#1
I think Britain has promoted this POS to a position above his capability. Maybe he can get another one, perhaps in Barbados, closer to his capabilities. In the meantime, don't the Brits have a bulldog or two they can assign to Afghanistan? This POS is a nervous parakeet.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/05/2008 18:31 Comments ||
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#2
Well, you are never going to win with that attitude ya know!
#4
neither could the Iraq war, in your not-so-humble-opinion. Looks like you're a poofed up fool and possibly 0-for-2? Why should we listen to designated hostages? Your boots on the ground do good work, when allowed and given the resources they need. I instinctively distrust double-named men as poofters and self-esteem-inflated losers
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/05/2008 21:59 Comments ||
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#5
I instinctively distrust double-named men as poofters and self-esteem-inflated losers
Posted by Frank G
May I add pipe smokers and fellows who add acronyms and digits after their names as well Frank?
#6
DRUDGEREPORT > AL-QAEDA: US ECONOMIC CRISIS EQUALS MUSLIM VICTORY; + TOPIX > NEW AL QAEDA TAPE SAYS ENEMIES OF ISLAM ARE FACING DEFEAT.
And vis ADAM GHADAN = "American Taliban" no less.
Again, Radical Islam is weakened but NOT absolutely defeated nor incapable of victory; whereas the USA is winning/prevailing but its domination of the future OWG-NWO + Victory over Islamism is NOT yet absolut assured.
The "WAR OUTSIDE OF IRAQ" > tantamount to a NEW HISTORIC MUSLIM CONQUEST OF THE ASIAN MAINLAND, as indic by RUSSO-GEROGIAN WAR, ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE IN INDIA vv HINDUS [fear of return and domin of UK-West], + SUPPOR BY MANY CHIN NETTERS FOR UNILATER CHIN PLA MIL INTERVENTION IFF THE US INVADES PAKISTAN AND RUSSIA PROVES MILPOL UNABLE TO STOP THE ISLAMIST DESTABILIZATION AND TAKEOVER OF ITS FORMER CENTRAL ASIAN SSRS [ + New Russ Breakup]. RADICAL ISLAM IS NOT WAGING ITS JIHAD ONLY FOR "PARITY".
Mainstream America = Amerika also has RUSSIA's subtle hints about NO NEW COLD WAR OR RETURN TO ANY NEW COLD WAR VV THE USA.
IOW, BY ALL THE ABOVE, and unless Washington DC desires to see a NEW NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN MAP OF ASIA [pro-Islamist], THERE HAS TO BE A BE-ALL, END-ALL CLEARLY CONCLUSIVE DETERMINATIVE WINNER IN THIS MAN'S GWOT!
* ION REDDIT > RUSSIA TODAY > INTER-NATION MIL CONFLICTS OVER ARCTIC RESOURCES MAY BEGIN TO OCCUR AFTER 2020.
Also from REDDIT [WND 04/2001] [paraph] > LED BY RUSSIA + CHINA, MANY OF THE USSR's NOW SOVEREIGN FORMER CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS ARE FORMING A POWERFUL COMBINED MILITARY REACTION FORCE TO DEFEND THE REGION AND TAKE THE OFFENSIVE AGZ MILITANT ISLAMIC FORCES.
#8
"US strategy is doomed to FAILURE" > as long as the USA limits its troops to only IRAQ + AFGHANISTAN, regardless of magnitude = level of Mil-National commitment, IRAN + MILITANTS BELIEVE THEY WILL SUCCEED AND GET THEIR NUKES.
IOW, NUCLEAR IRAN + NUCLEAR JIHAD + NUCLEAR ISLAMISM, etc. = ASIA IS JUST A "WALKING DEAD MAN" ABOUT TO VOLUNTARILY OR FORCIBLY CONVERT TO ISLAM/ISLAMISM.
Somebody better tell RAND-MCNALLY, etc. to start coming up wid new ISLAMIST PLACE-AREA NAMES for their NEW MAP OF ISLAMIST ASIA = EURASIA.
The UK's commander in Helmand has said Britain should not expect a "decisive military victory" in Afghanistan. Brig Mark Carleton-Smith told the Sunday Times the aim of the mission was to ensure the Afghan army was able to manage the country on its own. He said this could involve discussing security with the Taleban.
When international troops eventually leave Afghanistan, there may still be a "low but steady" level of rural insurgency, he conceded. He said it was unrealistic to expect that multinational forces would be able to wipe out armed bands of insurgents in the country.
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says Brig Carleton-Smith's comments echo a view commonly-held, if rarely aired, by British military and diplomatic officials in Afghanistan.
Many believe certain legitimate elements of the Taleban represent the positions of the Afghan people and so should be a part of the country's future, says our correspondent.
'legitimate' elements? Next 'our' correspondent will be discussing the 'legitimate' elements of al-Qaeda.
Brig Carleton-Smith is the Commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade which has just completed its second tour of Afghanistan. He paid tribute to his forces and told the newspaper they had "taken the sting out of the Taleban for 2008".
But he stated: "We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army."
Brig Carleton-Smith said the goal was to change how debates were resolved in the country so that violence was not the first option considered. He said: "If the Taleban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this.
"That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."
Since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001, 120 UK military personnel have been killed.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/05/2008 12:19 ||
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#1
But he stated: "We're not going to win this war.
Publicizing that attitude I'd be surprised if you did.
British envoy to Kabul suggests that the best solution for Afghanistan would be to install an "acceptable dictator" in the country.
A coded French diplomatic cable leaked to France's weekly Le Canard Enchaine, quotes the British Ambassador in Afghanistan Sherard Cowper-Coles as predicting that the NATO-led military campaign against the Taliban will fail. The best solution for the country, the ambassador said, would be installing an "acceptable dictator," according to the newspaper.
The weekly also published excerpts of the purported cable, including a passage that quoted the ambassador as criticizing both US presidential candidates over pledges to send more US troops to Afghanistan. "It is the American presidential candidates who must be dissuaded from getting further bogged down in Afghanistan," the newspaper quoted the envoy.
"The current situation is bad, the security situation is getting worse, so is corruption, and the Government has lost all trust," he emphasized.
"The presence of the coalition, in particular its military presence, is part of the problem, not part of its solution," Coles noticed, adding, "Foreign forces are the lifeline of a regime that would rapidly collapse without them. As such, they slow down and complicate a possible emergence from the crisis."
