[An Nahar] Sudan has lodged a fresh complaint with the U.N. Security Council detailing South Sudan's alleged support for rebels in its war-torn border states, just four months after partition, state media reported Saturday.
Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, provided "detailed, confirmed information explaining the support of the government of the south for the rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile," the SUNA news agency reported.
It is the second time Khartoum has addressed such complaints to the Security Council since southern independence in July, reflecting the fragile relations between the former civil war enemies.
The letter accused Juba of supplying the rebels in Blue Nile state with "anti-aircraft missiles, tanks, mines, guns and ammunition," as well as "an infantry battalion to strengthen the insurgency in Kurmuk."
The Blue Nile rebel stronghold, which straddles the border with Ethiopia and is also close to South Sudan, was overrun by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday, after two months of conflict in the politically divided state.
The letter, which was delivered to the president of the Security Council, also claimed that South Sudan was sheltering a large number of rebels who decamped from Blue Nile south of the border to the town of Renk.
Blue Nile and nearby South Kordofan both have strong historic ties to the south and were key battlegrounds in the devastating 1983-2005 conflict between Khartoum and the SPLA, the former southern rebels turned regular army of South Sudan.
Observers have warned that the fighting there risks dragging the two countries into an all-out proxy war and torpedoing bilateral talks on key outstanding issues, including border demarcation and management of the oil sector.
But rebel leader Yasser Arman on Thursday rejected Khartoum's allegations of southern support for the SPLA-North, saying they were part of a "fear campaign" aimed at deflecting attention from the atrocities it had committed.
"The war in Blue Nile is more than 20 years old. The Republic of South Sudan is just four months old... South Sudan is not involved," he told AFP by phone.
"Kurmuk was a battle (that we lost). But Khartoum will never win the war. We are an experienced guerrilla movement. This is just the beginning," he added.
South Sudan's army also denied any involvement in the fighting north of the border, despite the historic connections to the south of the rebels fighting there.
"(They) don't need anyone to help them, they did it themselves. These people were fighting for 21 years in the bush. They were fighting over socio-economic and political grievances against Khartoum," said SPLA front man Philip Aguer.
He insisted that, since southern independence, the SPLA and the SPLA-North were completely separate organizations.
Fighting has raged in Sudan's volatile Border States since June, apparently sparked by the army's insistence on disarming indigenous Nuba troops in South Kordofan not under its control, as Khartoum moved to assert its authority within its new borders.
The conflict spilled into Blue Nile three months later, prompting fears of a mounting humanitarian crisis, given the large numbers of people displaced and the government's expulsion of international aid agencies from the two states.
It also appears to have aggravated the security situation south of the border.
Last week, the SPLA clashed with a rebel militia in oil-rich Unity state's Mayom County, just across the border from South Kordofan, in which around 80 people were killed, according to state officials.
"The commanders of these rebels in Unity state are stationed in Khartoum," and Sudan is not only transporting them across the border but supplying them with guns and landmines, Aguer claimed on Thursday.
Juba has repeatedly accused Khartoum of wanting to destabilize the new country by arming rebel groups, as it did during the civil war, claims rejected by the north.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Ten days before Christmas in 2009, the Eritrean national team arrived in Nairobi to take part in a regional football tournament. After losing 4-0 to Tanzania, officials noticed something was amiss 30 minutes after the match.
Twelve members of the team disappeared after the final whistle and told Kenyan officials that they had no intention of returning home. They were granted asylum.
The pattern repeated itself last month when the Eritrean club Red Sea went to Tanzania to take part in a regional club championship.
Thirteen players disappeared from the camp and asked to be granted refugee status.
This time, they were not so lucky because the Tanzanian officials rejected their bid to remain in the country.
Those two episodes sum up a sad fact about Eritrea -- it is a land from which everybody is trying to run away.
A small nation on the Red Sea with a population of just 6 million, Eritrea has the unhappy distinction of being the world's second-largest source of asylum seekers.
One-man band
The nation is essentially a failed state. It is governed by Isaias Afewerki, a man the US ambassador to Asmara described in a leaked cable as a "one-man band" and "unhinged dictator" who won the admiration of his people for leading their struggle for independence from Ethiopia before turning his nation into an absolute dictatorship.
I recall being one of the people on the Burg who championed their independence from Ethiopia, seeing the former as freedom fighters and the latter as a semi-communist thug state. Sigh. I was wrong about the Eritreans, that's for sure.
The paranoid leadership style of Mr Afewerki has saddled his country with a collapsing economy and a hungry, restless population contributing to one of the world's worst refugee crisis.
This is how one woman, Habtu Zere Maram, summed up her reasons for fleeing Eritrea in a BBC interview in a camp in eastern Sudan: "I realise there are political problems everywhere, but in Eritrea it is unique. It's like the Middle Ages. Now we are in the 21st century; how can we live like this? You can't speak, there is no freedom, you cannot say whatever you want to say. I dreamt of leaving, because I want to live free. Most of the Eritrean people think the same thing."
It is understandable that many Kenyans knew little of Eritrea before reports surfaced last week that the country could be sending arms to A faceless myrmidons in southern Somalia. (Read: Kenya warns Eritrea over Shabaab arms)
Little information filters out of the country which allows no foreign journalists in, and the state media is more closely controlled than even in Kim Jong Il's North Korea.
According to the 2010 Press Freedom Index report by the media campaign group Reporters Without Borders, Eritrea ranks 175th out of 175 countries surveyed.
This article starring:
Isaias Afewerki
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I realise there are political problems everywhere, but in Eritrea it is unique
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A military general famed for revamping Kenya's peacekeeping efforts in Sierra Leone, among other heroics, is leading the war against Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... in Somalia.
Major-General Leonard Ngondi, a special forces officer described by colleagues as brilliant and a strategist, has been given the task of ridding the country of the menace caused by the jihad boy group blamed for fanning insecurity in the Horn of Africa.
Slightly built and standing just about five feet tall, Maj-Gen Ngondi is not your typical military commander.
But behind the diminutive figure is a highly decorated and battle hardened soldier, the Sunday Nation has learnt in interviews with officers who have worked with him.
