The regime-run news agency, Fars News reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced a one million dollar reward for individuals who assassinate the president of Egypt. The news agency wrote:
"The ceremony for the designation of the reward for the revolutionary execution of the filthy traitor, Husni Mubarak has been organized through the justice-seeking movement of the (militant Basij) students as well as the cooperation of various other organizations. During this ceremony Forooz Rejaii, the secretary general of the organization entitled Rewarding The Martyrs of the World of Islam (and the suicide bombers brigade) spoke."
It is important to that the Rewarding The Martyrs of the World of Islam is an organization designed and supervised by the Iranian revolutionary guards.
#2
The Muslim Brotherhood have been trying to do it for free, but just can't get to him. If the Shiite's in Iran assassinates Mubarak (Sunni), the "Arabs united against Israel" slogan, will be a foregone conclusion.
#3
Wonder what Mubarak will offer for the murder of Imadinnerjacket...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 18:18
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#4
Lest we fergit, the REGIONAL-GLOBAL "ISLAMIST JIHAD" as symbolized by 9-11 is NOT just agz any and all non-Islam, but also BETWEEN THE HISTORICAL "GREAT CENTRES/SCHOOLS" OF ISLAMIC THOUGHTS-POWER FOR CONTROL OF ISLAM'S PRESENT AND FUTURE BELIEFS, DIRECTIONS, AND GEOPOLITICS.
Not just SHIA versus SUNNI [variants/sub-ISMS therein] but also CAIRO versus TEHRAN versus MECCA-MEDINA versus DAMASCUS versus ISTANBUL versus ........@!?
#16
If this is true.... While Iran might have to wait in line for their shot this could PO the Arab/Sunni clans/tribes as outsider interference in the family feud.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.
"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."
He said he plans to continue in his role as governor. "I appreciate the confidence President-elect Obama has shown in me, and value our friendship and working partnership. I told him that I am eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful. And like all Americans, I pray for his success and the success of our beloved country."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
13:37 ||
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#1
"spend more time with my famiy"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 14:02
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#2
or family, even
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 14:02
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#4
I hear the sound of knives being sharpened in the background. One hopes the continuing investigation reveals all sorts of interesting things.
Richardson has been rather slimy for a while. He was a baseball player too, remember.
Now if this also leads to him resigning as governor ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009 14:16
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#5
Two former state Treasurers (NM-Name that Party) are serving time in federal prison for kickback schemes.
When NM became a state, the federal statehood act mandated that state income derived from the then major business, mining, had to be invested not spent. The return on investment was the income the state could use for annual operations other than the usual taxes; sales, personal income, fees, et al. Well, it's been a hundred years and copper mining is still going in the southwest part of the state. That's a heck of lot of capital build up*. So those who can influence on 'where' the money is invested seem to get a lot of 'gifts' in graft re-election coffers or for operations/personages of special interest.
* Also buried in the story is that the state was a significant holder in Big Oil. The Gov has coasted for the last couple years and spending freely upon that income. [It's fun speaking down on Big Oil while garnering big returns - shocked, shocked to discover there's gambling going on here.] Now that oil has crashed, he sorely wanted to be out of town before the new session of the legislature meets and has to deal with a big short fall from the prior budget.
#7
He never wanted that job. He wanted State. Bill can easily get out of this scandal. This gives him a convenient way out. Richardson is already sick of **Obama and his "wet behind the ear" decisions.
**The Old Testament author Obadiah comes up as a spell check suggestion when typing Obama. What an insult to the Old Testament. Fred, I don't blame you for it. I'm sure it wasn't intentional. :-)
#8
You have to hand to Barry, he hasn't even entered office and he has already helped to end two corrupt political careers. (crossing fingers that hillary is the next to fall)
The FBI has reportedly given to Pakistan evidence amassed on involvement of elements based in that country in the Mumbai carnage even as Islamabad today rejected India's fresh demand to turn over terror suspects linked to the strikes.
The evidence included the Laskhar-e-Toiba handlers' warning to the attackers about the arrival of Indian commandos while watching the mayhem live on TV and a "Aag lagao" (Light the fire) order, the British newspaper Sunday Times reported.
Not good enough, nope, nope, evidence doesn't meet the strict standards of an Islamic court, so no can do, nope, can't be done ...
The report said Pakistan has rejected the alleged FBI evidence Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi ruled out handing over the suspects insisting that there was no extradition treaty between the two neighbouring countries. There can be no comparison between Pakistan's extradition of terror suspects to the US and India's demand for the handing over of persons linked to the Mumbai attacks, Qureshi told reporters in his home-town in Multan, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded that Pakistan hand over terror suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks.
"We have a treaty with the US, we do not have an extradition treaty with India. Please do not compare, every situation is not identical," Qureshi said on the eve of arrival of a top US diplomat Richard Boucher visiting Islamabad to push Pakistan to act against the Mumbai attack perpetrators.
Another media report in a Pak daily quoting a senior unnamed Pakistani official said Pakistan may allow Indian investigators to "grill" the suspects after being provided with "sufficient evidence" of their involvement but will not hand them over to New Delhi.
Mexico's warring cartels are negotiating a truce that, if it holds, could end one of the bloodiest eras since the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution, according to a U.S. official and experts familiar with the talks.
A peace agreement would be the second in two years and, like the last one, its chances of surviving are slim, the U.S. official said. "In the end, greed prevails over reason," the official said.
Last year was one of the bloodiest ever, with more than 5,700 people killed nationwide, including 1,600 in Ciudad Juarez. Because of the mounting violence, some experts, including Howard Campbell, author of the upcoming book Drug War Zone, believe a truce is possible. Campbell, a border anthropologist at the University of Texas at El Paso, said violence will soon "peak out because all the attention is bad for business."
"These guys are businessmen," Campbell said. "Violence hurts the bottom line, their profits."
However, many experts and analysts on both sides of the border expect rising violence.
Another concern for drug traffickers, the U.S. official said, is the growing influence of the paramilitary group known as Zetas, enforcers for the Gulf cartel who have expanded their services as hit men to become mercenaries for other cartels willing to pay the price. "They're not just mercenaries anymore," the U.S. official said. "They're now controlling drug distribution routes, and that's of concern to cartel leaders. They're out of control."
It's too early to know whether a truce will work, experts say. The new year began much as the last one ended, with three New Year's Day killings in Juarez, city officials said.
#1
And if the cartels get their peace treaty, they are going to want to exterminate the Zetas, and probably some others, including MS-13, and some of the independents.
Daddy?
Yes, son.
Are we going to have a war with India?
Perhaps.
Oh, goody. We will thrash them, right? Like we did in 1857!
It wasnt in 1857, son.
Oh, okay. But whom did we thrash in 1857?
The British, son
And the Hindus too, right?
Well
Did Quaid-i-Azam fight in that war along with Muhammad bin Qasim and Imran Khan?
No, son. The Quaid and Imran were born much later and Muhammad bin Qasim died many years before.
Then who ruled Pakistan in those days?
There was no Pakistan in those days, son.
But there was always a Pakistan! It has been there for 5,000 years!
Who have you been talking to, son?
No one. Ive just been watching TV.
It figures.
Daddy, why are all these people against us Arabs?
Arabs? But we arent Arabs, son.
Of course we are because our ancestors were Arabs!
No, son. Our ancestors were of the subcontinental stock.
Sub-what?
Never mind.You seem to like wars, son.
Yes. I like to watch them on TV.
But real wars are fought outside the TV, son.
Really? How is that possible? What sort of a war is that?
Never mind.
Daddy, you look worried.
Of course, I am, you little warmongering punk!
Daddy! Why are you scolding me?
Because TV is talking rot and so are you!
Daddy, are you supporting Hindus?
No!
Daddy, have you become a kafir?
Keep quiet! No more TV for you! Go watch a movie on DVD or listen to a CD.
Cant do that.
But we have so many DVDs and CDs, son.
Not any more.
What do you mean?
I burned them all.
What?!
I burned them all.
I heard that! But why?
They spread obscenity.
Oh, God. Son, go do your homework. What happened to that science project you were working on?
Its almost complete.
Good boy. What are you making?
A bomb.
What?!
A bomb.
I heard that! But why?
Because I am a true Muslim who hates America.
But only last week you wanted to go to Disney Land.
Thats different.
How come?
Mickey Mouse is Muslim.
No, he isnt.
Is so. He converted when he heard azaan on the moon.
On the moon?
Yes. Because the earth is flat and
What??
The earth is
I heard that!
Daddy, do you want to see my science project, or not?
Gosh, that bomb? But your science teacher will fail you.
No, she wont.
Really?
Yes. I plan to blow her up as well.
God, what is wrong with you? Go call your mother!
She cant come.
Why not?
Ive locked her in the kitchen.
But what for?
A womans place is in the kitchen. I will not let her out until she covers herself up peoperly!
But shes your mother!
Shes also a woman!
So?
So she should be hidden.
Hidden from whom?
The whole world and Tony.
Tony?
Yes, Tony.
But Tonys a cat.
Yes. But hes male.
Son, have you gone mad?
No. By the way, Ive made sure Kitto starts covering up as well.
Kitto?
Yes, Kittto.
But Kittos a cat!
Yes. But a female cat.
But shell suffocate.
Oh, shes already dead.
What?
Shes already dead.
I heard that! But how?
I buried her alive.
You what?
Yes. To avenge Tonys honour. But now I will behead Tony.
But why?
To save moms honour!
Oh, God!
Dont say that. Always say Allah.
Whats the difference?
Daddy, do you want to be beheaded too?
No!
Do you want to be stoned to death?
No!
Do you want to be flogged?
No!
Do you want to get your arms chopped off?
No!
Then stop asking silly questions. By the way, I wont call you daddy anymore.
What will you call me then?
Whatever that is Arabic for daddy.
I dont know any Arabic, son.
Thats because you are a kafir.
Who the heck are you to tell me who I am, you little fascist twit!
Whats a fascist?
An irrational, violent, self-righteous mad man!
W... aaaaaaa...
Why are you crying?
You scolded me.
Okay, Im sorry. You have to be tolerant and rational, son. Now be a good boy and go read a book instead of watching TV.
I have no books.
Of course, you do. I bought you so many books.
I burned them.
What?
I burned them.
But why?
They were all in English.
So?
Its a non-Muslim language!
But we are speaking English, arent we?
W... aaaaaaa
What now?
Zionists made me forget my Arabic.
But you never knew any Arabic, son.
W... aaaa yes, I did until you and mommy gave me the polio drops aaaaa
Okay, tell me, can you do me a favour?
Sure, dad.
Can you blow up something for me?
Oh, goody! Of course, dad. What should I blow? A CD shop, a hotel, a school...?
No, no, something a lot more sinister.
Mom?
No, no
What then?
The TV set!
What?
Blow the TV set.
I heard that! But why?
Just do it!
I see. Dad?
Yes.
Youre so unconstitutional!
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009
12:26 ||
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#1
Actually - this is sad and sick and funny. A taste for the blackest and absurdest kind of humor seems to be one of the gifts that the British left to India, when they packed up and went home.
Unless, there was that kind of sense already there. In which - roll on, India - and thanks, John F., for posting this.
A judge in Canada has ordered the release of the last remaining Canadian terrorism suspect held under a controversial national security certificate. Syrian-born Hassan Almrei has been in detention for seven years and never charged.
Under a national security certificate, brought in after the September 11, 2001 attacks a suspect can be held indefinitely without being charged. But a federal court judge has ordered Mr Almrei's release, saying his continued detention can no longer be justified.
His release carries strict conditions - he can have no access to the internet, he must wear a GPS so his movements can be tracked, cameras will be placed around his home and armed agents will be posted outside.
He could still be deported to his native Syria, if found guilty of having ties to a terrorist ring.
How about deporting him anyway as an 'undesirable'?
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed by the United States Department of Defense. It is the only fully functional GNSS in the world. It uses a constellation of between 24 and 32 Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, which enable GPS receivers to determine their current location, the time, and their velocity.
#4
They kept him for seven years without determining he deserved it? Why?
There's 'determining' and then there's 'not able to publicly convict him without exposing important and still useful intel / means of collection / sources'.
The FDIC has just announced that a consortium of private equity and hedge fund firms would be buying IndyMac. IndyMac was an independent "bridge bank" spun off of Countrywide Mortgage in the late 90s. IndyMac acted as a "bridge bank" to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
New York Democrat Charles Shumer precipitated the fall of IndyMac in May of 2008 by releasing "inside" information that the mortgage company was in dire financial straits. This disclosure created the initial "bank run" that is credited by many economists as the initial trigger that prompted the current mortgage crisis. The FDIC took over the operations of IndyMac in late summer of 2008.
So much for history. George Soros is in on the deal to buy IndyMac from the FDIC. Soros has a long history of making loads of money by first creating a financial crisis and then stepping in to grab up the bargains. Perhaps the most famous example of this tactic is "Black Wednesday," when Soros nearly sunk the entire economy of Great Britain through currency speculation.
George Soros has helped bankroll the campaigns of the Democrats in Congress who created this mess. Now, it appears, he is cashing in on his investment.
#1
Anyone surprised by this? Soros was involved in the Asian monetary panic. He was involved in trying to crash the pound. He was involved in crashing the peso.
Now he's involved in crashing American banks.
Surprised? Anyone? Bueller?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009 13:54
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#2
Nope, Soros is involved in raiding taxpayers cash.
For a lefty he seems to prey a lot on idiotic government intervention in currency markets.
#9
You cannot deny that his immediate death would be of benefit to liberty, and to the US. He is a one-worlder, and anti-american, a collectivist, an anti-individualist, an economic destroyer who manipulates and demolishes markets in his greed, who has spent tons of money to pollute the US political system, who promotes lies, who promotes dishonesty, who promotes instability, ... I could go on and on.
The list goes on and on.
His death would be a benefit to liberty.
So why is it against the rules to advocate that he *should* die sooner than later?
Would you be saying the same about Bin Laden? Or any of the tinpot wannabe genocidal dictators?
Arguably, the case for Soro's death being a benefit to the world is even more considering the widespread reach he has, and his aiming for the destruction of the last bastions of western civilization in order to promote his atheistic one-world government, his desire to reduce humanity to the hive.
THE CIA has begun an unprecedented intelligence-gathering operation in Britain to help MI5 monitor 4000 terrorist suspects.
More than four out of 10 CIA operations to prevent attacks on US soil are now conducted against targets in Britain.
This has led to friction between British and American spies, with some US intelligence officers irritated that resources are being diverted to gather intelligence on suspects in their closest ally's backyard. British intelligence officers do not know the identity of all the CIA informers and are uneasy about some of the uses to which the intelligence has been put.
MI5 as a whole is glad of the help, however, and works closely with its sister service. US spies share information when it concerns security in Britain.
Intelligence from CIA informers is believed to have helped thwart more than one terrorist atrocity on British soil. Information passed on by a CIA source in Britain was also instrumental in locating Rashid Rauf, a British-born al-Qaeda operative killed by a US air strike in Pakistan on November 22.
A British official said: "There is a great deal of CIA activity inside the UK. The CIA has been given a free rein to raise, handle and process from intelligence sources inside the UK.
"In many cases we do not know who their assets are. Several of the recently foiled terrorist plots inside the UK were uncovered by informants run by US source handlers. We've been able to interdict these plots."
A former CIA officer who still carries out freelance work for the agency voiced the irritation of some American spies. "It's certainly frustrating that Britain is an Islamist swamp," he said. "You don't want to have to spend time spying on your friends."
British security chiefs have long turned a blind eye to a CIA presence in Britain and, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, MI5 and the CIA have worked together closely to combat the threat from Islamist extremists. MI5 also tolerates similar operations by the Israeli agency Mossad, which briefs members of the London Jewish community on threats to their security.
However, US security chiefs have stepped up their presence in Britain in the past two years, as they think Islamist extremists there are the biggest threat to US security and fear MI5 may be swamped by the scale of the threat. They also fear al-Qaeda recruits could travel to the US under America's visa waiver program.
MI5 director-general Jonathan Evans has estimated about 4000 people in Britain pose a direct threat to national security.
Bruce Riedel, a Middle East intelligence analyst for the White House National Security Council, said: "A great deal of concern about threats to the US homeland is based upon attacks coming out of the UK. The 800,000 or so British citizens of Pakistani origin are regarded by the American intelligence community as perhaps the single-biggest threat environment."
#1
"A former CIA officer who still carries out freelance work for the agency voiced the irritation of some American spies. "It's certainly frustrating that Britain is an Islamist swamp," he said. "You don't want to have to spend time spying on your friends."
At least this is a place where there is cooperation from the local government and the CIA folks don't stick out like a sore thumb. Pro's and Con's. Annoying, yes. But not the worst situation.
#2
I'm quite happy with the overlap. Especially as I suspect that MI5 employs the finest public school then oxbridge idiots that run this country into the ground decade after decade.
#3
"More than four out of 10 CIA operations to prevent attacks on US soil are now conducted against targets in Britain."
That is one scary development.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/04/2009 14:15
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#4
See if they can spy on our mosques for us.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 16:02
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#5
Great idea, Tipover. We do some of the dirty work for the Brits. They do the same for us. Maybe send some MI5 operatives with Pakistani roots over our way to sniff around the mosques.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
01/04/2009 17:56
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#6
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM/TOPIX > OMAR BAKRI [UK Pro-IslamistMilit Activist] ACCUSED OF RECRUITING, TRAINING AL QAEDA TERRORISTS, includ for TERROPS IN BRIT + AROUND EUROPE???
Barack Obama's chances of making a fresh start in US relations with the Muslim world, and the Middle East in particular, appear to diminish with each new wave of Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets in Gaza. That seems hardly fair, given the president-elect does not take office until January 20. But foreign wars don't wait for Washington inaugurations.
Obama has remained wholly silent during the Gaza crisis. His aides say he is following established protocol that the US has only one president at a time. Hillary Clinton, his designated secretary of state, and Joe Biden, the vice-president-elect and foreign policy expert, have also been uncharacteristically taciturn on the subject.
But evidence is mounting that Obama is already losing ground among key Arab and Muslim audiences that cannot understand why, given his promise of change, he has not spoken out. Arab commentators and editorialists say there is growing disappointment at Obama's detachment - and that his failure to distance himself from George Bush's strongly pro-Israeli stance is encouraging the belief that he either shares Bush's bias or simply does not care.
The Al-Jazeera satellite television station recently broadcast footage of Obama on holiday in Hawaii, wearing shorts and playing golf, juxtaposed with scenes of bloodshed and mayhem in Gaza. Its report criticising "the deafening silence from the Obama team" suggested Obama is losing a battle of perceptions among Muslims that he may not realise has even begun.
"People recall his campaign slogan of change and hoped that it would apply to the Palestinian situation," Jordanian analyst Labib Kamhawi told Liz Sly of the Chicago Tribune. "So they look at his silence as a negative sign. They think he is condoning what happened in Gaza because he's not expressing any opinion."
Regional critics claim Obama is happy to break his pre-inauguration "no comment" rule on international issues when it suits him. They note his swift condemnation of November's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Obama has also made frequent policy statements on mitigating the impact of the global credit crunch.
Obama's absence from the fray is also allowing hostile voices to exploit the vacuum. "It would appear that the president-elect has no intention of getting involved in the Gaza crisis," Iran's Resalat newspaper commented sourly. "His stances and viewpoints suggest he will follow the path taken by previous American presidents... Obama, too, will pursue policies that support the Zionist aggressions."
Whether Obama, when he does eventually engage, can successfully elucidate an Israel-Palestine policy that is substantively different from that of Bush-Cheney is wholly uncertain at present.
To maintain the hardline US posture of placing the blame for all current troubles squarely on Hamas, to the extent of repeatedly blocking limited UN security council ceasefire moves, would be to end all realistic hopes of winning back Arab opinion - and could have negative, knock-on consequences for US interests in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf.
Yet if Obama were to take a tougher (some would say more balanced) line with Israel, for example by demanding a permanent end to its blockade of Gaza, or by opening a path to talks with Hamas, he risks provoking a rightwing backlash in Israel, giving encouragement to Israel's enemies, and losing support at home for little political advantage.
A recent Pew Research Centre survey, for example, showed how different are US perspectives to those of Europe and the Middle East. Americans placed "finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict" at the bottom of a 12-issue list of foreign policy concerns, the poll found. And foreign policy is in any case of scant consequence to a large majority of US voters primarily worried about the economy, jobs and savings.
On the campaign trail, Obama (like Clinton) was broadly supportive of Israel and specifically condemnatory of Hamas. But at the same time, he held out the prospect of radical change in western relations with Muslims everywhere, promising to make a definitive policy speech in a "major Islamic forum" within 100 days of taking office.
"I will make clear that we are not at war with Islam, that we will stand with those who are willing to stand up for their future, and that we need their effort to defeat the prophets of hate and violence," he said.
As the Gaza casualty headcount goes up and Obama keeps his head down, those sentiments are beginning to sound a little hollow. The danger is that when he finally peers over the parapet on January 21, the battle of perceptions may already be half-lost.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009
11:17 ||
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#1
OBama keeps saying that there is "one president and one voice" and he shouldn't comment on the Gaza matter is inconsistent with he his numerous comments relative to the economy and health care.
