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16 officers killed,16 wounded in an attack in Xinjiang
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Afghanistan
Indian Government announces $450 million in fresh assistance for Afghanistan
NEW DELHI: Unfazed by the July 7 attack on its mission in Kabul, India Monday announced fresh assistance of $450 million for the reconstruction of Afghanistan as the two countries vowed to fight the menace of terrorism jointly.

"It was an attack on the friendship between India and Afghanistan. We will fight it unitedly and with determination," Prime Minister Manmohan Sigh said after holding talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai here.

President Karzai arrived in the Indian capital Sunday night for a two-day state visit from Colombo, where he attended the 15th SAARC summit along with Manmohan Singh and other leaders of South Asian countries.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/04/2008 07:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  the friendship between India and Afghanistan
That ain't friendship between India and Afganistan - it's an enemy, Pakistan.
Posted by: Spot || 08/04/2008 7:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Indian Government announces $450 million in fresh assistance for Afghanistan

Uh, oh.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 8:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Couple of Kashmiri battalions to go wabbit hunting, maybe?
Posted by: Maggie Glinelet6305 || 08/04/2008 13:40 Comments || Top||

#4  WAFF.com > seems Islamabad has formally turned over to the USA evidences of covert INDIAN support and collusion in anti-Pakistan criminal and insurgent actiities in Pakland's Tribal Areas???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/04/2008 22:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Covered here yesterday, Joe.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/04/2008 22:29 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Sudan's Bashir Vows No Cooperation With ICC
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has vowed that his country will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court, which has moved to indict him from alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Addressing local and international trade union leaders in Khartoum Sunday, Mr. Bashir said Sudan has taken a firm stance that there will be no cooperation with the court.

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, accuses Mr. Bashir of masterminding a campaign of rape, murder, and deportation to destroy three tribes in Sudan's Darfur region. He has asked the court's judges to issue a warrant for the Sudanese president's arrest.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  Fine, let France nuke Khartoum. That's about the only way that cutthroat is ever going to be brought to justice.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/04/2008 14:37 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Norks deport 290 Sorks from Kumgang
Increasingly aggressive posturing between North and South Korea escalated yesterday after Pyongyang said it would deport all "unnecessary" South Korean staff working at a resort established ten years ago to foster greater stability between the two nations.

The promised expulsion of an estimated 290 South Korean resort employees from Mount Kumgang was accompanied by further ratcheting-up of military threats from the secretive communist regime of Kim Jong Il. Even the slightest provocation, said Pyongyang through its official news agency yesterday, would draw "strong military countermeasures".

Under extreme tension since the beginning of the year, relations between the two Koreas have sharply deteriorated in recent weeks. On July 11, a South Korean tourist - one of around 1.9 million who have visited Kumgang since 1998 for an ultra-rare glimpse into the North - was shot dead. Park Wangja, a 53-year old woman from Seoul, was killed by a soldier while on a lone dawn walk. The North claim that she strayed into a restricted area, ignored orders to halt and began to run away before being shot multiple times.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CHINESE MILITARY FORUM thread > ARE KOREANS SLOWLY DYING OUT? Poster - opined that NOKORS are starving to death every day in NK, and that the NOKOR death/mortality rate may be higher than its birth rate???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/04/2008 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  What a crappy job, you have to live in NKor to wait tables and make beds. Damn, as if it wouldn't be bad enough in Seoul. A good delousing, some vitamin pills, and they'll be fine.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 9:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Spanish police discover Al-Qaeda Internet handbook
Spanish police have discovered an internet handbook for al-Qaeda`s European cells on the use of remote-controlled bombs against international troops in Lebanon and Afghanistan, the radio station Cadena Ser reported Monday.

The eight-page handbook dating from early July contained detailed instructions on how to stage non-suicide bombings using auto-piloted light aircraft and cars.

The instructions included three different ways to set off aircraft bombs by remote control.

It was the first time that police detected such detailed instructions for al-Qaeda cells, including advice on how to avoid being detected, Cadena Ser reported.

The methods were believed not to have been used in attacks so far.
Posted by: tipper || 08/04/2008 20:41 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In other news, Spanish police discover Usenet.
Posted by: ed || 08/04/2008 20:57 Comments || Top||

#2  In other news, Spanish police discover Usenet

Gopher might have worked, too had they not been stuck on Archie.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 08/04/2008 21:56 Comments || Top||

#3  And the Lord spoke unto them, and he said, "Let there be hand wringing".
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 22:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Therapist: Anthrax suspect tried to poison people
Bruce E. Ivins, the late microbiologist suspected in the 2001 anthrax attacks, told his psychotherapist after learning he was about to be indicted that "he was going to go out in a blaze of glory, that he was going to take everybody out with him," she said.