As the overall commander of the Kenyan troops, Maj-Gen Ngondi's main task is to ensure Al-Shabaab are defeated and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) installed in parts of Southern Somalia.
Kenyan troops have already captured a majority of the Al- Shabaab strongholds in Southern Somalia but the ultimate aim is to seize the two key towns of Afmadow and Kismayu which serve as the jihad boys' headquarters.
Described by a retired Kenya Army Commander who mentored him as a "rather soft and compassionate character", Gen Ngondi's military capabilities have been exhibited during the last few days.
Upon learning that the Al- Shabaab gunnies were using the Baidoa airstrip to ship in weapons which they intend to use against his troops, Gen Ngondi banned aircraft from landing at the airstrip.
"All aircraft are hereby warned not to land in Baidoa. Anyone violating this will be doing so at their peril," warned the man his comrades in the military describe as usually polite.
The terse statement uncharacteristic of the man also went ahead to warn that the Kenya military would bring down any aircraft hovering over the Southern Somalia skies near his troops' bases.
"On two occasions, KDF have observed an aircraft overfly our troops in the three sectors. The owners of the aircraft are hereby warned that KDF considers this as a security violation. Further unauthorised overflying on the said region will be considered a threat," he warned in communication sent out to the media by Major Emmanuel Chirchir.
The commander also warned that his troops would not tolerate the sight of donkeys along the Kenya/Somalia border as the Al-Shabaab were now using the beasts of burden to move weapons due to impassable roads as a result of the heavy rains pounding the region.
"Currently, Somalia is receiving heavy rainfall making the roads impassable. Information reaching us confirms that Al-Shabaab has resorted to using donkeys to transport their weapons," he stated before warning: "Thus, any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys will be considered as Al-Shabaab activity. In addition we are also reliably informed that the cost of donkeys has risen from $150 to $200 for a donkey. Kenyans dealing in donkey trade along the Kenya-Somali border are advised not to sell their animals to Al-Shabaab as it would undermine our efforts in Somalia."
Boasting a 33-year experience in the military, Gen Ngondi has risen within the ranks to head the Eastern Command of the Kenya Army.
Born in 1960, Gen Ngondi joined the military in 1978 and had only served three years when elements within the Kenya Air Force attempted to overthrow the Government of then President Daniel Moi, an episode which led to a major purge in the country's armed forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Tripoli Post] Former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qadaffy ... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring... dreamt of becoming the leader of a united Africa and spent billions of dollars building up the continent's biggest arsenal. As such, he went on a huge spending spree, totally out of proportion with the needs of a nation with Libya's population.
Karim Bitar, from the French Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IFRIS), told AFP that Al Qadaffy's obsession highlighted the "excesses and delusions of grandeur suffered by the Guide of the Revolution."
In its report, the news agency says that what emerged after the dictator's downfall is a picture of a grandiose but decrepit war machine. Proof of this are the "crumbling jet fighters and rusted tanks, commanded by yes-men rather than competent officers in the desert/
It went on to say that the army that Al Qadaffy inherited from the monarchy of King Idriss when he overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1969, was not insignificant, but Libya's huge oil revenues allowed Al Qadaffy to shell out on supersonic warplanes, tanks by the thousands, missiles and astronomical quantities of munitions.
The materiel is stored in a still uncounted number of bases around the country, most of them dating from the early years.
One of those bases is in the Jufra oasis of Hun, about 500 kilometres southeast of Tripoli. Soviet MiG 25s and Tupolev TU-22s, built in the 1960s, are rotting alongside French two-engine Transalls. "None of them take off any more. Their fuselages are crumbling, jet engines and propellers rusted, cockpit windows almost opaque from the effects of ultraviolet light," Mi>AFP said.
Nearby is a stockpile of Russian armoured vehicles, around 500 of them, which was attacked by NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... warplanes. Again, the ageing T55 tanks and BMP-1 troop carriers are mostly rusted, apparently not having moved in years.
After the euphoria of the 1970s, money began to grow tight. Then Libya was hit with a first set of international sanctions in 1982 over its interference in neighbouring countries.
A second set of of sanctions was imposed after Libya was blamed for the 1988 downing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
Then in late 2003, Al Qadaffy renounced all attempts to develop a non-conventional arsenal, paving the way for a lifting of sanctions. Despite that, the regime bought little new materiel - some Russian T-90 tanks, and some Russian and French missiles.
Bitar said that Al Qadaffy's defeat in just eight months stemmed from various factors. He had hundreds of thousands of tonnes of munitions, some of it obsolete but still dangerous, "which should have been more than sufficient to fend off the initially amateurish and under-equipped rebels."
NATO's air strikes "levelled the playing field," he said, but that was not all. He also pointed to the "mediocrity of the military hierarchy, with Al Qadaffy's paranoia leading him to push aside the most competent members of the officer corps and relying on cronies or even mercenaries ... without structure or ideology."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If I'm not mistaken, there are still Panzers out there rusting in the Libyan desert.
Libya has plenty of mines from both WWII (mostly in the east) and along its southern border following the war with Chad and related to the current Tibesti rebellion. WWII still exist east of the line from Ajdabija (south of Benghazi) to Jalu as well as further south. A surveyor working in southeast of Libya reported that 'Many areas of country to east of Kufra-Benghazi road are mined' although the run from Al Jakbub close to the border across a passable 'neck' of the Calansho Sand Sea down to Kufra is becoming a popular off-piste excursion with no known reports of mines (see also 'Egypt' below). These mines have long been a sore point with Libya who've insisted Germany and Britain pay for their clearance and as a result of Libya's continuted rehabilitation, in March 2003 the Virgin Group announced a deal where they would sell an airship-based landmine clearance system using radar to Libya. - source
A report released by a Mexican university legal research team claims that the Mexican Army in its counternarcotics operations has increased its lethality by at least 465 percent.
The report was commissioned by Universidad Nacional Automonma Mexico (UNAM) -- an institution with well known and defined leftist links -- and compiled by its Instituto de Investigaciones Juridicas using statistics provided by both the Mexican Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), the Mexican Army agency and by La Prensa publication.
The report has numerous problems in its methodology and glaring problems in its underlying assumptions.
