In last night's "Special Comment," Keith Olbermann all but ordered Sen. Barack Obama to change his position on the FISA bill (". . . this tortured, insane piece of legislation . . . handing corporations a get-out-of-jail-free card for approaching definitional fascism . . .") and vote against it:
That's Our Boy Keith, ain't it?
Thing is, last week (June 25, to be precise), Our Boy Keith and guest Jonathan Alter were giddily praising Obama for voting for the bill and 'standing up to the left.' To make it all even more amusing, this is the very same Keith Olbermann who previously called the FISA bill a 'shameless, breathless, literally textbook example of Fascism' back on January 31. So, I guess that means he was for it before he was against it, and against it before he was for it.
But, hey, he's consistent!
Posted by: Mike ||
07/01/2008 12:06 ||
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#1
No one cares what Groucho thinks. Only leftists watch him for anything other than amusement.
Hiding in the caves and woodlands surrounding this hill-country town, Algerian insurgents were all but washed up a few years ago. Their nationalist battle against the Algerian military was faltering. We didnt have enough weapons, recalled a former militant lieutenant, Mourad Khettab, 34. The people didnt want to join. And money, we didnt have enough money.
Then the leader of the group, a university mathematics graduate named Abdelmalek Droukdal, sent a secret message to Iraq in the fall of 2004. The recipient was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and the two men on opposite ends of the Arab world engaged in what one firsthand observer describes as a corporate merger.
Today, as Islamist violence wanes in some parts of the world, the Algerian militants renamed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have grown into one of the most potent Osama bin Laden affiliates, reinvigorated with fresh recruits and a zeal for Western targets. Their gunfights with Algerian government forces have evolved into suicide truck bombings of iconic sites like the United Nations offices in Algiers. They have kidnapped and killed European tourists as their reach expands throughout northern Africa. Last month, they capped a string of attacks with a complex operation that evoked the horrors of Iraq: a pair of bombs outside a train station east of Algiers, the second one intended to hit emergency workers responding to the first. A French engineer and his driver were killed.
The transformation of the group from a nationalist insurgency to a force in the global jihad is a page out of Mr. bin Ladens playbook: expanding his reach by bringing local militants under the Qaeda brand. The Algerian group offers Al Qaeda hundreds of experienced fighters and a potential connection to militants living in Europe. Over the past 20 months, suspects of North African origin have been arrested in Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy, although their connection to the Algerians is not always clear.
The inside story of the group, pieced together through dozens of interviews with militants and with intelligence, military and diplomatic officials, shows that the Algerians decision to join Al Qaeda was driven by both practical forces and the global fault line of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Droukdal cited religious motivations for his groups merger with Al Qaeda. Some militants also said that Washingtons designation of the Algerians as a terrorist organization after Sept. 11 despite its categorization by some American government experts as a regional insurgency - had the effect of turning the group against the United States. If the U.S. administration sees that its war against the Muslims is legitimate, then what makes us believe that our war on its territories is not legitimate? Mr. Droukdal said in an audiotape in response to a list of questions from The New York Times, apparently his first contact with a journalist. Everyone must know that we will not hesitate in targeting it whenever we can and wherever it is in this planet.
There's more at the link, if you want to read it. I'm more inclined to trust the Algerian government's take on AQ in North Africa: They've had the snot beaten out of them. Certainly it seems from our point of view that violence is down a lot from what it was in 2002 and 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
iconic sites like the United Nations offices in Algiers
Sheesh. Iconic for the NYT maybe. What I read is just another attempt by the Times to blame the US: everything was fine until the US called them terrorists.
Mayor Job Cohen of Amsterdam is prepared to give subsidies to radical mosques. He is thereby adopting a quite remarkable interpretation of the principle of separation of Church and State.
According to critics, separation of Church and State is violated if a government authority subsidises construction of a church or mosque. But Cohen disagrees. Conversely, in his view the separation of church and state would however be violated if government subsidised only moderate Islam and not radical Muslims.
Cohen gives his remarkable views in a memorandum, 'Separation of Church and State,' launched by Amsterdam last weekend. In an interview with Trouw newspaper, he defended his policy on encouraging the building of mosques.
"The Netherlands was always a country of minorities whose rights needed protection. We do not involve ourselves with the content of religions, nor they in our administration. But that does not mean that we may not support any religious institutions, that we may not deploy any Imam to address radicalising youngsters, or even sometimes offer some extra support for building a mosque, synagogue or 'black' church, because the groups that make use of it are in a deprived situation. Yes, that means that we can also support an orthodox mosque if we have the arguments to assert that this mosque is in its place there."
Cohen continues: "If you provide subsidies, you do have to give arguments as to why. One reason can be that a house of prayer can make a contribution to the cohesion in a district. But trying to influence the teaching in the mosque (...) by imposing conditions on the belief that the people profess, that does mean violating the separation of Church and State."
"There are tensions in society due to the rapid rise of Islam, at a moment when many Dutch have said farewell to their Christian faith. This clashes now and again. Many view the rise of Islam as a threat. (...) You notice that the principle of separation of Church and State leads to confusion" among citizens, added Cohen, who apparently now wants to redefine the principle.