#3
Yet if Obama were to take a tougher (some would say more balanced) line with Israel, for example by demanding a permanent end to its blockade of Gaza, or by opening a path to talks with Hamas...
So...Simon: what is the 'balanced' line between Hamas, who's charter calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and genocide against the Jews and Israel who is exercising its right of self-defense?
#4
Probably went to a bar or coffee shop, some guy knows he writes articles and went to impress simple Simon, who wants to impress that guy back by quoting him, as "Anonymous person seeking single white writer", shorthanded as "People".
#5
One of my New Years' wishes/dreams...the One turns out to be a self serving Centrist who wants only to be the first Black president for two terms; no matter whose a$$ he has to kiss.
#6
But evidence is mounting that Obama is already losing ground among key Arab and Muslim and progressive and African-American and union and GLBT and Hispanic and anti-war protestor audiences that cannot understand why, given his promise of change, he has not spoken out.
#7
Arab and Muslim audiences... The Al-Jazeera satellite television station... Jordanian analyst...
Silly me, I thought voting was limited to US citizens and he is the US president-elect.
#8
There was a lot of expectation throughout the world that Obama would be their man in the White House. If those expectations fade before he is sworn in, a lot of stupid activity will not occur afterward.
#9
Far be it from me to think or suggest that Obama is thr right guy at the right time...however...with regard to Israel...
Let us not forget tht Obama has placed a great deal of responsiblitiy on Rahm Emamuel. I don;'t recall reading anything to suggest Rahm is a self-hating Jew. In this country that means you don't make common cause with those who want to see Israel wiped off the map.
Perhaps Obama's "silence" is calculated to appease his right hand man, someone who holds no love or brief for Hamas.
#10
Get used to this imperial attitude of simply saying nothing about that which The Anointed does not wish to speak. We are lesser beings, and do not deserve (and would not be able to understand) the workings of His mind. It is best if we wait outside and cheer any announcements that may be made on our behalf.
#11
the One turns out to be a self serving Centrist who wants only to be the first Black president for two terms; no matter whose a$$ he has to kiss.
Another way to look at this is that he tries to be the best President possible for all Americans. And that's what I pray he'll do. And disappoint a lot more than foreigners in the process.
Remember, he may be the first "black" President but when he looks in the mirror he knows, no matter how many lighty Wright sermons he's listened to, that he's half black, half white, raised by a white woman who wasn't his mother and didn't owe him a rearing any more than his black granny.
I suspect his thoughts, his true thoughts that he doesn't share with anyone else, on race are as interesting as Bill Clinton's on paternity.
He wasn't my choice and I doubt I'll like much of what he does, but in a certain way, though I doubt it will happen, I hope he does well enough to be re-elected by the whole nation. We're going to need a President that good for the next four years, and I hope he's the only one we get. Because the alternative's Biden and he's surely an idiot.
#12
Well said, Nimble Spemble. At minimum, that he does the things necessary to get reelected, one of which is not abandoning Israel, as well more than half of the voters would be very upset by that.
#13
Sometimes saying nothing is better than saying something stupid.
Posted by: Grolush Darling of the Hatfields3195 ||
01/04/2009 17:27
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#14
Rahm Emanuel was chosen for his ability to help keep Congress in line and because he supports Obama's real priorities: completely revamping our economic system to the left.
That he is Jewish is irrelevant to Obama's choice of him, so far as I can tell.
#15
Agreed, lotp. Although I got a cluster of overexcited emails when the appointment was announced, from various Jewish Democrat friends, all saying, "See -- he isn't an antisemitic Muslim after all, contrary to what those right wing nuts have been saying!!!!!" Only one properly appreciated my response referencing Secretary of State Kissinger and the 1973 war.
#17
RC - He's opened his mouth plenty on the economy and other issues when it suited his or his party's interests. He's not being so professional after all. It may be more that he has nothing profound to say.
Many scratch their heads and wonder what sort of solutions exists for the Hamas arms smuggling tunnels in the Rafiach/Philidephi corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt.
The Muqata has a real proposal, that offers many, many positive aspects solutions, and is workable.
I present, the modified Med-Dead project. The project proposal has been around for decades -- and in a nutshell is this. A waterway canal is dug from the Mediterranean Sea (sea level), eastwards across Israel to the Dead Sea (420 metres (1378 ft) below sea level, and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land.)
This would accomplish the following:
1. Start refilling the Dead Sea, which is evaporating away year by year.
2. Provide for a water desalination plant -- desperately needed water sources for the region.
3. Create thousands of jobs.
4. All for Creation of a hydroelectric generation plant, (the 420 water drop is perfect for hydrop electric generation) -- clean, green, energy.
The Muqata's plan goes one step forward. We propose that the initial water channel from the Medeterannean Sea start not on the Israeli shoreline, but on the Gaza shoreline at its southernmost point. By carving out a 500 meter wide channel for this waterway, it would be virtually impossible for underground tunnels to be built for arms smuggling.
5. Prevention of arms smuggling to Gaza.
Seeing that this is a win-win-win solution for the entire region, I would expect the UN and EU support it fully.
#1
Not bad, but they might consider running it along the south coast of Gaza and then up the East border so that Gaza is hemmed in on three sides by water. That would cut down a lot of nonsense.
London - British forces have taken four key Taliban positions during an 18-day offensive in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province in which 100 Taliban fighters and five British soldiers were killed, the London Defence Ministry announced Sunday. The ministry said the action began already on December 7 and involved some 1,500 British troops plus Danish and Estonian soldiers of the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) plus Afghan government forces.
The aim of the offensive, which was concentrated around the town of Nad-e-Ali, was to improve security in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, a ministry spokesman said.
In 1989, Soviet Union had retreated from Afghanistan. Iran had emerged stronger after the eight years of brutal war with Iraq and democracy had returned to Pakistan, after eleven years of military rule. The dawn of freedom, thus gravitated the three countries to come together, as the bastion of power, to defeat and deter the common enemies. The idea of unity between the states was floated to achieve the essential element of 'Strategic Depth'. Our enemies were unhappy with the idea and resolved to defame and defeat it. They succeeded in causing civil war in Afghanistan, which created dissensions between Pakistan and Iran. As if this was not enough, Afghanistan was invaded and occupied in 2001. The occupation led to hatching dangerous conspiracy by the Indo-US-Israel nexus 'to establish Indian hegemony in this region' and extend power and influence even beyond. The Mumbai contrived incident of November 26 is the first step, in this direction.
The Mumbai episode reflects the Saffron Sensibility characteristic of Hindutva, the Neocons and the Zionists, having a mindset of a boiling antipathy towards Pakistan. It is this congenital hatred which brings "strange bedfellows together." The ultimate objective is 'to establish Indian hegemony over South Asia', including Afghanistan, now considered part of South Asia by Pentagon. Pakistan is the stumbling block to be softened-up. Thus the callous blood bath of Mumbai on November 26 was enacted by RAW, CIA and Mossad, - the Saffron Nexus - to defame Pakistan in the comity of nations and lend justification for punitive action. The pressure is continuously being mounted on our western borders, while the threat of 'surgical strikes' and war against Pakistan, continues, to extract strategic advantages.
No doubt, Mumbai episode was a homegrown conspiracy of the Hindu militant groups in collusion with the Saffron Nexus. The very few terrorists, ten only, who took over Taj, Oberai hotels and the railway station, were used to create a facade of a foreign terrorist group attack from Pakistan. It was also to provide the cover-up to eliminate Hemant Karkare and the officers of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), for the reason that Karkare was a brave nationalist officer, who had succeeded in exposing the terrorist involvement of the Saffron Brigade, in the Malegaon Blasts. The main culprit, Praggya Singh - an army officer, along with other noted personalities of the BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP were arrested. Karkare and other members of ATS thus were eliminated, to cover-up the real crime. This is killing 'two birds' with one stone.
The Bush administration seems to have convinced Obama to carry the Saffron flag forward and implement the strategy of Indian hegemony over South Asia, which is a bad omen, both for Obama and the region. An occupied Afghanistan is not in the interest of Pakistan and the region, whereas, an independent sovereign Afghanistan makes a reliable ally, together with Iran, to form the Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan Union (PIAU). The PIAU will thus provide the 'Strategic Depth' to the states, in the same manner as the European Union (EU) provides 'depth of security' to all the members. Depth of Security means, territorial security, economic, socio-political and diplomatic security as the common denominators.
Therefore, while seeking this objective, Pakistan's interests will remain in conflict with the occupation forces in Afghanistan. And the worst is the establishment of the spy network in Afghanistan, which continues to mount pressure on Pakistan. The nerve centre of this spy network is at Jabal-us-Seraj, manned and operated by CIA, Raw, Mossad, MI-6 and BND (German intelligence). It's a huge set-up with concrete buildings, antennas and all the modern electronic gadgetry, one can conceive of. Its out-posts are Sarobi and Kandahar against Pakistan; Faizabad, against China; Mazar-e-Sharif, against Russia and Central Asian States and Herat against Iran. Thus, Afghanistan has become the hub of regional and global conspiracies.
The tribal conflict on the western borders therefore is due to this interference from Afghanistan, yet the problem on our western borders is not worrisome, because the tribals of the area including FATA are adamantly loyal to Pakistan. Thy have declared that, in case of war/threat thereof with India, they will not only ensure security of the western borders but directly confront the occupation forces in Afghanistan, accentuating the ongoing conflict in the region.
The state brutality in Kashmir continues unabated because "Kashmir won't willingly integrate into India; it's beginning to look as though India will integrate/disintegrate into Kashmir. Indian military occupation in Kashmir, a shamefully persecuted, impoverished minority of more than fifteen million Muslims, are being targeted as a community and pushed to the wall, whose young see no justice on the horizon" (Arundhati Roy). What will happen in Kashmir after the retreat of occupation forces in Afghanistan, should be a matter of great concern for the Indians. And, if war breaks-out, now, or later, on Kashmir issue, "it would be catastrophic for India" (Federation of American Scientists report).
Pakistan armed forces, now deployed against India, have full capability to thwart Indian designs. The Pakistan Air Force high altitude interception capability has been improved by means and resources now available. Pakistan's nuclear capability, maintains a credible deterrence with India. "Nukes are not weapons of war nor they compensate for Pakistan's conventional military capability" (Benazir Bhutto). Pakistan's military policy therefore is based on its conventional military forces, to defeat Indian aggression. Being cognisant of this reality it is maintaining the effective and functional military balance, to ward-off pressures from the north-west, while remaining prepared to fight and "carry the war into the Indian territory," implementing the offensive defence concept, well tested in the Zarb-e-Momin Exercise-1989.
The "occupation of Afghanistan" is the main source of trouble, spurred by the Saffron Nexus, which has given India a false sense of hope and strength, and the resultant sabre rattling. India is enjoying the strategic partnership with USA as we enjoyed it in the past and suffered humiliations and betrayal. We wish 'interesting times' to India. Indian quest for South Asian hegemony is a pipe-dream, never to bear any fruition. Will the countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran ever accept their hegemony? If history is any guide, this shall never be.
The sun is rising, breaking the dawn of freedom, heralding the realisation of the Strategic Depth objectives as the guarantee for peace and security of the entire region. The retreat of occupation forces from Afghanistan is eminent, and will revive the 'Strategic Depth Concept.' Historical realities do not die. Invasion of Afghanistan was indeed a great strategic blunder, because, "force, if unassisted by judgement, collapses through its own mass." (Horace)
The writer is a former Chief of Pakistan Army Staff
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009
08:33 ||
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#1
The sun is rising, breaking the dawn of freedom, heralding the realisation of the Strategic Depth objectives as the guarantee for peace and security of the entire region.
They're passing around the strong stuff at the Officer's club
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009 8:43
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#2
Purdy much all 'ye need to know:
The PIAU will thus provide the 'Strategic Depth' to the states
#3
Strategic depth of six feet under sounds about right...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/04/2009 10:07
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#4
Beg and Hamid Gul (formerly ISI chief) are the two major proponents of an Islamist Pakistan. The United States knows them both very well, having worked with both during the involvement in Afghanistan. Both have sought to destroy the Pakistan democracy, and both belong in jail.
#5
Both reflect the attitudes of the Pakistani praetorian class
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009 13:11
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#6
gravitated the three countries to come together, as the bastion of power, to defeat and deter the common enemies
I'm thinking glass from the Persian Gulf to the Indian border.
#7
This is nothing "emerging". If you look over the course of history, before the British (and Russians) carved up areas with arbitrary lines on maps, one can see where cultural influences extended by looking at language, culture, and traditions. If you add up the Farsi speaking regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, you can see an area that was naturally culturally "connected" to what we know as Iran. Drawing of borders has created artificial political boundaries where no such cultural boundaries existed before.
Same with other areas, too. See where Uzbek or Tajik is the dominant language and notice that when Russia drew the borders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan they intentionally chopped the regions up to reduce the cultural identity. The Azeri regions of Iran should really be part of Azerbaijan. The Arabic speaking regions, part if Iraq. Iran "should" extend further Eastward and include regions of what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. There "should" be a Kurdistan that includes some of what is now Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Turkey.
What was done at the end of WWI and continued after was to actually set the stage for more strife by arbitrarily chopping up regions without regard to (or in many cases any knowledge of) the people and cultures living in those regions.
It turned proud people into ethnic minorities. imagine if 10 US states were given to Mexico, 10 to Canada, and a chunk if Mexico and French speaking Canada were given to the US. It would turn many Americans into ethnic minorities in Canada and Mexico and the same with Canadians and Mexicans that would now find themselves on the American side of the line. It would set the stage for resentment and unrest.
#8
What on earth gave the retired gentleman the idea that Iran needs strategic depth? john, I think they've been passing round the strong stuff in the Pure Officers' Club for a number of decades. No wonder the Army of the Pure loses every war it starts!
#9
People were drawing lines on subcontinental maps long before the British or Russians came on the scene.
There were borders between the Delhi Sultans, the Moghuls, the Sikhs etc and the Persians. The Peacock throne in Tehran that the Shahs sat on is actually war booty from India.
2500 years ago there was a border between the Persian lands held by Alexander's satrap Selucius Nicator and the Indian Emperor Chandragupta Maurya.
There may be Persian words and a Persian derived script in Urdu but a Hindi speaker will have a conversation with an Urdu speaker and both will think the other is speaking 'their' language.
A Punjabi Urdu speaking Pakistani like Beg has far more in common culturally with an Indian across the border than an Iranian.
There will always be cultural mixing between regions but political borders have always been there.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009 14:03
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#10
An example of cultural mixing/changing: Saddam's manipulations (Arab vs Kurd) in the Kirkuk region.
#11
Also the outer political borders of the Indian subcontinent are determined by geography. The mountains and deserts that divide the subcontinent from Persia were the natural border between the states. Pakistan is firmly subcontinental.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/04/2009 15:25
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#12
Iran can only gain depth from her enemies by moving the entire nation East. Pakistan by moving her entire nation west. This guys concept of depth make little sense.
#13
"There will always be cultural mixing between regions but political borders have always been there."
That is true but there really was no notion of the nation state as we know it today. A political boundary was basically the land under the control of a king or emperor. The authority of that person went down through individuals who controlled smaller areas, maybe landlords or warlords or others who bound the people bound to the land by an oath of loyalty.
We can't place our notion of nation state into the culture of people who pretty much still live they way people did in medieval Europe with local lords holding peasants in oaths of loyalty (bayat).
#14
ya'll thinkin about this too deep.
Them man is a total loon!
That may be a requirement to be a "Chief of Pakistan Army Staff" but it's undeniable he's a fricking loon!
More from the files of the original Kulture of Korruption
From TFA:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn't want Rep. Jesse Jackson in the Senate, a point he made clear to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a conversation about filling Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. I wonder what J3 did to deserve this spite from his erstwhile comrades?
The Nevada Democrat made one call to Blagojevich on Dec. 3 to discuss the seat vacated by the president-elect, Reid spokesman Jim Manley confirmed. Six days later, authorities arrested Blagojevich for allegedly trying to sell Obama's seat. I couldn't have written this graf better myself.Maybe Reid was trying to trade up. Dunno...
Reid accused Blagojevich Saturday of leaking and distorting conversations about the process of filling the vacant seat. You made the call, Harry. Didn't you?
Three words, Senator Reid: Appearance of impropriety. Delving into a political situation in another state that was precious little of your very business.
Think the regular news will make this point to Reid: that this wasn't this matter of his concern?
#7
Goodness. First it came out that Representative Jackson was feeding information on corrupt politicians to the Feds, now that the Democratic leadership doesn't want him. How soon before the gentleman decides he's really a Republican?
A FEMALE suicide bomber has killed 35 civilians, including women and children, and wounded 65 others during a religious procession near the Kadhimiyah shrine in northern Baghdad.
Iraqi government officials said the explosion occurred close to one of the gates of the shrine at about 11am (1900 AEDT) today, killing 35 people and wounding 65 others.
The bomber targeted people participating in a ritual procession related to the Ashura ceremonies that climax on January 7.
The festival mourns the killing of Imam Hussein by armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid in the year 680.
It is characterised by processions of wailing men beating their chests and engaged in devotional self-flagellation.
#4
Ashura is a Shiite commemoration, Regular Joe. The Sunnis believe it's blasphemy (after all, they were the victors in that particular attrocity). As for "lowest of the low", I think that can be said of about 80% of Islam.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 12:00
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#5
It's just another variation of blood for gawd. Abe was gonna do it but got a pass.... it's a an olde, olde, olde meme. Yes. I mean that too.
#6
.5MT, I think ya got sumptin there. Gawd ALWAYS demands Blood. Makes me wonder. Yehosheua (Jesus) gave his own Blood so we don't have to. Interesting.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2009 15:36
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#7
It seems like America has a better solution for what to do with mentally unstable women - we give them their own show on the E channel. .... I guess I should include The View.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 15:45
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The hardline Islamist Al-Shabaab movement on Sunday warned of clashes between insurgent fighters in Somalia and reiterated their resolve to continue fighting the Ethiopian troops which are withdrawing. "We tell the Mujahideen (fighters), all of them, not to turn their guns against each other but rather to direct it at the enemy forces in our country," said Sheik Muqtar Robow, spokesman for Al-Shabaab, in a press briefing held in the southern Bay region.
Robow vowed that his forces would continue attacking the Ethiopian troops, who began withdrawing from Mogadishu on Friday. He pledged that the fighting would not stop even after the Ethiopian troops' withdrawal is completed. "As long as there are crusader forces, be they from Africa, IGAD or the UN, or forces of the apostate government, the Jihad (holy war) would go on," he said.
The spokesman played downed the taking over of some police stations in Mogadishu by a rival Islamist group as "a distraction".
#1
Is the Ethiopian military still good. A book I read about Pork Chop Hill indicated that at the time they were capable fighters especially at night before night vision devices were prevalent.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 15:49
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Armed robotic aircraft soar in the skies above Pakistan, hurling death down on America's enemies in the war on terrorism. Soon -- years, not decades, from now -- American armed robots will patrol on the ground as well, fundamentally transforming the face of battle. Conventional war, even genocide, may be abolished by a robotic American Peace.
The detachment with which the United States can inflict death upon our enemies is surely one reason why U.S. military involvement around the world has expanded over the past two decades. The excellence of American military technology makes it possible for U.S. forces to inflict vast damage upon the enemy while suffering comparatively modest harm in return. War is about the sacrifice of blood and treasure, and the American style of war is to substitute treasure for blood. From the early days of the republic, when Eli Whitney is said to have used interchangeable parts to manufacture superior muskets, to the invention of Gatling guns and Kevlar armor, American ingenuity has been devoted to devising ever more efficient ways of killing the enemy and preventing the enemy from killing us.
One common factor in much of American military prowess is the surprisingly obscure fact of modern life known as Moore's Law. Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel, noticed nearly half a century ago that computing power seemed to be doubling about every two years. Laptops, cellphones, the Internet -- they're simply commentaries on Moore's Law. The rapid emergence of the armed unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) that roam over Pakistan is a sequel to Moore's Law. Onboard computers became far more powerful, so automatic pilots became far more competent. Signal processors became more sophisticated, facilitating collection and processing of more interesting intelligence. Global Positioning System receivers shrank and could be economically employed on small robotic aircraft. Precision-guided munitions could deliver lethal firepower. And so forth.
The U.S. Navy has arguably moved farthest toward substituting treasure for blood. A generation ago the Reagan administration brought World War II-era battleships out of mothballs to provide gunfire support to onshore operations. With a crew of more than 1,500, these ships were designed to be manned by the low-paid draftees of the 1940s, not the more amply rewarded volunteers of the 1980s. The Navy couldn't afford them, and the ships were soon returned to mothballs. In their place, the Navy came up with the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt destroyer, an automated warship with a crew of only 150.
The Air Force is also moving down this path. Long skeptical of UAVs, it has begun to embrace them as the future of air power. Piloted aircraft face fundamental limits of crew fatigue. Heavy bombers flying from the island base of Diego Garcia to Afghanistan would spend more than a dozen hours flying to and from the target area, leaving little time for loitering over it. In contrast, large bomber-size UAVs can spend days over the target. At some point in the next decade, the Air Force will begin replacing cockpits with robotic pilots.
