The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has blamed Britain for the resurgence of the Taliban and its growing activity in large tracts of the country.
His remarks, made to Afghan MPs, follow a clash with Gordon Brown over the Kabul regimes links with warlords and drugs barons.
Karzai claims Brown has threatened to withdraw British troops from Helmand province, where 31 of them have died this year, if the president reinstates two provincial governors sacked for alleged dealings in the heroin trade.
One of them is Sher Mohammed Akhundzada, the former governor of Helmand, who was forced out under British pressure two years ago after nine tons of opium and heroin were discovered in his basement. Karzais plan to reinstate the governors has alarmed western diplomats in Kabul and dismayed British officials.
The number of British soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2001 rose last week to 117 when Justin James Cupples, a 29-year-old ranger, was killed in an explosion while on foot patrol. Diplomats say it would be hard to justify such sacrifices if drug barons held sway.
However, the Taliban have made advances since Akhundzadas departure and drug production has increased. Karzai believes Britains interference is to blame. A senior diplomat said: UK taxpayers subsidise and British troops die to defend an administration which is paranoid, self-deluding and anti-British.
Akhundzada is a powerful tribal leader in the area and Karzai is convinced his return would help the government reassert control. In a recent interview, Karzai said Akhundzadas alleged links to drugs could be overlooked.
We removed Akhundzada on the allegation of drug-running, and delivered the province to drug runners, the Taliban, to terrorists, to a threefold increase of drugs and poppy cultivation, he said. Now there are hundreds of tons of heroin in basements across Helmand.
Karzai denounced Britains opposition to the return of Akhundzada in meetings with Afghan MPs last month. According to Khalid Pashtun, the national assembly member for Kandahar, Karzai said: Gordon Brown told me, If you are reinstating this person, we will take our forces out.
Karzai believes Akhundzadas powerful militia would beat back the Taliban, allowing British troops to focus on winning hearts and minds.
Some western diplomats in Afghanistan suspect, however, that Akhundzada has encouraged Taliban attacks on British forces to make his tenure as governor look like a golden age. They fear his reinstatement could actually lead to an escalation of fighting between rival drugs gangs.
Security analysts in the country say the situation has become even more dire. While not taking territory, the Taliban is terrorising the population, targeting roads and restricting the governments ability to function.
#1
Read Michael Yon about the Brits in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/07/2008 13:24 Comments ||
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#2
Karzai is in the opium trade up to his eyeballs. If he weren't, he would be calling for the destruction of the poppy fields. Easy to do. Compensate the farmers and tell them that if they grow poppies again their houses will be razed and they will be imprisoned. He is a damn crook.
#3
The war in Afghanistan is more about maintaining control of the world's heroin supply than it is anything else. Billions, folks ... billions. And how much would the mob donate to politicians globally to encourage an allied withdrawal from Afghanistan in order to keep things just the way they are?
If the supply of heroin is in jeopardy, look for increasing agitation from NATO politicians to pull out.
THE heart of many homes is the kitchen and that is where Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hosted Condoleezza Rice for a Ramadan meal this week, a symbolic gesture to try to end decades of enmity.
The casual setting in a small kitchen on the compound bombed by US warplanes in 1986 was unusual for the first trip by a US secretary of state in 55 years that was aimed at kicking off a new chapter in relations.
But it also underlined Mr Gaddafi's attempt to bring a more personal touch - including a gift to Dr Rice of a locket with his picture in it and a ring - to start a better relationship with the US.
Dr Rice's gift was a china plate with the US seal and her signature on it.
Dr Rice's eight-hour visit had been expected to produce surprises from the unpredictable Libyan leader once referred to by President Ronald Reagan as the "mad dog" of the Middle East.
The drama was tipped to unfold in a tent on the sprawling, fortified compound in Tripoli but Mr Gaddafi opted for a deliberately low-key approach with the top US diplomat he refers to as "Leezza" and "my darling black African woman" in media interviews.
The first recorded public encounter was in a bland reception room, unadorned by flags or any other diplomatic trappings and where the chaos came from jostling photographers and journalists trying to record the awkward moment as Dr Rice's staff scrambled over furniture to get into the room.