In the Netherlands, this principle is not enshrined in the Constitution, nor in any other statutory instrument. According to the Amsterdam memorandum, the principle has in fact been no more than a 'political agreement between church and worldly powers not to muddy each other's waters too much.' Centuries ago, Church and State both wanted state political power, according to the memorandum, thereby suggesting that today, there is no religion any more that seeks control of the state.
Cohen also suggest in Trouw that he wants the controversial Westermoskee mosque built as quickly as possible. Building was halted over a year ago after a series of scandals, including a statement by the mosque leaders that they did not want to pursue a moderate course, though this had in fact been agreed with Amsterdam's De Baarsjes district.
Cohen refers to the Westermoskee mosque as an example of discrimination against radical Muslims by the government. He provided a subsidy for its construction, but "the De Baarsjes district executive (...) only wanted to finance it if the mosque would propagate a liberal Islam." This meant the principle of separation of Church and State had been lost, the Labour (PvdA) mayor repeated. "The city will continue to support religious institutions if the executive considers this necessary, but will not specify what they must say in a mosque."
Posted by: tipper ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
It would be hilarious to start the rumor that this mayor puts bacon grease on his hands before touching Muslims.
#6
ION WAFF.com > [Author RAMAN]9-11 STYLE ATTACK WAS PLANNED FOR INDIA TEN YEARS BEFORE, and may yet still occur due to GROWING NUMBERS OF PRIVATE CONSUMER AIRLINES whose WEAKLY REGULATED PILOTAGE, etc. can be effec exploited by Radical Terrorists for new attacks???
Three Iraqis and a Jordanian filed federal lawsuits Monday alleging they were tortured by U.S. defense contractors while detained at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2003 and 2004.
The lawsuits allege that those arrested and taken to the prison were subjected to forced nudity, electrical shocks, mock executions and other inhumane treatment. They seek unspecified payments high enough to compensate the detainees for their injuries, and to deter contractors from such conduct in the future.
'These innocent men were senselessly tortured by U.S. companies that profited from their misery,' said lead attorney Susan L. Burke, of the Philadelphia law firm Burke O'Neil. 'These men came to U.S. courts because our laws, as they have for generations, allow their claims to be heard here.' Where almost anywhere else, they'd be ignored. How much to buy off you and your clients, Counselor?
Allegations of abuse at the Baghdad prison first erupted in 2004 with the release of pictures of grinning U.S. soldiers posing with detainees, some naked, being held on leashes or in painful and sexually humiliating positions. Eleven U.S. soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws, and five others were disciplined in the scandal.
Neither U.S. civilian nor military authorities have charged private contractors with crimes at Abu Ghraib.
The contractors named as defendants in the lawsuit are CACI International Inc. of Arlington, Va., and New York-based L-3 Communications Corp., formerly Titan Corp.
Three of the complaints were filed in U.S. district courts in Seattle, Greenbelt, Md., and Columbus, Ohio, jurisdictions where three former workers reside. The fourth was filed in Detroit, where L-3 recruited heavily for translators, according to that complaint. The lawsuits repeat 'baseless allegations' made more than four years ago in another case brought by the same lawyers, CACI spokeswoman Jody Brown said in a statement.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/01/2008 06:16 ||
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#1
Here's a picture from the lates Gitmo protest in DC.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/01/2008 8:00 Comments ||
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#2
Depraved. In the Ardennes Offensive, US field troops conducted summary executions of several German soldiers who infiltrated US positions, by wearing US uniforms. I advocate summary execution of 100% of alien Muslims who were caught in Taliban perimeters during the 2001 invasion of the Opium rat-hole. The UK film, "Road to Guantanamo" makes heroes of 3 UK citizens who lined up with Taliban, AFTER their own country effectively declared war on same. In the current context where al-Qaeda's western leadership is being released from prison, because our leaders refuse to accurately define the jihadi enemy, Muslim treason has acquired a de facto legal status.
Only John McCain can reverse this process of slow surrender.
Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday on two charges of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., ordered Al-Arian transferred out of the custody of immigration authorities and into the custody of U.S. Marshals.
Al-Arian's attorney, Jonathan Turley, wrote on his blog that the court where Al-Arian is being prosecuted "is called the 'Rocket Docket' because it prides itself on moving these cases at a breakneck pace." Al-Arian's arraignment had been scheduled for the morning, but was moved to the afternoon "due to the failure of the government to transport him to the courthouse," Turley said on his blog. At the arraignment, Al-Arian did not enter a plea, but the judge entered a not guilty plea for him, Turley wrote in his blog. Al-Arian's trial is scheduled for Aug. 13.
Al-Arian was prosecuted in Tampa on terrorism-related charges alleging he was a lead U.S. fundraiser for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization in Israel. A federal jury in 2005 failed to convict him of any charge, but deadlocked on nine counts. He later struck a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to one count of providing assistance to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He has completed his sentence for that charge, but has been held on successive civil contempt charges for refusing to testify before a Virginia grand jury investigating alleged terrorist financing by charities there.
