NATO in Afghanistan spoke out against Pakistan's moves to reach peace deals with Taliban militants on its side of the border as new violence left 16 people dead, including a US-led soldier. Visiting US congressman also said they were concerned that Islamabad's peace talks with terrorists militants could preclude a rise in attacks in Afghanistan, where 70,000 foreign soldiers are helping to fight a Taliban-led jihad insurgency. NATO spokesman Mark Laity urged Pakistan to avoid agreements that "put our troops and our mission under threat," and said Islamabad must take the alliance into account when it makes such deals.
Top Pakistani militant leader Baitullah Mehsud said at the weekend he would continue "jihad," or holy war, in Afghanistan while pursuing peace talks with the new Pakistan government. Islamabad has already signed a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, about 99 kilometres (55 miles) from Afghanistan.
"They have a sovereign right to make agreements," Laity said at a press conference, adding however, "We have a right to answer if those agreements put our troops and our mission under threat. It is no real solution if trouble on one side of the Durand Line (the border) is merely transferred to the other side." Laity said NATO believed an increase in militant activity along the eastern border with Pakistan could only be attributed to a reduction in the Pakistani army's efforts against militants because of the peace talks.
Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told the same media briefing that Pakistan territory "should not be used to kill innocent people in Afghanistan." "Previous peace accords between Pakistan's government and insurgents have shown that it was a golden time for insurgents -- they got equipped, they got ready and they launched operations against both governments," he said.
Four Democratic lawmakers said after talks with Karzai that they would raise concerns about the peace deals with militants during a visit to Islamabad. "They are protected in their sanctuaries and yet they come into Afghanistan and take on the activities of terrorists," said one of the lawmakers, Ben Nelson, a US Senator from Nebraska.
#1
Visiting US congressman also said they were concerned that Islamabad's peace talks with terrorists militants could preclude a rise in attacks in Afghanistan, where 70,000 foreign soldiers are helping to fight a Taliban-led jihad insurgency.
pre·clude (pr-kld)
tr.v. pre·clud·ed, pre·clud·ing, pre·cludes
1. To make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent. See Synonyms at prevent.
2. To exclude or prevent (someone) from a given condition or activity:
I doubt very much that "preclude" is the word they want to use(unless they are Obamabots) in this context, lead would be a better word.
#6
TOPIX > TALIBAN VOW TO FIGHT ON UNTIL THE LAST FOREIGN SOLDIER IS GONE; + AD KRONOS > AL-ARABIYA Report > OSAMA BIN LADEN IS HIDING IN THE KARAKORAM REGION OF THE HIMALAYAS [K2 Mountains]??? Read - an INTERNAT/GEOPOL SENSITIVE AREA, sub-Read ANTI-US RUSSIA-CHINA-INDIA.
Afghanistans parliament has started naming stay-away lawmakers, with a brother of President Hamid Karzai first on the list, in a bid to stop no-shows hobbling its work, an official said Sunday. The lower house also voted Saturday to cut the salaries of MPs for each day they do not attend a session, the Speakers secretary Mohammad Saleh Saljoqi told AFP.
We have decided to expose the names of our absent MPs, the legislator said. Its a moral punishment, he added.At the end of each week we will release the names of those MPs absent during the week and at the end of the month the names of those absent during the month, he said.
The first names to be given to the media were Qayoum Karzai, an elder brother of the president from Kandahar province, Fridoun Mohmand from Nangarhar and Abdul Wahab from Jawzjan. These legislators had not attended a single session in the current term, Saljoqi said. At every session 80 to 100 MPs were absent, about 60-70 for no reason, he said. The lower house, with 249 seats, was elected in the first full democratic parliamentary poll in 2005. Seven MPs have been killed and one, Malalai Joya, thrown out for allegedly insulting the assembly on television.
Low attendance has held up the work of the parliament for several months, one MP told AFP. Recent pay rises for teachers took 35 days to approve while the passage of a media bill, which needs two-thirds of the House to be present, has been delayed for several months.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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If recent reports of trends in religious observance prove to be correct, then in some 30 years the mosque will be able to claim that, religiously speaking, the UK is an Islamic nation, and therefore needs a share in any religious establishment to reflect this. The progress of conservative Islam in the UK has been amazing, and it has come at a time of prolonged decline in church attendance that seems likely to continue.
