France and Germany refused US requests to immediately promise extra combat troops for Afghanistan, frustrating President Barack Obama's hopes that more allies would bolster his troop surge. But they love him ...
Britain has already offered an extra 500 troops and Italy has said it will send an unspecified number, while Poland is considering deploying several hundred more soldiers.
US officials say Obama is about to announce a surge of 30,000 troops and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week predicted other nations would provide another 10,000. Lucky to get 1000. What's the payoff for other countries to contribute any, even the troops already in country? Le Monde reported that Obama was seeking 1,500 extra French troops for Afghanistan, on top of the 3,400 already there.
Germany has around 4,300 troops in northern Afghanistan, the third largest contributor to a 100,000-strong international force after the United States and Britain, whose extra 500 troops will take it past 10,000 in the war.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after a telephone call from Obama that Poland could beef up its contingent of 2,000 troops in Afghanistan by several hundred.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged Monday to send more police trainers and civilian aid experts to Afghanistan, saying his country was in it "for the long haul." But Rudd, who met in Washington this week with Obama, did not offer more troops beyond the 1,550 that Australia has already committed.
Posted by: ed ||
12/01/2009 18:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
To say no before he even gives his big speech is really flipping him the bird.
A top Afghan military official said Tuesday that a key part of President Barack Obama's new war plan Ā accelerating the training of Afghan soldiers Ā does not go far enough to meet the country's defense needs.
Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the new head of a U.S.-NATO command responsible for training and developing Afghan soldiers and police, said Tuesday that although the groundwork is being laid to expand the Afghan National Army beyond the current target of 134,000 troops by Oct. 31, 2010, no fixed higher target has been set. There is a notional goal of eventually fielding 240,000 soldiers and 160,000 police, but Caldwell said that could change.
"Although that is a goal and where we think it could eventually go to, it's not a hard, firm, fixed number," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. For now, Caldwell's orders are to reach the targets of 134,000 soldiers and 96,800 police by next October.
Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, operational commander of Afghanistan's defense ministry, said a 134,000-member Afghan National Army is shy of what is needed. "The 134,000 army, which has been approved so far, it is not enough for our country," he said. "We have requested to increase that number to at least 240,000."
He said even during the 1970s, during the reign of King Mohammad Zahir, the ranks of the Afghan army didn't fall below 200,000 Ā and the target was for 250,000 troops. "Then, everywhere was peace. There was no fighting," he said. "Today, with Taliban militants and international terrorists, we even need more troops than during the king's time."
Posted by: ed ||
12/01/2009 17:50 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The only way the Afghan army will amount to anything is if we take their best and brightest new recruits, and intensively educate and train them to be NCOs. Literally burn every bit of Afghan culture out of them, and give them two years of classroom from elementary school up through NCO school. 12 hour days.
At the same time, take every orphan in the country and put them through all their schooling, just so that they can be adequate corporals, then intense military training to teach them how to operate privates. No distinction between males and females.
A few thousand females with intestinal fortitude, used to respect and discipline, and anybody who tells them to put on a burqa, they can legally hurt.
Obama will try to sell a skeptical public on his bigger, costlier war plan Tuesday by coupling the large new troop infusion with an emphasis on stepped-up training for Afghan forces that he says will allow the U.S. to leave.
Gibbs also promised that Obama would lay out an end-game scenario for U.S. involvement. "We want to - as quickly as possible - transition the security of the Afghan people over to those national security forces in Afghanistan," he said Tuesday. "This can't be nation-building. It can't be an open-ended forever commitment."
With U.S. casualties in Afghanistan sharply increasing and little sign of progress, the war Obama once liked to call one "of necessity," not choice, has grown less popular with the public and within his own Democratic party. In recent days, leading Democrats have talked of setting tough conditions on deeper U.S. involvement, or even staging outright opposition.
In Afghanistan, rampant government corruption and inefficiency have made U.S. success much harder. Obama was expected to place tough conditions on Karzai's government, along with endorsing a stepped-up training program for the Afghan armed forces along the outline recommended this fall by U.S. trainers.
That schedule would expand the Afghan army to 134,000 troops by next fall, three years earlier than once envisioned.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's European allies are unlikely to send as many troops as he wants to Afghanistan but some analysts say this could rally support at home for his expected pledge to dispatch more U.S. troops.
Obama is widely expected to announce on Tuesday he will send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to help quell violence that has reached its deadliest level since the Taliban's overthrow in 2001. Pentagon officials hope NATO member-states will supplement the buildup with up to 10,000 of their own troops and trainers, to make up the shortfall on the 40,000 additional troops General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, says are needed to counter the resurgent Taliban.
But NATO diplomats and defense analysts say about half that figure is a more realistic amount to expect from Europe. Britain says it expects NATO allies other than the United States to pledge 5,000 additional troops.
"He (Obama) would prefer they put in more, but one way to argue the case in the United States is to say that once again the Europeans are letting us down and we have to do it ourselves," said Bob Jackson, an analyst at London's Chatham House think tank.
He said this could resonate with the U.S. public, adding: "In the United States, calling for the Europeans to do more and then finding they won't will show that he's a fairly tough minded leader -- it will show he's standing up for something."
Nah, we know better. His dithering the last two months has demonstrated that Bambi too is an invertebrate.
NATO diplomats said the alliance was hoping for more than 5,000 troops from non-U.S. allies, but some diplomats and analysts said the actual number could be even lower as some countries could present troops that deployed for August elections in Afghanistan as reinforcements.
Discussions will take place at a NATO foreign ministers meeting this week and at a military conference next Monday, but some allies are likely to wait for an international conference envisaged in January before making new commitments.
There are about 110,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, anchored by a 68,000-strong American force. While army chiefs have called for more soldiers, waning public support in Europe and the United States has made meeting such demands difficult. European countries could find themselves under pressure from Obama to commit significantly more resources to the civilian effort, including police training.
NATO Defense College Analyst Christopher Schnaubelt said some EU countries had capabilities, such as in training paramilitary police forces, that the United States did not have. "Hopefully they will be more helpful on the police training. Five thousand soldiers plus a bigger increase in police training forces could have an important and substantive effect," he said.
Tarak Barkawi, a defense expert at Britain's Cambridge University, said continued engagement from Europe was more important to Obama than troop numbers. "In fact small troop contingents from different European countries are often more trouble than they are worth for the Americans. What they are looking for is a sign of commitment from the Europeans," he said.
However, he said it was unrealistic to be expect to train effective defense forces in a relatively short time. "To say a three-, four-, five-year commitment to training troops is going to get you a stable state you can withdraw from doesn't seem to be the case," he said.
He said host countries tended to become dependent on Americans and Europeans to do their training and run their logistics. "It is entirely unclear that tens of thousands of foreign troops are somehow going to produce what centuries of foreign involvement in Afghanistan haven't done up to now," he said.
Jackson said Europe risked losing credibility if it failed to respond in Afghanistan and it would call into question Europe's ambitions become a significant world force. But he dismissed arguments that it could lead to a collapse of NATO as an effective Euro-Atlantic alliance.
"There have been these kinds of crisis ever since NATO started," he said, "but there are fundamental reasons why transatlantic unity will remain in place.