During the Tampa trial, the government presented evidence that Al-Arian's think tank, World and Islam Studies Enterprise, received funding from the International Institute of Islamic Thought, based in Herndon, Va. The institute's offices were raided in 2002 as part of the investigation into World and Islam Studies Enterprise. Turley wrote on his blog that Al-Arian has been indicted for failing to provide information about the institute, even though he doesn't have any information to give.
Stetson Law School professor Charles Rose said criminal contempt charges such as these are rare. "I just can't imagine that this is still around," Rose said. "You almost never see a charge of criminal contempt, historically, unless you're dealing with organized crime. They're treating Sami Al-Arian like he is a member of a criminal organization."
#1
Great, send him to the "Rocket Docket" so that all the defense's motions will be categorically denied, thus assuring the appellate court will overturn the sentence.
Good thinking.
American military prosecutors Monday asked a senior official to approve charges against a Guantanamo detainee for his alleged role in the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. That and a variety of other terrorism charges against the man could carry the death penalty.
The prosecutors have requested the charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi citizen of Yemeni descent, who is among 14 men the U.S. government considers 'high value detainees.' The men were held by the Central Intelligence Agency in secret prisons before being transferred to the military-run detention center on the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba two years ago.
The Pentagon says al-Nashiri worked with al-Qaida leader Osama Bin-Laden to organize and carry out the attack on the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole, which killed 17 American sailors, and an attack on a French supertanker two years later, as well as a failed attempt to attack another U.S. warship. He is the first person to be charged in the Cole attack.
Under the military commissions process, a senior Defense Department official, Susan Crawford, must now decide whether to approve the charges, and whether to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty, as they have requested.
This article starring:
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
al-Qaeda
Susan Crawford
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
While the US wants the death penalty, I want to know how much it will cost to be the guy that gets to shoot the leathal injection into his arm. There should be a lottery and the proceeds going to the orphans af the Cole bombing.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/01/2008 12:22 Comments ||
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Nonsense, 49 Pan. This guy will die of old age before all of the appeals, hand wringing, whining and crying about torture are over.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/01/2008 13:09 Comments ||
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#3
So if al-Nashiri or his legal team get somebody to help carry hir documents to and from the court room, does that make that guy a 'Cole Man Porter?"
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan The notorious leader of the Taliban, one of the world's most wanted fugitives, has reportedly had a makeover and been sighted on numerous occasions in Pakistan.
The one-eyed cleric Mullah Omar has significantly changed his appearance since he fled from his native Afghanistan seven years ago, says a former follower. Mullah Mohammed Zaher says he has personally met with the reclusive jihadist several times in Quetta, Pakistan. He says the Taliban founder has turfed his trademark turban, trimmed his beard and begun wearing sunglasses.
Coupled with the fact that few pictures of him exist, Zaher says it would be difficult to pick Omar out of a crowd. 'He has totally changed his appearance,' says Zaher, a self-described Taliban commander under the former regime. 'He does not look like a Talib anymore. He does not even wear a turban.'
Zaher says Omar has several safe houses in the Quetta area, and that he has eaten meals with him there more than once in recent years. 'I used to meet him. I have seen his home,' Zaher said through a Pashto-language interpreter. 'He used to call us over.'
Zaher also lent support to a claim made five years ago by Afghan President Hamid Karzai about what the Taliban founder has been up to. He says Omar is now a religious imam and has led Friday prayer services at a mosque next to a medical clinic in Quetta's Saleem plaza.
The Afghan president publicly declared in 2003 that his intelligence sources had informed him that Omar was seen praying at that mosque in the bustling plaza. Despite Karzai's claim, few reports have emerged since then about the fugitive mullah's whereabouts.
'We got a call about 10 days ago from our sources in Quetta that Mullah Omar was seen at a mosque near Saleem complex in the city,' Karzai told Newsline.com in December 2003. 'I know where the Saleem complex is. I have lived in Quetta myself for many years.'
A U.S. intelligence source told CNN in 2006 that American officials believed Omar was in the Quetta area, and that at one point they had his whereabouts pinned down to a precise neighbourhood.
Britain's Independent newspaper reported last year that Omar was being sheltered by Pakistan's intelligence services - a claim the Pakistani government vigorously denied.
But Zaher says it's true. He says Omar has even spent the night on a military compound in the Nawakilli area near Quetta, where he says he and other militants received bomb-making lessons from members of the Pakistani army.
Zaher escaped to Pakistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. He says he became tired of facing harassment and extortion from corrupt officials in the new Karzai government, and he moved his family to Quetta in 2003. He says old Taliban friends soon contacted him and put him in touch with Pakistani military officials, who trained him and paid him $500 a month to join the insurgency.
He says he left the insurgency a little over two years ago, and moved back to Kandahar city's District Six. Zaher says he has not seen or spoken to Omar since then.
When asked how it could be possible that the Americans would still be searching for Omar despite all these supposed sightings, Zaher grows cross. His voice rising to a near-shout, he lays out a cynical conspiracy theory that appears to be remarkably popular even among ordinary Afghans: 'Nobody wants to catch him!'
This article starring:
Mullah Oma
Posted by: john frum ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
so some night at 3am .. why hasn't a military compound in the Nawakilli area had a bomb making accident?