That statement doesn't make a bit of sense.
Cowper-Coles had previously said of worsening violence in Afghanistan and warned that foreign troops will likely be required there for around 30 years.
On Saturday, Britain's Foreign Office said that Cowper-Coles had held a meeting with a French counterpart but insisted that the reported comments did not reflect the government's views.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
It is a Muslim news source, so why would it make sense?
#2
Actually, it makes perfect sense. The current government presiding over Afghanistan is a typical American style faux-democracy. Karzai is Afghanistan's Chalabi, he was simply installed successfully.
When the Western troops that protect him leave - the Afghans will have it out (again) and whatever emerges from the rubble will prevail. Hopefully this time we won't completely ignore the situation, as we did last time after creating it in the first place.
With our support, proponents of civil society (which existed in Afghanistan before Reagan saved it) may prevail - it certainly is a better plan than continuing to support the Warlords and war criminals for whom we've successfully secured the seat of government through our ignorance and bumbling.
#3
Good to know that the commenter from British Columbia sees this as a joint effort, despite his sneer about 'typical American faux ....'
What he misses, however, are other developments behind the scenes which are laying the groundwork for longer-term success. Among them the national military academy which has begun producing professional officers with an allegiance to the country as a whole rather than to the tribe.
The current government presiding over Afghanistan is a typical American style faux-democracy. Karzai is Afghanistan's Chalabi, he was simply installed successfully.
I prefer to think of it as a "training wheels democracy." When the Talibs departed Kandahar in the dead of night after agreeing to surrender, Afghanistan had a legitimate president: Bahanuddin Rabanni. It had a legitimate government in the Northern Alliance. They were the recognized goverment at the UN and most other places, whilst the Talibs under Mullah Omar were recognized by Pakistain, from whence they came, the UAE, and Soddy Arabia, if I remember correctly. The current Afghan government was the product of a series of jirgas, which are Afghanistan's indigenous attempt at oligarchy, if not democracy, culminating in the Bonn conference, where pretty much everybody but Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar had a say. Rabanni very graciously -- and unfairly, I thought at the time -- stepped aside for the Karzai government, which was designed and built to give the Pashtuns (40 percent of the population) a representation in the government disproportionate to the amount of their contribution to getting rid of first the Soviets and then the Taliban. Afghanistan has in fact held elections that were mostly honest, or as honest as elections can be in a country that's never had them.
Karzai came before Chalabi. The idea was to make Chalabi the Iraqi Karzai, not the other way around. Had we done so, operating him as a true puppet, and had we written Iraq's constitution and imposed it, it's likely things would have gone differently than they actually did -- I don't know if the end result would have been better or worse and neither do you.
When the Western troops that protect him leave - the Afghans will have it out (again) and whatever emerges from the rubble will prevail.
Not necessarily. Karzai's turned out to be a better politician than people gave him credit for. There are other capable people who're close to or in positions of power. Under the monarchy the country was relatively civilized, with the exception of most of the Pashtun regions, where people are nutz by preference. Even at this moment the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan are in many places more peaceful than are the Pashtun areas of Pakistain.
Hopefully this time we won't completely ignore the situation, as we did last time after creating it in the first place.
We didn't create it. The situation was created when the Russers installed their puppets in Afghanistan and then, when that didn't work really, really well, invaded the country in December, 1979.
With our support, proponents of civil society (which existed in Afghanistan before Reagan saved it) may prevail...
Russia gobbled up yet another independent country on its periphery. The Afghan resistance wasn't our creation, initially. Return with us now, to those thrilling days of yesteryear, in 1980, when Tadjiks were literally dropping big rocks off the sides of mountains onto Soviet APCs and trucks. Eventually, givent the bureaucracy of the CIA and antiwar tendencies of Congress, we ended up equipping and partially financing the Tadjiks, who put together an alliance with the Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmen, and eventually with Pashtuns, though not with all of them. Additional financing was lined up through Soddy Arabia and supply lines were established through Pakistain -- still the only way into the country. As it turned out, both the Soddies and the Paks were playing their own games, but the divergence from common cause wasn't as pronounced at the time.
- it certainly is a better plan than continuing to support the Warlords and war criminals for whom we've successfully secured the seat of government through our ignorance and bumbling.
Those "warlords and war criminals" are the guys who actually fought the Soviets, bub. Some of them are war criminals and some -- the majority, in my perhaps rosy-memoried opinion -- were heroes. It was a war of singular brutality, against a ruthless enemy. Have a look at Chechnya to see the tactics that the Sovs tried to apply in Afghanistan. You might even want to google KhAD, the Afghan secret police, that were a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russers.
Rather than dismissing the heroes of Afghanistan as "warlords and war criminals," you might want to read up on them as well. Start with Ahmed Shah Masood, but also have a look at Ismail Khan, Mojadeddi, and even (when he was sober and on the right side) Dostum. You want to read about some villains? Try Rasool Sayyaf and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
And I'll remind you: the Taliban weren't involved in the war against the Soviets at all -- a "talib" is a student, and most were warm and cozy in the madrassahs in Pakistain while their betters were fighting commies. Mullah Omar was a pretty small-potatoes commander. Jalaluddin Haqqani was a better commander, and in those days seemed more tightly wrapped than he does now. And Hekmatyar spent as much time canoodling with the Soviets against the Tajdiks as he did actually fighting.
You're making the assumption that we were ignorant and bumbling because you expect us to always be ignorant and bumbling. The people I knew who were involved were neither ignorant nor bumbling, and some of them were frighteningly competent. It's real easy to sit back at the U of BC and criticize, but I'm pretty sure that if you were ever given the assignment to accompany a platoon-sized team of Tadjiks to blow the Salang tunnel in the dead of the Brutal Afghan Winter™ your toilet paper consumption would spike regularly and you'd screw at least one thing up an hour.
Crap. You'd probably do worse than that real-life scenario.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 15:56 Comments ||
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#5
"you'd screw at least one thing up an hour"
You're being magnanimous today, Fred. I'd have gone with one per minute. ;-p
Great summary of the Afghan situation, by the way. Thanks.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/05/2008 16:56 Comments ||
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#6
I see the Brits still haven't learned that the things they tried as an EMPIRE a hundred years ago, STILL don't work. We may have to do this one without the "help" of the Brits. Their soldiers are excellent, their "leadership" is still colonial.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/05/2008 17:17 Comments ||
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#7
It's worse than that OP. Cowper-Coles may well have been speaking on behalf of the UK prime minister.