"The Europeans are going to get mocked, yes, but is NATO going to fall apart, no. The U.S. will remain the supreme leader of the Euro-Atlantic alliance, and it's going to prove that Europe can't provide the new world leadership it talks of."
Yup, the Euros make even Bambi look tough.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Tell the Euro-zone no need to rush it anymore, as per
PAKISTAN TRIBUNE >[Obama Strategy = USA] "WE WILL BE OUT OF AFGHANISTAN BY 2017".
#2
"'There have been these kinds of crisis ever since NATO started,' he said, 'but there are fundamental reasons why transatlantic unity will remain in place.'"
Oh, really?
The transatlantic alliance has withstood Europe stabbing America in the back, but will it survive America betraying Europe?
Europeans wanted Obama, now they got Obama.
#5
ĀEuropean countries could find themselves under pressure from Obama to commit significantly more resources to the civilian effort, including police training.Ā
HeyĀ whereĀs that foreign policy nuance we were promised? No one is all that surprised that the bad guys mock you for your limp-power strategies. But were talking Ābout the Euros here. We thought mixing BarryĀs dreamy chestnut eyes and soothing rhetoric with HillaryĀs furrowed brow and maniacal laugh was supposed to bowl them over. CĀmon man!
#7
To cut some slack to sarko (I really despise him, so, bear with me in that rescue effort), who was asked 1500 more tropps and most likely won't send them (or will send less, or in other ways, such as police trainers or things like that)... he just CAN'T send them.
I don't mean he WON'T, I'm saying that everybody is mostly ok to agree that he CAN'T.
The french gvt is broke (not that it prevents it from borrowing yet more money, hiring yet some more civil servants, giving yet some more pay rises to its members, spending yet some more money on festivities, culrtural grants, etc, etc... IE all the expenses that the french banana republic allows itselfs so the people at the top remain rich and spoiled)...
The french army is broke, and it's broken. I don't think you understand the state of dereliction french armed forces are in, the shirak "professionalization" of the army, as his Gaullist Grandeur would have had it, was the final nail. France has no more small arms industry, cannot produce its rifles parts (the Famas was a good design in its time, but has aged badly with zero upgrade, and the 140 000 or so remaining out of the 350 000 produced are literally kept together with duct tape, not to mention the recent fiasco with "barrel upgrade"), small caliber ammo (heck, even the proprietary 5.56 french ammo is now outsourced, and as the latest batches from the UAE have been a disaster, the french army had to fall back on emergency aid from the USA, and going back to... israeli-made ammo. Yes, anti-isreaeli, "Arab Policy" France buy his ammo from Israel, how funny), equipement is crap, soldiers's training is not up to earlier standards, as money is scarce (troops sent to afghanistan had crash ranges time, which proved expensive).
Anyway, the afghan french troops had to have a dire equipement upgrade, just to put them at a reasonable even level with other Nato troops. So far, it's 450 millios euros a year. The french army CANNOT already afford this (overseas operation pays are delayed six month), outfitting 1500 more troops with upgraded equipments, vehicles,... simply isn't doable.
Crack any 'cheese easting...' joke you want, it's just that. France is still able to do 'police work' in his african backyard, increasingly less so, but, any real force projection is just undoable. On some level, this is not new, IIUC, shirak once actually envisaged sending 10 000 soldiers along for the OIF, and was told by the military brass "don't dream, jacko, we could do this in GWI, there's no way we could ever do it now".
Pacifism may be a good policy, for people who don't have the means to fight back, I guess. And by "good", i mean "the only left".
#9
Discussions will take place at a NATO foreign ministers meeting this week
And that's about all they're good for. Face it, if the Germans aren't allowed out after dark and the Italians won't leave the base, they're probably more a hindrance than a help anyway. And, as most know, no one really needs to show the French how to avoid a fight.
#10
Crack any 'cheese easting...' joke you want, it's just that. France is still able to do 'police work' in his african backyard, increasingly less so, but, any real force projection is just undoable. On some level, this is not new, IIUC, shirak once actually envisaged sending 10 000 soldiers along for the OIF, and was told by the military brass "don't dream, jacko, we could do this in GWI, there's no way we could ever do it now".
Pacifism may be a good policy, for people who don't have the means to fight back, I guess. And by "good", i mean "the only left".
You are a font of useful information, anonymous5089. I s'pose we should be grateful that should the formal surrender ever come, the enemy won't be getting a usable army along with it.
#11
And, as most know, no one really needs to show the French how to avoid a fight.
Hum, thought I had outgrown those "mine is bigger than yours" silly online episodes (arguing on the internet is like the special olympics..."), but, since I just painted a pretty grim and sadly somewhat objective picture of the french army, just allow me what follows...
(Anyway, my claims to maturity are just absurd, I've never outgrown anything)
I guess I should up the ante with WWI (1.4 millions killed, guess they forgot how to avoid to fight), the 1940 debacle (100 000 killed fighting the german army over one month an a half - obviously, even the crap 1940 french army grunts forgot to drop their rifle; incidentally, german losses were 27 000, and the french didn't "surrender", it was an armistice, after being trunced, which amounts to the same, but has a very distinct political & military meaning IIUC).
Btw, french losses so far in afghanistan are 36, tiny by historical standards and less than Canada or the UK, but, still, quite a few of those fellows forgot how to avoid a fight, most probably.
As for germans & italians, I'll let any concerned party comments, if any.
#12
Btw, don't want to come out too much as a sanctimonious prick after what had been really some stereotypes-based light humor, with some grounding in Reality (no offense, Woozle, it's just I'm tired of that, and I'm grumpy today), but I figure that if I "correct" people online or not after they tell blonde jokes (hate thoses), I can do the same with different hot buttons.
#17
I guess I should up the ante with WWI (1.4 millions killed, guess they forgot how to avoid to fight), the 1940 debacle (100 000 killed fighting the german army over one month an a half - obviously, even the crap 1940 french army grunts forgot to drop their rifle; incidentally, german losses were 27 000, and the french didn't "surrender", it was an armistice, after being trunced, which amounts to the same, but has a very distinct political & military meaning IIUC).
Well, I wasn't meaning to make this personal (my comments were meant to be my opinion only), but it seems to me you just may have left out a few salient facts concerning the French and their contributions to WWII (and just how many of those 1.4M in WWI are you asking us to believe were wearing a uniform?). I don't have the time or the inclination to fill you in, but hey, I'm told many French think it was the French who liberated them LOL.
Yeah, it's obvious any criticism of the French or anyone else not doing their share in Afghanistan is nothing but ... what? Right-wing rhetoric?
Well, they can stuff their righteous indignation over the deserved criticism of France up their socialist croissants.
#18
I would just like to interrupt the Euro-bashing fest (yes, I do it as well) to say that if you were in their shoes, you would go running, too.
I live in Estonia. For the size of its force, Estonia has lost a larger percentage of its soldiers than any other NATO country.
For what, exactly? The 'value' of its relationship with the United States?
Obama is announcing a troop buildup tonight, and a withdrawal by the elections in 2012. Regardless of the facts on the ground.
So, I read into it that we aren't in it to win, and the death of every soldier from here on out is a waste.
