people involved, the Senator said, India would be left with no option but to conduct aerial operations against select targets in Pakistan.
At the very least ...
Senator McCain told a select group of Pakistanis at an informal lunch in Lahore on Saturday that this was conveyed to him by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.
Ejaz Haider, a senior editor at the Daily Times, who was at the lunch said Mr. McCain told the group that Washington would not be able to do much to stop India, as the Mumbai attacks were its "9/11."
"The democratic government of India is under pressure and it will be a matter of days after they have given the evidence to Pakistan [that they decide] to use the option of force if Islamabad fails to act against the terrorists," Mr. Haider quoted the Senator as saying.
McCain is correct, and the Paks will be lucky if the Indians restrain themselves to selected air strikes ...
Mr. McCain, who arrived in Pakistan from New Delhi on Friday and met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad in the evening, told the group that Dr. Singh was "visibly angry and reeling from the shock of the attacks."
He said if Pakistan did not act to get the "bad guys," India would have no option but to use force. "We were angry after 9/11. This is India's 9/11. We cannot tell India not to act when that is what we did, asking the Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden to avoid a war and waging one when they refused to do so," Mr. McCain said.
An official statement of Mr. Gilani's meeting with the Senator said he had assured him that his government was determined to fight terrorism and had offered India all help in the Mumbai attacks. He reiterated that Pakistan wanted good relations with its neighbours.
Then again, Gilani isn't in charge of anything, so who cares what he says ...
A report quoting the Dawn newspaper said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was understood to have told Pakistan that there was "irrefutable evidence" of involvement of elements in the country in the Mumbai attacks and that it needed to act urgently and effectively to avert a strong international response.
Contrary to the formal statements issued by Pakistani authorities and her own statement at the Chaklala Airbase before her departure, sources said she "pushed the Pakistani leaders to take care of perpetrators, otherwise the U.S. will act."
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
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perhaps something will actually come from this? Actual consequences to the Paks and ISI? Boggles!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2008 0:23
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Don't hold yer breath, Commodore Frank. However, I believe in hope and change, and, by gum, India just might take on the terrorists and give the hornets' nest a good smack.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2008 0:27
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Ummm...just a note, guys (IMO):
This is playing right into the hands of the terrorists, AlQaida or whatever they call themselves now. The 'prize' is a nuke. The 'nuke store' is open, and has a weak governing structure & is infiltrated.
Any destabilization that occurs, resulting in a conflict will DEFINITELY allow nukes to go 'missing'.
I guarantee that if war breaks out between India & Pakistan, a nuke will be used in a terrorist action within 12 months.
McCain is using the Bush tactic of 'if you don't cooperate, we can't stop 'em', while Condi's calming the Indians before war breaks out.
Smart moves.
While I believe Pakistan will ultimately be a smoking hole in the earth, a limited regional conflict now will have much worse long-term security consequences for the West & the US.
#8
This is playing right into the hands of the terrorists, AlQaida or whatever they call themselves now. The 'prize' is a nuke. The 'nuke store' is open
assuming that India trusts us enough to tell us they are going to do something, you can bet we have the nukes' location pretty well known. so we can either send in a team to hold or abscond with them, or destroy them with a B2 strike.
that assumes India trusts us. but i think i already said that.
The lone gunman to survive the Mumbai terror attacks was a petty street thug from a dusty Pakistani outpost who was systematically programmed into a highly trained suicide guerrilla over 18 months in jihadist camps, India's top investigator into the attacks said Saturday.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, was one of the 10 men who came ashore on a small rubber raft Nov. 26, divided into five pairs and attacked some of Mumbai's best known and most beloved landmarks.
Kasab and his partner rampaged through the city's main train terminal, then shot up a police station and a hospital, carjacked a police van--killing the city's counterterrorism chief and four other police inside--and stole a second car. They finally were brought to a halt in a shootout that killed Kasab's partner and left Kasab with bullet wounds in both hands and a minor wound in his neck, said Rakesh Maria, the chief police investigator on the case.
Photographs of Kasab walking calmly through the train station with his assault rifle made him a symbol of the attacks.
In the days since Kasab's capture, police have repeatedly interrogated him about his background, his training and the details of the attack. Maria declined to divulge the interrogation methods, saying only that Kasab was "fairly forthcoming."
Kasab said he was one of five children of Mohammed Amir Kasab, a poor street food vendor in the Pakistani town of Farid Kot, Maria said.