Social worker Jean C. Duley also said Ivins left her a telephone message in mid-July, after she had alerted police to his threats, telling her that that her actions had made it possible for the FBI "to now be able to prosecute him for the murders."

Duley testified at a Frederick County District Court hearing July 24 in a successful bid for a protective order from Ivins. The New York Times obtained a recording of the hearing and posted on its Web site Saturday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't they have something like the PRP I was on when I was in the Nuke business?

If not, then they ought to for bio/chem guys with access to stuff like that. Maybe they shoudl include chemical and biological agents in the PRP.

In case you don;t know, here is the DOD Directive 5210.42 that sets up PRP:

1. The Department of Defense shall support the national security of the United States by maintaining an effective nuclear deterrent while protecting the public health, safety, and environment. For that reason, nuclear-weapons require special consideration because of their policy implications and military importance, their destructive power, and the political consequences of an accident or an unauthorized act. The safety, security, control, and effectiveness of nuclear weapons are of paramount importance to the security of the United States.

2. Nuclear weapons shall not be subject to loss, theft, sabotage, unauthorized use, unauthorized destruction, unauthorized disablement, jettison, or accidental damage.

3. Only those personnel who have demonstrated the highest degree of individual reliability for allegiance, trustworthiness, conduct, behavior, and responsibility shall be allowed to perform duties associated with nuclear weapons, and they shall be continuously evaluated for adherence to PRP standards.


Interesting side note I wandered upon looking up the PRP standards:

I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though… (Barack Obama, “Dreams From My Father,” page 93, paperback edition. )

http:From Whitehosue Drug Policy ManuaL Term=B, "Blow" = "Cocaine" ; "to inhale cocaine"; "to smoke marijuana";


Barak Obama, is therefore NOT qualified to have access to Nuclear Weapons as part of the PRP.

If he gets elected, I guess they'll have an exception for the CinC.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/04/2008 1:26 Comments || Top||

#2  OS:

He isn't even qualified to be President much less a Senator or even a Law Professor. In Texas he would be "all hat, no cattle"!
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/04/2008 2:57 Comments || Top||

#3  G'D media hasn't even vetted his Chicago Machine-Mob connections.

Where is the fucking Press?

Where's the Republican party?

Where's the Chicago and Illinois District Attorney's? Leaking documents?

Where's is the Fucking Bunch of Idiots? Leaking documents?

grrrr
Posted by: Red Dawg || 08/04/2008 3:34 Comments || Top||

#4  whoops! #3 comment for another article!

:)
Posted by: Red Dawg || 08/04/2008 3:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Intel also had to adhere to PRP standards, OS. I had three wisdom teeth cut out, and they had to have an SSO in the room while I was under anesthetic. ALL Navy fighter pilots have to be certified under PRP, because any one of them can be called upon to deliver a nuke weapon in time of war. That includes John McCain. ALL the Donks have proven repeatedly they have no respect for military (or even civilian) security requirements, and blow them off at every opportunity - one more reason why Donks should never be elected to any office higher than dog catcher.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/04/2008 14:47 Comments || Top||

#6  OP, I know about the security officer being there during anesthesia. They had a full "briefed" surgical staff at Walter Reed when I was stationed at Ft Meade.

Posted by: OldSpook || 08/04/2008 16:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Lashkar tech expert identified as son of Pakistan bureaucrat
NEW DELHI: A top Lashkar-e-Taiba electronic communications specialist, tasked with setting up a high-technology communications hub, has been identified as the son of a senior Pakistani science bureaucrat.

Sikandar Azam, an Islamabad-trained engineer who the Lashkar assigned to set up an encrypted cyber-communication facility in the Thanamandi forests of the frontier district of Rajouri, was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police last month.

Azam's father, Mohammad Khalid Bhat, works as Additional Director of Administration and Accounts at Pakistan's Ministry of Science and Technology. He is resident of the Gulistan Plaza in Islamabad's Sector G-10.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/04/2008 17:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan, Pakistan agree 'to re-engage' to fight extremism
The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed yesterday to "re-engage" in the fight against Islamic extremism, a joint statement said, after ties had soured following an attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani met in Colombo on the sidelines of a South Asian summit, according to a joint statement released here. "The two sides agreed to coordinate their efforts to stop cross-border terrorism," the statement said. "At the suggestion of Pakistan, the Afghan side agreed to re-engage on all bilateral and multilateral forums," it added.