Gordon Brown detests most of what Blair clearly saw to be necessary actions to preserve Western freedom. Brown's best buddy and jr. Foreign Minister Mark Malloch Brown is and has for a long time been a wholly owned subsidiary of Soros -- the latter gave MMB a sweetheart rent deal in Manhattan while he served as Deputy Secty General at the UN. Malloch Brown's contempt and dislike WRT the US is known to any reasonably literate 3rd grader who googles the news. (Obama thinks MMB's great BTW.)
Gordon Brown signalled just where he stands when he appointed MMB to his cabinet of ministers.
And then there's Gordon Brown's intentional starving of the royal armed forces of all that would allow them to function effectively, both in terms of kit and equipment for deployment OTOH and in terms of health care etc. when they return.
THE Somali pirates slung their AK47 rifles over their shoulders as they peered into the dark hold, using torches to light up the bowels of the Ukrainian freighter. "We couldn't believe our eyes," said Sugule Ali, commander of the so-called Voluntary Marines for Somalia, speaking to The Sunday Times over a satellite phone from the MV Faina. "We were horrified that people were bringing these weapons through Somali waters."
The ragtag band of armed gangsters could have been forgiven for thinking they had hit the jackpot as they surveyed the tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and Russian-made antiaircraft guns stored in the hold. This weekend they were demanding a $20m (£11.3m) ransom for the cargo, about 10 times what they usually ask to give back a vessel.
The thought of the Faina's vast arsenal finding its way into lawless Somalia, where Islamists are threatening to overrun a weak government, has horrified Washington. Half a dozen American warships have encircled the Faina to stop any of the 33 Soviet-era tanks and other weaponry being taken ashore.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
What a goat rope.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/05/2008 2:07 Comments ||
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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mourad Medelci has stressed that al-Qaeda in Algeria is being financed from foreign parties, without unveiling their names, while indicating that counterterrorism in Algeria has succeeded. Mourad Medelci has unveiled, in an interview with Asharq Alawsat newspaper, at the margin of the UN General Assembly, what could be considered as a developed position of Algeria vis-à-vis Al-Qaeda Organization, which claims terror acts in Algeria since 2007.
In fact, the chief of the Algerian diplomacy has raised possible solutions for the total eradication of terrorism, while making connection between the internal solution which Algeria has quite succeeded in, and political solutions up to put an end to problems in the Middle East, including Iraq, and Afghanistan. Medelci said these regions are the cradle of Bin Laden's Organization, and still activates in.
Minister of Foreign Affairs further confirmed the hypothesis suggesting that what is known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is being supported by foreign parties. He further admitted the existence of a wing of Al-Qaeda in North Africa, saying: "well, I won't say that Al-Qaeda Organization is present in Algeria, but rather it is existing in many places worldwide; eventually, Algeria is targeted just like other places worldwide are." Medelci further assumed that the elements pertaining to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are not Algerians.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Somebody is spending too much time hanging out with UN diplomatic types, and has gone native.
ABHA: Sheikh Ahmed Al-Hawashi, the imam and khateeb of Noorain Jamie Mosque in Khamis Mushayt, changed his mind to leave the city following a fire in the mosque that killed two of his children as a result of pressure from his students and tribal elders to reconsider the plan.
More than 3,000 people, including prominent personalities and tribal elders, gathered in and around the mosque on Friday afternoon after Al-Hawashi announced during his Juma sermon that he was moving to Madinah to spend the rest of his life in the holy city.
Residents of the town, including a large number of his students, received the news with shock. Soon after the prayer, people gathered around the imam and requested him to change his mind, but the imam would not relent.
Prominent figures led by Saad Al-Hajari then secretly asked people to gather in front of the mosque after Asr prayer. They waited till Maghreb. When Al-Hawashi came to lead the prayer, an 80-year-old man sitting on his legs implored the imam to change his mind. Hearing the man's pleas, women and children started crying. One person fell unconscious. In the midst of the emotional scene, Al-Hawashi promised the crowd that he would not leave them.
Al-Hawashi's son Anas and daughter Tasneem died in a fire that gutted part of the mosque complex, including the imam's quarters, last Tuesday. The imam suspected arson and police have launched an investigation.
Asir Gov. Prince Faisal bin Khaled described the imam as a noble man and no one is likely to have enmity toward him. "The investigation is continuing and its findings will be made public soon," he told reporters. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 232-3] Dr. Ali al-Mosa, a Saudi academic from Asir Province, will later say that a cleric known as Sheikh al-Hawashi, who runs a mosque in Khamis Mushayt, is also instrumental in recruiting the hijackers: "Sheikh al-Hawashi was the evil father of the whole thing here. He was the one behind it all and he is still there--he knew five of the kids and he was praying with them." When Asir is visited by Australian journalist Paul McGeough in 2002, Sheikh al-Hawashi will still be preaching and Dr. al-Mosa will comment: "He has been here for 25 years and he's very popular." [Sydney Morning Herald, 10/5/2002]
Jeddah Suspected militants arrested for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia would be transferred to Shariah courts shortly to be tried there, according to Interior Minister Prince Nayef. God willing, they all will be transferred to the judiciary to give its verdict on them in accordance with what God has ordained to prevent sedition. We dont punish anybody except on the basis of a court verdict, Price Nayef was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency(SPA) as saying on Wednesday.
"We can behead them without a court verdict, but that's different," he added.
He said investigations of the arrested suspects were progressing to collect more information. By the Grace of God, we have uncovered several plots to undermine the kingdoms security. When time comes well provide more information to citizens about such plots, he added.
You know that Islam is targeted and your country with all its honour and pride is an Islamic country with Quran and Sunnah being its constitution ... and we depend on ourselves after God the Almighty, Prince Nayef said.
He stressed that security agents would not put extra pressure on suspects to win confessions. We are capable of implementing court verdicts (on the militants), he added.
Nope, nope, no extra pressure at all. Big Abdullah can put those brass knuckles down anytime he wants ...