But residents of the impoverished town of 7,000 people, 90 miles south of the Pakistani city of Lahore, said they had never heard of Kasab or his father. "Absolutely wrong, we don't know Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and no person having such name lives here," said butcher Mohammed Ramzan, 60. Ramzan said he had seen Kasab's photo on TV and was certain he had never seen him before.
Mayor Ghulam Mustafa said police and investigators from Pakistan's spy agencies had also investigated the gunman's link to the town and found nothing.
Maria said that as a teenager, Kasab become a low-level thief, robbing people at knifepoint. But he dreamed of starting his own gang, and began poking around Lahore, trying to buy guns. He was put in touch with a man who offered to send him for weapons training, and he readily agreed, Maria said.
Kasab soon found himself in a camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, Maria said. Lashkar, a banned Pakistani militant group, has alleged ties to Pakistan's powerful intelligence agencies.
Though he had always been a religious Muslim, Kasab had never ascribed to the violent ideology of some extremist groups, Maria said.
That quickly changed in the camp.
"The moment he came under their wings, the indoctrination started. And that's when he decided there should be some meaning to his life and jihad (holy war) was his calling," he said.
For 18 months, Kasab was put through a multiphase training program at different camps in Pakistan. It started with physical fitness and jihadi indoctrination, proceeded to small arms lessons, moved on to explosives training and eventually to classes in the handling assault rifles, Maria said. He was also trained in how to navigate a boat.
The training was done in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and the mountain town of Mansehra, in Pakistan's deeply conservative North West Frontier Province, which was a center of training for Kashmiri militants before Pakistan began its peace process with India. Some was also done in Murdike, the base of the Islamist charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which has been accused by the U.S. of being the front group for Lashka-e-Taiba.
Three months before the attack, Kasab, along with nine other men he had never met, were put in isolation in a house in Pakistan and trained for the assault on Mumbai by three or four operatives, Maria said.
The 10 men were divided into teams of two and each was given a target. Kasab and his partner were assigned the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station. They were shown maps of the area on the internet and quizzed on detailed photographs of the station that appeared to have been taken by an accomplice in Mumbai, Maria said.
Their mission was "to open indiscriminate fire at CST, take people hostage, go to a vantage point and prolong the siege as long as they could," Maria said. After killing dozens of people, the two men abandoned the station under police pressure and continued their killing spree outside, he said.
The other teams--two targeting the Taj Mahal hotel, one the Oberoi hotel and one a Jewish center--also studied detailed photos and were given the same instructions, Maria said.
All the men were given fake IDs from Indian universities to confuse authorities about the source of the attacks, Maria said. None expected to survive the attack, he said: "It was a suicide mission."
Under questioning, Kasab has steered authorities to the Indian boat the men hijacked to get to Mumbai, told them where to find their GPS trackers and satellite phone and divulged the real names of his nine fellow gunmen, Maria said.
Maria declined to reveal the names Kasab gave of his recruiters and contacts in Lashkar, saying he was waiting for independent verification. But he said everything else Kasab said has checked out.
This article starring:
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Pakistan High Commissioner in Britain, Wajid Shams-ul-Hasan Saturday said it is likely that Inida may launch an offensive against Pakistan. He said some of his friends had cautioned that there is a risk of a military assault against Pakistan from India. Wajid Shams-ul-Hasan said there could be a limited air strikes in some of the areas of Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Governor NWFP Amir Haider Hoti, condemned the blast carried out at Mohammad Ali Johar Road on Wednesday, terming it as inhuman. Amir Haider Hoti stated this while paying a visit to Government Lady Reading Hospital where he visited the injured of the blast. He said it was the handiwork of those elements who were carrying out terrorism in the tribal areas. The Chief Minister said although it was difficult to prevent terrorism, it was not entirely impossible to stop it. He said the provincial government was taking measures to strengthen the hands of police, adding that funds allocated for undertaking development work would be reduced and used for improving the law and order situation in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
No sh*t, and here I thought it were pro-state elements.
A percussion bomb exploded in front of a bank in central Istanbul on Saturday, wounding three people, a local official said.
The area was cordoned off to keep traffic away in case of a second bomb attack, he said.
"The injured were able to go to the hospital themselves, and I wish them all the best. Hopefully we will have more details on what exactly happened later. For now the area where the bomb exploded has been closed to traffic in case there is a second bomb," the official said.
Percussion bombs make a loud noise but usually do little damage. The bomb had been placed in a rubbish bin, the official said.