Karzai directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of involvement in the July 7 suicide attack on India's embassy in Kabul. The blast killed more than 60 people, including two Indian diplomats.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Seems to me that Perhaps Pakistan is beginning to realize that the terrorism sword cuts both ways. My Machiavellian side says now would be a good time to make sure those terrorists had enough weapons to make sure the government there learned this lesson permanently and to finally take some decisive action. If terrorists tolerate you, it's only because they are waiting until the time is right.
Posted by: gorb || 08/04/2008 4:18 Comments || Top||


US-trained Pakistani commandos to move into FATA
A Pakistani Special Service Group (SSG) unit, trained by Americans, is to be deployed in the Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan to take quick and effective action against insurgents.

A report in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday said: "The Pakistani commando division, trained by the United States, is an elite special operations force similar to the [US] Army's Special Forces, or Green Berets. Pakistan has been criticised for sending conventional troops who do not have training in the kind of guerrilla warfare techniques that US officials say are needed to fight the militants in the Tribal Areas. 'The Americans tell us that they need action now,' said a senior Pakistani official who was in Washington last week during Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's meetings with President [George W] Bush. Deployment of the special Pakistani force 'will meet the American demand of immediate action'."

Protection: The senior Pakistani official told the newspaper that the proposals were calibrated to protect Pakistan's sovereignty. Islamabad has also proposed allowing the US to deploy more sophisticated equipment in the Tribal Areas in a joint effort to track and kill insurgents, officials said. Pakistan's military has told the Pentagon that it is planning to move a major unit of its regular army into the Tribal Areas and senior Pakistani officials have proposed a plan in which the intelligence services of both countries would work to end the conflict between the spies and informants that each uses in the Tribal Areas and who have often been working against each other.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  In the immortal words of Harry Truman: I'm from Missouri, you'll have to SHOW me.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/04/2008 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  In mortal words of g(r)omgoru "If you want to see these 'US trained commandos', look in Kashmir.".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/04/2008 15:44 Comments || Top||


TTP asks govt to stop military action
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Sunday warned the government against a military operation in the Tribal Areas. "We will retaliate with disastrous consequences if the government uses force against the Taliban," TTP spokesman Maulvi Umar told reporters from an undisclosed location. "The government must stop military operations and start dialogue," Umar told AFP. "If the government starts any operation in Bajaur, Mohmand or any other tribal district, we will give a befitting reply."
This article starring:
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Maulvi UmarTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Peace talks with FATA militants have failed, says Rice
Peace talks with militants in the Tribal Areas have failed to produce any positive result and the situation in FATA can only be improved if Pakistan and the United States use their forces in this area, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday.

Geo News reported that Rice stressed immediate action in FATA and along the Pak-Afghan border area to improve the situation.

Extremists: According to the channel, she said that extremists were not only being trained there but were also using modern weapons. Rice said Baitullah Mehsud's organisation was also active in the areas. The channel quoted her as saying that terrorists were a major threat to both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rice refused to comment on the allegations that the Inter-Services Intelligence was involved in the Indian embassy blast in Kabul, according to the channel.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  That's why they're called 'militants', Condi.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/04/2008 6:04 Comments || Top||

#2  According to the channel, she said that extremists were not only being trained there but were also using modern weapons.

She was expecting clubs and blowguns? God save us from this woman.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 9:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Condi Rice: Great fashion sense, talented piano player and horrible statesperson.
Posted by: Lampedusa Glack5566 || 08/04/2008 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  She was expecting clubs and blowguns?

The weapons in FATA traditionally range from AK-47s to Lee-Enfields, to older designs; many weapons are/were crafted locally.

If they're getting modern weaponry, it's the equivalent to the Apaches getting repeating rifles.

Posted by: Pappy || 08/04/2008 17:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Peace talks with militants in the Tribal Areas have failed to produce any positive result and the situation in FATA can only be improved if Pakistan and the United States use their forces in this area, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday. Geo News reported that Rice stressed immediate action in FATA and along the Pak-Afghan border area to improve the situation.