The Army has benefited far less than the Navy and the Air Force from the substitution of treasure for blood. In World War II, the Sherman tank had a crew of five. Sixty years later, the Abrams tank has a crew of four. In World War II, the M1 Garand rifle required one infantryman to pull the trigger, and today's M16 requires the same -- not exactly a testament to improved labor productivity. But now the Army stands on the threshold of one of the greatest transformations in war-fighting history, on the short list with steel and gunpowder. The Future Combat Systems program is aimed at developing an array of new vehicles and systems -- including armed robots. The robots of past science fiction were governed by Isaac Asimov's Three Laws, which precluded bringing harm to humans. But the real robots of the future will be different. Within a decade, the Army will field armed robots with intellects that possess, as H.G. Wells put it, "minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic."
Let us dwell on "unsympathetic." These killers will be utterly without remorse or pity when confronting the enemy. That's something new. In 1947, military historian S.L.A. Marshall published "Men Against Fire," which documented the fundamental difference between real soldiers and movie soldiers: Most real soldiers will not shoot at the enemy. Most won't even discharge their weapons, and most of the rest do no more than spray bullets in the enemy's general direction. These findings remain controversial, but the hundreds of thousands of bullets expended in Iraq for every enemy combatant killed suggests that it's not too far off the mark. Only a few troops, perhaps 1 percent, will actually direct aimed fire at the enemy with the intent to kill. These troops are treasured, and set apart, and called snipers.
Armed robots will all be snipers. Stone-cold killers, every one of them. They will aim with inhuman precision and fire without human hesitation. They will not need bonuses to enlist or housing for their families or expensive training ranges or retirement payments. Commanders will order them onto battlefields that would mean certain death for humans, knowing that the worst to come is a trip to the shop for repairs. The writing of condolence letters would become a lost art. No human army could withstand such an onslaught. Such an adversary would present the enemy with the simple choice of martyrdom or flight. So equipped, America's military would be irresistible in battle.
This would not be a panacea. Thugs would still rob pedestrians, organized crime would persist and so too would terrorists and other small bands of men of violence. But the large-scale organized killing that has characterized six millenniums of human history could be ended by the fiat of the American Peace.
Genocide, and the failure of the outside word to intervene, could also become a thing of the past. The industrialized murder of the Holocaust could perhaps have been disrupted by Allied bombers, but subsequent genocides have been less institutionalized, and far less vulnerable to air power. Intervention would require infantry and a decision to accept casualties. Genocide prevention may be in the interest of our common humanity, but it has never been in the national interest. But with no body bags to explain to bewildered voters, America's leaders may be less hesitant in the future about imposing an end to atrocities in places such as Darfur.
#1
He sounds like he can not reconcile a good like stopping genocide with the fact that it is the USA that will be doing it. I wish this knuckle-head would make up his mind.
Then again, we are talking about John Pike, who was too lefty (and full of himself) for even the FAS
Most real soldiers will not shoot at the enemy. Most won't even discharge their weapons, and most of the rest do no more than spray bullets in the enemy's general direction.
Sir, your ignorace is showing. These little pseudo-factoids has not been true for 40 odd years now.
All soldeirs are extensively (and expensively) trained and indoctrinated to shoot to kill human targets. Even the S-1 Clerks. The reason for high ammo consumption in theater is the regular and frequent in country range time all soldiers see. We don't use "death blossom" react to contact drills, or high volume suppressive fire tactics anymore. Partly because of loudmouth, fith-columnist, useful idiots like yourself.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/04/2009 8:40
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#2
And partly because this is a professional army, not the massive draftee-based one that got Marshall put together in virtually no time for WWII.
#4
What an exercise in histrionics. First of all, his assertion that most soldiers don't willingly shoot at the enemy is nonsense, for the simple reason that by a 15 to 1 ratio, it's not the job of most soldiers to shoot at the enemy, but support those who do.
However, all soldiers are given more than adequate amounts of *training* ammunition to fire, which is included in the total amount of ammo used to inflict casualties.
Finally, nobody has suggested that robots are autonomous in identifying and targeting enemy to fire at. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this would be a very bad idea for any number of reasons. So they will still be operated remotely.
#8
Right now it would seem that a narrow, straight sided ditch would stop most of the robots we have now. Vertical 3' walls, 2-3' bottom (ie small canal or irrigation ditch). Automate a tank? Perhaps.
#9
A generation ago the Reagan administration brought World War II-era battleships out of mothballs to provide gunfire support to onshore operations.
Uh, John, don't you ever do any real research? It was LBJ that brought the battleships out of mothballs. I was in Panama when the New Jersey (IIRC) came through. I have photos of it. Manpower was just one of several things that doomed the battleships, including the lack of trained personnel, over-aged powder sacks, the lack of a manufacturing support capability for 16-inch shells and powder sacks, and a dozen other things. As much as I'd love to see a few US battleships in the Navy, it's just not feasible with current budget, training, and manpower restrictions.
John Pike is (I believe) the current head of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and a left-wing moonbat. The factual errors in tis article (and there are far more than the one I covered) show that this leopard hasn't changed his spots.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 15:08
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#10
Right now it would seem that a narrow, straight sided ditch would stop most of the robots we have now.
The Army's future combat systems program includes a number of 6-wheeled, articulated robotic vehicles plus several airborne variants.
#12
As for UAVS, during the recent New Year's eve celebs here on Guam, I'd observed two objects flying abnormally over Agana bay, ostensibly whilst fireworks were occuring o'er Maite + Tamuning/Hotel Row areas - one had only a single RED RUNNING LIGHT, the other a single GREEN RUNNING LIGHT.
My first thoughts were MIL HELOS OR NIGHT GLIDERS, BUT THE ANGLES OF MANEUVER, LIFT AND DOWNLIFT, ETC. WERE TOO SHARP = CONCISE TO BE "NORMAL" AIRCRAFT OR GLIDERS. While the "GREEN" object finally stopped maneuvering and held stationary, the "RED" one eventually came next to it and BOTH MOVED OFF LINEARLY TOWARDS NORTHERN GUAM [Andersen AFB].
I'm inclined now to think UAVS = UAV TESTING > reminded me of Reagan-Bush 1 era SADARM [Search-And-Destroy-Armor], AIR-SPACE MINES, AIR TANKS, etc. COLD WAR PROPOSED PROJECTS.
Perhaps somebody up at Andersen AFB wanted to attend/see the fireworks but couldn't get off base shift, HENCE USE THE UAV???
#16
I read a review of Marshall's Men Against Fire. Seems, according to the reviewer, that the voluminous notes SLAM had did not include any at all referring to the reluctance to shoot at the enemy.
My father, an Infantry platoon leader with six months in contact in the ETO, also disagrees with Marshall.
One factor not acknowledged is that the Germans--the enemies in SLAM's book, were on the defensive. Which means they were in defensive positions. Hard to see. As my father said, they could advance a mile and see no Germans but dead ones, the living having retreated to the next defensive line. The dead having been killed by one or another piece of ordnance directed in their general directionk but without the firer actually having a serious idea of which German was where.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/04/2009 22:20
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#17
..., according to the reviewer
The critic also avoided reading Marshall's book done subsequently in and on Korea, in which he wrote that the fire issue he had seen in WWII had disappeared and that fire rates had increase.
Part of the whole issue about Marshall work is that the standards of today's data collection and techniques was applied against his haphazard methods which were literally the starting point of modern analysis on the battlefield. It's like comparing modern coding standards with the first generation code written in machine language or job control language.
Melting icebergs, so long the iconic image of global warming, are triggering a natural process that could delay or even end climate change, British scientists have found...for every percentage point increase in the amount of ice that breaks off, Prof Raiswell calculates that a further 26million tons of CO2 is removed from the atmosphere...Crucially, the scientists want to know how much algae will sink to the bottom of the ocean where the CO2 will be safely trapped.
#1
So, we need to melt the ice caps to save ourselves?
Boneheads. Let nature be nature and stop trying to fuck with it. You aren't god, asshats. You can't change nature, only adapt to it. That is something our "primitive" ancestors figured out hundreds of thousand years ago.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 10:18
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#3
I think Darth you are overreacting.
Prof Raiswell is mostly talking about measurement and very small scale iron seeding - enough to be able to measure the sequestration. He isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a geoengineering advocate.
And regarding nature, we mess with it every day; e.g., something as simple as choosing a color for the roof tiles changes the reflective properties of the earth - yes its a very small increment.
#6
Note one thing here in this article: There is NO mention of anthropogenic global warming. There IS a strong statement that NATURE, not man, controls climate, and that the entire situation is extremely complex. There are far more unknowns than knowns, and attempting to "do something" would be hilarious if it weren't for the fact that too many politicians are involved.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 13:57
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#7
These guys discover that they know less and less every day.
#8
Might they finally be getting a clue? This thing called "climate" has more moving parts and variables than we realize -- and right now, we don't even know the coefficients, much less the value and power of each of the variables in the equations.
Its valuable that someone is doing basic research on parts of the system. Gutsy to do so if they contravene the Holy Writ that mandates Anthropogenic Global Warming in order to get funding.
An unidentified gunman killed a man and wounded his wife in a shooting believed linked to the southern unrest, which marks five years on Sunday. Suwat Longsamut was shot in the neck while he was drove his motorcycle, and his wife, riding as his passenger, was shot in her shoulder and was wounded. He died at the scene but she was rushed to hospital, together with their two-year-old nephew who was unscathed.
The insurgency erupted on Jan 4, 2004, when militants raided a southern army base, killing four soldiers and collecting quantities of weapons and ammunition.
On Sunday morning, Israeli troops moved to bisect the strip, cutting off the north - including Gaza City - from the rest of Gaza. According to Palestinian reports, the split runs from the Karni crossing on the Israel border in central Gaza to the sea
#4
time to apply some IDF bleach to each part in sequence. Nowhere to run, few places to hide. Look for tall hairier-than-usual-moustachio'd burqa-wearers
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 10:37
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#5
2:30 PM IDF ups their psychological warfare on Gaza -- takes over Gaza TV broadcasts and keeps repeating over and over: "Gaza, Your Time is Running Out" (Walla News, Hebrew)
#6
5:28 PM Hamas top terrorists hiding out in basement of Gaza's Shifa hospital. (Muqata reported last week of reports that the largest stockpile in Gaza of Katyusha and Grad missiles was also in the same basement) [Channel 1 Israel TV]
Light off that arsenal all at once at it MIGHT qualify as a massive bomb. And it would blow up a hospital, a clear Israeli war crime (sad, but that IS how it would be portrayed.)
#14
Israel needs to get a propaganda campaign going to show these arms and ammo dumps in civilian places like hospitals. That is just as an important part of the campaign as kinetic warfare. Discredit Hamas on the airwaves. Sure the libs will go lalalalala. But keep chipping away at it.
And you are right, OS about the Litani in Lebanon. IIRC, the plan was to have amphibious landings at the mouth of the Litani River and encircle south Lebanon from the west and east, and clean out the pocket. But Olmert blew it and did not allow it. Not destroying Hizb'Allah was a huge mistake on Olmert's part. Not being crushed was a victory for Hizb'Allah.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/04/2009 14:15
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#15
Israel is an illegitimate entity. We need to arm Syria and Iran with Nukes immediately. Send in a couple of thousands of SSG commands and from Lebanon side reinforce Hezbollah to 'correct' the error.... that is Israel
#20
BigJim: I'm from planet Earth. I'd prefer to see Israel disappear and be wiped off the face of the earth. Nukes would be good. Exploding right over Tel Aviv and other cities. Cool eh!
#23
TS6893, how would you like to see nukes over Makah, Riyadh, Tehran, Damascus, ...?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/04/2009 14:50
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#24
"Other than my duty to go to a far away land to bang my head for a space rock and throw stones at a golum, I could care less because they think themselves more pure than I. Also, unlike a dog, I have not and refuse to learn to not play with porcupines. Hey, is that a woman buying suggestive produce without 2 male family escorts? Kill her! Is that a John Lennon song I hear - I blow your shop up!"
#25
I am not pure. I never have been and never will bve. No human is now or will ever be Pure. We are Mortal beings living in an Imperfect world. Living according to the "Law", whether Isalmic, Jewish, or Chirstian, won't make us Pure. The only "Out" we have is to confess before God our "Impurity" and ask God's forgiveness. What we have in our core being is what matters.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2009 15:45
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#26
Its still way too early too judge, but it LOOKS like the diff between this and Op Shalom LeGalil is far superior intelligence. With good intel you can maximize the payoff from air strikes relative to collateral damage, which they seem to have done so far. Hopefully that will also leverage the ground ops - use ground forces to take out High Value individuals and key rocket sites, and key tunnel/bunker positions WITHOUT having to go door to door through all of Gaza city or the refugee camps.
My impression is that such intell was simply not available during the Lebanon campaign, which was not nearly as well prepared.
I wonder, how much intell the IDF is getting from Fatah people on the ground.
Abbas HAS to condemn the attacks, to appeal to fence sitters in the West Bank, even though most reports are that he wants to see as much damage to Hamas as possible. IF Hamas is completely destroyed, (big if) its possible he will go back into Gaza with Egyptian support. My guess is that Fatah is providing intell at least, to the IDF.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 16:07
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#29
They were putting Fatah guys under "house arrest", but they seem to have figured out that they don't have the manpower for that. So Fatah gets it in the neck.
#30
they're Paleos, Mojo...so they shoot a little lower. Think ventilated footwear
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 17:12
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#31
Hamas is shooting Fatah members for a reason
AFAIK Hamas has been shooting Fatah members (and vice versa) for a very very long while, at a scale of violence that would be suprising to us if generally known.
#32
Hamas managed to fire off over 50 rockets today. No doubt Hamas was hoping for 200+ on the day after a ground invasion so that's OK as far as it goes. If the number of Hamas rockets starts to go down each day or if the number of rockets is all mortars and no Grads, that will be a very good sign.
#33
So, has Olmert redeemed himself, yet? Are we seeing the real Olmert now and Lebanon was just a deviation? Or is he just doing what he has to to win the election in Feb. So far, this looks like a war being run by Israeli generals, very competently. Lebanon was run by politicans to disappointing results.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
01/04/2009 18:20
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#34
he's not running in Febuary elections. His party is, though
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 18:38
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#35
I prefer the beginning of Psalm 144
Blessed be the LORD, my) rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
He is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
#41
I miss TGA too, NS. (No offense intended to you, EC - we're grateful you're here to give us the continental perspective, along with our French posters.)
I know why he said he had to sign off from here, but given his age, I wish he would post just once more to let us know he's OK.
Same for .com, except the age part.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 21:18
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#42
At a certain unspoken level, we understand that the Huntington thesis is right and the Rice view is wishful thinking. After all, when President Sarkozy and other European critics bemoan Israels disproportionate response, what really are they saying? That they expect better from the despised Jews than from Hamas. That they regard Israel as a western society bound by civilized norms, whereas any old barbarism issuing forth from Gaza is to be excused on grounds of desperation. Hence, this slightly surreal headline from The New York Times: Israel Rejects Cease-Fire, But Offers Gaza Aid. For whatever thats worth. Wafa Samir Ibrahim al-Biss, a young Palestinian woman who received considerate and exemplary treatment at an Israeli hospital in Beersheva, returned to that same hospital packed with explosives in order to blow herself up and kill the doctors and nurses who restored her to health. Well, what do you expect? Its desperation born of poverty and occupation.
If it was, it would be easy to fix. But what if its not? What if its about something more primal than land borders and economic aid?
A couple of days after Hamas voted to restore crucifixion to the Holy Land, their patron in Teheran (and their primary source of aid) put in an appearance on British TV. As multicultural balance to Her Majesty The Queens traditional Christmas message, the TV network Channel 4 invited President Ahmadinejad to give an alternative Yuletide address on the grounds that it was a valuable public service to let viewers hear him speak for himself, which people in the west dont often get the chance to see. In fact, as Caroline Glick pointed out in The Jerusalem Post, the great man speaks for himself all the time when hes at the UN, calling on all countries to submit to Islam; when hes presiding over his international conference of Holocaust deniers; when hes calling for Israel to be wiped off the map or (in his more moderate moments) relocated to a couple of provinces of Germany and Austria. Caroline Glick forbore to mention that, according to President Ahmadinejads chief adviser Hassan Abbassi, his geopolitical strategy is based on the premise that Britain is the mother of all evils the evils being America, Australia, Israel, the Gulf states, Canada, and New Zealand, all of which are the malign progeny of the British Empire. We have established a department that will take care of England, said Mr. Abbassi in 2005. Englands demise is on our agenda.
So when Channel 4 says that we dont get the chance to see these fellows speak for themselves, it would be more accurate to say that they speak for themselves incessantly but the louder they speak the more we put our hands over our ears and go Nya nya, cant hear you. We do this in part because, if youre as invested as most western elites are in the idea that all anyone wants is to go to university, get a steady job and settle down in a nice house in the suburbs, a statement such as Englands demise is on our agenda becomes almost literally untranslatable. When President Ahmadinejad threatens to wipe Israel off the face of the map, we deplore him as a genocidal fantasist. But maybe hes a genocidal realist look at the threads linking North Korea to Iran and to Irans clients in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza and were the fantasists.
The civilizational clashes of Professor Huntingtons book are not inevitable. Culture is not immutable. But changing culture is tough and thankless and something the west no longer has the stomach for. Unfortunately, the Saudis do, and so do the Iranians. And not just in Gaza but elsewhere the trend is away from moderation and toward something fiercer and ever more implacable.
To be fair to President Ahmadinejads hosts at Channel 4, the department that will take care of England probably doesnt get the lions share of the funding in Teheran. On the other hand, when Hashemi Rafsanjani describes the Zionist Entity as the most hideous occurrence in history which the Muslim world will vomit out from its midst with a single atomic bomb, that sounds rather more specific, if not teetering alarmingly on the disproportionate. Unlike its international critics in North America and Europe, Israel has no margin for error.
#43
It's not a clash of civilizations but of ideologies. If Iran could get rid of the mullahs you'd see this country back on the side of civilization very soon.
Arabs once had a civilization that rivaled and maybe even surpassed European civilization between the 8th and the 11th century.
Think Cordoba under the rule of Caliph Abd ar Rahman III.
Then came fanatic tribesmen from Morocco who destroyed all that. But even they took on refined manners after a century.
The lethal combination is tribal barbary mixed with religious fanatism... this makes Pakistan a hopeless case for now.
The Palestinian case is not hopeless if they can get rid of fanatism and foreign meddling (Iran, Saudi etc).
The Arab World isn't that united against Israel anymore. When their oil runs out Israel will still be there, with all its smart, educated, hard working people.
The next 20 years will be hard and dangerous for Israel. Then we'll see.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 21:58
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#44
to all of you bastards pro iszrael
iszrael will be nucked and all of you litle jew scum gonna roasted again
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 22:32
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#46
I'm almost inclined to agree with EC. In the medium term, I think he's right. My concern being the long term. (century or more) Israel can't expect to be the regions major economy for infinity. At some point its economic and military advantage could very well not exist and at that point, its all in how well the region has moderated.
My view basically boils down to this: If the WoT is a success, then Israel will be able to exist peacefully alongside its neighbors even if someday it isn't the regions Heavy. If it can't, the west didn't win the WoT
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 22:40
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#47
"nucked"?
Is that a combination of the words "nip" and "tucked"?
Israel's gonna have plastic surgery? Whatever for? Most of their people are good-looking already.
Maybe it's Gaza that needs to be "nucked"? (They've got some pretty ugly people there.)
Of course, not even the best plastic surgeons can fix the ugliness of the Gazans.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 22:43
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#48
Yet another in a long line of examples of why Iran can't have the bomb.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 22:44
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#49
Nice analyses and news at the Jerusalem Post. They agree with European Conservative's analysis. Not about Pakistan, though. ;-)
The amusing thing is, Pakistan's opinion on the Gaza war is about as important and the indignation of trailing daughter #2's Hebrew school class with regard to the situation in Darfur. Which is to say, worth absolutely nothing. I'm so sorry to be the one to inform you of that, nuke iszrahell.
#56
He makes a few good points although I think he confuses Colombia with Venezuela (lefty Chavez is the one who hates Israel).
It boils down to this. Ask anyone in any street in the world, Muslim or not (and without any interference of other persons, minders and in absolute anonymity and safety) this question:
Where would you prefer to live:
a) in a democratic (albeit somewhat chaotic) country that doesn't infringe on your religious life, lets you party in nightclubs on the beach with gorgeous bikini babes, where you can freely say what you want, drink what you prefer, wear what you fancy, work what you like and travel the way you want to?
OR
b) in a country ruled by religious extremists, with invisible women clad in black sackcloth, where you get shot or tortured for saying your opinion or refusing to have your kid strapped to suicide belts, where your life will be regulated down to the smallest details?
And THEN ask
Why would you not support the country of your preference?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 23:28
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#57
#52 EC - Word.
Ugly goes to the bone - particularly in Gaza.
BTW, showing that picture of the mummy Helen Thomas without warning should be is considered a war crime. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 23:50
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#58
Oops sorry I didn't scroll that much down.
She'd qualify for a compulsory burka
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 23:56
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#2
Some of the comments show that the Manmade Global Warming Desciples don't like the facts. They are True Believers in Goreism.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2009 9:43
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#3
OTOH, REDDIT > ALL QUIET ON THE SOLAR FRONT FOR END-OF-YEAR 2008 - TOO QUIET!? Sciens is baffled as many theories and models bite the dust = fail to explain the curr lull [e.g. Cycle "24"].