He praised the security forces for their efforts to foil many terrorist attacks inside the kingdom.By the Grace of God, we dont need anybody except God...During the past years we have not resorted to the help of others, except God and our security officers, he said, referring to Saudi Arabias successful anti-terror campaigns that has won the country international applause.
From who?
Prince Nayef urged all Saudis including Islamic scholars, intellectuals and media persons to play their roles in protecting the countrys security and stability. Everybody should understand that we are not only dealing with individuals but also deviant thoughts.
Islamic scholars have a duty to explain the tolerant and peaceful teachings of Islam whenever Westerns are around. He also urged parents to keep a watch on their children. The state is capable of protecting their children from evil and guiding them to the right path, he said.
Sounds .. soviet ....
Last June, the Interior Ministry announced the arrests of 701 suspected militants for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks. According to Maj- Gen. Mansour Al Turki, the ministrys spokesman, some of the detainees were planning to stage terrorist attacks on oil fields and other vital installations.
In December last year, Saudi security forces had arrested 56 suspects of different nationalities for allegedly planning to attack various sites outside the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The men were reportedly in the process of rebuilding an Al Qaeda network in the kingdom to launch another wave of terror attacks across the country. In February 2006, the authorities foiled terrorist attacks targeting oil installations in Abqaiq.
Earlier, the government had announced its plan to deploy 35,000 well trained officers to protect vital installations across the country, including oil refineries. The first group of 1,554 officers who were attending special training courses graduated in March.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Any bets on the outcome?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/05/2008 11:26 Comments ||
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At least 116 persons were killed in crossfire with law enforcing agencies across the country in last nine months from January 01 to September 30, 2008. A report of human rights organization Odhikar said of the deceased, 51 have been killed by RAB, 49 by police and ten by joint forces, two by BDR and four by coast guard.
Even the coast guard gets in on the crossfires?
It has been reported that witnessing the criminals dying one after another in crossfire, panic gripped the criminals and illegal drug traders and most of them crossed the border and took shelter in the neighbouring countries.
I'd certainly skip town if I heard the RAB was looking for me ...
The report added despite various measures taken by the caretaker government, death and torture in the hands of the members of different law enforcing agencies are on the rise.
During the period from January 01 to September 30, around 55 people were killed reportedly by RAB and police in jail custody during their interrogation.
"I keep telling you Chaudhary, ease up with the number seven truncheon."
"Sorry, Sarge, I keep locking my elbow on the follow-through."
"Well keep at it. Practice makes perfect!"
A total of 219 women reportedly became victim to dowry related offense in last nine months. Of them, around 154 were killed and 57 tortured by their husband and at least eight women committed suicide.
So there's 57 more men who should be introduced to the RAB ...
During this period, around 113 persons became victim of acid violence. Among the victim, 60 were women, 30 men and 23 children including 12 girls and 11 boys.
Assuming one perp per victim, that's 113 more who need to encounter a crossfire ...
On the other hand, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) killed 49 Bangladeshis, injured 29 and 53 were abducted.
So the smuggling biz has taken a hit, has it ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Just trying to imagine a bunch of coasties doing a crossfire. I'm doubling over with laughter...
#3
That there's the high signal to noise ratio people keep talking about, .5MT. At any other site you'd have to wade through Maureen Dowd's bad hair day and Andrew Sullivan's latest sex fantasies about Sarah Palin in order to find this stuff.
Israel accused North Korea on Saturday of providing weapons of mass destruction to at least six countries in the Middle East that ignored arms-control commitments.
Israel's delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spoke as the 145-nation assembly of the United Nations nuclear watchdog adopted a resolution unanimously urging North Korea to reverse steps it has taken to revive its dormant atom bomb program.
Israel itself is the target of two hotly disputed Arab-sponsored draft resolutions in the assembly urging it to give up its alleged nuclear arms monopoly in the Middle East, join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and accept full IAEA inspections.
Israel said there were six Middle Eastern countries which had obtained the means produce doomsday weapons and ballistic missiles covertly from North Korea while ignoring commitments as members of the NPT and other arms-control regimes. "At a time when the international community concentrates on North Korea's nuclear activities and its non-compliance with safeguards agreements, the Middle East is at the receiving end of North Korea's reckless practices," Israeli envoy David Danieli told the global meeting in Vienna. "North Korea has long become a source of proliferation of dangerous weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles in the Middle East," he said.
"At least half a dozen countries in the region who do not even pay lip service to control regimes and are acting in bad faith regarding their stated policy and their undertakings regarding non-proliferation conventions have become eager recipients of North Korea mostly through black market and covert network channels," Danieli said, but did not name the six nations.
Western intelligence officials and non-proliferation experts have said that Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq under Saddam Hussein were believed to have received North Korean military aid, some applicable to mass-destruction weaponry, in the past. "No due attention is paid to this dark aspect of North Korean behavior which has become a matter of great concern to my government and others," Danieli said.
He said there was growing evidence that such states were "emulating the dangerous unlawful practices" of North Korea, which left the NPT in 2003 and developed atom bombs.
"[We] call the attention of the international community to these dangerous developments and their consequences," he said.
U.S. envoy Chris Hill ended three days of meetings in North Korea on Friday meant to salvage the collapsing denuclearization deal, calling the talks substantive but not saying if he swayed Pyongyang to give up plans to restart its nuclear complex.
The resolution passed by the IAEA assembly underlined the need for denuclearization fully verifiable by IAEA inspectors - a demand resisted by Pyongyang and at the heart of disputes that have crippled its denuclearization deal with five powers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Hmmm, the other two would be Sudan and Pakistan. Plus, Pakistan is providing the double status of being an arms supplier as well as a recipient. Egypt is trying to get their nuclear technology through Western sources, which are more reliable, but do keep track. I wouldn't be surprised if Saudi Arabia hasn't replaced Iraq as the sixth non-listed state.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/05/2008 17:28 Comments ||
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, thought to have suffered a stroke in August, made his first appearance in about 50 days, the state's media said on Saturday. Kimmie alive. Baitullah alive. Adam Gadahn alive. I'm guessing B.O. is going to win the election.
Last month, U.S. and South Korean officials said Kim, 66, may have suffered a stroke in August, raising questions about leadership in Asia's only communist dynasty as Pyongyang backed away from an international nuclear disarmament-for-aid deal.
