BOSASSO, Somalia - The Pakistani crew members of a hijacked, Dubai-flagged ship said on Wednesday they were lucky to be alive after being tricked and captured by Somali pirates then rescued in a shootout at sea.
Admiral Alia Akbar, second-in-command of the Al-Khaleej, told Reuters seven pirates posing as thirsty fishermen in dire need of drinking water came alongside on Monday only to hijack the ship at gunpoint after being allowed on board.
"Hey! Youse on the ship! Give us somethin' for humanitarian reasons!"
"Uhhh... I dunno. You sure it's all right?"
"Yeah, sure. We do this all the time."
"Well, okay. Come aboard then."
'We let in three of them. Suddenly four others, who were armed, boarded the ship. They then ordered the captain to change course and took us between Mukalah (in Yemen) and Dubai. They held us there at sea all night,' he said in Urdu.
Next time cover them when they board. If you don't want to carry weapons, use a big honkin' fire hose ...
When the pirates came on board, the Pakistani crew scattered and tried to hide in different parts of the cargo ship that had been en route from Dubai to Puntland. But they were all found by the pirates, who promised not to hurt them.
"You in the coal bin! Come out witcher hands up!"
"No! You'll hurt me!"
"Nah. Not us!"
"You're sure?"
"Sure. We do this all the time!"
On Tuesday, scores of security officers from the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland stormed the ship and engaged the pirates in a gun-battle that lasted for an hour, rescuing the 16 crew members and arresting the pirates.
The rescue was terrifying, Akbar said. 'In the morning many troops on two speedboats surrounded our ship. Then the shootout started. It was really frightening. The pirates surrendered after three of them were wounded. I can't believe we are free. It was a nightmare,' he said, smiling.
Akbar, who spoke standing near the ship at Puntland's Bosasso port, said it was the crew's first encounter with pirates after 5 years sailing in the region. The Al-Khaleej will now offload its cargo -- food, cars and fuel -- in two days and sail back to Dubai to bring in more supplies under escort next time by Puntland authorities.
Another ship, a Spanish tuna fishing vessel, was hijacked over the weekend and is still held by pirates in Garad, a remote coastal town in the Indian Ocean waters off southeast Puntland.
Somali authorities said on Tuesday they had sent a force to try and release the boat. And Spain has sent one of its frigates, and its ambassador in Kenya, to try and rescue it. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said no ransom demand had been received yet. 'First we have to hear what they are asking for, what they want,' he said on television in Spain.
"We must first hear their demands. Only then will we capitulate!"
"It ain't like we're Frenchies or somethin'!"
The rescue mission was the second against pirates operating from the lawless country this month after French commandos swooped to arrest six in the same area.
"Señor Capitan, we are here to rescue youse!"
"But where are your guns?"
"We need no guns! We have brought money!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I think from now on all Somali piracy has to be ransomed in Zimbabwe dollars at an exchange rate of 10$Z to the Euro. That should put an end to piracy in quick order (kinda hard to hijack ships when your pockets - and your vest, and your boat, and your car, and your house, and - well you get the drift) are full of worthless paper.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/24/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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The Colombian publication El Tiempo has published the text of further documents provided by the government of Colombia and described as taken from the FARC computers of the late Raul Reyes seized by Colombia after its raid on Reyes' camp in Ecuador May 1. They describe FARC's efforts to assassinate Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
The documents include an e-mail from April 15, 2002, which states that FARC failed in an attempt against President Uribe in Barranquilla in an incident in which FARC detonated a bomb near Uribe's motorcade. A second e-mail, dated April 22, 2002, states that the assassination attempt involved the use of three gas cylinders containing explosives which blew up five meters from Uribe's car, but were obstructed by a passing bus. The e-mail says that FARC had also set up a tape recorder to explode at Uribe's planned press conference containing cyanide-laced shrapnel, designed to explode five minutes after the play button was pressed. But in light of the failed first attempt, the FARC assassin instead vacated the scene early and did not proceed with the tape recorder bomb.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistan's new government is negotiating a peace deal with militants in the Taliban-controlled Waziristan region, the rugged mountainous area that's thought to be Osama bin Laden's refuge.
The move reflects the changing approach of America's longtime ally in the war on terror, and news of the talks set off alarm bells in Washington Wednesday.
"We are concerned about it, and what we encourage them to do is to continue to fight against the terrorists and to not disrupt any security or military operations that are ongoing in order to help prevent a safe haven for terrorists there," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino . "We have been concerned about these types of approaches because we don't think that they work."
However, details emerged Wednesday of talks under way between the Pakistani government and leaders of the dominant Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan on an agreement in which the Pakistani army would pull out of the area and the government would release some militants from custody.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that U.S. military commanders with troops on the Afghan border are especially upset by the negotiations, fearing that a truce would allow Islamic militants to step up attacks on U.S.-led NATO and Afghan government troops in Afghanistan .
The military "is really ticked off," said the State Department official, who added that U.S. entreaties to the Pakistani military to keep the heat on Islamic extremists "seems to be falling on deaf ears."
South Waziristan is the most volatile part of Pakistan's autonomous tribal belt, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which runs along the country's border with Afghanistan .
U.S. officials believe that the FATA, and South Waziristan in particular, are a base for the Taliban and al Qaida. The Bush administration was critical of a previous peace accord in South Waziristan, which was forged three years ago, seeing it as giving an opportunity for the militants to regroup. That accord, and a similar one in North Waziristan in 2006, were followed by increased attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan .
Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the chief spokesman of the Pakistan army, said that the military had briefed the incoming government on the situation in South Waziristan as "the No. 1" issue.
"It is the government that has carried out the negotiations with the tribals," Abbas said. "The terms are completely up to the tribal elders and the government."
Pakistan's army has as many as 30,000 troops in South Waziristan, Abbas said. Major hostilities broke out between the army and militants there in late January, but an uneasy unofficial cease-fire has been observed since February.
The Pakistani government has made no announcement about the peace deal, but according to Pakistani officials, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, this agreement will be with tribal leaders, not with the militants.