Mr Gaddafi's appearance was regal rather than military and he wore a crisp, white robe with a green brooch in the shape of Africa, shedding his trademark dark glasses.
The female bodyguards he sometimes surrounds himself with were not there.
In the public eye he chose small talk about the weather and inquired about Dr Rice's health. But after the cameras had left, Dr Rice said the two immediately got down to business, talking about a wide range of issues from Sudan to the Middle East.
Dr Rice, who later visited Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, described her meeting with Mr Gaddafi as a "fairly normal diplomatic exchange" that had got off to a good start but that the relationship was still in its infancy.
"We have a long way to go. I think it's not surprising to anyone that the United States and Libya don't always agree on every issue," she said.
#1
yes, that really is the headline on the Independent. No sexism there.
And as for the locket and ring - sheesh. Come on State Dept - someone should have lost their head simply due to the fact that such a insulting gesture to one of the most powerful women in the world simply should not have happened.
(Xinhua) -- U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill left here Thursday for China for international talks over the announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to stop work on disabling the Yongbyon nuclear complex.
Hill, assistant Secretary of State, left for Beijing for Friday consultations with his counterparts from China, South Korea and Japan about the developments in the DPRK, Deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.
On the scheduled meeting, the White House said that it wants clarification on DPRK nuclear facilities. "We want some clarification on what is happening in North Korea," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, adding "We're going to try to make sure that we keep North Korea headed in the right direction."
The senior U.S. officials made the remarks days after the DPRK reportedly has begun to restore the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. Despite the report from South Korea, the U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Wednesday that there was no evidence of actual reconstruction of nuclear facility by Pyongyang.
The DPRK announced on Aug. 26 that it has suspended disablement of the nuclear facilities and warned it would consider to restart them as the U.S. side failed to implement its promises under previous agreements reached at the six-party talks on the nuclear issues of the Korean Peninsula.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Republicanwas to do a series of swing-state events with John McCain, record the campaign's regular weekend radio address and then go home. "We kind of shanghaied her out of Alaska," Steve Schmidt, the McCain-Palin campaign manager, told me. "She needs to go back for a few days." There are personal reasons. Her son is shipping off for Iraq. With a newborn of her own, a pregnant daughter and a state to run, "Sarah Barracuda" has to get her affairs in order.
But there are political reasons, too. She needs time to study McCain's views and bone up on foreign policy before debating Joe Biden. At home she can more easily avoid interrogation by GOP enemy No. 1, the media. And by hunkering down in Alaska, she's also less visible to Barack Obama's campaign and its allies. The moose hunter of the North, Palin is now the hunted one.
She's an elusive target. Her home state is a tougher political racetrack than Lower 48 pundits appreciate, and she has a respectable approval rating there. GOP delegates in St. Paul fell in love with her, and they form a bulwark to protect her if she trips up. Her stage skills are obvious, her charisma electric, her freshness an advantage. She delivered her barb-filled acceptance speech with what David Axelrod, Obama's campaign manager, told me was "snide efficiency." And as a woman and the mother of five, Palin is an opponent whom male rivals need to be careful about attacking.
Still, Democrats dare not issue Palin a passshe's too dangerous a foe. Normally vice presidential candidates fade into the background. Nobody is expecting that with Palin; indeed, her newfound celebrity has made even Obama look dull. The usual rule is that voters don't trust attacks from people they don't know, but Palin is turning the adage on its head. Democrats are determined to attack her credibility, even if it gives her more visibility. "We've got to go after her, and fast," a top Democratic strategist, who asked for anonymity when discussing strategy, told me.
The firstand for Democrats, the most obviousway to do so is on abortion. Palin doesn't believe in abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Pro-choice advocates concede her sincerity (she gave birth to a baby she knew was a Down-syndrome child), but are planning an extensive independent ad campaign aimed at women in swing states.