#3
He says Omar is now a religious imam and has led Friday prayer services at a mosque next to a medical clinic in Quetta's Saleem plaza.
Please note CIA as ISI wont do nothing!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
07/01/2008 7:20 Comments ||
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He says Omar has even spent the night on a military compound in the Nawakilli area near Quetta, where he says he and other militants received bomb-making lessons from members of the Pakistani army.
No surprise re Paki army involvement!!!!Who is paying them again????
Posted by: Paul ||
07/01/2008 7:33 Comments ||
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#5
Its only 3 years , almost 4 that we have been tellin folk that Quetta is terrorism tourist capital of the world .
And of course he and Binny are being protected by certain sections within the ISI. It makes financial sense for them to do this .
The ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency is a drama and the government is responsible for it, Geo News quoted Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) General Secretary Senator Gul Naseeb as saying on Monday.
According to the channel, Naseeb told reporters in Peshawar that the government should end this drama because the people wanted to know facts, and that they could not be deceived by the operation. He said efforts were being made to implement a secular system in the country, adding that some elements with vested interests were active to divide Pakistan by exploiting Islam, and urged clerics and the local Taliban to evolve a strategy to counter this move. He said the government was responsible for the volatile security situation in the Khyber Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) would no more be an electoral alliance in the future, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Deputy Secretary General Mian Maqsood Ahmad said on Monday.
He was addressing a public meeting at Wahm Thal, Narowal. Every religious party would be free to make decisions on its own, he said. However, efforts for the religious harmony and unity will continue unabated.JI District Amer Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Aslam and Narowal Sub-Division Amer Wazir Hussain were also present.
Maqsood said the JI was a revolutionary movement. Our aim is not to get hold of the seat of government, but to work for our people and the pleasure of Allah. The people who denounced the MMA for approving the 17th Amendment should now come forward and repeal it. He said the people who were allergic to [President] Pervez Musharraf in the past were busy finding him a safe way out. The rulers made tall claims of judges' restoration, but after three months in power they have not been able to honour their promise.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) — The Pakistani army on Monday pledged to support the government on the military operation against the militants in tribal regions, according to a military statement.
Pakistan's security forces has launched a military operation against extremist groups in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency on Saturday.
The operation, which continued on Monday, is the first major military action against local militants since the new government took power after the general elections in February.
General Tar Majid, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, chaired a meeting of the top commanders and said the army supported the government's policy over the militants. 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee reiterated its full support to the government's policy and its three-pronged strategy to counter the growing threat of militancy in the country,' said the army statement. 'Important regional developments impacting on national security were discussed, including a comprehensive review of external threats,' the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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A few days ahead of the security handover of Anbar, a Sunni province that once was once Iraq's most dangerous, some Iraqis have voiced their concerns over their national security forces' ability to handle the situation on their own, with others expressing their happiness about the return of self-governance.
Speaking to Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq- (VOI), Colonel Dawoud al-Maree, a spokesman for Falluja police, said that Iraqi forces are ready to receive the security responsibilities from the Multi-National Force (MNF), ruling out any deficiencies in military equipment.
"The shortage of police personnel is not a shortcoming that hinders the security handover," the colonel said.
On Friday, the U.S. army said that the ceremonies to hand Anbar to Iraqi control, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, were indefinitely put off due to expected bad weather conditions in the Sunni province.
The colonel explained that the fall in violence had paved the way for the security transfer of the province, arguing that incidents of sporadic violence will not affect the work of Iraqi police personnel.
Expressing a different view on the issue, Faris Na'em al-Alwani, a 29-year-old owner of a mobile phone shop, said that Iraqi security forces lack experience and are in urgent need of the services of "senior officers from the former army."
"Army and police personnel can take over from the U.S.-led coalition if qualified officers from the former army took control," Alwani noted.
Alwani said that the security situation in Falluja has recently deteriorated, in reference to explosions and suicide bombings that ripped through several parts of Anbar city, which lies 45 km west of Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Colonel Khudeir Rasheed al-Fahdawi from Anbar police told VOI that Iraqi security forces have strengthened their capabilities throughout the past five years. "All areas in Anbar province that were once under al-Qaeda control are currently controlled by the Iraqi forces," the colonel added.
Ghayth Ahmed Muhammadi, a 33-year-old government employee and a resident of Anbar, said that Iraqi officers are torn between their loyalty to their parties and their country. The struggle over power has driven the city to the verge of explosion, Muhammadi said, noting that local residents are the major victims of political instability.
A few residents of the province praised what they described as the "relative success" of Sahwa (Awakening) councils in restoring stability and driving al-Qaeda operatives from the province.
The Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas. These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces.
Anbar should have been the 10th out of Iraq's 18 provinces to receive security responsibilities since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the first Sunni province to be handed to Iraqi control.
Thamir Mustafa al-Aani, a government employee, said: "The Iraqi police have done a lot to the province and have managed to purge many areas of al-Qaeda fighters." "Falluja police are able to impose security in the province," al-Aani, 37, said.