However, Baitullah Mehsud, the Islamist warlord based in South Waziristan who leads Pakistan's version of the Taliban and is believed to be close to al Qaida, indicated that his Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan movement is a party to the agreement. Mehsud signed the 2005 agreement but broke it almost immediately.
"There is significant positive development; we have accepted most of each other's demands. In next few days, we hope that a positive outcome is achieved," said Maulvi Omar, the spokesman of Tehreek-i-Taliban.
Baitullah Mehsud's men were distributing leaflets to followers that ordered them to halt attacks on security forces and government installations, Pakistani media reported. Those failing to obey would be punished, the pamphlets warned.
Ominously for the United States and NATO , Maulvi Omar said the movement couldn't guarantee an end to infiltration into neighboring Afghanistan until all foreign troops were pulled out.
Mehmood Shah , formerly the top bureaucrat administering FATA, said the new peace deal was flawed, as it appeared to be with the leaders of the Mehsud tribe, who were scared of Baitullah Mehsud and would be unable or unwilling to enforce its terms.
"The tribes themselves are not in any position themselves to take action against Baitullah Mehsud or (affiliated) groups," said Shah. "It is meaningless. The tribes people have to be enabled first so they can control these groups."
Baitullah Mehsud controls thousands of heavily armed followers and is blamed for a vicious campaign of suicide bombings in Pakistan , including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto .
According to a report in Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, a 15-point draft agreement has been reached with Mehsud elders.
Under the agreement, the tribe would ensure that Pakistani security forces wouldn't be attacked in South Waziristan, would end all terrorist activity and would expel all foreign combatants from the territory.
In addition, Mehsud tribesmen imprisoned for alleged terrorist activity would be exchanged for Pakistani security personnel who have been taken hostage.
Afrasiab Khattak , a politician with the ruling coalition who was involved in forging the deal, said that tribal pressure would pull people into the peace process.
Earlier this week, the State Department was critical of a decision by the Pakistani government to free militant leader Sufi Muhammed from prison, in a separate peace initiative. But the news on South Waziristan got a cautiously positive response from the State Department .
"It's the outcome that matters, You have to talk to people," said Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher , seemingly at odds with the White House. "The Pakistani government is engaged in discussion designed to stop violence. It's got to be done in a way that produces results, that reduces violence."
Posted by: john frum ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
IRNA > LOS ANGELES TIMES RECOGNIZES IRAN'S DETENTE POLICY + INDIA VOWS TO FIGHT SEPARATISM IN NORTHEAST REGION/STATE. *TOPIX > IRAN VOWS NEVER TO GIVE UP ITS RIGHT TO NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT/STATUS.
#4
Apparently Pakistan has decided they'd rather be friends with the Taliban than with the US. That's fine as long as they realize that their behavior now puts them in the "not-friend" category, and absolves us of any need to be nice to them. The next time there's an attack on a Coalition supply shipment from Karachi to Kabul, Pakistan should cease to exist.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/24/2008 14:25 Comments ||
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#5
Exactly OP. We should immediately withdraw all non-essential personnel from Pakistan and issue terrorist travel warnings. We need to double the number of exercises we scheduled with India. And we need to enlist the assistance of the Indians in establishing a secure line of communication into Afghanistan.
(Xinhua) -- The United States is concerned about a possible peace agreement between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants along the border with Afghanistan, the White House said Wednesday.
"We are concerned about it and what we encourage them to do is to continue to fight against the terrorists and to not disrupt any security or military operations that are ongoing in order to help prevent a safe haven for terrorists there," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.
Perino made the remarks as Pakistan's new government pledged to adopt multi-dimensional measures to deal with extremism and terrorism, including talks with the militants who lay down their arms.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a border of 2,400 km. Many militants fled to Pakistan's tribal areas after U.S.-led troops ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.
Contrary to the U.S. stand, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana has voiced his support for Pakistan to hold talks with Taliban militants.
"It is up to the country to give benefit to those who want to contribute to the well-being of the country by participating in a dialogue which is under the umbrella of the Constitution of the country," Solana told reporters Tuesday in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
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#1
What's going to happen when the EUnichs run out of people to surrender to?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/24/2008 14:27 Comments ||
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#2
This Will Happen:
Waiting for the Barbarians
What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are to arrive today.
Why such inaction in the Senate?
Why do the Senators sit and pass no laws?
Because the barbarians are to arrive today.
What laws can the Senators pass any more?
When the barbarians come they will make the laws.
Why did our emperor wake up so early,
and sits at the greatest gate of the city,
on the throne, solemn, wearing the crown?
Because the barbarians are to arrive today.
And the emperor waits to receive
their chief. Indeed he has prepared
to give him a scroll. Therein he inscribed
many titles and names of honor.
Why have our two consuls and the praetors come out
today in their red, embroidered togas;
why do they wear amethyst-studded bracelets,
and rings with brilliant, glittering emeralds;
why are they carrying costly canes today,
wonderfully carved with silver and gold?
Because the barbarians are to arrive today,
and such things dazzle the barbarians.
Why don't the worthy orators come as always
to make their speeches, to have their say?
Because the barbarians are to arrive today;
and they get bored with eloquence and orations.
Why all of a sudden this unrest
and confusion. (How solemn the faces have become).
Why are the streets and squares clearing quickly,
and all return to their homes, so deep in thought?
Because night is here but the barbarians have not come.
And some people arrived from the borders,
and said that there are no longer any barbarians.
And now what shall become of us without any barbarians?
Those people were some kind of solution.
Constantine P. Cavafy (1904)
Posted by: bruce ||
04/24/2008 17:31 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani on Wednesday stressed the need to dispel the misperception about linking Islam with terrorism. "Islam is a religion of peace and propagates tolerance, interfaith harmony and compassion," said Gillani while meeting with visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.
Same old crap, different anus.
In an official statement, Gillani termed terrorism as a serious threat to peace and prosperity of the world, saying that a multi-pronged strategy is required to curb this menace.