Democrats have been racing to put boots on the ground in Alaskaprospectors looking not for gold, but ammunition. Among the findings: as mayor, the proudly antitax, anti-spending Palin won a hike in the sales tax to pay for a sports complexa facility that left Wasilla with a sizable debt. Running for governor, she supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" before, as governor, deciding it was a nonstarter. And as governor, she has used vetoes and budgets to cut spending on health, education and social services.
The real task of hunting Palin belongs to Biden, who will meet her in St. Louis for a 90-minute debate. The first-blush assumption that she would be overmatched faded the moment she finished speaking in St. Paul, and Biden's friends and advisers express concern about the delicacy of his task. Biden is as deeply informed on the issues as any member of the Senate, but he has a tendency to want to prove it at length. "He has to be careful not to come off as heavy-handed," a friend of Biden's, who's not authorized to speak publicly about the campaign, told me. "He has to push back, but in a careful way." The Democrats have to score against the hockey momwithout tripping on the ice.
#1
They've already started the radio commercials in Colorado, dont know if they will be effective, they just harp on Roe V Wade, and that McCain and Palin wnat it overturned and therefore (falsely) concluding electing them will take away a woman's "right" to an abortion.
It probably plays well to the pro-abortion crowd, but I doubt it does much in the middle, and on the right, it will fire them up bigtime.
It will make the Obama campaign vulnerable to he "punished with a baby" stuff.
From the religious standpoint, the extramarital sex was a sin, but the pregancy is not. There is nothing inherently sinful in being pregnant, but there is something inherent sinful in artifically terminating a pregancy and taking an innocent life.
#3
The Roe v Wade cuts both way. Turned out the Hispanic Catholic vote in Northern New Mexico enough one election cycle to overwhelm the blue enclaves of Santa Fe and Taos to bump Congressman Udall (D-NM) for a term. Since then, the Donks have been very quiet about the point there. Now he's running for the vacated Senate seat. So, sure, make it an issue.
#4
IIRC, the pro-life position has a 4% generic ballot advantage--all other things being equal, the pro-life vote outnumbers the pro-abort vote by 4 points.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/07/2008 16:58 Comments ||
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#5
The president can't do anything about Roe v. Wade, anyway. It's a matter for Congress and the Supreme Court. Anybody who took Civics in elementary school knows that.
#6
Given the large portion of Catholic voters (hispanic and otherwise) in Colorado, it may backfire. Palin's position is completely in line with the Catholic Church.
#8
There was an interesting poll discussed a couple of weeks ago that, IIRC, found only 3% of women in swing states saw abortion as the most important issue. While it's not a non-issue it certainly garners outsized attention in comparison to its electoral importance.
#10
I'm sure she knew that she would be the diversion for McCain. That she would be the lightening rod for most of the vicous attacks. Either she is very stupid or very courageous. I'm hoping the latter. Attacks on her personal life, her stand on abortion, or her gender are going to backfire with the general population. People at the top on the Democratic side know that, but can they stop it? I think not. They need to focus on John and try to draw as little attention to her as possible. Her job is to attack the Dem Presidental candidate. Remember, you can tell her from the bull dog by the glasses, hairdo, and lipstick.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/07/2008 18:16 Comments ||
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#11
All the Rabid Dems have for an issue is abortion. There are other issues out there that have a more immediate priority for the country, though you would never know it from listening to these nutcases. Classic narcissism.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/07/2008 18:27 Comments ||
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#12
Richaard, she knew what she was in for. She saw waht the chcago machine did to Hillary, and knew it would be far worse for her. Especially since she is a reformer, a true one, that trheatens tons of entrenched power on both sides of the aisle.
#13
Her shield and strength is that she is not beholden to any 'machine' in any state. If, as seems highly unlikely at this point, she and McCain fail in their mission she can still return a hero to Alaska.
My guess is that the media attacks and slanders against her are going to grant her an immunity from attack in the future that will rival the Clintons and Obama for the foreseeable future.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/07/2008 22:10 Comments ||
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#14
My guess is that the media attacks and slanders against her are going to grant her an immunity from attack in the future that will rival the Clintons and Obama for the foreseeable future.