YEAR 2010 [NLT 2012 maxima] chalks up anuther one.
* MADONNA "HEY YOU" [The RIGGER Song = Shipyards of the NWO/Apocalypse], formerly known in past as YOU ARE THERE ...ABOARD THE BATTLESHIP(S) OKLAHOMA/ARIZONA at Pearl Harbor 12/7/41. FIRST TO FIGHT, AND TO DIE.
It's too late to fix Iraq before the pullout date. All U.S. troops can do now is keep trying to slow the killing and get out. They call it 'Iraqi good enough.'
An Iraqi police SUV stays parked across the entrance to the market in Mahmudiyah, about 10 miles south of Baghdad on the highway to Najaf. The market road through town has been closed to traffic for years, but drivers seem OK with the long, bumpy detour. Better to endure the inconvenience than to risk more car bombings or another attack like the explosives-and-gunfire rampage that killed roughly 70 people in one half-hour in July 2006. By late 2007, attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces in the area had slowed but still occurred about 15 times a week. Just last March, the town endured nearly a week of urban warfare in which roughly 2,000 Iraqi troops and 300 Americans battled a few hundred Shiite militiamen and their neighbors, who joined the shootout. Things are quieter nowalthough no one wants to take chances in the area that's been known since 2004 as the Triangle of Death.
Bombs explode occasionally, but mostly without hurting anyone. Awful exceptions remain, like the Jan. 2 suicide bombing that killed roughly 20 people gathered at a sheik's home in Yousifiyah, 10 miles from Mahmudiyah.
But thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police and tribal adjuncts stand guard at checkpoints all along the area's roads, on the lookout for wanted men and possible bombers as rows of cars pass between low concrete barriers. The Iraqis have tried to make some of the stops less grim by sticking plastic flowers to the gray slabs. Some checkpoints are painted with slogans like BE RESPECTFUL AND YOU WILL BE TREATED RESPECTFULLY.
You don't see many Americans now. It's a striking change from about a year ago, when troops scoured the marketplace for wanted killers and helicopters made twice- weekly assaults against Al Qaeda hideouts on the town's outskirts. But in recent months U.S. troops have pulled out of the neighborhood combat outposts they used to share with Iraqi forces, and their numbers have thinned to a third of what they were across the triangle in early 2008. Americans still pass through occasionally to check in with their Iraqi counterparts, attend local council meetings and do what they can about rebuilding the ravaged economy. Otherwise the Iraqis are mostly left to muddle along on their own.
Until now it was impossible to predict with confidence what the end of the war would look like in Iraq. But a clear picture could be emerging here in Mahmudiyah. The outcome is hardly what the occupation's supporters wanted, but it's too late for anyone to do much about that, under the deadlines set by the new U.S.-Iraqi security agreement. By the middle of this year, American combat forces must complete their official withdrawal from population centers. Security duties will be left to Iraqi forces, although U.S. military trainers and advisers will remain. As of Dec. 31, 2011, three years from now, all U.S. troops are to be out of the country. Meanwhile they still have their hands full in the northern city of Mosul, where insurgents and jihadists have dug in for another showdown, and Iraqis are bracing for more violence in the run-up to elections at the end of this month.
In Mahmudiyah the drawdown began almost a year ago. As hard as the Americans tried to fix the place, it's still nothing to brag about. The economy, although improving, remains crippled. Public services are practically nonexistent. Courts and government offices are open, but schools lack working toilets, and teachers are so bad that parents scrape money together for private tutors. Sewage floods some side streets, and telephone landlines fail as often as not. The big government hospital is chronically short of medical supplies; late last month, a man scoured the town's drugstores for surgical thread because the hospital had none for his wife, who was undergoing a Caesarean delivery. "The military is, in some cases, the only government people see," says Maj. John Baker, who advised Iraqi troops in rural areas near Mahmudiyah until late 2008. By normal standards the town is a messbut it's less dangerous than it was, and at this point that's about the best anyone can expect.
The situation is summed up in a phrase you hear among American combat troops and trainers: "Iraqi good enough." The term expresses their resignationrealism, they'd call itabout the limits of what America can accomplish in Iraq. They say it when an Iraqi Army unit has no choice but to buy fuel for its Humvees on the private market because Iraq's military-supply system is so corrupt and inefficient. Or when the persistent shortage of capable leaders forces Iraqi battalions to function with only half the number of officers they require. Or when Iraqi soldiers fall apart in a senior officer's absence because that's the way it goes in a top-down society. The concept has spread to American Embassy staffers, who invoke it when speaking of the near-impossible task of reforming the decrepit old welfare-state economy. "Good enough" may not live up to Americans' hopes for Iraq, but at this point it describes the place we're likely to leave behind in 2011if things stay on track. "It's a hell of a lot better than I thought we were going to get four years ago fighting in Anbar, or two years ago in a civil war," says counterinsurgency expert John Nagl. "The high side may not be that high, but the costs of failure are severe."
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 11:42
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#2
They jsut cannot bring themselves to admit they wre wrong,a nd ahve to contort to such idiocies as
The outcome is hardly what the occupation's supporters wanted,
Lets se..
Terrs dead
Iraqis policing themselves
Open elections
Democratic government
People's rights restored
Economy BETTER than we found it
Violent Death rate lower than Detroit's
Iraqi Army trained and effective on its own ops
Sure we "oocupiers" didnt want ANY of those things.. yeah right. F**king rube propagandist.
#3
Prolly pissed they leaving the good service and quiet of Baghdad's 'Greenie Zone's Bar and Grill' for Jerusalem or Kabul and like any drunk A*hole leaving an establishment (Where's my story, I ordered a story, the meme was cold and the action flat - and I want a refund!) has to make a big scene on the way out, prolly pee all over the bathroom too.
#5
"It's a hell of a lot better than I thought we were going to get four years ago fighting in Anbar, or two years ago in a civil war," says counterinsurgency expert John Nagl. "The high side may not be that high, but the costs of failure are severe."
It's a hell of a lot better than we thought we'd get four years ago, or two. The Newsweek journalist forgets, if he was ever capable of understanding, that Iraq was one battle in a long war, not the war itself. We succeeded in denying the jihadis Iraq's resources and support with the conquest of Iraq in 2003. We've enabled the Iraqis to demonstrate that self-rule is a viable alternative for Arabs, that they are capable of more than submitting to the most vicious strong man as the Arabs have done at least since Mohammed began jihad. And, we've allowed the Iraqis to demonstrate that they are capable of learning honour and the art of soldiery, to go beyond being bullies with guns abused by incompetent officers.
No, Iraq has not achieved First World perfection. But then, neither has a goodly section of the First World, eg New Orleans and the banlieus of Europe... and Belgium, now hoping some sort of deus ex machina will cause a successful government to appear.
#7
"Last day" > iff only it were true so everybody could come home. Unfortunately, MUSLIM/ISLAMIC MIL HISTORY suggests that there will very likely be a ROUND 2, etc. for the BATTLE FOR IRAQ, WHEREUPON THE SAME HISTORY MUSLIM ARMIES WILL MORESO THAN NOT PROVE MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN THE FIRST IN KICKING WESTERN HINIES, AND IMO MOST LIKELY AFTER IRAN IS ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY INDIGENS NUCLEARIZE [2010 = NLT absolut maxima 2012].
IOW, POTUS-ELECT OBAMA + USDOD HAVE 2-4 YEARS TO PREPARE FOR THE ISLAMIST [nuclearized?]SECOND COMING.
As we enter the year when the last British troops leave Iraq, further evidence is emerging of just what an abject failure Britains military intervention in Iraq has been. Despite the bravery of many individual soldiers, the only real success of the Government has been the extent to which it has managed to hide from view how, thanks to its catastrophic misjudgements, this has been the one of the most humiliating chapters in the history of the British Army.
In recent weeks, drawing on a wealth of published and unpublished sources, my colleague Dr Richard North has been compiling the first comprehensive account of this story, for a book to be published this summer as our troops beat their final inglorious retreat. Like any tragedy, it is a story which has unfolded through five main acts or stages,
Stage one began in April 2003 when, after 40,000 British troops took part in the US-led invasion, Britain was given the responsibility of restoring order in the predominantly Shia south-east of the country centred on Basra. We began with hubris, imagining we would be welcomed by the local population as liberators and that, such was our experience in Northern Ireland, establishing order would be no problem, Almost immediately, however, our troops came under sporadic attacks by armed militias, notably the Mahdi Army run by a militant cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Having dismantled the structures of authority and reduced our troop numbers to 11,000, we had nothing like enough men to fulfil our legal duty under the Geneva Convention to maintain public order and safety.
Stage two began with the fateful decision in late 2003, endorsed by General Mike Jackson as head of the Army, to deploy 178 Snatch Land Rovers as our chief patrol vehicle. The intention, as part of the attempt to ''win hearts and minds, was to avoid using armoured Warriors in favour of vehicles looking less aggressive. In 2004 Muqtadas Mahdi Army launched a conventional uprising in several cities, including Baghdad, provoking a massive US response which led to its defeat. In Basra and the south, therefore, the Mahdi Army resorted to guerrilla tactics, notably roadside bombs which caused havoc with the hopelessly unprotected Land Rovers. By summer 2005, as yet more soldiers died, the British were forced to suspend Snatch patrols. As the cities of Basra and Al-Amarah to the north came under militia control, this was where the British lost the confidence of an increasingly terrorised population,
Stage three in 2006 centred on the extraordinary, largely unreported drama surrounding Al-Amarah and the nearby base at Abu Naji, our largest after Basra. Unable to keep control over the city, the British hunkered down in Abu Naji, subjected to constant mortaring which they had neither the men nor the equipment to deal with. In August we retreated, supposedly handing over to the Iraqi army, only for the base to be triumphantly looted by the Mahdi Army, which by the end of October had turned Al-Amarah into a vast bomb-making factory, supplying insurgents all over Iraq.
Stage four in 2007 saw the Americans launch their spectacularly successful ''surge to the north, with 20,000 additional men, equipped with the properly mine-protected vehicles the British so tragically lacked. Now impotently confined to just four bases in Basra, under constant attack, the British could do no more than protect the convoys needed to supply them. Forced to abandon one base after another, in September they retreated to Basra airport. In effect, for the British the war was over.
The fifth and final stage came in March 2008, when the Iraqi government and the US Army, frustrated by the failure of the British to carry out their responsibilities, and determined to end the flow of weaponry out of Al-Amarah, launched the operation known as ''the Charge of the Knights.
Entering Basra in overwhelming force, they routed the Mahdi Army, restoring the city to peaceful normality. Last June, Iraqi and US forces similarly liberated Al-Amarah. It was made clear to the British that their presence in Iraq was no longer relevant.
The British Army had entered Iraq in 2003 with a reputation as ''the most professional in the world. Six years later it will leave, having failed to fulfil any of its allotted tasks and having earned the contempt of the Iraqis and the Americans after one of our most humiliating defeats in history.
The fault for this lies almost entirely with Tony Blair, abetted by one or two very senior military commanders, who failed at any point after the invasion to provide the men and equipment needed to carry out the task to which Blair had vaingloriously agreed. The price paid has been measured partly in the deaths and injuries of our men but above all it has been in that destruction of the Armys reputation which will be one of the most painful and lasting legacies of the Blair era.
#2
The individual soldiers of the British army are still some of the best. Once again though, their leadership lead them to defeat. The British military and political leaders have always been the British Army's Achilles' heel.
#3
Yes, but it didn't stop 'senior' Army officials to issue criticism, eaten up and expounded upon by the usual MSM Quislings, on the Yanks handling of the whole affair did it?
#6
Tommy didn't fail Britain. Britain failed Tommy. "Softly, Softly" send the British Army softly into that goodnight. The sun set long ago on the British Empire. Tommy, we hardly knew ye.
#8
The intention, as part of the attempt to 'win hearts and minds', was to avoid using armoured Warriors in favour of vehicles looking less aggressive.
The above is the prime idiocy of the "leader class" in England. And army;s job is NOT to look less agressive nor to be less armored nro to be passive, espedcially in an area where hostiities are ongoing.
Its the upperclass twits that believe the Arabs think like upperclass leftards that came up with this idiocy (similar to our state department). Strong Horse, that's how the Arabs go, and its very practical from a peasant standpoint. If you have one set if people telling you "Here have a bag of food and we are nice guys", and the other ones telling you "we will slice your throat like we did your neighbor's if you don't do as we say and don't bet on the nice guys to save you - they don't stay and they don't fight.", well its pretty clear which side will win support of the popukace.
The libtards in Europe have starte to believe their own bullshit completely, and have the military and some conservatives doign so as well. They are about as adept at dealing with reality as was Hitler in the bunker moving imaginary divisions around while the Soviet artillery was hammering his roof.
#10
In August we retreated, supposedly handing over to the Iraqi army, only for the base to be triumphantly looted by the Mahdi Army, which by the end of October had turned Al-Amarah into a vast bomb-making factory, supplying insurgents all over Iraq.
I must have missed that bit somehow. Still, a pointed lesson in how hearts and minds can only be won after security has been established by force.
#11
"The British Army had entered Iraq in 2003 with a reputation as the most professional in the world".
IMO, most of the poor decisions resulted from the admirable quality known as British Pride. Unfortunately, that pride soon grew into arrogance. (In both civilian and military leadership) Almost immediately, the commanders of the elite fighting force with the most respected counter-insurgency pedigree were squawking about playing second fiddle to less experienced Yanks. Blair, to his credit, put on a good face but clearly his poodle moniker left him pining for his days in short-pants. The premature and very public denials of Iranian involvement in supplying weaponry was the clearest sign that disruption of the Shia rat-lines was no longer their main objective. At that point, even a stooge like Sadr could figure out that a sustained assault would send shivers up the skirts of the British Parliament.
#12
The intention, as part of the attempt to 'win hearts and minds', was to avoid using armoured Warriors in favour of vehicles looking less aggressive.
Kinda like equipping Alexander's Companions with Show Jump horses.
#13
Ideally, the Marines that marched in with the British should have stayed with them. Dealing with restive populations in both Iraq and Afghanistan supplemented by every nutcase available from Pakistan, Syria and Saudi Arabian with funding from Iran was a tall order for the small post-Cold War military forces available in the USA and UK. It would have been nice to have help from other interested parties, but I think the will of Europe has been broken.
I expect that the end result will be a nuclear Iran that will blackmail Europe into ponying up the Danegold in perpetuity.
The United States will retain its membership in the club of countries willing to engage in significant international action. The club membership has shrunk to the US, Israel, Russia, China and India. The UK will probably adopt the same type of risk adverse policy that the US adopted post VN until Reagan and post Somalia.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 15:36
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#14
I call Horse shit. The British Army from Capt. doen is a damned good force. It's the Politicians and the Upper Eschelon that are Dickekweeds. Go Tommys!!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2009 15:54
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#15
Agreed DB - after reading the story about the 3 Brit ex-soldiers attempting to repel pirates armed with McGyver era weapons quite sharply the quality of the soldiers vs. policy.
#16
The Brits have suffered a humiliating defeat. They need to get their hands around it before they find themselves part of the EUropean Defence Force. I doubt they have the time to do so as did we after Vietnam because their domestic enemies have such powerful foreign allies.
#18
Deac, nothing wrong with the British military at the mid-level (battalion, ship commander) officer level nor the enlisted. Its the leadership and upper-level officers who have contributed to the mess by allowing the rot to continue in less functional equipment, less supplies, and a lack of political courage.
#19
NS, the Brits have not suffered a humiliating defeat. Those good, brave soldiers did; but the Brits that run things got just what they wanted. They're selling PC soft power to the rest of the EU cause that's what the EU wants. It's cheap and allows them to look down their noses at the US.
They can't DO crap, but they can blather on for ever.
Ma'an/Agencies -- A Hamas leader early on Sunday morning denied reports that armed groups affiliated with the Islamic movement had been killed by invading Israeli forces. Appearing on Al-Jazeera just after midnight on Sunday, Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook claimed that "there are casualties, but they are of the people of the Gaza Strip, not us."
The Qatar-based network had reported Israeli claims that up to 13 Hamas fighters were dead. "We're defending our people, defending ourselves against this aggression," Abu Marzook insisted, noting that Israel has "the upper hand" in the ongoing conflict.
"We know they have the upper hand in the air and sea, but we know our land. We know ourselves very well," he added. "We will fight."
"We will fight the Israelis anywhere in the Gaza Strip, Abu Marzook warned, "the rights of the Palestinian people cannot be turned off."
On the prospect of a ceasefire, Abu Marzook said Hamas would consider it under certain circumstances. "If there is a ceasefire, if the gates are opened, we would deal with this kind of initiative."
"Discussions in the area (Gaza) at the moment are that France or Turkey could achieve a ceasefire," he said.
And commenting on reports from Israel that Hamas is using civilians as human shields, the Hamas leader rejected that civilians in Gaza have the means to protect themselves no matter where they are, saying, "We have no shelters; we have crowded refugee camps."
Finally, Abu Marzook denied reports that Arab countries had pressured Hamas to stop rocket fire. "Everyone is calling on Israel to stop their aggression," he noted.
This article starring:
Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
there are casualties, but they are of the people of the Gaza Strip, not us
we are getting our asses handed to us, but we would only accept a cease fire on the condition that the Israelis give us every thing we want and let us keep killing them...
sheesh (shakes head)
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/04/2009 1:18
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#3
The Israelis are filthy murderers! They bully and provoke, then have the nerve to be surprised when people fight back. Here they torture with guns: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/05/hebron-settlers-shooting-israel-palestinians
Here they try to starve by plowing up fields and orchards about to be harvested: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221142469693&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
And these are all incidents in the West Bank which is controlled by a government that Israel claims that it finds "acceptable".
If this is how they treat what they find "acceptable", then you can surely see how they treated Palestinians in Gaza.
If Israel has a right to murder and destroy because of rockets fired into Israel, then how is that Gazans don't have a right to respond to illegal destruction of property, torture of humans, starvation, and murder by firing the rockets in the first place?
Israel is the worst of what the 20th century had to offer. It defines humanity as only themselves, and everyone else as pawns or prey.
Madoff, a significant supporter of Israeli interests and his downfall is just the beginning of Israel's troubles in the 21st century.
#4
I agree Gazans should protest murder and the destruction of property.
They could start by protesting the destruction and looting of state of the art greenhouses *given* to them when Israel withdrew. Those greenhouses could have fed many children and provided valuable exports so that Gazans could be self-sufficient and have self-respect instead of nursing a deep sense of grievance and remaining welfare ticks.
They could have protested the killings between Fatah and Hamas that have destroyed the peace there.
They could have had fewer children and concentrated on being a functional state rather than being shameless welfare recipients.
They should protest the lousy education their own political leaders provide to their kids. They should protest the massive corruption that diverts funds which could have been used for roads, education and building an industrial base.
I'm just getting warmed up regarding the things Gazans *should* protest.
What they do instead has sealed their own fate.
As for Israel, I notice you fail to mention that Israel has given full citizenship to Arabs and regularly provides state of the art medical care to Palestinians who hate them. Moreover, they developed many of those medical advances, as they have in many fields.
How much has the Muslim world developed? Nothing, despite billions of dollars and euros in aid for decades. Nothing - not in science, not in technology, not in literature, not economically -- nothing but the short term exploitation of oil resources that are quickly becoming exhausted.
'Palestine' was a poverty-stricken desert backwater until Jews returned to their ancestral lands and founded the state of Israel. In less than a generation, they made that desert bloom and created a thriving democracy - something that the many more numerous Arabs have still to achieve. If your eyes weren't so blinded by hatred and superficial propaganda, you would be calling on the Muslim world to learn a few lessons from Israel.
But it's easier to hate and to demand handouts than to work and build and achieve.
#7
Hamas Death Benefit Plan - You're killed in the line of Duty and HamAss will disclaim all knowledge of your existence - you automatically become a civilian.
I suppose it would save on paying those death benefits to the widows and children.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 15:33
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#16
Killing Civilians?
OK let's check their OWN propaganda...
"Reference is made to the martyrs of the Israeli bombardment since Saturday reached 368 martyrs and more than 1700 injured, including a large number of serious injuries.
The Khalil Abu Shamala, director of Conscience Foundation for Human Rights to the martyrs of the 36 children and nine women in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip."
Now... 50% of Gaza inhabitants are women, 50% are people 17 and under.
Given the facts that they prefer to hide under the skirts of women and the cradles of babies this looks like DAMN PRECISE IDF-bombing of terrorists to me.
I think the IDF derves another round of pizzas
http://pizzaidf.org/
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 15:44
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#17
Barbara, when terrorists produce soap, I'm thinking of... ugh perish the thought
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 15:48
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Officials and witnesses say a series of powerful earthquakes have killed at least two people in remote eastern Indonesia. A 7.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:43 a.m. local time (1943 GMT) about 85 miles (135 kilometers) from Manokwari, Papua, at a depth of 22 miles (35 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Agency said.
The Indonesian Meteorology and Seismology Agency issued a tsunami alert but it was revoked within an hour after it was determined the epicenter was on land. The initial jolt was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, including one with a strength of 7.5, the agency said.