Yeah, the war isn't popular here. But the State Department (like during the Iraq War) has not articulated the case why the fight is necessary.
And the anti-ballistic shield pullout showed how much Obama values its "allies" in Europe.
If I was the prime minister of Estonia, I would pull my troops out. Now.
#21
anonymous5089, I've got nuthin' against funny blonde jokes. I even know a few myself. Really. ;)
BTW, thanks for your current analysis of the French military. Had no idea it could be that bad with the supply issue. I thought the big problem was the (possibly) questionable loyalty of Muslim troops in the ranks.
I stand second to no one in willingness to bash the cheese eating surrender monkeys when they fail to man up. But in this case, they are just refusing to get in a fight on the side of a guy who doesn't want to win. It doesn't make Bambi look tough, just stupid.
Libya sentenced two Swiss businessmen to 16 months in prison and a fine on Tuesday, an official told AFP, in a row stemming from the arrest in Geneva last year of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son.
Posted by: ed ||
12/01/2009 18:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[Maghrebia] Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika met with the head of the US military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) on Wednesday (November 25th) to discuss increased co-operation on key matters, including counter-terrorism operations.
"I was very pleased to hear President Bouteflika's opinion on a number of important issues that are also critical for the United States," AFRICOM Commander General William Ward said after the meeting.
"I have come to listen to the concerns of political and military officials in Algeria, and to learn about their positions on the issues that are on the table," said Ward. "[W]e need to work together to confront the phenomena of extremism and violence."
The US official reiterated Washington's support for Algeria's anti-terrorism efforts, and told the press that Washington values Algeria's leading role in security issues, especially counter-terrorism.
Ward said he had not come to Algeria to ask it to host the AFRICOM headquarters, a matter that has been the subject of media speculation. Washington "hasn't made a request in this regard either to Algeria or to any other African state," he added.
The US official said he valued Algerian officials' positions on "developments in the continent's security situation and terrorist threats". The two sides discussed enhancing their security co-operation in the field of information-sharing through training.
Algeria's minister-delegate to the Defence Ministry, Abdelmalek Guenaizia, also met with Ward and his high-level military delegation, as did Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, Minister of African and Maghreb Affairs Abdelkader Messahel and senior officials of the Defence Ministry and the National People's Army.
The meetings came after a similar visit by the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Africa Vicki Huddleston on October 19th.
Algeria's ambassador in Washington, Abdallah Baali, said in a November 9th press statement that "there are no differences between Algeria and the United States regarding AFRICOM," adding, "As far as combating terrorism is concerned, regional countries, foremost among them Algeria, have taken important steps to co-ordinate and intensify common action to confront terrorism. The US is attaching special importance to this issue and is actually supporting the efforts of Algeria and regional countries."
"As far as AFRICOM is concerned, an official from the Pentagon visited Algeria and held lengthy talks about this issue and about combating terrorism in Africa," the ambassador added. "The position that has been officially declared by the US is that AFRICOM has chosen the German city of Stuttgart as its permanent headquarters, and that it doesn't have any intentions to build military bases in Africa."
In the wake of Ward's visit, Algerian security affairs specialist Hocine Boulahia called Washington "keen on enhancing relations between the US Army and the Algerian Army in several fields based on common interests," adding that earlier in November, Algeria had "received a US medical team in the framework of the co-operation programme to help the military medical command in dealing with large-scale natural disasters".
"By virtue of its central and strategic location in the Maghreb, Algeria has now begun to emerge for Americans as the nucleus" for several US initiatives dealing with regional and multi-faceted co-operation, said Mohammed Saber, an Algerian professor of international affairs. Saber emphasised that this co-operation makes the countries' common interests more concrete in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[Bangla Daily Star] The Canadian government has decided to deport Lt Col (retd) SHMB Nur Chowdhury, a convicted fugitive killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to Bangladesh, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told journalists yesterday.
"The Canadian police have seized the passport of Nur Chowdhury since he has been illegally staying in Canada," he told a press briefing at his Secretariat office after his return from Canada yesterday.
"The Canadian police have submitted Nur Chowdhury's passport to the Bangladesh High Commission in Canada in July last year. The police also kept him under a security vigil as part of deportation process," he said.
Nur Chowdhury has to report to the local police station every week, the minister added.
Shafique also said he learned that Lt Col (retd) Shariful Haque Dalim, another convicted fugitive killer of Bangabandhu, had gone to Canada some days ago and left that country after staying there for a few days.
Nur Chowdhury is one of the 12 convicted killers of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. For the brutal killing of Bangabandhu along with most of his family members and relatives, including women and minors, the trial court awarded Nur death sentence in 1998. The High Court also upheld the judgement in 2001 that was also upheld by the Supreme Court on November 19.
It has been evident in the HC verdict that Nur Chowdhury and Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda shot the then president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at his Dhanmondi residence on August 15, 1975. Maj Huda, who is facing death penalty in this case, is now in the condemn cell of Dhaka Central Jail.
Nur who was a major in 1975 received some rewards including promotion to lieutenant colonel by the post-Mujib governments. He is one of those who were given diplomatic jobs as rewards for the August 15 and the killings of four national leaders on November 3, 1975.
Nur was appointed in different times as a councillor to Brazil, Tehran, and Algiers.
The law minister said he had a discussion with his Canadian counterpart about bringing Nur back. He said Nur Chowdhury earlier appealed to the Canadian government for permission to stay there as a citizen or a refugee but was rejected.
"Now he is trying to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada against the government's rejecting his appeal and for allowing him to remain in that country," he said. The minister added if the Canadian court rejects his appeal, there will be no bar in bringing him back.
"Nur Chowdhury stated in his appeal that he was convicted in the Bangabandhu murder case and if he is deported to Bangladesh, he would be executed," he said.
On the government move to bring back other fugitive convicts of the case, the minister said the foreign ministry has taken steps to that end.
Asked whether the government will make any extradition treaty with Libya and Pakistan where some of the convicts are hiding, the minister said the foreign ministry will deal with this matter.
In reply to another question on whether the absconding convicts can appeal to the SC against the death penalty, Shafique said they cannot file any appeal since they have no legal reason for making long delay in filing the appeal.
The Appellate Division on November 19 upheld the death penalties of 12 convicted ex-army officers for the August 15, 1975 assassination of Bangabandhu along with most of his family members.
If extradited, Nur Chowdhury would be the third condemned convict to return home to face justice in the case after Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda and Maj (retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed. Thailand returned Huda in 1998 after Dhaka and Bangkok signed an extradition treaty, while the United States returned Mohiuddin during the past military-backed caretaker government in June 2007 after he failed to obtain a federal court order to stay there.
Only five of the condemned convicts are now in death row in jail awaiting exhaustion of the legal procedures ahead of their execution. They are Lt Col (sacked) Syed Farooqur Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Maj (retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed and Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda.
Besides Nur and Dalim, the four other fugitive ex-army officials are Lt Col Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col Rashed Chowdhury, Capt MA Mazed and Risaldar Moslehuddin Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea has revalued its currency, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, quoting sources close to North Korean traders in China. The old currency started being exchanged for a new one Monday afternoon, Yonhap said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
New rate is: One cup of tree bark = three handfuls of grass.