Television images showed a heavy police presence where the bomb exploded in Istanbul's Fatih district.
Bombings are not uncommon in Turkey and past attacks have been carried out by ethnic separatists, Islamists and leftist militants.
In July a double bomb attack killed 17 people in a crowded area of Istanbul, the first blast caused by a loud percussion bomb and the second a more powerful explosion that ripped through the crowd.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Washington should respect Pakistan's sovereignty, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif said after meeting with the defeated US Presidential Candidate Johan McCain.
"The repeated US air strikes into our territory are tantamount to waging a war against 160 million population of Pakistan", Sharif told a press conference on Saturday, a Press TV correspondent reported. He said the use of force was not the solution to root out the menace of terrorism, adding, the US should respect Pakistan's territorial sanctity.
Just like Pakistain respects the territorial sanctity of Afghanistan and India ...
The only option to address the problem of terrorism is peaceful negotiations with stakeholders in the tribal areas," PML-N chief added.
He said that government should adopt a clear cut policy, towards US-led war on terror, "a policy which represents the sentiments and wishes of Pakistani nation".
The US drone attacks have become an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan where anti-American sentiment is rising. Islamabad has repeatedly protested against the attacks and has called for a halt to the raids. More than 400 people - among them civilians as well as suspected militants - have been killed in the attacks in the tribal belt.
Posted by: Fred ||
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FARIDKOT, near Depalpur, Pakistan -- The lone gunman captured alive by Indian police during last week's terrorist attack on Mumbai comes from a dirt-poor village in Pakistan's southern Punjab region where a banned Islamist group has been actively recruiting young men for "jihad," according to residents of the village and official records seen by McClatchy Newspapers.
Ajmal Ameer Kasab, the dark haired 21-year-old man arrested by Indian authorities in the first hours of the assault -- in which over 170 people died -- left the village four years ago, several residents said. He would return once a year to see small family home and one villager recalled him talking about freeing the Muslim-dominated region of Kashmir from India.
His origins are a key to the investigation of the attack and could have a profound impact on relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, already at the brink of confrontation. Until now, the Pakistan government has repeatedly said that there was no solid evidence to back Indian accusations that the gunmen came from Pakistan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
12/07/2008
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A neighbor said she remembered when Ajmal and the rest of the children would play cops and bombers. They would yell, "jihad, jihad, all come free".
#2
"They brainwash our youth about jihad, there are people who do it in this village. They tell them they'll get a ticket to heaven. It is so wrong," the villager added.
#3
One of the statements Kasab made to th Mumbai police is that his father sold him into slavery to the terrorists. Would like a response from dad on this accusation.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 9:35
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An Israeli journalist has been assaulted by troops after taking photos from a Palestinian family in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron).
Tess Scheflan, a photographer on assignment for the Israeli daily Haaretz, was wounded lightly in her head and taken to hospital after being assaulted by an Israeli soldier in al-Khalil on Saturday, Haaretz reported.
"Tess and I were walking around in Hebron...we went into the home of a Palestinian family, taken over by soldiers at the scene. We interviewed the family, which was forced to stay in one room, spoke them, and then we left the house and walked down an alley to leave the area," Fadi Edayat, another journalist who accompanied Tess, told Yediot Ahronot.
According to Edayat, soldiers then tried to snatch their cameras. "He (the soldier) attempted to grab the camera of another photographer who was there with us; he walked up to him aggressively, and grabbed him by the neck. I asked Tess to photograph him so we can file a complaint, and then he punched her in the face. She fell down to the ground and he hit her again, this time with his gun butt," Edayat added.
Al-Khalil has been the scene of violence for the past week while security forces were evacuating a disputed house in the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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In intifada I, we used to call such Israeli jeurnos "well poisoners".
#4
What the Israeli soldier needed was two dead journos and one carrying a drop gun that had been fired twice.
I remember the tale of a small US MP who was faced off against three large, drunk and aggressive black soldiers. They were going to charge him, so instead of drawing his gun, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade knife.
They started laughing at it, and asked him if he was going to cut them with his knife.
He replied that, "This isn't my knife. This is your knife", and threw it at their feet.
All three put their hands up fast, and became very peaceful, sober and cooperative.
Democratic [sic] presidential candidate in the recent US elections and US senator John McCain has said that America's new management would respect the sovereignty of Pakistan.
He said that during his presidential campaign, he had opposed the violation of Pakistan borders.
