India is not aware of a proposal to enter into a security pact with the United States and Australia, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, pouring cold water on statements made by Australia's foreign minister.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said in an interview with the Australian Financial Review newspaper on Wednesday that he backed the creation of a trilateral security deal and that the response from the Indian government had been "positive.
"We have seen media reports about the comments attributed to the Australian Foreign Minister Mr. Kevin Rudd on a possible three-way economic and security pact with the U.S. and India. We are not aware of any such proposal," India's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on its website.
Talk of such a pact could fuel China's worries of being fenced in by wary neighbors.
It was unclear why Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking Sinophile, would risk irritating Australia's top trade partner China which is already nervous that U.S. President Barack Obama's latest diplomatic push into the Asia-Pacific is part of broader U.S. policy to encircle it.
But Rudd earlier this month said Australia's security arrangements with the United States were not "snap-frozen in time," and while China wanted to see the elimination of U.S. alliances in East Asia, Australia disagreed.
Indian defense analyst Uday Bhaskar has said India was unlikely to enter into such a pact, partly out of reluctance to risk riling China, and partly because of its long history of keeping out of such arrangements.
The sources said the explosion was the work of a “sophisticated bombing squad” that penetrated Isfahan’s formidable defenses. Citing analysis of Western satellite imagery, they said the explosion rocked Iran’s largest city with smoke and debris...
Snip, moderator's call. Not appropriate for the Burg. Sorry, but let's stay some focused on the WoT, the world around the WoT, and the politics of the WoT.
Many thanks, AoS
yeah yeah, I know we have lots of stuff that isn't WoT here. Sigh. I try. Really. Noone appreciates me. Natter natter mumble mumble...
#1
"I once spent a year in Philadelphia, I think it was on a Sunday" - W. C. Fields
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
12/01/2011 16:38
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#2
"yeah yeah, I know we have lots of stuff that isn't WoT here. Sigh. I try. Really. Noone appreciates me. Natter natter mumble mumble..."
LOL, Steve. We love ya', really we do. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 17:51
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#3
"First prize was a week in Philadelphia. Second prize was two weeks." - W. C. Fields
Posted by: Carl in NH ||
12/01/2011 18:18
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#4
Good call, moderator. Thanks for keeping the place tidy! Focus on War on Terrorism news. The other crap I can get from any of the internet's other 10,000 sites.
It was three short years ago that the small former British colony of Zimbabwe was spewing forth 100 trillion dollar bills. Since then, courtesy of a few trillion extra percent of inflationary RDA, the country had given up on its currency and replaced it with US Dollars.
Now, the country's cult central banker Gideon Gono has made it clear he wishes to avoid another episode of transplant currency hyperinflation courtesy of his counterpart in the Marriner Eccles building and "has warned that Zimbabwe's nascent economic recovery is at the mercy of the United States dollar, which is facing new pressures from the Euro-zone debt crisis."
Yet the screaming sarcasm is the following: "Gono says Zimbabwe should in fact be looking to the Chinese yuan as its main currency, while urgently seeking to restore its own currency which was abandoned in 2009 after a dramatic loss of its value. With the continuous firming of the Chinese yuan, the US dollar is fast ceasing to be the world's reserve currency and the Euro-Zone debt crisis has made things even worse."
And the terminal slap in the face of all that is American: "As a country, we still have the opportunity to avoid being caught napping by adopting the Chinese yuan as part of consolidating the country's look East policy."
Well, if recently hyperinflating Zimbabwe is complaining about the US as being on the same path as itself, and instead wants to become a Chinese FX vassal state, perhaps alarm bells should go off somewhere. So the next time Tim Geithner is up on stage somewhere, it may be prudent for a question to be be asked: how and why is it that the world's (formerly) de facto banana republic is complaining that the next up and coming B-Rep is about to replace it in the annals of idiotic monetary policy?
#4
Zim-Bob has trading partners, EH - major or otherwise?
What the hell do they have to trade? Seems to me the other countries that would deal with them already have enough abject misery. What else can Zim-Bob export?
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 20:57
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Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.
The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident".
...Major-General Giora Eiland, Israel's former director of national security, told Israel's army radio that the Isfahan blast was no accident. "There aren't many coincidences, and when there are so many events there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it's the hand of God," he said.
As the sun sets on the career of Maj. Gen. Alfred K. Flowers, he looks back with a sense of accomplishment.
Flowers, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, is set to retire from the Air Force on Jan. 1, 2012.
With 46 years of service to his country, Flowers is the longest serving Airman and currently the longest serving Air Force officer who began their service since the creation of the U.S. Air Force in 1947.
"When you start at age 17, you can get a lot done by the time you are 60," Flowers said.
A Kinston, N.C., native, Flowers was raised by his grandparents, who were sharecroppers. He credits humble beginnings as the foundation that carried him to where he is today.
"Being raised by grandparents who instilled the morals, the values, the integrity of doing the right thing and treating people the way you want to be treated has been important," he said. "I credit a lot of my makeup, morals and ethical values and attitudes to them."
These values guided Flowers to perform his best in school and propelled him to graduate high school at 17.
#1
As a former SAC weenie ("To err is human, to forgive is not SAC policy."), kudos and thanks to General Flowers. Obviously entered as an enlisted man and "bootstrapped" himself into the Officer Corps (How do you pronounce that again?)....
#2
I saw another story that appeared recently in several locations that awed me:
A wonderful story about a Marine who was one of the last to leave the Embassy in Saigon, and is still serving as an E-6 Psyops soldier in Afghanistan. A Doctor in the civilian world no less, and still runs his 2 mile in just over 12 minutes!
Staff Sgt. Don Nicholas disproves the old refrain: Old soldiers do not, in fact, fade away. They re-enlist.
At 59, Sgt. Nicholas is the oldest of the 6,000 soldiers in the 25th Infantry Division in eastern Afghanistan, the Army says. And he is probably one of the very few Vietnam vets now back for more in Afghanistan. He's certainly the only one who saw first-hand the ugly end of that war from the roof of the U.S. embassy in Saigon.
"It's really not a fascination with war itself," Sgt. Nicholas explains. "It's more trying to keep people from getting killed. I'm taking the spot of some 19-year-old."
Raised in Magnolia, Ohio, Sgt. Nicholas dropped out of high school and joined the Marines in 1971, expecting—almost hoping—to go to Vietnam. At the time he was a believer in the domino theory. He remembers telling a local TV reporter at the recruiting station that he didn't want his children "living under communism."
Under a measure approved by the House Tuesday, with a 389-15 vote, family-based visa limits rise from 7 percent per country to 15 percent per country, an adjustment that could slightly ease the backlog for naturalized citizens, particularly from Mexico and the Philippines, trying to bring relatives into the United States.
The majority of immigrants in the United States are admitted through family-based visas. Mexicans account for about 30 percent of the U.S. immigrant population -- that includes Mexicans of all immigration status -- and nearly all Mexicans who are granted U.S. permanent residency, known casually as having a "green card," are admitted into the country on family-based visas.
Almost 60 percent of Mexicans admitted into the United States were immediate relatives sponsored by U.S. citizens, about 35 percent were non-immediate relatives.
Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizens include a spouse, unmarried children under 21 years of age, or the parent of someone who is at least 21. Visas for these categories typically are not subject to caps. Working in the Healthcare field I see these as additional Medicaid and Medicare patients that have never paid into the system. Many of the ethnic medical practices our company services are made up of aging parents brought to this country for healthcare. As healthcare gets more scarce thank this kind of nonsense.
#2
Congress is very confused about the difference between "virtual" or "administrative" control and real control.
For example, they think that a virtual border fence is the same as a real physical fence, and that having vast and redundant dossiers on citizens will protect them from non-citizen criminals and terrorists.
In the growing Fast and Furious fiasco, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder in Peck Canyon, Arizona was previously described as a chance meeting that led to a shootout: an illegal alien "rip crew" working for the Sinaloa cartel was hoping to find other illegal aliens and to rob them at gunpoint. Instead, they stumbled across a Border Patrol unit and murdered Agent Terry.
The rip crew was not hunting illegals, but Border Patrol teams -- with the intention of engaging them in combat.
Last week, the Washington Times offered a new version of the encounter: they reported that the rip crew was not hunting illegals, but Border Patrol teams -- with the intention of engaging them in combat.
Sources now tell PJ Media that neither version of events is accurate: the rip crew was not waiting for a chance encounter with other illegals, nor did the members intend to engage American law enforcement agents.
The rip crew was in Peck Canyon that evening with the intention of stealing money and drugs from a specific shipment of which they had prior knowledge...
The rip crew knew to be in Peck Canyon that December evening because a CI working for the FBI found out about a smuggling run -- from the FBI.
The rip crew knew to be in Peck Canyon that December evening because a CI working for the FBI found out about a smuggling run -- from the FBI. It is not clear if the information was provided intentionally, but a possible motivation for the FBI to provide the information is known to exist: the CI had previously lost a shipment of drugs, and wanted to regain the trust of the cartel with an offering of drugs or money. The other possibility is that the FBI mistakenly allowed the CI to discover the information.
The CI used this information to organize an ambush of the drug convoy. A source tells PJM that the FBI knew from wiretaps that the CI was using their information to set up an ambush.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) -- through its own CIs and communications intercepts -- was also aware of the planned assault.
#1
Eric Holder and his political minions need to be weeded out and PROSECUTED. They broke international laws in shipping weapons to illegal cartels in a foreign neighboring country. Hundreds, perhaps thousands may have died at their culpability
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2011 21:00
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#2
"The rip crew knew to be in Peck Canyon that December evening because a CI working for the FBI found out about a smuggling run -- from the FBI."
Rope. Tree. Some assembly required. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 21:03
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Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, offered a $100 reward on Wednesday to anyone who snaps a photo today of Bob Casey, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, with President Obama during his visit to the state.
"I've got $100 dollars... for any person that can get us a picture here," Priebus told reporters on a conference call. Priebus said that in an effort to distance himself from the president and his low approval ratings, Casey may suddenly come down with a "24 hour flu."
Rob Gleason, the chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said on the call that he would be "shocked" if Casey fails to make an appearance.
"That would be a slap in the face to the president," Gleason said, because it would suggest a "lack of confidence in the president's ability to get elected."
As of Wednesday morning, Casey's campaign had not publicly released the senator's plans. It remained unclear whether he would appear with the president during Obama's appearance in Scranton.
Casey is up for re-election next year in a state where the president has dismal approval ratings. A Public Policy Polling survey released last week showed the president with a 42 percent approval rating and a 53 percent disapproval rating in Pennsylvania.
Polls show that for now-- in the absence of a clear Republican challenger-- Casey maintains a lead over the major potential Republican candidates for his seat. He is more popular than the president among Pennsylvania voters.
Pennsylvania and its electoral votes will play a key role in the 2012 presidential election. Gleason, although opposed to the president and his policies, said Wednesday that Obama's visits are positive in that they signal his home state's prominence in national politics.
"I love that he comes here ... and I hope he continues to come," Gleason said of the president.
Obama is scheduled to meet with a Scranton-area family at their home Wednesday afternoon and deliver remarks at Scranton High School. run away, run away
He said it was 'heck' when he was in school. Really nice guy, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/01/2011 17:17
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#5
"I know Reince. That's his real name."
Do you know whatever possessed his parents, Mullah Richard?
That's marginally worse than "Sue."
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 17:45
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#6
I asked another friend of his that's known him longer and apparently it's a family name on his dad's side of the family. It is unique, though.
The topic never came up in our conversations about immigration work vouchers, entitlement programs and torte reform (he IS a lawyer so I had to ask him his take - he feels it's seriously needed but would be tough to pass anything meaningful in the next decade as there are too many 'interest groups' dumping huge sums against it right now).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/01/2011 19:02
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#7
so much for Casey trying to distance himself quietly....nice job Reince, and better than Michael "incompetence" Steele, already
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2011 22:50
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Whatever the future holds, we need to understand that the economic collapse is not the main crisis which engulfs Europe. More significantly, we see the EU developing into the ever-tighter totalitarianism which was envisaged from its inception. The founding fathers of the EU never foresaw a democratic union. The founders of the project, such as Coundenhove-Kalergi and Jean Monnet, always assumed there would be government not by elected statesmen but by technocrats. This is indeed what we have seen recently in the appointment of such men to supreme power in Greece and Italy.
Of course, that's also why Greece and Italy are in trouble: the technocrats have been running those countries for the last few decades hand in hand with the political hacks, socialists and generals.
Our crisis is a spiritual crisis, a crisis of identity. The mistake of the secularists and the bien pensants who now control every aspect of our lives is to imagine that we can throw off our Christian identity and yet all the political liberties and other good social consequences we derive from that identity will remain in place.
But this creeping totalitarianism is not the root of our problem. Our crisis is a spiritual crisis, a crisis of identity. As the philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate, Professor Marcello Pera said, "Christianity is so consubstantial with the West, that any surrender on its part would have devastating consequences."
But all references to Europe's Christian character have been expunged by the EU bureaucrats. Europe is now officially secular. Pope Benedict XVI identified our real crisis with terrifying clarity:
"The EU is godless. But then it is unthinkable that the EU could build a common European house while ignoring Europe's identity. Europe is a historical, cultural and moral identity before it is a geographic, economic or political reality. It is an identity built on a set of values which Christianity played a part in moulding."