The meeting of a mini Pakistan-Afghan peace Jirga, or council of tribal elder, would soon be held so as to achieve objectives of lasting peace in the region.
The prime minister said that Pakistan desires to further enhance cooperation and coordination with Afghanistan in the diplomatic, economic and security fields.
Spanta said that regular contact between the two governments will help in strengthening relationship and improving understanding and further cementing relations between the two brotherly countries.
Spanta also invited Gillani to visit Afghanistan at his convenience.
Also on Wednesday, Spanta held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi, called on President Pervez Musharraf and National Assembly Speaker Fahmida Mirza.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Prime Minister dofus... it is too friking late....
They are linked..
#6
In an official statement, Gillani termed terrorism as a serious threat to peace and prosperity of the world, saying that a multi-pronged strategy is required to curb this menace.
And they'll get right on that as soon as they figure out who's causing most of it. I hear they're giving the hairy eyeball to the Rastafarians...
Pakistan has reduced the number of nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets it planned to buy from the US from 36 to 18 due to financial constraints.
The original plan envisaged Pakistan acquiring 36 jets under a 5.1 billion-dollar package that would have included weapon systems and spares as well as upgrading the earlier fleet of F-16s bought in the 1980s. The 36 new F-16 block 50/52 jets were to have cost Pakistan three billion dollars and the weapon systems an additional 650 million dollars.
The decision to reduce the order by half would also halve the cost of the proposal to buy new F-16s and weapon systems, Dawn newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as saying today. Pakistan, however, will still have to spend 1.3 billion dollars on the mid-life upgrade and modification of its older F-16 A/B jets. Engine modification and the purchase of some new equipment for the old fleet will cost an additional 151 million dollars.
The new Pakistan government is currently facing a major financial crunch due to rising global oil prices and inflation.
They might decide that older F16As are just fine.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
India may raise their MRCA fighter contract from 125 to 200 planes.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/24/2008 5:42 Comments ||
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#2
And the reason we are selling the barbarians nuclear capable aircraft would be...
#3
Why buy technology when you can steal it? Apparently there is an American shortage of qualified engineers, just like doctors, requiring the hiring of Indians and other ME's to fill positions for government contracts at Rockwell, the cockpit designer of the F-16.
Residents, doctors of Baghdad's Sadr City say US snipers deliberately shoot civilians in legs, stomachs.
Baghdad, 24 April 2008 (Middle East Online)
Civilians caught up in the crossfire during raging street battles between Shiite militiamen and security forces in Baghdad's Shiite bastion Sadr City are blaming an unseen danger US military snipers.
At least 321 people have been killed in Sadr City since March 25 and hundreds more wounded, many of them brought to hospitals with wounds that doctors say appear to be caused by high-powered rifles and "American bullets." AK47s are low powered rifles?
US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover dismissed claims that US snipers are targeting women and children as "preposterous" and said the wounds could be the result of "un-aimed" militia fire.
Residents of Sadr City, however, bastion of the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, blame US snipers whenever someone is shot in the stomach or the legs.
The mother of Ali Murtatha, a three-year-old boy lying with bullet wounds to his stomach in Al-Sadr hospital, has no doubt that her only son was shot by a US sniper. "An American sniper shot my child. Who else would shoot my boy? The place where we stay is tense. There are American soldiers everywhere near us," she said as she watched over him on his hospital bed, where he is lying with bandages on his stomach and an oxygen tube in his nose. Certainly a lion of Islam would never hurt a child except when blowing up Pet Markets and mortaring soccer fields.
His mother, Umm Murtatha, says he was shot outside his home in a southern sector of the impoverished slum district, which is criss-crossed by tiny lanes lined with small overcrowded homes.
In the same hospital, Tharwat Abbas, aged 26, lies under a heavy blanket in one of the hospital's few air-conditioned rooms on the ground floor. Abbas has two bullet wounds -- one in the stomach, the other in his left thigh. Two snipers?
"There was some random shooting in our area. After a while it stopped and I stepped out of my house to fetch my younger brother when suddenly I was shot twice," Abbas said. He too believes the bullets were fired by a US sharpshooter. If it was an American sniper he would be talking out of a hole on his shoulders where his head used to be.
"If we wanted your kid dead, lady, he'd be dead ..."
"I don't know who shot me but I believe it was an American soldier," he said. I could tell because the cracking noise the bullet made was in English.
Medics at Al-Sadr Hospital say some bullet wounds are difficult to explain as being caused by random fire. Random fire bullets only nick you in the arm.
"Random shots usually hit anywhere, but these people have wounds on specific parts of the body ... like their stomachs and legs," said Doctor Ala Haider. I'd hate to be wounded in the anywhere.
He said some patients had been cut down by bullets that appear to have been fired by US forces. "During the operations on the patients we found bullets inside the bodies. They were American bullets. We can distinguish the American bullets from the Iraqis," he said. The American high powered bullets remain inside three year olds.
Lawmaker from Sadr's political bloc, Falah Shanshal, backed the widespread claims by locals that US snipers have been targeting residents of Sadr City since Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shiite militants. That proves it, we've been found out.
"American snipers are on the roof-tops. They have killed many people. It has become difficult to move now, especially in the evenings," he said.
Especially if you're a Sadrist ...
The US military dismissed the allegations. "No American soldier is targeting innocent civilians of any age. We don't do that," Lieutenant Colonel Stover, spokesman for the US military command in Baghdad told. "Allegations that we would target innocent teenagers, children, women and men are preposterous. Tell the mother of the three-year-old our hearts go out to her, but her son was not targeted by an American sniper."
Observers say, however, the US military is well known for its indiscriminate fire whenever they come under attack. Arabs only fire into the air, never at people and certainly never indiscriminately. Spray and pray is a infidel myth.
#1
Well, it's US snipers, they either need some practice or higher caliber weapons because there's an awful lot of their supposed targets walking around yapping about it.
#3
Warning: "American bullets." make muslim penises shrivel and fall off.