He said this during a meeting with prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Saturday. On this occasion, senator McCain also said that the Pressler amendment was a blunder. He said that during his presidential campaign, he had opposed the violation of Pakistan borders. Regarding Mumbai carnage, Yousuf Raza Gilani said that Pakistan had offered India the setting up a joint commission. The prime minister reiterated his resolve that the Pakistan territory would not be allowed to be used for terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
Shut up, John.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2008 0:29
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Now, now, he's the fella saying nice things in public, and likely nasty things in private. Politicians and diplomats frequently say bland, stoopid stuff in public; that's their job.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2008 1:31
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Respect that the borders are inviolable, or that there are areas within those borders where the Pakistani government does actually exercise some measure of control that ought to be acknowledged? Senator McCain is a politician; blunt-spoken as he can be, I'm sure he can also be diplomatic when he thinks that is called for. For a given definition of diplomatic, I mean.
#7
This is a Pakistani sopurce putting spin on whatever he said. Here is what it sounds like in India.
US Senator John McCain has said he believes that if Pakistan does not act against individuals and groups linked to the Mumbai terror attacks, it could be a "matter of days" before India carries out surgical strikes against such elements. There is enough evidence of the involvement of former Inter-Services Intelligence officers in the planning and execution of the Mumbai attacks and terrorist training camps are still operational in Pakistan, McCain told a small group of senior Pakistani journalists at an informal lunch in Lahore yesterday. Ejaz Haider, a senior editor with the Daily Times group, quoted McCain as saying that he believed it could be a "matter of days" before India carried out surgical air strikes if Pakistan did not act on the evidence provided to it on elements linked to the attacks.
#8
So the foriegners are confused as to what party McCain is too.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
12/07/2008 7:58
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#9
How about promising to stop, but not stopping, just stop claiming credit. These Fackers live by lying to themselves and everyone else, give them their own shiite right back!
Of course Syed, we'll cease blowing terrorists up in your homeland "BOOOM" - that wasn't us. See, we can all just get along.
Aswat al-Iraq: A number of citizens from Basra, Tikrit, and Missan expressed belief that sentences issued by the Supreme Criminal Court against suspects in the 1991 al-Intifada al-Shaabaniya case are 'just', others considered them as 'political', and most of them agreed that Ali Hassan al-Majid, otherwise known as Chemical Ali, deserves the death sentence.
"The death sentence issued against Ali Hassan al-Majid is considered as a strong slap on the face of those who perpetrated crimes against the Iraqi people. He was like Hitler and this is a just sentence," Mustafa Karim, a Basrian citizen, told Aswat al-Iraq.
Another citizen from Basra, Ali Salman, agreed with Karim, saying "it was a just sentence for what al-Majid perpetrated against hundreds of Iraqi people. Everyone watched him on television beating and killing citizens during al-Intifada."
For his part, Abdullah al-Jasem, retired brigadier from Tikrit, told Aswat al-Iraq, "the sentences have political aim to retaliate from the former army leaders."
Hussein al-Ubeid, a professor at the Tikrit University, said "we expect the sentences, however some sentences were surprise."
He pointed out that al-Tikriti deserves to die for killing hundreds of Iraqis. "Most of the suspects are military officers who implement orders and it is not logic to convict them for crimes made by politicians," he explained.
Udai Abdul Khaleq, a teacher from Missan, told Aswat al-Iraq "television helped citizens to follow the case," noting that the case proved that Chemical Ali was the mastermind if several violations and killing operations against innocent Iraqis. "He deserves the life sentence," he asserted.
"This was a day of justice," Abbas Fakher from Missan said. "Those who killed innocent people must be killed," Fakher underlined. "It is a day of joy and victory for all Iraqis," he pointed out.
Last Tuesday, the Supreme Criminal Court sentenced to death Ali Hassan al-Majid, otherwise known as Chemical Ali; and Abdul Ghani Abdul Ghafour, a former Baath Party official, after found guilty in the 1991 al-Intifada al-Shaabaniya case. Life sentences were handed down against Ibrahim Abdelsattar Mohammed; Iyad Fatieh al-Rawi, former chief of staff and a Republican Guard commander; Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, former assistant chief of staff; and Saber Abdul-Aziz al-Dori, the former chief of military intelligence.