A church in every village. A cathedral in every city. The glorious traditions of European music and literature. The political freedoms of which we are rightly proud. All these were products of Christian civilisation.
The mistake of the secularists and the bien pensants who now control every aspect of our lives is to imagine that we can throw off our Christian identity and yet all the political liberties and other good social consequences we derive from that identity will remain in place.
#3
1631: "We killed God at Magdeburg" - apocryphal quote from the Thirty Years War, appeared in the movie "The Last Valley". It went from bad to worse after that.
Europe gave up the ghost by 1918.
#5
Such pessimism. Why not just stretch your necks out over the chopping block and get it over with?
Silly me. I'd rather go to church. Try it some time. You might like it. You meet nice people there. You hear good music. You see colorful stained glass windows. You hear interesting Bible stories. In some churches you might even smell incense. It's not so bad, you know. Remember when you were a kid and your mother took you there? OK. Maybe you didn't like the little suit she made you wear. They're a little more relaxed these days. Drop a few bucks in the plate when it comes around. You can spare it. And there will still be time after church to watch football.
A local administrator was killed by terrorists in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat's Cho Irong district late Tuesday night.
Witnesses told police that Areepeng Jehmu, 49, was driving his motorcycle to a friend's home in his village when a terrorist gunman riding pillion on another motorcycle shot at him six times with an 11 mm pistol. The terrorists attackers then fled.
Areepeng was hit six times in the body and left leg and fell from his bike. He was taken to the hospital by neighbors and was later pronounced dead.
#4
Havel wasn't too bad. He did two things that meant a lot. The first was to not contest the divorce with Slovakia, which everyone wanted, yet were amazed happened without a fight.
The second was to realize how very raped and ruined Czechoslovakia had been left by the communists, and figured the only way they had to make money was through entertainment, so he made them a very going concern and business friendly.
It will still be 200 years before they have recovered. Their magnificent forests were almost wiped out, their infrastructure collapsed and decayed, their people exhausted and sickly from the communist exploitation and pollution.
#5
"Their magnificent forests were almost wiped out, their infrastructure collapsed and decayed, their people exhausted and sickly from the communist exploitation and pollution."
Standard leavings for Marxism/communism - but let's give 'em another chance!
/sarc
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 15:12
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#6
Or like a certain Austrian landscape painter, TW?
He became chancellor of Germany, g(r)omgoru, acquiring Austria by Anschluss. Even then Austria was so unimportant that there was no point in going for it directly.
You are quite right, Beavis, it was indeed Jesse (Ventura, yes?) I meant. Thank you.
Anonymoose, the Slovak politicians did not actually want the divorce, because rural Slovakia survived on funds transferred from the industrialized Czech province. They were shocked and appalled when Prime Minister Havel called their bluff and sent them on their way, instead of paying them more to remain in the union. Mr. Wife was working in the area at the time, and I also had a series of lovely, bright Czech au pairs, so I got all the news as it happened. Also, it wasn't just entertainment, but all sorts of business that PM Havel encouraged -- Mr. Wife's company was allowed to paint an advertisement on the side of his apartment building (he refused to move into the traditional executive's palace as a cost saving effort) as a reward for being one of the first Western companies to start up a factory and management office there. ;-)
speaking at the fundraiser, Obama said,
"I try not to pat myself too much on the back, but this administration has done more for the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration,...We don't compromise when it comes to Israel's security ... and that will continue."
Amazing use of language there.
Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Jewish Congress at whose home the fundraiser took place
...said "it would be remiss for me not to say there are many in the Jewish community who are concerned" about the relationship between Israel and the United States.
Indeed.
Rosen added, however, that "America has never been as supportive of the state of Israel as President Obama and his administration."
And that is one of those 'facts contradicting the conclusion' thingies. The question is, are they lying to themselves or to us?
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/01/2011
10:27 ||
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#1
Obama supports Israel, the same way that Geithner and Rangel support paying taxes, and Holder supports rule of law.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
12/01/2011 13:55
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#2
"The question is, are they lying to themselves or to us?"
Yes. :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 14:36
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#3
has done more for the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration
A would-be saboteur was placed in long-term storage today at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... made the bizarre claim that he was from the future. Hmmm... Lemme see... Got it! Astounding Science Fiction, August 1961. I forget what the title was...
Eloi Cole, a strangely dressed young man, "What's that on yer head, bub?"
"It's a leather helmet!"
"What's it do?"
"Keeps things off my head!"
said that he had travelled back in time to prevent the LHC from destroying the world. "If the world's gonna be destroyed how can you be from its future?"
"It ain't that far in the future!"
"Well then, how far in the future are you from?"
"'Bout a half hour."
The LHC successfully collided particles at record force earlier this week, a milestone Mr Cole was attempting to disrupt by stopping supplies of Mountain Dew to the experiment's vending machines. "Jorgensen! Sound the alarm! The Mountain Dew supply's been disrupted!"
"Alarm! Alarm!"
He also grabbed credit for the infamous baguette sabotage in November last year. "Mon dieu! The man is a fiend!"
Mr Cole was seized by Swiss police after CERN security guards spotted him rooting around in bins. "You, there! With the cooling fins on your shoulders! Step away from the garbage bin with your hands up!"
He explained that he was looking for fuel for his 'time machine power unit', a device that resembled a kitchen blender. "Oh, yeah? What kind of fuel does it use?"
"Cheese."
Police said Mr Cole, who was wearing a bow tie and rather too much tweed for his age,
They dare to correct the fashion sense of a man from the future!?!
would not reveal his country of origin. "Countries do not exist where I am from. The discovery of the Higgs boson led to limitless power, the elimination of poverty and Kit-Kats for everyone. It is a communist chocolate hellhole and I'm here to stop it ever happening." "Kit-Kats for everyone? And you want to prevent that?"
This isn't the first time time-travel has been blamed for mishaps at the LHC. Last year, the Japanese physicist Masao Ninomiya and Danish string-theory pioneer Holger Bech Nielsen put forward the hypothesis that the Higgs boson was so "abhorrent" that it somehow caused a ripple in time that prevented its own discovery. "Eureka!"
"You've found something, doctor?"
"Ummm... Never mind."
Professor Brian Cox, a CERN physicist and full-time rock'n'roll TV scientist, was sympathetic to Mr Cole. "Bless him, he sounds harmless enough. At least he didn't mention bloody black holes." "Good God, Professor! Would that make him...?"
"Yes. From some sort of alternate universe!"
Mr Cole was taken to a secure mental health facility in Geneva but later disappeared from his cell. Police are baffled, but not that bothered. "Yeah. I can't understand it. He ordered a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch and then a half hour later he was gone! Didn't even eat the bread!"
#6
He came all the way back for a recipe he is doing, when he discovered he needs a Cup o' Neutrons, and he's fresh out. And if he could also borrow a quantum gravity neutralizer? Because a cup o' neutrons would weight about 480 billion tons.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
12/01/2011 14:20
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#8
People who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. -Albert Einstein
#2
Ah yes, they'll waterboard his sorry butt and there won't be a single word in the press.
That's odd, we all ADMIRE how urbane and civil the Euros are yet we criminalize interrogation techniques the French, Germans, and Spaniards use to get warmed up and the juices flowing for the real interrogation.
Sad, we have become such a nation of sissies.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/01/2011 11:34
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JEDDAH – A 23-year-old unmarried woman was awarded one-year prison term and 100 lashes for committing adultery and trying to abort the resultant fetus.
The District Court in Jeddah pronounced the verdict on Saturday after the girl confessed that she had a forced sexual intercourse with a man who had offered her a ride. The man, the girl confessed, took her to a rest house, east of Jeddah, where he and four of friends assaulted her all night long.
The girl claimed that she became pregnant soon after and went to King Fahd Hospital for Armed Forces in an attempt to carry out an abortion. She was eight weeksÂ’ pregnant then, the hospital confirmed.
According to the ruling, the woman will be sent to a jail outside Jeddah to spend her time and will be lashed after delivery of her baby who will take the motherÂ’s last name.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2011
09:13 ||
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#1
adultery /= where he and four of friends assaulted her all night long.
#2
..except we're now dealing with a generation that doesn't even know about WWII - for example the pejorative they hurl at others actually stands for National Socialist Workers Party.
#3
That sounds like a "cookie" to me and you don't want to mess around with one of them. A Lancaster would drop one of them and a bunch of smaller bombs in one raid. Four thousand pounds of unstable explosives and the fusing bits and pieces underneath it and stuck in the mud. No thanks.
#6
Not long after I move back from Germany, I read that a (fairly new) parking garage somewhere north of Frankfurt (don't remember which city now, but it was a fairly large one) just exploded/imploded one day. They finally concluded it was from an old WWII bomb that had somehow survived all the construction. Ouch.
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 23:09
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Unexpectedly
Reality once again creeps back in, confirming that the 4 sigma beats in the economic indicators pointed out yesterday were mostly duds, except of course for the drop in the Employment index in the Chicago PMI. After a few brief weeks with a 3 handle in initial claims, initial layoffs once again jumped over 400k, to 402,000 in the Thanksgiving shortened week.
As is now par for the course of the data fudgers at the BLS, the previous number was revised higher as is 100% the case always now on a weekly basis, from 393K to 396K. As a reminder, last week's forecast had been for a 388K print, so the 5k miss certainly looked better than an 8k, or 60% higher miss.
#3
I think one of the reasons the 'next week adjustment' has been up lately (and this has been true for quite a while, not just 2011)is because of reporting problems in California. The unemployment rate there has been over 11% for some time and the various offices processing claims have been overwhelmed.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/01/2011 10:13
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Landis, a supposed Syria expert, has flipped from the Assad regime will likely survive to the regime likely won't survive, over the last couple of weeks.
The FSA was formally announced on July 29, but it can trace its origins to well before that. The groupÂ’s formation was a reaction to regime brutality against peaceful mass protests. Desertion from the Syrian army increased as individual soldiers and small units refused to obey orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators or simply decided to abandon the regime. Although not all of these soldiers have joined the FSA, numerous media reports indicate a steady flow of defectors into the groupÂ’s ranks.
Defectors include individuals of all ranks, from conscript to brigadier general, and from a wide variety of combat units and organizations, including key regime props such as the Republican Guard and the intelligence services. Some small units have defected as a group, and several battalion-size defections have been reported but not confirmed. In at least some cases, the defectors took their weapons with them. And in most cases, they appeared to join local FSA elements.
Easing the process of defection and FSA unit creation is the fact that the personnel in question are moving from a military organization to a fairly well organized quasi-military force. Based on available evidence, the FSA has a chain of command, organizational and rank structures, and named units.
ORGANIZATION AND FORCES
The FSA appears to be a relatively flat organization, with a command and headquarters in Turkey, possibly a set of regional or area commands with subordinate groups in Syria, and, according to media reports, one or two combat elements in Lebanon.
#1
This is the most dangerous kind of insurgent army, because they are getting all sorts of valuable support from other nations.
Satellites are likely giving them security force movements, ELINT is likely giving them security force communications intercepts, smuggling is likely providing them with critical, if not bulk, supplies. They're even probably being spoon fed their strategy and optimal targets at lowest risk.
Diplomats and Iran analysts said that the storming of the British embassy in Tehran revealed the role of a growing, radical actor in Iranian foreign policy: the Quds Force.
There is certainly plenty of debate about how far up the chain of command the orders for Tuesday's embassy invasion went.
The force is the external operations wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard corps (IRGC), one of the regime's most powerful institutions, with extensive economic and financial interests across the country.
Some of the rioters at the embassy on Tuesday held aloft pictures of the Quds Force commander, Qassem Suleimani, around whom a personality cult is developing. There are claims that a known Quds commander was in the crowd.
Me thinks something bad should happen to Qassem real soon. Perhaps he'll be standing in a nuclear facility when it accidentally blows up...
In his statement to parliament, William Hague said that the damage done to the embassy and the residential compound was done by 200 "student Basij militia", but diplomats note that according to a recent restructuring by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, the Basij serve as a youth arm of the Revolutionary Guard.
Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli-Iranian analyst, said: "The Basij falls under the command of the IRGC who answer to Khamenei. Basij members don't turn up in front of embassies, unless they have permission from the IRGC as well as operational procedures, which would certainly include whether to launch a physical attack or not."
Conspicuous in their dark, ascetic clothing, the Basij crushed the opposition street protests of 2009 by driving into crowds of demonstrators on motorcycles wielding batons and knives.
Some diplomats believe that as the target on Tuesday was foreign, the Quds Force was "in the driving seat".
Another western official believes that the Quds Force's leading role is restricted to operations overseas, "but the mob see Suleimani as an icon as he is taking on the enemy directly".
Suleimani has made clear he has big ambitions. In 2008, he had a phone text sent to General David Petraeus when the CIA director-to-be was running the war in Iraq, informing him that he, Suleimani, was the man he should be dealing with on Iranian foreign policy. The text read: "General Petraeus, you should know that I, Qassem Suleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan.
