Statement By Secretary Napolitano On Afghanistan Shooting
Release Date: July 24, 2012
For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010
"It is with great sadness that I learned this weekend of the fatal shooting of three contractors stationed at the Herat Training Center in Herat, Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of former U.S. Border Patrol Agent and retired ICE Agent Benjamin Monsivais, retired CBP Port Director Joseph Perez, and retired Her Majesty's United Kingdom Revenue and Customs Officer David Chamberlain.
All three individuals were supporting Afghan Border Police training efforts when they came under attack. Their tragic deaths remind us of the dangers facing our men and women overseas, and the many sacrifices they make on our behalf every day.
Two other individuals were wounded in this senseless attack. We pray for the swift recovery and continued safety of former Border Patrol Agent Dana Hampton and language assistant Aimal Formully. We also applaud the tremendous bravery and heroism of the CBP Border Patrol Agent who responded to the attack and prevented the gunman from causing further harm and injury to others."
[Al Ahram] South Sudan set out Monday a proposed deal with rival Sudan, offering an increased oil transit fee offer, an $8.2 billion financial support package and demanding a referendum on disputed Abyei.
The offer comes just days ahead of an African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... and United Nations ...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country... imposed deadline calling on both sides to reach agreements on outstanding issues -- including oil transit fees, border demarcation and security -- by Augusts 2.
Pagan Amum, South Sudan's chief negotiator told news hounds Juba was ready to resume oil exports stalled in January through Sudan if "reasonable" transport fees are agreed on.
Khartoum, whose officials met with Juba's top team late Sunday and are believed to be reviewing the offer, has so far not responded publically.
"In the interest of peace, South Sudan is offering generous financial transfers to Sudan," the proposed offer read.
The financial package, worth $8.2 billion over three years, includes a cash payment and debt forgiveness to help fill the massive financial gap Sudan reported after the South gained independence last July.
"This is a fair and balanced agreement where each nation will benefit," it added, noting the South was willing to pay up to $9.10 a barrel to transit its premium-quality oil through Sudan, with lower fees for poorer quality oil.
Khartoum had earlier demanded as much as $36 per barrel.
"We propose to immediately resume our exports of oil through Sudan in return for fair, reasonable transportation fees," Amum said.
Other key proposals include an international arbitration process with a strict time frame to determine where the border lies in contested -- and often oil-rich -- frontier regions.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... the South demanded the disputed Abyei region must hold an AU-UN organised referendum before the year's end to decide if it belongs to the north or the south.
The referendum, provided for in a 2005 peace deal, was supposed to happen in 2011 but was stalled after disputes over eligibility for voting.
South Sudan said those eligible to vote would be the people of the Ngok Dinka ethnic group -- seen as Southern supporters -- as well as anyone living in the Leb-sized area for three continuous years prior to 2005.
The deal was a "last offer, not a negotiating position," Amum said.
"We are left with only nine days to August 2 (deadline)... we believe time is over for prolonging lengthy negotiations," he added.
When land-locked South Sudan gained independence from Sudan last July, it took with it two thirds of the region's oil, but the pipelines and processing facilities remained in the North.
In January, Juba cut off all oil production, crippling both economies.
The latest round of talks comes a week after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir exchanged a symbolic handshake at an AU summit.
Amum insisted talks between both sides would continue Monday with the AU mediating team.
On Saturday South Sudan said it was cancelling planned face-to-face peace talks with Sudan after accusing Khartoum of launching a new air raid on its territory.
Sudan denied bombing its southern neighbour, saying it had targeted Darfuri rebels inside its own territory.
The negotiations to settle disputes stemming from the South's independence in July last year stalled after fierce border battles broke out in March, but resumed in May.
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07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... said Monday it was ready to back the deployment of an African stabilization force under U.N. mandate in Mali, and threatened sanctions against those threatening democratic change.
EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels asked EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton to make "concrete proposals" on support for "the possible deployment of a well-prepared ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) force in Mali, under a U.N. mandate and in conjunction with a government of national unity and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... ."
In March, Mali was rocked by a coup, which opened the way for Tuareg forces and Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda-linked groups, to take control of the desert northern part of the vast west African country.
The Islamists then sidelined the main Tuareg separatist group and took charge of the main northern towns, in some of which they have laid down strict Islamic sharia law.
Politicians in the capital Bamako are trying to form a national unity government and the putschists have stood down from power, though they remain an active force.
Malian authorities have sought aid from ECOWAS to help reclaim the north, but the United Nations ...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country... has thus far withheld a mandate, demanding more clarity from the 15-nation west African body on its mission.
"The EU is ready to enact targeted sanctions against those who continue to threaten the process of a democratic transition, peace, security and the stability of Mali," added the joint declaration issued by the foreign ministers.
The text expressed particular concern over the situation in northern Mali, an area bigger than La Belle France, which it said was controlled by terrorist groups and violent Death Eaters "working in conjunction with international criminal circles, including the drug trade."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Unless Champ can muster some all black "impi" (regiments), it appears we'll have to sit this one out.
[An Nahar] The energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council on Monday expressed support for Yemen's security days after Sanaa said it uncovered what it called an Iranian spy cell.
GCC secretary general Abdelatif Zayani praised Sanaa for dismantling the alleged spy ring and said the six-nation council "fully backs Yemen in all the measures it undertakes to reinforce stability and security," a statement said.
Yemen's defense ministry said last week that authorities dismantled an "Iranian spy network that had been operating in Yemen for seven years under the leadership of a former leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards."
Iranian foreign ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast dismissed the accusation as "baseless."
Relations between Sunni-majority Yemen and Shiite Iran have been strained as Sanaa accuses the Islamic republic of backing rebels from an offshoot of Shiite Islam in the north of the Arabian Peninsula state.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The leader of Bahrain's main opposition party, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, says Saudi forces wear Bahraini police uniforms in their crackdown on anti-regime protesters in Bahrain.
Sheikh Ali Salman, whose society is the biggest opposition group in Bahrain, noted that the Peninsula Shield Force uses Bahraini police uniform when cracking down on anti-government protesters.
The holy man emphasized that his group will never resort to arms and will continue peaceful protests.
Al-Wefaq has organized many anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain since the beginning of the revolution in February 2011. The Manama regime forces have been cracking down on the protests ever since.
Last Month, Sheikh Ali Salman was hit in the chest and shoulder by a rubber bullet and a tear gas canister on Friday, the movement said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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The man is believed to be carrying a U.S. passport under the name of David Jefferson
He is a top target for Israeli security agents who fear their athletes will be attacked by Iranian terror squad
MI5 and Scotland Yard are thought to have raised their threat assessment against the Israeli delegation
Israel fears a repeat of the 1972 Olympic Games when 11 of its athletes and coaches were murdered
A terrorist believed to have been involved in a horrific suicide kaboom in Bulgaria last week has emerged as one of the biggest security threats to the Olympics.
The man is thought to be carrying a U.S. passport under the name of David Jefferson and fled following the attack which killed six people last Wednesday in the resort of Burgas.
He has emerged as a top target for Israeli security agents who fear their athletes will be attacked by an Iranian terror squad operating in Europe.
The terrorist, who is suspected of helping the jacket wallah, is thought to have another powerful bomb similar to the one which destroyed the Israeli tourist bus.
Following the Israeli concerns, security has been stepped up around its athletes taking part in the Games.
MI5 and Scotland Yard are thought to have raised their threat assessment against the Israeli delegation as Britannia prepares for the largest peacetime security operation ahead of the opening of the Olympics this Friday.
According to The Sunday Times, the Israeli government - fearing a repeat of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich when 11 of its athletes and coaches were murdered - has sent agents from its internal security service Shin Bet to increase the protection around its Olympic team.