Linking domestic stability to Iraq's neighboring countries, Sheikh Abu Muhammad, an Aameriya al-Falluja Sahwa council leader, said: "It is not possible to tell whether the Iraqi police and army are fully prepared to take over security responsibilities. Anbar is a large province and has borders with three countries." The tribal leader accused foreign bodies of attempting to destabilize security in the country, calling on Iraq's neighbors to abide by their commitments to Iraq.
The handover of security control of the Shiite province of Diwaniyah from the US military to Iraqi forces has been cancelled, a local government official told AFP on Monday. Sheikh Ghanim Abid Dahash, spokesman for Diwanyiah provincial council, said the transfer has been postponed 'indefinitely because there is no coordination between the central government and the US forces.'
Dahash did not give details but the US military also confirmed that the transfer had been cancelled. Dahash said a curfew which was imposed in the province on Sunday evening to prevent any insurgent attacks during the handover ceremony was also lifted.
Diwaniyah, formerly known as Qadisiyah, was to be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces to be taken over by local forces from US-led foreign troops, amid a push to transfer security control of the entire country back to Baghdad.
Diwaniyah has often been rocked by infighting as rival Shiite militias vie for supremacy. The province has seen fierce clashes between supporters of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his rival Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council.
Last November, Iraqi and US troops launched a major military assault in Diwaniyah to stabilise the region of around one million people. More than 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen supported by tanks and hundreds of US and Polish troops took part in the assault to flush out Shiite militants from the province's capital. Nearly 100 militants were detained during the operation, many of them loyal to Sadr.
The streets of Baghdad are back in business. The teashops are busy. The shops and markets are bustling. After years when there seemed to be no end to the city's trauma, people are feeling more confident. Why, even property prices in Baghdad are rising. According to one estate agent we spoke to, they have doubled in the past four months.
Yes, things are better in Baghdad. Here comes the 'BUT' statement.
But before we get too carried away, it is important to stress that the improvements, while real, are plainly very brittle. As US officials readily concede, comments about 'breakthroughs' and 'corners being turned' are premature.
Indeed, as an influential report from the US Congress stated a few days ago, Iraq's security environment 'remains volatile and dangerous'. It is just not quite as volatile and dangerous as it was this time last year.
Much of the credit for the improvements is undoubtedly due to the increase in US forces which began in the early months of 2007. American troops came onto the streets in greater numbers and confronted the insurgents and militia groups.
But it was not simply American force of arms which made the difference. The US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, adopted a new approach. It is instructive to read the 'Commander's Counterinsurgency Guidance' which was issued recently to all US forces in Iraq. These are some of the headings:
'Serve the population: give them respect: gain their support.'
'Live among the people: you can't commute to this fight.'
'Walk: stop by, don't drive by: patrol on foot and engage the population.'
'Promote reconciliation: we cannot kill our way out of this endeavour.'
By and large, that is what the Americans have attempted to do and, by and large, it appears to be working. From a peak last summer, when security incidents were occurring at the rate of well over 1,000 a week, there has been a steady decline until now they are, according to the Americans, at their lowest point for four years.
But the US strategy has involved more than putting more men in and among the Iraqi population. The Americans have also thrown money at Iraq.
As a recent BBC Panorama programme reported, huge amounts of this money appear to have disappeared into the pockets of corrupt officials and unscrupulous companies. But, at grassroots level, large amounts have been getting through to shops and small businesses in the form of micro-grants distributed by local US commanders.
In reality, these grants can be quite substantial. For example, in one main street in west Baghdad, every shopkeeper has been given $2,500 (£1,250) for basic improvements. In addition, the Americans have been paying for neighbourhood defence forces, the so-called Sons of Iraq, which have offered employment and wages, and thus weaned people away from the temptation of joining the militia groups. In total, in that one main street alone, the Americans say they have invested $750,000 (£375,000).
The local US officer who has been running the scheme believes it has been money well spent. 'The better economic situation feeds back into the security situation because now somebody doesn't have to go to the insurgency to get money to feed their family,' he said. 'They can work, they can go to their job, so it's created a positive cycle.'
That kind of local initiative, repeated many times, plus the painfully slow process of political reconciliation, the improved effectiveness of Iraq's own armed forces, and the cautious engagement of outside companies in the Iraqi economy (most notably in the oil industry) is starting to have an effect.
So, Baghdad is calmer and rather more confident. I have been here for rather less than a month a year, every year since 2003.
In the terrible days of 2005 through to 2007, when I recall reporting the tragic case of the British hostage Kenneth Bigley and when, virtually every day at the BBC bureau outside the fortified Green Zone, we could hear bombs going off in different parts of the city.
I can say that the Baghdad of mid-2008 is a place in which there is, finally, some tentative hope for the future.
A few days ago, one of the BBC's Iraqi producers here at our Baghdad office became a father for the second time. He is one of the team of courageous and committed people who live in this city, without whom the BBC News operation in Baghdad simply could not function.
He has seen many terrible things in his country. He has shared the collective doubt and despair that Iraq would ever emerge from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and the turmoil of the years of the so-called liberation by America and Britain.
He told me that three years ago, when he and his wife had their first child, he felt there was very little hope for the future.