"And indeed, the ambassador in Baghdad is a Quds Force member. The individual who's going to replace him is a Quds Force member."
The president of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan, Malik Furqan Riaz, criticised the BBC for showing what he called an "anti-Pakistan documentary" and said the channel had been taken off air in several cities.
The move came as anger rages over Nato attack on Pakistani posts near the Afghan border on Saturday that killed 24 soldiers.
Viewers in Islamabad and the eastern city of Lahore said they were not receiving the BBC channel while the suspension was partial in the country's largest city Karachi.
"BBC World will be totally blocked across the country on Wednesday, unless the channel tenders an apology for showing anti-Pakistan documentary," Riaz said.
He gave no details about the documentary, but the BBC said on its website that the move was a response to "Secret Pakistan", a two-part programme questioning Pakistan's commitment to tackling Taliban militancy.
#3
How many fee-paying households will be affected by this move? The poverty rate in Pakistan is horrendous and getting worse, as I recall, and cable television is generally a middle class indulgence (except in America, where most of the so-called poor aren't).
#1
I have to give Obumbles credit where it's due concerning McChrystal - the actual reason for relieving him aside, it was a good call to get rid of somebody who doesn't think bringing bad guys to room temperature is an Unqualified Good Thing.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/01/2011 10:11
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#2
General, celebration is an individual thing like freedom of speech and religion. You claim we violated Pakistain's sovereignty. Well, what about the violation of our sovereignty on 911. What about the continued violation of our sovereignty? Good riddance, the world is rid of a mass murderer.
Xavier Cugat's Tea For Two, "The ultimate white person dance music."
He is wearing slacks and a sweater, with a pipe in the corner his mouth and Hush Puppies loafers, and she is wearing a white puffy dress with a doily in her hair, flats and too much makeup. They are both stiff, have no rhythm, and are dancing an abbreviated form of "The Twist".
#5
McCrystal has brought more of our enemies to room temp than most. This is not his point. Everyone is glad UBL is dead and gone, there can be no doubt. As we nook across history we do not celebrate Hitler or any other tyrants death. Instead we celebrate the victory of the war, the freeing of the oppressed, etc...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/01/2011 12:41
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#6
Because there are plenty more where he came from?
#7
"As we nook across history we do not celebrate Hitler or any other tyrants death. Instead we celebrate the victory of the war, the freeing of the oppressed, etc..."
In this era, we're still waiting for some of that to happen, Pan. :-(
So I'll take my jollies wherever I can.
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 15:10
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#8
I'm with you on that one!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/01/2011 17:24
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h/t Instapundit
Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.
The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place.
...Major-General Giora Eiland, Israel's former director of national security, told Israel's army radio that the Isfahan blast was no accident. "There aren't many coincidences, and when there are so many events there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it's the hand of God," he said.
h/t Instapundit
At the beginning of the year, I wrote that the coming changes to our workforce and the demise of the blue social model would strike at the heart of the Black middle class. One year later, it is clear that 2011 was a calamitous year for the Black middle class, and more is to come.
#2
Democrats created this mess. Johnson and his great society really pushed it along. Democrats pushed this false economy and were nearly 100% supported with the black vote. Welfare and workfare. This has also hit hard others in our middle class. Now with the Fed supporting Europe our savings values are lost. To realize how much is lost to recover value our market while at 12000 should be at 30000. Then in 1932 what would a dollar purchase in gold compared to today.(I believe a cent or less today towards purchase of gold). I forget where I saw this but with this last move by the fed a $10000. investment just lost over one hundred dollars.
#3
2011 was a calamitous year for the Black middle class For the White middle class too. What ought to be more of a concern is the rapid disappearance of the middle class along with our jobs to China, Mexico, India, and various other places. I swear our politicians are morons and we are too for allowing them to be morons.
#1
The article is deceptive. There is a difference between being a net exporter of petroleum products and a net exporter of generic petroleum. From The Atlantic:
We're still importing 8 million barrels of crude oil per day!
What the numbers mean is that we have more refining capacity than we need to supply our domestic needs. So, we import the crude oil, refine it, use almost all of it, and sell a percentage of it to the rest of the world. The biggest surpluses are in "unfinished oils" and "motor gasoline blending components." Mexico's rising petroleum product use is a big part of the story, as you can see in the by-country net import numbers.
So, the Journal's story is good news, in a general sense, but let's not make it bigger than it is. We're still buying massive amounts of crude oil from other countries.
#2
What the numbers mean is that we have more refining capacity than we need to supply our domestic needs.
The market doesn't reflect that when a plant goes off line for maintenance or because of an accident, there's a spike at the pump that is excused for exactly that - processing capacity is down. Someone is fibbing.
#5
"why do we need to run a pipeline from North Dakota/Canada to Texas refineries?"
Maybe so we can buy oil from nice friendly Canadians rather than middle eastern/pizza faced dictator types. Instead, it looks like the Canadians WILL build another pipeline to Vancouver for further transport to China. Leaving us still stuck with needing blood oil from Arabs etc.
Joy.
Via Instapundit
The Chinese have called it their "Underground Great Wall" -- a vast network of tunnels designed to hide their country's increasingly sophisticated missile and nuclear arsenal.
For the past three years, a small band of obsessively dedicated students at Georgetown University has called it something else: homework.
This bunch will not complain they were not prepared for life outside the ivy-covered walls...
Led by their hard-charging professor, a former top Pentagon official, they have translated hundreds of documents, combed through satellite imagery, obtained restricted Chinese military documents
How does one acquire copies of restricted Chinese military documents?
and waded through hundreds of gigabytes of online data.
The result of their effort? The largest body of public knowledge about thousands of miles of tunnels dug by the Second Artillery Corps, a secretive branch of the Chinese military in charge of protecting and deploying its ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads.
The study is yet to be released, but already it has sparked a congressional hearing and been circulated among top officials in the Pentagon, including the Air Force vice chief of staff.
Most of the attention has focused on the 363-page study's provocative conclusion -- that China's nuclear arsenal could be many times larger than the well-established estimates of arms-control experts.
But the strongest condemnation has come from nonproliferation experts who worry that the study could fuel arguments for maintaining nuclear weapons in an era when efforts are being made to reduce the worldÂ’s post-Cold War stockpiles.
Not whether the report is accurate, but whether it interferes with their pre-conceived agenda.
[Iran Press TV] Tehran Governor Morteza Tamaddon rejected foreign media reports indicating that the British Embassy has been taken over "No, no! Certainly not!"
and says such claims aim to create political tension.
He told IRNA on Wednesday that things are back to normal at the embassy and police have dealt with any behavior that is against the norms.
"On Tuesday, some students held a legal rally in front of the British Embassy to voice objection to the meddlesome and provocative measures taken by the British government [with regards to our] internal affairs," he added.
Tamaddon said that during the rally some of the student protesters entered the embassy compound but were immediately guided out of the embassy by police who restored calm to the embassy.
Hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest outside the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British envoy. The protesters also waged another protest outside a second British diplomatic compound in northern Tehran.
Iran's Foreign Ministry expressed regret in a statement over the "unacceptable actions" of a number of protesters during the demonstrations in front of the British Embassy in Tehran.
The gathering was held following the approval of a bill aimed at downgrading ties with the UK by the Iran's Majlis, and in protest to Britannia's hostile policies towards the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
The bill, which was also approved unanimously by Iran's Guardian Council (GC) on Monday, obliges the country's Foreign Ministry to expel Dominick John Chilcott within two weeks, thus reducing diplomatic ties with the UK government to the level of charge d'affaires.
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#1
It was a Panty Raid by some mischevous Students.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/01/2011 19:23
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[Iran Press TV] The Islamic student societies of 25 universities across Iran have welcomed the British government's measure to sever ties with Tehran saying that a celebration will be held soon.
Issuing a joint statement on Wednesday, the Islamic societies said that the rally held by the Iranian students in front of the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday represented the longstanding desire of the Iranian nation, Fars News Agency reported.
"The humiliated government of Britannia, in a completely passive and hasty move, recalled the staff of its closed embassy in Tehran and closed the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran's embassy in London," the statement said.
It added that severance of relations is a cause of delight for millions of Iranians and a celebration will soon be held in universities across Iran.
"After many years of struggles, the Medes and the Persians has forced the [British] regime to completely retreat.... This retreat is a clear sign of the confusion and weakness of the British government because they know that after what the students did, they have not even an iota of influence in Iran and will have hard times ahead of them," they added.
The students stated that the British government is not even able to manage its domestic affairs and millions of Britons are currently on the streets protesting against a government which is supported only by one percent of the country's population.
The statement also added that the British government was now too weak to threaten another country and has become too debilitated to even keep its own people happy and respond to their rightful demands.
Britannia's Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that London is withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Iran and that the Iranian Embassy ...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!... in London will be closed.
The decision came after hundreds of Iranian students staged a major protest outside the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British envoy.
The gathering was held following the approval of a bill aimed at downgrading ties with the UK by Iran's Majlis, and in protest to hostile British policies towards the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
Yup, students are ALWAYS right./s
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2011 1:25
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#2
Let"s see how many Iranian students try to go to European and US graduate schools this year, shall we?
[The Local (Norway)] Norway has closed its embassy in Tehran a day after the British mission in the Iranian capital was attacked by an angry mob, the government said on Wednesday.
Norway's diplomatic staff are still in Tehran and no decision has been taken to evacuate them, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hilde Steinfeld told AFP.
"The embassy was closed yesterday (Tuesday) after the attack on the British embassy," she said.
"We are continuously evaluating the situation," she said when asked how long the embassy would remain closed.
The diplomatic staff, which consists of a handful of Norwegian citizens, is still in Tehran, she said.
Asked about a possible evacuation, she said "it has been evaluated, but for now no such measure has been taken."
Britain said on Wednesday that some staff at its embassy in Tehran were being evacuated for their own safety after the storming of two British compounds in Tehran by protesters angry at new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.
The protesters were reflecting official anger at Britain's decision last week to cut all relations with Iran's financial sector as part of a raft of new sanctions unveiled in coordination with the United States and Canada.
The storming of Britain's embassy sparked international condemnation, including a strongly worded statement from the UN Security Council.
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[An Nahar] The embattled regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... on Wednesday pressed on with a deadly crackdown on dissent.
Activists reported that 11 non-combatants were killed by Syrian forces in the flashpoint provinces of Idlib and Homs, while in the southern Daraa province, cradle of eight months of anti-regime unrest, a blast killed seven security forces.
The latest violence came as the world's largest Islamic body, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, held emergency talks at its Jeddah headquarters to find ways of ending the bloodshed.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who has repeatedly accused "armed terrorists" of fuelling the unrest, attended the meeting as OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu warned against foreign military intervention in Syria.
On Wednesday, security forces killed seven civilians in the northwestern Idlib province, including a 12-year-old boy and a woman, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Four other non-combatants were killed in separate incidents in the central city of Homs by gunfire.
And seven members of the security forces were killed in festivities with army deserters in the Daraa town of Dael, the Britannia-based group said.
It quoted a witness as saying the festivities were triggered by the arrival in Dael of at least 30 armored personnel carriers, adding that two vehicles were destroyed in the fighting.
More than 164 people were also set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock in Dael where security forces carried out search operations, the group said, adding that 19 people were maimed by gunfire.
State television meanwhile reported that authorities released 912 people who were involved in anti-regime unrest but have "no blood on their hands, the third batch freed this month.
In Jeddah the OIC expressed frustration at the unending bloodshed and raised concerns about the international response to the crisis in Syria.
"We also refuse any military intervention and affirm our respect to Syria and its illusory sovereignty ... and welcome international and Arab efforts" to reach a solution, the head of the pan-Islamic organization told the gathering.
"We have exhausted all our mechanisms and powers in our attempt to bridge the gap and end bloodshed" in Syria, OIC chief Ihsanoglu said, urging ministers to "reach practical recommendations that would help achieve a compromising solution."
According to a U.N. estimate released in early November, more than 3,500 people have been killed in the crackdown on dissent since mid-March.
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[An Nahar] Foreign ministers of the world's largest Mohammedan body urged Syria on Wednesday to cooperate with the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , which imposed unprecedented sanctions on Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... over its crackdown on months of protests.
Ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... to "respond to the decisions of the vaporous Arab League," according to a statement released at the end of emergency talks on Syria.
The OIC also urged Damascus to "immediately stop using excessive force against civilians ... to spare the country the danger of internationalizing the crisis," it added.
The statement, issued after the meeting that was attended by the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, urged "all parties in Syria to renounce violence and resort to peaceful means."
OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, speaking after the meeting, said the group "urged Syria to stop violating human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and to allow Islamic and international human organizations access to Syria."
The meeting was also attended by Ali Akbar Salehi, the foreign minister of Iran which is a key regional ally of the regime in Damascus.
Earlier, Ihsanoglu reiterated the Jeddah-based group's rejection of any moves "to internationalize the crisis."
"We also refuse any military intervention and affirm our respect to Syria and its illusory sovereignty ... and welcome international and Arab efforts" to reach a solution, he said.
But the OIC chief expressed frustration at the lack of any breakthrough to end the violence since March that the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... says killed more than 3,500 people, mostly civilians, in its first eight months.