Posted by: ed ||
04/24/2008 13:06 Comments ||
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#4
Also adding to the BS level of this story, is the fact that the Iraqi Army is switching over to the M-16/M-4 family as its main assault rifle. How do you tell the difference between a 5.56 round fired from a M-4 in the hands of an American or an Iraqi?
#5
My guess is that we will start seeing a LOT more stories like this now that Balil Hussein is free. He is a propagandist,
Exactly. If a tactic is working unusualy well, the AIF and their useful idiots here start squealing about atrocities.
I call BS. Our snipers are better than that. Most of the casualties are probably from mookies enforcers in Sadr city.
Posted by: N guard ||
04/24/2008 16:08 Comments ||
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#6
Don't US snipers use M14's or some variant? Those shoot a 7.62mm round (7.62 51mm according to Wikipedia). IANAGE (I am not a gun expert) but it would seem to me that it would be VERY difficult to tell the difference between a 7.62 bullet from an AK-47 and an M14.
Not to mention, as other people have, that US snipers a) don't target young kids and b) they generally hit the body part (read: head or chest) that they are aiming at.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/24/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#7
AK 47 uses a 7.62X39 it's the same bullet but different length of cartridge, (Lower powder charge, same bore)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/24/2008 19:00 Comments ||
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#8
and of course the lying Sadr mouthpieces doctors know it was a US sniper because the "cartidges" removed from the wounds were...uh....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/24/2008 19:05 Comments ||
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#9
7.62 translates into 30 caliber, .311-.312 to be exact, but a .308(30-30) bullet will shoot quite well in a .312 bore, (Yep, tried it)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/24/2008 19:14 Comments ||
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#10
If any 7.62 NATO round fired from an M-14 or other US sniper rifle is found in the body of a child it is a spent bullet or a ricochet. Two rounds in a living carcass is very unlikely. And if in a child it's even more unlikely.
It's not like we are talking about hitting a good sized elk or deer with enough mass to stop a soft-point bullet.
#11
I know it won't happen, but I'd really like someone like General Petreaus, when questioned about this, to say, "It's not American snipers. If our snipers shot these people, they'd be dead."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/24/2008 19:30 Comments ||
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#12
"Random shots usually hit anywhere, but these people have wounds on specific parts of the body ... like their stomachs and legs,"
AK47s only hit non-specific parts?
FORMER Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, the public face of Saddam Hussein's regime, will face trial next week over the execution of dozens of merchants in 1992. Aziz, who also served as foreign minister under Saddam, has appeared as a witness in earlier trials of ex-regime members, but this will be the first time he has faced charges himself.
Jaffar al-Moussawi, a prosecutor with the Iraqi High Tribunal, said Aziz and several other former members of Saddam's regime would appear in court on Tuesday over the case. "Tariq Aziz will be presented for trial at the special tribunal over the execution of around 40 merchants in 1992," Mr Moussawi said today.
Asked what the specific charges would be, Mr Moussawi said: "It's believed he was involved in the case."
Another defendant will be Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, a half-brother to Saddam. Mr Moussawi said he was interior minister when the executions took place.
The merchants were accused of increasing prices of essential goods against state policy at a time when Iraq was suffering under UN sanctions imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Aziz surrendered to US forces in April 2003. He has long complained of ill health.
Starting five minutes after he was nabbed ...
The Iraqi High Tribunal was set up to try former members of Saddam's regime.
A US general urged Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday to do more to halt attacks by his loyalists on the security forces, as Baghdad was rocked by fresh fighting that killed 21 people. "We hope that Moqtada al-Sadr will influence his elements to stop violence and that he will work in favour of peace," Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, the number two commander of US forces in Iraq, told a news conference in Baghdad.
His comments came as the US military said it had killed 21 people in clashes overnight in Shiite areas of east Baghdad, pushing the death toll in fighting there between militiamen and US and Iraqi forces since late March to at least 366.
Sadr has warned of "open war" if assaults against his Mahdi Army militia, who were ordered by the cleric last August to observe a ceasefire, are not halted.
Austin blamed much of the violence on "Special Groups" -- fighters the US military says are renegade Mahdi Army elements trained by Iranians in the use of sophisticated weaponry. "Special Groups criminals are continuing to hurt people with violent actions. They must be brought to justice. The people of Sadr City are tired of them," he said.
US Colonel Allen Batschelet told a separate media briefing that Special Groups members were blending in with mainstream Mahdi Army members. "These two groups are so amorphous. They cross back and forth between one and another. It is difficult to say who is who," he said. "We see evidence of a guy who might be working very hard inside JAM (Jaish al-Mahdi -- the Mahdi Army) to present himself as mainstream kind of a compliant person, yet we have other indicators that show him ... kind of working you know ... got a night job to do a Special Group criminal kind of stuff."
Batschelet said militiamen had fired almost 700 rockets and mortar rounds from various locations in Baghdad in the past month. Of these, 114 hit the highly fortified Green Zone where the Iraqi government and US embassy are based. The colonel said that despite the rocket and mortar fire, the "overall trend of the attacks is declining" in Baghdad.
Fighting meanwhile has erupted in Husseiniyah, on the northeastern outskirts of the capital, where six militiamen were killed late on Tuesday, US Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said. The six were killed when US troops returned fire after they came under attack with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire when their Bradley tank became stuck in the mud, he said.
An Iraqi security official said seven people were killed in Husseiniyah, among them two women.
The US military said 15 other people were killed in battles in eastern Baghdad, which is dominated by Sadr City. American forces used ground troops and air strikes during the clashes which began late afternoon Tuesday, the military said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[12 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > IRAQ: OVER 100 AL QAEDA LEADERS STILL INSIDE IRAN; + PHILIPPINES SAYS ITS ON TRACK TO CRUSH COMMUNIST INSURGENCY BY 2010.
And now you know, VIRGINIA, AGAIN, why IRAN, OSAMA BIN LADEN, + ISLAMISTS need to acquire POTENT NUKES-WMDS ARSENALS AND CAPABILITIES, ETC. ASAP AMAP 2008-2012/13 TO SAVE THEIR JIHAD.