North Korea's official media said Kim saw a soccer match between two universities. The last report of a public appearance by Kim was in mid-August when state media said he visited a military unit. "After watching the match, leader Kim Jong-il congratulated the players on their good results, saying that the revolutionary and militant students in our country are good at art and sporting activities," the North's KCNA news agency reported.
Kim's reappearance came as the secretive state finished talks with a U.S. nuclear envoy who went to Pyongyang this week trying to save a disarmament deal and prevent the North from restarting its nuclear plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium.
CONSPICUOUS ABSENCE
Kim was conspicuously absent from a military parade on September 9 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of North Korea. He appeared at ceremonies to mark the 50th and 55th anniversaries of the state founded by his father Kim Il-sung.
Kim Jong-il, known as "Dear Leader," inherited control in 1994 on the death of his father. Kim Jong-il had been groomed for years to take control. He has three known sons, but has not made any apparent moves to name any of them as his successor.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Did they wheel him out on a handtruck like "Young Mister Grace"?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/05/2008 13:55 Comments ||
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Five years ago, he was a bankrupt felon with a conviction for passing bad checks. He was facing deportation. And he was living in a subsidized, low-income apartment complex in Paulsboro, scratching for cash by trying to sell used cars from the complex's parking lot. Today he is the central figure in the Fort Dix terrorism trial, an FBI informant who may have received more than $3,000 a month to wear a body wire and record conversations.
Mahmoud A. Omar, whose immigration problems appear to have gone the way of his financial difficulties, spent more than a year working undercover in the case. While some details about his role have surfaced in pretrial documents, Omar's actions and motivation will be the focus of what could be the most important testimony in the high-profile trial. Was he the FBI's eyes and ears inside a conspiracy to gun down Army personnel on the sprawling Burlington County military complex? Or was he an agent provocateur who took the hollow words and empty threats of five hotheaded young Muslims and turned them into a terrorist plot?
"He is a consummate con man," said Rocco Cipparone, the lawyer for Mohamad Shnewer, the defendant who spent the most time with Omar. "He wasn't in this for patriotic or altruistic motives," added Cipparone, who has spent hours going over transcripts and FBI memos detailing Omar's activities. "He was very adept at manipulating conversations." Prosecutors have declined to comment about the 39-year-old Egyptian Muslim or a second cooperating witness in the case.
Jury selection began last week. Opening statements are expected this month. The defendants, in addition to Shnewer, 23, are brothers Dritan Duka, 29, Shain Duka, 27, and Eljvir Duka, 24, and Serdar Tatar, 24. The five foreign-born Muslims, all raised in the Philadelphia area, were arrested in May 2007 and charged with planning to gun down Fort Dix military personnel in a jihad-inspired attack.
Omar routinely met with his FBI handlers at public locations in the township - the parking lot of the library, in front of the Cherry Hill Skating Center, at the Steak & Ale restaurant on Frontage Road, and outside the public-works garage. At those meetings, he would turn over tapes of conversations, get his instructions, have his car fitted with audio and video recording devices, and receive cash payments, usually $1,500. Defense attorneys, who will receive a tally of the cash paid to Omar and the second cooperating witness before they testify, estimate it will exceed $50,000.
The lawyers are expected to argue that money motivated Omar - that he brought the ethics and style of a sleazy used-car salesman to the undercover operation, doing and saying whatever was necessary to close the deal. All five defendants interacted with him, and most were picked up on tape. Those conversations and Omar's testimony are at the heart of the case. How Omar comes across on the stand may determine the fate of the defendants, who face possible life sentences.
The FBI has said Omar began working undercover in its investigation early in 2006, shortly after a videotape of the defendants waving weapons and shouting for jihad turned up at a Circuit City store in Mount Laurel.
Omar's entry into the alleged Fort Dix conspiracy came through Shnewer, the youngest defendant and, Shnewer's lawyer argues, one of the most gullible. Shnewer was working at his father's Plaza Food Market in Pennsauken. Omar was a regular, and struck up a friendship with Shnewer and his family. The two men would socialize, play pool, and talk about cars, politics, and their ethnic and Muslim heritage. On one tape, Shnewer discussed attacking Fort Dix. "I assure you that you can hit an American base very easily," he said. But he appeared to defer to his older friend. "I am at your services, as you have more experience than me in military bases and in life," he told Omar.
An earlier conversation, cited in an FBI memo, demonstrated how Omar used his ethnicity to solidify his bond with Shnewer. In March 2006, Omar asked Shnewer's mother to cook a lamb for what the memo describes as an aqiqa, a traditional welcoming party for a newborn. This was soon after Omar's daughter was born. Shnewer suggested a mosque where Omar could have the party, and, according to the document, Omar agreed to pay Shnewer's mother $350 for preparing the lamb feast.
Tapes and FBI memos also refer to conversations about jihad and attacks on Fort Dix, surveillance trips to the base and other targets, and philosophical discussions about Muslim extremism. Other evidence includes a map of Fort Dix given to Omar by Tatar, whose family owned a nearby pizza shop, and an attempt by two of the Dukas to purchase seven assault rifles from an undercover agent posing as friend of Omar's who was an illegal gun dealer. There are also conversations noted in FBI investigative memos but not recorded because Omar said he wasn't wearing a wire or because the recording device malfunctioned or the tape ran out.
Defense attorneys point to those alleged lapses - and to the fact that Omar had the ability to turn his recorder off - as opportunities for Omar to fabricate information or steer the conversation in a certain direction before he turned on his tape. Omar was "an extremely good used-car salesman," Cipparone, Shnewer's lawyer, said last week. He was adept not only at closing the deal but, "in many respects, creating it."
#1
I'm willing to punish those who indulge in this kind of violent fantasy by assuming they meant it. Were they good guys they would have called the FBI to turn in the inciter, or at least dropped his acquaintance.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says India has never been a threat to Pakistan, and that militants in Indian-administered Kashmir are terrorists.
But he said it in English so it doesn't count ...
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he also seemed to acknowledge that his government has given consent to US air strikes in Pakistan.
The unorthodox views run counter to those held by Pakistan's military, which views India as a threat. Pakistan's powerful military has long-defined India as an existential threat, and in the past it has given covert backing to the militants in Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars but have made recent peace moves. The two regional rivals did take part in a faltering peace process under the former president, General Pervez Musharraf.
But suspicions always ran deep, and relations have soured recently. Mr Zardari's comments thus mark a radical break with the past.