This progress has been enthusiastically assisted by this government in particular with its hard-line multi-cultural dogma and willingness to concede to virtually every demand made by Muslims. Perhaps most importantly the government has chosen to allow hard-liners to act as representing all Muslims, and more liberal Muslims have almost completely failed to produce any leadership voices to compete, leading many Britons to wonder if there are indeed many liberal Muslims at all, surely a mistake.
At all levels of national life Islam has gained state funding, protection from any criticism, and the insertion of advisors and experts in government departs national and local. A Muslim Home Office adviser, for example, was responsible for Baroness Scotlands aborting of the legislation against honour killings, arguing that informal methods would be better. In the police we hear of girls under police protection having the addresses of their safe houses disclosed to their parents by Muslim officers who think they are doing their religious duty.
While men-only gentlemens clubs are now being dubbed unlawful, we hear of municipal swimming baths encouraging Muslim women only sessions and in Dewsbury Hospitals staff waste time by turning beds to face Mecca five times a day a Monty Pythonesque scenario of lunacy, but astonishingly true. Prisons are replete with imams who are keen to inculcate conservative Islam in any inmates who are deemed to be culturally Muslim: the Prison service in effect treats such prisoners as a cultural block to be preached to by imams at will. Would the Prison service send all those with C of E on their papers to confirmation classes with the chaplain?! We could go on.
The point is that Islam is being institutionalised, incarnated, into national structures amazingly fast, at the same time as demography is showing very high birthrates. Charles Taylors new and classic work on the Secular Age charts the rise of the secular mindset and what he calls the excarnation of Christianity as it is levered out of state policy and structures. Christianity is now regarded as bad news, the liberal elites attack developed in the 1960s took root in the educationalist empire, and to some extent even in areas of the church.
Today the Christian story is fading from public imagination, while Islam grows apace. There needs to be some fresh thinking in this area where the claims of Christ are sensitively explained. Our church leaders must develop ways of explaining this, as our feature on mission and evangelism this week demonstrates.
I am speechless at what must be deemed one of the greatest tragedies of mankind. When I was young, I often wondered while reading history, how could they have let that happen? And now I know because I see it happening before my very sad eyes. God knows what else I might be living through were it not for the sacrifice of those whom we remember today. Those who offered their lives so that we might live in freedom. How unworthy we are.
#1
It is difficult to understand why anyone would voluntarily convert to islam. But then again, the highest US TV shows are American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.
#3
Hey -- there's some seriously good dancing, choreography and costuming on ... oh, never mind. That's not Dancing With The Stars, it's So You Think You Can Dance. The History Channel, on the other hand, periodically repeats shows on the historical development of the brassiere, and sexual perversions of Rome's Julian emperors. I'm really surprised their market share isn't significantly higher.
Left-wing Colombian FARC rebels had contacts with leftist groups in Germany, according to data on a laptop belonging to slain commander Raul Reyes, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday. Reyes, the number two commander in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed on March 1 in a raid by Colombian forces just inside Ecuador.
The German angle is newly-reported.
Emails on his laptop show that in January 2005 he sent his son to Germany in a secret mission, Der Spiegel said in an article to be published Monday. There his son met with members of the German communist party and with far-left politician Wolfgang Gehrcke, who offered to press the European Parliament to take the FARC off its list of terrorist organizations.
It was a very positive meeting, Der Spiegel quotes an email found on Reyess laptop. We were able to substantiate several points to reactivate solidarity with the struggle of the Colombian people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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The exclusion of Australia's infantry troops from frontline conflicts, including in Iraq, has left many feeling "ashamed of wearing their Australian uniform", an army major says.
Major Jim Hammett, who has served in East Timor, Iraq, Somalia and Tonga, also said the policy had exposed Australian troops to "near contempt" from other foreign soldiers now serving in Iraq, Fairfax reported on Tuesday.
"In the opinion of many infantrymen, the lauding of their contributions to recent operations does not ring true," Major Hammett writes in the Australian Army Journal.
"Many within its ranks suspect that the role of the infantry has already been consigned to history ... the ongoing inaction (in Iraq) ... has resulted in collective disdain and at times near contempt by personnel from other contributing nations for the publicity-shrouded yet force protected Australian troops."
Major Hammett said the infantry, which makes up about a third of the army's combat forces, had not been assigned offensive actions since the Vietnam War despite steady overseas deployments since 2001.
It was only Australia's special forces, including the SAS, that were sent on offensive operations, he said.
"The restrictions placed on deployed elements as a result of force protection and national policies have, at times, made infantrymen ashamed of wearing their Australian uniform and regimental badge," Major Hammett wrote.