An emergency room assistant says the bodies of a man and boy have been brought to a local hospital. Five people have been injured after several stories of a hotel collapsed. A search is under way for possible trapped victims.
Officials say power lines have been cut, several buildings badly damaged and flights to the regional capital Manokwari city have been canceled.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Just a shout out to my bros in da nesia. Happy boxing day belated.
#2
Seems like that whole area of Indonesia/Papua/New Guinea is having a shakin' good time. Another 4.3 quake between Bandar Acceh and the islands to the north about an hour ago. Some small quakes up around the island of Mindinao in the Philippines, and lots in the Celebes.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 16:08
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#3
No surprise here, as even during Guam's recent bad weather there were EM skyflashes over Agana Bay.
*INTERESTING > these were not spherical or oblong type detonations, but more STACATTIC "RIPPLE" OF MULTI-DETONATIONS IN THE DARK WET SKIES OER WESTPAC. It also reminded me of the MYSTERY/TRUHIN PILLARS described in SPACEWEATHER.com, vee OLD DREAMS/VISIONS OF FUTURE TIME.
Uganda has warned that it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia, as insurgents appeared to begin seizing territory.
"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem said on Saturday.
Uganda has demanded a UN peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops, but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rejected the calls, saying there is "no peace to keep."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Uganda has demanded a UN peacekeeping force of 8,000 troops, but UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rejected the calls, saying there is "no peace to keep."
Old Ban isn't as stupid as most UN leaders, now is he? He's pegged this one.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 13:02
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(AKI) - Thousands of people held demonstrations around the world on Friday to protest against Israel's air attacks in Gaza. From the Australian city of Sydney to the West Bank city of Ramallah, protesters gathered to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in the West Bank city of Ramallah, after calls by Hamas for a "day of wrath". "We will sacrifice our soul and our blood for Gaza," chanted the demonstrators, who shouted pro-Hamas slogans and called on fighters to strike the city of Tel-Aviv.
In Jerusalem, protesters clashed with police after Friday prayers. Israel closed the West Bank territory for the day as well as key parts of Jerusalem and men under the age of 50 were prohibited from entering the Al-Aqsa mosque.
In the Jordanian capital Amman, riot police fired teargas to push back hundreds of protesters marching towards the Israeli embassy and demonstrators clashed with police in other cities across the country.
Egypt's Islamist opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, claimed 300 protesters had been surrounded by security forces outside a mosque in central Cairo, while many others had been detained.
Earlier in the day, around 10,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and the Australian city of Sydney.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
A pathetic show. Several orders of magnitude more came out against the American conquest of Iraq back in 2003. It appears the Gazans are not as popular as they thought.
Iraq's prime minister, who started a visit to Iran on Saturday, told Iranian state television his government would not allow Iraq to be used as a base to threaten its neighbors. Nouri al-Maliki--on a two-day visit during which he will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki--said to Iran's Arabic news channel that he "will not let Iraq be a launching ground to threaten any country," Al-Alam said on its website.
Ministerial members of Maliki's delegation immediately went into talks with their Iranian commerce, power and transportation counterparts, the official IRNA news agency said.
U.S. forces in Iraq came under Iraqi mandate on Jan. 1, a move Maliki said restored sovereignty nearly six years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Analysts say any U.S. attack against Iran would most likely involve air strikes rather than any land invasion. Washington used its bases in regional countries to attack Iraq in 2003.
Washington and Tehran have traded accusations about who is responsible for violence in Iraq. U.S. officials say Tehran backs Iraqi militants. Tehran blames the presence of U.S. forces and says they should withdraw from Iraq and the whole region.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Iraq's prime minister, who started a visit to Iran on Saturday, told Iranian state television his government would not allow Iraq to be used as a base to threaten its neighbors.
(CNN) -- Sen. John Cornyn weighed in on Minnesota's close and still unresolved U.S. Senate race, saying Friday that no one should be seated until a winner is made official by both Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Sen. John Cornyn says Republican senators will filibuster if the Democrats try to seat Al Franken.
Democratic challenger Al Franken holds a lead of about 50 votes over Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, but this number does not reflect what could be more than a thousand improperly rejected absentee ballots still to be tallied. No matter the results, officials have said there will almost certainly be court challenges.
Minnesota's other senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, told the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune this week that if the state Canvassing Board -- which is tasked with tallying votes -- certifies a winner, the Senate should "consider seating that person pending litigation."
Klobuchar's statement prompted Cornyn, a Republican from Texas and the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to threaten a filibuster to block Democrats from seating Franken before an official certificate is signed by Ritchie and Pawlenty.
The governor and secretary of state are barred by Minnesota law from making the election official until all legal proceedings have been completed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
They can't really want to seat him. He is going to be a trainwreck.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:14
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#2
For every bad piece of legislation the Dems would foist on us, the Repubs could reply, "and it was voted in by a comedian!" And they'd be right.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009 0:31
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#4
The crime scene that was this senate race is contaminated. There can be no honest outcomes from the incompetent and corrupt way this election was handled. Florida got it's sh*t together this year compared to to Minnesota.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/04/2009 1:16
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#5
Letting Franken be seated might not be a horrible idea for the Republicans.
Trunks could use a vile, polarizing figure like Franken. He could be the workhouse that gets more republicans elected next time.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 1:35
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#6
And refusing to seat Franken or even holding the matter up would give the demagogues on the left a great deal of fodder. This is a losing battle for the Republicans, seat him and use him to highlight our corrupt electoral system.
#7
Seat the silly bastard and let Coleman's legal efforts continue. We're already off the bizarro scale with Obama, why worry. He'll be entertaining to watch.
#9
If its that close, give the Minnesotans their new Senator so the rest of the country can see them for what they are - a joke. Seriously to treat the concept of a republic as such to send this person to Washington clearly signals that the state treats the process like the theater that Louisiana has for so many generations. Just another step in the process of arrested adolescent development impacting and undermining the structures of self government.
#10
The Senate really deserves Franken. His behavior and intellect is just a little more transparent than the rest of the chamber(f%&$ing clown college).
#11
"There can be no honest outcomes from the incompetent and corrupt way this election was handled."
Alaska Paul: You may be correct to suggest that the Minnesota senate race is proof of incompetence. The underbelly of Minnesota elections has been exposed simply because of the extreme closeness of the vote count. If the same scenario were to occur in any other state you would see a similar clusterfuck. And in many cases much worse. As for the allegations of corruption in Minnesota elections it might be helpful to put this in historical context. Consider some past Senate races from Lyndon Johnson to Robert Torricelli. Or maybe even uhem Ted Stevens from Alaska.
#13
WTF is wrong with the people in Minnesota that they let an intellectual midget like Franken get close enough to where he could steal the election?
Are people in Minnesota that fecking stupid? Someone seed the water with birth control agents - the nation doesn't need mouthbreating droolers like that breeding.
#15
"Are people in Minnesota that fecking stupid?"
OS, this disorder is not unique to Minnesota. I'm willing to bet you could see a simmilar situation in any state from the upper midwest or Northeast coast. It's not all that complex. Start with a state that is traditionally liberal with an active voting electorate. Then nominate someone who is willing publically announce they will blow organized labor. Seeing as how this wasn't a landslide is testimate to the fact that even the rubes had their reservations about Franken.
#16
You want to see some bitterness? Here is a comment on the same subject from a pi$$ed off reader at AoS:
Minnesota is the worst state in the union and everyone from there can go straight to hell. They elect professional wrestlers, (Ventura) Islamists, (Ellison) Shitheads (Frankin)... It is a flat, frozen wasteland full of white trash and Somali cab drivers who wont carry seeing eye dogs in their cabs. It is bitter cold or blazing hot. The state bird is the mosqueto. Their bridges fall down because of pigeon crap. They think Prince makes good music....
I wasted 4 years of my life on a girl from Minnesota who turned out to be a perfect microcosom of the crappy hellhole; Flat, stupid, cold and liberal.
Minnesota sucks.
Man, tell us how you REALLY feel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/04/2009 14:42
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#17
Looking at Franken taking the Senate there, I think he is close to the mark.
People in Minnesota are now beating out western PA (Murtha's district) in the competition for "The Stupidest Place in America".
BNP-led four-party components' frantic efforts to figure out the reasons for their recent election debacle might end up splitting the alliance, as the main components BNP and Jamaat are blaming each other for the shocking defeat. "Not enough boodle!"
"Not enough religion!"
"Too many war criminals!"
"Ummm... Not enough religion!"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Thirteen people were arrested and several houses were demolished in the ongoing 'Operation Daraghlam (Arriving)' in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency on Saturday, officials said.
Officials of the political administration told Daily Times that the security forces demolished five shops selling drugs in Wazir Dhand area of Jamrud and five houses of those harbouring Taliban were razed to the ground in Mian Marcha Kilay of the tehsil. The security forces also arrested four people from the area, while three were arrested from Ghundai and six from Godar for sheltering Taliban.
Earlier, the political administration had issued notices to 10 tribesmen asking them to surrender, warning that their houses would be demolished under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, a source said.
Curfew: The Pak-Afghan main highway was reopened from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, as troops relaxed the curfew for the general public and trucks carrying NATO supplies, Landikotal Tehsildar Nasir Khan told Daily Times. He said the Torkham border crossing would be closed from the Afghan side until the objectives of the operations were met.
The troops moved forward into Malagori for taking action against the Taliban and their local facilitators. Khyber Agency Public Administrator Tariq Hayat Khan had categorically told the media that no action would be taken against Malagori tribe as they had complied with the government's advice in forming a tribal Lashkar against the suspected Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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President Bush issued a sharp condemnation of Hamas late today, accusing the Palestinian militant group of provoking Israeli military action with rocket attacks and increasing the death toll by secreting its arms within civilian populations.
In his weekly radio address, to be broadcast Saturday morning, Bush also said he would not support "another one-way ceasefire," and he called for a strict monitoring system to curtail weapons smuggling into Gaza. A transcript of the address was released a day ahead of broadcast.
"This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel's destruction," Bush said. He also referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules the West Bank, as "the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people."
"I urge all parties to pressure Hamas to turn away from terror, and to support legitimate Palestinian leaders working for peace," he said.
The address marked Bush's first public comments on the conflict since Israel began targeting Hamas positions with airstrikes on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Bush also said he would not support "another one-way ceasefire,"
#3
The miracle is, Rice has managed to keep the rest of the anti-US State Department from commenting. That in itself is a blessing. Too many of the members of the DoS have "second pensions" funded by Saudi Arabia. It'll take a brigade of Marines and more water than there is in the Potomac to clean that place out.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 13:37
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Sector Commanders Forum (SCF) has urged BNP to sever relations with its ally 'war criminals' party Jamaat-e-Islami, and help bringing these criminals to trial. BNP's refusal to meet the demand for trial of war criminals was one of the main causes of its debacle in the December 29 parliamentary election, the forum said.
"Sector Commanders Forum hopes that the leadership of BNP will now dissociate itself from Jamaat and assist the process of trying war criminals," SCF leader air vice marshal (retd) AK Khandker said in a written statement at a press conference at Liberation War Museum in the city.
Leaders of the forum also demanded that the newly elected government (yet to be formed) start the trial process very soon. They also demanded that the coming government activate International War Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973, set up chief prosecutor's office or constitute a commission in this regard, reactivate Collaborators Act repealed in December 1975 and formally seek help of the United Nations in trying the war criminals.
The sector commanders pledged to provide necessary documents and proofs of war crimes in Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War.
They also urged revival of the 1972 constitution.
It is now clear that the whole nation wants trial of the war criminals because if they are not tried, then the independence and sovereignty of the country will be at stake, Khandker said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Like it or not, roughly 7,000 employees of New York City file 32-page disclosure forms each year divulging personal information about their family finances in an effort to bolster confidence in open government.
But when Caroline Kennedy was employed by the city Department of Education from 2002 to 2004, as the chief executive of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, she was not required to file, even though two people who worked for her had to disclose information about their finances.
City officials have offered a variety of explanations over the last few weeks why Ms. Kennedy did not have to meet this filing requirement despite her title and the responsibilities she has cited in her efforts to convince the public that she has the experience to take Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat in the Senate.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Dang it, she is NOT "Ms. Kennedy". She is Mrs. Schollsberg. Her maiden name was Kennedy.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/04/2009 0:45
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#2
.... she was not required to file, even though two people who worked for her had to disclose information about their finances.
#6
Ahhh, but they missed New York City Law Number 102.6.4.A.f.: "Kennedys earning $1 per year shall, you know, be exempt from the disclosure requirements."
Aswat al-Iraq: Ali Munther and two of his colleagues removed electoral leaflets that were attached to an electricity cabin in Sadr city, eastern Baghdad, to replace them with one big black banner on which they wrote "Oppressed Hussein," celebrating the Shiite celebrations of the Ashuraa, the day that marks the killing of Imam Hussein bin Ali.
It is almost the same situation throughout Sadr city streets where Ashuraa and electoral placards are currently competing to find a place.
"The cabin is located near our house and shop," Munther told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "I do not know who gave candidates the right to put their stickers and banners on it. They glued their electoral leaflets on the cabin at night," he added.
"Those candidates should share our sadness in Ashuraa rather than jockeying for positions," he noted. "They are just deceiving poor people with false promises."
The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said that it received complaints from several political entities that their electoral leaflets were taken off from their places. "The IHEC formed an ad hoc committee to look into those complaints," a media source from the IHEC told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The committee will take measures to stop those violations," he said.
For its part, the Iraqi interior ministry forces arrested some of those involved in removing electoral leaflets and are now being interrogated.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
"They are just deceiving poor people with false promises."
Motorists are driving less and buying less gasoline, which means fuel taxes aren't raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs.
A federal commission created by Congress to find a way to make up the growing revenue shortfall in the program that funds highway repairs and construction is talking about increasing federal gas and diesel taxes. A roughly 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is being urged by the commission until the government devises another way for motorists to pay for using public roads.
The 15-member National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing is the second group in a year to call for increasing the current 18.4 cents a gallon federal tax on gasoline and the 24.4 cents a gallon tax on diesel. State fuel taxes vary from state to state.
In a report expected in late January, members of the infrastructure financing commission say they will urge Congress to raise the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon and the diesel tax by about 12 cents to 15 cents a gallon. At the same time, the commission will recommend tying the fuel tax rates to inflation.
Which will be climbing nicely ...
The commission will also recommend that states raise their fuel taxes and make greater use of toll roads and fees for rush-hour driving.
Although the cost of gasoline has dropped dramatically in recent months, such tax increases could be politically treacherous for Democratic leaders in Congress. A gas tax hike was one of the reasons they lost control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections. President-elect Barack Obama has expressed concern about raising fuel taxes in the current economic climate.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
If they raise the tax, it will cause the price of things to go up, people will drive less and buy less, causing taxes to go up to make up revenue, which will cause the prices of things to go up, people will drive less, etc., etc.
#3
Similar to those who complain about the loss of cigarette tax revenue. Also why are transit programs not paying for themselves.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:41
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#4
A roughly 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is being urged by the commission until the government devises another way for motorists to pay for using public roads.
Wheeeeew.... it's only a TEMPORARY tax. I was begining to get worried. But wait, there's more. Could the downturn in manufacturing (shipping good by truck) also account for the "loss" in tax revenue? I blame truckers! What about shopping at home on the computer? Some folks are now walking to work. What about those taxfree sidewalks? Then there's those gummit workers who Slug to the Pentagon and don't pay anything. Shouldn't they be required to have a Slugging license?
This is yet another attempt to transfer hard earned wealth from the pockets of ordinary citizens struggling to make ends meet to the coffers of a bloated tyrant known as government.
The only economic entity of any size which has consistently refused to hold down its costs is government, and this new proposal takes the massive disparity between what taxes are and they should be new heights.
#9
"Motorists' habits spur call for tax increases"
Everything spurs a call for tax increases with gummint wankers. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 10:27
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#10
A 50% increase! We've seen this grift before:
Request 50% increase "for our children's roads"
Settle for 25% "we only got half of what was needed!"
Use prevailing wage/union workers "good jobs at good wages!"
Siphon money into other worthy project "Rangel Integrity Center needs funds!"
Taxpayers grumble "blame big oil, we need more alternative energy."
Set up commission to request 50% tax for windmills.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/04/2009 11:44
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#11
How 'bout we cut funding to GOVERNMENT by half or more, and refuse ANY new taxes? Governments have short memories. Obviously ours doesn't remember that we actually went to war over taxes, not once but several times. Raising taxes when people are already hurting is a sure-fire way to anger them enough to actually DO something. Government behavior needs modifying again. Behavior modification calls for inflicting increasing levels of punishment each time government does something undesirable. Our government does something undesirable about three times a week.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 14:41
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#12
OP, they did cut one branch of the government by 50% during the 90's.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 14:53
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#13
Tax it and you'll have less of it, subsidize it and you'll have more of it.
Israeli ground forces rolled into the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, as the military announced the beginning of the second stage of a massive, eight-day offensive that has already cost more than 430 Palestinian lives. "The objective of this step is to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas . . . in order to greatly reduce the quantity of rockets fired by Hamas at Israeli civilians," the Israeli military said in a statement.
Palestinian witnesses reported seeing Israeli vehicles move into Gaza near the strip's northeast corner. Israel said the ground-based assault would include tanks, infantry and artillery. Until Saturday, Israel had exclusively relied on air and sea power to conduct its offensive against Hamas, which began a week ago.
The ground invasion came under cover of darkness around 8 p.m., with electricity having been cut for much of the territory. Soldiers with night-vision goggles advanced on foot, while others traveled in tanks and armored personnel carriers. Hamas officials vowed to fight back against the onslaught.
Earlier in the day, Hamas and its allies in Gaza fired 30 rockets into Israel, hitting three homes. There were no major injuries. During the past eight days, four Israelis have been killed, three of them civilians.
The military said it planned to take control of some areas used by Hamas to launch rockets. It was unclear how long Israel intended to hold those areas, or how deep into Gaza the forces planned to move.
It is not uncommon for Israel to move ground forces into Gaza for relatively quick, targeted strikes. But Israeli officials indicated that this operation will be lengthy. "It will not be easy or short. But we are determined. . . . Now is the time to do what needs to be done," said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a news conference late Saturday night.
Barak said the goal of the operation was to "get Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel."
Other Israeli military officials in television interviews also suggested that the incursion would not be short-lived. One spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, said on CNN that it would be a "lengthy operation" because "we have many, many targets." Another, Brigadier Avi Benayahu, said on Israel's Channel Two, "We are talking about many long days."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Other Israeli military officials in television interviews also suggested that the incursion would not be short-lived. One spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, said on CNN that it would be a "lengthy operation" because "we have many, many targets." Another, Brigadier Avi Benayahu, said on Israel's Channel Two, "We are talking about many long days."
#5
Ahem.. so the goal is not to have hummus renounce their charter, step down as a democratically elected government, or kiss either pooEhud's or Tzipshit's cornholes?
#6
"Ahem.. so the goal is not to have hummus renounce their charter, step down as a democratically elected government, or kiss either pooEhud's or Tzipshit's cornholes?
"
Well yes, and no sweetums.
Charter - kill jews. Yeah, gonna hafta think that one through. Maybe they can kill more of you when they get fed up enough.
"Democratically-elected government." Oh, I'm sorry. I laughed so hard, I peed just a little,
"Kiss cornholes" - if that is a Hamas specialty, they must work much harder on their sucking skills.
Good to hear from you though. Let us know when you wake up. Check Wikipedia for a lesson on "cause and effect".
We're fighting the flintstones. Yeesh.
May I quote your "hummus" designation? Dipsticks all. Less pepper, more moderate seasonings, dahling.
#12
arik did not screw up. They are still better off doing an op like this than having to defend settlements. Note well, they have asserted they are NOT going to reoccupy Gaza, much less reestablish settlements there.
Is the goal to destroy Hamas rule? In Op Shalom LeGalil, they made the mistake of saying their goal was to destroy Hezbo. When the failed to do that, the op was seen as a dramatic failure, despte major harm to Hezbo. They are playing the expectations game better. Their goal is to stop rocket launches, whether by physical destruction of Hamas assets, or by convincing Hamas its not such a good idea. While they do that, they are clearly attacking targets like the police that maintain Hamas in power, but they are not staking the success of the op on removing Hamas from power as part of THIS op.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is preparing to form a unity government after firing a number of ministers from his ZANU-PF party who lost in the March 2008 elections, state media said on Saturday.
"What I can tell you is that President Mugabe has already started preparing an administration," George Charamba, state secretary for Information told The Herald newspaper. Charamba would not reveal further details about the makeup of the power-sharing government and the exact date of its possible formation.
The US last month announced that an inclusive government in Zimbabwe was not possible with Mugabe at the helm.
According to the paper, Mugabe earlier this week fired 12 ministers and deputy ministers from his ZANU-PF party. Among the ministers fired were Sikhanyiso Ndlovu who is in charge of Information, Samuel Mumbengegwi for Finance and Oppah Muchinguri for Women's Affairs.
Deputy ministers for health, and agriculture were among those who lost their posts. Last week Zimbabwean authorities issued prime-minister designate and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, Morgan Tsvangirai a new passport to enable him to return home from Botswana.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
I thought for a minute that he fired Oprah. That would have taken guts.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:23
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A unity government to Bob means one at the top.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/04/2009 14:28
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Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh asked Pakistan on Saturday to hand over the suspected perpetrators of last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai so that they could be tried in India. Talking to reporters in the northeastern city of Shilong, Singh said his country would root out terrorism using 'any means'.