But now, very slowly, things are changing. He believes his new daughter has been born into a country which, finally, has something better to look forward to.
#2
coming soon? Editorials and Senatorial bluster/outrage from Dodd (D-Masshole) and Conrad (D-Last Term), complaining sub-prime, declared income loans aren't available to the poor and Special Groups camp followers who need them for safe houses
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/01/2008 17:27 Comments ||
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#5
In real terms, reconstruction economies either have inertia or momentum. To get the ball rolling in the first place seems to take forever, but once things finally get moving, ever inch contributes to the momentum.
The final two events before peacetime are when the locals are keeping the peace, and when even outside troublemakers take one look and give up, there being no chance to screw things up.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military has begun withdrawing from Iraq the last of the five additional combat brigades that were deployed to the country in 2007, a U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday.
The final 'surge' brigade would leave Iraq by the end of July, the spokesman said. That was in line with plans by General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, who has said lower levels of violence would allow the reductions. The U.S. military had 20 combat brigades in Iraq at its peak in 2007, with troop levels around 160,000-170,000. Numbers will fall to about 140,000 once the final 'surge' brigade departs.
'Elements of the fifth surge brigade have already begun redeploying, so, by the end of July, we will be at 15 combat brigade teams in Iraq,' the military spokesman said. He declined to identify the brigade or give its location for security reasons.
U.S. President George W. Bush sent an extra 30,000 soldiers to Iraq last year to stop savage sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that threatened to tip the country into all-out civil war. The troop buildup was credited with helping improve security. Other factors were a rebellion by Sunni Arab tribal leaders against al Qaeda and a ceasefire by anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The additional brigades have redeployed out of Iraq over the past six months.
Revealing information that shouldn't be revealed: that's the NYT.
Baghdad, Jun 30, (VOI) - A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, the New York Times quoted American officials as saying.
The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraqs oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism, the paper said.
Everything that's done stokes criticism. Issue is whether we have any business providing advice, and whether the process is transparent enough to keep the Iraqis happy.
In their role as advisers to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, American government lawyers and private-sector consultants provided template contracts and detailed suggestions on drafting the contracts, advisers and a senior State Department official said.
It is unclear how much influence their work had on the ministrys decisions, it added. The advisers who, along with the diplomatic official, spoke on condition of anonymity say that their involvement was only to help an understaffed Iraqi ministry with technical and legal details of the contracts and that they in no way helped choose which companies got the deals, the paper noted.
There you go: that's how much influence. Of course the NYT can't accept that. If we weren't helping the Iraqis and as a result the Oil Ministry wasn't getting anything done, we'd be blamed for that too.
For its part, the administration has repeatedly denied steering the Iraqis toward decisions. Iraq is a sovereign country, and it can make decisions based on how it feels that it wants to move forward in its development of its oil resources, said Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sorry. I thought he said "stroke that criticism." Not hard to imagine in the NYT newslounge.
Now I need to try to un-imagine it.
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
07/01/2008 8:35 Comments ||
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#2
Ah GrassHopper Grnter starts to see the truth of the inline. A major step, next is understanding the many implications within the TW tea ceremony.
(VOI) Iraq's Supreme Criminal Court undertaking the 1991 Shaaban Uprising in Basra and Missan on Monday dismissed defendant Abdul Ghani al-Ani from the courtroom, after a debate between the two sides. Defendant Iyad Shehab, a former high ranking intelligence member, apologized to those whom he called "the families of innocent victims," who were executed during the events of the uprising.
The court session was held today, headed by Justice Mohammed Uraiby, and was attended by the case's 15 defendants. At the beginning of today's session, Justice Uraiby dismissed defendant Abdul Ghani Abdul Ghafour al-Ani, former member of Iraq's dissolved Baath party command Basra branch, due to a debate between them.
The judge then requested that a defense attorney leave the courtroom, to hear a defendant's testimony. The court committee was left alone in the courtroom with defendant Iyad Taha Shehab, the former security director of the Iraqi secret services (the Mukhabarat under Saddam Hussein), during the uprising's events. At the beginning of his testimony, Shehab apologized to "innocent victims' families," for being a defendant in this case.
"The Mukhabarat's mission was to follow up foreign people and diplomatic delegations in Iraq," he said. "The secrete services consisted of three divisions; individuals' security, information security, and institution's security," he added. "The Mukhabarat had absolutely no relation with average Iraqis, and only Iraqis who deal with foreign embassies and so on were related to the secrete services' field," he explained. "My job was to follow up on the Mukhabarat's personnel themselves," he asserted.
Justice Uraiby then addressed a group of questions to defendant Shehab, regarding his carreer during the uprising. He also showed a group of documents that were submitted by the prosecutor to prove Shehab's involvement in the uprising's events.