AUSTRALIA'S most notorious terrorist Willie Brigitte will be free from jail next year, having served less than half his sentence for conspiring to blow up the nation's only nuclear reactor and the power grid.
Caribbean-born Muslim convert Brigitte made headlines in 2007 when he was sentenced in France, following his arrest in Sydney, to a maximum nine years in jail for joining an al-Qaeda-backed Pakistani terror cell out to bomb Lucas Heights nuclear plant, the national electricity grid and/or a military base.
But The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the French Justice Ministry is considering releasing the 41-year-old on an early release good behaviour plan - possibly in the new year. He is expected to immediately leave France for the Middle East, with Australia definitely off his itinerary.
Authorities close to his case in Paris said the decision would no doubt cause some diplomatic ructions in Australia but that the judiciary was a separate arm of the state.
The French national's lawyer Jean Claude Durimel last night confirmed the expected early release of his client.
"He will be free next year, it was nine years but with good behaviour," Mr Durimel said. "Of course he is happy. He had no problem in prison, he had good behaviour and when people are of good behaviour they may leave early."
Mr Durimel visited Brigitte in his maximum security cell in a complex outside Paris in the past couple of months to break the news.
"He is very angry because he thinks that the Australian authorities pursued him for a political purpose. He always said he was not a terrorist and that the file was empty but for him it was a political decision and not a judicial decision," Mr Durimel said.
Brigitte was born on the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe, a French territory, to affluent parents. He joined the navy in 1989 but quit four years later and moved to Paris.
There he embraced a radical form of Islam and began associating with members of Algeria's Islamist extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. He ran survival training lessons in the forests outside Paris for those wishing to fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Twice divorced, he moved to Pakistan in 2001 following the September 11 bombings. It was there he began to train in earnest for jihad with other foreigners at a base run by the al-Qaeda-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba, as they all awaited for their instructions to attack the West.
He later moved back to Paris but in May 2003 was given money and instructions to move to Sydney and make contact with an established terror cell and await further instructions. Ten days after he arrived in Sydney he married his third wife, unsuspecting army reservist and recent Muslim convert Melanie Brown.
She said she only became suspicious of her husband when he continuously questioned her about her time as a signaller in East Timor, the military equipment she used and her knowledge of army bases. She later sought to downplay the admission.
He moved about in Lakemba in Sydney's southwest, with authorities oblivious to his background or intent. He worked at a takeaway shop and attended a local mosque. Then he made contact with Sydney architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi. The Pakistan-born architect was central to the plot to bomb a major icon such as the nuclear plant, Pine Gap spy base in central Australia, the national electricity grid or Holsworthy barracks.
The plot was in its infancy when the French authorities discovered Brigitte had travelled to Australia and requested from the Australian Embassy any details of his travel. The request was initially ignored so the French sent ASIO a message, but it was a public holiday and the fax for urgent assistance was left on a machine in Canberra. About 10 days later Brigitte was arrested on immigration irregularities and was detained - and his full background revealed.
Brigitte was deported in October and during interrogation said he was trained as a bombmaker and dispatched to cause death and destruction.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Switzerland confronted an international backlash on Monday over a shock vote to ban new minarets and struggled to reassure stunned Muslims at home that they were not regarded as outcasts.
The Vatican joined Muslim leaders in expressing dismay after a referendum on Sunday voted for a constitutional ban on the construction of towers attached to mosques from where the faithful are traditionally called to prayer.
Some 57.5 percent of those who cast ballots supported the measure amid a high turnout by Swiss standards of 53 percent.
The result flew in the face of opinion polls that had predicted a 'no' vote, and caught out government ministers who had opposed the ban alongside the bulk of Switzerland's political and religious establishment.
The government rushed to assure the country's 400,000 Muslims, mainly from the Balkans and Turkey, that the outcome was not a rejection of the Muslim religion or culture.
However, the result was condemned in the world's most populous Muslim nations and elsewhere in Europe as a display of intolerance.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Democracy is soooo sloppy, especially when its results contradict the elites meme.
#2
Perhaps the offended Muslims should vote with their feet and leave. That would show the Swiss and hopefully it might start a trend. Nobody should stay in a free western country that they find inhospitable.
#3
It's just resisting cultural domination by outsiders. This is why they will show such hatred: first, that the Swiss are defending their own culture, and second that they are doing it with that dastardly democracy which has such a track record of making "wrong" decisions.
#4
Part of what makes the Constitution in general and the First Amendment in particular such a vital protection is so that things like this could never happen, even if people were to 'vote' for something ludicrous like this it would never be made into a law.
#6
Don't the stupid kuffar in Switzerland realize they are dhimmies. Everyone knows that the dhimmies should feel humiliated in the presence of the superior followers of Allan.
The rules are very simple, even a knuckle-dragging kuffar should understand them. As well as paying jizya (welfare) their buildings should never be higher than that of the Followers of the Religion of Peace(tm)
That the only reason they want minarets, it's just part of the natural order of things ordained by Allan.
#8
It should be emphasized that there is NO restriction on building mosques- it's the minarets that are the issue.
Someone ought to ask the 'elites' why a mono-ethnic and mono-cultural people with a reputation for bloody-mindedness might reject the building of absolutely alien superstructures that clash with the local customs, heritage, and traditions...
Remember when Obama put down small-town Americans who 'cling to their guns and religion?' This is the Swiss version.
#9
the swiss have a history of refusing religious zealotry into their country, esp. things that have steeple like appearences. they denied the catholics that architectural motif around 1800 something, now they're denying the muslims the same basic type of architecture big whup, it's their country. they still allow freedom of religion. the rest of EU needs to get a grip.
#10
Their history of intollerance to this type of thing as well as foreign immigration, might help explain, at least in part, how they've avoided conflicts for over 600 years.
#11
..'cling to their guns and religion?' This is the Swiss version.
The Swiss still operate under their national militia system. Each able bodied member keeps his assigned assault rifle and somewhere around 200 rounds of ammo in the home for quick mobilization. I suspect it works better than words on a document that keep getting 'reinterpreted' in making their system somewhat honest.
#12
I wouldnt call the Swiss intollerant, they just dont like tall skinny architecture mucking up the view. Muzzies are still free to do their thing. just "no Minaretes"
#15
Don't laugh, the muslim-tranzi machine is dog-piling on Switzerland; usual suspects like the ineffable jean ziegler (big pal of K-daffy - he's the co-founder and IIRC the first reecipient of the "kadaffy human rights award", mugabe - he's been a big supporter of "land reform" in zimbobwe -, castro - he gravitates in the ignacio ramonet orbit -, high-level UN cog and despisable anti-US, anti-free-markets, anti-globo commie slime draped in his "human rights activists" white robe) have comdemned this surge of racist intolerance that spoils the country image, and is an insult to islam which is a religion of love, peace and tolerance (yeah, he actually wrote that), the EU, and the Un both are examining if/how to void that as a discriminatory law, indonesia, pakistan, iran have comdemned this (as an example of the rampant islamophobia in th eWest, of the many discriminations muslims face from those evil, racist europeans,...).