"(They) have resulted in the widespread perception that our army is plagued by institutional cowardice."
In a separate article cited by Fairfax, Captain Greg Colton, second in command of the Sydney-based 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, said infantry morale had deteriorated in the past 10 years as regular infantry units were given only "second-rate operational tasks".
"There is a growing sense of frustration," Captain Colton wrote.
"The government and army hierarchy seem to favour special forces for deliberate offensive operations and tasks ... at a lower level the diggers, NCOs and junior officers are starting to question the infantry's role and their part in it, which is having a tangible effect on morale."
The US infantry holds the Aussies and the Brits in hight regard. The Germans and Eastern Europeans right behind them, and everyone else... not so much.
#3
With all due respect Darth and Gorb, consider the audience and quoted officials - I think you're looking at this from an American angle. I read it to be a critique of the Oz policy of leading with the special forces, and treating the "regular" army akin to continental Euro forces.
Knowing nothing of Oz military structure (is it volunteer. mandatory, draft, etc.), I hear this article as a complaint from the troops, particularly the officer corps, that they should assume a role similar to the US Army, regardless of their special forces.
But, is it accurate? I thought PM Howard would have been using all forces, so perhaps this is a jab at the current administrations more adamant change in policy.
#4
Australian army fills its ranks by recruitment.
Reportedly this is what the Australians are doing in Iraq:
Operation Catalyst - Australia's commitment to the Coalition forces in Iraq. The army's contribution includes:
* Overwatch Battle Group (West); this is a battlegroup consisting of a headquarters, infantry company, armoured squadron and training team, with a total of 450 personnel. This has two tasks:
o Provide support to local Iraqi security forces
o Assist in the training of local Iraqi Army units so that they are able to take over the internal and external defence of their country
* Australian Army Training Team; this encompasses 55 personnel providing logistic training to the new Iraqi Army.
* Embassy security detachment; this provides security protection and escort for staff at the Australian Embassy in Baghdad, and consists of 100 personnel.
#5
NEWS OP-ED > THE US MILITARY'S WORLD ROLE IS STILL EVOLVING, espec vv NATURAL DISASTER + HUMANITARIAN RAPID RESPONSE. Despite a highly world-regarded sttae of professionalism and competency, the Aussies newfound REGIONAL-INTERNAT STRATEGIC RESPONSIBILITIES-AGENDA = DESIRED "REACH" STILL IS NOT MATCHED BY THE SIZE AND CAPABS OF ITS CURR ARMED FORCES + NAT ECON, vv CHINA, RADICAL ISLAMISM, + NATURAL DISASTER(S).
For sure, they want things to change to Australia's benefit, and are working towards same much like CANADA, but its not gonna occur overnite.
The Pentagon has warned that Pakistan needs several eonscenturiesdecades years to defeat Al Qaeda-linked terrorists operating in its tribal region along the Afghan border.
Also, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan has said that peace talks between militants and Islamabad will make it easier for militants to cross the border. We are troubled by the negotiations and the possibility of yet another peace deal in the northwest, US Army General Dan McNeill said. We keep our eyes on Pakistan. It seems to me to be very dysfunctional right now.
In a report sent to Congress on Friday, the US Department of Defence acknowledged that last year Pakistan deployed 30,000 additional troops to the Fata and made significant efforts to eliminate the so-called Al Qaeda safe havens in the region. But it is troubling that despite these efforts, safe havens in the Fata have grown in recent years.
The Pentagon report made no reference to Pakistans negotiations with militants but noted that Al Qaeda and other extremists continued to hide in the Fata, where they were able to recruit, train, and target US and western interests.
The report also claimed that seminaries in Pakistan continued to promote jihad and martyrdom and provided potential operatives for acts of violence in Afghanistan. The report warned that it might take several years before Pakistan succeeded in implementing a comprehensive strategy to render the tribal areas permanently inhospitable to terrorists.
The report noted that 700 Pakistanis had been killed in suicide attacks since July 2007.
The report noted that the US was working with Pakistan on a six-year programme to help strengthen the Pakistani military and security forces but cautioned that it would take time to implement the plan. It may be several years before Pakistans comprehensive strategy to render the remote tribal areas permanently inhospitable to terrorists, insurgents and other violent extremists can be measured for success.