Israel's external security service Mossad are also thought to have sent a team of agents to Europe to hunt for a group of white Europeans who have converted to Islam and are working with the Iranian Quds force and Hezbollah - the terrorist group backed by Tehran.
Whitehall officials have dismissed the threat of a credible plot against the Israeli Olympic delegation and suggested Israel could be attempting to increase the pressure on British authorities to increase security around the Games.
But a source in the Jewish community in London said: 'There is a pattern emerging with a build-up of attacks against Israelis and Jewish targets by Iran or Hezbollah over the past year. There is a real fear about this.'
The commander of the Mexican 5th Military Zone. General de Brigada Emilio Zarate Landeros, has been replaced by General de Brigada Leopoldo Noe Gaytan Ochoa, according to several Mexican news accounts.
General de Brigada Gaytan Ochoa
According to a story posted on the website of El Diario de Chihuahua news daily, the change ceremony took place Sunday at a base of the 23rd Infantry battalion in Juarez. The 5th Military Zone encompasses Ciudad Juarez and surrounding area and is part of the XI Military Region.
General Zarate Landeros has been the commander of the 5th Military Zone since July, 2010, when he relieved General Felipe de Jesus Espitia Hernandez. According to a news item on the Televisa Chihuahua website, General Zarate Landeros will be taking command of the Sonoyta army garrison in Sonora state.
According to a July, 2010 article posted on the website of El Mexicano news daily, General Zarate Landeros had served a deputy chief of staff of a military zone, chief of staff of the Military Police Brigade, director of a military school, an artillery regiment commander and had served as commander of the 20th Military Zone in Colima state.
General Zarate Landeros has been a public figure in Ciudad Juarz since he was posted there, focusing on activities such as weapons seizures during his tenure. The general was involved in one incident in February, 2011 in which he was to observe the destruction of a number of small arms. When a Chihuahua state civilian official failed to show up on time, the general ordered the ceremony to begin without him, apparently causing some friction between his office and the newly elected Chihuahua state government, headed by Governor Cesar Duarte Jazquez.
According to El Occidental news daily, General Gaytan Ochoa was previously commander of the army garrison in the Sonora state border city of Sonoyta, which is a component of the 4th Military Zone.
Voz en Rojo news daily reported that General Gaytan Ochoa had graduated from Heroico Colegio Militar in 1973, and has been known in the army as a cavalry officer and a horseman. He previously taught at the Escuela Militar de Equitacion, and had attended various staff and military schools throughout his career, including an equestrian school in France.
General Gaytan Ochoa has also previously held a staff position with the 15th Military Zone and was operations officer for the Mexican 15th Motorized Cavalry Regiment in Ameca, Jalisco. He also held a staff position in the 33rd Military Zone in Campeche state.
According to La Opcion news daily, General Gaytan Ochoa made General de Bridaga in November 2007, and he has about 40 years of service with the Mexican Army. 5th Military Zone receives from the posting of General Gaytan Ochoa, a field commander trained under one of Mexico's best military region commanders.
His service at Sonoyta was in II Military Region under General de Division Alfonso Duarte Mugica, a general considered to be one of Mexico's top field commanders. General Duarte Mugica has held posts in II Military Region since 2009. General Duarte Múgica has been previously mentioned in Mexican press as a potential candidate for Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), the controlling agency for the Mexican Army and Air force.
The current SEDENA, General Guillermo Galvan Galvan is due to step down when president elect Enrique Pena Nieto begins his term as Mexican president of the republic in December.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Ay-Pee. What? Ramsey Clark was unavailable?
Wikileaks says it has hired Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon to lead the legal team representing the group and its founder, Julian Assange.
Garzon won global fame for aggressively taking on international human rights cases. He is best known for indicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998. But he's got 11 years of free time
Wikileaks said Tuesday that Garzon recently met with the Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where the group's founder is holed up seeking asylum, to discuss a "new legal strategy." "We are innocent under the Federation of Planets Rules"
Assange is currently fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations of sexual misconduct. he reeaaaaallly doesn't want to go back. Perhaps Roman Polanski could make a film about him?