On a more local level, the french MSM is in turmoil and hyperventilating about it (though, the french public actually support the ban), with some plainly ridiculous wishful thinojng ("the swiss people are revulsed by this ban"... hey, dude, they voted for it 57%, I think the "swiss people" you're talking about are the swiss leftists - note that for a journalist, leftists ARE the people, so, let's cut that guy some slack),...
Anyway, all this proves that the CERN LHc REALLY was a threat to humanity. From all accounts, we've been collectively sucked into an alternate, Bizarro world, in which up is down, right is left, and the muslim world and its NGO & UN allies/proxies are attacking the oldest european republican democracy, and certainly one of the most "grass-roots", and giving it lessons about tolerance, human rights respects,...
Gee, Switzerland being lectured about not totally being ok in being culturally genocided... by indonesia, pakistan, egypt...
Weep, or laugh, but, at least, see the blinding, sun-like, white hot irony of this crap. WE ARE LIVING IN BIZARRO WORLD, that's for sure.
#16
I wouldnt call the Swiss intollerant, they just dont like tall skinny architecture mucking up the view. Muzzies are still free to do their thing. just "no Minaretes"
Precisely. Don't let a certain blonde twit hear you say that, though LOL. You'll be told "you gots lots of learning to do"!
#21
i can see why they don't want minarets. They blast that god awful call too prayer out of them
Chris, it has nothing to do with that. None of the four minarets in the country 'blast that god awful call to prayer'. The Swiss are just as PC and multi-culti as they've been for decades concerning their Muslim immigrants. They simply don't want anything blocking their view of the chalets.
#25
Well, tw, I actually did say that back on Sunday after this vote when he/she/it asserted that minarets are just "architectural elements". I was trying to be cute, but some people apparently didn't get it.
Furthermore, I stupidly thought that Woozy might have gotten the name calling out of his/her/its system at the tail end of that discussion, like most of the adults here at the 'burg would have done. Apparently not.
I apologize for wasting Fred's bandwidth by even responding to what was said here.
And instead came off like a condescending twit. Just because someone doesn't share your opinion doesn't mean they are ignorant with "lots to learn". If that's your idea of an apology, it's pretty lame. As long as we're all being 'adults' here.
#29
'They simply don't want
anything blocking their
view of the chalets...'
Yes, I am sure that's what it was all about. Puerile, Woozer, not adult. No wonder you were told to go learn something. BTW, CB was apologising for wasting b/w replying to you, not to you.
#30
IMHO nothing more intolerant than death to anyone who leaves Ialam to become Methodist, Baptist or Prejudiced.
Posted by: Boss Snomotle8280 ||
12/01/2009 16:42 Comments ||
Top||
#31
All right children, that will do. If there are any architecture history buffs around, I would love to know whether church towers were also intended to dominate the emotional landscape in the same way as minarets.
#32
from Wiki....As for real history, churches generally lacked towers until the 600s. That was the advent of bell towersĀseparate structures, inspired by military watchtowers, used to announce worship times and advertise the location of the church. They had low-pitched wood roofs. Eventually, the wood was replaced with more durable stone, which due to its roughness had to be steeper to allow rain and snow to slide off. Over the course of three or four centuries, churches became fancier, the towers were incorporated into the church building, and the roofs stretched into the decorative points of the modern steeple. ..... Ohio State University comparative studies professor Thomas Kasulis notes that towers are ubiquitous in world religions as symbols of an inspiring connection with the heavens.
#34
Yup, Church Spies are designed "To draw the eye heavenward"
And if comparing them to minarets do indeed "Make Noise" (Church Bells)
But the comparison ends there. No "Donkey Braying" from Church Steeples, only Bells, they sometimes have speakers that entertain folks with Christmas Carols however.
I'm sure the Muzies detest those, but so far they're greatly outnumbered.
Just keep in mind that Islam was invented far later than Christ, and stole much from the Christian Bible doing so.
Distinctly second class copycats.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2009 17:14 Comments ||
Top||
#35
SPIRES, dammit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2009 17:15 Comments ||
Top||
#36
Post script, minarets/snipers. Never forgotten, never forgiven.
#37
I would love to know whether church towers were also intended to dominate the emotional landscape in the same way as minarets.
Not Really- because by the time we (that is, the West) stumbled out of the Dark Ages, there was a very definite cleavage between the spiritual and secular powers.
Big buildings with Big Towers were (and are) political statements designed for emotional impact, but it was the Bishop's Big Church versus the King's Big Castle- not Our Minaret glaring down upon all those dhimis.
(Sometimes the Big Church vs. the Big Castle could get a bit heated- Beckett vs. Henry II, for instance.)
[Iran Press TV Latest] Turkish police clash with demonstrators attending rallies to mark the establishment of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The clashes erupted after approximately 300 demonstrators attacked a police station in Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast, with stones and Molotov cocktails, Turkey's Daily News reported Monday.
Protesters have also set shops afire in the town after police shot a 16-year-old in the chest, according to the report.
Police also broke up a demonstration by young Kurds in central Istanbul, while violence flared in other Turkish towns with large Kurdish populations, the Daily News report added.
Demonstrations in Istanbul turned violent, with protestors setting a bus alight in the Sultanbeyli district.
The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the international community, has sparked conflicts that have claimed about 40,000 lives in Turkey.
Ankara recently announced measures to improve Kurdish minority rights in a bid to end 25 years of armed conflict.
Since August, Ankara has sought to build support for its initiative which is expected to give wider rights to the country's estimated 12 million Kurds and thus persuade the PKK into laying down arms.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
On Sunday, TV Nova aired an exclusive report with information that in 1999, Saddam Hussein ordered a terrorist attack that was to strike the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe, located at the time on Wenceslas square, in the heart of the city.
A very pretty square, with lots of horse-drawn carriages waiting to give scenic rides to tourists and the romantic. Why has PETA not protested this potential assault upon our horsey brothers?
In 2003, Czech intelligence officers discovered the plot and confiscated the weapons that Iraqi secret agents had stockpiled. Jan ĆÆĀæÅubert is the spokesman for BIS -- the Czech counter-intelligence service.
"The weapons that we secured included 11 pistols, 4 Kalashnikovs, two Heckler-Koch submachine guns with silencers, some 2,000 rounds with magazines, and the most important thing, a portable, anti-tank rocket propelled grenade weapon also known as an RPG-7."
Goodness. How big a pile would 2,000 rounds make? Did the Iraqi agents plan to bring it all along in an handcart?
Saddam Hussein spent significant amounts of money on these weapons, which were to be used in an attack on the US-financed radio station from where programs criticizing Mr. Husseins regime were broadcast around the world.
Iraqi secret agents were going to fire the missiles from the window of a flat they were planning to rent, located opposite the radio station, a mere 80 meters away.
That is to say, in a building on the far side of the square. I seem to recall that business was pretty brisk in Prague at the time -- does anybody know if flats were readily availabable, or would they have had to murder a pre-existing tenant as well?
The threat was serious, says General Andor ĆÆĀæÅandor, a former Chief of Defense Intelligence who now works as an independent security consultant.
"If this was the place from which the RPG was supposed to be fired at Radio Free Europe, and based on the fact that how many months the whole attack was prepared by the Iraqi officers, I think it was pretty underway, and if it had not been interrupted by the counter-intelligence, we could have been faced with a successful attack on our territory and on Radio Free Europe."