Of all the things Secretary of State Rice said, those two sentences are the only ones that matter. All the rest is diplomatic fluff intended to flatter the egos of the Pakistani listeners into accepting this overthrow of their sovereignty.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/04/2008 18:39 Comments || Top||


Indian accusations hurt peace process: Gilani
There is no evidence linking Pakistan to attacks in India, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said, adding that such accusations had hurt the peace process. Both India and Afghanistan blamed the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency for a July 7 attack on India's embassy in Kabul, prompting India to say the peace process was "under stress". Gilani's comments came a day after he promised his Indian counterpart to hold an inquiry into the alleged role of the ISI in the Kabul attack. "The Indian statement is not only surprising but shocking too," Gilani told Sri Lanka's Sunday Leader newspaper in an interview. Gilani said unproven charges made by India hurt peace. "It is important that the blame game is avoided, as both countries have an institutionalised counter-terror mechanism which is functioning satisfactorily," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  "especially if the accusations are true"--Gilani
Posted by: sludge || 08/04/2008 14:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Gilani's comments came a day after he promised his Indian counterpart to hold an inquiry into the alleged role of the ISI in the Kabul attack.

So he's launching an "inquiry" into something he says doesn't exist? Sounds like even he doesn't believe his own bullshit.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/04/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||


Pakistan Faces Criticism at Regional Summit Over Alleged Terrorism Role
Diplomatic discussions continued Sunday on the sidelines of a South Asian leaders' summit concerning the alleged role of Pakistan's intelligence service in recent bombings in Afghanistan and India. While Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai was meeting with Pakistan's prime minister here, a top U.S. diplomat on Sunday called for the new government of Yousuf Raza Gilani to do more to reign in possible rogue elements of Pakistan's intelligence service.

Richard Boucher, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for central and south Asia, says Pakistan's government is facing "enormous problems" in dealing with extremism and other domestic crises. Boucher says Washington has pledged to help Islamabad "in every way," but the Pakistani government needs to assume greater responsibility. "They have a lot of very big challenges. But one of the things is working with the other institutions, including the army and the intelligence service," said Boucher. "They need to get everybody lined up in the same direction if they are going to tackle the terrorist problem."

India and Afghanistan have accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of planning the July 7 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul. An estimated 60 people died, including two senior Indian diplomats.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pakistani Governor Confirms Peace Deals With Tribal Leaders
The governor of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province has confirmed that Pakistan's federal government signed a peace agreement with about 300 tribal leaders in North Waziristan in January. The agreement, which has not been officially acknowledged before, is one of several controversial deals that have been blamed for worsening violence in neighboring Afghanistan.

North Waziristan has long served as a hub for several Taliban militant groups as well as al-Qaida fighters. In 2007, the tribal agency was the scene of fierce battles between militant groups and Pakistani security forces. But since January this year, North Waziristan has experienced relatively few clashes with Pakistani troops - leading to rumors that the government had signed a peace agreement.

Northwest Frontier Province Governor Owais Ghani is the top administrator of the adjoining tribal agencies. He confirmed to VOA the government signed a peace deal in North Waziristan on January 17th - and he says it is the only such deal the federal government has signed so far. "The only agency where we have signed an agreement is in the North Waziristan agency, where over 300 tribal elders have signed," said Owais Ghani. "And like I said, this is between the tribes and the government of Pakistan."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Fine - you make peace with them, then stay the hell out of our way when we are in hot pursuit killing them.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/04/2008 1:16 Comments || Top||


Haqqani seeks proof in embassy bombing charges
Ambassador Husain Haqqani on Saturday challenged those alleging Pakistani intelligence service's involvement in the Indian embassy's bombing in Kabul, and asked them to produce "hard evidence" to support the charge.
That's a pretty common tactic. Demand "hard evidence," and make sure no evidence will ever meet the standard of hardness.
Haqqani said, "If India and Afghanistan level some allegations and the United States supports them, we need hard evidence."
"Then we can argue for a few months and other things will happen, most of them mundane, and attention span deficit disorder will kick in and the whole thing will be forgotten."
He said during the prime minister's visit, the two governments had agreed upon a set of measures that both sides would take to ensure that American concerns are allayed and Pakistan's concerns about its sovereignty, civilian authority and control, and its concerns relating to Afghanistan and India are all addressed together. He said the Pakistani military leadership and its intelligence services are going to work on the issue under civilian direction.
... which implicates the civilian leadership in their actions.
Haqqani said the two sides "are now trying to deal with the trust deficit" that exists in the field of intelligence. He said, "Action will be taken against networks the Central Intelligence Agency says it has hard intelligence on, but it will have to share that intelligence with us."
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Conspiracies are being hatched against ISI, says Musharraf
The recent allegations against the ISI are a conspiracy against Pakistan and any attempt to weaken the intelligence agency will weaken the country, Geo News reported President Pervez Musharraf as saying on Sunday. Addressing businessmen in Karachi, Musharraf said the ISI was "the first defence line of Pakistan", and that the people of Pakistan should defend Pakistan against such conspiracies. Weakening the ISI would also weaken the war on terror, he said. According to the channel, he said the ISI "made a fundamental mistake by accepting the demands of the governments".