Wikileaks said in a statement posted on its Twitter account that Garzon has expressed "serious concerns" about "the lack of safeguards and transparency" with which actions are being taken against Assange. "Plus he damaged the West. I consider that a plus!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/24/2012 21:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Lebanese man was on Monday ordered cooled for a few years You have the right to remain silent... in Cyprus police custody for a further week over allegations he was helping to plan an attack on Israeli tourists, state radio reported.
The 24-year-old, who holds a Swedish passport, appeared at a closed-door hearing under tight security at a court in the island's second city Limassol, which agreed to a prosecution request he should remain in detention for a further seven days, the radio said.
Cyprus police have refused to comment publicly on the case on the grounds that it is a "sensitive political issue" but did say Sherlocks have found no evidence to suggest he had any accomplices.
Monday's daily Phileleftheros said phone records suggest he was working alone on Cyprus to collect information and then leave.
Online news website Sigmalive said the suspect was tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in a Limassol hotel room on July 7 after flying in from London.
Police suspect he was in Cyprus to track movements of Israeli tourists and find out when group tours arrived on the holiday island, it added.
Reports say his arrest followed a tip-off from foreign intelligence agencies, including Israel's Mossad.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The jacket wallah in last week's deadly attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria entered from neighboring Romania, spoke decent Russian and had a female companion, local media reported on Monday.
Citing Sherlocks probing last Wednesday's bombing of a bus at Burgas airport that killed five Israeli tourists and the driver, television channel bTV said that the attacker was in the city of Varna for at least a day before the bombing.
While in Varna, which is further up the Black Sea coast from Burgas, he left behind "biological evidence" at a hotel, BTV said.
Newspaper Troud meanwhile reported that police were looking for a woman believed to have been staying in the Varna hotel with the bomber, naming it as the three-star Hotel Perfekt.
This woman is also believed to be linked to a possible second man whom police think may have been the bomber's accomplice, the newspaper said, also citing unnamed Sherlocks.
The daily also cited a taxi driver who said he drove the suicide bomber from Ravda and Pomorie, two small towns north of Burgas, the day before the attack, and that he spoke "decent Russian."
Bulgarian authorities have declined to comment on the investigation, saying only that they believe the bomber was aged around 36, had a fake U.S. driving license, was not Bulgarian and had been in the country "not less than four days."
They have also released CCTV footage from the airport of the man they believe was the suicide bomber. He is shown wearing typical tourist clothes and has long hair, possibly a wig, and appears to be white.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
one hopes she made use of "morning after" pills.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
07/24/2012 0:51 Comments ||
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Unconfirmed report adds to confusion over bombing; other report says two accomplices still on the lam
US citizen named David Jepson is suspected of having been an accomplice to last Wednesday's terrorist attack at Burgas Airport, a Bulgarian news site reported on Sunday.
Jepson was based in the Bulgarian coastal city of Varna, north of Burgas, and gave "guidance" to the bomber, according to the report on the site novonite.com. The site stressed this information was unconfirmed.
It said Jepson was captured on CCTV footage at Varna airport at the end of June, had spent a few nights staying at a hotel near the Festival Congress Center in downtown Varna, and had disappeared since the bombing. Police suspect he is still in Bulgaria, the report claimed.
The name "David Jepson" first surfaced on Friday, in a report in the Hebrew daily Maariv. It claimed that Jepson is the man in the artist's sketch being distributed by Bulgarian police. There have been conflicting reports as to whether the man in the sketch is believed by the Bulgarians to have been an accomplice to the bombing, or the bomber himself.
Maariv's report on Friday claimed the Bulgarian authorities were searching frantically for Jepson because they believed he had a second bomb in his possession.