Czech intelligence officers began suspecting a planned attack in 1999 and started closely observing members of Iraq's secret service DGI. One of the Czech agents managed to infiltrate the Iraqi embassy. The plot was exposed and the attack averted in 2003, when the Iraqis turned their weapons in to Czech authorities. According to the Czech counter-intelligence service, this was the third terrorist attack the agency was able to avert. Is Prague at risk of becoming the site of a terrorist attack?
Andor ĆÆĀæÅandor again: "In general, I've kept saying, that its not a matter of whether our territory could be a target for the terrorists, my point is that it just a question of the time when it will happen. It doesn't necessarily mean that the people here should be afraid of any imminent attacks, but there are reasons why this country could be a target of terrorist attacks, because of our foreign policy and because of our involvement in NATO operations particularly in Afghanistan, so there are reasons why we should be afraid but as I said before, we should not be scared and its not definitely eminent, but you never know."
Mr. ĆÆĀæÅubert said on TV Nova that the public had a right to know about Saddam Husseins planned attack, which also led to the eventual construction of protective concrete walls that were put in place after the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington and complicated traffic nearby Wenceslas Square. Mr ĆÆĀæÅubert added that it wasnt safe to disclose this information until recently, after Radio Free Europe had moved to a new, closely guarded building in Hagibor, further from the city centre.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Saddam Hussein spent significant amounts of money on these weapons,
I call shenanigans. Given the amount of weaponry we found in Iraq, Saddam could have pulled that out of the bathroom linen closet.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/01/2009 7:21 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Ah, but those were in Iraq. I suspect these were purchased so as to make the source relatively untraceable.
#1
Then, Obama will fly up to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to speak for.......two, possibly close to three times that long before a keenly interested military audience, many of whom may well be affected by Obama's pronouncement.
An young, impetuous audience who have been schooled to run toward the sound of the big guns and will be cheering and applauding wildly. Nothing wrong with youth or the USAMA mind you, God Bless them all. They're simply being trotted out and used as convenient, cheering props and photo opportunity for Barry.
WASHINGTON Ā The Supreme Court on Monday vacated a lower court ruling that would have required the government to release photographs showing the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The decision was three sentences long and unsigned, and it followed the enactment of a law in October allowing the secretary of defense to block the picturesĀ release. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, for further consideration in light of the new law.
The Second Circuit will find a way to declare the new law unconstitutional and send it back to the Supremes ...
The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act, which makes disclosure of information in the hands of the executive branch mandatory unless an exemption applies. The Second Circuit ordered the photos released last year, and the Justice Department initially recommended against an appeal to the Supreme Court.
But President Obama overruled his lawyers, saying his national security advisers had persuaded him that releasing the photos would inflame anti-American sentiment abroad and endanger American troops. Some of the pictures, according to a government brief, showed Āsoldiers pointing pistols or rifles at the heads of hooded and handcuffed detainees,Ā a soldier who appears to be striking a detainee with the butt of a rifle, and a soldier holding a broom Āas if sticking its endĀ into a prisonerĀs rectum.
In the Second Circuit, the government relied on an exemption to the freedom of information law that applies to Āinformation compiled for law enforcement purposesĀ that Ācould reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.Ā
Judge John Gleeson, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel of the Second Circuit last year, said the exemption required a specific anticipated danger. The exemption Āmay be flexible, but it is not vacuous,Ā Judge Gleeson wrote. Referring to Āa population the size of two nations and two international expeditionary forces combined,Ā he said, is insufficient.
We're supposed to name exactly which soldier or guard might be endangered?
The governmentĀs reading, the judge added, would create Āan alternative secrecy mechanism far broader than the governmentĀs classification system.Ā
The Supreme CourtĀs summary order in the case, Department of Defense v. A.C.L.U., No. 09-160, did not address whether that ruling was correct. It merely said the new law required reconsideration of the case. The law applies to photographs taken from Sept. 11, 2001, to Jan. 22, 2009, showing Āthe treatment of individuals engaged, captured or detained after Sept. 11, 2001, by the armed forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States,Ā so long as the secretary of defense certifies that disclosure Āwould endanger citizens of the United States, members of the United States armed forces or employees of the United States government deployed outside of the United States.Ā
Robert M. Gates, the secretary of defense, signed the required certification on Nov. 13.
That should settle it but it won't since the ACLU is intent on tearing down completely any response to terrorism ...
Human rights groups and news organizations, including The New York Times, urged the Supreme Court to refuse to hear the case.
The courtĀs brief order indicated that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who until recently was a judge on the Second Circuit, did not participate in MondayĀs decision. Judge Sotomayor was not a member of the appeals court panel that ordered the photos released.
The A.C.L.U. issued a statement saying it would continue to fight for disclosure of the pictures.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Dawn] Lashkar-i-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group blamed for last year's attacks on Mumbai, denied Monday that two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges were among its members.
David Headley, a Pakistani-born American, and Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, were arrested in October on charges of plotting attacks in India and Denmark.
India has accused both of links to Lashkar-i-Taiba (LT), a banned Islamist group fighting to end Indian rule in Kashmir.
'We strongly reject claims that Headley and Rana are associated with Lashkar-i-Taiba,' the group's spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
'We strongly condemn it. All our members are locals (Kashmiris) and none of our activists are present in America.'
'Linking the two to Lashkar is a game plan to malign Lashkar at an international level,' Ghaznavi said, repeating that his group denied any involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
He said the group was only active in Kashmir 'to end India's illegal occupation'.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
[Dawn] Pakistan reacted strongly to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's call for it to take tougher action against Al-Qaeda and find Osama bin Laden, saying no one should doubt Pakistan's efforts in the war against terror.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit pointed out that over 700 Al-Qaeda operatives were captured or killed over the past eight years -- which is a sign of Pakistan's commitment to the cause.
Basit said Pakistan was surprised by Brown's call that the country needs to do more in the campaign against Al-Qaeda.
He added that the world community has appreciated Pakistan's efforts in the war on terror.
Brown told the BBC that Pakistan must do more to 'break' Al-Qaeda and find Osama bin Laden. His remarks come ahead of Prime Minister Gilani's visit to Britain later this week.
Brown also informed President Asif Ali Zardari by phone on Sunday that he intends to speak about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
ION PAKISTAN > GORDON BROWN: PAKISTAN KNOWS THE WHEREABOUTS OF OSAMA BIN LADEN, ZAWAHIRI.
versus
GILANI: OSAMA NOT IN PAKISTAN.
* TOPIX > AL QAEDA STILL THE MAIN THREAT TO EUROPE.