Besides building new training facilities for the Frontier Corps, the United States was also providing anti-insurgency training to Pakistani commandos, the report said. The US was also funding the creation of a 700-member special force of Pashtun tribesmen that would act as a rapid response force for dealing with emergencies. The Pentagon had provided $150 million this year for these programmes and was seeking another $200 million for next year, said the report.
Meanwhile, in a conference call from Kabul with defence specialists in Washington, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan expressed serious concerns about Pakistans latest peace moves in the Fata.
The Pentagons news service, which reported Gen McNeills remarks, noted that terrorist attacks had killed more than 2,000 people in Pakistan last year. The report also noted that the number of terrorist actions had risen since Pakistan began truce talks last month and April saw 50 per cent more incidents than the same period last year.
Weve got good data that shows whenever there is dialogue or a peace deal consummated, our aggregated number of untoward events typically goes up, Gen McNeill said. The good news is we have more force in regional command east than we did last year, so I think we can handle what comes.
#2
TOPIX > IRAQ:MANY ARMED MILITANT CELLS/GROUPS STILL OPERATING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE; + NEW AL QAEDA CELL{AQ in Mahgreb] A GROWING TERROR THREAT TO US.
While Iran and Radical Islam's JIHAD covertly or subtledly GOES NUCLEAR, + Carve out ISLAMIST EMPIRE-BLOC IN CENTRAL ASIA, ETC. the attention of the USA-Allies 2008-2012/13 will be DIVERTED/PRE-OCCUPIED WID ACTIVE-DEFENSE = LIMITED OFFENS AGZ ISRAEL, IN IRAQ, etc. In the absence of achieving any major or decisive battlefield victory(s) agz the USA inside Iraq, 2008 -2012/13 the Islamists will need NUCLEAR JIHAD = MULTI-STRATEGIC WEAPONS CAPABILITIES.
Again, iff there is any ISLAMIST HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI, 2008-2010 NLT 2012 is a GOOD TIME TO MAKE HIS APPEARANCE + SAVE THE ME FROM US = US-ALLIED FORCES???
HMMMMM, NOSTRADAMUS QUATRAINS > e.g. describes "CHINA" GORDON versus "THE MAHDI" IN SIEGE/BATTLE OF KHARTOUM, i.e. WAR OF THE CITY = CITIES??? IOW, MOSUL? BASRA? FALLUJAH? BAGHDAD? etc.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said on Sunday that they intend to sue President Pervez Musharraf in the Federal Shariah Court for being responsible for the deaths of people at Jamia Hafsa and in the Tribal Areas, if their peace accord with the government succeeds, Dawn News reported.
TTP spokesman Muslim Khan, in an open letter to the government, army and the public, said militant groups had come into being in reaction to the pro-American policies of the previous government. He added that if the current peace accord succeeded, the TTP intended to file a case against Musharraf for killing innocent people in Waziristan, Bajaur, Swat and Jamia Hafsa.
He hoped the new government would not support Musharraf like the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid had done in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe Mushy's troops couldn't detect Taliban uniforms. The human shields that terrorist cowards use, would have a better case.
Muslim Khan said that the two side had discussed the withdrawal of cases against militants by the state during the fighting in Swat. He said lists were being prepared which would be completed by Tuesday. The meeting also discussed compensation for militants whose houses and shops had been damaged during fighting with security forces. The local government would arrange funds, he said, adding that names of deserving people would be forwarded to the government. The DPO told Dawn that matters relating to the enforcement of ceasefire had been thoroughly discussed.
Referring to sporadic violence in the valley, Muslim Khan assured that Taliban would abide by the accord at all costs and anyone who violated the terms of agreement is the enemy of the state and Taliban and would be punished according to Shariat.
He said Taliban wanted Swat to become a model of peace and tranquility where protection of life and property would be guaranteed, adding that tourists and investors would feel secure in their area. Taliban will not allow foreign elements to interfere or abet violence in the district.
Both the sides expressed satisfaction over the peace agreement. Muslim Khan said Taliban and the government were sincere in honouring the truce. Taliban said that the success of the peace deal depended on complete enforcement of Shariat.
This article starring:
Ali Bakht
Taliban
Maulana Fazlullah
Taliban
Mehmud Khan
Taliban
Muslim Khan
Taliban
Shaukat Khan
Tanveerul Haq Sipra
Waqif Khan
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Ata Taha tied the knot with his university sweetheart in a popular park and traditional meeting point for lovers in Iraq's northern city of Mosul -- but only after Al-Qaeda went on the retreat. "My family had advised me to have a private wedding or celebrate abroad but I stood my ground," the 26-year-old said proudly. "I got my wish -- I married my colleague and we did so in public."