Bulgaria's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said on Saturday that "there may have been a second man" directly involved in the bombing. "We have not ruled that out."
The Bulgarian Daily Standard claimed Sunday that a second accomplice to the bomber might also still be on the lam. Both of the accomplices were at Burgas's Sarafovo Airport at the time of the bombing, it said.
One of them was a back-up bomber ready to replace the bomber if things went wrong. The second one had orders to shoot one or both of the others in the event that they were caught by security officials, the report claimed.
Bulgarian officials last Thursday released CCTV footage filmed in the airport terminal of a long-haired western-looking man with a backpack who they said was the bomber. According to novonite, however, "a witness said on Friday the suspect was a dark-skinned man with short brown hair and an Arabic accent, and appeared to be wearing a wig."
According to Bulgarian journalist Elena Yoncheva, meanwhile, the gun-hung tough guys had planned for the backpack containing the bomb to detonate after the bus had set of from the airport terminal, not in the terminal parking lot where it did explode, so that "the corpse count would have been much higher."
The report added that the bomber had not intended to kill himself in the attack, but rather to plant the bomb and detonate it from afar.
Working with a local CNN team, Yoncheva pointed at a series of security faults at the Burgas airport, including the lack of security measures in the parking lot and surrounding areas.
Five Israelis and the bus driver were killed in the attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, saying it was the latest of many Iranian-directed attempts to attack Israeli targets across the globe.
#3
"Bulgarian officials last Thursday released CCTV footage filmed in the airport terminal of a long-haired western-looking man with a backpack who they said was the bomber. According to novonite, however, "a witness said on Friday the suspect was a dark-skinned man with short brown hair and an Arabic accent, and appeared to be wearing a wig."
Anybody else find this confusing - because I sure do. So who was the guy carrying the backpack in the video they released? Was he David Jepson ... the backup bomber? Was he involved at all? I'm hoping that Mossad and the FBI are making faster progress - than the Bulgarian police.
Following his release from house arrest three years ago, Khan, 75, quietly went to work off stage to form a coalition of former military leaders and prominent anti-U.S. politicians.
Khan's new political party is named "Tehrik-i-Tahaffuz Pakistan," which means "Movement to Protect Pakistan." There is already another TTP -- Tehtik e Taliban Pakistan -- which stands for the "Black Tornado." No it doesn't. It means "Party of the Talibs (religious students) of Pakistain."
Khan will serve as "patron in chief" of the new party. Addressing his new anti-American flock, he said, "I never wanted to join politics but when your country is on the verge of total collapse, it is not right to remain a spectator.
Khan has left no doubt that he expects to be the next president of Pakistan. And he has already picked the man he wants as prime minister: Imran Khan, ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement of Justice Party)
A.Q. Khan and Hamid Gul The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command... together have a wide circle of friends and supporters whose principal objective is to move the United States and its NATO allies out of Afghanistan, coupled with a de facto alliance with Taliban to maneuver the United States out of Afghanistan, in effect sealing victory for Taliban, whom they believe they can control.
When and if the anti-U.S. coalition moves as a cohesive front, and takes over Pakistan from the top down, they will be faced with a quagmire of seemingly insuperable crises. These range from banned terrorist networks operating increasingly above ground to an economic disaster in a nuclear power.
It all adds up to something bigger than all the combined threats now facing the remainder of the moderate democratic world.
Features A.Q. Khan, Gul and Imran Khan
Posted by: Water Modem ||
07/24/2012 00:23 ||
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#1
can anyone tell me why A.Q. Khan has never had an "accident" after giving our enemies nuke info and such?
#3
I knew that Captain Kirk should have finished him off for good in that Star Trek movie. You see what happens when misguided aliens move into politics?? Hahahaha!!
[Iran Press TV] Iraq has rejected a recent Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... call for Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... to resign, describing it as interference in the country's internal affairs.
Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abbawi said on Monday that the bloc must try other ways to secure a peaceful transition of authority in Syria instead of urging the rapid resignation of Assad.