I've been wondering about that for a few days now. Had the media spun up semi-legitimate attacks that would have been one thing but going so hard and so fast after her family would, I think, tend to cause folks to dismiss attacks against her in the near future as more of the same. I hope that's not just wishful thinking on our part.
#15
They're going to bring up Roe v Wade? It's a path they REALLY don't want to go down, IMHO. I know lots of people who consider themselves pro-choice who are absolutely disgusted by Obama's vote on "Born Alive", his idea that a baby is "punishment", and that too-clever remark about it all being above his pay grade.
I don't know if I can speak for all the women here on the 'burg, but dammit....I am sick to death of abortion being the one and only "women's issue" that the Dems think about when they think about females. (Insert Howard Dean scream here.)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/07/2008 23:47 Comments ||
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#16
I agree with you completely, Blondie. Besides why should the dems even care where Obama stands on this issue? He said the abortion issue was above his pay-grade.
Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin said on Friday that a U.S. victory in Iraq is "within sight", attributing the imminent success to the surge of troops sent to Iraq last year who have helped quell violence there.
Palin praised running mate John McCain's strong support for the surge at a time when it was highly unpopular and threatened to derail his campaign for the Republican nomination.
"He refused to break faith with the troops in Iraq who have now brought victory within sight," the Alaska governor told an enthusiastic crowd in Sterling Heights, Michigan. "And as a mother of one of those troops that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief."
Palin, whose son will deploy to Iraq next week, attacked rival Barack Obama's opposition to the surge and warned that he would not protect the United States if he were to win the November 4 election. "If the United States military had suffered defeat at the hands of Al-Qaeda in Iraq our nation would have been less safe today and millions of innocent would have been left to a violent fate," Palin said. "That tragedy would have happened if Barak Obama had gotten his way and Congress had cut off funding for the surge.
"It didn't happen though because John McCain was right and he had the vision and the will to see the surge through to victory."
Obama on Thursday said the surge had "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams" but argued he had shown better judgment than McCain because he opposed the war from its start. He has committed to start troop withdrawals immediately if he is inaugurated president next January, and believes he can get most American soldiers out of Iraq within 16 months.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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The attorney for an American-trained behavioral scientist charged with trying to kill U.S. personnel in July said in court Thursday that she believes that her client was imprisoned and tortured for several years before the incident and now could be mentally incompetent.
Lawyer Elizabeth Fink told a federal judge in New York that Aafia Siddiqui, who disappeared in Pakistan with her three children in March 2003, needs a full psychological evaluation to determine whether she has post-traumatic stress disorder and is competent to help in her own defense. Fink also urged that Siddiqui, 36, be examined by experts on the effects of torture.
According to the government, which previously labeled her an al-Qaeda operative, Siddiqui surfaced July 17 with her eldest son, now 11, in an Afghanistan province after a five-year absence. The two were arrested by Afghan police, who said they received an anonymous tip that Siddiqui and her son were planning suicide bombings.
The next day, when a team of U.S. Army and FBI officials came to interview her, Siddiqui grabbed a team member's M-4 rifle and shot at the group, prosecutors said. She was wounded when one of the Americans returned fire.
Now in U.S. custody in New York, Siddiqui faces a possible life sentence if convicted of attempted murder and firearms charges. She does not currently face any charges related to terrorism, though U.S. authorities have claimed since 2004 that she was a facilitator for top al-Qaeda figures and linked her to Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Claiming torture is page one in the AL Q manual.
Late in the afternoon of June 10, during a firefight with Taliban militants along the Afghan-Pakistani border, American soldiers called in airstrikes to beat back the attack. The firefight was taking place right on the border itself, known in military jargon as the "zero line." Afghanistan was on one side, and the remote Pakistani region known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, was on the other. The stretch of border was guarded by three Pakistani military posts.