Al-Qaeda militants had banned all public expressions of joy in Mosul, and even prevented the sale of a local popular bread, claiming that it was a breach of Muslim tradition.
In mid-May Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said a crackdown had begun against a Sunni area of Mosul that the American military describes as the last urban bastion of Al-Qaeda jihadists in Iraq. According to the US military at least 1,200 suspects -- including about 200 Al-Qaeda militants -- have been arrested since the Iraqi-led and US-backed operation was launched on May 14, and the level of attacks has also dropped.
Taha and his fiancee took advantage of the offensive against Al-Qaeda to don their wedding finery and head for the so-called "Forest Park" where newlyweds traditionally pose for pictures surrounded by friends and family. Frightened residents deserted the park in north Mosul after radical Al-Qaeda militants imposed their extremist view of Islam on the city. But since the local campaign against Al-Qaeda began residents have been returning in force to celebrate weddings in the park, especially at weekends. Guests gather there both to congratulate the newlyweds and to pose for pictures with the couple. "The extremist factions imposed their values on us with rhetoric and fatwas (decrees) that have nothing to do with real Islam," said Taha.
Coffee shops and restaurants, as well as other favourite meeting spots like the corniche overlooking the Tigris River in downtown Mosul, have also buzzed with activity since the anti-Al Qaeda operation got under way. All across the city, residents have taken on a new lease on life. Streets are thronged with pedestrians and market stalls brim anew with fruit and vegetables -- including tomatoes and cucumbers displayed side by side in clear defiance to the Islamists who had banned this as sexually provocative.
The local Iraqi bread known as "sammoun" -- also prohibited by the militants who argued that it did not exist in the time of the Prophet Mohammed -- can now be found again in bakeries.
For schoolteacher Zakia Abdullah al-Badrani, Mosul is "a land of civilisations that should not be soiled by obscurantists" such as Al-Qaeda.
Mosul, with its population of 1.5 million, is the provincial capital of Nineveh -- itself the capital of the once powerful Assyrian empire -- and is home to both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, as well as Kurds and Christians. "We always lived in harmony with the other communities and this is what encouraged me to come back," said Gergis Hannah, a Christian who fled his hometown two years ago but returned at the onset of the military push against the jihadists. Once Al-Qaeda is uprooted from Mosul "the government must push for reconciliation" among all of the city's communities, Hannah added.
Soldiers armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles continue to patrol the streets of Mosul in a reminder that the threat posed by Al-Qaeda has not been removed completely. But the military met no resistance as its forces rolled into Mosul, and many residents believe the Islamists either fled the city in the face of the advance or went to ground.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
The local Iraqi bread known as "sammoun" -- also prohibited by the militants who argued that it did not exist in the time of the Prophet Mohammed -- can now be found again in bakeries.
Somehow, the Taliban decides what is and is not allowed under Islam. For example, a bread that may or may not have existed at the time of Mohammed is forbidden. However, computers, drugs, AK-47s, RPGs, trucks, IEDs and other things they use are perfectly OK.
If they wanted to live like the prophet, they would be easy to spot - they would be riding camels and horses, and only using swords, spears and bows and arrows.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/26/2008 5:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Al-Qaeda militants had banned all public expressions of joy in Mosul, and even prevented the sale of a local popular bread, claiming that it was a breach of Muslim tradition.
I knew joy was taboo but I didn't realize bread was a forbidden pleasure?
The prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region says the hasty withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq would be catastrophic for the country and the region.
Nechirvan Barzani told VOA Kurdish service in an exclusive interview Saturday that people should not underestimate the progress that has been made in Iraq since U.S. forces toppled Sadam Hussein in 2003. He said Iraq is a special situation that requires patience.