#2
I hope the US has several brigades of artillery in Iraq, and all of it can be brought to bear on Sadr City the first time mookie's "militia" tries a major strike. "Walk" artillery across Sadr City until there's nothing left but slowly-burning rubble, then do it some more. Send a clear message to every person of the muslim cult that they either learn to "live and let live", or they die - in the most horrible manner we can devise for them. The Arab mindset, "only strength counts", has been ignored by the US and its allies. That needs to change, and Sadr City is an excellent place for that change to begin.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/24/2008 19:22 Comments ||
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#3
OP, I don't think that's the right plan for Sadr City right now. Most of the country is on our side at this point. I think you know what would happen if the Coalition tried your way. This ain't Fallujah anymore.
OTOH, I doubt that the old revolver on the library table would work with Mookie. Maybe glue a red dot on his forehead while he's sleeping? Condi's got him pegged as a coward....
Hamas-controlled Gaza is close to declaring a ceasefire with Israel under a deal proposed by Egyptian mediators, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said Wednesday in Spain. "I think we are very close to announcing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that will allow the blockade of the border area to be lifted and also end Israeli incursions and the launch rockets of Hamas into southern Israel," he told a conference in Madrid.
Malki was speaking a day before US President George W. Bush is to hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Washington as part of diplomatic efforts to try to revive the flagging Mideast peace process.
Israel has sealed the impoverished territory of about 1.4 million people off from all but vital humanitarian aid since the Islamist Hamas movement -- pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state -- took power there in June.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[12 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Jordan's King Abdullah II met Wednesday with US President George W. Bush and urged him to set "clear grounds and fixed time-frames" for stalled Middle East peace talks, Jordan's embassy said.
Abdullah later discussed his White House visit with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who was due to meet Thursday with Bush as Washington pushes for a peace agreement before the US leader's term ends in January 2009.
The flurry of meetings aimed to set the stage for Bush's visit to the Middle East in May, a trip anchored on ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the modern state of Israel.
The White House remained tight-lipped about what it insisted was the king's "private" visit -- a roughly hour-long working breakfast -- but Jordan's embassy released a statement describing the exchange. "King Abdullah said negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis should be based on clear grounds and fixed time-frames," said the embassy, which did not detail what that schedule should be.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
(Xinhua) -- Egypt resumed supply of heavy fuel to the power plant in the blocked Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip, averting further deterioration of the humanitarian situation there, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.
Through a pipeline at the Nahal Oz border crossing, Egypt has succeeded in re-pumping heavy fuel to trucks on the Palestinian side, said a senior Egyptian official on condition of anonymity. The diesel offered by Egypt, through efforts with the Israeli side, will help supply Gaza power plant which provides power to many vital utilities especially hospitals, the official said.
Meanwhile, director of the Palestinian petrol agency said Israel is set to resume piping fuel to Gaza power plant Wednesday after a week of halting. "Today, two million liters of industrial diesel will be allowed into Gaza and the station will remain functioning normally," the director, Mujahed Salama, told Voice of Palestine radio.
On Tuesday, Palestinian officials in Gaza announced that the only power plant in the strip will be shut down by Wednesday evening, owing to the Israeli withholding of fuel shipments to Gaza.
On April 9, Israel closed the Nahal Oz crossing, the only one through which the fuel is supplied to the impoverished territory, following a Palestinian militant attack which left two Israeli soldiers killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Heavy Fuel"?
What are they using? Bunker?
(Just above tar, ship's fuel, good for steam power plants, not much else)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/24/2008 19:07 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) announced Wednesday that as of April 24 provision of UNRWA's food assistance to 650,000 refugees in Gaza would stop. In addition, UNOCHA said that 12 municipalities and solid waste management councils have stopped all their operations, affecting at least 500,000 Gazans.
Government hospitals have between 33 and 170 hours of fuel supply and others managed by NGOs have fuel for less than one week, said the UNOCHA. Vaccines for 50,000 babies would be spoiled if power cuts exceeded eight hours and it would take six months to replace, said the statement, adding, UNRWA vehicle fleet in Gaza are going to be grounded as of Thursday which would prevent normal operation in about 214 schools and 19 health centers. There is currently no fuel available in the Gaza Strip and there were power cuts of three hours per-day in almost all of Gaza, stated UNOCHA.
For months the fuel crisis has hampered vital humanitarian work, but the complete absence of fuel would dramatically worsen the situation in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
And we should care because?
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/24/2008 1:04 Comments ||
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#2
And we should care because?
Because George II is going to use your tax dollars to pay for it, RiC.
#7
Israel, which maintains a punishing blockade on the impoverished territory, claimed the Islamist Hamas movement was preventing distribution of one million litres of fuel (260,000 gallons) delivered about a week ago to the Nahal Oz terminal on the Gaza border. UNRWA said the stored fuel was not destined for UN agencies in Gaza, which buy their own supplies but also have to import them through Nahal Oz.
Israel suggested that the United Nations complain to Hamas, which runs Gaza.
"They should take it up with Hamas and demand they get fuel from the million litres stored on the Palestinian side of the border," foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said. "We did try today to transfer fuel directly to UNRWA but a farmers' demonstration supported by Hamas prevented us from doing so," he told AFP.
"Hamas has prevented the use of this fuel stocked for humanitarian purposes such as ambulances, generators, hospitals and water pumps," Mekel added. "Hamas is creating an artificial and dishonest crisis."
An Israeli military spokesman said it was impossible to deliver any more fuel until existing supplies are picked up.
#8
"...food assistance to 650,000 refugees in Gaza would stop. In addition, UNOCHA said that... solid waste management councils have stopped all their operations.."
makes sense; if you don't eat, you don't crap.
maybe the Isrealis should start shipping sh!t instead of fuel so the solid waste plants can stay in operation.
(Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday handed over its vision about a ceasefire deal with Israel to Egyptian mediators, a spokesman for the movement said. The spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Hamas' stance regarding the Egyptian proposals for a ceasefire was handed over to the Egyptian officials on Wednesday by Mahmoud Zahar, a Gaza-based Hamas leader who held a series of meetings with the Egyptian officials.