The American bombers did the job, and then some. By the time the fighting ended, the Taliban militants had slipped away, the American unit was safe and 11 Pakistani border guards lay dead. The airstrikes on the Pakistani positions sparked a diplomatic row between the two allies: Pakistan called the incident "unprovoked and cowardly"; American officials regretted what they called a tragic mistake. But even after a joint inquiry by the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan, it remained unclear why American soldiers had reached the point of calling in airstrikes on soldiers from Pakistan, a critical ally in the war in Afghanistan and the campaign against terrorism.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
09/07/2008 12:07 ||
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The UN envoy to Iraq on Saturday urged politicians to get moving on a key provincial election law that remains bogged down in controversy over the administration of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
"It is necessary to hold the provincial election at the end of this year, or at least by early next year," Staffan de Mistura told reporters after meeting Iraq's most respected Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf. "There is no justification to delay this election," he said in the southern holy city.
Iraq had been due to go to the polls on October 1, but the long-awaited legislation to oversee the ballot has faced repeated delays over the political handling of the disputed northern province. MPs failed to agree on the electoral law before the parliament went on summer recess from August 6 to September 9.
"There are risks if this election is not held because we will face the issue of the provincial councils being illegal, when the period is over," di Mistura said.
The elections, considered crucial to stabilising the country, are now expected to be postponed to early 2009 because parliament has yet to pass the law. The election commission has said it is has lost the chance to hold the polls on time because it needs at least four months in order to organise them.
There was no immediate comment from Sistani following his meeting with di Mistura, but at the end of last month he urged Iraqis to ensure they were registered to vote.
There are 17.3 million registered voters this year compared with 14.2 million in the last election, held in 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, says the US should not withdraw too quickly from Iraq and leave the country in chaos.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Shitheads. The entire lot of'em. They've done nothing but complain about us being in Iraq. Now that they see we're leaving soon, the real truth comes out. They want us there. That way Iraq doesn't align itself too strongly with any country that might be an enemy.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/07/2008 2:25 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah Mike. They also don't really want to look one day beyond the demise of Israel either because they know that day is the one their own knives are driven deeper and harder into each others back.
Iraqi leaders expressed incredulity and disappointment Friday over a report that U.S. officials had spied on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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France, currently the president of the European Union is considering the possibility of sending a European Union mission to help security in the Palestinian territories, diplomats said on Friday before a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Hamas Leader Ismail Haniya says Gaza does not need Arab troops in its soil but rather needs Arab support in order to end the Israeli siege. "Gaza needs effective Arab role not Arab troops. This support is needed to lift the Israeli siege and defy the American-Israeli arrogance," Ismail Haniya said.
The love is returned ...
"Gaza is now free, secure and stable, therefore, it is determined to restore the national unity on correct basis, away from any American dictations or Veto" he said during a celebration ceremony of 2500 memorizers of the Islamic holy book of Qur'an.
Haniya's remarks came in response to a proposal by Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Abul Gheit, of having Arab troops dispatched to the Gaza Strip to put an end to the situation there. According to International Middle East Media Center, all other Gaza-based factions have slammed the proposal.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's local leader, Rabah Mhanna, described the initiative as 'aimless', and the popular resistance committees' local leader, Ayman aL-Shihniya, said these troops should rather head for the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) to free it from the Israeli occupation.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I guess that's how important PR is to terrorists.
#4
A good reason to double the number of Arab troops entering Gaza, putting an end to chaos, crime, rockets, graft, and the general brutalitarianism of Hamas.
Teachers loyal to the Islamic Jihad movement on Saturday planned to protest against both the Hamas-run government's recent sacking of civil servants and the resulting territory-wide strikes. Doctors and teachers across the isolated territory have been on strike for more than a week in protest at the Islamist-run government's firing of civil servants who belong to the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Ahead of the demonstration, which was planned for 10:00 am (0800 GMT), Hamas summoned Mohammed Shalah -- the brother of exiled senior Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah -- for questioning, a Jihad spokesman told AFP.
The two main Palestinian movements have been bitterly divided since Hamas seized power in the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people after routing Abbas's security forces in a week of bloody street battles in June 2007. Islamic Jihad and other smaller Palestinian factions have generally remained neutral in the dispute while calling for national unity.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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The United Nations will require Israel to pay Lebanon nearly $1 billion for environmental damages caused during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar ... a leftist rag currently allied with Hizballah
... reported on Saturday.
The paper said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will submit the motion to the Security Council later this month.