[Geo News] Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Babar Awan Monday urged Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) to display broadness of heart regarding the legitimate mandate of Pakhtoonkhawa in accordance with the NWFP Assembly resolution, so that the deadlock could be resolved and the Constitutional Committee may make headway for the abolishment of 17th Amendment. Addressing a ceremony held here to observe the 43rd Foundation Day of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), he said government has as its topmost priority to restore the Constitution 1973 in its original form. Awan asserted it was the PPP that envisioned a powerful premier and chief executive; but, the military dictators usurped the powers of the Parliament and Prime Minister through 8th and 17th Amendments. The elected democratic government gave Balochistan Package and the doors of negotiations with the Baloch leadership will remain open until 2013, he observed lashing out at the previous government for its Balochistan policy of repression. Babar Awan said Quaid-e-Awam Zulfiqar Bhutto gave nuclear program and played a vital role in organizing the Army after Dhaka Fall. The PPP leader said work on Fata Package has been kick-started on the directives from the President. The federal minister said the culprits involved in Babri Mosque demolition have been identified; now it is incumbent upon the Indian government to drag the criminals to dock.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Geo News] Over 600 extremists were killed and 70 security personnel martyred in the operation continued for six weeks in South Waziristan. This was told by director-general ISPR Major-General Athar Abbas in an interview to a foreign news agency. He said that the security forces would continue attacks on the extremists fleeing from South Waziristan to Orakzai and Khyber Agency. Meanwhile, this has been said in an ISPR statement that the forces arrested ten suspects in search and clearance operations during the last 24 hours. Two security officials were wounded in extremists attacks in South Waziristan . The forces traced out a 15-feet long cave in Chakral, an area of Swat while a ten-feet long tunnel has been discovered near Peochar.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Ma'an] British Member of Parliament George Galloway is planning a third charity convoy to the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, following the success of his first two convoys.
Lifeline 3 will arrive in Gaza on December 27 through the Rafah Border Crossing, including a delegation led by Galloway and several international politicians, according to Hamdi Sha'ath, the Palestinian official heading a governmental committee for hosting solidary delegations and breaking the seige in Gaza.
The consignment will include humanitarian aid, in addition to 250 cars, Sha'ath said. He further highlighted that contact has been made with Egyptian authorities to secure the arrival of the convoy without hindrance.
"Organizers assured us that the convoy would depart from Britain to France on 6 December, then to Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and from Jordan to Egypt via Nuweiba harbor, then to the Gaza Strip," Sha'ath said.
In July, Galloway organized Lifeline 2, a convoy of 255 US citizens bringing humanitarian aid, matching his last journey to Gaza in March, when the anti-war MP donated 25,000 British pounds and a fleet of ambulances to the de facto Gaza government.
Galloway denounced the Egyptian authorities' decision to hold some of the group's delegates of the Lifeline 2 convoy at the Suez Canal en route from Cairo to the Gaza border.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Hey Avi, warm up the bulldozer. That clown who thinks he's a cat is coming......
#2
Galloway has gotten away with too much crap, and it is past time that his luck has run out. If nothing else, MOSSAD should police him up with like a slip and fall accident in the bathroom.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Islamist Hamas-run government ruling Gaza has approved a legal change that will allow for the execution of convicted drug dealers, its attorney general said on Monday.
"The government has approved a decision to cancel the Zionist (Israeli) military law with regard to drugs and enact Egyptian law 19 of 1962," Mohammed Abed, the attorney general, said in a statement.
"The latter law is more comprehensive in terms of crime and criminals and the penalties more advanced, including life sentences and execution."
Egypt administered the Gaza Strip from 1948 until 1967, when Israel seized the territory in the Six-Day War along with the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
"The Zionist law included light punishments that encouraged rather than deterred those who take and trade in drugs, and there is no objective, national or moral justification for continuing to apply it," Abed said.
Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Two years later, Hamas seized control after a bloody internal struggle with the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Abbas's remit has since been limited to the West Bank.
Hamas, meanwhile, has cracked down on drugs, saying it has arrested more than 100 alleged drug dealers and users, with dozens of kilograms (pounds) of contraband, mostly marijuana, seized.
Abed said the Egyptian law on drugs would remain in effect until a new law could be passed by the Palestinian parliament, which has met only rarely since elections were held in 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
excepting the ones that supply the drugs to encourage the boomers Hamas pushes to their death
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/01/2009 20:42 Comments ||
Top||
Iran has threatened to take "serious" measures against five detained British sailors if it finds they had "evil intentions" when they strayed into the country's coastal waters.
#1
If this is the level of diplomatic asshattery those paleolithic sand monkeys feel free to engage in now, imagine how it will be when they have nukes.
[Bangla Daily Star] World powers threatened new sanctions against Iran yesterday after Tehran defiantly pledged to build 10 more uranium enrichment plants, but Russia warned against further escalating the dispute.
Iran's weekend vow to build the plants sparked strong reactions from the United States, Germany, Britain and France -- four of the six world powers negotiating with Tehran over its nuclear programme.
But China had yet to respond to Iran's announcement, while Russia's energy minister said Moscow was against escalating Iran's nuclear row. Backing from China and Russia, close trade partners with Iran, would be key to imposing new penalties.
France was harsh in its criticism, with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner branding Iran's threat "ridiculous" and "childish".
Defence Minister Herve Morin said Tehran's defiance meant the international community "would probably have to impose new economic sanctions."
"The uranium enrichment programmes have no other goal than a military goal," he said, citing what he said was evidence "from the intelligence services of several countries, notably France."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Iran would face new sanctions if it builds the plants.
"What is clear is that if Iran rejects the hand that has reached out, it must expect heavier sanctions," Westerwelle said in a statement.
"Iran must know that the international community's patience is not unlimited."
Britain could begin mulling new sanctions next month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said, while also stressing the importance of talks.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that "instead of engaging with us, Iran chooses to provoke".
"Iran can flaunt its isolation but this will only increase the calm, determination and unity of the international community," Miliband said.
Iran's announcement on Sunday that it planned to construct the new plants came after a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week condemning Tehran for building a second uranium enrichment site.
Russia and China had backed the IAEA resolution on the plant near the Shiite holy city of Qom.
Western countries suspect Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at building atomic weapons, a charge that Tehran has consistently denied.
The UN Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran for enriching uranium at its first plant in the central city of Natanz.
But Western powers, led by the United States, are seeking to both engage Iran and hold out the threat of new sanctions.
They want Tehran to agree to an IAEA-brokered deal which envisages sending its stocks of low-enriched uranium abroad in one go.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement after Iran's announcement that time was running out for Tehran.
"If true, this would be yet another serious violation of Iran's clear obligations under multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and another example of Iran choosing to isolate itself," Gibbs said in a statement.
"Time is running out for Iran to address the international community's growing concerns about its nuclear programme."
Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, who was visiting Iran on Monday, said Moscow wanted to see more talks.
"I think there is still good scope to continue negotiations," Shmatko told a joint media conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
OhmyGodtheyregoingtogetthedeadedmemo
Posted by: Kelly ||
12/01/2009 12:04 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"World powers threaten Iran with sanctions"
With what? A strongly worded letter?
Call me when the sanctions come in the 20 kiloton range....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/01/2009 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
[Ma'an] Israel cancelled an agreement to grant amnesty to a Palestinian fighter, Palestinian security sources said on Monday.
Mahdi Maraqa, 37, was granted a full pardon and removed from Israel's "wanted" list in 2008 under an deal negotiated by the Palestinian Authority.
He was working as an officer in the PA's intelligence service in the city of Nablus. Israel has now decreed that the PA arrest Maraqa and hold him in Juneid prison in Nablus.