"War is no solution to the problems," the Indian prime minister said. "We sincerely hope that better sense will prevail with Pakistan because this is an area where there is a need for maximum possible cooperation between our two countries."
Singh said the biggest challenges before India was the "menace of terrorism and Naxalism" and the global economic slowdown.
Bangladesh: Calling Bangladesh another emerging terror front, Singh said Indian militants from the Northeastern states continue to operate out of bases in the neighbouring country. "The porous border that India shares with Bangladesh is a matter of concern for us as infiltration and cross-border terrorism does take place. We need to accelerate fencing and discuss this issue in next week's meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security," the he said.
Asked whether his government was open to talks with banned militant outfits, Singh said, "All insurgent groups must recognise that the only course open to them is to lay down arms."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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The Paris mayor's office says it has decided to provide exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin with a rent-free apartment in the French capital.
A spokesman says the writer asked the city for help after being made an honorary citizen. The spokesman said Saturday that she will move into a former-convent-turned-artists' residence in February.
Nasrin left Bangladesh in 1994 after Islamic extremists accused her of insulting Islam in her writings and threatened to kill her. In March 2008 she moved to Sweden from India to seek medical assistance. The spokesman says he doesn't know what motivated Nasrin to ask for a place to live and write in Paris.
In Stockholm, Maria Modig, a spokeswoman for Nasrin, declined to comment about Paris' decision, or to say whether the author was still in Sweden.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Tell her not to park on the street.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:36
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Up to the 90s she was just a standard feminist who wrote, among other things, about the sexual abuse of women as she observed through her medical practice. Then she said that the Koran needs to revised. She hasn't lived in Bangladesh since then.
Ma'an -- Palestinian communications networks are barely functioning in the Gaza Strip due to cables damaged by several Israeli airstrikes on network infrastructure on Saturday. Palestinian mobile provider Jawwal's phone may stop working "at any minute" as shelling severely damaged the provider's telecommunications network in Gaza.
PalTel, Jawwal's parent company based in the West Bank, told Ma'an, "The Israeli shelling damaged the electric grid and caused continuous cuts."
"The lack of fuel will lead to cutting lines with the telecommunications company (in Gaza) and the Hadara internet company, as well as Jawwal's mobile phones," the statement added. The statement warned that "all means of communication with the Gaza Strip will be highly affected and may totally cut off."
Attempts to contact Ma'an's correspondents by mobile were unsuccessful early Sunday morning. Landlines appeared to be working properly between homes in Gaza and Ma'an's headquarters in Bethlehem.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#4
After all the cell phones and the internet not longer work, all Hamas communications to their overlords will have to go by satphone or land lines, which, I presume run through Israel.
I'm sure the IDF has this in mind, but I wonder if the thought ever occured to Hamas.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 0:49
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#5
Keep calm...we got your comm.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/04/2009 1:06
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(Xinhua) -- Ghana's ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo conceded defeat on Saturday in the country's presidential election, agencies' reports said. Akufo-Addo made the announcement after the Ghana Electoral Commission announced on Saturday that opposition leader John Atta Mills wins Ghana's presidential election. The ruling party's candidate also congratulated Mills on his victory.
Commission chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said the results of a presidential run-off showed that Mills, candidate of the National Democratic Congress, won 50.23 percent of the votes against 49.77 percent for the ruling New Patriotic Party's candidate Akufo-Addo.
Afari-Gyan announced on Dec. 10 that neither Akufo-Addo nor Mills obtained the required 50 percent of votes needed for an outright win. In the first round of election which was held on Dec. 7, Akufo-Addo secured 4,159,439 votes, or 49.13 percent of the total valid counts, while Mills gained 4,056,634 votes, or 47.92 percent. Ghana recorded nationwide voter population of 12,472,758 for the 2008 elections and the turnout was 69.52 percent in the first round.
A total of eight candidates were involved in the presidential race. Paa Kwesi Nduom of the Convention Peoples Party came third with some 1.34 percent of the votes, while the rest five contenders garnered even smaller shares during the Dec.7 vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Eight bodies were recovered from different parts of Swat district on Saturday. According to a private TV channel, three bodies were found from Green Chowk while two bodies were found from Ode Gram area of the district. Three more bodies were found from a house in Shakardara area of Matta tehsil. According to the channel, the killings were part of a series of targeted killings in the valley. Separately, Taliban killed Traders Association President Jameel Khan in Barikot.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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(AKI ) - A Turkish court on Friday sentenced an alleged Kurdish separatist to nine consecutive life terms in solitary confinement for a car bomb attack that killed seven people last year. Local media said Erdal Polat, who was 23 at the time of the attack, faced charges of attempting to ruin the unity and integrity of the state, murder and helping the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
According to Turkish media, Polat was accused of preparing and detonating a car bomb, with 40 kilogrammes of explosives, near a bus carrying Turkish soldiers. The explosion, which also occurred near a university building, killed seven people -- including six high school students -- and injured 68 others.
Polat confessed to being a member of the PKK and obtaining the car used in the bombing, but denied detonating the vehicle.
The court sentenced five other people to six years and three months in jail each for helping Polat and for membership of the PKK. Six defendants were acquitted.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Inn India being sentnced to nine life terms is far worse than in Turkey. :-)
#2
#1 Inn India being sentnced to nine life terms is far worse than in Turkey. :-)
Posted by: JFM
Being sentenced to more than 20 years is the same as a death sentence in Turkey, JFM. Turkish prisoners don't like the PKK any more than the rest of the country does. "Solitary" means a cramped, 4x6x6 cell, a squat hole in the corner, and being fed twice a day. The Turks have one of the most inhumane prison systems in the world.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 11:49
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In India, you serve until you die then you reincarnate serve another term and so on. :-)
Ma'an -- Turkey delivered 13 tons of medical aid to the Gaza Strip, according to a statement.
The Turkish Health Ministry noted that these materials will be delivered by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Turkey's behalf. The ministry added that it is awaiting permission from Egypt to transfer injured Palestinians for treatment in Turkey.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Irked by Bangladeshi male workers' strike and leaving jobs violating contracts, employers in Romania are now interested in recruiting skilled female workers from the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh. They even agreed to pay the airfare for the female workers as they might not be able to pay the high cost of moving to that country, Kefayet Ullah, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, told The Daily Star after his recent visit to Romania.
Kefayet Ullah and Masudul Kabir, commercial councillor of Bangladesh Embassy in France, visited Romania between November 30 and December 4 to see how the Bangladeshi workers are doing there.
Recently, around 200 Bangladeshi workers of a garment factory in Romania went on a one-week strike demanding pay hike. Earlier, many workers left their jobs and went to nearby European countries violating their job contracts. This irritated their employers.
Since the beginning of manpower export to Romania in January last year, through the initiative of a recruitment agency, around 800 workers found jobs mainly in the garment and construction sectors there. But over 400 workers left their jobs and moved to countries neighbouring Romania.
The official said during their visit to Romania they found that the employers were complying with the job contracts the workers signed but the workers demanded salary hike, saying the wage they get is not good enough.
The minimum monthly salary for a sewing machine operator is $300, excluding free food, accommodation and health care. The salary, however, ranges between $500 and $600 depending on positions and skills, Kefayet said. "On behalf of our government, we recommend that the minimum salary should be $400," he said.
They are now interested in female workers as there are skilled female workers in the garment sector of Bangladesh and they think women would not flee, he said. "We said if they employ female workers, they would have to pay the airfare, which is around Tk 75,000," the official said. The cost of migration has been set at Tk 2 lakh.
He said there are many skilled female garment workers and there should be government-level agreements to send female workers to the East European country.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Reminds me of a joke:
Sven and Ollie were seeking work and went to the employment office.
"What can you do?" asks the official.
"We are diesel fitters."
"What is a diesel fitter?"
"Well we make clothes for women, and after we sew them all up, we hold them up against the manikin to determine
#2
He said there are many skilled female garment workers and there should be government-level agreements to send female workers to the East European country.
This is through the looking glass. Most countries would just import the shirts. Trying to organize a government program to import labor seems odd to me.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 14:46
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Super, not if you're running a white slavery operation and your present stock is being depleted by your own actions and the attention it is bringing from other governments. Best they send the ugliest and oldest ones they can find if they do.
Several international artists, writers and political figures threw their weight Friday behind a call for a stop to Israel's bombing of Gaza and called on U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to speak out.
Former London mayor Ken Livingstone, British artist Annie Lennox, rights activist Bianca Jagger, Politician George Galloway and even Mexico's rebel leader joined campaigners who have staged a week of rallies, culminating in a demonstration Saturday which will include a symbolic shoe protest outside Downing Street.
" People throughout the world were hopeful when he was elected and we must appeal to him to ask for the immediate cessation of the bombardment of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip "
Bianca Jagger"
"I would like to make an appeal to president elect Obama to speak up," said Jagger. "People throughout the world were hopeful when he was elected and we must appeal to him to ask for the immediate cessation of the bombardment of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip."
Former Eurythmics star Lennox added: "A few days after Christmas I came downstairs, put the television on, and saw smoke pyres coming from buildings and I was shocked to the core. Because I was thinking as a mother and as a human being, how was this going to be the solution to peace?" she added.
Ethnic cleansing
The rally will march past Downing Street, where protestors will leave old shoes for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in the spirit of an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush.
Livingstone, who was ousted as London mayor in May, said that in the last few days there has been a ratio of 100 Palestinian deaths to Israelis killed in the Gaza conflict, in its seventh day Friday. "There is no sense that that can be proportionate," he said, calling Israel "a state built on ethnic cleansing," referring to its creation in May 1948, after which some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled.
"Obama supports force"
" A few days after Christmas I came downstairs, put the television on, and saw smoke pyres coming from buildings and I was shocked to the core...Because I was thinking as a mother and as a human being, how was this going to be the solution to peace? "
Annie Lennox
In Mexico, the Zapatista rebel leader "Subcomandante" Marcos slammed U.S. president-elect Barack Obama for failing to speak out on Israel's bombing of Gaza. The masked leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation--which rose up in arms in Chiapas, southeast Mexico, on January 1, 1994--said Obama "supports the use of force" against Palestinian people.
Obama has kept a low profile on the Gaza conflict, stressing that there is only one president at a time ahead of his inauguration on January 20.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The rally will march past Downing Street, where protestors will leave old shoes for Prime Minister Gordon Brown
#4
calling Israel "a state built on ethnic cleansing," referring to its creation in May 1948, after which some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled.
More revisionist history. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem ORDERED the palestinians to flee Israel, to allow the Egyptians, Jordanians, and Syrians a free hand in "slaughtering the Jews". Israel actually BEGGED them to stay and help build the new country. The palestinians went into "refugee" camps (more like internment camps), where they still reside, unwanted by their "host" nations.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 13:24
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I thought that people from England ordering around people from a former empire country was the very definition of imperialism.
A senior Taliban leader was arrested from Peshawar on Saturday. A senior policeman confirmed Ustad Yasir was arrested, but declined to give details. The arrest was made by an intelligence agency at around 9am, the sources said. Formerly a leader of Abdurrab Rasool Sayyaf's Ittehad-e-Islami group in Afghanistan, Yasir joined the Taliban in 2001 after Sayyaf announced support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He was arrested from the NWFP in 2005 and released from Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi prison in exchange for kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo.
Posted by: Fred ||
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An upstate New York developer donated $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton's foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman's mall project.
Mrs. Clinton helped enact legislation allowing the developer, Robert J. Congel, to use tax-exempt bonds to help finance the construction of the Destiny USA entertainment and shopping complex, an expansion of the Carousel Center in Syracuse. Mrs. Clinton also helped secure a provision in a highway bill that set aside $5 million for Destiny USA roadway construction.
The bill with the tax-free bonds provision became law in October 2004, weeks before the donation, and the highway bill with the set-aside became law in August 2005, about nine months after the donation.
Mr. Congel and Philippe Reines, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, both said there was no connection between his donation and her legislative work on his project's behalf. Mr. Reines said Mrs. Clinton supported the expansion of Carousel mall "purely as part of her unwavering commitment to improving upstate New York's struggling economy, and nothing more."
Mr. Clinton set up his foundation as he was leaving the White House and as his wife was transforming herself from first lady to United States senator from New York. The William J. Clinton Foundation finances Mr. Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., as well as programs that work on AIDS, poverty, climate change and other causes worldwide.
Donations to charities favored by lawmakers have been a recent ethics flashpoint in Congress, including the controversy over Representative Charles B. Rangel's fund-raising from businesses with interests before the House Ways and Means Committee, which he leads, for a center named after him at the City College of New York. In 2007, Congress enacted a law requiring companies and their lobbyists to disclose donations to charities associated with lawmakers.
But there is no law requiring former presidents to disclose money they collect for their foundations.
Posted by: Fred ||
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MOGADISHU, Somalia Ethiopian troops moved out of a border town on Saturday, a day after soldiers began a pullout from the war-ravaged capital of Mogadishu.
It remains unclear whether the Ethiopian troops who have been shoring up the countrys weak transitional government will leave the country, or whether some will redeploy in other parts of Somalia. Western diplomats have estimated that Ethiopia has had thousands of troops in the country.
The town that the soldiers left on Saturday, Balanbale, is in a region where Islamist militias have been fighting one another. Many here worry that an Ethiopian pullout will leave a power vacuum that Islamist factions will battle one another to fill. Those fears were exacerbated on Friday when an Islamist group took over three empty police stations here.
That faction, the Union of Islamic Courts, signed a cease-fire with the government in 2006 and is not allied with the Shabab, one of Somalias most militant Islamic groups. The Shabab controls much of southern Somalia.
Sheik Abdirahim Isse Addow, the spokesman for the faction, said his group had decided to move into the police stations to ensure the security of the people. He added, This is not a challenge against other Islamists.
No, no, course not, heaven forfend ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009
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(Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has turned down President Robert Mugabe's invitation to return to Zimbabwe and be sworn in as Prime Minister, local media reported on Saturday.
According to a letter Tsvangirai wrote to President Mugabe on Dec., 2008 and published by the Post newspaper of Zambia on New Year's Day, the opposition leader claimed further negotiations were still required. The letter was left at Zimbabwe's Embassy in Botswana by a "source who refused to identify himself", The Herald said.
Tsvangirai's letter comes at a time when the U.S. State Department has announced that it was opposed to the envisaged inclusive government. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer announced on Dec. 21 that the U.S. was "withdrawing support for the inclusive Government."
However, the daily newspaper said it is reliably informed that the ruling Zanu-PF and another opposition MDC fraction are moving ahead with finalizing the formation of the envisaged inclusive government. A senior government official confirmed that President Mugabe and MDC leader Arthur Mutambara met on Wednesday to map the way forward in the formation of the inclusive government regardless of Tsvangirai's letter.
In his letter, Tsvangirai said he was not prepared to finalise the agreement. He said he wanted another meeting between himself and President Mugabe in the presence of South African interim President and SADC Chair Kgalema Motlanthe.
"I acknowledge receipt of a copy of your letter dated 17 December 2008 and my passport, delivered to me on Christmas Day by the South African High Commissioner to Botswana Dikgang Moopeloa," he said. "I am sure you are anxious to proceed to the successful implementation of the Global Political Agreement, anxiety that I share, but the issues are so profound that we must act in a logical sequence," Tsvangirai told Mugabe in his letter.
This was the first time that the opposition openly admitted that Tsvangirai had been formally invited to take the post of Prime Minister. But analysts said this demonstrated that Tsvangirai was looking for excuses to sabotage the inclusive Government in light of indications by the U.S. and other Western countries that they would not support the envisaged inclusive government.
Tsvangirai is still holed up in Botswana despite receiving his passport. Before he was issued with a passport, Tsvangirai cited the absence of a travelling document as his reason for not coming back home.
Posted by: Fred ||
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He would be crazy to go home and joint that nutbag in his government.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:25
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He'd only be crazy for a short while. Then he'd be dead. I think the over/under would be 3 days.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009 0:29
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#3
The line to become Prime Minister of Zimbabwe ought to be shorter than the line to become head coach of the Raiders or GM of the Lions. Only the mentally disabled need apply.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:44
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Sri Lankan jets and helicopters bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the island on Saturday, the military said, a day after ground forces seized the rebels' de facto capital Kilinochchi.
The military is now targeting the port town of Mullaitivu and other rebel strongholds in the north, as it seeks to deliver a knockout blow to end the island's 25-year separatist war. There has been no direct comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the fall of Kilinochchi.
"Fighter jets raided a Sea Tiger base in Mullaitivu while MI-24 helicopters attacked rebel positions in and around Mullaitivu in support of ground troops," Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.
Troops fought their way into Kilinochchi, deep in the north, on Friday in one of the biggest blows for the rebels in years. However, Tigers' website said they had moved their headquarters further northeast before the town fell.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#2
That's the place, 3dc. You might want to bookmark this site . I find it quite useful, and far better than Google.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 12:47
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#3
CHINESE MIL FORUM Thread > CHINESE-SUPPLIED SRI LANKAN ARMY HAS CRUSHED INDIA'S BASTARD CHILD LTTE; + WORLD MIL FORUM [oaraph = GOOGLE CHInglish translation] > IIUC INDIA: CHINESE SOMALI ANTI-PIRACY NAVAL FLEET IS SECRETLY CARRYING NEW MISSLES FOR SRI LANKA TO USE AGZ INDIA, + PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > INDIA BEGS GERMANY NOT TO GIVE U-214 SUBMARINES TO PAKISTAN + WHY DID CHINA HELP PAKISTAN, NORTH KOREA BUILD NUCLEAR BOMBS?
This IHT article was originally 24 paragraphs. This is what is left after the repeats and the editorial posturing.
GAZA: Israel allowed hundreds of foreigners, many of them married to Palestinians, to leave the enclave, raising fears here that Israel was planning to escalate its campaign. Hundreds of spouses of Palestinians, including women from Romania, Russia, Ukraine and nations in Western Europe, left Gaza on Friday with the help of diplomats from their countries.
Alla Semaks, 34, a Ukrainian married to a Palestinian, and her four children were among about 300 people who came in buses to the Erez checkpoint in northern Gaza to cross into Israel. Her husband, Mohammed Atawneh, 36, was not leaving because he had only Palestinian identity papers, she said in a telephone interview. "I want to come back when the situation allows it," she said. "I have nothing in Ukraine. My children are very afraid for their father. We fear there will be an Israeli ground offensive."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009
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"Hundreds of spouses of Palestinians, including women from Romania, Russia, Ukraine and nations in Western Europe, left Gaza on Friday"
How the hell bad must things be in "Romania, Russia, Ukraine and nations in Western Europe" that these idiots women chose Gaza instead?
Boggle
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 0:08
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Slave prostitutes Barbara. When the various mobs tire of them in the MidEast and EU they eventually get sold to the paleos.
#3
I thought all the Gazans were poor and without money because of their own laziness the Israeli embargo. Where would they get money for a foreign bride?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/04/2009 0:54
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#4
Where would they get money for a foreign bride?
#3
"Boehm recalls how he got initiated as a deep-sea diver. A shipmate tricked him into trying on a dive suit -- and then tossed him overboard."
That's a good way to recruit divers!
May you swim in clear waters . . .
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/04/2009 13:37
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Awwwww, I met him at Coronado base years ago - he was gentleman, and his sense of humor/wit was disarming and precise. You wouldn't know at first glance he was highly intellectual until you engaged him in discussions.
Outgoing Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar yesterday suggested that the opposition should make parliament the centre of politics, rather than movements on the street.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: A policeman was killed on Saturday when his patrol came under gunmen fire in central Mosul, said a security source from Ninewa. "The incident took place at Ras al-Qor area in central Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani arrived in Kabul on Friday for crucial talks with Afghani and US military leaders on new approaches to fighting the Taliban and other terror groups in South Asia. Kiyani was due to meet General Bismillah Khan, chief of staff of the Afghan Army and Gen.David D. McKiernan, the American chief of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and other military officials.
Among the issues expected to discussed at the meeting is the highly effective strategy of Gen. David Petraeus, former head of the Multinational Force in Iraq, who is widely credited with the success of the troop surge that stabilised the country's security.
The talks were to take place as Pakistani security forces launched a massive military operation in the Khyber Agency on the Afghan border against the Taliban and other suspected militants in order to secure the most crucial supply routes for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Forty-three people with suspected links to the Taliban were detained while 107 others linked to tribal groups were arrested. Thirty-three homes and other properties belonging to the militants were demolished and a curfew has been imposed in the area at certain times of day.
The US called for the military operation after more than 450 containers carrying Afghanistan bound NATO supplies including 40 expensive bullet proof vehicles, oil and food supplies were destroyed in December.
The operation was to have been carried out two weeks ago but a sudden escalation of Indian forces on Pakistan's eastern border forced Pakistan to relocate many of its troops and equipment from north-western borders with Afghanistan to its eastern borders with India.
The US immediately intervened and played a crucial role in diffusing the increased tension between the two neighbouring countries that arose after the Mumbai terror attacks in November. US President Bush personally telephoned President Asif Zardari and urged him not to withdraw Pakistani troops from the western border.