#7
The U.S. will veto any such move in the Security Council. It was exactly for such nonsense that the SC veto was established. This has as much likelihood of ever passing as slave reparations payments
#8
There's an Al-Akhbar newspaper? Cancel my subscription to the "Terrorist Shopping News."
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/07/2008 12:10 Comments ||
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#9
"Lig in drerd" would be the phrase in yiddish
My mind instantly translated/read that as "lie in dung."
That's close enough for me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/07/2008 12:33 Comments ||
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#10
First, I think the UN will instantly agree, but second, they UN will want the money channeled through the UN, so by the time it reaches Lebanon, the purse will not only be empty, but the underage moths in the purse will have been molested.
Iran dismissed on Saturday a warning by France's president that the Islamic Republic was taking a dangerous gamble over its nuclear program because one day its arch-foe Israel could strike.
Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham accused Israel of threatening global peace but reiterated Tehran's publicly stated view that it was not in a position to attack Iran. "These threats are because of weakness ... and it reflects the reality and the war-seeking nature of the Zionist regime," Iran's state broadcaster IRIB quoted Elham, the government spokesman, as saying in response to Sarkozy's statement.
Elham added: "This regime is not big enough and does not have the capacity to want to think about a war with Iran."
He said Israel "uses every chance to threaten global security and peace."
During a visit to Damascus on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iran was "taking a major risk in continuing the process to obtain a military nuclear capacity." He added: "One day ... we could find one morning that Israel has struck."
Speculation about a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has risen since Israel staged an air force exercise in June which was reported to be a simulation of a strike against Iran. Iran says it would hit back if attacked.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's majority leader Saad al-Hariri said no one should deal with his country as if it were not a viable state, in reaction to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad's comments on the lack of security in northern Lebanon. "What we have heard in the last couple of days is an attempt (by the Syrian regime) to return to Lebanon through Tripoli. We draw the attention of the Lebanese and the Arab League to the plot to put Lebanon back under the thumb of the Syrian regime," Hariri told a Ramadan Iftar banquet on Friday.
He further accused Damascus of "exporting terrorism to Lebanon".
"Lebanon is facing great challenges. We heard someone saying Lebanon's problem would not be solved unless extremism is tackled. We say that those who export terror into Lebanon are not entitled to have concerns about extremism here," he said, in a direct reference to Assad's comments.
Assad said on Thursday he had asked his Lebanese counterpart Michel Sleiman, who visited Damascus in August, to urgently send more troops to northern Lebanon to combat what he called "extremism."
The ruling bloc had earlier accused Damascus of "flagrant interference" in its affairs after the Syrian president urged his Lebanese counterpart to send troops to the north to quell sectarian fighting. "The words of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about what he requested from President Michel Sleiman... is flagrant interference in internal Lebanese affairs," the statement from the Western-backed ruling coalition said.
"This comes from a lack of recognition of Lebanon's sovereignty and independence," it added.
At least 23 people have been killed since violence erupted in May in the northern port city of Tripoli between backers of the Lebanese opposition led by the Shiite movement Hezbollah and Sunni supporters of the anti-Syrian majority.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Tehran on Friday rejected remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Iran's nuclear weapons program is a threat to the region and global community. "Nuclear weapons have no place in Iran's defense doctrine," said foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghav, Iran's Fars news agency reported.
Sarkozy on Thursday asked his Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus for support in opposing Iran's controversial nuclear program. While acknowledging Iran's right to have nuclear power, Sarkozy stressed that Iranian nuclear weapons would be a threat to the region and the whole world. Sarkozy warned Iran on Thursday it was taking a dangerous gamble in seeking to develop atomic weapons because one day Israel could strike to foil its nuclear aspirations.
Western powers accuse Iran of seeking the atom bomb under the cover of a civilian nuclear program but Tehran denies the charge, insisting it only wants to master atomic technology in order to generate electricity. The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if the dispute cannot be settled through diplomacy.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The devil is in the details.
Who, exactly, do the Iranians consider members of the 'civilized' world?
I'm betting the greater and lesser satans don't make the cut...