For example, in Mexican news reports, researchers claim that an average use of force ratio should balance the numbers of dead to wounded as a direct one to one ratio. The report fails to detail, however, why diverging from such a ratio may be explained by better gunnery, for example rather than excessive use of force.
Other problems include the contention in the report that SEDENA and Secretaria de Marina (SEMAR), the agency for Mexican Naval Infantry forces, are organized and trained for use in war, not as police forces.
Which is funny, considering the tremendous constraints placed on SEDENA and SEMAR forces such as disallowing independent counternarcotics operations outside the legal system. In other words in its use in the drug war, Mexico's military has been used as a handmaiden of the legal system, rather than a force using the "logic of war", as the report puts it, deploying troops against the citizenry.
According to Mexican news reports of the UNAM report, the report was completed in September and was sparked by the debate on the new La Ley de Seguiridad Nacional, or National Security Law, which news reports said give Mexican military organizations police powers.
That idea that the new national security law would give military agencies police power is essentially incorrect as it would give Mexican military organizations extraordinary powers, albeit power that no police institute currently has. The law would also permit martial law in small geographic entities such as municipalities, power that police local state or national do not have.
The report states at the outset that violent crime increased tremendously since 2008, the second year of President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa's administration. Bank robberies rose 90 percent, extortion rose 100 percent, carjackings increased 108 percent and kidnapping increased 188 percent, according to the report.
The ratio of intentional homicides in Mexico more than doubled during that same period going from 7.9 per 100,000 population to 17.9 per 100,000 population.
The report also notes that the majority of violent crimes are concentrated in 12 out of 32 political entities in Mexico including Chihuahua, Baja California, Durango, Sinaloa, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Michoacan, Nayarit and Morelos, Four of those states border the US.
The report writers admit in the text that there is a statistical correlation between the presence of Mexican military forces in an area and violent deaths, although the report writers disingenuously failed to note whether those increases in deaths and crime are in confrontations with the military or because of greater impunity by organized crime.
It goes on to hint that a "causal link" may exist between the presence of military forces and violent crime, but then disassociates that contention by admitting a probable causal relationship between the presence of organized crime gangs and increases in violent crime.
Tables reproduced in this article show an increase of not only the number of gun battles between Mexican security forces and criminal gangs, but also increases in the kill ratio overall.
Mexican Marines lead all security forces with almost 35 to one kill ratio while the Policia Federal is dead last with 1.8 kill ratio.
Following ther logic of the report writers Polica Federal agents are the closest to the "acceptable" lethality ratio, while Mexican marines exceed what is likely an arbitrary standard by a factor of almost 17.
But army lethality ratios are the issue here and the math is that the Mexican Army has increased its lethality by 465 percent over three years.
However the report fails to take into account in its text the increase in the number of army troops deployed to northern states since the start of 2011. The number of confrontations as well as the lethality ratio is bound to increase, whether or not the army is given "police powers".
Data Tables
Number of Confrontations by Year by Agency
2008
Policia Federal
Army
Marines
PF and Army
PF and Marines
Army and Marines
PF Army and Marines
13
16
0
10
0
0
0
2009
Policia Federal
Army
Marines
PF and Army
PF and Marines
Army and Marines
PF Army and Marines
13
14
1
9
0
0
2
2010
Policia Federal
Army
Marines
PF and Army
PF and Marines
Army and Marines
PF Army and Marines
10
77
8
6
1
5
0
2011 (Thru May, 2011)
Policia Federal
Army
Marines
PF and Army
PF and Marines
Army and Marines
PF Army and Marines
2
26
5
1
0
4
1
Killed and Wounded by Agency (Since 2008 Thru May, 2011)
Agency
Killed
Wounded
Army
44
110
Marines
2
18
Policia Federal
60
66
Local Police
10
15
Civilian Combatants
756
103
Civilian Innocents
44
92
Ratio of Criminal Element Killed and Wounded per security element, by Agency (Since 2008 Thru May, 2011)
Agency
Killed
Wounded
Army
13.8
9.2
Marines
34.5
17.3
Policia Federal
1.4
2.6
PF and Army
4
4.8
Killed and Wounded in battles with the army -- lethality ratios (Since 2008 Thru May, 2011) (Press accounts)
Data Class
2008
2009
2010
2011 (Thru May, 2011)
Civilian Dead
44
95
327
170
Civilian Wounded
13
24
40
2
Ratio
3.38
3.96
48.18
85
Killed and Wounded in battles with the army -- lethality ratios (Since 2008 Thru May, 2011) (SEDENA data)
The Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russia's foremost national policy think tank, takes the imminent collapse of the North Korean regime as a given in a special report published recently. IMEMO concludes that Korean reunification led by South Korea coincides with Russia's national interests.
IMEMO spent years to prepare the report, which is part of the Russian government's 20-year master plan and was published in September.
The 480-page special report obtained by the Chosun Ilbo has five pages referring to the Korean Peninsula. It says the regime's collapse is "accelerating" and that although reunification may not be fully achieved, the two Koreas will take "actual steps" toward reunification in the next two decades.
IMEMO believes the 2012-2020 transfer of power from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to his son Jong-un will trigger the collapse of the North. The leadership crisis will lead to a power struggle between "bureaucrats" with foreign business connections and "military and security officials" with no outside links, the report said.
Then over the following decade, a provisional North Korean government would be established under the aegis of the international community so that the North comes under South Korean control, while the North's military will be disarmed and modernization get underway, the report forecast. IMEMO said the North Korean economy will gradually be absorbed into South Korea's in the process and that around 1 million North Korean supporters of the old regime will flee to either China or Russia.
IMEMO said the emergence of a reunified Korea led by South Korea would have a "positive effect" on Russia's position in the Asia-Pacific region. And with the situation on the Korean Peninsula stabilizing, Russia would "strengthen its diplomatic power in the Far East" and gain a "reliable partner," it added.
This would create opportunities for Russian businesses and the government to participate in massive transport, energy and industrial projects and create new demand for Russian energy, timber, metal and petrochemical exports, as well as machinery.
A diplomatic source said, "It has been an established theory that Russia and other regional powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula favor the status quo rather than reunification, but here is a top Russian think tank publicly welcoming reunification led by South Korea."