Mr. Barzani met U.S. President George Bush in Washington Friday. Mr. Barzani said Iraq's Kurdish regional government is committed to fighting terrorism. But he said the conflict in northern Iraq between neighboring Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, requires a political solution.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and U.S. ambassador in Baghdad Ryan Crocker discussed on Sunday the means of ensuring the success of negotiations to establish long-term strategic ties between Iraq and the United States to serve both sides' interests, according to a presidential statement. "The two sides also deliberated the means to enhance cooperation and coordination between the two friendly countries," read the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. President George W. Bush signed in early November 2007 an agreement on strategic partnership between the two countries, sanctioning a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq to protect it from "foreign threats" and maintain its internal stability. Talabani and Crocker also discussed recent developments on the return of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front ministers to the government and re-formation of a national unity government. The IAF had withdrawn its five ministers and deputy premier from the Maliki government in early August 2007. The step was followed by withdrawal of other blocs including former Premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL), which had five cabinet ministers. The IAF, which has 44 out of the Iraqi parliament's 275 seats, is the third largest bloc after the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC)'s 83 seats and the Kurdistan Coalition (KC)'s 55 seats.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI)-The Iraqi Islamic party on Sunday announced it evacuated its Mosul offices in response to the Prime Ministers call for political parties and movements to leave state properties. The Iraqi Islamic Party (IP)-Ninewa branch evacuated its headquarters in response to the order issued by the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to leave government properties in Mosul , IP statement received by Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI) said.
The Sunni Islamic party led by Vice president Tareq al-Hashemi is a major component in the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) bloc, which holds 44 out of the parliaments total 275 seats. Last week, the Iraqi Premier called for political parties and movements to leave the government properties in Mosul and assigned the Interior Ministry to fulfil the order in ten days. The announcement pointed out the party evacuated four headquarters across Ninewa province areas and would leave the rest of properties in due time.
The evacuation order coincided with a major offensive codenamed UM al-Rabeen(Mother of Two Springs)that has launched by the government to impose the rule of law in Ninewa.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
(Mother of Two Springs)
Jeeebus, nother reason to think Gawd Ima fella.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/26/2008 11:30 Comments ||
Top||
(VOI) A member of the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front on Sunday expected negotiations between the IAF and the government regarding the return of the withdrawn ministers to "collapse."
"The IAF is unprecedentedly discontented over the government's reply to the front's recent messages regarding the cabinet lineup. The government's reply did not meet the minimum demands of the IAF," lawmaker Omar Abdul-Sattar al-Karbuli said in a press release on Sunday. "The front will have a final bid to save the negotiations from an expected collapse in case the government fails to respond to its demands," Karbuli said.
He pointed out that the procrastination practiced by the government in its negotiations with the IAF is in nobody's interests. "The government's statements that there was no accordance within the Iraqi Accordance Front did not justify this procrastination," he said, adding "the bet on inter-IAF differences is definitely a lost one."
The IAF withdrew its five ministers and deputy premier from the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki government in early August 2007. The step was followed by the withdrawal of other blocs, including former Premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL), which had five cabinet ministers. The IAF, which has 44 out of the Iraqi parliament's 275 seats, is the third largest bloc after the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC)'s 83 seats and the Kurdistan Coalition (KC)'s 55 seats.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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New peace talks between Israel and Syria topped the agenda at the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Cabinet that Israel is conducting negotiations with Syria "responsibly, seriously and with the necessary caution." Mr. Olmert has said the aim of the talks is a peace agreement, but he would not comment on media reports that he is prepared to return the strategic Golan Heights to Syria. "We have heard many speculations and interpretations," he said, adding that Israel would conduct the negotiations in secret and not through the media.
Israel announced last week that it is holding indirect peace talks with Syria, mediated by Turkey. It is the first talks between the two countries since negotiations collapsed eight years ago over the scope of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan. Prime Minister Olmert hopes peace talks will push Syria into the camp of the Arab moderates, but many Israeli Cabinet ministers are skeptical.
Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai said the negotiations are a mistake. Yishai said Israel is giving legitimacy to Syria even though it is still part of the "axis of evil," as he put it, aligned with Iran and the Islamic guerrilla group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If he's talking about them.... how secret are they?
Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's military-political department, returned to Israel following a series of meetings in Cairo in which he represented Israel in negotiations on a possible truce between Israel and the Palestinian factions, mediated by Egypt. Following preliminary reports, the government has decided to suspend any decisions about an extensive military operation in Gaza. Gilad met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, who urged both Hamas and Israel to show flexibility in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Officials in Jerusalem are awaiting Gilad's full report, which is scheduled to be delivered to Defense Minister Ehud Barak Sunday evening. During the talks Gilad stressed Israel's demand that complete calm prevail in Gaza prior to any ceasefire agreement. During this stage the terror groups will commit, under Egypt's supervision, to prevent the smuggling of arms, money and terrorists from Sinai into the Strip. In return Israel will refrain from launching a broad military operation in Gaza.