The prime defendant in this case is Ali Hassan al-Majid, alias Chemical Ali, who was condemned to death on charges of crimes against humanity in the al-Anfal case, in his capacity as former commander of the Southern Zone, based in Basra, and member of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council. Other defendants include Sultan Hashim, the former Iraqi defense minister; Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti, former assistant chief of staff; Saber Abdul-Aziz al-Dori, the former chief of military intelligence; Sabaawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, former President Saddam Hussein's half brother; Abad Hamid Mahmud, Saddam's personal secretary; Abdul Ghani Abdul Ghafour, a former Baath Party official; Saadi Taama Abbas, the former minister of defense; Iyad Fatieh al-Rawi, former chief of staff and a Republican Guard commander; Latif Mahal Hamoud, former Basra governor; Sufyan Maher al-Tikriti, also a former Republican Guard commander; Iyad Taha Shehab, a former intelligence chief and Walied Hamid Tawfiq al-Naseri.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
WAFF.com > BLOOMBERG/CBCNEWS > seems RUSSIA is offering = about to deliver to IRAN an unknown quantity of SA-20 SAMS/AAMS whose capability may induce ISRAEL to attack Iran before Iran's ADS gets any stronger??? ISRAEL may also become motivated to unilaterally attack Iran iff Israel discovers Iran has successfully produced WEAPONS-GRADE ENRICHED NUCMATS???
JERUSALEM - Israel and Syria are to resume their indirect peace negotiations and two senior Israeli officials are to leave for Turkey to conduct the talks, Israel Radio reported Monday. An Israeli spokesman would not comment on the report, which said that Yoram Turbovitz, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's bureau chief, and Shalom Turjeman, a senior aide to the premier, were to depart for Turkey Monday night for a third round of talks with Syria.
Damascus will also send senior officials to the talks, and the two delegations will be headquartered in two different hotels in Istanbul, with Turkish officials shuttling between them.
The current negotiations between the sides began in May, ending an eight-ear hiatus on peace talks between the two countries. A second round of negotiations was held in mid-June.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Re: Pic.
I see the President of the US and the KoE but who's the guy in the tophat?
/pls write for more borderline hourmous. Thank you in advance.
#2
Is that George V, or Czar Nicolas? From the looks of the coat, I'd think more Russian than British. Also, I think the woman on the far right is Queen Alexandra. The two women on the far left are a complete mystery to me.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/01/2008 19:36 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Monday said it accepted an Egyptian invitation to hold indirect talks with Israel to exchange a captive soldier for a number of Palestinian prisoners. But Osama al-Muzini, a Hamas official close to the file of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, added that there was no official date set for holding the talks.
Al-Muzini explained that Hamas would not be going to the negotiations until being assured about the extent of Israel's commitment to a recent ceasefire brokered by Egypt in Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-Israel ceasefire was intended to ease the siege that Israel imposed on Gaza Strip when Hamas took over the territory by force in June 2007. It is also sought to provide suitable atmosphere for the talks about Shalit who has been hostage for more than two years.
Hamas, which led the cross-border raid to kidnap Shalit, demands the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in addition to imprisoned women and children, al-Muzini reiterated.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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Sri Lanka's military chief says his forces have wiped out the Tamil rebels' ability to fight as a conventional army. Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said Monday the rebels have changed their tactics, and they no longer have the strength or willpower to fight. He estimated the rebels would lose even their current reduced capability within a year.
Fonseka said 9,000 Tamil rebels have been killed in the past two years, and that about 5,000 fighters remain. He said 1,700 soldiers died during the same period. The rebels have not reacted to Fonseka's comments.
Also Monday, police in the capital, Colombo, said a group of unidentified men assaulted a British High Commission employee and a journalist traveling in a car. Both were wounded. Britain's High Commissioner Peter Hayes condemned what he called the "despicable act" and demanded a full investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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5000 is still alot = more likely will go on tempor hiatus to rebuild. ALso, NET > Posters are claiming that an increasing number of foreigners have been killed or captured since 2005.
Iran is to dig 320,000 graves in border districts to allow for the burial of enemy soldiers in the event of any attack on its territory, a top commander said on Sunday. Hope they can double as bomb shelters.
"In implementation of the Geneva Conventions... the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers," the Mehr news agency quoted General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh as saying. "We have plans to dig 15,000 to 20,000 graves in each of the border provinces or a total of 320,000," the general said, some of them mass graves if necessary. Why don't you dig about a million more for your own guys while you're at it? Got a feeling they'll be kinda busy when the time comes.
Bagherzadeh said Iran was keen to "reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against our country... and prevent any repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War." Have you picked out your own grave yet, general. Maybe overlooking the glowing green glass of what used to be Tehran?
#1
They've included the obligatory Viet Nam reference; the world's view of the USA really has been shaped up by the infotainement industry's depiction of that war and its myths, isn't it?
(Xinhua) -- Iran has launched a production line for superior 'Quick Reaction' tanks as part of the country's campaign for self-sufficiency in defense, Iran's English-language Press TV said on Monday.
Iran has successfully started the production of a 'Quick Reaction' tank named 'Tosan', Head of the self-sufficiency unit of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) ground forces, Colonel Nasser Arab-Beigi was quoted as saying. 'Military equipment needs to be upgraded in accordance with the latest developments in global technology,' said Arab-Beigi, adding that the current situation calls for a significant enhancement of the country's defense capacity.
The self-sufficiency unit is also working on projects to enhance passive defense systems and secure the country's military sites, he said.
