[Tolo News] In response to recent remarks suggesting another top-ranking Afghan official could sign Kabul-Washington security pact instead of President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday maintained that only the President has authority over the accord.
President Karzai announced after the Loya Jirga recommended signing the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that he would not sign the pact until after the April elections and only if the U.S. met new preconditions, including ending raids on Afghan homes and advancing talks with the Taliban.
Karzai has received a great deal of flack for his maneuver inside Afghanistan and the U.S. has warned that the entire deal, which outlines a residual troop presence after the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... combat mission ends in 2014 and commits some 4.1 billion USD in military aid, could be in jeopardy if it is not finalized before the end of the year.
This week, U.S. officials suggested another top Afghan official, such as the Minister of Defense, could sign the accord instead of president Karzai. U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... spoke on the subject after a NATO meeting in brussels on Wednesday.
"I think it is important for the agreement to try to move forward," Kerry said. It doesn't have to be the "president," he said, not finishing the word. "You know, his minister of defense can sign it, the government can sign it, somebody can accept responsibility for this," Kerry added. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... on Thursday, the front man for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign affairs, Janan Mosazai, said that President Karzai would make the final decision on the BSA signing.
"BSA signing is only the authority of the President of Afghanistan and the government of Afghanistan will only act in accordance with the will of President Karzai," Mosazai said. "In other words, it's up to President Karzai to decide if the BSA will be signed at the level of Presidents of both countries or at a different level between the countries."
The 64th Article of the Afghan Constitution gives the President the right to authorize someone else for signing global agreements. Meaning that, President Karzai could theoretically choose someone else to sign the accord in his place.
But Mosazai maintained on Thursday that the security agreement between Kabul and Washington would be signed in suitable time, so long as the U.S. meets the preconditions laid out by Karzai.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Ummmm.... how about the Secretary of Flowers, he could sign.
[Al Ahram] Speaking to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi (Arab Jerusalem), Moussa Al-Abdilat, a Jordanian lawyer for Islamist groups, passed on a statement by leading jihadist authority Assem Al-Barkawi, aka Abu Mohammed Al-Maqdisi, calling for "the unification of efforts in the region and the world between jihadist Salafist movements, the Moslem Brüderbund and the Islamic Liberation Party in order to confront the project that targets Islam and Moslems in this difficult phase". Al-Maqdisi, who has been tossed in the calaboose Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! since 1994, also called on Salafis to support "the legitimate president in Egypt Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... in the battle against the military coup". It is a message with clear ramifications for turbulent conditions in Sinai, the actions of Al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations there and the connections between such myrmidon jihadists and the Moslem Brüderbund.
Continued on Page 49
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12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Egypt Independent] Nader Bakar of the Nour Party said that an alliance between the party and the Moslem Brüderbund is unlikely.
"Please don't kill us!"
"We seek consensus among all Egyptian people and not just the Islamist factions," he said in a presser on Thursday, announcing the party's position on the constitutional referendum.
"Article 227 confirms that the Constitution, its preamble and its provisions are all one unit," he said, adding that this means there is no need for the phrase "contrary to the Sharia."
"Although we disagree with the Committee of 50 on certain points, the committee still deserves our thanks," he stressed.
"I call on the community to vote for the draft constitution because it helps us complete the track to democracy and correct the mistakes of the past year," he said.
For his part, his colleague Talaat Marzouk said the party is flexible and will accept what the various political groups agree on. "We still prefer to hold the parliamentary elections first [before the presidential elections]," he said.
He also said that the Nour Party is not a religious party. "We are 100 percent legal," he stressed.
And they want to stay that way...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Egypt's Salafist Al-Nur party said Thursday it will rally supporters to vote for a new draft constitution in a referendum fiercely opposed by the Moslem Brüderbund.
"It is an amended constitution. Generally speaking, the final result is acceptable for us," said Nader Bakkar, front man for Al-Nur, which had a representative on the panel that drafted the constitution.
"We are going to campaign" in favor of it, he told AFP.
The ultra-conservative party had broken ranks with other Islamist groups to support the military's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... in July.
The military had suspended the previous constitution, passed by an Islamist-dominated panel during Morsi's year in power, before it toppled the president.