"We have exhausted all our mechanisms and powers in our attempt to bridge the gap and end bloodshed" in Syria, he said.
The Arab League approved on Sunday sweeping sanctions against Assad's government over the crackdown -- the first time that bloc has enforced punitive measures of such magnitude on one of its own members.
Measures include an immediate ban on transactions with Damascus and its central bank and a freeze on Syrian government assets in Arab countries.
They also bar Syrian officials from visiting Arab countries and call for a suspension of all flights to Arab states to be implemented on a date to be set next week.
The vote on sanctions came after Damascus defied an ultimatum to accept observers under an Arab League peace plan and put an end to the eight-month crackdown.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Is there an "English League"? Or a "Spanish League"? The arab-league is all about re-establishing calipha tyranny. And BHO - son of a muslim spouse and child abandoner - welcomes arab-league enforcement.
Posted by: Sonny Scourge of the Poles9835 ||
12/01/2011 15:16
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Iranian Freedom Institute And Confederation of Iranian Students Press Release
As the U.S. and its European allies begin to impose effective sanctions on the Islamic Republic, the western democracies should anticipate that the regime will initiate more of these fully-authorized, staged incidents under the guise of a student movement. The so-called students, of course, are plain-clothed basiji following orders from the regime. Even Moussa Ghornani, a member of the legal committee of the Iranian Parliament, admitted unwittingly in a statement that "the students who entered the British Embassy yesterday were members of one of the official and effective organizations within the regime." The basiji "students"Basiji-led Attack on the British Embassy in Tehran published an announcement in the Raja News (the official news agency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) that railed against the government of Britain because "this evil government had the audacity to sanction our Central Bank."
The western democracies should take this incident as evidence that the recently imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) have infuriated the regime. And for good reason. The CBI sanctions will disrupt the smooth flow of revenue to the regime that is essential to pay its loyalists, the basiji, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership. The Iranian Freedom Institute (IFI) and the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) applauded the imposition of CBI sanctions noting that this is a major step in the right direction.
Contrary to the regime's propaganda, the Iranian freedom student movement believes the regime has lost its legitimacy and has called repeatedly for its removal. The western democracies should not be misled by the regime's subterfuge. The Iranian freedom student movement seeks a free, democratic and secular Iran. The Confederation of Iranian Students, in particular, has been at the forefront of this fight for basic human rights and freedoms that the Iranian people desperately seek. Be clear on this point. The Iranian regime, not the average Iranian citizen, is affected by the CBI sanctions and only the imposition of oil sanctions would have a decisive impact on the Islamic Republic.
IFI and CIS believe that the imposition of oil sanctions against the Islamic Republic will cut off the life blood of the regime -- the revenue essential to meet the payrolls of its domestic security forces, the basiji and the Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership. The oil sanctions report prepared by the CIS presents a detailed analysis showing how a carefully developed and implemented plan, coordinated closely with the Saudi government, would cripple the Iranian regime and avoid shocking the international oil markets during the current period of international financial turmoil. In this regard, IFI and CIS strongly support French President Sarcozy's call for international sanctions on the Iranian regime's oil exports, and will continue their efforts to encourage the U.S. Congress to adopt bipartisan legislation toward that end.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#5
This was most likely done by the Mullaus to embaress Dinnerjacket.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/01/2011 12:14
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#6
The poorest of iran's 10 top ayatollahs has only US$200 million in extorted wealth. they routinely use basij gestapo to break strikes and enforce labor discipline in ayatollah owned factories, which butcher all rules of employee safety.
Basij animals are recruited from the brainwashed class who believe they must serve as slaves to the guardian council. Many of these will turn against the elites, if the message of elite parasitism is allowed to impact on their brains. So why doesn't BHO order public diplomacy, a al Radio Free Europe, to tell the truth that iran's govt censors? Because BHO is ideologically committed to share elite lies. When iranians erupted against their tyrants in 2009, BHO invoked "events of 1953" as if same founded legitimate greivances. The tyranny - a Jimmah Carter Frankenstate - would collapse if a US President had the integrity to act in his own country's interests. BHOs orientation is clearly directed toward globalism, with its sympathy for islamonazism.
Posted by: Sonny Scourge of the Poles9835 ||
12/01/2011 15:05
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#7
Jimmy Carter to the white courtesy phone, please.
#8
Certainly possible that the Brits knew this was coming. The attack does Iran no good whatsoever. On the other hand, it does do those who want to impose a serious embargo on their central bank a great deal of good. Methinks there are elements inside Iran's power elite that want change that will keep them in the clover.
[Dawn] LATE last week, hundreds of protesters came out onto the streets of Lahore and Muzaffarabad to protest Pakistain's intention to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India. The participants were largely members of right-wing parties and bad turban groups. But Pakistain has been considering granting MFN status to India for some time, and it has been weeks since the cabinet's intention to do so was made public. And while Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... did hold protests across the country earlier this month, the demonstrations on Thursday and Friday consisted of a broader group of right-wing organizations, including JI, Jamaatud Dawa, and, according to some reports, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... and Jaish-i-Mohammad. Both the timing of the protests, and the presence of groups that are either banned or are known to be associated with banned outfits, raise questions about who instigated them, and to what end.
The most significant impact of the MFN decision will be on the business community, which has, by all accounts, been supportive of it, recognising the enormous economic benefits that can result from opening up trade with India. The commerce ministry has been taking industry stakeholders into account to help shape the regime and address the concerns of those who might feel threatened by an influx of Indian goods. Why, then, the need for these self-styled defenders of Pakistain to get involved? While the protesting groups -- at least those that are not banned -- have the right to demonstrate, their agenda is clearly ideological, not economic. Their rhetoric took full advantage of the misleading MFN label, which in reality simply means treating India at par with other trading partners. Much of the language in these gatherings also centred on Kashmire, betraying the old unwillingness to improve relations with India in any sphere without a favourable resolution of that issue.
The entire thrust of the current dialogue with India, however, is that all issues should finally be on the table without preconditions. A one-track approach to the relationship was not working and has rightly been abandoned. Those backing the demonstrations that took place last week need to embrace the new way forward.
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[Iran Press TV] After the UK withdrew its diplomatic mission from Iran, Germany, La Belle France and the Netherlands have also recalled their ambassadors to Tehran for consultation.
On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London is withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Tehran after Iranian students demonstrated outside the British Embassy.
Hague went on to say that the Iranian Embassy ...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!... in London would also be immediately closed and Tehran must remove its diplomatic mission within 48 hours.
Following Hague's statement, La Belle France, Germany and the Netherlands also announced that they are recalling their ambassador to Iran for consultation.
"In view of yesterday's events in Tehran, Foreign Minister (Guido) Westerwelle has decided to recall the German ambassador in Iran to Berlin for consultations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest rally outside of two UK diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British envoy.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Wednesday that Tehran considers any attack against diplomatic missions and buildings and the violation of international law are unacceptable.
He added that the incident in Tehran was the result of the anger of demonstrators at British policies and was unexpected.
The Iranian official said that the vigilance of authorities had prevented any of the diplomats from being injured and Iran's Judiciary will punish perpetrators accordingly.
He described Britannia's demand that Iranian diplomats leave London as hasty and Tehran will take necessary measures in return.
Mehmanparast stressed that London is responsible for protecting Iran's diplomatic mission and buildings.
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#1
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Wednesday that Tehran considers any attack against diplomatic missions and buildings and the violation of international law are unacceptable.
...Which is what they said the last time.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/01/2011 5:58
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#2
Any video of the perpetrators being jugged?
I thought not.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 12:54
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#3
Now they're getting tough. That'll breake their Iranian hearts for the Europeans to call their ambassadors home.
[Al Ahram] At least 26 people were maimed on Wednesday when Shi'ite rebels in northern Yemen shelled Salafi Sunni Islamists, a front man for the Salafis said, in the latest round of fighting between the two sides.
The bloodshed on the border with oil giant Soddy Arabia is just one of the internal conflicts threatening a plan to stave off civil war and hold an election after President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... bowed to 10 months of protests demanding he step down.
It comes as the new prime minister attempts to form a government, in line with the deal brokered by Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbours under which Saleh agreed to step aside after a 33-year rule that also saw a civil war in the country's south.
An official of the Salafis--Sunnis who espouse a puritanical creed with followers in Soddy Arabia--said Houthi fighters attacked his side early on Wednesday in Damaj, 150 km (90 miles) north of the capital Sanaa.
The official, Abu Ismail, spoke by telephone with kabooms audible in the background, and said several students of the Dar al-Hadith Sunni religious school affiliated with the Salafis had been injured in the fighting.
The Houthis, members of the Zaidi branch of Shi'ism who draw their name from a tribal leader, effectively control the northern Saada province and are deeply wary of Soddy Arabia's promotion of Salafi creeds that class Shi'ites as heretics.
Saleh's forces struggled to crush the Houthi rebellion--which Saudi forces also intervened against militarily--before a ceasefire last year.
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[Tripoli Post] The UN Security Council strongly condemned, "in the strongest terms" the storming of Britannia's embassy in Tehran on Tuesday and warned Iran that it must protect diplomatic personnel, it said in a statement agreed by the 15-nation body.
But Iran's Speaker has today criticised as "hasty" the condemnation of the student rally and advised London against exploiting the incident.
Addressing an open Majlis (Parliament) session on Wednesday, Ali Larijani said: "A group of students infuriated by the behaviour of the UK gathered outside the British Embassy in Tehran yesterday and some of them entered the compound,"
He stressed that the anger of students stems from decades of British domineering measures in Iran, adding that the Islamic Revolution cut the hands of the US and UK, which insisted on enmity with the Iranian nation.
Larijani described the hasty UNSC condemnation of the student protest as a means to cover up past UK and US crimes, adding that Iranian police and security officers did their best to maintain calm and order around the embassy.
"Why is it that when in 1980 a group of counter-revolutionaries attacked the Iranian Embassy ...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!... in London, destroyed the embassy compound, injured people and martyred a couple of others no emergency UNSC session was held and the UK did not condemn the incident?"
Larijani said that such a deceitful approach was the reason for insecurity in the world.
"Majlis invites (all) to calm, restoration of order and the execution of the law and considers the hasty behaviour of the US and UK and their adventurism with regards to issues involving the actions of students, as opportunism," the Iranian news agency, IRNA quoted him as saying.
Larijani added the UK is trying to exploit the situation.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Iranian students from different universities entered the compound of the British Embassy in Tehran and pulled down Britannia's flag, and in northern Tehran, police entered a second British diplomatic compound to bring the security situation there under control.
The gathering was held following the approval of a bill aimed at downgrading ties with the UK by the Majlis, and in protest to Britannia's hostile policies towards the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
The bill, which was also approved unanimously by Iran's Guardian Council (GC) on Monday, obliges the country's foreign ministry to expel British Ambassador to Tehran Dominick John Chilcott within two weeks, thus reducing diplomatic ties with the UK government to the level of charge d'affaires.
On Tuesday, the 15-member UN Security Council president Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral condemned the storming, and highlighted the Vienna conventions which protect diplomats. The council "called on the Iranian authorities to protect diplomatic and consular property and personnel, and to respect fully their international obligations in this regard."
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system... following the attack on the embassy in Tehran, Britannia's foreign secretary William Hague siad London is withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Iran and that the Iranian Embassy in London will be closed.
Addressing the UK parliament on Wednesday Hague said the Iranian Embassy in London will be immediately closed and its diplomatic mission will be expelled from Britannia, adding that British diplomatic staff in Tehran have been evacuated, with diplomatic sources saying that a first group of embassy staff were reportedly flying to Dubai.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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[An Nahar] Kuwait's ruler on Wednesday appointed Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah as the new prime minister of the oil-rich Gulf state, state-run Kuwait Television announced.
"An emiri decree was issued appointing Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah as prime minister," the report said.
Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah asked the new premier to form the cabinet which will be the eighth since February 2006 when the former premier was appointed to the post.
Sheikh Jaber, a senior member of the ruling family, replaces outgoing premier Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Sabah who quit on Monday under pressure from the opposition and after graft charges.
Sheikh Jaber, 69, has been in the cabinet since 2001 and was also the first deputy premier in the outgoing cabinet.
Opposition Islamist MP Falah al-Sawwagh told Agence La Belle France Presse on Wednesday the new government is likely to be a transitional cabinet mainly to oversee the next election after dissolving parliament.
Sawwagh said that a decree by the emir dissolving parliament and calling for snap polls "was expected to be issued late Wednesday." The current parliament's term ends in May 2013.
New elections have to be held within two months, according to Kuwaiti law.
Kuwaiti opposition MPs have repeatedly called for dissolving parliament as members of the 50-strong house are facing allegations of corruption.
Sawwagh told news hounds that the Kuwaiti opposition decided after a meeting Wednesday to "suspend all mass rallies in respect for the emir who is currently taking decisive decisions."
The Kuwaiti opposition and youth activists have been launching a campaign since March to oust the former prime minister accusing him of failure to fight corruption and manage the wealthy Gulf state effectively.
The campaign intensified in August after allegations that about 15 pro-government MPs received illegal deposits into their bank accounts estimated by the opposition at $350 million.