During the second phase, Israel will reopen the Rafah crossing and allow the movement of goods and people between Egypt and Gaza in return for significant progress on a deal to release kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. This phase is expected to be more complex due to the disagreement over the identity of the Palestinians slated for release in the framework of a prisoner exchange deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Iran reportedly pledged to step up its support for Hamas if Syria makes peace with Israel. Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas supreme leader based in Damascus, made a surprise visit to Tehran over the weekend following the announcement of Israeli-Syrian peace talks. According to the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Meshaal was told by his Iranian hosts that they would increase support for the radical Islamist Palestinian faction and its Gaza fiefdom if Syria establishes ties with Israel.
A peace deal between Damascus and Jerusalem would almost certainly force Syrian President Bashar Assad to scale back support for Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups now headquartered in his capital. Israel also wants Syria to shun Lebanese Hezbollah and review its ties with Iran.
While in Tehran, Meshaal also received a boost in Iranian funding for Hamas, Asharq al-Awsat reported Sunday. Meshaal told reporters that he believed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is too weak to clinch a peace deal with Syria or with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' rival.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top Iranian military commander Mohammad-Ali Jafari has announced new IRGC plans to enhance the efficiency of its missile division. "An independent command may soon be established to strengthen the structure and improve the activity of our missile division," said the IRGC major general in Tehran on Sunday.
Jafari added that the new IRGC missile command would be established only after the approval of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Regarding the proposed IRGC restructuring, he said the move should be considered a 'natural procedure' aimed at using financial and human resources in a way that can maximize efficiency.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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TOPIX > UN: IRAN NUCLEAR WARHEAD RESEARCH WORRIES PANEL; + DAILY TIMES [Paki] > IRAN [Ahmadinejad] SURE/CERTAIN SYRIA WILL PRESS ON WITH STRUGGLE AGZ ISRAEL DESPITE PEACE TALKS.
* DEBKA > SYRIA reportedly has sent an arms trade delegation to Moscow wid an Iran-backed/sponsored US$5.0 Bilyuhn to procure various types of advanced Russ weapons systems???
IMO, both ISRAEL + ISLMAIST IRAN are well-aware that, in LT, ISRAELI-SPECIFIC MIL PREEMPTION + EVEN "SECOND/THIRD, etc. STRIKE" MISLWAR RETALIATORY CAPABILITY MAY NOT BE ENUFF TO PRECLUDE ISRAELI DEFEAT IN ANY "WAR OF THE MISSLES/NUCLEAR SCUD" = NUCLEAR JIHAD. Again, this is why Israel PC desires to join NATO, US-led GMD-TMD, Regime CHange, + formal US-Israeli Military Assistance treatise.
Former American president Jimmy Carter says Washington should begin to directly negotiate with Iran over the country's nuclear program. "We need to talk to Iran now," said president Carter in a speech at a literary festival in Hay-on-Wye in Wales on Sunday. "(We should) continue our discussions with Iran, to let Iran know the benefits, and the detrimental side of continuing with their nuclear program," said the 83-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The White House and its allies allege the Iranian nuclear program is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran, however, maintains its drive is solely meant to acquire nuclear technology in order to produce electricity for a growing population.
The United States and its number one ally, Israel, are believed to be hoping to ratchet up pressure on Iran over the nuclear program by threatening to take military actions against the country's nuclear facilities. While stressing that the Islamic Republic has never initiated war against any country, Iran has made it clear that any aggression would be met with a maximum of force.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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While stressing that the Islamic Republic has never initiated war against any country, Iran has made it clear that any aggression would be met with a maximum of force.
Taking over the embassy of another country is an act of war.
If Jimmeh Peanut had any balls, we would have squashed the Iranian revolution at its beginning. There would be no need today to talk to Iran about their nuclear program - either they wouldn't have one, or they would be an ally like they were before Khomeini took over
FOAD, Carter. Soon, please.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/26/2008 0:22 Comments ||
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its long past time for Carter to STFU and fade away. Really!!!
#13
Jimmy Carter is giving the US advice on how to deal with Iran. What kind of world is this? Next thing you know Libya will sit on the UN Commission on Human Rights and falling temperatures will be evidence of global warming...
#15
Off-topic, but an enjoyable detour, I think: the White House responded to the New York times today. link
Once again, the New York Times Editorial Board doesn't let the facts get in the way of expressing its vitriolic opinions - no matter how misleading they may be.
In today's editorial, "Mr. Bush and the GI Bill", the New York Times irresponsibly distorts ...