IMEMO forecast reunified Korea to see annual GDP growth of 3.5 percent before reunification (2011-2020), 2 percent during the process of reunification (early 2020s) and 5-6 percent in the final stage (late 2020s). The think tank projected that reunification would lay the groundwork for a new leap for the Korean economy.
Korea's GDP, which stood at $1 trillion in 2010, would rise to $1.7 trillion by 2020 and $2.3 trillion by 2030, IMEMO projected. Reunified Korea would have a per-capita GDP of $30,000, and its population would stand at between 76 million and 77 million.
The economic development of reunified Korea would have a strong correlation with the formation of a "three-sided" system in the region that includes China and Japan, according to the report. This would boost trade with other regions. By the early 2020s, North Korea's rapid economic development would lead to a trade deficit, but reunified Korea would be able to achieve a trade surplus by the late 2020s, the report added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If everyone quits propping up the Norks, the govt will fall pretty quickly, and the world can rescue the North Korean people from their nightmare.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/06/2011 4:26 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I am not so sure that South Korea would pay the cost of reunification?
#3
..they saw what happened to W.Germany when it absorbed the East and isn't too keen about the economic consequences. Even a better reason to negotiate with the Chinese about dealing with a sizable portion of the North for 'co-development' and 'co-administration'. The Chinese are playing their historic claim to that area anyways, make them eat the costs.
#4
Russia should be encouraged in this thinking. Mostly that a unified Korea would not in any way be a threat to Russia, on the contrary, that it would be one less nuisance in the region, with lots of positive benefits to just about everyone.
#5
Partition North Korea. Allow the north and northwest to be brought into the Chinese orbit as an 'autonomous region'. Allow the southern and northeast parts to be incorporated into South Korea, either as wholly owned new provinces or as part of a 'confederation'.
The Chinese get access to raw materials. The ROK gets a land link to Russia for the pipeline and for rail. You could let the Chinese have access (not sovereignty, just access) to ports on the eastern side; that would make them happier still.
This way you divide the burden.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2011 11:44 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The Russians seem to be considering the effects of timing, and when would be optimal for them (and by extension perhaps 'less optimal' for others?). I'm sure the Chinese are working the same equation from their perspective. It seems that until both parties believe at the same time that the time has come, the Norks will continue to receive critical forms of assistance under the guise of humanitarian aid and continue to hang on by their fingernails.
#7
Not while China can use the Norks for third party
intimidation.
Posted by: Jack Phuting9685 ||
11/06/2011 19:27 Comments ||
Top||
#8
WORLD MILITARY FORUM > RUSSIA: NORTH KOREA WILL COLLAPSE BY 2020 [entered the stage of collapse], + EITHER BECOME UNIFIED OR ELSE SUBSTANTIALLY ECONOMICALLY [ + hence also Polically] DOMINATED BY SOUTH KOREA [no longer China?], the latter domination by SoKor to occur between 2011 - 2030 even iff no per se inter-Korean Unification takes place.
and
* SAME > RAND: NORTH KOREA WILL COLLAPSE, RULING ELITE TO SURVIVE + ESCAPE. ROLE OF CHINA IN POST-COLLAPSE NORTH KOREA TO DETERMINE EFFECTIVENESS OF US-ROK INTERVENTION.
* SAME > SCHOLARS: CHINA'S AGING POPULATION, TROUBLED MASS/UNIVERSAL EDUCATION SYSTEM ARE MAJOR FACTORS IN ITS EFFORTS TO EXPAND ITS INFLUENCE THROUGHOUT SOUTHEAST ASIA.
China's steadily expanding numbers of rural migrants to the big cities typically lack the basic education + technological proficiencies, etc. necessary to compete for jobs agz those from Urban + Suburban areas, even as per low/lower-paying physical labor jobs, FORCING CHINESE COMPANIES TO SEEK "QUALIFIED" WORKERS OUTSIDE OF CHINA???
The Central Intelligence Agency has made a series of secret concessions in its drone campaign after military and diplomatic officials complained large strikes were damaging the fragile U.S. relationship with Pakistain.
The covert drones are credited with killing hundreds of suspected turbans, and few U.S. officials have publicly criticized the campaign, or its rapid expansion under President Barack I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody Obama. Behind the scenes, however, many key U.S. military and State Department officials demanded more-selective strikes. That pitted them against CIA brass who want a free hand to pursue suspected turbans.
The disputes over drones became so protracted that the White House launched a review over the summer, in which Mr. Obama intervened. The review ultimately affirmed support for the underlying CIA program. But a bigwig said: "The bar has been raised. Inside CIA, there is a recognition you need to be damn sure it's worth it."
Among those voicing concerns was Gen. David Petraeus, who commanded the war in Afghanistan before becoming CIA director in September. A senior intelligence official said Gen. Petraeus voiced "caution against strikes on large groups of fighters."
#1
Among the changes: The State Department won greater sway in strike decisions; Pakistani leaders got advance notice about more operations; and the CIA agreed to suspend operations when Pakistani officials visit the U.S.
Getting State involved in the decision-making sounds like a mistake IMHO. Next some Justice Dept. attorney will have to sign off on missions. Advance notice? WTF?
The drone program gets the enemy with little risk to our troops. Sounds like smart warfare. The downside is that targets don't yield much intelligence.
US NAVY Seals have revealed for the first time that they killed Osama Bin Laden within 90 seconds of entering his fortress-like home in Pakistan.
The men who killed the al-Qaeda chief have decided to speak out because they are tired of their "shabby treatment" by politicians who claim they were on a "kill mission".
They insisted there was no lengthy gun-fight in the compound and claimed they would have captured Bin Laden if he had surrendered, The Sunday Times in the UK reports (behind a paywall).
They were not on a "kill mission", they said, and fired only 12 bullets in the entire operation.
The details of the mission, which was codenamed Operation NeptuneÂ’s Spear, are revealed in a book by the Seals' former commander, Chuck Pfarrer.
"I've been a Seal for 30 years and I never heard the words 'kill mission'. It's a fantasy word. If it was a kill mission you donÂ’t need Seal Team 6; you need a box of hand grenades."