He also warned that every enemy move in the Gulf and on Iranian borderlines is under the full surveillance of the IRGC forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Yay! Iran has yet another project on which to waste more of their money. Their Quick Reaction tanks will most likely be Quickly Burning tanks in case of any confrontation. Maybe they have the right idea, though. Rather than build hundreds of heavy MBTs, they build thousands of light tanks and present more targets than we have ammo.
They better try harder to outlaw anti-armor cluster weapons because those can pretty much freeze light armor it its tracks. And what do they run on? If they get into a fight with us they won't have any oil refineries or POL storage after the first day of fighting.
#10
Although these homemade products wouldn't stand up in a conflict with a capable enemy (US, Israel), they will undoubtedly be useful in intimidating civilians who are able to overpower the local police.
#17
AS : fun part is, that knock-off probably is actually superior to the Stryker, in terms of mobility, footprint and obviously, firepower, while costing only a fraction of it. It's probably wiser not to deride the iranians (plus, that decoys thing may be true as well, worked reasonably well for the serbians, an another reason not to get cocky, something I'm sure the US planners are not doing).
#19
Plus the Bradleys can kill them at over a mile with their TOWs, and cut them in half with the Bradley's chain gun {which took out T-72s when firing DU rounds}. Also, would love to see them run those up against an A-10 : target-rich environment.
#21
As long as we can get them to attack the bradleys and act like the strykers aren't there, and make sure every stryker has a bradley attached, or is in range of artillery with SADARM's handy... things ought to be ok.
#23
we will not be engaging Iranian tanks with anything other than artillery and aircraft. We don't want to occupy Iran unless necessary. I don't think it will be necessary. Coastal installations to ensure shipping, yes, but inland?...why???
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/01/2008 17:52 Comments ||
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#24
A muslim monkey manufacture of the Scorpion light tanks? The same ones .50 cal has no problem penetrating? Lucky for the Iranians the Americans have so few .50s.
I'd worry more about artillery and artillery rockets emplaced in populated areas. Let's hope the US gov and public will be a lot less squeamish about dead Persians than dead Arabs.
Posted by: ed ||
07/01/2008 17:54 Comments ||
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#25
This is Iran's assuming that there will be a full-scale, conventional assault upon it. Heh.
Then again, mhw pretty much has it nailed. More likely these will end up in the hands of the Baseej to be used against civil unrest in urban areas.
#28
The only weapon systems that the Iranians have which is a worry is the hundreds of surface-to-surface missiles they can use to interdict the Straits of Hormuz. They can effectively cripple the oil shipping by sinking a dozen tankers. The rest of the tankers will sit in the gulf, where 95% of the ports and pipelines are and cause a major oil panic.
#29
The above comment I made being said, besides special ops troops hitting nuclear facilities and C&C sites, that is the only area of Iran where boots on the ground are absolutely needed, IMHO. Capturing the launching sites is critical and all the sites can't be taken out by air alone.
Any other military Ranters feel free to speculate on strategy. It is all the Rantburg vet's hobby, besides politics I think. ;)
#31
When the pipelines are finished to ports in Turkey, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt, and the US w/draws naval protection from the "Persian" gulf, will the Straits of Hormuz matter? Will Iran matter?
Doesn't Iran need the war against it to start sooner rather than later?
How long can Syria remain surrounded and unconquered - if not militarily then diplomatically?
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.
Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned Monday on two charges of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., ordered Al-Arian transferred out of the custody of immigration authorities and into the custody of U.S. Marshals.
American military prosecutors Monday asked a senior official to approve charges against a Guantanamo detainee for his alleged role in the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. That and a variety of other terrorism charges against the man could carry the death penalty.
The ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency is a drama and the government is responsible for it, Geo News quoted Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) General Secretary Senator Gul Naseeb as saying on Monday.
(Xinhua) — The Pakistani army on Monday pledged to support the government on the military operation against the militants in tribal regions, according to a military statement. 
A few days ahead of the security handover of Anbar, a Sunni province that once was once Iraq's most dangerous, some Iraqis have voiced their concerns over their national security forces' ability to handle the situation on their own, with others expressing their happiness about the return of self-governance.
The streets of Baghdad are back in business. The teashops are busy. The shops and markets are bustling. After years when there seemed to be no end to the city's trauma, people are feeling more confident. Why, even property prices in Baghdad are rising. According to one estate agent we spoke to, they have doubled in the past four months. 
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military has begun withdrawing from Iraq the last of the five additional combat brigades that were deployed to the country in 2007, a U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday.
JERUSALEM - Israel and Syria are to resume their indirect peace negotiations and two senior Israeli officials are to leave for Turkey to conduct the talks, Israel Radio reported Monday. An Israeli spokesman would not comment on the report, which said that Yoram Turbovitz, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's bureau chief, and Shalom Turjeman, a senior aide to the premier, were to depart for Turkey Monday night for a third round of talks with Syria.
(Xinhua) -- Iran has launched a production line for superior 'Quick Reaction' tanks as part of the country's campaign for self-sufficiency in defense, Iran's English-language Press TV said on Monday. 