At a massive opposition-sponsored rally on Monday, MPs appealed to the emir to dissolve parliament saying they cannot sit with suspected corrupt politicians in the same chamber.
Kuwait is OPEC's third largest producer, pumping around three million barrels per day. It has amassed over $300 billion in surpluses but development has been stalled due to almost non-stop political disputes.
During the past five years, Kuwait had seven governments and parliament was dissolved on three occasions.
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12/01/2011
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[Yemen Post] Senior sources within the office of Vice President Abdul Rabu Mansoor Hadi said that he continues to call President-for-Life Saleh ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... for every move he takes, forgetting the Saleh is now only an honorary president.
"The vice president tells the opposition parties that he cannot take a decision on certain matters only with the approval of Saleh. Hadi knows the timing in sensitive and he wants to ensure all his steps are carefully taken," said an official close to Hadi.
The power transfer deal signed in Riyadh last week gave Hadi complete presidential authority and left Saleh with the honorary name of president but with no authority.
President Saleh has been meeting with bigwigs in the ruling party since his arrival to Sanaa last week.
Saleh wants to ensure the complete loyalty of the majority of the government army and elite republican guards before he leaves power, and is now coordinating ton make that possible.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[An Nahar] Can there be no trust between a kidnapper and his hostages?
A man who held a Kansas couple hostage in their home while fleeing from authorities is suing them, claiming that they broke an oral contract made when he promised them money in exchange for hiding him from police. The couple has asked a judge to dismiss the suit.
Jesse Dimmick of suburban Denver is serving an 11-year sentence after bursting into Jared and Lindsay Rowley's Topeka-area home in September 2009. He was wanted for questioning in the beating death of a Colorado man and a chase had begun.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that Dimmick filed a breach of contract suit in Shawnee County District Court, in response to a suit the Rowleys filed in September seeking $75,000 from him for intruding in their home and causing emotional stress.
Dimmick contends that he told the couple he was being chased by someone, most likely the police, who wanted to kill him.
"I, the defendant, asked the Rowleys to hide me because I feared for my life. I offered the Rowleys an unspecified amount of money which they agreed upon, therefore forging a legally binding oral contract," Dimmick said in his hand-written court documents. He wants $235,000, in part to pay for the hospital bills that resulted from him being shot by police when they jugged him.
Neighbors have said that the couple fed Dimmick snacks and watched movies with him until he fell asleep and they were able to escape their home unharmed.
Dimmick was convicted in May 2010 of four felonies, including two counts of kidnapping. He was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months on those charges. He was later sent to a jail in Colorado where he is being held on eight charges, including murder, in connection of with the killing of Michael Curtis in September 2009. A preliminary hearing originally scheduled for Dec. 6 has been rescheduled for April 12. No plea has been entered in the case.
Robert E. Keeshan, an attorney for the Rowleys, filed a motion denying that there was a contract, but said if there was it would not have been binding anyway.
"In order for parties to form a binding contract, there must be a meeting of the minds on all essential terms, including and most specifically, an agreement on the price," he wrote.
Keeshan said the contract also would have been invalid because the couple agreed to let Dimmick in the home only because they knew he had a knife and suspected he might have a gun.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
So-o-o IIUC, he's suing for BREACH OF ORAL CONTRACT, MISREPRESENTATION BY HOSTAGE + UNJUST IMPRISONMENT DUE TO FILING OF FALSE POLICE REPORT BU HOSTAGE + CONDUCT/MALICE UNBECOMING A HOSTAGE(S)???
IIRC 1990's "DREW CAREY" SHOW character quip >
D *** NG IT, "THIS IS AMERICA, + YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS - SOMEONE ELSE IS RESPONSIBLE! THANK GOD FOR OUR OVERWORKED, OVERPAID, CONGESTED, BROKEN DOWN CRIMINAL/LEGAL JUSTICE SYSTEM"!
[Real Clear Politics] President B.O. explains why he's "going to give" Congress "another chance" to pass measures in his jobs bill.
Obama also claims that he is the tax-cutter in the race.
"I know you hear a lot of folks on cable TV claiming that I am this 'big tax and spend liberal.' Next time you hear that, you just remind the people who are saying it that since I've taken office, I've cut your taxes. Your taxes -- your taxes today, the average middle class family, your taxes today are lower than when I took office. Just remember that. We have cut taxes for small businesses, not once, not twice, but 17 times. The average family's tax burden is among the lowest it's been in the last 60 years. So the problem is not that we've been raising taxes. We've been trying to give families a break during these tough times," Obama said at a campaign event in Scranton, Penn.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
Yep.
Lose your job,
less income,
don't pay as much in taxes.
#4
I'm not surprised that he said it -- hell, he probably just rattled it off as the words rolled past on the teleprompter without even giving it a single thought.
#7
One more reason elections should be held the day after tax day. I don't care if he did create more tax cuts, if the IRS is taking a bigger chunk out of a smaller yearly salary he's making stupid cuts.
I take back everything I've ever said about Zardari, Gilani, and the EU science council.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/01/2011 11:29
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As Reagan would say to Carter whenever he tried to put forward one of his blatant distortions and lies in the 1980 race for POTUS... "There you go again."
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: An official says thirteen people have been injured after protesters against the budget clashed with police in Sri LankaÂ’s capital. Pushpa Soysa, a spokeswoman for Colombo National Hospital, says eight policemen and five protesters were hurt in WednesdayÂ’s protest.
Police barricaded the road to stop the march from reaching the presidentÂ’s office and later used a water cannon to disperse defying protesters.
The protesters say the budget contains no proposals for employing the countryÂ’s youth.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2011
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[Al Ahram] Leb's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday he had transferred its share of funding to a UN-backed court probing the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, an issue that threatened to spark the collapse of his government.
"This morning, I transferred Leb's share of funding to the Special Tribunal for Leb (TSL)," Mikati said in a surprise announcement.
He said the decision was in Leb's interest and would protect the country from the upheavals shaking the region.
"This does not constitute a victory for one party over another," the premier told news hounds.
Mikati last week threatened to resign should his Hezbullies-dominated government refuse to fund the STL, and the issue was to be discussed on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting that was postponed.
The Netherlands-based court has indicted four Hezbullies operatives in connection with Hariri's murder but they have not surrendered to the court.
Hezbullies chief Hassan Nasrallah, who has denounced the court as part of a US-Israeli conspiracy, has steadfastly pushed with his allies for Leb to cut all ties with the tribunal.
The Shiite bad boy group toppled the government of Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , the slain leader's son, in January after he refused to stop cooperation with the court.
Leb is responsible for meeting 49 percent of the STL's financing, which amounts to some $35 million (25.2 million euros) this year.
Mikati's government had until the end of October to transfer the now overdue funds.
The premier said last week that he would rather quit than be head of a government that did not honour its international obligations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#4
for now the Fed is essentially just buying euros (using dollars).
they have done this many times previously and then unwound the position later
they did this to avoid precipitous decline in the euro (such a decline harms US exporters and US companies with overseas subsidiaries)- in the past this has always worked and probably ended with a net 'profit' for the fed
Of course this time the problem is not a declining euro; it is euro that needs to be either abolished or retreated from Greece-Italy-Spain-Portugal.
So we have functions with a discontinuity - the analytic nightmare.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/01/2011 7:08
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Just more reason for the EUroweenies to hate us.
Yes, but when Brussels arm twists Germany to pick up the tab, Brussels dictates to Greece et al how to run their countries. How, about we get to do the same to Brussels? Of course not. How silly to assume power goes with the process.
#9
How, about we get to do the same to Brussels?
Been thinking the same thing. It's probably what the Euro leaders were thinking when they visited Obama last week.Their soft soap seems to have worked.
Another point, the Bernank stated in 2002: The Fed can inject money into the economy in still other ways. For example, the Fed has the authority to buy foreign government debt, as well as domestic government debt. Potentially, this class of assets offers huge scope for Fed operations, as the quantity of foreign assets eligible for purchase by the Fed is several times the stock of U.S. government debt.16
If you check footnote 16 it says: 16. The Fed has committed to the Congress that it will not use this power to "bail out" foreign governments; hence in practice it would purchase only highly rated foreign government debt.
Lokks like a bit of mission creep going on here.
[Dawn] Pakistain said on Wednesday it was looking at summoning the BBC to demand an explanation over a documentary about the Taliban that has left the BBC World News channel blocked nationwide.
Cable operators pulled the channel late Tuesday amid anger over NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... air strikes that killed 24 Pak soldiers.
The move raises concerns about censorship in the conservative Moslem country of 167 million, where Facebook was briefly banned in 2010, just days after the Pakistain Telecommunication Authority sought to ban "obscene" text messages.
Khalid Arain, chairman of the Cable Operators Association of Pakistain, confirmed that BBC World News was off-air nationwide and that other Western news channels had been ordered "not to indulge in anti-Pakistain propaganda".
The row relates to a two-part BBC documentary, "Secret Pakistain," which questions Pakistain's commitment to tackling Taliban militancy.
The BBC said it was deeply concerned by the move, and called for its channel to be speedily reinstated.
Pakistain's media regulator, PEMRA, said: "Definitely, since an issue has been highlighted, the authorities will review the contents of the broadcast and their programmes."
The authorities can summon BBC representatives and seek an explanation from them," PEMRA front man Tahir Izhar told AFP.
Arain said Pakistain was not legally bound to show any foreign channels and was also monitoring Britannia's Sky News for "any objectionable content."
Pakistain has aroused increasing criticism overseas and from human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... campaigners within the country over censorship. The row over the BBC saw people post links to the documentary on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
"It is clear violation of our basic right to information. I condemn it," said Shujauddin Qureshi, a human rights activist.
Saad Haroon wrote on Twitter, "They have taken BBC off the air in Pakistain, great, now we will be the LAST to know when they bomb us."
Last week, the Pakistain Telecommunication Authority was forced to row back from banning text messages containing any of nearly 1,700 "obscene" words, many of which were seemingly innocuous, following outrage from users and campaigners.
Pakistain blocked Facebook for nearly two weeks in May 2010 in a storm of controversy about a competition to draw the Prophet Mohammed and has restricted access to hundreds of websites because of alleged blasphemy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
Y'all be sure that your "ORDER" will be fulfilled BEFORE you screw up and issue it.
Urders that are laughed at only hurt the Regieme.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2011 1:22
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#2
Summon meteors, b*tches. You are on the shallow end of the civilization pool a-holes, and not moving forward
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2011 21:41
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#3
great, now we will be the LAST to know when they bomb us."
Believe me, if it is important, you will know about it - maybe sooner than most.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Emily Mortimer (Great Britain) aka Rachel 1 in "Shutter Island (2010)" aka Karin in "Lars and the Real Girl (2007)" aka Lizzie in "Dear Frankie (2004)" aka Chloe Hewett Wilton in "Match Point (2005)" aka Nicole Durant in "The Pink Panther (1 & 2 - 2006 & 2009)" aka Dakota Parker in "Formula 51 (2001)" aka Cathie Dimly in "Young Adam (2003)" aka Elizabeth Marks in "Lovely and Amazing (2001)" (age 40)
[Dawn] President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... on Wednesday offered Korea to establish its economic zone in Pakistain to boost trade ties between the two countries.
The President was chairing a meeting to discuss his forthcoming visit to Korea and to highlight investment opportunities for the Korean businessmen and investors in Pakistain.
Representatives of Korean companies were also present.
Briefing about the meeting Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said President Zardari invited Korean companies to take advantage of most attractive investment opportunities available in Pakistain in different sectors including oil and gas, mining, trading, energy, information technology and telecom, food and agriculture, Small and Medium Enterprises, infrastructure and tourism.
Zardari said he looked forward to his visit to Korea which would help boost economic and trade ties between the two countries.
He said with emerging market of 180 million people, Pakistain was a potential hub of the economic activities in the region as it was located at the crossroads of West Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and China and provided shortest access to North and South Asia through Gwadar Port.
He said Pakistain was a force multiplier for the economies of the countries in the region and held the key to economic development in the area.
The Spokesperson said the President appreciated managers and heads of Korean companies operating in Pakistain for their investment and their interest to further explore business opportunities here.
He assured the participants that Pakistain government would continue to extend maximum facilitation and provide them with every possible support in realizing their investment objectives.
He said the government was keen to transform the existing relationship with the Republic of Korea into economy-oriented equation for the benefit of the two countries.
"We need to translate our existing relations in economic terms," the spokesperson quoted the President, "so as to take advantage of each others' resources and opportunities."
Highlighting Pak-Korea relations, the President mentioned landmark infrastructure projects completed with the help of South Korean companies and said it testified lasting relationships between Pakistain and the Republic of Korea.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
Is he also referring to Kimmie + North Korea???
(Rooters) - Britannia shut Iran's embassy in London and expelled all its staff on Wednesday, saying the storming of the British mission in Tehran could not have taken place without consent from Iranian authorities.
Foreign Secretary William Hague also said the British Embassy in Tehran had been closed and all staff evacuated following the attack on Tuesday by a crowd that ransacked offices and burned British flags in a protest over sanctions imposed by Britannia on Tehran.
Iran warned that Britannia's closure of the Iranian embassy in London would lead to further retaliation.