He said the men were angry with President Barack Obama for announcing Bin LadenÂ’s death on TV just hours after they completed the mission on May 1.
"There isn't a politician in the world who could resist trying to take credit for getting Bin Laden but it devalued the 'intel' and gave time for every other Al-Qaeda leader to scurry to another bolthole," he said.
"The men who did this and their valorous act deserve better. It's a pretty shabby way to treat these guys."
Pfarrer's books also reveals that the Seals' nickname for Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri were Bert and Ernie, after the two Muppets in Sesame Street.
When they were first told they were going to Pakistan to pick up a high-value person who was holed up in high-walled compound, they asked: "So is this Bert or Ernie?"
Pfarrer said the squad's nickname was Jedi.
His account of the mission makes for terrifying reading. Here is an extract from The Sunday Times report, detailing the death of Bin Laden:
Bin Laden’s bedroom was along a short hall. The door opened; he popped out and then slammed the door shut. “Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo,” radioed one Seal, meaning “eyes on target”.
Two Seals kicked in Bin LadenÂ’s door. The room, they later recalled, "smelt like old clothing, like a guest bedroom in a grandmotherÂ’s house". Inside was the al-Qaeda leader and his youngest wife, Amal, who was screaming as he pushed her in front of him.
"No, no, don’t do this!” she shouted as her husband reached across the king-size bed for his AK-47 assault rifle. The Seals reacted instantly, firing in the same second. One round thudded into the mattress. The other, aimed at Bin Laden’s head, grazed Amal in the calf. As his hand reached for the gun, they each fired again: one shot hit his breastbone, the other his skull, killing him instantly and blowing out the back of his head.
#1
"...grazed Amal in the calf." So was the SEAL who was shooting in the prone position, or was she practicing her high kicks?
That being said, though the Stolen Valor Act is heading to the SCOTUS, patience is starting to run out over military honor fakes. It is a quiet rumble, but maybe even more intense in its way than the public rage over flag desecration.
I suspect that some "Guido" will be bragging in a bar about how he didn't become a SEAL until after he had "won" his first Medal of Honor, and somebody is going to, as John Wayne once said, "break his face."
[Dawn] A judicial magistrate remanded on Friday two suspected hit men in jail custody till Nov 11.
Zakir Hussain alias Adeel alias Agha and Gul Mohammad alias Gulloo were tossed in the calaboose on Oct 23 after an encounter in the Clifton area and the following day they were remanded in police custody in three cases pertaining to attempted murder and possession of illicit weapons.
After the expiry of their remand, the police produced them before the court of a judicial magistrate (south) on Friday.
The court sent the suspects to prison on judicial remand and directed the police to submit charge-sheets on the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, the police tossed in the calaboose the suspects after a shootout and seized unlicensed weapons and claimed that they were involved in assassinations.
They were booked in three cases (268/11, 269/11 and 272/11) under Sections 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 324 (attempt to commit premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code and Sections 13-D and 13-E of the Arms Ordinance at the Clifton cop shoppe.
The same suspects were also remanded in prison on Friday by the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts in some murder cases.
Warrants for coppers
A judicial magistrate on Friday issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of six coppers for not appearing in court to testify in illicit weapons cases.
The crime investigation department tossed in the calaboose Mohammad Azeem and Mohammad Amin in December and October 2010 for allegedly possessing unlicensed pistols and booked them in cases (313/10 and 257/10) under Section 13-D of the Arms Ordinance.
Inspector Shariq Siddiqui, ASI Asghar Hussain Abidi, head constable Tauqueer Ahmed and constable Khan Mohammad were the prosecution witnesses in the first case while sub-inspector Shaukat Ali Abbasi and head constable Mohammad Yasin were witnesses in the second case.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... they failed to appear in court to record their testimonies despite repeated notices and reminders issued by the court over the past many months.
A judicial magistrate (south), Hatam Aziz Solangi, issued non-bailable warrants for the coppers, and directed police high-ups to arrest and produce them in court on the next hearing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Pakistain's most troubled foreign relationships have improved in recent months, its top diplomat said on Saturday, pointing to upcoming trade talks with New Delhi and broad agreement on regional security goals with Washington as evidence.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, in an exclusive interview with Rooters, said negotiations to normalise trade with India would allow progress on other issues between the two South Asian rivals.
"I think it's broadly agreed that we need to make some simultaneous progress on these issues," she said.
Trade has long been tied to political issues between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence from Britannia in 1947.
The hope is that an increase in trade will feed into wider trust between the two countries and help them resolve major flashpoints, like the disputed Kashmire region, although a solution to this problem has proved intractable for decades.
"But there has been a great improvement in the environment," she said. "I think we can move forward."
She strongly denied No, no! Certainly not! that Pakistain was not committed to finalising Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status for India, as alleged by an unnamed Indian government official on Friday, who said Islamabad was "backtracking" on the issue in the face of domestic opposition.
"There is absolutely no question of backtracking of cabinet approval of trade normalisation with India," she said. "I want to completely dismiss any indication that there's any retraction on what we said."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. has ordered strict security measures all over the country to prevent acts of terrorism during Eidul Azha.
"I have ordered all the chief secretaries of their respective provinces to place police on alert," he said while talking briefly to media at State Guest House after holding a meeting with the office bearers of Pakistain Business Council (PBC).
He said the security issue during Eidul Azha was discussed in detail at Ministry of Interior on Friday in Islamabad and Police Department has been asked to boost security, particularly, around mosques, imambargahs and Eidgahs and places which could become soft targets of terrorists.
To a question, he said that Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was investigating the case related to the murder of a Saudi national and staffer of Saudi Consulate in Bloody Karachi in May this year.
Malik said cash reward will be given to any person who give any lead to the murder of the Saudi official.
About PPP-MQM relations, he said that MQM leader Altaf Hussain has successfully helped thwart attempts to derail democracy by holding rallies in favour of the government.
"PPP enjoys good relations with the MQM," he maintained.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] A petition has been filed in the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court seeking a court order for making public any `secret deal` between the Pakistain and US governments about carrying out drone attacks in the tribal areas.
The Defence of Pakistain Council (DPC) and five other religiopolitical parties moved the court on Friday stating that so far around 277 attacks by the pilotless aircraft had taken place in Pakistain which resulted in killing of 1,680 persons and injuries to 2,634 others.