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/07/2008 6:45 Comments ||
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#6
Israel has between 150 and 450 nukes of varying size. Either Iran learns to live in peace with the rest of the world, and allow their nuclear establishments to be thoroughly examined and monitored, or Iran may not wake up one morning becase Israel has used half of those nukes on it. Iran is taking a HUGE gamble that the US can restrain Israel. We didn't do so well when they attacked Iraq. I doubt we will in any future encounter, either.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/07/2008 20:45 Comments ||
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#7
The threat of NORTH KOREA's nucprogs is. beside agz SOKOR + JAPAN, etc, is any potential for sale or transfer to Islmiast Govts = Groups.
RUSSO-GEORGIAN CONFLICT > gener announced to the US-World that A WAR FOR CONTROL OF EURASIA-ASIA HAS DE FACTO BEGUN. "SAVING THE JIHAD" > NOT JUST FOR NUKES BUT ALSO FOR CONTROL AND TRANSFER OF PAN-MIL ECON TECHNOLOGIES, EDUCATION, ETC. POST-MODERN PROFICIENCIES TO LESSOR ENTITIES.
* WILLIAM WALLACE's [Mel Gibson] UNCLE ARGYLL [paraph] > "YOU MUST LEARN TO USE THIS [Mind = Spirit], BEFORE YOU LEARN TO USE THAT [Sword]"!
* RAMBO > "THE MIND IS THE BEST/ULTIMATE WEAPON..."!
A new al-Qaida video identifies the Saudi purportedly behind a suicide bombing at the Danish Embassy in Pakistan, and he is shown warning in a taped last testament that more attacks will punish Denmark over newspaper caricatures of Islam's founder.
In the 55-minute video posted on the Internet late Thursday, the alleged bomber is referred to both by a nom de guerre, Abu Ghareeb al-Makki, and by his real name, Kamal Saleem Atiyyah al-Fudli al-Hathli. He appears in an explosives vest as he recounts his plan for the attack.
"As for my final message to the worshippers of the cross in Denmark, I tell them, Allah permitting, this isn't the first nor the last retaliation," al-Makki says. "We will wipe you from the face of the Earth."
The June 2 blast killed six people, including a Danish citizen. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility, saying it was carrying out Osama bin Laden's promise to exact revenge for the 2006 publication by Danish newspapers of a dozen cartoons showing the Prophet Muhammad.
Islam forbids any depiction of Muhammad, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry, and the cartoons sparked riots across the Muslim world. Denmark's PET intelligence service warned last month that the country faced its worst terror threat in many years.
The video also shows al-Qaida's top commander in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, praising al-Makki bomber and warning of more attacks.
In August, Pakistani officials said they were trying to confirm whether a suspected militant killed in fighting in the tribal Bajur area was Abu al-Yazeed, but there has been no comment since. Thursday's video did not indicate when the footage of Abu al-Yazeed was taped.
The video's authenticity could not be independently verified. It was posted on an Islamic militant Web forum commonly used by al-Qaida to issue videos.
Jakob Scharf, chief of the PET intelligence service, said the agency believes the bomber featured in Thursday's video "very likely" executed the attack in Pakistan.
UNITED NATIONS // The UAE declared its commitment to tackling terrorism during a UN debate on bolstering global co-operation but believes that international efforts are being hampered by a failure to determine its legal definition.
A two-day General Assembly forum concluded on Friday with the adoption of a counter-terrorism resolution, but the world bodys 192 members remained deeply divided over what constitutes terrorism.
Despite years of discussion, there is no internationally accepted definition of terrorism, partly because of the long-standing dispute between Israelis and Paleostinians.
What Israel describes as terrorist attacks are seen by many in the Muslim world as the Legitimate Response of an occupied population to its oppressor. In this analysis, Israel is seen to perpetrate what has controversially been termed state-sponsored terrorism.
During the debate, the UAE, together with other Muslim nations, raised the right of occupied populations to fight Oppression, as well as arguing against associating Islam with terrorism.
Anwar al Barout, chargé daffaires of the UAE mission to the UN, said: The UAE is convinced that terrorism is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, and reiterates its commitment to implementing the UN counter-terrorism strategy.