He said the world considered Pakistan an unsafe country and that extremism and terrorism had increased to their highest. Musharraf said the whole Pakistani nation and not just the security forces should counter terrorism. He urged the provincial governments to help the security forces maintain peace. "Pakistan comes first," he said, assuring the government of his support. He also said he was ready to talk to the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz "for the sake of Pakistan".

Conference: The channel said the president also discussed the country's economy and said that he would convene a roundtable conference to discuss the worsening situation.
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: ISI

#1  Actually Pakistan shouldn't even exist.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 08/04/2008 5:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like they've got Perv on a short lease now that he's no longer Army CoS. Sit, boy! Good doggie.
Posted by: Spot || 08/04/2008 8:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Check out those snappy grey sideburns.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  ISI: "Hey! Hatching conspiracies is our job."
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/04/2008 15:37 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqis no longer ask, 'Are you Sunni or Shiite?'
Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD -- For years, when she approached Iraqi Army checkpoints and produced an identification card for soldiers to study for clues about her sect, Nadia Hashim used a simple formula to signal the mostly Shiite Muslim force that she, too, is a Shiite.

"I am one of you," she'd say.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike || 08/04/2008 06:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Being a Shiite is no longer key to her survival. Every silver lining has a cloud©

Don't worry, McClatchy, soon they'll be hypenating their names, just like many 'Ethnic-American' groups.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/04/2008 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Now for the $16,000 question. Will the feeling of nationalism remain within rational limits or will we have a nation of goose-stepping ultra nationalists on our hands in 10 years?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 8:24 Comments || Top||

#3  They're starting to think of themselves as Iraqis, not as hostages to hyphenated, sectarian identities.

Are you sure this is McClatchy?

This is some of the best news, that a very important cultural switch has been flipped.

bigjim, I think they had enough of the goose-step for the prior 30+ years under the Baathists. Thats a pretty good innoculation; they know quite well what lies down that path.

If this continues for a generation, then in 25 years, Georgr Bush is going to look pretty smart in restrospect regarding the decision to fix Iraq after we broke it.

Posted by: OldSpook || 08/04/2008 8:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Now to dump the a$$clowns out of office in DC who try to Balkanize the US--The ones that put party or something else first and country somewhere else further down the line.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/04/2008 9:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Will the feeling of nationalism remain within rational limits or will we have a nation of goose-stepping ultra nationalists on our hands in 10 years?

SWAG - another Mexico. Big ego, oil, political corruption [no worse nor better than Mexico City or Chicago, Newark, Detroit, etc]. Fortunately, no border with us.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/04/2008 9:26 Comments || Top||

#6  goose stepping ultra nationalists? Iraq isnt quite in the geopolitical situation that Germany was in 1939. More like the situation of West Germany in 1950 - a big, threatening neighbor to the east, and a need to make nice with all the nearby neighbors it used to fight with, and to keep a tie to the Big Friend beyond the Ocean.

Historically the goose-stepping nationalism there has been Pan-Arab nationalism - both with its deep historic symbolism, its undertones of racialism, and its promise of undermining the neighbors. That was the basis for Iraqi intervention in Kuwait, as of Egyptian intervention in Yemen, lots of messing around in Jordan and Lebanon, etc, etc. Nationalism built around existing states is much more likely to lead to stability, good international behavior, and maybe even democracy of some type, than was the Pan Arab nationalism of the Baath and Nasserites. That was one of the major premises of the Iraq war, and I think it still stands a pretty good chance of proving true.
Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer || 08/04/2008 9:55 Comments || Top||

#7  This is exceptionally good news. It is called the "social sanction", which means the unwritten law of courtesy. It is universally enforced, and exists in different forms in every country, as if every person is a policeman, and woe to those who violate it.