The Wall Street Journal also reports that Mr Zardari acknowledged that the US was firing missiles at militant targets inside Pakistan with his government's consent. "We have an understanding, in the sense that we're going after an enemy together," it quotes him as saying.
But the Pakistani army is adamant that coalition forces do not have permission for such cross-border raids. These incursions have stoked enormous anger in Pakistan - and Mr Zardari's comments may do the same.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/05/2008 16:57 ||
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Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed Saturday opposed the trend of forming armed Lashkars in the NWFP and the tribal belt, terming it as a conspiracy to ignite civil war in the country.
Raising a tehreek full of armed and dangerous turbans who control large swatches of state territory and carry out warfare against neighboring states certainly wouldn't do it.
"The uprising of masses and taking arms against own people is a conspiracy being hatched by anti-state elements seeking militarisation of the society," Qazi told an Eid Milan party at Shahi Bagh.
Taliban forces conducting warfare against the national army and chopping people's heads off wouldn't do that.
Flanked by former MNA Shabir Ahmed Khan and Jamaat spokesman Muhammad Iqbal, Qazi opposed formation of the tribal Lashkars in Bajaur Agency, Kurram Agency, Darra Adamkhel and other areas and expressed the fear that the situation might lead to a civil war. "The government is pushing the NWFP and Fata towards the conditions created in erstwhile East Pakistan which led to the Dhaka debacle," he alleged.
Certainly JI had an interesting role in that...
The masses are not willing to support the Army in the ongoing operation unless the Army gives up fighting for the US agenda in the region, the Jamaat chief said.
"I personally checked with the masses, and that's what they told me."
Commenting on the ongoing insurgency in the region, he said it was America's conspiracy to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear assets. The US does not want to see Pakistan as a powerful country and the ongoing militancy and insurgency, he said, is a tool to destabilise the country.
"If it wasn't for the U.S., none of this would be happening."
About the religious parties' reluctance to stand up against the militant organisations, Qazi said: "Anti-state elements have joined militant organisations funded by America and India. It's now the responsibility of the intelligence agencies to search out these elements and make public their identities."
Which sez absolutely zip about the incestuous relationship between the fundo parties and the hard boyz.
About the suicide attack in Wali Bagh, Qazi said the perpetrators of such heinous crimes wanted to spread chaos in the country. Those shedding blood of innocent Muslims, Taliban or other groups, are agents of the US and India, he said. The seed of the existing insurgency in Pakistan was sown by former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf when he decided to appease America by crushing his own people setting aside the country's interest, he claimed.
Can't argue with that sort of logic, I guess...
The Jamaat chief said that Pakistan should abandon its policy of following American policies and that seems to be the only solution to all its problems. "We have not yet accepted the set-up as democratic as Musharraf's policies are still being followed," he said.
This article starring:
Bajaur Agency
Darra Adamkhel
Kurram Agency
MUHAMAD IQBAL
Jamaat-e-Islami
QAZI HUSEIN AHMED
Jamaat-e-Islami
SHABIR AHMED KHAN
Jamaat-e-Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Villagers collected the corpses and body parts on Saturday of the people killed by a US missile strike overnight, but there were no indications that any of those killed were regarded by US counterterrorism agencies as top-tier Al Qaeda targets.
A pilotless drone aircraft launched the attack late on Friday, targeting a tribesman's house in Mohammad Khel, a village 30 kilometres west of Miranshah. Two intelligence officials, citing reports from field agents and informants, told AP that eight Arabs and 14 Taliban died in the attack.
The Taliban included a Haqqani commander who had invited the others to dinner, they said. The commander, his father and two young sons were among the dead Taliban, the officials said. Six of the Arabs were buried in the village on Saturday morning, while militants took the other two bodies to an undisclosed location, they said.
The officials said they had no information indicating that any senior Taliban leader was killed. "We found body parts scattered all over the place in the ruins, someone's hand, someone's leg," Bakht Ali, one of the villagers, told Reuters.
An intelligence official based in the region said a woman and three children were among those killed. Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was 'speculation' that many were foreign terrorists, but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.
Lt Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny US involvement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Good lip work. We'll keep a close eye on the hands.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I hear a lot of rumors in Pakistan about Zardari, how he is corrupt and encourages chaos and even killed his wife. I don't believe it but many Pakistani's seem to.
#2
Don't forget the mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Bhutto sons, Benazhir's brothers. It tis strange that no one was ever arrested for the murders.
Aswat al-Iraq: A lawmaker from Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militias rejected on Saturday a visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Iraq, adding the visit only aims to press Iraqis into signing a security agreement with Washington.
"The U.S. administration, through Negroponte, is trying to add certain items that impinge upon Iraq's sovereignty," Aqeel Abdelhussein told Aswat al-Iraq. "We reject these visits altogether and urge the Iraqi side to maintain the country's sovereignty and also to negotiate the occupation forces' withdrawal from Iraq," he said.
Abdelhussein, whose Sadrist bloc occupies 30 out of a total 275 seats in the Iraqi parliament, said that Iraq would be in no need of such agreement, particularly after the Iraqi army succeeded to fine-tune security conditions. "The agreement would lead Iraq to a dark tunnel," he said, ruling out that this agreement would be signed this year due to many outstanding problems in its items.
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad had announced on Friday evening that Negroponte arrived on an unannounced visit to Iraq for talks with Iraqi officials on political, security and economic progress in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey Dipsh$$, it's over. Nobody cares what you think any more. You've been exposed as not only a weak horse, but that you carry carrion and corruption with you wherever you go. Just go away - you're no longer relevant to ANYTHING but your own ego.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/05/2008 17:32 Comments ||
Top||
The war of words between Israel and Hizbullah continued on Sunday, with a top official in the guerrilla group brushing off "threats" made by IDF Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, in which the latter said that the next war would have serious consequences for the villages which support Hizbullah. "The resistance is completely ready and Israel's threats do not scare [us]," Sheikh Nabil Kaouk said during a rally in southern Lebanon. His comments were published by United Arab Emirates newspaper Al-Hilaj on Sunday.
"This paper tiger state will collapse at the hands of resistance fighters, which achieved a glowing victory in 2000 and 2006 against this thieving entity which has taken Palestinian land," Kaouk continued. "The liberation strategy of the resistance has proven its effectiveness, and has demonstrated its success on the highest levels," he said. "The proof of this is seen in the Lebanese flags and the flags of the resistance flying in the winds of victory next to the Golan and the Shaba Farms."