''This call is not appropriate at this time because it is interfering in the illusory sovereignty of another country," Abbawi told AFP, adding that "There are other means to secure a peaceful transition of authority."
Algeria has also rejected the vaporous Arab League call for Assad to step down.
The rejections come hours after Arab League foreign ministers called on Assad to resign quickly and offered him and his family a safe exit.
"There is agreement on the need for the rapid resignation of President Bashir al-Assad," Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani told news hounds at the end of the ministerial meeting in Doha on Monday.
The Arab league also urged the Syrian opposition to unite and form a transitional government of national unity.
Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... has described the call as another anti-Syria move, stressing that only Syrians should decide the future of their country.
"If the Arab nations who met in Doha were honest about wanting to stop the bloodshed, they would have stopped supplying arms... they would stop their instigation and propaganda. "All their statements are hypocritical," Syria's Foreign Ministry front man Jihad Makdissi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > GERMAN INTELLIGENCE: AL-QAEDA ALL OVER SYRIA.
Which ya know, is not that far away from Turkey or Iraq.
* TOPIX, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > AL-QAEDA: WE ARE RETURNING TO OUR IRAQ STRONGHOLDS.
versies
* WAFF > TURKEY'S ALAWITE COMMUNITY [Turkey = aka Alevis] WORRIED ABOUT SYRIA CONFLICT, i.e. worries about anti-Assad/Alawite, pro-Sunni stance of Turkey's ruling AKP Party.
* SAME > WEST KURDISTAN SEIZED BY KURDS - MANY THANKS TO TURDOTOGLU DAVUTOGLU |[Times of Israel]SYRIAN KURDISH TOWN DECLARES INDEPENDENCE FROM DAMASCUS, i.e. the City of KOBANI in WEST KURDISTAN.
FYI Kurdish Groups also repor bustin moves to take over a number of towns inside border areas of Lebanon + Turkey.
* SAME > [Kurdish Regional Govt] KRG PRESIDENT BARZANI ADMITS SYRIAN KURDS BEING TRAINED IN NORTHERN IRAQ, but are NOT being sent or deployed to Syria.
Intehwesting, it took Assadian Syria, + N-O-T
Uncle Saddam + Baathist Iraq, for Saladin's Kurds to finally bust-a-move towards desired sovereign homeland???
[Al Ahram] The UK has said it will refuse to give Syrian president Bashir al-Assad safe passage even if he agrees to stop the violence in Syria and relinquish power.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has insisted that Al-Assad and his associates be held responsible for "human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... violations and the killing of Syrian civilians."
The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... called on Al-Assad to step down and offered him safe passage.
The UK government rejects the idea, adding that it is still waiting for the details of the offer.
"Our positions is still the same. Al-Assad should go and be held responsible for his regime's crimes," FCO spokeswoman told Ahram Online.
She added that the UK is training and equipping groups of Syrian human rights activists to document "violations by the Syrian regime" and pass evidence to the UN Human Rights Council's commission of inquiry.
William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, announced weeks ago that the activists have already played an invaluable role in gathering evidence.
"Such steps show that UK is very serious about the accountability for the crimes committed against civilians in Syria," the spokeswoman said.
UK, however, said it will not dictate to the Syrian people what to do.
"If the Syrian people reached a consensus on granting a pardon to the regime officials including President Assad, we are not going to object," the spokeswoman confirmed.
"The choice is the Syrian people's," she added.
UK describes the Al-Assad regime as criminal and calls for intensifying pressure against it.
In a statement issued after the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels earlier on Monday, Hague called for international action to stop violent crimes in Syrian.
The EU meeting endorsed a new package of sanctions against the Al-Asaad regime. "These new sanctions are a clear message to others close to the regime that if they continue to back Al-Assad and commit acts of violence and torture against civilians, the international community will hold them accountable," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A police vehicle was damaged and an officer was slightly injured on Monday when security forces came under gun and mortar fire while destroying cannabis crops in a town near the city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported.