Tuesday's incident was the most violent so far as relations between the two countries steadily deteriorate due to Iran's wider dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.
On top of its ban on British financial institutions dealing with Iran and its central bank last week, Britannia has called for further measures and a diplomatic source said London would now support a ban on oil imports from the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Hague said Iranian ambassadors across the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... had been summoned to receive strong protests over the incident. But Britannia stopped short of severing ties with Iran completely.
"The Iranian charge (d'affaires) in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours," Hague told parliament.
"We have now closed the British embassy in Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all our staff and as of the last few minutes, the last of our UK-based staff have now left Iran."
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12/01/2011
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[Dawn] ON the day after the rather one-sided border clash that, at a stroke, undid all the fence-mending in which Pakistain and the US have lately been engaged, US Senator Richard Durbin sought to put the disastrous incident in perspective.
"Imagine how we would feel," the Democrat from Illinois said on Fox News, "if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pak forces at this moment."
Chances are that disproportionate military retaliation, in one shape or another, would swiftly have followed, regardless of the consequences.
The repercussions of possible future 'unintended tragedies' of this variety are, of course, unpredictable. For the moment, Pakistain has decided it won't play ball. It has been suggest that the closure of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... 's supply routes via Torkham and Chaman is permanent, although that is unlikely.
The closure of the US airbase at Shamsi has been sought before, but even if it were to be achieved this time around, it would be little more than a gesture, given that its use as a secondary base for drone flights reportedly ceased in April.
(Somewhat greater transparency about the status of the base would, meanwhile, be welcome -- although, even if it previously served primarily as a private airstrip for members of Gulf ruling families who periodically descend on Pakistain to shoot protected species, its secret hand-over to the US was presumably at Islamabad's, rather than Abu Dhabi's, behest.)
Given the level of national indignation, it is inevitable that calls for a more robust response will be heard. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... there isn't a great deal more Pakistain can reasonably be expected to do. Ceasing all cooperation with the US and NATO may not be an utterly unviable option, but its possible consequences need to be thought through. Were the alliance to be ruptured, how would Pakistain react thereafter to border incursions? Would the hostilities be reciprocated? Does all-out war even bear contemplation?
The situation is a monumental mess, and Pakistain cannot deny a key role in creating it, going back to the 1980s. Of course, nor can the US. Or, for that matter, Soddy Arabia and various other parties. Not to mention the former Soviet Union.
But Pakistain, more than any other state, cannot walk away from the mess because of its geographical proximity to Afghanistan -- the porous, colonial-era Durand Line, whose ill-defined nature has repeatedly been cited in recent days as a possible mitigating factor for NATO's 'error'.
It would probably have also been wiser not to boycott next week's Bonn conference on Afghanistan -- even though there is plenty of scepticism about its potential utility.
The region abounds in ironies, and one of these is that while Pakistain is valued as a participant in such discussions because of its presumed influence over crucial Taliban factions, it has never been completely trusted as an ally for precisely the same reason.
Washington's twin-track Afghan strategy -- war-war complemented by the occasional jaw-jaw -- relies to a certain extent on Pakistain in both contexts.
Another notable irony is that on the day before NATO aircraft attacked two Pak border posts, the American commanding general in Kabul, John Allen, was holding talks with The Mighty Pak Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... on -- what else? -- border cooperation.
The two sides have different tales on exactly what occurred in the early hours of Saturday, with Afghan and NATO sources saying air support was summoned after they came under fire from the direction of the posts, while the Pakistain Army has dismissed this as nonsense and described the attack as unprovoked -- adding, for good measure, that the relevant terrain has been Taliban-free for some time, and that NATO was aware of the coordinates of the military posts.
What's more, the attack went on even after the Pak military had conveyed its alarm and angst to NATO.
One of the maimed Pak soldiers has been quoted as saying that he and his comrades initially assumed they were under attack by the Taliban. It's the same story, apparently, on the other side of the border. Although, as the Pakistain Army has pointed out, it is unsupported by any reports of casualties.
The competing narratives seem irreconcilable, but NATO has promised a thorough investigation and invited Pakistain to participate. It would be fatuous to turn down the offer. There can obviously be no guarantee that the inquiry will reach a mutually acceptable conclusion. But there is certainly no harm in trying.
Despite everything, it is hard to believe that NATO forces would gratuitously attack military posts inside Pak territory.
The troops that claim to have taken fire were mainly Afghan. It is not inconceivable that the air cover could have been summoned on the basis of misinformation -- possibly of the malicious variety. Whatever the case, an inquiry could potentially get to the bottom of it.
As for recalibrating Pakistain's relations with the US, that is something that has been required for decades. The Truman administration was not overly keen about the idea of embracing the incipient state as a client when Liaquat Ali Khan threw open his arms and ran towards Uncle Sam, but since those days it has exploited the relationship to its advantage, and the incumbent nephew has generally gone along without asking too many questions.
This year has been particularly testing for Pakistain, what with the sordid Raymond Davis affair, followed by the extended (albeit not particularly surprising) violation of national illusory sovereignty in the successful hunt for the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be but now ain't... . And now this, following hot on the heels of the memogate scandal
Pakistain certainly needs to wriggle free from Uncle Sam's grasp. But that's not all. It also needs to wriggle free of the army's choke-hold, which has rarely been eased since 1977. And of the self-serving politicians who pretend to guide its destiny. And of the obscurantist mentality that is another of Ziaul Haq's odious legacies.
Perhaps Occupy Islamabad wouldn't be a bad idea, provided it isn't put into action by the Americans. Or, worse still, the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
"Imagine how we would feel," the Democrat from Illinois said on Fox News, "if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pak forces at this moment."
#4
"Imagine how we would feel," the Democrat from Illinois said on Fox News, "if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pak forces at this moment."
#5
It is not inconceivable that the air cover could have been summoned on the basis of misinformation -- possibly of the malicious variety.
Or even on the basis of correct information. Pakistani troops have attacked NATO and native troops -- and even shelled Afghan villages-- before. But the Pakistanis much prefer faulting the infidels. That is their truth whatever the actual facts.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... stressed on Tuesday that the equation of the army, people, and resistance has granted Leb its stability.
He said during a Ashuora sermon: "The Resistance is no longer an element in Leb, but one of its major components."
"Leb cannot exist without the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... because in the past it used to be weak without it, but now it has become a force to be reckoned with," he remarked.
"The Resistance has preserved the Lebanese state and people and it has established a unique relationship with the army," he noted.
"The army, people, and Resistance equation is unique in the world just as Leb is unique in its sects," Qassem continued.
Furthermore, he said that the Resistance will not respond to the criticism against it, stressing that despite the local and regional developments, the party is not fearful over the future.
"Any hardship can be resolved as long as we are performing our duties correctly," the Hizbullah official stated.
"We are certain that victory will always be on our side," he said.
He renewed the party's accusations of espionage against the American Embassy, saying that it is spying for Israel and stirring strife in Leb.
Reports last week said Hizbullah had uncovered several operatives within the movement working for the CIA.
In the first acknowledgement of infiltration since the group's founding in the 1980s, Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... in June had said members of his group confessed to being CIA agents.
Nasrallah accused his arch-foe Israel of turning to the U.S. spy agency after failing to infiltrate his party, slamming the American embassy in Beirut as a "den of spies."
The U.S. embassy in Beirut dismissed the accusations as "empty."
More than 100 people in Leb have been tossed in the clink on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including military personnel and telecoms employees.
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[Iran Press TV]US forces in Iraq have been involved in a recent mortar attack near the Iraqi parliament in the capital Storied Baghdad, ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... an Iraqi politician says.
At least two people were killed and seven others, including one politician, were maimed on Monday after a mortar round hit the Iraqi parliament's parking area in Storied Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
The Americans want to give the impression that the Iraqi security forces are unable to ensure security in Iraq after the pullout of US troops from the country, local Iraqi media cited the Iraqi member of parliament, Etab Aldori, as saying. Everyone knows that the Americans are the source of insecurity in Iraq, the Iraqiya Bloc politician further said, noting that Iraqi troops are capable of taking the responsibly for establishing security in the war-torn country.
According to a Baghdad-Washington security pact signed in 2008, the US troops are mandated to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. Some analysts believe that the US occupying forces are encouraging terrorist groups to conduct attacks in Iraq in a bid to extend their presence in the country after withdrawal deadline.
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12/01/2011
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[Iran Press TV] US Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says more sanctions planned against Iran over its nuclear program are leading down the destructive path of war.
In an article titled, 'The Folly of Sanctions,' Paul sharply criticizes US foreign policy for imposing more sanctions against Iran and warned about its "unintended consequences."
He explained that sanctions are not only acts of war according to international law, they are most often the first step toward a real war, starting with a bombing campaign.
"Sanctions were the first step in our wars against Iraq and Libya, and now more sanctions planned against Syria and Iran are leading down the same destructive path," the presidential hopeful warned. "Sanctions against Iran are definite steps toward a US attack."
The Texas congressman also wrote that "according to the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency's latest report, just out this month, there is no evidence that Iran has diverted enriched uranium from the peaceful and lawful generation of power towards building a nuclear weapon."
"According to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," he added.
Paul also called on the US administration to use "diplomacy rather than threats and hostility" dealing with Iran.
He also warned that more sanctions against Iran would have a direct effect on US economy.
"The tougher sanctions currently under consideration would disrupt global trade and undermine the US economy, which in turn harms our national security," Paul wrote.
He concluded that "this race to war against Iran and Syria is both foolhardy and dangerous."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
"According to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," he added.
That's the problem with libertarian purists. They think everyone else shares their "enlightened self-interest" outlook. When in fact there are some truly malevolent aggressors out there, whose self-interest is entirely hostile and barbaric.
#3
The other problem is that they think "diplomacy" can work. If so, the mullahs would have stopped long ago. Talk will never stop someone intent on an end.
#4
Yumm, watermelon soup, served up fresh by Pauly.
Its these fools who think that WWII happened because FDR put sanctions on Imperial Japan which then of course forced the benevolant Japanese to invade everything Pacific and Indian. Had the USA just allowed material to flow into Japan, them and the Chinese, who were such good friends at the time, could have come up with viable wind energy and Europe would be home to exotic penguins.
Sit down Paul, I think the heat has gotten to your head.
#5
Sanctions will increase oil prices and screw the economy of the world even worse while the usual suspects find ways around them.
Sanctions made Castro and Saddam rich and helped them solidify power while blaming the sanctions and the world for the ills they created. Sanctions need to be rethought.
Blowing stuff up, or directly financing and training opposition works faster and better.
#6
FRom what I can see from the other side of the pond and what I can infer about his positions on American Civil War Ron Paul is not for a small goovernnment: he is for a small America
#7
Sanctions don't always lead to war. Anybody remember the U.S. war against Cuba? South Africa? Sudan? Me neither.
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/01/2011 9:03
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Act of War, in a way yes.
A step in a process of hostilities, sure.
Sanctions cause wars, no. If you are doing sanctions you are already not getting along.
Sanctions work. Blockades work. But they only work if those involved are serious about them, otherwise you end up with UN food for oil money laundering and publically watching goofballs and losers piss and kick dirt on your gauntlet.
Remember, Obama placed sanctions on Honduras (a sad chapter in a sad book) in order to directly influence their politics. They were influenced, and we did not go to war.
#9
We've been at war these SOB'n mullahs and dinnerjacket since 1979. It's about time to end it and be done with it once and for all. They are a thorn in our side and the rest of the world's.
#10
They've been a thorn in our side but they are about to become a very real threat. The threat should be taken seriously and Paul is correct, sanctions are not serious, only provocative. What Paul gets wrong is that we should be preparing for serious action.
#11
Stupid statements like this are why Ron Paul will never be president ... or vice-president ... or a cabinet secretary ... or a deputy undersecretary ... or a second assistant intern to the deputy vice-undersecretary in charge of polishing the linoleum.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/01/2011 11:06
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A pol who believes Iranians with nukes are no problem....
#13
James Delingpole commented elsewhere: Let's not forget how the [1979-1981] Iranian hostage siege finally ended: within moments of Ronald Reagan taking office the Iranians caved in. Was this because Reagan had promised Iran special concessions to sweeten the deal? Nope. Was it because Reagan promised – just as Obama's chief administrator at NASA more less confessed the other day – that the purpose of America's space administration would be from henceforward to spread peace and lurve throughout the Ummah? Nope.
Was it because the Iranians sensed in the Gipper the kind of "strong horse" leader with whom it would be foolish to mess? You bet.
#14
"Ron Paul is not for a small goovernnment: he is for a small America."
Word, JFM.
Just like Bambi.
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 14:38
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Paul regularly appeared on Morton Downey's crackpot oriented show. He identified himself as a "Libertarian" and espoused laughable concepts of freedom, all of which encroached on the security of the majority. He is still a crackpot who deserves marginalization.
I don't want war with the ayatollahs; I want annihilation.
Posted by: Sonny Scourge of the Poles9835 ||
12/01/2011 15:12
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"Iran sanctions first step to war"
Promises, promises....
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 15:18
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[Dawn] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Tuesday urged followers of different Islamic schools of thought to be tolerant towards each other for peace during Muharram.