Kaouk then reiterated comments previously made by other Hizbullah officials in which the group vowed to fight on until the Shaba Farms area was out of Israeli control. "The enemy must know that as long as it occupies our land in Shaba Farms it will never be secure because the resistance is still bound to the national obligation to complete what was achieved in 2000 (the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon)," he said. "The strategy of the resistance is the fundamental source of Lebanon's strength in returning the remaining land, because the diplomats have reached a dead-end," he concluded. "Israel, which is frustrated by its many internal problems, is not capable of launching a new war against Lebanon," Kaouk said, adding that the comments made by Eizenkot were nothing but propaganda.
In an interview with Yediot Ahronot over the weekend, Eizenkot said that the next war, if and when it happens, must be settled quickly, with force and without blinking in the face of international criticism. "We have the ability to do this," he said. "I have a great force in comparison to what was. I have no excuse for the inability to achieve the goals which will be imposed on me."
"Hizbullah knows full well that [rocket] fire from villages will lead to their destruction," Eizenkot continued. "Before [Hizbullah leader Hassan] Nasrallah gives orders to shoot at Israel, he will need to think 30 times whether he wants to destroy his support base in the villages."
#1
That's why the leaders of Hizbullah walk openly among their people and publicly post the times and places of their meetings for the usual PR grip and grin photo ops.
#2
Arabs have mastered the art of starting fights that they cannot win and then complaining when the going gets tough. And the West has mastered the art of caving.
Retired IDF and high-ranking Mossad officials have praised Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying he would be a better partner for Israel in the White House.
Brig.-Gen (Ret.) Shlomo Brom, former IDF commander of strategic planning, said that the Bush administration caused major damage to Israel's interests. He said Obama would be a better president for Israel than his rival John McCain, whose policies, Brom said, would likely be too close to those of Bush that were "not so helpful for Israel."
Similarly, Yossi Alpher, a former Mossad senior officer, said that McCain would maintain the same pose that the Bush administration adopted, which, Alpher said, had failed. He said Bush's approach had strengthened radical Islamic elements, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Alpher said that he was excited when he saw Obama's readiness to bring a fresh approach to the region.
Col. (res.) Shaul Arieli, a former brigade commander in the northern Gaza Strip, said it seemed Obama was the best person to open a new page in the relationship both with the Arab world and Israel, and to bring stability to the Middle East. Former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak said that during the Bush Administration, US involvement in the Middle East was "not professionally handled."
Maj.-Gen. (Ret.) Amram Mitzna said that another four years of indecision, stagnancy and a lack of intense US involvement in the Middle East peace process would be bad for Israel. He claimed Obama would achieve a greater involvement and that he "brings many hopes."
Former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy also spoke fondly of the Democratic candidate, saying that he brought a breath of fresh air, was "impressive" and a "great communicator."
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Giora Inbar, a former IDF commander in south Lebanon, said he would personally vote for Obama to help Israel. Inbar said he was not convinced that the Bush method was the right way to deal with the axis of evil and that he would welcome anyone who chose to handle it differently.
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Uzi Dayan hailed Obama's willingness to be engaged with the Iranians in order to stop the Islamic Republic from attaining nuclear capabilities.
#3
Maj.-Gen. (Ret.) Amram Mitzna said that another four years of indecision, stagnancy and a lack of intense US involvement in the Middle East peace process would be bad for Israel.
Yes and don't forget, it was the Goerge Bush Administration which took down the pro-Israeli Saddam Hussein government.
#7
How come all these 'endoresments' are coming from 'former' or 'retired' people? where is The One's endorsemetn from somebody actually drawing an active duty paycheck????
#8
I plowed through the hideous Jpost commenting system to see if I could garner any insights. Closest thing to one was a suggestion that Obama is actually the Manchurian Candidate from the Mossad. Would explain a lot...
Do American Jews respond well to Israeli grandees telling them who to vote for? I'd tell them to f-off and look after matters closer to home.
Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have taken measures to prevent killings of leaders of the Palestinian Authority and its political power base, Fatah party, by the Islamic group Hamas, a pan-Arab newspaper reported on Saturday.
The London-based daily al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted Hamas members in West Bank as saying that the Islamists plan to take over the PA-ruled West Bank in the same way they took control of the Gaza Strip last year. "The oppression that the security services put on us will not last for long," a Hamas supporter was quoted as saying, referring to the Fatah crackdowns on Hamas members in the West Bank.
The source added that security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "have not learned their lesson from what happened in Gaza."
Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces in the Gaza Strip in June 2007 and seized control of the salient in reaction, Hamas claims, to attempts by Abbas' U.S.- and Israeli-backed Fatah movement to prevent Hamas from ruling after the Islamist party won parliamentary elections.
The Gaza Strip and West Bank became politically separate entities, with the two warring sides cracking down on their opponents.
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas leader, based in Gaza, said the crackdown by pro-Abbas forces against Hamas members in the West Bank "will backfire."
Tensions between Hamas and Fatah continue despite Egyptian efforts to launch a Palestinian national dialogue.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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(PTI) The Sri Lankan army chief today said his forces are on the verge of capturing the key LTTE stronghold of Kilinochchi as fighter jets, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery pounded rebel positions leaving 21 Tamil Tigers dead. "We are two kms away from the Kilinochchi town limits," Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said in Anuradhapura, 212 kms north of capital Colombo.
MI-24 Helicopter gunships targeted LTTE bunkers on the city outskirts and an air force spokesman said that the air-action was timed to support the push of the ground forces into the town. Three soldiers were also killed in the operation.
The control of Kilinochchi could be decisive in the island nation's over three decades of civil strife. Once the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam lose the town, they would have no option but to fall back on Mullaittivu or go back guerrilla warfare.
Sri Lankan army has been on the offensive against the Tigers since January this year when Colombo scrapped a tattered 2002 ceasefire with the rebels, wresting control of number of towns held by the LTTE.
According to government figures, the Tamil Tigers have lost more than 7,000 fighters in this period while the military losses have been put at 700.