Speaking only days before the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Mr Barout said the UAE had passed federal laws that served to criminalise illegitimate activities related to terrorism.
As well as legislation to tackle cyber crime and freeze the assets of terrorist suspects, the Emirates was stepping up the battle against the illegal trafficking of guns and drugs.
The UAE has introduced legislation and conducted educational initiatives to ensure all possible measures were taken against extremism, including through co-operation with Interpol, he said.
But the diplomat warned that the global fight against terrorism was running into difficulties.
Mr Barout said: There is no legal definition of terrorism that would distinguish between the rights of peoples to fight against aggression in occupation and terrorism per se. He also endorsed concerns expressed by many delegates from the Muslim world that terrorism had become associated in the minds of many people with Islam.
We underscore again that it is impossible to link terrorism to any religion or civilisation or specific ethnic group, thereby undermining, jeopardising or instigating the undermining of religions and leading to xenophobia.
The UAEs position was echoed by delegates from other Arab League and Organisation of the Islamic Conference governments, with some highlighting the lack of consensus on state-sponsored terrorism, which they argued was perpetrated by Israel.
Daniel Carmon, an Israeli diplomat, reiterated his governments position on attacks carried out by militants, saying his country had been challenged from terrorism from its very beginning.
Israelis and Israeli interests have been the target of terrorist attacks abroad, along our borders to the north and south, and in the very heart of the country, he told delegates at UN headquarters in Manhattan.
Disagreements over the definition of terrorism have long hindered co-ordination efforts, with the General Assembly adopting the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Sept 2006 only after a year of fractious negotiations.
The strategy focuses on addressing conditions that give rise to terrorism, improving states abilities to fight the problem and ensuring that human rights and the rule of law are observed.
According to Srgjan Kerim, president of the General Assembly, the strategy has improved global co-operation on intelligence-sharing, technical assistance and training and helped tighten border controls and banking systems.
Mr Kerim said that by reaffirming the UNs adoption of the counter-terrorism strategy, members had risen above political differences and taken collective and practical action on a daunting and politically sensitive issue.
Robert Orr, chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, said UN members had put aside their differences in order to co-operate on the genuine threats posed by terrorists.
We would love to see that definition tomorrow if all member states could agree on it, said Mr Orr. But the point has been that member states themselves decided to... adopt a strategy and proceed even before a definition was adopted.
Mr Orr added that there were already 13 UN conventions defining specific terrorist acts, such as hijacking, hostage-taking and bombing.
It is not like the lack of a definition means that there is a Hobbesian free-flow, he said. A definition is important, but there is already a large body of international law out there.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has blamed Britain for the resurgence of the Taliban and its growing activity in large tracts of the country. 
Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin said on Friday that a U.S. victory in Iraq is "within sight", attributing the imminent success to the surge of troops sent to Iraq last year who have helped quell violence there.
The attorney for an American-trained behavioral scientist charged with trying to kill U.S. personnel in July said in court Thursday that she believes that her client was imprisoned and tortured for several years before the incident and now could be mentally incompetent. 
Iraqi leaders expressed incredulity and disappointment Friday over a report that U.S. officials had spied on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi leaders.
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniya says Gaza does not need Arab troops in its soil but rather needs Arab support in order to end the Israeli siege. "Gaza needs effective Arab role not Arab troops. This support is needed to lift the Israeli siege and defy the American-Israeli arrogance," Ismail Haniya said. 
Iran dismissed on Saturday a warning by France's president that the Islamic Republic was taking a dangerous gamble over its nuclear program because one day its arch-foe Israel could strike.
Tehran on Friday rejected remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Iran's nuclear weapons program is a threat to the region and global community. "Nuclear weapons have no place in Iran's defense doctrine," said foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghav, Iran's Fars news agency reported. 
A new al-Qaida video identifies the Saudi purportedly behind a suicide bombing at the Danish Embassy in Pakistan, and he is shown warning in a taped last testament that more attacks will punish Denmark over newspaper caricatures of Islam's founder.