He said this while chairing a consultative jirga of Shia and Sunni Learned Elders of Islam, and officials of provincial, district and divisional levels about maintenance of religious harmony and Islamic brotherhood during Muharram here at the Chief Minister`s House.The chief minister said presence of Learned Elders of Islam of different sects in the meeting showed that the nation was united and would remain united against those trying to destabilise the country by fanning sectarianism.
He said the current delicate security situation facing the country demanded unity and harmony among different schools of Islamic thought.
Mr Hoti said the recent NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... attack on Pak troops in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... agency was in fact an attack on the country`s illusory sovereignty and national integrity. He said ironically, the NATO didn`t act against Kunar (Afghanistan) terror camps targeting Pak troops.
"Firing for hours on Pak posts was not a mistake," he said, adding that the decision to suspend NATO supplies and ask the US to vacate Shamsi airbase within a fortnight was necessary but there was a need to take more such decisions, including review of diplomatic relations with the US.
The chief minister said the nation was united on the matter, adding that if the country`s existence was in danger, then politics, ideologies and manifestos were meaningless.
"It is time to aptly respond to those targeting our illusory sovereignty," he said.
Mr Hoti lauded efforts of Learned Elders of Islam and district administrations in the province for maintaining peace and religious harmony during Muharram and expressed the hope that the month would pass peacefully.
He appreciated the suggestions and recommendations of participants and said appropriate steps would be taken accordingly. He said Pakhtuns had paid a heavy price for peace in the shape of massive killings and bombings of places of worship but still, the government was ready to hold dialogue with those willing to give up militancy and lead peaceful life.
In response to a suggestion of health minister Zahir Shah, the chief minister directed police bosses to permanently solve the law and order problem during Muharram.
He appreciated the role of peace committees and said provincial, divisional and district administrations would help Learned Elders of Islam in maintaining peace during Muharram.
Senior provincial minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour, provincial ministers Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Zahir Shah, Qalb-e-Hassan and Qazi Muhammad Asad, Learned Elders of Islam of different sects from Peshawar, DI Khan, Hazara and Kohat Division, representatives of religious organizations, politicians, coppers, commissioners and provincial authorities were also present in the jirga.
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#1
Call me weird, but he just doesn't look like a Hot Chick/Babe to me???
[Dawn] Clashes between protesters and street vendors in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square injured some 79 people overnight, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
The skirmishes erupted when protesters occupying the square for nearly two weeks tried to expel the peddlers, but the fighting quickly degenerated into festivities with both sides lobbing rocks and molotov cocktails, witnesses said.
The violence took place hours after Egyptians wrapped up two days of peaceful polling in the first phase of multi-stage elections for a new parliament.
Most of the injuries were treated on the spot but 27 people were admitted to hospital, the health ministry said.
Protesters have been occupying the square to demand the ouster of the military junta which took power when Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... was tossed in a popular uprising in February.
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[Dawn] Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar on Wednesday said Pakistain will not compromise on its security and illusory sovereignty and regain control of Shamsi Airbase, according to the deadline.
"We will take over the Shamsi base on December 11 in any case and no drone will be allowed to fly from here after the deadline," he said this while talking to the media persons at the convocation of Preston University here.
The minister said Pakistain does not want conflict with US but cannot tolerate attacks on its sovereignity.
He said that Pakistain will review other agreements with the US in different sectors and all the decisions will be taken in the supreme interest of the country.
Answering a question, Mukhtar said Pakistain's nuclear assets are fully secured.
About Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi's recent statement,the minister said, Qureshi did not point out any flaw in the system when he was minister.
Mukhtar advised Qureshi to avoid issuing statements which are not in conformity with the national spirit.
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[Iran Press TV] Standard & Poor's rating agency has lowered the rating of Romania's currency to junk status.
The agency cut the economy's long and short term local currency rating one level to BB+, one notch below investment grade after European markets closed on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Romania suffers from high external debt, and the dominance of Greek and Austrian banks in its finance sector has put its economy at risk because of "the high level of euroization of the economy," a statement from the agency said.
"Romania is generally seen as an improving credit story given the International Monetary Fund program remains on track," said Tim Ash, the chief emerging markets strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland in London.
"This might mark rating agencies taking a more aggressive/cautious line overall with Emerging Europe [a large British investment trust dedicated to investments in emerging countries in Europe] given the concern over European bank de-leveraging," he added.
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[Dawn] Pakistain resumed some cooperation with US-led forces in Afghanistan following NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... strikes that killed 24 Pak soldiers by working with the coalition to prevent another cross-border incident from escalating, a front man said Wednesday.
Pakistain is still outraged by the soldiers' deaths and has retaliated by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies, demanding the US vacate an air base used by American drones and boycotting an international conference aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.
But NATO said Islamabad communicated with the alliance to prevent an exchange of artillery fire late Tuesday from turning into another international incident.
German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a NATO front man in Kabul, expressed hope that Pakistain's cooperation in resolving the incident in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province signaled the two sides could recover from the recent tragedy.
He did not provide more details about targets or who was doing the shooting but said no damage or injuries were reported.
"We are continuing operations and it is of great importance that the incidents of Saturday, as tragic as they were, do not disrupt our capability to operate in the border area and cooperate with the Pak side," said Jacobson.
The Pak military did not immediately respond to request for comment on the latest incident.
Pak and American officials have offered different accounts of how NATO aircraft attacked two Pakistain army posts before dawn Saturday, killing 24 soldiers. But it seems clear that a breakdown in communication contributed to the tragedy.
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[Emirates 24/7] Egypt's Islamists claimed Wednesday they were headed for victory in the opening phase of the country's first post-revolution election after two days of peaceful polling that won international plaudits.
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a front for the Moslem Brüderbund, a moderate group persecuted and banned during the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak, ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... said they were leading in preliminary results.
"From the start of the voting process until now (around 0930 GMT), preliminary results show the Freedom and Justice party list ahead," an FJP statement said, without giving figures.
The FJP also claimed that the Al-Nur movement, a hardline group whose members follow the strict Salafi brand of Islam, was in second place -- a trend that if confirmed will alarm secular liberals and the minority Christian community.
On Monday and Tuesday, millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms, filing into polling stations in the capital Cairo and second-city Alexandria for the first phase of multi-stage parliamentary elections.
Publication of the results for the areas that voted this week -- only a third of constituencies -- was pushed back from Wednesday evening until Thursday, state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported without giving reasons.
While the figures are only for the first round of a parliamentary election that will end in March, they will show the political trends likely to shape a country that has not had a free vote in 60 years.
The Moslem Brüderbund, a group at pains to stress its religious tolerance during campaigning, earned respect and recognition among many Egyptians for its opposition to Mubarak and its extensive charitable work.
Many of the new political parties which have emerged in the post-Mubarak era are unknown to voters and the secular pro-democracy movement that helped overthrow the dictator is divided and disorganised.
"The real surprise is not if the Moslem Brüderbund wins, the real surprise is if it does not win," wrote commentator Tariq al-Hamid in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat earlier in the week.
"The Brotherhood is a powerful force because it works day and night, on the ground and not through social networking sites," he added, in a swipe at the noisy liberals active on Twitter.
Many of them worry about the group's attitudes to women, its stated desire to see Islamic law instituted in Egypt, and whether its moderate rhetoric is a front for a long-term plan to make the country officially Islamic.
The Brotherhood's success would fit a pattern seen elsewhere in north Africa and the Arab region during a year of wrenching change caused by pro-democracy movements known as the Arab Spring.
In Tunisia, the origin of the Arab Spring, a moderate Islamist party won the first free election. Morocco's recent vote produced a similar result.
Also Wednesday, activists called for two separate demonstrations on Friday -- one against the interim military rulers overseeing the country's transition to democracy since the February revolution, and one to support them.
The two protests reflect split opinions among Egyptians, some of whom fear that the army leaders are determined to stay in power, while others are fed up with the instability caused by recent turmoil and unrest.
Forty-two people were killed and more than 3,000 injured last week in violent anti-regime protests around Tahrir Square, the central Cairo square where hundreds of thousands massed to force Mubarak from power.
The election this week, which saw Egyptians vote enthusiastically and in large numbers, appeared to have broken the cycle of protests and a demonstration called in Tahrir last Sunday was poorly attended.
The US State Department spoke of the "success" of the start of the election, while UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... sent his congratulations for the "generally calm and orderly" conduct of the poll.
The vote on Monday and Tuesday in Cairo and Alexandria and other areas was the first of three stages of an election for a new lower house of parliament. The rest of the country follows next month and in January.
After each round there will be a run-off vote, and then a further three rounds of voting for the upper house of parliament from January.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
So QUICK, award them the Government and avoid all this delay. /s
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2011 1:30
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#2
The 'moderation' and 'tolerance' of the Moslem Brotherhood will be the real issue over the next few months.
Their spokesmen (and even some spokewomen) will be all over place speaking about this. In the meantime, on the ground, in Egypt, the Moslem Brotherhood's agenda will be unfolding quietly district by district.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/01/2011 7:27
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#3
Guess I missed my chance to view the Sphinx and the pyramids. I wonder if National Geographic will produce an hour long episode showing the destruction of these historic religious sites.
#4
Those sites and others like them are a key industry in Egypt. If the tourists don't come back, a lot of people are going to suffer. The Brotherhood's welcome may be shortlived.
#5
I'm surprised the Brotherhood is going for the government at this point. In a few months the country is going to run out of money to buy food, and then things are going to get really difficult for whoever is in charge. I was sure the Botherhood were clever enough to wait until they could offer to rescue the failed interim enthusiastic suckers. Now I am starting to wonder if that's the plan of the generals, or someone else.
[An Nahar] Leb will enforce Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... sanctions imposed on neighboring Syria even though it did not back the punitive measures, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas told Agence La Belle France Presse on Wednesday.
"We are committed to implementing the vaporous Arab League sanctions," Nahhas said, pointing out that the Syrian government in any case had no trade dealings with Leb.
"The Lebanese state has no trade dealings or financial transactions, neither with the Syrian government nor the central bank," he said.
Nahhas said the Arab League sanctions were clear in that while no transactions could take place with the Syrian government that did not apply to the private sector.
He said Lebanese banks however would have no dealings with the Syrian central bank or any individuals targeted by the sanctions.
Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... has no funds deposited in the Lebanese central bank and there is therefore no need to act on the Arab League sanctions, governor Riyad Salameh said on Monday.
In an unprecedented move, the pan-Arab bloc on Sunday approved a raft of sanctions against Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly crackdown against an eight-month revolt.
The sanctions include freezing government assets, suspending cooperation with Syria's central bank and halting funding for projects in the country.
Leb, whose government is dominated by the pro-Syrian Hizbullah, disassociated itself from the vote at the Arab League.
Syria has long held sway in Lebanese politics and the revolt threatening the regime in Damascus has deepened the rift between Lebanese officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
So Lebanon will enforce the sanctions but Iraq won't?
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/01/2011 9:05
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[Dawn] The owners of oil tankers and public transport vehicles blocked G.T. Road here on Tuesday to protest attack by NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces on a border post in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... tribal region.
The provincial chapter of All Pakistain Oil Tankers Owners Association (APOTOA) and Sarhad Transport Owners Association held separate protest demonstrations, asking the government to stop NATO supplies on permanent basis.
The owners of oil tankers blocked the road at Taru Jabba while the public transport operators held demonstration near General Bus Stand. The protesting transporters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-Us and anti-NATO slogans.
They also held a sit-in on road and demanded of the government to stop supply of oil and other containers to NATO forces in Afghanistan permanently.
The oil tanker owners marched from their main office near Pakistain State Oil depot in Taru Jaba and blocked G.T. Road to all kinds of traffic to express their anger against the US-led forces.
Talking to journalists, APOTOA president Nasir Ali Khan appreciated the government`s decision of suspending supply of goods to NATO troops in Afghanistan. He assured the government that they would fully support it in that regard.
"We can`t tolerate US hegemony any more in this part of the region and its notorious act," he said. He condemned the unprovoked NATO air strikes on military checkposts. He said that it was not the first incident of its kind wherein security forces were targeted but several such attacks had been carried out in the recent past.
Mr Khan termed the attack against the illusory sovereignty and integrity of the country and open aggression by the US-led troops.
APOTOA general secretary Jan Mohammad Khan and central secretary information Dost Mohammad also spoke on the occasion.
Later, the protester offered fateha for the departed souls and prayed for integrity and solidarity of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Yup! They would rather haul goats. No pressure here.... /s
#3
I sure hope it is sooner than they think. Supplying a war through enemy territory when the closest port is over a thousand miles away is a fools errand.
ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: The local administration has banned the entry of six Ulema belonging to different sects and put army on high alert in the capital to maintain peace during the holy month of Muharram, a bigwig told Dawn .
The official said the decision regarding banning the entry of Ulema was taken in a meeting held in the office of chief commissioner Islamabad.
"In view of security threats we have banned the entry of eight Ulema under Maintenance of Public Order," said the official. Those were banned from entering into the capital included Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi (Punjab), Allama Muzzafar Hussain Najfi, Maulana Abdul Majeed, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Rehmani, Syed Maqbool Hussain, and Allama Ghazanfar Taunsavi (Punjab).