Read the article, but ignore the comments unless you need to raise your blood pressure. ;-)
Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri has taken a jab at Washington and said Lebanon is not a staging ground for US regional policies. Berri paid tribute to various countries including Russia, France, Italy, Spain and the Arab League for their contribution to end a stalemate between Hezbollah-led opposition and the Lebanese western-backed government. "I thank the United States nonetheless, seeing that it seems to have been convinced that Lebanon is not the appropriate place for its plan for the greater Middle East region," said Berri. "This plan in our opinion has no proper place for the birth pangs or the birth of a new Middle East," he added.
Berri was pointing to the remarks made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who referred to Hezbollah's 33-day war against the Zionist regime as part of the "birth pangs of a new Middle East".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2008 00:00 ||
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US regional policies like peace and prosperity. It's true that lebanon does not look like a test-bed for these dangerous ideas.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/26/2008 8:22 Comments ||
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HT to AOSHQ
All too familiar with the gambles of war, Jimmy Kinsey, Kyle Riley and a few dozen fellow soldiers landed in the desert. But for these guys this Memorial Day, the most at stake is a few bucks.
The soldiers-turned-high rollers took a private jet to Las Vegas over the weekend for an all-expenses-paid getaway with all the perks normally saved for casinos' richest regulars.
They were greeted at the airport by Wayne Newton, chilled backstage with the guys from Blue Man Group and hobnobbed with Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who runs Las Vegas Sands Corp. and paid for the trip. Sheldon Adelson - a name to remember. An example of the Anti-Soros
The trip, organized by the Armed Forces Foundation, brought 40 wounded soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., to the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
"I'm gonna be bragging about this for a long while," said Kinsey, 23, while hanging out in his penthouse overlooking the nearby Wynn Golf Course. Each of the soldiers, mostly in their 20s, stayed in a penthouse, and several who came alone got one to themselves.
Kinsey, a Marine corporal from Foley, Ala., who lost part of his left leg to an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006, said he hadn't spent too much time gambling just a few slots.
"On a scale from one to 10 I gave this trip a 15 when I got on the plane," he said.
Riley, a 21-year-old from Catlett, Va., who also lost part of his left leg to an IED in Iraq, was so overwhelmed by the trip he decided with his fiancee, Alyssa Mergler, to make it their wedding weekend. They planned to wed Monday on a gold and white gondola, courtesy of Adelson, whom Mergler said insisted on having his staff handle the plans.
Mergler, 21, said a wedding coordinator showed up at their suite with a thick book of flower choices.
"I don't have the money to do that," said Riley, who asked Kinsey to be his best man. think I'm actually gonna cry
Armed Forces Foundation officials said the trip was a dream distraction from the everyday life at the hospitals, where the soldiers lived while recovering from their injuries.
Armed Forces Foundation spokesman Doug Stone said the trip would be the first of many, and said Adelson wanted to eventually extend the all-expenses-paid offer to every veteran who had been admitted to the two hospitals.
A spokesman for Adelson said the executive was not available for comment because he was traveling. traveling, or trying to not make himself the story? God bless Adelson, these heroes and all who serve
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2008 14:43 ||
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No doubt the cynical would sy Mr. Anderson is investing in his company's future. And indeed he is, although not in the way the cynics think. The anti-Soros, indeed!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
NATO in Afghanistan spoke out against Pakistan's moves to reach peace deals with Taliban militants on its side of the border as new violence left 16 people dead, including a US-led soldier. Visiting US congressman also said they were concerned that Islamabad's peace talks with 
Left-wing Colombian FARC rebels had contacts with leftist groups in Germany, according to data on a laptop belonging to slain commander Raul Reyes, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday. Reyes, the number two commander in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed on March 1 in a raid by Colombian forces just inside Ecuador. 
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said on Sunday that they intend to sue President Pervez Musharraf in the Federal Shariah Court for being responsible for the deaths of people at Jamia Hafsa and in the Tribal Areas, if their peace accord with the government succeeds, Dawn News reported.
Government officials and local Taliban held a meeting on Saturday to monitor post-agreement developments in Swat.
Iran reportedly pledged to step up its support for Hamas if Syria makes peace with Israel. Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas supreme leader based in Damascus, made a surprise visit to Tehran over the weekend following the announcement of Israeli-Syrian peace talks. According to the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Meshaal was told by his Iranian hosts that they would increase support for the radical Islamist Palestinian faction and its Gaza fiefdom if Syria establishes ties with Israel.