Eighty percent of NATO's supplies for landlocked Afghanistan come through the Arabian Sea Port of Karachi and pass through the Khyber Agency. It is the least expensive route for transporting supplies, but the route came under frequent attack last year.
According to Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, from the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce, not only were NATO supplies facing disruption by December, but all Afghan trade through the Khyber Agency had been suspended.
In early 2009, four new American combat brigades are expected to join the foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan and the demand for supplies will increase. NATO has been exploring new routes from the Black Sea, Russia, Central Asia into Afghanistan. It is the most expensive landlocked route, but if fighting flared again in the Khyber Agency, NATO would have no other choice.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#4
Kiyani was due to meet General Bismillah Khan, chief of staff of the Afghan Army and Gen.David D. McKiernan, the American chief of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and other military officials.
How humiliating! Poor General Kyani had to sit with an Afghan military man as an equal, his behaviour enforced and overwatched by a bloody kufr American, required to listen while they explained to him what his armies had thus far done incompetently. Thereafter he and his army will have to watch impotently as Petraeus' strategy is employed by others, because nobody would believe anything good and honourable of the Pakistanis... although they do march nicely in pretty uniforms on parade.
#5
Kiyani was due to meet General Bismillah Khan, chief of staff of the Afghan Army and Gen.David D. McKiernan, the American chief of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and other military officials.
How humiliating! Poor General Kyani had to sit with an Afghan military man as an equal, his behaviour enforced and overwatched by a bloody kufr American, required to listen while they explained to him what his armies had thus far done incompetently. Thereafter he and his army will have to watch impotently as Petraeus' strategy is employed by others, because nobody would believe anything good and honourable of the Pakistanis... although they do march nicely in pretty uniforms on parade.
#7
Bringing the Russians in would be the stupidest thing the West could do. The Afghanistanis have a lot of unrelieved hatred for the Russians, going back to the 1979-1988 Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Bringing in the Indians would be a better option, especially if they came by ground through Musaraffabad, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar. I'm not sure 120,000 would be enough - we might want to send in a couple of divisions (Marine and Army) from Karachi to link up with them in Rawalpindi for the drive north.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 13:01
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Aswat al-Iraq: Thirty rockets of different kinds were seized south of the city of al-Nassiriya on Saturday, the Thi-Qar province police chief said.
"A force from the Criminal Investigations Office in Thi-Qar province seized 30 rockets in Souk al-Sheikh district, south of Nassiriya," Maj. General Mohsen al-Fatlawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The rockets are from different origins," Fatlawi said, not elaborating on these "origins".
He said that these rockets were seized thanks to tip-offs from a local resident, noting the bomb squad was summoned to remove them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
That's good.
Posted by: Grolush Darling of the Hatfields3195 ||
01/04/2009 0:38
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#2
It could be the Iranians are starting to stockpile this stuff up in anticipation of our leaving. Glad to see the Iraqi common folk don't want anything to do with this.
Police on Saturday arrested former Sindh chief minister and Sindh National Front (SNF) Chairman Mumtaz Ali Bhutto for his alleged involvement in attacks on a Sindhi language newspaper's offices.
Bhutto was arrested from his house in Mirpur Bhutto in district Larkana, and was later flown to Karachi via Sukkur.
His son and SNF Vice-chairman Ameer Bux Bhutto condemned the arrest, calling it political victimisation. The SNF vice-chairman called for a strike in the province on Sunday. He was shifted to the custody of Karachi police.
Police sources said Ayub Shar and Allah Wario Soomro, Bhutto's co-accused, were arrested from Sukkur airport.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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At least 30 Hamas gunmen were reported killed as IDF troops swept into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday night, encountering fierce resistance from Hamas forces entrenched in fortifications just over the border. The sources said that a majority of the rockets fired into Beersheba and Ashdod were launched from the northern Gaza Strip.
One of the major aims of the operation was also to deliver a serious blow to the Hamas military wing, which the IDF estimated had not been severely weakened under the air campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Hmmm...so the why the 'ell are them pesky rockets still raining on them beersheeba bitches and ashdod asswipes?
#4
Yawtad may be sarcastic but it will be crucial to see if the rocket fire is suppressed over the next few days (its been about 30-60 per day since the operation cast lead began) or whether Hamas can increase it to 200+ a day which was the initial thought on what the Hamas plan was.
#5
IDF estimates Hamas has enough rockets for 60-90 days of attacks. That's prior to any recent attrition or use, of course.
Some attacks will continue while the IDF degrades the Hamas leadership and infrastructure. Keep your eye on the larger goal here and don't buy the Hamas claim that their occasional tactical attacks mean they're winning or undefeatable.
#6
IDF estimates Hamas has enough rockets for 60-90 days of attacks
Offensive action should not be based on Hamas rocket inventories or the terminatin of rocket launches. As they run out they'll be placing orders for more from Iran and China. Rockets don't kill people, people Hamas kills people. Take out the shooters.
#7
Sure. And while you're doing that, interdict the resupply lines (as the Israelis are doing) and make it VERY clear that this sort of response will occur every time Hamas rearms until the organization is destroyed or gives up its intent to destroy Israel.
It doesn't look like you have to be a rocket scientist to be able to shoot Hamas rockets, so the number of potential shooters could be very large. I suspect money men and logisticians are the most vulnerable points.
#9
And big changes in money flow or transport patterns - forced by tunnel closings and inventory depletion - might be easier to spot than the incremental changes driven by small attacks.
#10
I've been surprised by the coverage of this event. Fox news had a bubblehead yesterday who set up the following meme in the Fox manner of distributing propaganda in the form of a question:
Do you think that ...?
...if there is ever another rocket shot into Gaza that this will be seen as a victory for Hamas?
...this is a clever plot by the Palestinians to "lure" the Israelis onto their own turf so that they could possibly kidnap soldiers or have a car swarm and thus win the war of popular opinion?
...it is possible for Israel to call this a victory if anything, anything at all, goes wrong for the Israeli army?
...if any Palestinian civilians are harmed that it will unite the world against Israel?
Heck, I've forgotten the other things she said - but I do remember her calling something "pure brilliant genius" on the part of the Palestinians.
I think Israel should stop trying to engage in this type of "friendly" question and answer propaganda and simply put out a statement to the effect that no nation would be willing to tolerate a neighbor shooting rockets into their kindergartens on a daily basis and that if Hamas continues to shoot rockets, they will continue to step up their efforts to make them stop.
You can't win by allowing your enemies to frame the questions like this: Bob, your wife slept with everyone in your office. Do you think that by divorcing her it will reflect badly on your sexual ability? We are just trying to be fair and balanced here.
there is a story that when Hitler moved his command center to Berlin in 45 one of the military types said, "this will be most convenient; we will be able to travel to both the west front and the east front by streetcar"
Ma'an -- Fighters affiliated to the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed to be exchanging fire with invading Israeli forces east of Gaza City after midnight on Sunday morning.
In two statements faxed to Ma'an, the PFLP's armed wing, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said they fired missiles and seven 60-milimeter mortars at Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip. They claimed Israeli soldiers had been wounded in the clashes.
Earlier, Al-Jazeera television reported that Israeli forces had entered the Strip near the Karni border crossing, in the vicinity of where the PFLP claims these clashes took place.
They also claimed to have launched homemade rockets at the Western Negev desert, and the city of Askhelon, north of Gaza. They said that a thirt rocket fired at the town of Netivot had been acknowleged by the Israelis.
"We will get out from underneath the rubble and fight until the last breath," said the Brigades.
"We are, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades along with all other groups, confirm our complete readiness to confront this ground invasion with all we've got, including our rifles, missiles and our bodies."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Could the israhail-hitler fags get the paleo factions straight? Is it hummus or pee-flippin' whatever that kicked 30 of their talmud-filled IDF asses back to beersheeba?
#2
"Could the israhail-hitler fags get the paleo factions straight? Is it hummus or pee-flippin' whatever that kicked 30 of their talmud-filled IDF asses back to beersheeba?"
Does it really matter, Yawlud, whether it's Fred or Barney or Wilma or Betty? You must be so very proud.
#5
Don't get too worked up there, "Yawlad Metnaka", you'll blow a gasket and bleed to death before anybody can find you in your mother's basement.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 12:27
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#6
Could the israhail-hitler fags get the paleo factions straight?
How can anyone keep them straigt? You've got the Judean People's Liberation Front, the Liberation Front of the People of Judea and 65,535 more, each with their own political wing, military wing and wing-ding. And not one of them speaks for The Palestinians(tm) as a whole. It is a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East (the other being the whole Death to Juice thingie). Sure, you can make a truce with HamAss, but the Armed Wing of the Gaza Librarians and Clerical Workers Union will fight on to the death. There simply is no political entity as The Palestinians, just a bunch of rabid tribes bent on killing their neighbors and each other. Anyone for a nice game of HamAss vs Fatah?
#7
what's really interesting is how Abbas is (mostly) keeping FATAH out of this. He's betting on and possibly aiding an Israeli victory over HAMAS. That way he's Top Dawg again. But the word "Victory" doesn't seem to be in the MSM vocabulary, being replaced with "Cease Fire" and "Negotiated Peace". Dickweeds, All.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2009 13:14
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#8
Adherents to a death cult, they are trapped in hell so they think the only way out is to die. There is another way but I'm afraid they'll never find it. Here's a clue, Yawlad: love your enemy. Yeah, that's right. Hard for you to grasp that concept? Thought so. That means your gonna live in hell until you die. Oh, and those 72 virgins? They all have mustaches, they all weigh over 300 pounds and they're all covered with warts.
What? You think the Juice want to kill you? You flatter yourselves. They have better things to do. They have jobs and families. They want peace and prosperity just like everybody else in this world except you muzzies. They only attack your squalid little hell hole because you leave them no choice. I'm sure the stench alone is enough to make them want to leave it but, hey, somebody has to do the dirty work. Good thing you're not really there or you'd be finding out for yourself. But you could always try going to Pakiwakiland. They'd be happy to give you a bomb vest.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/04/2009 14:43
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#9
#8: "somebody has to do the dirty work"
Hey, think we'll see the Israeli attack on an episode of "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel?
Does anyone know where Mike Rowe is right now? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 15:16
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#10
The Dogmush Clan are keeping a very low profile.
Aswat al-Iraq: Police on Saturday found a member of the Kurdistan Communist Party killed inside his house in northern Kirkuk, the province's police chief said. Kurdistan has a RAB?
"The police found Mohieddin Rassoul killed inside his home in Sirkareez neighborhood, al-Shurja area, northern Kirkuk," Col. Bistoun Mohammed Qassabi told Aswat al-Iraq, adding the body showed signs of having been shot and bruised in the head.
"The incident, the second of its kind since last December, is currently being investigated," Qassabi said, not giving more details.
On December 18, 2008, a woman member of the Kurdistan Communist Party's Women's League was found dead inside her home in al-Qadissiya neighborhood, southern Kirkuk, according to Brig. Sarhad Qader, the chief of the Kirkuk Districts' Police Department.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
One week they're blowing up anti-Joo protesters, the next they're killin Commies. That place is turning out better than even Texas.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 1:02
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#2
:)
Likin that... got guns too and oilz.
Longhorns?
#3
Longhorns would have a hard time surviving in northern Iraq, HMT. Better than most other cattle, but it would still be a hard go for them. IIRC, the Kurds also allow open carry of weapons - in fact, you're considered a wimp if you don't have at least an AK-47.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 12:07
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Ma'an -- A senior Fatah lawmaker issued a statement from his Israeli prison cell on Saturday condemning Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip as "genocide."
Ohfergawdsakes, why hasn't this mook been muzzled?
Jamal At-Tirawi, the speaker of Fatah parliamentarian bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said "This aggression, using one of the most advanced military arsenals in the world against an area under the attacker's occupation, is a war crime and genocide."
"The crippling siege of the Gaza Strip over more than a year and a half, along with closure of crossing points with Arab countries, is not less harmful than military aggression going on now," he added.
At-Tirawi also reiterated the resentment of the Arab public at their governments for not taking more effective action to aid the people of Gaza. He said: "We expected Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo to come up with a decision that matches the pulse of the streets in Arab countries who showed extreme solidarity with Gaza and Palestine. Unfortunately, they cancelled an Arab League summit which was scheduled to be held soon in order to adopt a joint Arab stance towards Israeli aggression on Gaza and to demand immediately lifting the crippling siege."
At-Tirawi applauded calls by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas' leader Khalid Mash'al for unity.
This article starring:
Jamal At-Tirawi
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
"This aggression, using one of the most advanced military arsenals in the world against an area under the attacker's occupation, is a war crime and genocide."
From Israelicool:
Here, Ill lift Bruces comment since it is a pearler:
Number of Palestinian Arabs in 1948 = 1,308,00.
Number of Palestinian Arabs in 2008 = 10,574,521.
Israeli attempted genocide of Palestinian Arabs over 60 years = EPIC FAIL!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 13:41
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#2
Gaza is a bloody rookery, OP.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/04/2009 14:26
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At least 71 people were wounded in post-election clashes between the supporters of Awami League (AL) and BNP and its front organisations over the last two days as more reports pour in of violence across the country. Fifty people were injured in Netrakona, eight in Rangamati, 10 in Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet), one in Savar and two in Laxmipur.
Meanwhile, leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) -- the student wing of AL --has taken over control of all dormitories of Ruet yesterday and two dorms at Jagannath University in Dhaka on Friday night.
Our Netrakona correspondent reported that at least 50 people, including five BCL leaders, were injured in a clash between Juba Dal and BCL over gambling at Rail Colony in Mohongonj poura area yesterday.
Our Rangamati Correspondent has added that at least eight leaders and activists of Jubo Dal and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) were injured when Jubo League and BCL cadres attacked them.
In Naniarchar, some BCL cadres under the leadership of Bablu, stabbed Naniarchar Union's Jubo Dal leader Abdul Jalil on Friday night. They also broke his right leg and arm.
Earlier on Thursday evening, BCL and Jubo League cadres carried out an attack on JCD activists injuring five people. They also vandalised shops owned by JCD activists at Chandraghona Bazar under Kaptai upazila.
Our RU correspondent has reported that at least 10 JCD activists were injured in separate clashes over control of dormitories in Ruet.
BCL activists at the university took control over the rooms previously occupied by JCD activists in all dormitories of Ruet campus. Sources said a group of BCL activists led by Al-Amin, Nazmul and Roni forced JCD activists out of Shaheed Salim Hall.
The BCL activists then raided Shahidullah and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman halls and clashes ensued between BCL and JCD activists in front of Ziaur Rahman hall. Police later brought the situation under control.
AL activists looted Tk 2.7 lakh in cash from a petrol pump in Sarishabari in Jamalpur district. They injured the pump owner's son and manager of the petrol pump, reports UNB.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference opened their meeting on the Gaza violence on Saturday by slamming Israel's "ruthless aggression" and urging a ceasefire.
O.I.C Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told ministers gathered in Jeddah of the need for all parties "within and beyond Palestine to put aside political calculations and act toward stemming the bloodshed and enable the population of the Gaza Strip to at least maintain living conditions, however harsh they are.
"Therefore, we call strongly for an immediate ceasefire and for medical and humanitarian supplies to be allowed into the Gaza Strip through all crossings," he said in a statement.
Ihsanoglu said he was seeking to coordinate "an Islamic move to protect the Palestinian people from Israel's ruthless aggression and secure their urgent needs." He also stressed the need for various Palestinian factions and parties to launch a national dialogue and end their divisions.
Ihsanoglu also urged the O.I.C, whose 57 member states act as a collective voice of the Muslim world, to consider calling an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council to seek an end to the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
whose 57 member states act as a collective voice of the Muslim world
Ah, that explains that constant, low-level whining sound
As the UN Security Council on Thursday night began emergency consultations to address the escalation of violence in Gaza UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged an immediate halt to Israel's ground operation. Ban said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned over the serious further escalation" of violence in Gaza.
The statement said Ban had spoken with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "and conveyed his extreme concern and disappointment" at the incursion. "He is convinced and alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering of the affected civilian populations" and "called for an immediate end to the ground operation," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
"Ban to Olmert: 'Deeply concerned' over ground operation in Gaza"
I'm deeply concerned too.
That they won't kill enough paleos terrorists.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 0:15
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Why---Iran is going to cut supply of Caspian caviar in protest?
#11
First I'd like to tell me why s is so deeply concerned over Kassam fire into Israeli communities. Then I'd like to heare him detail what kind of UN force he's going to put into place to stop it. And how he's going to live there himself after that force gets put in place. And when I say force I mean "FORCE" as in "HAS TEETH", not some kind of "PRESENCE". Presence does not equal force.
Israel's government has approved the call-up of tens of thousands of reservist soldiers, it was annnounced Saturday, almost simultaneously with the launch of a Gaza ground incursion aimed at halting rocket fire on Israel's southern communities.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement that, in accordance with a secret cabinet discussion Friday, the government ordered the armed forces "to draft the necessary reservists, on a scale of tens of thousands of troops."
The Gaza ground operation launched Saturday had actually been approved last week, but Olmert promised his ministers that when the time came to begin the offensive, it would first be brought for fresh approval by the security cabinet. On Thursday night, Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a meeting that lasted until 4 A.M., during which it was decided that that time had come.
On Friday afternoon, at around 2 P.M., the security cabinet convened at Olmert's office at the Defense Ministry building in Tel Aviv. The meeting was held in utmost secrecy, and the military censor even banned reports that the discussion had taken place.
As the cabinet debate dragged on, the two ministers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party said that they would stay at the meeting despite the imminent onset of the Sabbath, as the discussion constituted "pikuah nefesh" (the saving of human life which allows Jews to break religious laws). Olmert told the two to go home, but to each leave a note with their votes on the issue of a ground operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Run for the hills.. IDF Reservists.. Israel's Dick Fags are coming out in thousands..
#2
"Dick Fags are coming out in thousands.."
Really? Much like the Hamas operatives in fluffy bunny suits? Tender kittens for the brave warriors? Like that?
#3
Be careful out thar Manayka, them reservest d00ds getting ready to go all pikuah nefesh on yor buddies. Also personal favor (it's a hobby of mine) can you favor us with a picture of yor bridge? B&W okay if it's original, high rez color preferred.
Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day blitz organized by the charity Habitat for Humanity. The second blitz. Destroyed homes faster than the first.
Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes. Sounds a lot like the Cahtah economy.
A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter. Yes, the BSA is green with envy.
The case could challenge the bedrock philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers, rather than professional builders, is causing as many problems as it solves. But even in Peanutville, there's some with sense.
Some residents dismiss their neighbours worries. Diennal Fields, 51, said people did not know how to look after their homes: Its simple stuff: if there is mildew, dont get a lawyer, get a bottle of bleach. Wait till Diennal finds out he's tangling with the ATLA and the DNC. Toast.
#1
Mildew and cockroaches don't sound like construction issues. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the current owners were the orginal homeowners.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/04/2009 0:12
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#2
Mildew could be related to construction - if a vapor barrier is not properly installed, for instance.
Cockroaches, however, just happen.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/04/2009 0:47
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#3
you just cant give people who have had there entire life provided for them as an entitlement something that requires upkeep and expect anything different.
Locally we have several apartment complexes that are 'housing authority' -- brand new condos that were actually nice. The county had a rent subsidy program for them and at a moderate income ($18 K) you were not eligible to move there. less than 3 years later, and most of them are thrashed out and barely habitable.
you cast pearls before swine, and they trample them into the mud. you can take the dirtballs ouy of the projects, but you cant take the projects out of the dirtballs
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/04/2009 1:43
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#4
Seldom works on a grand scale either. Pruitt-Igoe is but one example.
#5
There's a 100% correlation between LaKooka German Palmetto Bugs Roaches and living in Florida. Hell get used to 'em. Name 'em. I still miss Blue Velvet a pet and racing roach from mai childhood.
#6
A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.
Caliber of celebrities, please meet the caliber of outrage, .223, ranging from 0 meters to 250 meters.
#7
To be fair & balanced, the article should mention what has become of northern Florida housing NOT built by Habitat for Humanity over the same time frame. Humidity, heat & bugs respect no housing in that climate.
#8
I don't think volunteers are be the problem. Habitat houses stood when Hurricane Andrew took out neighborhoods built by "Professional" builders. It seems the professional builders were skimping on nails and boards. Andrew revealed that the contractors had committed many building code violations. Habitat went above and beyond the building code, and their houses stood.
The idea a "blitz" and the presence of Mr. Carter may have contributed to sloppy planning in choosing a site. Celebrities can be a distraction.
Super Hose asks a good question: are these the original owners? Habitat usually screens people very carefully. They're not being given a house; they have to be able to pay back a modest loan, and they have to put in at least 300 hours of sweat equity in the construction.
Abu, Habitat isn't housing authority, and renting is not the same as owning. When people own their own homes, they take better care of them. Housing authorities are notorious for bureaucratic muddles and neglecting property, and not screening tenants properly.
The Habitat houses in our area are well built and well kept. The County housing in our area is well maintained but the tenants can be problematic.
#14
jeesh. I can't stand Hollywood but the apparent moral of this story was that next time they should stay home and not lift a hand so they don't get sued.