The official added that army would remain alert in barracks and they could be called out for assistance of the district administration in maintaining peace.
Elaborating preventive measures adopted by the district administration, the official said section 144 had been imposed against wall chalking, display and firing of arms, literature, distribution of books and pamphlets, use of loud speakers, playing of cassettes and holding of processions and rallies other than Azadari (mourning) processions and rallies.
"Nobody would be allowed to hold Azadari meetings outside Imambargahs and other specified places," the official said.
To a question, he said a traffic plan was being prepared to provide alternate routes to the commuters during Muharram 8 and 9 and special arrangements have been made for the women participating Azadari meetings and processions.
Talking about administrative measures, he said Capital Development Authority had been asked to cover open manholes and trim bushes and trees on the routes of processions. Similarly Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) was asked to provide better lighting arrangements en route.
All hospitals of the federal capital would remain on high alert during Muharram 8, 9 and 10 to provide prompt medical treatment, if required.
Security had been tightened in the vicinity of all mosques, Imambargahs, airport, exit and entrance points of city, bus stands and other public places while personnel of different law enforcement agencies had been deployed in different commercial areas in plain clothes to keep vigilance on the activities of suspicious persons.
Talking about religious groups, he said all religious parties assured their full cooperation to police in their efforts to maintain law and order during Muharram. The official said police had also chalked out a separate security plan under which they had increased police patrolling in sensitive areas of the city.
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[Dawn] Twelve suspected Death Eaters were killed during a clash with security forces in the Kurram tribal region's Masozai area on Wednesday, DawnNews quoted security sources as saying.
Seven security personnel were also maimed in the clash, sources said.
The sources claimed that Kurram's areas of Marghan and Matano had been cleared of turbans.
Moreover, an operation was carried out in Masozai due to the suspected presence of Death Eaters in that area, sources said.
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[Emirates 24/7] An Indian worker was accidentally beheaded when his body got stuck inside the lift at a building under construction in Kuwait, a newspaper said on Wednesday. Ow. Maybe ow-ow-ow.
The 31-year-old man put his head out of the elevator to speak to other workers when the lift door suddenly shut, squeezing his neck and prompting work mates to rush for his help, Alwatan Arabic language daily said. "They workers struggled to open the lift door but they could not... suddenly the elevator fell down because of a technical failure... the worker's head was severed off his body," it said.
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[Iran Press TV] Forces loyal to Yemeni ruler President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... have shelled several neighborhoods across the flashpoint city of Taizz, killing at least one person.
Three others were also maimed in the shelling. Witnesses say regime forces began shelling the city Tuesday night and continued until Wednesday and that the attacks were mainly concentrated in the area surrounding Al-Huriya (Liberty) Square, the epicenter of anti-regime protests since January.
A dozen homes and several shops were reportedly destroyed in the shelling. Activists say the attacks have forced thousands of Taizz residents to flee the city and seek safety elsewhere.
Taizz, Yemen's second-largest city and a hotbed of the opposition to Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule, is regularly shelled by regime forces.
On Saturday, at least two people were killed and several others were maimed after regime forces shelled the city.
The recent wave of violence comes despite the resignation of Saleh as the country's president after 33 years in office.
Yemeni Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in charge of country's affairs after Saleh's resignation, has named head of the opposition coalition Mohammed Basindawa as the new prime minster tasked with forming a new government.
Hadi has also announced February 21 as the date of the presidential vote in the country, which will be the first presidential election in Yemen since 2006.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more have been injured in Yemen since the beginning of the uprising against the Saleh regime in late January.
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[Dawn] Indian police said Wednesday they had jugged six suspected cut-throats over three attacks including a bombing at a restaurant last year in western India that killed 17 people.
The six men, including one Pak, were believed to belong to the Indian Mujahedeen, a homegrown krazed killer group, police said in a statement.
The men are alleged to have targeted the German Bakery restaurant in Pune, the Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in the southern software hub of Bangalore and the nation's biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid, in New Delhi.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram confirmed the arrests at a news conference, adding that an "investigation is still underway" into the actions of the six men.
In the blast at the German Bakery in February last year, attackers left a bomb under a table that went kaboom!, killing 17 people. Ten people were maimed when two bombs went off outside the Bangalore cricket stadium in April 2010.
In the mosque attack in September 2010, two Taiwanese visitors who were part of a film crew were maimed when two men on a cycle of violence opened fire and a small car went kaboom!.
Police said they recovered guns, cartridges, detonators, doctored documents, fake Indian currency and explosives during their probe.
The Indian Mujahideen A locally recruited auxilliary of Pakistain's Lashkar-e-Taiba, designed to give a domestic patina to Pakistain's terror war against its bigger neighbor... has grabbed credit for numerous kabooms in Indian cities in recent years, most recently for a blast outside the Delhi High Court in September which left 15 dead.
[Dawn] The Bloody Karachi police claimed to have locked away five suspected hard boyz belonging to proscribed outfit Jundullah on Tuesday.
Speaking at a presser, Additional Inspector-General of Police Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh said that the suspects arrived in the city from Wazirstan and Punjab aboard Khyber Mail to carry out a terrorist attack in the city.
He said that the Special Investigation Unit carried out a raid within the remit of the Artillery Maidan cop shoppe on Tuesday and locked away the five suspects -- Syed Kamran alias Waqar, Salar Mohammad alias Khalid, Amjad Khan alias Kargil, Farhan Khan alias Husain and Mohammad Munir alias Azeem.
The police also claimed that maps of the Bloody Karachi central prison and an alleged 'hit list' were recovered from the suspects.
The city police chief said that the suspects had attacked the police on the city courts premises on July 19, 2010, killed a police constable and got freed their locked away accomplices, who had been involved in the 2009 Ashura bombing on main M.A. Jinnah Road.
He said that the held suspects were involved in many terrorist activities and they were also behind the 2010 twin kabooms on a bus carrying mourners and outside the emergency section of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on the occasion of chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain.
Besides, he said, the suspects were also involved in the 2004 attack on the then Bloody Karachi corps commander and several bank heists.
He said that the suspects disclosed to the police that one of their accomplices, Fasihur Rehman, had devised a new method to conceal bombs in cement blocks.
The cement bombs were used in the 8th, 9th and 10th Muharram blasts in 2009, he added.
The city police chief informed the media that many members of the Jundullah including Hamza Jofi alias Haji Mumtaz, Ghulam Mustafa alias Ansar Bhai, Arif alias Haider Shuja, Bloody Karachi chief Abu Bakar alias Arsalan, Israfel alias Javed, Ajab Khan alias Zakir were killed in drone strikes in Wazoo over the past few years.
Fasihur Rehman alias Hamad, the Bloody Karachi chief of the outfit, Mehmood alias Talha, Saqib alias Shahab, Rasheed Khan Pathan, Shakib Farooqi, Murtaza Inyat, Dilawar, Baba, Wazir Mohammad and Ishaq Gul were among those who were still on the run, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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[WSJ] Turkey imposed sanctions against Syria on Wednesday, including a freeze on the regime's assets in Turkey and on official lines of credit, further isolating Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... and his embattled government.
"The Syrian Administration has further lost its legitimacy with every bullet fired and with every minaret bombed," Mr. Davutoglu said, explaining the decision to turn on Mr. Assad, a former close ally. "In our opinion, by wasting all the opportunities offered to them... the Syrian Administration has come to the end of the road."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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[Iran Press TV] Separate bombing kabooms have left at least 38 people dead and dozens more injured in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu, Press TV reports.
Ten kabooms rocked the northern and southern districts of Mogadishu on Wednesday, killing at least 24 people and wounding several others, a Press TV correspondent said.
Our correspondent added that the victims are mostly women and kiddies.
The cause of the kabooms is not known yet and no group has grabbed credit for the attacks.
Meanwhile, ...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!... a separate attack at a military compound killed over 14 soldiers and maimed 18 others.
The Army Chief narrowly beat feet the attack which was reportedly carried out by al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... fighters.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: One of the cadres of northern Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has been killed in a sticking bomb that blew up under his car south of the city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, a Kirkuk Province's Police source reported.
"An explosive charge, stuck under a car, belonging to a PUK cadre in Kirkuk, blew off in Kirkuk's Military district on Wednesday, killing him on the spot and causing severe damage for his car," the Police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, giving no further details.
In another incident, Kirkuk's Police Director, Lt-Brigadier, Sarhad Qader, said that "a joint force had inspected a number of villages in al-Riyadh township, 45 km to the southwest of Kirkuk, arresting 3 persons, wanted for Article-4 - Terrorism - along with confiscating a number of leaflets of al-Qaeda, Naqshabandiya and Saraya al-Haq groups.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2011
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[Tripoli Post] The Libyan government is requesting the Algerian authorities to arrest and deport back to Libya Ayesha Al Qadaffy, the daughter of the former Libyan dictator, along with her brothers Mohammed and Hannibal to face criminal charges.
The request has become even more demanding after Ayesha put herself in direct conflict with a pledge she and her family members made when they were given a safe haven in Algeria, not to make public statements at the risk of losing their status as humanitarian refugees.
On Tuesday, in violation of the terms of her exile in Algeria, in an audio message broadcast on Syria's on Syria's Arrai TV station, Ayesha Al Qadaffy urged Libyans to overthrow their new rulers.
She called for a revolt against the men who overthrew her father, the government she said "arrived with the planes of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... Following the traditional 40-day mourning period after her father's death, Ayesha went on to tell Libyans: "My father has not left, he is always among us. Don't forget the orders of your father urging you to continue fighting, even if you no longer hear his voice."
Her father, the former Libyan dictator was ousted from power after 42 years in power. He was captured with his son and Ayesha's brother Muatassim on October 20 and killed. Ayesha, her mother Safiya and her brothers Mohammed and Hannibal decamped Libya as the Libyan capital fell and sought refuge in neighbouring Algeria.
Two other brothers, Seif al-Arab and Khamis were killed during the NATO-led bombing, while Seif al-Islam, described as a "helpless criminal"is held captive awaiting trial for his crimes against the Libyan people in the Libyan hilltown of Zintan awaiting trial.
In September, after similar statements that she has now made, Ayesha was warned by Algerian officials that if she repeated them she could be expelled.
The Algerian rulers who had close ties with the Al Qadaffy regime, have since been making efforts to repair strained relations with Libya's new leaders, and they won't be happy with her latest message..
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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[Iran Press TV] The US has reportedly released hundreds of faceless myrmidons from its prisons in Iraq on condition that they leave the country for Syria and fight against the government of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Light of the Alawites... More than 400 terrorist have been freed from US prisons in Iraq to help fuel unrest in Syria, Islam Times quoted Lebanese political analyst Anis al-Naqqash as saying. He added that they have entered Syria illegally via Turkey.
Naqqash also criticized Arab media for leading a propaganda campaign against the Syrian government and trying to implicate the Syrian army for the killing of hundreds of civilians and unarmed demonstrators.
He added that the Arab media refuse to report the atrocities committed by gangs in Syria which has left nearly 2,000 security personnel dead.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Turkish politician Birgul Ayman Guler, the deputy chairperson of Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), said that Western media outlets are not reflecting the reality in Syria.
Guler, who visited Syria about one month ago as part of a Turkish delegation comprised of 38 women, told Press TV on Tuesday that the reality in Syria is different from what the Western media outlets are reporting.
''What we understood during the visit was that the Western media were lying about the situation in Syria,'' she said, adding that foreign elements, such as the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , are trying to carry out a plot in Syria.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in favor of President Bashir al-Assad. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.
The opposition and Western countries accuse Syrian security forces of being behind the killings in the country, but Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... blames what it describes as outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups for the deadly violence, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
President Assad has warned against any foreign attack against Syria, saying the military action will cause instability in the whole Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011
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#1
We don't need to, Ya'll have enough trash already.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2011 1:27
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#2
Wonder where their concern was when they were pushing terrorists across their border into Iraq a couple years back?
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.
A would-be saboteur 
JEDDAH – A 23-year-old unmarried woman was awarded one-year prison term and 100 lashes for committing adultery and trying to abort the resultant fetus.
[Iran Press TV] Tehran Governor Morteza Tamaddon rejected foreign media reports indicating that the British Embassy has been taken over 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
[An Nahar] Can there be no trust between a kidnapper and his hostages?
Asif Ali 
US forces in Iraq have been involved in a recent mortar attack near the Iraqi parliament in the capital Storied 
Mohmand
Mehmood 
Pakistain resumed some cooperation with US-led forces in Afghanistan following 
[Emirates 24/7] Egypt's Islamists claimed Wednesday they were headed for victory in the opening phase of the country's first post-revolution election after two days of peaceful polling that won international plaudits.
In Tunisia, the origin of the Arab Spring, a moderate Islamist party won the first free election. Morocco's recent vote produced a similar result.
Punjab
[Emirates 24/7] An Indian worker was accidentally beheaded when his body got stuck inside the lift at a building under construction in Kuwait, a newspaper said on Wednesday.
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
cycle of violence
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Iran Press TV] Separate bombing 
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: One of the cadres of northern Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has been killed in a sticking bomb that blew up under his car south of the city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, a Kirkuk Province's Police source reported.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