It has both "misdemeanor" and "felony" violations, and it is also very strongly enforced. Only if you are lucky will you get a warning.

Even in the US, if you violate one of our serious social sanctions, you could get attacked in public.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/04/2008 10:52 Comments || Top||

#8  superstitiousGalitizianer ,
I'm thinking that substantial outside threats, real or perceived, bring about ultra-nationalist sentiment. Like Germany in 1939, Iraq may be tempted to undertake an India/Pakistan type buildup against its perceived enemies.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 11:01 Comments || Top||

#9  Germany in 1939 was one of the worlds biggest economic powers. It was far stronger than France, and was capable of almost matching Britain, which had more far flung commitments. Only the USSR could really overawe it, and the USSR did indeed threaten it. But the USSR was temporarily weakened in 1939-41, in the aftermath of the purges.

The analogy here would be the Iraq-Iran balance in 1980, after the Iranian rev weakened the Iranian military.

Well they already HAD that war. Iraq didnt too quite as badly as Nazi germany, but they still lost, and Iran has grown past them.

Today the threat from Iran is too great for Iraq to handle alone, and they know it. Again, their situation is more like that of post WW2 Germany, facing a threat that can only be met by being a good neighbor to would be allies (esp Turkey, and to some extent Jordan and KSA)
Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer || 08/04/2008 11:42 Comments || Top||

#10  Only the USSR could really overawe it, and the USSR did indeed threaten it. But the USSR was temporarily weakened in 1939-41

Don't forget, too, the USSR and Germany were de facto allies in that period. (Remember the Hitler-Stalin Pact?) Both were planning to stab the other in the back sooner or later; Hitler just beat Uncle Joe to the draw.
Posted by: Mike || 08/04/2008 13:15 Comments || Top||

#11  I beg to differ with superstitiousGalitizianer. The Iraqis were winning the land war in 1988 when the Iranians finally accepted the UN ceasefire. Furthermore, the Iraqi Army right now could easily defeat any Iranian force with even numbers of troops on each side. If the Iranians wanted to leverage their weight of numbers, then more than enough air support would be provided from friendly nations to stop the Iranians cold.

The only threat of force the Iranians can use on their neighbors anymore is via irregular combat, and they can only expect more reprisals in kind if they keep going down that route. They are in a hole and won't stop digging.
Posted by: rammer || 08/04/2008 19:44 Comments || Top||


Iraqi parliament delays meeting on key voting law
BAGHDAD - A parliament debate expected Sunday over Iraq's disputed provincial election bill that has raised tensions in the autonomous Kurdish region was delayed after too few lawmakers turned up to form a quorum.

Observers said the failure to reach a quorum is another signal that lawmakers are struggling to strike a compromise over the draft that will govern polls originally scheduled for October, but which are now expected to be put off.

Iraq's 275-member parliament on July 22 adopted a draft bill which would have allowed provincial polls -- keenly awaited by the United States -- to go ahead as scheduled on October 1. But the three-member presidency council, headed by President Jalal Talabani, sent the legislation back to MPs for reworking after charging that the parliamentary vote violated the constitution because it was held in secret.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Celebrating Arafat's death not a crime

I knew that...
A Jerusalem court has awarded three Israeli far-right activists NIS 4.500 each in damages after they were detained by Jerusalem police for publicly celebrating the death of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat four years ago, court documents released Sunday showed.
Should've handed out sweets to the kiddies...
The three men, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Baruch Ben-Yosef and Israel Bramnson, had been taken in for questioning by police after holding an honorary barbecue in a central Jerusalem square in November 2004 following news of Arafat's death.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/04/2008 08:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Aah, I miss the Arafat death watch. That was so fun, a pity it's over.

Oh, wait, it's not a pity at all. But still.
Posted by: gromky || 08/04/2008 9:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, that was the conservative blogoshpere's equivelent of the O.J. Simpson Trial.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Only more fun.
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 13:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Anyone up for a Castro Death Watch?
Posted by: Iblis || 08/04/2008 14:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Castro?

He's not dead?