According to the spokesman, Hamas' position is based on stopping all kinds of Israeli military escalation, reopening the crossing points into Gaza and lifting the Israeli sanctions on the Hamas-ruled territory. He added that Hamas insists on the coincident, mutual and full factors when applying the ceasefire deal.
Abu Zuhri said Hamas' decision was made after internal discussions between Hamas leaders inside and outside the Palestinian territories.
Egypt has been mediating between Israel and Hamas to broker a ceasefire deal. Hamas has reportedly accepted that the ceasefire takes place only in Gaza. However, its deposed Premier Ismail Haneya said earlier in the day that the ceasefire should also include Wes Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Only their thoughts about one, not a guard post.
Iran has been kicked out of an international defense show in Malaysia for exhibiting missile equipment in violation of U.N. rules, an official said Thursday.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Iranian companies were ordered out of the Defense Services Asia show Tuesday because their exhibition was deemed "offensive." "Unfortunately, when we came around to inspecting their stand, they displayed equipment that clearly contravened the U.N. resolution equipment such as missiles and missile systems and others," Najib told reporters. Attention wh0res or taking bids?
"The moment they crossed the line, we had no option but to terminate them," Najib added.
Najib said the exhibit was in defiance of U.N. resolutions that ban Iranian arms exports and forbid countries from providing Iran with technical and financial assistance that could contribute to its alleged nuclear weapons program.
The Malaysian defense show, billed as one of the largest of its kind in Asia, began Monday with hundreds of exhibitors from about 50 countries.
An Iranian Embassy official in Kuala Lumpur, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements, insisted the country's participation was "not against Malaysian or international laws." He declined to elaborate.
Najib said other countries participating in the show had complained about Iran's exhibition, but stressed Malaysia's decision was not due to Western pressure. He did not name the countries.
The U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur declined to comment, saying it "doesn't discuss details of diplomatic exchanges."
Malaysian authorities had informed the Iranian ambassador earlier this week about the exhibition's rules, Najib said. "We were left in a situation where we did not have any option, since Malaysia is committed to respecting and adhering to the U.N. resolution," Najib said.
See the other story below for more. This story is the WaPo spin.
A video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactor similar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear arsenal, according to senior U.S. officials who said it would be shared with lawmakers today.
The officials said the video of the remote site, code-named Al Kibar by the Syrians, shows North Koreans inside. It played a pivotal role in Israel's decision to bomb the facility late at night last Sept. 6, a move that was publicly denounced by Damascus but not by Washington.
Since we now recognize the need for an Osirak style raid ...
Sources familiar with the video say it also shows that the Syrian reactor core's design is the same as that of the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, including a virtually identical configuration and number of holes for fuel rods. It shows "remarkable resemblances inside and out to Yongbyon," a U.S. intelligence official said. A nuclear weapons specialist called the video "very, very damning."
Nuclear weapons analysts and U.S. officials predicted that CIA Director Michael V. Hayden's planned disclosures to Capitol Hill could simplify complicate U.S. efforts to improve relations with North Korea as a way to stop its nuclear weapons program. They come as factions inside the administration and in Congress have been battling over the merits of a nuclear-related deal with North Korea.
Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha yesterday angrily denounced the U.S. and Israeli assertions. "If they show a video, remember that the U.S. went to the U.N. Security Council and displayed evidence and images about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I hope the American people will not be as gullible this time around," he said.
U.S. officials said that Israel shared the video with the United States before the Sept. 6 bombing, after Bush administration officials expressed skepticism last spring that the facility, visible by satellite since 2001, was a nuclear reactor built with North Korea's assistance.
But beginning today, intelligence officials will tell members of the House and Senate intelligence, armed services and foreign relations committees that the Syrian facility was not yet fully operational and that there was no uranium for the reactor and no indication of fuel capability, according to U.S. officials and intelligence sources.
David Albright, president of Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and a former U.N. weapons inspector, said the absence of such evidence warrants skepticism that the reactor was part of an active weapons program. "The United States and Israel have not identified any Syrian plutonium separation facilities or nuclear weaponization facilities," he said. "The lack of any such facilities gives little confidence that the reactor is part of an active nuclear weapons program. The apparent lack of fuel, either imported or indigenously produced, also is curious and lowers confidence that Syria has a nuclear weapons program."
Sure, and why would the Syrians and Norks put all this time into a facility when they hadn't identified their own separation facility and weapons facilities? Just liked tossing money around? Mr. Albright is an idiot: the Israelis uncovered one part of the total package and, rather than wait to uncover the whole schmeer (right around the time things might go 'boom'), decided to act.
U.S. intelligence officials will also tell the lawmakers that the site Syria has built at Al Kibar is not for a reactor. "The successful engagement of North Korea in the six-party talks means that it was unlikely to have supplied Syria with such facilities or nuclear materials after the reactor site was destroyed," Albright said. "Indeed, there is little, if any, evidence that cooperation between Syria and North Korea extended beyond the date of the destruction of the reactor."
The timing of the congressional briefing is nonetheless awkward for the Bush administration's diplomatic initiative to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and permanently disable the reactor at Yongbyon. The CIA's hand was forced, officials said, because influential lawmakers had threatened to cut off funding for the U.S. diplomatic effort unless they received a full account of what the administration knew.
Also, the terms of a tentative U.S.-North Korean deal require that North Korean officials acknowledge U.S. evidence about its help with the Syrian program, and so the disclosures to Congress are meant to preempt what North Korea may eventually say.
Following talks with the South Korean president last weekend, President Bush said that it was premature to make a judgment about whether North Korea was willing to follow through with a commitment to publicly declare its nuclear-related programs, materials and facilities.
Washington and Pyongyang still differ over what should be included in that declaration, a State Department official said. Sung Kim, the State Department director of the Office of Korean Affairs, is in Pyongyang for discussions about the contents.
Syria's top envoy to Washington said the CIA briefings were meant to undermine diplomatic efforts with North Korea, not to confront Syria. Why, Moustapha said, are "they repeating the same lies and fabrications when they were planning to attack Iraq? The reason is simple: It's about North Korea, not Syria. The neoconservative elements are having the upper hand."