Other defendants in the case are Abad Hamid Mahmud, Saddam's personal secretary; Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, former President Saddam Hussein's half brother; Iyad Taha Shehab, a former intelligence chief; Latif Mahal Hamoud, former Basra governor; Walied Hamid Tawfiq al-Naseri; Sufyan Maher al-Tikriti, a former Republican Guard commander; Saadi Taama Abbas, the former minister of defense; Saber Abdul-Aziz al-Dori, the former chief of military intelligence; and Qays Abdul Razzaq Mohammed al-Adhami, the commander of the Republican Guard Hamourabi forces.
The 1991 incidents, known in Arabic as the al-Intifada al-Shaabaniya, or the Shaaban uprising, were a series of rebellions in southern and northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Gulf War. The revolts in the predominantly Shiite cities of Basra and al-Nassiriya broke out in March 1991, sparked by demoralized Iraqi army troops returning from Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War. Another uprising in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq broke out shortly thereafter. Although they represented a serious threat to his regime, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was able to suppress the rebellions with massive force and maintain power, as the expected United States intervention never materialized. The uprisings were eventually crushed by the Iraqi Republican Guard, which was followed by mass reprisals and intensified forced relocations. In few weeks, tens of thousands of civilians were allegedly killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Australia's official human rights watchdog wants a third gender called "intersex" to be created for use on official documents like passports and driving licenses, a newspaper report said on Saturday. The new gender would be another legally recognized option alongside male and female.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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There's an issue that will get no traction, except for judges and bureaucrats.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2008 0:33
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#2
That would make search techniques interesting I suppose. /s
#8
'Intersex', is that the kind of sex that slips between the cracks? Also, what does one wear to the intersex coming out party and who would want to watch. Is sex really that important when getting drivers licences and passports? Do I really need to know the sexual orientation of the driver who rear-ended me? Oops, bad example. Maybe that would be helpful.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/07/2008 9:43
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#9
I think "Other" would suffice.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
12/07/2008 13:08
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#10
Isn't the 'third' sex supposed to be -none-. Anyone claiming to be anything except male or female should be required to have an operation and accept their new classification. Eunuch.
Iran's legislative watchdog, the, rejected on Saturday new strict rules set by parliament for presidential candidates, the official IRNA news agency reported.
In early November parliament introduced age limits and strict educational criteria into electoral law in a bid to deter frivolous runners from standing for president.
But Abbas Ali Kadkhoadi, spokesman for the hard-line vetting body said the new rules were "contradictory to the constitution." The Guardians Council reviews parliamentary decisions and interprets the constitution.
A final decision is in the hands of the top political arbitration board, the Expediency Council, which settles differences between parliament and the vetting body.
The council's move came ahead of a presidential election set for June 12 next year, when incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to seek a second four-year term. Under the amendment to the electoral law, candidates should have been aged between 40 and 75 and hold the equivalent of a master's degree from a university or seminary. The original law does not set age limits or stipulate a diploma.
Under the amendment, candidates should have already served in a national post such as president, vice-president, minister, judiciary, military or broadcasting official, or as mayor of a major city.
The 12-member Guardians Council rejected the rules even though the text remained silent on the nomination of women, something the council has always rejected. It underlined that the word "rejal" mentioned in the constitution is the plural of "rajol," Farsi for "man."
"The parliamentary approval has restricted or expanded some of the conditions for president, against the constitution," Kadkhodai said, referring to requirements that any candidates should be "rajol" and an Iranian national.
The new amendment sought to prevent frivolous applications, as for example in 2005 when a young unemployed man registered to run "to find a job" and an illiterate villager applied because he wanted "to save the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
If real diplomas won't be required, perhaps they'll require fake diplomas.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/07/2008 16:24
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Italy's Muslim leaders and opposition groups expressed outrage on Thursday over a proposal by the anti-immigration party of Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni to freeze the building of new mosques in an effort to curb terrorism.
The Northern League, the main ally of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, suggested the ban after two men were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of planning attacks in and near the northern city of Milan, but groups slammed the call as prejudice.
The Italian Communist Party's immigration expert slammed the Northern League for its "latest attempt to criminalize Muslim citizens who live in Italy."
"Those who equate Islam with terrorism are really pandering to those who want to divide the world in an absurd war of civilization," Maurizio Musolino told the ANSA news agency.
Mario Scialoja, who heads the Italian section of the Muslim World League, said such a law would "create discrimination." "A law that penalizes non-Catholic places of worship would be unconstitutional," he told AFP.
The center-left opposition Democratic Party also rejected the proposal. "It would not be useful, and it is unacceptable," said party spokesman Ermete Realacci. "We are proud to be in a country with freedom of religion, and (banning new mosques) does not seem to be the way to address the problem of terrorism," he told AFP.