Dang
Posted by: James Carville || 08/04/2008 15:54 Comments || Top||

#6  I guess my invitation to that party was lost in the mail ...
Posted by: Steve White || 08/04/2008 16:37 Comments || Top||

#7  If celebrating that homo bastard's death is a crime, then I'm guilty as Hell. I DID IT, COPPERS! COME GET ME! I DARE YA!
Posted by: Hupiling the Galactic Hero1106 || 08/04/2008 18:54 Comments || Top||

#8  holding an honorary barbecue

With brimstone briquettes. I like it.
Posted by: ed || 08/04/2008 19:15 Comments || Top||


Israel sends fleeing Fatah men back to Gaza
GAZA CITY - Israel began sending Fatah members who had fled deadly clashes in the Gaza Strip back to the territory on Sunday at the request of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Israeli security officials said. Those crossing back into the Gaza Strip were immediately detained for questioning by the Hamas-run security forces, a Hamas official said.
They're gonna wish they were still in Israel ...
Abbas had asked Israel to allow some 180 people to leave Gaza after 11 people -- mainly Fatah members -- were killed in clashes on Saturday with Hamas gunmen in the deadliest internal fighting since the Islamists seized power in June 2007.

Israel agreed to the request despite a months-old blockade of the impoverished territory.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Hamas urges Gaza escapees to return
(Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement on Sunday called for Palestinians, who fled heavy fighting with Hamas to Israel, to return to the Gaza Strip, and promised not to arrest those proved to be unwanted. "All those who are irrelevant to acts shaking the security will be immediately released and returned to their families and houses," if they come back to Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Up to 188 Palestinians, most of them from a pro-Fatah clan, took refugee in Israel on Saturday as Hamas forces attacked the Helles family's stronghold in eastern Gaza city. Hamas accused the family of harboring suspects involved in July25 beachside blast in which a girl and five Hamas members were killed. "Those who resorted to the Zionist occupation should not have done so, because this is their home and they should not have left it," Abu Zuhri said.

On Sunday morning, Israel returned 32 Palestinians who crossed into Israel for not having arrangement or for being involved in attacks against the Jewish state. Abu Zuhri said Hamas police forces "receive the returned people and treat them in a good way." He said the security campaign, which ended Saturday with Hamas taking over the stronghold, did not target Helles family, but "some people who violated the law and used the clan as a shelter."
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Hamas urges Gaza escapees to return cleans and sharpens the torture Islamic-good-fellowship promotion instruments.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/04/2008 15:53 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian source says regime in bad condition
Damascus official tells London-based newspaper 'mystery man' assassinated over weekend was in charge of all of country's sensitive security issues; Israeli official denies Israel had anything to do with his death

An Israeli official told the UK's Sky News on Monday evening that Israel is not behind the assassination of top Syrian official Mohammed Suleiman, though this still doesn't mean the country is mourning his death. "To the best of my knowledge, we didn't do it," said the source.

A Syrian source said Monday that Suleiman the assassinated officer who was considered President Bashar Assad's right hand, was stronger than Syria's defense minister.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper || 08/04/2008 13:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  The Syrian source ruled out the possibility that Suleiman was assassinated on the backdrop of political aspirations, due to the fact that he had more strength than any other politician.

Yeah, right. All the more reason for somebody there to take him out...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/04/2008 14:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Hm...dogma says the Isrealis don't like to mess with the Assads because they know the alternative is even worse. On the other hand, firing a sniper rifle from an unstable platform like a boat sounds really difficult, only someone very highly trained could do it. Even in calm seas...doesn't seem like a terrorist/rival operation.
Posted by: gromky || 08/04/2008 14:38 Comments || Top||

#3  I would be willing to bet that Iran did it.
Posted by: crosspatch || 08/04/2008 14:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Revenge for even talking about peace with Israel.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 16:25 Comments || Top||

#5  I wonder if they have a gyro stabilization system for 50 cal Barrett's? If they work for a camera it should work for a rifle.
Posted by: tipover || 08/04/2008 16:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Of interest, I read somewhere that Osama's mother was an Alawite, visiting his mother's family every summer, exploring the hills and riding horses on the beach. He was her only son, and part of why the other Saudi elitest Wahhabi's didn't accept him. Could Suleiman be the Syrian AQ connection?
Posted by: Danielle || 08/04/2008 17:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Hm...dogma says the Isrealis don't like to mess with the Assads because they know the alternative is even worse.