Don't be dissing no beetles, now. As J.B. Haldane pointed out, God must be quite fond of them seeing as how he made 300,000 some species of the little critters.
Ma'an -- Palestinian fighters detonated a 50 kilogram bomb as Israeli forces crossed into the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson of one of the key armed Palestinian armed groups said on Saturday evening.
'Massive': I don't think that means what you think it means.
Abu Mujahid, the spokesman of the An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, told Al-Jazeera television that their forces had set off the massive explosion in an area called Hayeh Zaytoun. It was not clear if anyone was injured.
He also said that his group is coordinating the defense of the Gaza Strip with all other armed factions, including the Al-Aqsa Brigades, an armed group loyal to Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Hamas, and others. He said the fighters' confidence is "soaring," and that the armed factions are weighing "all options" in their defense of Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Yawn. Lemme know when you get a 50 kiloton bomb.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/04/2009 0:22
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#2
Its a step up from toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in a Pepsi bottle.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 0:26
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#3
the armed factions are weighing "all options" in their defense of Gaza.
Option 1: Run away
Option 2: Hide under the bed
Option 3: Die
I prefer that they all are given option 3.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/04/2009 1:16
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#4
Allow me to translate: He said the fighters' confidence is "soaring,"
"We are sooo *bleep*ed. The Perfidious Juice are whacking us at will."
the armed factions are weighing "all options" in their defense of Gaza.
"If we hide, they kill us. If we come out and fight, they kill us. Even if we hide beneath the skirts of our women, they kill us. If those wretched Egyptians would only open the border, we could do a quick exit stage left."
#7
That and the ability to hold two opposing concepts at the same time. For example: "We're dying like flies!" and "We're so inspiring as fighters - the muslim world is racing here to support us!"
#8
Rambler, you left out the best of all: being blown to teeny-tiny bits by the secondary explosions while moving Grad rockets from a mosque to a pick-up.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 12:25
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#9
Geography question: is Hayeh Zaytoun anywhere close to where the Israeli troops were at the time of the explosion? Second question, triggered by the first: was the detonation deliberate or accidental? And third question: is the choice of a 50 kg bomb a signal of compensation?
Before raising the issue of the inevitable disappearance of Israel, which makes the west furious to hear; let's say that the Jewish living in Palestine for centuries is purely Palestinian citizen, therefore, there's no difference between him and any other Palestinian, except on the religious point of view, because the right of citizenship is granted for everybody, no matter his/her religion is.
As far as the Jewish who came from Poland, Russia, the US, Oman or Somalia, he is considered as an invader, and there's no difference between him and French who invaded Algeria in 1880, while managing making of it an extension to France, but at the end their colonialism came to an end, simply because their existence was against life and nature.
After this pivot point, let's say, far from religious logic that puts Arabs and Jews in an infinite clash that is pretended to end by the disappearance of one of the dispute parties, therefore the Israeli entity is surely to disappear from Palestine, even if all major forces on earth gathered to protect it from its inevitable fate. I say this because history has taught me that the disappearance and vanishing backed up by the curse of history is the inevitable end of all Barbarises recorded by the history of human full of conflicts, while Israel could not make the exception, because she has been reincarnating Barbarism since its existence.
Above this, the entire world tends and head towards unity and integration, one way or the other, but Israel, which is isolated by a wall that separates her from an environment that has never been and never will be hers. So how could Israel pursue existence in a world transformed by technology into a small village?
Above all, let's take a look at the nature of the region, including the ground, human beings, geography, culture, customs and traditions etc...Could invaders who came from Easter Europe or Latin America convert into Arabs and get melted in the entity of the region? In case such a thing happens, Israel entity would disappear, otherwise, if they don't melt, the time would convict them to endless conflicts and wars that would stop by their vanishing. I say this because the survival is for the sons of the region which is their unique homeland inherited from ancestors. In turn, invaders, their sons and grandsons are surely to return, one day, to lands of their ancestors!
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#2
Umm, Ahmad, the Jews were there long before the Arabs invaded and conquered it.
They were there when the Romans conquered the area, and the Egyptians, and the Babylonians, and on and on.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/04/2009 0:50
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#3
Ahmad,
Please find someone else to translate your 'writings'.
Signed, Infidel
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 0:53
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#4
I'll give the paedo prophet worshipper a bet.
They'll still be loads of synagogues and churches around long after the last building formerly known as a mosque is used as a museum about islamofascism.
#6
The global jihad and revival of Nazidom exist for two reasons: Unstinting support from the depraved internal culture of the media-industrial complex and the related ability of oil-rich barbarians to effectively bribe western elites.
Both are doomed, and it is the jihad that is headed for extinction.
Beyond that, Petraeus and the US armed forces have shown the way in Iraq, so it may happen sooner than many believe.
#7
the Ancient Arab Philosophers are shedding bitter tears in their graves in shame of the mind boggling non-sense musings of their remote decendant Ahmad "the great".
#11
Personally, Old Spook, I am NOT racist - I'm a realist.
1) I believe that all my enemies should be made doorknob-dead.
2) Muzzies have declared themselves my enemies.
3) See rule 1.
I think the rest of the world could go along with that, if they only had enough working synapses to think beyond their ingrained prejudices.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/04/2009 14:56
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#12
The conflict will end in one of three possible ways. (1) Israel shoves the Arabs out of the region and possibly conquers neighboring states (possibly setting up friendly governments aka Kurds, Marionites, etc) to ensure Israel is not attacked. (2) The Arabs learn that it costs more to continue to fight than to make peace, this is the Ireland scenerio. I don't see it happening until the entire world realizes who is the instigator in this conflict. (3) Israel is destroyed, by nukes or because they gave up and emigrate out
#13
OldPatriot - the thing is you don't care what country the come from nor what color they are.
That just doesnt happen with Arabs -- they fixate on national origin and color. Look at how the Arab descent Muslims abuse black African Muslims in places like the coastal areas of east africa.
#14
As far as the Jewish who came from Poland, Russia, the US, Oman or Somalia, he is considered as an invader
yes Ahmed, just like the Muslim invaders who expanded out of the Saudi Apartheid Islamic Republic. Remember the Battle of Vienna? Oh, you say that's different.
#15
ION ISRAELI MIL FORUM > ISLAMIC GROUP [Observer Islamic Countries] DEMANDS SEAT AT UNITED NATIONS [UNSC] FOR ISLAMIC STATES; + HAMAS, AL QQAEDA [Hizb Hezbs Huzbs?] THREATEN JEWISH TARGETS ABROAD + DENMARK > PAMPLET: KILL JEWS EEVRYWHERE IN THEIR WORLD. No Peace of any sort wid the Jews, JUST KILL 'EM WHEREVER THE ARE???, + PRO-JIHAD VIOLENCE/RIOTS BREAKS OUT IN FRANCE AND GREECE [ + Italy]!?
#16
OOPSIES, my bad [coughs/bronchitis?], SAME > FRONTPAGE MAGZ = A CALIPHATE FROM THE RED SEA TO THE CASPIAN: RADICLA ISLAM EXPANDS ACROSS RUSSIA. Article refers to Russ Officio=General on INTERFAX, as per the WIDESPREAD EXPANSION OF RADICAL ISLAMISM IN PRACTICALLY ALL REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION......"
Ma'an/Agencies -- Hezbollah's spiritual leader warned Israel over its ongoing ground invasion of the Gaza Strip late on Saturday night. According to Hasan Nasrallah on Hezbollah's official satellite television station, Al-Manar, Israel should expect "big losses" in their incursion into Gaza.
"We will be witnessing new victories of blood over the sword" in Gaza, Nasrallah told a crowd of tens of thousands on in south Beirut on Saturday night. "Israel's incursion into Gaza is aimed at dividing Gaza and imposing a new status quo," the Hezbollah leader insisted.
This article starring:
Hasan Nasrallah
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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#1
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Same old, same old from Nasty: "Let's you and him fight."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 0:11
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#2
I agree. IDF soldiers should expect to return home short on tank rounds and 7.62.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/04/2009 1:21
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#3
Well at least they won't have to worry about them becoming infected with gonorrhea.
#5
man.. my nose is cold, and i just cant think of a better way to warm it up right now.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/04/2009 1:49
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#6
I see I missed out on a heaping helping of prime troll flesh yesterday evening. This fills me with rage and regret.
Is there another influx on the way, to be cornered, slaughtered, and devoured as only Rantburgers can? Please, pleeease!
How can we bring them in? I have it!
Post pictures of dumpy hippy chicks in Che sweat-shirts, preferably showing a little hairy ankle in the process. That drives the amateur goebbelists insane with desire.
Bring on the trolls! Let us slake our thirst on their anemic blood and feast on their gamy buttocks!
More trolls!
#8
the 50s Sabrina has apparently inspired an Argentinian woman, whose uses her given name, to get mammoth amounts of cosmetic surgery to achieve an otherwise utterly impossible hourglass figure.
#9
Take it easy, AC. They're prolly too busy getting their butts kicked right now and the sight of Sabrina would fry their little goat buggering eyeballs.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/04/2009 14:13
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#10
Her undergarments were the product of some of Britains finest engineering. Now that task has been outsourced to Pakistan.
All the usual suspects, from 'youts' to commies ...
LONDON (AFP) Thousands of people across Europe demonstrated against Israel's airstrikes on Gaza Saturday, calling for an immediate halt to the military offensive even as Israeli troops entered the Palestinian region. The biggest rallies were in Paris, where police estimated 21,000 demonstrators took to the streets, and in London, where they put the number at 10,000.
Thousands of people also voiced their opposition to Israel's military action in rallies in Madrid, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Athens along with other European cities.
In London, many demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "Israel terrorists" as they filed along the River Thames before gathering in Trafalgar Square, an AFP reporter saw. Some protesters threw their shoes at the iron gates of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street residence to express their anger at his refusal to condemn Israeli airstrikes, which Palestinian medics say have killed more than 450 people in a week.
Brown issued a statement saying he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a phone call to agree to an "immediate ceasefire."
Coward ...
The London march, which organisers Stop the War Coalition claimed had attracted 50,000 people, was led by singer Annie Lennox and veteran left-wing politician Tony Benn.
Former Eurythmics star Lennox said the approach of both the Palestinians and Israelis was "wrong" and a total ceasefire was the only option. "For every one person killed in Gaza, they are creating 100 suicide bombers. It's not just about Gaza, it's about all of us," she told the BBC.
Elsewhere in Britain, 2,000 people demonstrated in Manchester in northwest England and 500 braved the cold in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
In Paris, where organisers claimed 25,000 turned out for a march led by Communist and left-wing politicians, the crowd chanted "We are all Palestinians" and "Israel killers." Many sported traditional Palestinian scarves. As the protesters dispersed, between 200 and 300 tried to make their way toward the Israeli embassy near the Champs Elysees but were blocked by police barricades. Several cars were set alight as well as Israeli flags, an AFP correspondent reported.
Several cars were also torched or overturned and windows smashed in the city's midtown shopping district, but calm appeared to return as of early evening, according to an AFP journalist.
Thousands of people also demonstrated in the French cities of Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Mulhouse, with organisers and police again offering vastly different turnout numbers.
In neighbouring Spain, more than 2,000 people rallied outside the foreign ministry in Madrid, burning several Israeli flags. Police detained a man who tried to break through a police barrier and injured three police officers. Hundreds of the demonstrators, most of them Arabs, then marched through the streets of Madrid brandishing signs such as "This is not a war but a genocide."
Protests were also staged rallies in Greek and Italian cities, with the largest turnout reported in Milan -- an estimated 5,000 people, most of them immigrants.
Meanwhile, scuffles took place in front of the Israeli embassy in Athens at the end of a rally that drew about 3,000, pitting stone-throwing demonstrators against police who responded with teargas. Two people were arrested as more than 1,000 marched through Amsterdam condemning the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and calling for a boycott of Israeli goods, police said.
More than 2,300 people also demonstrated in the Austrian city of Salzburg, police said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/04/2009
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Top|| File under:
#1
Protests were also staged rallies in Greek and Italian cities, with the largest turnout reported in Milan -- an estimated 5,000 people, most of them immigrants.
#9
"a total ceasefire was the only option."
Why Annie. Ya don't say! You'd think someone might of tried that. Time and again. Time after time. Again and again and again. And who breaks it? Funnily enough, it's the Pals, Annie. Every freaking time. Got a song for that?
Keep marching on the side of terrorism, Lennox. Got a boogie chorus for that?
#14
And, once again, another world leader/entertainer heard from. As The Old Spook said Ms. Lennox, ..."Hamas has left Isreal no choice"... Stick to what you know, Annie.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 16:55
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#20
From 1988 to 2000, she was married to Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtmann. They have two daughters, Lola and Taliir; however, their only son, Daniel, was stillborn in December, 1988.[12][13]
Bitter much?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2009 17:03
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#21
If I know about it, by definition it isn't a secret, European Conservative. ;-) The universe has thus far been kind enough not to burden me with secrets, so I don't have to remember what not to say to whom. Not telling Mr. Wife for an entire week that I'd got him a chainsaw for his birthday was really quite as much secrecy as I can handle.
#22
If memory serves, Israel bought a small handful of Dolphin class subs from Germany. Supposed to be quite nifty and capable of launching the land attack version of the Harpoon missile, IIRC.
#23
tw, a Chainsaw for Christmas! You know what a man likes.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2009 18:06
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#24
trailing wife
that would make you less chatty than many CIA ops...
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 19:39
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#25
He was trained as an engineer, Deacon Blues. :-)
Back on topic, 12,000 demonstrated for Israel in Paris. link Unlike the preceding pro-Palestinian rally, no cars were torched, no shop windows smashed, no innocent by-standers beaten. Perhaps the natives will learn something from the comparison.
#26
"Pro-Palestinian protesters Saturday burned Israeli flags, torched several cars and smashed windows of shops along the chic Hausmann Boulevard near the Paris Opera house."
And how often did they yell out Death to the Juice?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 19:46
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#27
"Perhaps the natives will learn something from the comparison."
Or not, tw. :-(
Though I guess we can dream....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2009 19:50
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#28
The biggest rallies were in Paris, where police estimated 21,000 demonstrators took to the streets
Were carbeque rates lower while they were busy?
#29
It's good to hear about Germany backing Israel. I was in Germany the summer before 9/11 and walking through the streets of Munich the hate banners and folks yelling hate to jews was staggering. So glad to hear that bit of change, although it's hard to believe this change.
Also, reading various articles, one said, "Sarkozy has condemned Israel's use of ground troops, reflecting general world opinion" I wonder what countries they polled to get this "world opinion". What a bunch of crap.
Posted by: Jan ||
01/04/2009 23:11
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#30
"hate banners and folks yelling hate to jews was staggering"
Really? Do you remember the occasion maybe? These things are not tolerated here so I'm a bit surprised.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/04/2009 23:15
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January 3, 2009: The Israeli attack on Hamas forces in Gaza on December 27th, hit fifty targets within 220 seconds. The fifty Israeli aircraft assembled off the coast, and delivered a well rehearsed attack designed to take out Hamas targets before key commanders could get away. Israeli intelligence had discovered Hamas plans for such an Israeli attack, which involved key Hamas personnel immediately dispersing to hiding places. These included hospitals, where the Hamas men would dress in staff uniforms and blend in. Other safe havens included nursery schools, and other places where the Hamas officials would be surrounded by lots of civilians at all times. Thus the tight timing for the Israeli attack, intended to catch the key Hamas personnel before they could disperse.
Hamas knew that the Israelis have an informant network in Gaza. The key to Israeli success in dealing with Palestinian terrorists has always been an informant network within the Palestinian community. Many of these Palestinian informants are doing it for the money. Israelis pay for information. They also use other inducements (help with the bureaucracy, medical care, etc). If that fails, they use blackmail and threats. Palestinian terrorist organizations have been unsuccessful in their attempts to shut down the informant networks, and many innocent Palestinians have died simply because they were falsely accused of being informants.
In addition, the Israelis gain a lot of information via electronic intelligence work and UAVs that are constantly in the air over Gaza. Israel seeks to make the terrorists think that it's the gadgets, not informants, gathering the information. To the Israelis, inducing paranoia among the Palestinians is seen as a successful weapon. All this has helped keep the terrorists out of Israel for nearly five years now, something no one thought was possible.
The Israelis also have hundreds of police and military operatives who can pass as Arabs (their families came from Arab countries shortly after Israel was founded in 1947). These Israelis speak fluent Arabic (with a Palestinian accent), in addition to their Arab appearance. These agents dress as Palestinians and enter Palestinian areas to recruit and run Palestinian informants. At least in the West Bank. In Gaza, the Israelis use pro-Fatah Palestinians. At least a third of the Gaza population is still pro-Fatah, and continued Hamas pressure has not changed that.
The Israelis also make use of the phone system to avoid civilian casualties. For example, the bombing campaign after the initial attack was directed mostly at the thousands of rockets Hamas had stockpiled. Most of these were stored in civilian housing. This was a technique pioneered by Hezbollah in Lebanon. There, some homes would have a basement excavated, to provide more space for rockets. Israeli intelligence is still identifying these storage locations. When one is found, the Israelis will phone the home just before the attack and tell the civilians they have a few minutes to get out before the place blows up. In at least one case, the civilians were defiant, and went to the roof, believing that the Israelis would not bomb with women and children in plain sight. In response, the Israeli fighter came in low and fired some 20mm cannon shells right next to the building. The panicked civilians fled the building and the place blew up shortly thereafter.
(Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's major party Awami League(AL), who won a landslide victory in Monday's parliamentary elections, Saturday evening endorsed its senior presidium member Zillur Rahman as the country's next president, AL chairperson Sheikh Hasina said. Zillur, around 80, will formally be elected as the President by the new members of the country's ninth parliament. Since AL has more than two-third majority in the 300-member parliament, he will be passed by overwhelming votes.
Hasina, expected to be sworn in as Prime Minister on Tuesday, told reporters here that her AL parliamentary party at a meeting Saturday evening endorsed Zillur as the next president. "He is a senior member of our party. It's recognition of his long contribution," Hasina told reporters in the parliament building after the meeting.
Zillur is going to be the next President of Bangladesh, replacing incumbent President Iajuddin Ahmed who has already met his five-year term. Zillur was minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives in 1996-2001 under the AL government led by prime minister Hasina.
Zillur's election to the office of the President is expected to be held at the first session of the new parliament later this month.
Earlier, AL parliamentary party in the meeting elected Hasina as the Leader of the House (parliament) while Zillur was made the Deputy Leader, after the 259 MPs of the AL-led 15-party grand alliance took oath in the afternoon. As per rules, Hasina after being elected as the Leader of the House will request the President Iajuddin Ahmed to swear-in her new cabinet.
President Iajuddin Ahmed will administer the oath of office to members of the new cabinet to be headed by Hasina as Prime Minister Tuesday evening, an official of the President House said.
Hasina's AL won 230 seats out of all 300 in the country's ninth parliamentary elections held on Monday, more than enough to form anew government. Her arch rival, former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party got only 29 seats.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/04/2009
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The hardline Islamist Al-Shabaab movement on Sunday warned of clashes between insurgent fighters in Somalia and reiterated their resolve to continue fighting the Ethiopian troops which are withdrawing. "We tell the Mujahideen (fighters), all of them, not to turn their guns against each other but rather to direct it at the enemy forces in our country," said Sheik Muqtar Robow, spokesman for Al-Shabaab, in a press briefing held in the southern Bay region. 
By John Pike
It's too late to fix Iraq before the pullout date. All U.S. troops can do now is keep trying to slow the killing and get out. They call it 'Iraqi good enough.'
Ma'an/Agencies -- A Hamas leader early on Sunday morning denied reports that armed groups affiliated with the Islamic movement had been killed by invading Israeli forces. Appearing on Al-Jazeera just after midnight on Sunday, 
(AKI) - Thousands of people held demonstrations around the world on Friday to protest against Israel's air attacks in Gaza. From the Australian city of Sydney to the West Bank city of Ramallah, protesters gathered to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Israeli ground forces rolled into the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, as the military announced the beginning of the second stage of a massive, eight-day offensive that has already cost more than 430 Palestinian lives. "The objective of this step is to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas . . . in order to greatly reduce the quantity of rockets fired by Hamas at Israeli civilians," the Israeli military said in a statement. 
Sri Lankan jets and helicopters bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the island on Saturday, the military said, a day after ground forces seized the rebels' de facto capital Kilinochchi. 
Aswat al-Iraq: A policeman was killed on Saturday when his patrol came under gunmen fire in central Mosul, said a security source from Ninewa. "The incident took place at Ras al-Qor area in central Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
At least 71 people were wounded in post-election clashes between the supporters of Awami League (AL) and BNP and its front organisations over the last two days as more reports pour in of violence across the country. Fifty people were injured in Netrakona, eight in Rangamati, 10 in Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet), one in Savar and two in Laxmipur.
Ma'an -- Palestinian fighters detonated a 50 kilogram bomb as Israeli forces crossed into the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson of one of the key armed Palestinian armed groups said on Saturday evening.
Before raising the issue of the inevitable disappearance of Israel, which makes the west furious to hear; let's say that the Jewish living in Palestine for centuries is purely Palestinian citizen, therefore, there's no difference between him and any other Palestinian, except on the religious point of view, because the right of citizenship is granted for everybody, no matter his/her religion is. 