An Internal Security Forces Nissan was hit with bullets and the officer, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was bruised after a bullet struck him in the back.
The ISF personnel came under fire although they were backed by the special panthers unit and army troops in their operation to destroy the crops in the town of Buday.
Police later briefly fired back at the source of intermittent gunfire.
Angry residents also blocked the Tal al-Abyad road in Baalbek to protest the move. But the army reopened it.
A similar operation to destroy cannabis was underway in Talia and Hermel.
By midday, 60 dunums of cannabis fields were destroyed, NNA said.
It added that the destruction of the cannabis fields will continue despite the attack against the security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
HEY, THEY'RE BURNING MY STASH, (Kill em.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/24/2012 1:26 Comments ||
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A dunam or dönüm, donum was a unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 9002500 m². In many formerly Ottoman regions, it is now defined as exactly one decare (1000 m²).
It was defined as "forty standard paces in length and breadth",[1] but varied considerably from place to place.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/24/2012 11:04 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] [An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... warned Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad on Monday not to make the "tragic mistake" of turning to his stockpile of chemical weapons.
Assad's beleaguered regime had earlier threatened to unleash the weapons if Syria faced international military intervention, although it vowed not to turn them against its own civilians.
"Given the regime's stockpile of chemical weapons, we will continue to make it clear to Assad and those around him that the world is watching," Obama told an audience of U.S. veterans in the western state of Nevada.
"They will be held accountable by the international community and the United States should they make the tragic mistake of using those weapons," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
I have noticed, for what its worth, the talking heads are noting with whispered breath that Syria, does indeed, have chemical weapons, as if that was a news flash.
[Jerusalem Post] Syria's threat to use chemical weapons against foreign intervention is "unacceptable," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday. Saying it's "unacceptable" implies you're not gonna "accept" it. Not "accepting" it implies you're gonna "do something about it."
"This is typical of the complete illusion of this regime, that they are the victims of external aggression," Hague told news hounds at a European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. "What is actually happening is their own people are rising up against a brutal police state ... and in any case it is unacceptable to say that they would use chemical weapons under any circumstances."
Syria said on Monday it could use chemical weapons in response to any "external aggression" but they would not be used in Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's campaign to crush a 16-month-old uprising against his rule.
Foreign Ministry front man Jihad Makdissi said any chemical or bacterial weapons were securely stored by the armed forces.
"The ministry wants to re-affirm the stance of the Syrian Arab Republic that any chemical or bacterial weapon will never be used - and I repeat will never be used - during the crisis in Syria regardless of the developments," Makdissi said.
"These weapons are stored and secured by Syrian military forces and under its direct supervision and will never be used unless Syria faces external aggression."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
You can't kill him & his more than once, morons.
#3
While this is probably just idle talk by British upper-crust dim-bulbs, there is a real point to be made here. Say instead, "If Syria uses WMD on anyone, then Britain will use WMD on the Syrian leadership and WMD weapons depots."
Such a statement would clearly indicate to the people holding the weapons in Syria that to follow an order to use them would result in their immediate death. Similarly for the military chain of command that surrounds the leadership.
Such a threat would completely eliminate the possibility that the Syrian weapons would ever be used.
[Iran Press TV] Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... says removing Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... from power would cause a civil war in the violence-hit country. ... as opposed to what they have now, which is... ummm... something else.
Putin said on Monday that Assad's ouster would be unconstitutional and "a civil war will stretch on for who knows how long."
The Russian president also urged the Syrian government and the opposition to sit down for talks that could help end the unrest.
"The Syrian leadership as well as the conflicting side, the so-called 'armed opposition,' ... should organize a negotiating process... to achieve a mutually acceptable compromise for the country's future," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
so what putie..