Maraqa also recently travelled to Jordan but was deported back to the West Bank.
Approached by Ma'an Maraqa said that contacts were underway to find out why Israel cancelled his pardon. He declined to comment further on the issue.
Hundreds of former fighters have signed amnesty agreements, in which they vow to give up armed resistance in exchange for Israel's promise not to arrest or kill them.
Also on Monday, 12 of former guerillas involved in the amnesty process in Juneid prison said they had been on a hunger strike for four days demanding that Israel conclude the agreement and permit the PA to release them.
On Thursday, Ma'an revealed that Israel agreed to remove 90 former Palestinian fighters from its list of "wanted" men on the eve of the Muslim Eid Al-Adha holiday and to pardon 26 of the men.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
THAIINDIAN NEWS > HEZBOLLAH CHIEF SAYS US ROLE DMINISHING IN REGION {Middle East]. Historic retreat = demise of USA in region also induces the decline, demise of the Jewish state.
Read, SLOW BUT CERTAIN INEVITABLE PAN-MUSLIM VICTORY, CONQUEST AGZ ISRAEL.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanon's Hezbollah group announced a new political strategy on Monday that tones down Islamist rhetoric but maintains a tough line against Israel and the United States, which it accused of terrorism while vowing to keep its weapons.
The new manifesto drops reference to an Islamic republic in Lebanon, which has a substantial Christian population, confirming changes to Hezbollah thinking about the need to respect Lebanon's diversity.
Taqqiyah?
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who read the new "political document" at a news conference, said it was time the group introduced pragmatic changes without dropping its commitment to an Islamist ideology tied to the clerical establishment in Iran.
"People evolve. The whole world changed over the past 24 years. Lebanon changed. The world order changed," he said via a video link.
Very true. But you never had to deal with several 500 ton shipments of Iranian weaponry being intercepted before.
Stressing a history of struggle against Israel, the 32-page document said Hezbollah had to remain alert and wary of Israel: "Israel represents a constant threat and an impending danger to Lebanon."
"Lebanon c'est moi."
Nasrallah, reading from the document, said U.S. "arrogance" prevented Hezbollah and other Arabs and Muslims from forging a friendship with the United States, Israel's chief ally.
"The American administration's unlimited support to Israel ... places the American administration in the position of the enemy of our nation and our peoples," he said.
No disarmament
Nasrallah said Hezbollah needed to keep its arms, despite opposition from Western-backed political groups in Lebanon.
"The (resistance) is a permanent national necessity that should last as long as the Israeli threat, and in the absence of a strong, stable state in Lebanon," he said, quoting the document.
Hezbollah was formed with the backing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It came out into the open as a mainly guerrilla group in 1985 but quickly began establishing social and medical networks among Lebanon's impoverished Shiite community.
Where the still-shattered villages show how effective that effort has been in the past few years.
Nasrallah said a new political document for Hezbollah was needed to cope with events since the last manifesto in 1985, when Hezbollah was more of an armed resistance group fighting Israeli occupation forces.
Hezbollah members first entered parliament in 1992 and in 2005 the group it had its first government minister, completing its rehabilitation as a political party.
Attacks by Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, were instrumental in Israel's decision to withdraw from south Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation.
Hezbollah, listed as a terrorist group by the United States, also fought a war with Israel in 2006 that cost Lebanon a heavy civilian toll but its guerrilla force was not defeated on the ground.
The manifesto pledges that the group would strengthen itself despite a 2006 U.N. resolution than bans arms in south Lebanon.
Israel says Syria and Iran are arming Hezbollah against international law. The manifesto confirms the need to maintain close ties with the two countries.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah has become a global model of how to fight occupation.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday Iran saw little benefit from its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki lashed out at the United Nations atomic watchdog for implementing "law of the jungle."
As Britain and Germany threatened more sanctions, Mottaki said Tehran will continue to enrich uranium, the most controversial aspect of its nuclear program, a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government declared plans to build 10 new enrichment plants.
Russia said it was seriously concerned by the proposal for a major expansion of Iran's atomic program. Washington has condemned the plans as a "serious violation" of Tehran's obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Monday's comments by Larijani, an influential conservative politician, were a further sign of deteriorating relations between Iran and world powers seeking a diplomatic solution to a long-running row over Iran's nuclear programme.
Last week the U.N. nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rebuked Iran for building a uranium enrichment plant in secret.
"I believe that their moves are harming the NPT the most ... now whether you are a member of the NPT or pull out of it has no difference," Larijani told a news conference.
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the decision to build the new enrichment plants was direct response to the IAEA condemnation.
"This decision was the result of the recent (IAEA) resolution, and Iran's government sent a strong message," said Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid talks that Iran might leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a result of the recent resolution issued by the UN nuclear watchdog against the country, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (AEO) says the country does not intend to withdraw from the NPT.
Speaking after a Monday press conference with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, who was on an official visit to the Bushehr nuclear power plant, AEO head Ali AKbar Salehi denied a decision by the Tehran government to leave the NPT.
Earlier in the week six world powers drafted a resolution at the UN nuclear watchdog against Iran's nuclear work.
The draft, backed by the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China, was presented at the year-end meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation Board of Governors.
The IAEA passed the resolution which called on Iran to stop all construction work at the Fordo site and confirm there are no more nuclear sites that the agency must be aware of.
The resolution was faced with mixed reactions in Tehran with one Majlis lawmaker quoted by IRNA as saying that "the parliament, in its first reaction to this illegal and politically-motivated resolution, can consider withdrawal from the NPT."
Meanwhile Salehi addressed the issue, explaining that "the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei considers seeking nuclear arms "a sin."
"If we wanted to obtain nuclear weapons we would leave the [Nuclear] non-Proliferation Treaty," Salehi told Reuters. "We do not want to leave the NPT."
Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons through its enrichment work and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
Obama will try to sell a skeptical public on his bigger, costlier war plan Tuesday by coupling the large new troop infusion with an emphasis on stepped-up training for Afghan forces that he says will allow the U.S. to leave.
AUSTRALIA'S most notorious terrorist Willie Brigitte will be free from jail next year, having served less than half his sentence for conspiring to blow up the nation's only nuclear reactor and the power grid.
WASHINGTON Ā The Supreme Court on Monday vacated a lower court ruling that would have required the government to release photographs showing the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.
[Geo News] Over 600 extremists were killed and 70 security personnel martyred in the operation continued for six weeks in South Waziristan. This was told by director-general ISPR Major-General Athar Abbas in an interview to a foreign news agency. He said that the security forces would continue attacks on the extremists fleeing from South Waziristan to Orakzai and Khyber Agency. Meanwhile, this has been said in an ISPR statement that the forces arrested ten suspects in search and clearance operations during the last 24 hours. Two security officials were wounded in extremists attacks in South Waziristan . The forces traced out a 15-feet long cave in Chakral, an area of Swat while a ten-feet long tunnel has been discovered near Peochar.
[Ma'an] British Member of Parliament George Galloway is planning a third charity convoy to the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, following the success of his first two convoys. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday Iran saw little benefit from its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki lashed out at the United Nations atomic watchdog for implementing "law of the jungle."