The petitioners are: DPC through its provincial convener Syed Yousaf Shah, who is also provincial chief of JUI (Samiul Haq group); former deputy speaker of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Assembly Ikramullah Shahid; All Pakistain Abdul Qayyum Khan League; central information secretary of Jamiat Ahl-i-Hadith; Tanzeem-i-Islami, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; JUI (Nazriyati group); and district president of Ahle Sunnat-wal-Jamaat, Maulana Mohammad Ismail.
The petitioners stated that it was their fundamental right in view of Article 19-A of the Constitution to have access to information in all matters of public importance including any secret deal allowing drone attacks in Pakistain.
The petitioners requested the court to hold that the government was bound to apprise the people of Pakistain about any secret deal and if it was so, it should submit copy of that deal.
They also prayed that the said deal should also be made public in all the leading national and international print and electronic media so that the people of Pakistain may adopt appropriate measures to protect their lives and save their country.
The petitioners stated that in the meantime the government may be directed to produce in court copies of parliamentary resolution in which the public representatives had opposed and condemned the drone attacks and also of any correspondence in this respect with US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces.
The respondents in the petition are: Federation of Pakistain through secretary interior; defence secretary; information secretary; chief secretary and home secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The petitioners claimed that the Washington Post on Oct 4, 2008, had reported that there was a secret deal between Pakistain and US governments allowing drone attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I'd say the drone attacks are working if Pakistain is protesting.
#2
If you believe Bruce Reidel there is no agreement. Hot pursuit against illegal harborage founds the motivation.
BTW: I seem to recall posting here in 2003, viz reasons why Bush was myopic in doubting that Pakistan would ever abandon its "Pakistan in depth" policy, which included permanent support for Taleban. Bush was a Saint then.
#3
BTW: I seem to recall posting here in 2003, viz reasons why Bush was myopic in doubting that Pakistan would ever abandon its "Pakistan in depth" policy, which included permanent support for Taleban.
and I picked the last five Superbowl winners, anonymously. Trust me on that. Like you
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/06/2011 17:39 Comments ||
Top||
Jinnah did not hate India
Writing in Jang Ataul Haq Qasmi stated that it was proved by evidence provided by Mujibur Rehman Shami - opposed by Dr Safdar Mehmood - that Jinnah wanted normal relations with India and not hostile ones and he was not moved by any hatred.
 Jinnah hated India
Taking part in the ongoing debate whether Jinnah hated India, famous Pakistani historian Dr Safdar Mehmood stated in Jang that it was for the people to judge if Jinnah hated India after what the Indians did to the Muslims at the time of Partition. He decried the Pakistanis who used to go to see Indian films in Amritsar from Lahore before 1965 when Indo-Pakistan war made that impossible. He said it indicated a re-acceptance of India by Pakistanis he did not believe that those going ton Amritsar to see Indian moves were good representatives of Pakistan.
 Sir Syed from Mian Channu!
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt chief editor Majeed Nizami stated that late Ghulam Hyder Wyne former chief minister of Punjab was murdered in Mian Channu which was his constituency and where he had risen as a new Sir Syed. He lived like a darvesh, did not build a house but established Nazriya Pakistan Trust and Pakistan Movement Workers' Trust.
 Shahid Afridi on America
Quoted by Jang famous Pakistani cricketer with high emotion, which at times overcomes his judgement according to his confession, said that Pakistanis will be able to live without American aid. He said Pakistan should not be afraid of America but should instead fear Allah.
 America getting emotional!
World famous scientific genius and father of Pakistani Bomb Dr AQ Khan was quoted by Express as saying that Pakistani rulers were all liars and were not ashamed of it. America was getting emotional but Pakistanis should not get emotional.
 Musharraf's gaffe Daily Express that at a gathering in London Musharraf claimed that he had never handed over a child to the Americans as a terrorist during his time as president of Pakistan. At that point a girl took out his book and actually read out the passage in which he said that he had handed over a terrorist family to the Americans containing a small child.
 Hina Khar doesn't know how to speak!
Famous lady firebrand journalist Shirin Mazari was quoted by Express as saying that Pakistan foreign minister who went to the India was interested to stage a Bollywood show and went to the US while she did mot know how to make a speech. Her speech at the UN was a great disappointment, she said.
 Taliban will not support Pakistan blindly
Quoted in Jang a spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan stated that if Pakistan separated itself from America the Taliban will not blindly support Pakistan but will think what is to be done. He said in fact America wanted to flee but Pakistan was asking it to stay.
 Imran Khan changed AOC document Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that during the APC Imran Khan played an aggressive role and dictated the APC into adopting his version of the final text. He was able to dig in his heels till the others agreed to accept his more aggressive version.
 Kayani gets visiting cards at APC
Reported in Nawa-e-Waqt General Kayani at the APC was surprised to find that politicians favouring democracy in the country were piling their visiting cards at his table, implying that they wanted him to call them over for exclusive consultation. They were also seen being obsequious before him and asking for time when they could call on him.
 Imran wants goodbye to America!
Quoted by MashriqImran Khan said that time had come to break ties with America which had got Pakistan trapped in a war against terrorism which the Pakistanis did not accept as their war. The paper reported an Iranian diplomat in Islamabad as saying that Iran will not leave Pakistan standing alone against the US.
 Resham's journey of love Daily Mashriq wrote that actress Resham began as a TV theatre artist with a liking for Urdu poetry which soon made her favourite of the TV producers. After that she was catapulted into cinema where she took a liking to actor Babar but only to learn that she had to leave people behind rather than be left behind by others. These days she was spending time with a non-cinema personality.
 Lawyers go berserk!
Reported in daily Pakistan two wukla persons thrashed motorway inspectors as they travelled to present themselves at the High Court Lahore. The two inspectors had challaned the car of Lawyer Muhammad Rafiq. At the court the wukla attacked them both and after wounding them made them run away at great speed from the Court. Victory went to the proud lawyers' community.
 Taji Khokhar will get Qadri absolved!