He added, "We do not want to plan to acquire nuclear technology as we understand the reality of this world and have seen what the U.S. did to Iraq even when it did not have a nuclear program. So we are not going to give them a pretext to attack Syria."
The facility at issue used to include a tall, boxy structure that once housed a gas-graphite reactor, and was located seven miles north of the desert village of At Tibnah in the Dayr az Zawr region, 90 miles from the Iraqi border, according to photographs released by the ISIS, a nonprofit research group.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Israelis took video inside the Syrian nuclear facility? Flying robots the size of flies, or suborning people who ought not be subornable? Or, Special Forces who really are ghosts, able to wander at will without being seen. (Sleep well, Bilal and Hafiz! The Mossadniks camped under your bed will keep you safe... until they leave, anyway.) Whichever, very impressive indeed.
#2
ION NOKOR, WORLDNEWS > IHT.com - ENDING NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM?
Artcile - Thanx to POTUS Dubya's questionable decisionmaking/thinking, NORTH KOREA SINCE 2001 COVERTLY ADDED TO ITS PLUTONIUM NUCMAT STOCKPILES AND NOW HAD ENUFF TO DEV EIGHT OR MORE NUCLEAR BOMBS, as opposed to 1-2 only back in 2001???
ALso on WORLDNEWS [paraph] > PLUTONIUM ON THE EUPHRATES, + BUSH CLEVELY BOXES OVER US-ROK ALLIANCE/ BUSH DECISION TO KEEP US TROOP LEVELS IN SOUTH KOREA CONSTANT HAS SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS THROUGHOUT ASIA.
*TOPIX > DOES NORTH KOREA HAVE PLUTONIUM WARHEADS/BOMBS? + MORTH KOREA'S PLUTONIUM: HAS THE US, WEST FAILED TO STOP PROLIFERATION FOREVER?
#6
I hope someone's keeping track of the weenies that are denying, lying, and politicizing what the Israeli government and others are cleary proving to the world. Those people need to "not have their contract renewed" - for breathing. "Intelligence Officials" that try to distort reality to save their own a$$es need to hang - preferably from the Anacostia River bridge, where everybody in Washington can see the bodies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/24/2008 20:24 Comments ||
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Hezbollah's continued armed strength poses a key challenge to Lebanese sovereignty, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report this week, prompting criticism on Wednesday from the Shiite movement. "Hezbollah's maintenance of a para-military capacity poses a key challenge to the government's monopoly on the legitimate use of force," Ban said in his seventh report on implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559.
He reiterated his view that the disarming and disbanding of Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, called for under the resolution which was adopted in 2004 should take place through "an inclusive political dialogue." Ban said Syria and Iran "bear a significant responsibility in supporting such a process, for the sake of Lebanon's and the wider region's security, stability and welfare."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Apparently, Mr. Ban didn't get the memo that Syria and Iran a) don't want a stable Lebanon and b)don't give a rat's behind about any UN resolutions, no matter how strongly they are worded.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/24/2008 1:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Go ahead, BanMan. Tell 'em you'll unleash UNIFIL on them if they don't straighten up and fly right.
Oooooooooooooooh...
#4
Hezbollah is quite willing to talk forever, and they will continue to stockpile weapons and ammunition as they do it. The talking will only stop when they're ready to attack. Ban Ki-moon has nothing he can use to MAKE Hezbollah give up their weapons, so they have no intention of doing so. Now, if Mr. Moon would allow the US to run a half-dozen ARCLIGHT strikes down through the Litani Valley, we might see Hezbollah - or whatever is left of it - willing to do something besides talk.
When talk's all you have, you won't get very far. As Teddy said, speak softly, and carry a big stick. With arabs/muslims, the bigger the stick the better, and be ready to use it three or four times until they understand you're not bluffing with a busted flush.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/24/2008 20:29 Comments ||
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A leading member of Lebanon's governing coalition said in comments published on Wednesday that dialogue was the only solution to the 18-month-old standoff with the opposition, but added that it must address the question of Hezbollah weaponry.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's comments were markedly more conciliatory in tone than the position of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who earlier this month roundly rejected a call for dialogue from parliament speaker and opposition stalwart Nabih Berri. "The crisis will only be resolved through dialogue whereby each side makes meaningful concessions to the other side," Jumblatt told the leftist pro-opposition daily As-Safir.
The deadlock between the Western-backed government and the Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition has left Lebanon without a president since last November -- and the government unable to pass legislation since 2006.
Berri issued his call for dialogue after talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on April 7. He said the dialogue should tackle two key matters of dispute -- the formation of a government of national unity and the drafting of a new electoral law.
Siniora, a Sunni Muslim, rejected the call in Cairo the same day, insisting that Berri needed to convene a session of parliament to elect a new president first. "The path to a solution through dialogue no longer exists in Lebanon at present," he said.
But the governing coalition, which also embraces Christian and leftist factions, has yet to take a joint position.
Jumblatt said that any dialogue had to address what he said was the most important issue -- the future of the weapons still held by Shiite militant group Hezbollah, a key opposition group. "This issue needs to be resolved in accordance with domestic, regional and international circumstances, with the knowledge that there is no alternative in the long term to these weapons being in the hands of the state," Jumblatt said.
Hezbollah says it needs to keep its arms to "resist the constant threat" posed by Israel. The ruling coalition retorts that the weapons give Hezbollah a monopoly on the decision to go to war that ought to be in the hands of the state, especially after the devastating 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which set the terms of the ceasefire that ended that 34-day war, calls for the disarmament of all Lebanese militias.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The death of any Druze leader can only bring joy to our hearts.
Don't blame me. Just echoing Marty Feldman's unforgivable comments WRT Iraq. Screw him. The US, Israel, and the west can take care of their interests without the likes of him wasting oxygen on this planet.