Posted by: Water Modem ||
07/24/2012 0:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
My suggested illustration for this article would have to be the cover to Harry Turtledove's _The Guns of the South_.
#3
In this case the Russians are correct. Not only would there be civil war but the Islamists would win and there would be no hope of a secular government in Syria. It would likely become even closer to Iran than it is now. There isn't a popular secular leader to take over for Assad. If Assad leaves, the Brotherhood takes over.
That said, it didn't have to be this way. We gave Assad many chances to come to his senses over the years and engage with us and forsake Iran. Had he done so, he would likely still be in power and his army wouldn't be evaporating on him.
Russia isn't going to be able to protect him and it is too late for him to "repent" now. He's done. It's just a matter of time.
The choices are: 1. Brotherhood runs the country 2. We somehow occupy the place, install our OWN secular government there for three generations and then turn the place over to them when the third generation is old enough to assume the reins of power.
#5
Putin is the one to watch. He is the game changer. Where is the leadership of China in this. As the worlds economies implode domestic issues will take center stage. This area of the world will take on less of a sense of urgency.
#6
Will Putin continue to support Assad after the Chemical Weapons are used? Because they will be, it's only a matter of time until it gets to that desperate of a point.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/24/2012 13:58 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The US wants to push the old Regimes of the ME towrads modernism, but many of the Islamic Radicals are anti-Democratic, anti-Secular, anti-anti-Tolerance or Diversity, anti-Israel, + anti Christian/non-Islam.
Save for the disputed Golan Heights + parts of Lebanon, SYRIA's GOVT-REGIME has histor been seen by the international community as mainly ISOLATIONIST, keeping its GeoPol interests + Milfors, etc. to itself, i.e. within its own borders.
RUSSIA SEES THE THREAT - THE END OF ASSAD IN ISOLATIONIST SYRIA WILL CHANGE THE EQUATION IN THE ME BETWEEN ISRAEL + ITS MUSLIM NEIGHBORS, PERHAPS MORESO FOR ISRAEL VEE POST-MUBARAK, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD-LED EGYPT. Israel is slowly losing its "buffer" states, which will leave behind PRO-SHARIA, PRO-CALIPHATE/UMMAH, and espec PRO-NUCLEAR, HOSTILE ISLAMIST GOVTS AT ITS BORDERS.
Last one is JORDAN - Islamist Iran wants Lebanon, Syrian, + even Cyprus Naval Bases + other, while Brotherhood-led post-Mubarak Egypt wants to assert its rights in the Sinai.
DANGEROUS, EVEN CATASTROPHIC, "CATCH-22" SITUATION FOR THE US-WEST/ALLIES - THE "GOOD GUY" REBELS MAY PROVE MORE MILPOL OR GEOPOL DANGEROUS THAN THE COLD WAR "BAD GUYS".
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... criticized on Monday Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... 's position on the Syrian crisis, saying that he should have taken a stance towards the Syrian people that is "more in line with the liberation role he played in the South."
He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: "He was better off not referring to one of the symbols of oppression against the Syrian people as a comrade-in-arms."
He made his remark in reference to Nasrallah's statement that Assef Shawkat, slain brother-in-law of the Syrian president, is a "comrade-in-arms who backed the Paleostinian resistance in Gazoo and backed us in the July war."
Shawkat was killed last week in an kaboom that targeted the Syrian National Security building.
Jumblat continued: "Those who defend the Paleostinian people and their legitimate demands for freedom cannot stand against the Syrian people and their rightful demands."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
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
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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When and if the anti-U.S. coalition moves as a cohesive front, and takes over Pakistan from the top down, they will be faced with a quagmire of seemingly insuperable crises. These range from banned terrorist networks operating increasingly above ground to an economic disaster in a nuclear power.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] A police vehicle was damaged and an officer was slightly injured on Monday when security forces came under gun and mortar fire while destroying cannabis crops in a town near the city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported.
Syria's threat to use chemical weapons against foreign intervention is "unacceptable," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