World famous social worker Taji Khokhar was quoted by daily Jinnah as saying that he will pay diyat for the murderer of Salmaan Taseer policemen Mumtaz Qadri to get them absolved of the murder. He named the sum of Rs 5 crore as diyat for the life of Governor Taseer. He said if Raymond Davis could be absolved with diyat why not policeman Mumtaz Qadri?
 Achakzai on Pakistan's reality Daily Express quoted Balochistan's Pashtun leader Mahmud Khan Achakzai as saying that allegations made by the international community of terrorism against Pakistan were true. He said the generals were fond of playing politics while still wearing their uniform. He said the army was not interested in disarming the terrorists. He said given these conditions Pakistan should be restructured.
 Sexual harassment raging in Lyari
Reported in daily Pakistan Benazir Medical College in Lyari in Karachi reached a world record of 300 employees being dismissed after they tried their hand at sexual harassment. The funds had disappeared and there were no salaries after which the lady doctors were targeted with sexual advances.
 Taliban try to abduct Osama's widow Amal Daily Pakistan reported that that Mullah Umar had ordered 500 terrorists to go to the house where Pakistan was holding Osama's youngest wife Amal and get her released but the plot proved abortive. Amal is a great guerrilla fighter and can fire a rocket launcher.
 PMLN on the warpath?
Writing in Jinnah Chief Editor stated that Nawaz Sharif had plunged into action when the people in Punjab went out on the roads to protest load-shedding. Sharifs plan to rev up the protest, then change into a Long March followed by resignations from the parliament, if the PPP government didn't submit to mid-term elections. People in Lahore had already announced their decision to take a Long March to Islamabad.
 Turned Ahmadi, was killed!
Reported in Mashriq one man named Dilwar Hussain who embraced Ahmadi faith was killed when unknown people came to the school in Chenab Nagar where he was teaching and filled him bullets. When an Ahmadi turns Sunni he is garlanded but when a Sunni turns Ahmadi he is usually killed.
[An Nahar] Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani said Saturday he opposes Turkey's military campaign against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq as it will fail to permanently end the conflict.
Barzani arrived in Ankara Thursday for talks focused on Turkey's ongoing operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"Honestly, I disapprove of all these operations ... I don't think that one can achieve the result with the military option", Barzani told the Hurriyet newspaper.
"The fighting should happen in parliament", he told the Anatolia news agency.
The Turkish military launched an operation in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region after a PKK attack last month killed 24 soldiers in the town of Cukurca near the Iraqi border, the army's biggest loss since 1993. Clashes between the PKK and the army have escalated since the summer.
In the interview Saturday, the Kurdish leader condemned the PKK for last month's deadly attack and called on the group to cease all its military activities.
"When the PKK does that, Turkey will no longer have a pretext to pursue its military campaign", Barzani told Hurriyet.
Barzani met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and was set to have talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan later Saturday.
Erdogan has already asked Barzani's administration and Kurdish forces to play a more active role in the fight against the PKK.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Among the many alliances of convenience in the Middle East, one is so unusual that the partners can barely hint about it publicly: Israel and the Gulf Arab states linked by shared fears over IranÂ’s nuclear program.
While their deeper disputes on the Palestinians effectively block any strategic breakthroughs, the recent warnings from Israel and the West about military options against Iran invariably draw in the Gulf and its rare meeting of minds with Jerusalem.
The Gulf states—a cornerstone for U.S. diplomatic and military pressure on Iran—are indispensable parts of any effort to confront Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. And even Israel, which has no direct diplomatic outreach to the Gulf, is likely brought into the Gulf-centric policymaking with U.S. envoys acting as go-betweens, experts say.
“I would be surprised if there is no knowledge about the Saudi positions (in Israel) or knowledge in Saudi of the Israeli positions,” said David Menashri, director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.
It’s part of a complicated mix of mutual worries and divergent risks _ the Gulf, unlike Israel, has critical commercial and diplomatic ties with Iran—that puts Washington in the middle as the common ally and chief Western architect of pressure tactics on Iran.
The next moves are expected after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency releases an intelligence report Tuesday to its 35 board members.
#2
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up - one of those choices between worse and worser The only question is which one happens first. History says the can gets kicked down the road repeatedly until worser is obtained.
The websites of Israel's military and its intelligence services are down, two days after a hacker group appeared to threaten the Jewish state over its interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.
The websites of the Israel Defence Forces, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency and the Mossad foreign intelligence service were all unavailable through the day and into the evening on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, whose website was functioning, said that the outage was caused by a technical glitch rather than by hackers.
"Israeli government websites crashed today because of a server malfunction, not as a result of a cyber attack," Ofir Gendelman, a Netanyahu spokesman, wrote in a posting on Twitter.
The website problems came two days after a video apparently from "hacktivist" group Anonymous was posted on YouTube, threatening the Israeli government with retaliation over its interception of two Gaza-bound ships.
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter said Friday that Israel would have to take over the Gazoo Strip again unless "neighboring countries" assist Israel in stopping rocket fire.
"Israel will have to reconquer Gazoo and disband the terror infrastructure of no other political solution is achieved with the help of neighboring countries," said Dichter, a Kadima member of Israel's parliament.
Dichter's remarks, reported by the Israeli news site Ynet, came as Egyptian officials warned that Israel was planning a large operation in Gazoo and warned turban groups and Israel to agree to a truce.
Israel unilaterally withdrew its army and settlers from the Gazoo Strip in 2005.
#2
If Israel has to go into Gaza again, they should only do so on the condition that ALL of the Paleo Gazans are then pushed into Egypt. FOREVER.
Any guilt should be assuaged by writing a big check to the military government of Egypt, to help defray costs. $20b should do it. That would be, by Egyptian standards, a small fortune for every man, woman, and child.
Of course, it would be up to the Egyptian government what to do with that money.
#4
Mind picture of an infinite line of D9's to the sea.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
11/06/2011 12:04 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Can a Rantburg U. prof elaborate a bit on the term "retake?" When was Gaza taken the first time, and why was it given back? Has this happened once, or many times?
This is a genuine "mommy, why didn't the police keep the bad man in jail when they took his picture?" kind of question. Thanks!