A senior member of the Moslem Brüderbund, to which Morsi belonged, told AFP the movement had yet to decide whether to call for a "No" vote or boycott the referendum.
A 50-member panel drafted the constitution and handed it to interim President Adly Mansour on Tuesday.
Mansour has a month to hold the referendum which is billed as the first stage the "democratic transition" promised by the military-installed rulers.
A statement by the Anti-Coup Alliance led by the Brotherhood said it "rejects as a total waste of billions of Egyptian pounds a potentially rigged and certainly unconstitutional referendum to rubber stamp the country's most important document".
Egypt's Islamists were divided even on the ouster of Morsi -- the country's first democratically elected president -- with Al-Nur backing the military in deposing him on July 3 along with Christian and Mohammedan religious institutions.
Morsi's supporters have been staging near-daily protests against his ouster despite a crackdown in which more than 1,000 people, most of them Islamists, have been killed and thousands enjugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! The draft constitution has retained powers and privileges of the military, including allowing it to prosecute civilians in certain cases despite stiff opposition from secular activists who spearheaded the 2011 revolt against Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... .
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12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Two teenaged Norwegian sisters who bravely ran away from home in October, saying they wanted to help rebels in Syria, are indeed in the war-wracked country, a lawyer for their family confirmed Thursday.
The youngest, aged 16, is injured and has to be treated before she and her sister can leave Syria, the lawyer, Geir Lippestad, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. Norwegian media reported the 16-year-old had a bullet wound.
The other sister is aged 19. Both are from a family of Somalian origin living in Norway.
Their disappearance in mid-October, with messages to the family that they planned to go to Syria to support gunnies there, prompted Norway to launch an international search for them through Interpol.
Their father told NRK at the end of October that online messages he had received from the girls suggested they had made it to Syria, where they said they were being "held against their will" by rebels.
But Lippestad said the father had now received assurances that the two would soon be released.
The identities of the girls and the father have not been made public by Norwegian authorities.
Norway's intelligence services estimate that 30 to 40 Norwegian nationals have gone to Syria to fight.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
cancel their passports, Norway. They'll be bringing Jihadi buns in the oven home
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2013 12:05 Comments ||
Top||
It goes without saying that seeking and finding are two different things, especially when The Smartest Men in The Room are involved.
[Ynet] A top US diplomat suggested on Wednesday the United States may press Iran to agree to dismantle part of its Arak nuclear reactor in a comprehensive agreement to rein in Tehran's atomic program.
And the Mad Mullahs will press right back...
A comprehensive agreement "includes a lot of dismantling of their infrastructure," Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said on PBS Newshour, speaking about a final deal with Iran. "Because, quite frankly, we're not quite sure what you need a 40-megawatt heavy water reactor - which is what Arak is - for any civilian peaceful purpose."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Wait a minute! I thought a deal was all done. How can we seek more stuff after the "law" is signed. Does the law mean nothing to our regime?
#2
Exactly, Alan. The deal is signed, the bargaining over. Any further concessions will only come from the Americans. Maybe we could offer to enrich their uranium for them.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/06/2013 9:58 Comments ||
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#3
"Because, quite frankly, we're not quite sure what you need a 40-megawatt heavy water reactor - which is what Arak is - for any civilian peaceful purpose."
Looks like State didn't get a SITREP until after the agreement was signed.
[Pak Daily Times] More than 100 national and provincial politicians staged a protest on Thursday in the capital against US drone strikes on suspected forces of Evil in the country's tribal belt.
"We will continue our protest against drone strikes and...we will not allow NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supplies to pass through the (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... ) province," Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... told the gathering outside parliament. Rallies against the drone attacks began in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. on November 24. Apart from PTI politicians, members of parliament from the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... took part in the rally, shouting slogans against the United States and the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... Imran accused Nawaz's government of double standards on the issue and called for the blocking of supply routes through Pakistain for NATO troops in Afghanistan. "Our rulers have double standards, they say one thing to the Americans and the complete opposite to the nation," he said. "These missile strikes violate international laws. We do not want a war with America but we are protesting against the cruel policies of America."