Fonseka, who was in the Buddhist city to attend the traditional Army Flag Blessing ceremony ahead of the Army Day on October 10, said the government proposed to declare Viswamadu and Otisudan in Kilinochchi a no war zone after the army consolidated its position there.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Saturday, Oct. 4, the Bush administration indefinitely shelved its plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran for the first time in three decades, following Irans refusal to discontinue uranium enrichment and come clean on its suspected weapons program. Rather than appearing to try and influence the US presidential race, it was therefore decided to leave the decision to President Bushs successor.
DEBKAfiles military sources disclose that another factor influencing the decision was fresh intelligence that Iran has gone back to pumping into Iraq Shiite combatants trained by Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah instructors. Several hundred have crossed over and some are posted in Baghdads Shiite districts.
Furthermore, the backdoor US-Iranian meetings to resolve the nuclear controversy have run aground. Tehran appears to have taken advantage of Americas financial crisis and weak moment to step up the momentum of its nuclear arms program. Iran has also been encouraged by North Koreas reactivation of its nuclear reactor in defiance of US efforts to bring Pyongyang back in line.
In sum, the Bush administrations diplomatic offensive for an accommodation with Iran on the nuclear dispute, Iraq and Lebanon, has foundered. For a time, Tehran was helpful; it reined in Shiite militia attacks in Iraq and shared intelligence on al Qaeda and other terrorists, while in Lebanon an understanding between them brought about the election of a president. Bush and the heads of his administration had hoped to bow out leaving a certain level stability behind them in these areas.
However in recent weeks, when the administrations focus shifted to putting out financial fires and the onus of the war on terror moved from the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Washingtons understandings with Tehran faded into the background of major events.
Israel has lost out on its strategic options twice: At the beginning of 2008, the Bush administration discarded its military option for dealing with Iran and leaned hard on Israel to refrain from a unilateral strike against its nuclear facilities. The Olmert government was advised to rely on international diplomacy and sanctions. This substitute option has also gone bankrupt leaving Israel high and dry with the prospect of an unstoppable nuclear-armed Iran.
A senior Iranian nuclear official has rejected reports that Tehran might halt uranium enrichment for guaranteed nuclear fuel import.
Several Western media outlets reported on Thursday that Iran's ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog agency, Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, had suggested that Iran might reconsider its nuclear activities should it receive guarantees of foreign supplies of enriched uranium.
Soltaniyeh said on Saturday that he had been misunderstood on the subject.
He had told an IAEA meeting in Brussels that the outcome of failed negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) had revealed that 'there was no guarantee for countries like Iran to be provided with foreign supplies'.
Western media reported, however, that his remarks suggested that Iran's nuclear program is conditional on foreign promises.
In an interview with Fars news agency on Friday, Soltaniyeh spoke out to set the record straight and clarified that Iran will not change its nuclear approach but is open to negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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The Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of Iran's military has granted executive powers to his senior military aide.
The senior military advisor to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, has been appointed as the top assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the military.
The position, which places the Iranian general above the Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, would grant Maj. Gen. Rahim-Safavi executive privileges.
The former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced on Saturday that Ayatollah Khamenei had communicated his duties to him. "The Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of the military has tasked me with 11 duties which are not among the common responsibilities of the IRGC, military, and joint Chiefs of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces," Rahim-Safavi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So what are the eleven special duties?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/05/2008 11:30 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Cooking
Cleaning
Washing
Ironing
Mow the grass
Shoe shine boy
Pick up dry cleaning
Answer the phone
Go to the post office
Get the oil changed
Walk the cat (dogs are un-Islamic)
Posted by: Fred ||
10/05/2008 16:16 Comments ||
Top||
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 Somali pirates slung their AK47 rifles over their shoulders as they peered into the dark hold, using torches to light up the bowels of the Ukrainian freighter. "We couldn't believe our eyes," said Sugule Ali, commander of the so-called Voluntary Marines for Somalia, speaking to The Sunday Times over a satellite phone from the MV Faina. "We were horrified that people were bringing these weapons through Somali waters." 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mourad Medelci has stressed that al-Qaeda in Algeria is being financed from foreign parties, without unveiling their names, while indicating that counterterrorism in Algeria has succeeded. Mourad Medelci has unveiled, in an interview with Asharq Alawsat newspaper, at the margin of the UN General Assembly, what could be considered as a developed position of Algeria vis-à-vis Al-Qaeda Organization, which claims terror acts in Algeria since 2007.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, thought to have suffered a stroke in August, made his first appearance in about 50 days, the state's media said on Saturday.
Five years ago, he was a bankrupt felon with a conviction for passing bad checks. He was facing deportation. And he was living in a subsidized, low-income apartment complex in Paulsboro, scratching for cash by trying to sell used cars from the complex's parking lot. Today he is the central figure in the Fort Dix terrorism trial, an FBI informant who may have received more than $3,000 a month to wear a body wire and record conversations.
Villagers collected the corpses and body parts on Saturday of the people killed by a US missile strike overnight, but there were no indications that any of those killed were regarded by US counterterrorism agencies as top-tier Al Qaeda targets.
Aswat al-Iraq: A lawmaker from Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militias rejected on Saturday a visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Iraq, adding the visit only aims to press Iraqis into signing a security agreement with Washington. 
The war of words between Israel and Hizbullah continued on Sunday, with a top official in the guerrilla group brushing off "threats" made by IDF Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, in which the latter said that the next war would have serious consequences for the villages which support Hizbullah. "The resistance is completely ready and Israel's threats do not scare [us]," Sheikh Nabil Kaouk said during a rally in southern Lebanon. His comments were published by United Arab Emirates newspaper Al-Hilaj on Sunday. 
Retired IDF and high-ranking Mossad officials have praised Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying he would be a better partner for Israel in the White House. 
Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have taken measures to prevent killings of leaders of the Palestinian Authority and its political power base, Fatah party, by the Islamic group Hamas, a pan-Arab newspaper reported on Saturday. 
(PTI) The Sri Lankan army chief today said his forces are on the verge of capturing the key LTTE stronghold of Kilinochchi as fighter jets, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery pounded rebel positions leaving 21 Tamil Tigers dead. "We are two kms away from the Kilinochchi town limits," Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said in Anuradhapura, 212 kms north of capital Colombo.
A senior Iranian nuclear official has rejected reports that Tehran might halt uranium enrichment for guaranteed nuclear fuel import. 
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of Iran's military has granted executive powers to his senior military aide. 