#9
yep. By the way, Michael Oren's book is the best historical ref on the 6 days war that I've ever read
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/06/2011 16:02 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Ariel Sharon was the one who pulled out completely,when he was prime minister. 2005, as I recall. The idea was to get all Israelis out, where the dodn't have to be defended and, the Gazans having gotten everything they demanded, would busy themselves with the demands of proto-statehood instead of spending their time and energy trying to kll Jews. Or not, and Israel's friends and allies would finally shut up and let Sharon do what needed to be done.
It was a pretty definitive experiment. Unfortunately, Sharon had that stroke, and Ehud Olmert turned out to be hopeless, and the world didn't see why bald facts should change things...or so it appears to me.
#11
"Can a Rantburg U. prof elaborate a bit on the term "retake?" When was Gaza taken the first time, and why was it given back? Has this happened once, or many times? "
It's name is Gush Katif.
ZEP 2:4 For GAZA shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Full history - GE 10:19 And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto GAZA; as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, unto Lasha.
DE 2:23 and the Avvim, that dwelt in villages as far as GAZA, the Caphtorim, that came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
JOS 10:41 And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto GAZA, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.
JOS 11:22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel: only in GAZA, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain.
JOS 15:47 Ashdod, its towns and its villages; GAZA, its towns and its villages; unto the brook of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border [thereof].
JUD 1:18 Also Judah took GAZA with the border thereof, and Ashkelon with the border thereof, and Ekron with the border thereof.
JUD 6:4 and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto GAZA, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
JUD 16:1 And Samson went to GAZA, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.
JUD 16:21 And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to GAZA, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
1SA 6:17 And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering unto Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for GAZA one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
1KI 4:24 For he had dominion over all [the region] on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to GAZA, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him.
2KI 18:8 He smote the Philistines unto GAZA and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
JER 25:20 and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and GAZA, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
JER 47:1 The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote GAZA.
JER 47:5 Baldness is come upon GAZA; Ashkelon is brought to nought, the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
AM 1:6 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of GAZA, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom:
AM 1:7 but I will send a fire on the wall of GAZA, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
ZEP 2:4 For GAZA shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
ZEC 9:5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; GAZA also, and shall be sore pained; and Ekron, for her expectation shall be put to shame; and the king shall perish from GAZA, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
AC 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto GAZA: the same is desert.
#12
Not one of the Arabic speakers has roots in the Judeo Christian Holy Lands. Arabic is spoken because the savages from mecca and medina destroyed hundreds of local cultures in the bloodiest conquest in human history. We need to crush that enemy before they get power. And Hussein O is the enemy's best pal.
Posted by: Jack Phuting9685 ||
11/06/2011 19:33 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Oh my. Prof. newc, I kinda meant since 1948.
An IDF guy helped me understand that the Gazans already have a homeland. It is called Jordan. We studied international law together, and yep, it's all right there.
So I asked, if Gaza is so awful, "occupied" or otherwise, why don't they go to Jordan?
[Paraphrasing] Because it's not so easy to make war on Israel from Jordan.
So I asked, why do so many Israelis protect and pity those actively trying to kill you all?
[Paraphrasing] Because we have as many retarded, incoherent, suicidal leftists as America does.
#16
TOPIX > NASRALLAH BOASTS THAT ISRAEL CANNOT DEFEND ITSELF WID MISSLE ALONE | NO NEED FOR IRAN + SYRIA HELP TO DEFEND [fight] AGZ ISRAEL [ up to 10,000 rockets planned to be fired at Tel Aviv + IDAF, Reserve milbases].
ARTIC > NASRALLAH = argued no way can Israel resist or withstand such pressure.
Every penny spent on such things is not available for mayhem...
Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has decided to build houses for the Paleostinian prisoners who were released in the Gilad Schalit exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
The new housing project will be funded by the Paleostinian Investment Fund, the Paleostinian news agency Wafa reported. The PIF was established in 2003 as an independent investment company with the aim of strengthening the Paleostinian economy through key investments.
The announcement came during a meeting between Abbas and some of the released prisoners in his office in Ramallah on Saturday.
Earlier, Abbas decided to award the prisoners financial grants of several thousand dollars for each inmate.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Sunday that France should insisted on hardening sanctions against Iran for as long as it refuses to halt its nuclear program. Juppe added that an Israeli attack on Iran could destabilize the region. Everything the evil Juice do destabilizes the region...
We can still strengthen them (sanctions) to put pressure on Iran and we are going to continue along this path because a military intervention could create a totally destabilizing situation in the region," Juppe told Europe 1 radio. "We must do everything to avoid the irreparable."
#3
Yeah... if Israel will only sit still and allow Iran to nuke it, and of course all of the Jews in it, out of existance.... then the region would be stable.
#5
"If I had an atomic bomb I would wipe (neighbor of France) Switzerland off the map."
Hannibal Gaddafi, 2009
In 2011, at the behest of France, NATO forces (French Air Force included) destroy the Gaddafi regime.
"If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world"
Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, December of 2001
IMO France was justified to take preemptive action against the Gaddafi regime, just as Israel would be fully justified to do what's necessary in Iran.
Monsieur Juppe: Pot. Kettle. Black.
Posted by: Angeth Lover of the Heathen Rus8230 ||
11/06/2011 11:46 Comments ||
Top||
#6
did that FM make his way to the top with other profound statements?
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
11/06/2011 12:26 Comments ||
Top||
#7
How stable is it now?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/06/2011 13:19 Comments ||
Top||
#8
"destabilize the region"
And that would be different from now how, exactly?
"destabilize" - I do not think that word means what you think it means....
Posted by: Barbara ||
11/06/2011 13:33 Comments ||
Top||
#9
An attack on Iran just might stabilize the region.
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.
l-Shabaab
Qadaffy
The Central Intelligence Agency has made a series of secret concessions in its drone campaign after military and diplomatic officials complained large strikes were damaging the fragile U.S. relationship with Pakistain.
[Dawn] A judicial magistrate remanded on Friday two suspected hit men in jail custody till Nov 11.
[Dawn] Interior Minister 
[Dawn] A petition has been filed in the 
Jinnah did not hate India
[An Nahar] Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani said Saturday he opposes Turkey's military campaign against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq as it will fail to permanently end the conflict.