(KUNA) -- The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army have jointly stepped up security measures along the southern Lebanon Litani River, UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmine Bouziane said on Wednesday. The move came after suspicious armed incidents were reported from checkpoints off the river at the area where UNIFIL is stationed, she said. She added that the presence of armed men at the UNIFIl operation site is a breach of the UN Resolution 1701.
According to the resolution, the area lying between the border Blue Line and the Litani River in south Lebanon must be free of militants, military equipment and weapons, except for Lebanese and UNIFIL forces.
The Litani River is an important waterway in southern Lebanon. It rises west of Baalbek in the fertile Beqaa Valley and empties in the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre, one of Lebanon's largest cities. Exceeding 140 km, it is the longest river that originates and flows entirely within the borders of Lebanon. Most of its catchment area was under Israeli control during 1978 and from 1982 to 2000. It is a major water supply for Southern Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Does this mean they're actually gonna try to stop the ammo trucks from crossing the river?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/24/2008 16:12 Comments ||
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#3
Be interesting to see if they can. They've already establish a somewhat effective control (with German tech.training assistance) of northern Lebanon's borders.
The Bush administration will tell Congress tomorrow that a nuclear facility in Syria built with North Korean help was nearly complete when Israel bombed it in September, and that Pyongyang has not provided any further nuclear assistance to the hard-line Arab nation, at least at that site, U.S. officials said.
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and other intelligence officials are expected to brief several congressional committees in closed-door sessions, breaking the administration's silence on the issue.
I think we need some salt for this one, but it is rather disturbing ...
The Syrian facility has become a key issue in six-nation negotiations to end the North's nuclear programs. The belief is that the reactor was nearing completion, said one official familiar with the content of the briefings. It would have been able to produce plutonium.
Another official said that the facility in Syria was similar to North Korea's main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, which has been almost disabled by U.S. experts. Both programs were based on technology to produce plutonium, a man-made element that is the most common ingredient used to make the fissile core of atomic bombs.
Administration and congressional officials spoke about the Syrian facility in past tense. One official said it was good that it was put out of commission, and others added that the Israeli air strike occurred before fuel had been placed in the reactor.
Sounds like the Israelis pulled off another Osirak.
Satellite photos taken before the Israeli strike show a large cubical building that was believed to have housed the reactor. The building is absent from photos taken afterward.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the administration will be able to discuss the issue publicly soon, but official spokesmen for the main national security agencies refused to comment on the matter and only offered general statements. We have certain responsibilities to brief the Congress on matters of foreign policy and national security, in this case, intelligence matters, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
The chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea, Christopher R. Hill, has said that Pyongyang insists it is not currently engaged in proliferation activities and will not be in the future. Asked today whether the North has assisted Syria's nuclear program since the Sept. 6 bombing, officials said, not at that site. They declined to elaborate.
Doesn't sound as if they need to elaborate. Not at that site. Hmmmm ...
The officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said they based their conclusions on very good intelligence derived from a variety of sources. They added that the Israeli government had been informed about the congressional briefings.
However, Yuval Steinitz, a member of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said that no such information had been provided to legislators. This is inconsistent with the standard procedure, he said. I'm upset with our government. It is not healthy that such a briefing is taking place in another parliament, even if it is a friendly parliament like the U.S. Congress.
We'll take care of ours, you take care of yours.
Administration officials and outside analysts said that members of Congress are likely to ask what North Korea's nuclear cooperation with Syria means for the future of the six-party talks.
The Dhimmicrats will immediately want to ship food to the Norks so as to appease Kimmie. Let's see how close I am ...
Even though they disagreed on the answer, they all deplored the North's assistance to Syria. It's a very outrageous step, but what do you now? Throw away the whole process? That's a conundrum, a former administration official said.
It's simple. Stop the process. No further shipments of food or oil until the Norks come very, very, verifiably clean. And start putting the pieces in place so that we can very quietly, without notice or fuss, destroy any ship or plane that we suspect to contain a shipment of nuclear material out of North Korea to another state. It will have to be seen as a series of unfortunate, untimely accidents, but the Norks and the Chinese will get the message. Get the Sorks to start spinning up to a more defensible footing. And most importantly, get China to curb their dog. We have a good lever: curb the Norks or we won't show for the Olympics. That would at least buy enough time to get the striped-pants crowd do their jobs.
Another former official, John R. Bolton, who was undersecretary of state for arms control and international security during President Bush's first term, said: North Korea is outsourcing its nuclear weapons program. And if you want to hide your activities from inspectors in North Korea, what better place than in Syria?
Interesting idea, but why not hide the activities in Iran? The Iranians and the Norks would learn from each other. Short Round would make that deal in a minute.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Hiding North Korean activities in Iran could well mean a sudden change of ownership not initiated by the North Koreans. Whereas Syria likely could not continue on its own, despite the influx of Iraqi nuclear scientists in 2003. *
*This opinion based on no known facts, but only personal impressions. Well worth what you, dear reader, just paid to read it, but no more. ;-)
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BOSASSO, Somalia - The Pakistani crew members of a hijacked, Dubai-flagged ship said on Wednesday they were lucky to be alive after being tricked and captured by Somali pirates then rescued in a shootout at sea.
Pakistan has reduced the number of nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets it planned to buy from the US from 36 to 18 due to financial constraints.
Residents, doctors of Baghdad's Sadr City say US snipers deliberately shoot civilians in legs, stomachs.
A US general urged Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday to do more to halt attacks by his loyalists on the security forces, as Baghdad was rocked by fresh fighting that killed 21 people. "We hope that Moqtada al-Sadr will influence his elements to stop violence and that he will work in favour of peace," Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, the number two commander of US forces in Iraq, told a news conference in Baghdad.
Jordan's King Abdullah II met Wednesday with US President George W. Bush and urged him to set "clear grounds and fixed time-frames" for stalled Middle East peace talks, Jordan's embassy said.
The Bush administration will tell Congress tomorrow that a nuclear facility in Syria built with North Korean help was nearly complete when Israel bombed it in September, and that Pyongyang has not provided any further nuclear assistance to the hard-line Arab nation, at least at that site, U.S. officials said.