Given the Syrian intrigue in Lebanon, I wouldn't rule out the French. Capability and deniability.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/04/2008 19:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Given Syria, I'd assume France. Birds of a feather...
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/04/2008 20:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Could have been one of the wives. The jealous one.
Posted by: ed || 08/04/2008 20:22 Comments || Top||

#10  Good grief - with Tartous, it could be anyone.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/04/2008 22:39 Comments || Top||


Iran Says It Is Serious About Nuclear Negotiations, Offers Nothing New
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad says his country is serious in trying to resolve its nuclear differences with the international community, while visiting Syrian President Bashar al Assad says his government is willing to help, but denies acting as an envoy of the West. Talks between the two leaders in Tehran gave no indication of any breakthrough in the nuclear stand-off.

Speaking on Iranian state-run television, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country welcomes negotiations to resolve its nuclear dispute with major world powers.

But, he also insisted on his country's right to nuclear technology and said the only way forward is through diplomacy.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  FOX NEWS AM > IRAN [Ahmadinejad] SAYS IT WILL NOT RETREAT ONE IOTA FROM ITS NUCLEAR RIGHTS - ISRAEL TO BEGIN NATIONAL PREPARATIONS/CONTNGENCY PLANS FOR POSSIBLE CONFLICT/WAR???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/04/2008 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  They say twice a week that the issue is non-negotiable. They have said that from day one. They have never altered their stance from the onset of talks. Jaw-jaw time is over.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/04/2008 9:54 Comments || Top||

#3  They are very seriously using it as a delaying tactic.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/04/2008 10:53 Comments || Top||

#4  We either nuke the he$$ out of Iran and take the consequences, or we don't and face even more serious consequences later. All the delay has done is convince Ahmedinnerjacket we're paper tigers.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/04/2008 15:01 Comments || Top||

#5  I may lose a bet cuzz I said about two yrs ago the Pres. Ahmedneedsjihad would be dead bt now.
Posted by: Hammerhead || 08/04/2008 21:18 Comments || Top||


Lebanon to legalize Hezbollah
A draft policy statement that could secure Hizbullah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" is expected to be approved by the Lebanese council of ministers on Monday before being presented to the parliament in the coming days.

Some observers in Lebanon see the clause on "resistance" as a significant victory for Hizbullah, which has long resisted giving up its arms in its fight against Israel. "Lebanese officials from the president down had always legitimized Hizbullah's resistance as a national cause," Timur Goksel, a former senior UNIFIL adviser/spokesman who now teaches in Lebanon about Middle Eastern conflict, told reporters on Sunday. "This time, a vehemently anti-Hizbullah government - led by a majority that has significant Western support - has put its signature to a clause that allows Hizbullah to take actions in the fields listed without seeking government approval," Goksel said. "It also puts an end to any dreams of disarming Hizbullah. It secures Hizbullah's armed existence."

Government sources in Jerusalem said the decision would make the government in Beirut an accomplice to any Hizbullah aggression and give Israel the right to hold it responsible.
Posted by: Fred || 08/04/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Home Front: Culture Wars
A hero's welcome home for Jupiter's Army Spec. Kevin Hardin
ht to HotAir - I teared up. See if you don't
Posted by: Frank G || 08/04/2008 08:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  By God, that's the way it should be.

Posted by: OldSpook || 08/04/2008 8:50 Comments || Top||

#2  And Kevin Hardin had a homecoming he deserved.

"F.cking-A" That's the way it ought to be.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/04/2008 9:10 Comments || Top||

#3  We can do it for them all. Thank a soldier or a vet when you spot one. Buy his dinner or lunch.
Posted by: phxrav || 08/04/2008 23:16 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Mon 2008-08-04
  16 officers killed,16 wounded in an attack in Xinjiang
Sun 2008-08-03
  ''Assad's right hand man'' assassinated in Syria
Sat 2008-08-02
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Fri 2008-08-01
  189 arrested, curfew lifted in Diyala
Thu 2008-07-31
  Qaeda big turban in Afghanistan killed in US airstrike
Wed 2008-07-30
  Gilani in Washington; Paks raid Haqqani's empty madrassa in N Wazoo
Tue 2008-07-29
  Military offensive under way in Diyala
Mon 2008-07-28
  Mudhat Mursi: Dead Again?
Sun 2008-07-27
  3 people killed in second day of Tripoli festivities
Sat 2008-07-26
  India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Fri 2008-07-25
  Serial booms in Bangalore
Thu 2008-07-24
  'Mohmand Agency now under Taliban control'
Wed 2008-07-23
  Sheikh Aweys claims Somali opposition leadership
Tue 2008-07-22
  Another Paleo Bulldozer Operator Goes Jihad
Mon 2008-07-21
  Death-row Bali bombers forgo presidential pardon

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