"Mosques are Islamic places of peace for social gathering and prayer. We teach Muslims in Italy to respect the land they live in and its laws. A proposal to ban the building of mosques is unacceptable and goes against the Italian constitution," An imam from the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, Abu Khalil, told AlArabiya.net.
"Even if the allegations happen to be true, a fair government does not punish 1.2 million Muslims because it fears two people," he said, referring to the arrest of two Moroccan men for alleged terrorist plots.
Vatican
The Vatican, for its part, said "civil society" had a right to determine whether a mosque is in fact being used as such. "On the one hand we need to recognize the legitimacy of the place of worship that is the seat of an authentic spiritual presence," said the Vatican's "culture minister" Gianfranco Ravasi. "But if it becomes something else, indeed civil society has the right to intervene and check," he told reporters.
Count on the Vatican for the correct understanding of the problem. If the Catholic Church used its churches to stockpile weapons and ammo, it could fairly expect civil society to become a mite concerned (and civil society no doubt would, well before it would become concerned about a mosque). That there are enough mosques in the world serving as gathering places for terrorists, dishing up hate literature and spittle, as well as storing weapons, is enough to taint the rest. The 'Muslim World League' would do itself and its members a big favor by jumping on the more truculent Muslims in the world.
Italy is home to some 1.2 million Muslims and counts 258 mosques and 628 Islamic associations, according to the Italian press.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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#1
Sooner or later someone's going to start the Muzzie mass deportation ball rolling. When it happens, that bandwagon is going to become awfully full awfully fast.
#2
To put this in a proper perspective, suppose a Serb extremist group---citing Kosovo as justification---were to carry a series of attacs in Europe...
#4
Putin has led the way on this one. Their demands should be clear, that mosques can only be built anywhere in Italy, on an equal basis with Christian churches in Saudi Arabia.
This is brilliant, as it cannot be called persecution of a people, but holding their religion to a non-hypocritical standard. If their religion cannot abide religious freedom for others, it limits it for itself.
When they open their mouth to complain, tell them to complain to the Saudis.
#7
Is this the same Muslim World League to which the Islamic Apartheid Republic of Saudi Arabia has pumped 100 billion into since 1962 to disseminate radical Wahhabi Islamic principles?
#8
Declare the Muzz criminals. Give them 30 days to leave. They won't, so start giving out hunting tags. When we observe how well and efficiently this works, we copy.
#2
The smartest thing Georgia could do right now is to open their doors to desirable immigration from powerful allies. Somebody that Russia would avoid annoying.
Since NATO membership probably won't be forthcoming, turn Georgia into a tax haven for the very wealthy, along the lines of what Switzerland used to be. Absolutely anonymous banking, with Georgian embassies around the world being bank branches.
And it should be the destination of choice for embezzlers from around the world, and those whose tastes have strong international restrictions.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday that Iran's nuclear program remained a threat to peace and the United States would not allow Tehran to develop an atomic weapon.
The West has offered Iran diplomatic and economic incentives to suspend uranium enrichment and to support a civilian nuclear power program, Bush said in a speech released by the White House.
"While Iran has not accepted these offers, we have made our bottom line clear: For the safety of our people and the peace of the world, America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon," Bush, who leaves office January 20, said in prepared remarks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2008
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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.
THE British navy has completed a discreet clean-out of the senior figures involved in the debacle over the arrest by Iranian Revolutionary Guards of 15 British sailors and marines.
Posted by Bill Roggio on December 5, 2008 
Three suspected criminals were killed in 'crossfire' during separate incidents of shootout between their cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in the capital and on its outskirts early yesterday.
President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday he's asked his economic team for a recovery plan that saves or creates more than 2 million jobs, makes public buildings more energy-efficient and invests in the country's roads and schools.
A week after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indian officials on Friday stepped up their efforts to draw a connection between the violence and Pakistani government agencies.
One security personnel and 13 Taliban were killed in two clashes in Swat district on Saturday, officials said. 
A U.S. lawyer, of Lebanese origin, has filed a claim with the Supreme Court challenging President-elect Barack Obama's presidency, citing suspicions over his birth certificate, a Saudi newspaper reported on Friday.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe came under fresh international pressure yesterday over his country's economic collapse as his government announced plans to introduce a 200 million dollar bill.
Washington should respect Pakistan's sovereignty, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif said after meeting with the defeated US Presidential Candidate Johan McCain. 