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12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] A new book brings to a wider audience a theory of cover-up, sweeping blame and staggering security failures behind the 2007 liquidation of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
Author and Chilean diplomat Heraldo Munoz headed a damning UN report in 2010 that said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and that Pakistain deliberately failed to investigate properly. Now a UN assistant secretary general, his book "Getting Away with Murder: Benazir Bhutto's Assassination and the Politics of Pakistain", goes on sale in the United States next week. Oxford-educated Bhutto served twice as prime minister and had returned from exile to stand in elections when she was killed in a gun and suicide kaboom on December 27, 2007.
Six years later, no one has been convicted of her murder. The government at the time blamed the Pak Taliban. Despite scant evidence, a court this August charged Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , who ruled from 1999-2008, with her killing. Munoz compares the liquidation to a collective murder plot in a 17th century play and singles out Pakistain's ex-interior minister in particular for refusing to give straight answers.
Asked at a New York launch event whether he feared for his life during his investigation, Munoz said "not really", but revealed that in around January 2010 he was forced to step up security. "I got a warning from a very trustworthy source that 'these people' are capable of anything and 'these people' don't know the world," he told the audience. Although he never knew who "these people" referred to "I thought maybe we were stepping on some toes," he said.
Munoz likened the best explanation for who killed Bhutto to the 17th century Spanish play "Fuenteovejuna" by Felix Arturo Lope de Vega, in which a village united together to kill a hated commander. Al Qaeda wanted her dead, the Pak Taliban executed the attack -- possibly with support of rogue intelligence agents -- and local police did a cover-up, Munoz said. Bhutto's own security failed her and those who encouraged her to return to Pakistain did not provide her with protection, Munoz argues.
At one point the US suggested she hire the security contracting firm formerly known as Blackwater, Munoz said, but Musharraf refused to let foreign agents in. "Political actors, even those close to her, would rather turn the page rather than find out who did it," he said. "She was clearly a target for the Pak Taliban and al Qaeda for sure," said Munoz. He said police were "clearly responsible for a cover-up and I'm convinced that came from higher up".
Federal Sherlocks were delayed in accessing the scene, first by cups of tea until it got too dark and then by a big lunch. In the end they collected only 23 pieces of evidence from the washed-down scene where Britannia's Scotland Yard said ordinarily thousands would have been expected. Munoz said it was ridiculous to imagine that Bhutto's widower, desperately unpopular former president Asif Ali Zardari, had been involved in her death.
"He was helpful but I cannot say his whole government was helpful because we encountered all sorts of obstacles," he said. He said former interior minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. , Bhutto's head of security, had been in a back-up bullet-proof Mercedes but was nowhere to be found immediately after the attack. "They probably wanted to save their skin, to put it bluntly," Munoz said. "Never could we get straight answers from him." The diplomat said guilt was for the courts to decide, but that Musharraf bore "political responsibility" by not providing adequate security to a former prime minister living under threat.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain People's Party (PPP) Patron-in-chief Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... said on Thursday that those who call Death Eaters deaders are traitors.
Speaking to the media at the residence of MNA Pir Muhammad Jamali, the PPP leader said his party was against terrorists, adding that it was party of "deaders".
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Standing Buffalo drew a bead on his old enemy and squeezed the trigger... Bilawal along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah visited the shrine of Laal Shehbaz Qalandar in Sehwan and laid a floral wreath there. He also inspected the ongoing development work at the shrine complex.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,'s news website in the Gazoo Strip reported that a military court has sentenced a Paleostinian to the death penalty for cooperating with Israel.
Hamas has sentenced at least 12 people to death in 2013. Only three, however, have been executed.
The more things remain the same (about AD 1200, perhaps), the more they don't change.
[Ynet] Lebanese daily Al Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah, reported that Hassan al-Laqqis, who was killed two days ago in Beirut, served as the head of Hezbollah's air defense unit. Al-Laqqis was defined as "one of the important electronic minds of the organization," and "the second most important person assassinated after the organization's operations officer, Imad Mornia."
Hezbollah spokesperson and the editor-in-chief of the paper Ibrahim Al Amine published an article titled, "Hezbollah will respond," ending on the threat : "The smell of blood is rising over the southern border. Let's wait."
[DailyStar] Hassan al-Laqqis, the Hezbollah commander who was assassinated outside his Beirut home late Tuesday, had played a key role in advancing the group's technological capabilities in its fight against Israel and had brushes with death on many occasions, sources told The Daily Star Wednesday.
"Lakkis was involved in scientific development and played a key role in developing Hezbollah's unmanned aerial vehicles program," a source close to the Lebanese group told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity
A security source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lakkis was also in charge of smuggling arms to Gazoo and Egypt.
The Hezbollah commander was bumped off outside his home by at least one unidentified assailant wielding a silenced 9-mm pistol, a high-ranking security official told The Daily Star.
Lakkis, who was in his vehicle at the time of the shooting, was shot in the head and the neck five times, said the official, who requested anonymity.
Hezbollah in a statement blamed the Jewish state for the killing, describing the attack as a "heinous crime." Israel's front man denied the allegation.
The source close to the Lebanese party said Lakkis was clearly a top target for Israel, saying the Hezbollah figure was on "Israel's top 50 most wanted list."
The security source also said Tuesday's liquidation bore the hallmarks of an Israeli hit.
"Modus operandi indicates it was an Israeli job," the source said.
Lakkis, according to the source close to Hezbollah, had also survived numerous attempts on his life in the past, including during the July-August 2006 war between Leb and Israel.
"Lakkis escaped with his life on nine occasions, including twice in south Leb," the source said, adding that Tyre and Sidon were just two cities where the official had brushed with death.
"Lakkis' car was targeted on the old Sidon road during an air raid in 2006 just minutes after he switched on his dad's phone," the source said, referring to the latter liquidation attempt.
[An Nahar] The army asked citizens on Thursday to come forward with any information they have about a car that was part of a "terrorist act," probably linked to the liquidation of Hizbullah's military official Hassan al-Laqqis.
"A rented car was used in a terrorist act on the night of December 3, 2013," a communique released by the military institution said.
The statement elaborated: "The vehicle was recently rented and either the contact was lost with its user, or the car rental office received a phone call saying the car was parked in a public area."
The army urged citizens to report anything they know about a rented car that was returned to the office on Wednesday or Thursday and that contained mud and dust, and about a car that was washed on Wednesday or Thursday and that was dirtied with mud and dust.
It also asked gas stations and car wash services to report washing a vehicle on Wednesday or Thursday that contained mud and dust.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, the pilot and the copilot had both hit the silk. Jack! Cynthia exclaimed. Do you know how top drive one of these things?
Jack wiped some of the blood from his knuckles. No, he said. Do you?... the military institution asked car rental offices to collect personal information, passport pictures and identification documents from customers, after verifying their validity.
The army's communique comes a day after Hizbullah official Hajj Hassan Hollo al-Laqqis was assassinated near his residence in Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Voice of Leb radio (100.5) detailed on Wednesday's incident, saying unknown assailants ambushed Laqqis in his residence's parking lot.
The radio station said that he was still inside his Jeep Cherokee when he was assassinated.
"He was shot 5 times, four bullets in the head and one in the neck, from a nearby distance," VDL said.
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12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday a peace conference on Syria slated for January should lay the groundwork for "absolutely free" elections.
"The ground should be prepared for holding an absolutely free election with no preconditions," Rouhani told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the presidency website reported.
Rouhani, whose country backs Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... , said the conference should also aim for the "complete expulsion of the hard boyz from Syria," using the regime's term for its foes.
"It is our mutual responsibility to defend the ideals and demands of the Syrian nation in all international conferences," especially at the so-called Geneva 2, he said.
On Monday, international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi called for both Iran and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , which supports the armed rebels, to be invited to the peace talks initiated by Moscow and Washington.
The government in Damascus, meanwhile, has said Assad will remain president and lead any transition agreed at the conference scheduled for January 22.
The opposition and rebels fighting the regime reject the participation of Iran at the conference and insist Assad play no role in a transition.
At his meeting with Rouhani, Maliki hailed the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in late November, saying it will contribute to the region's stability.
"This agreement is important ... for Iran and regional countries, and the Iraqi government is hopeful of witnessing the long-term impact of this agreement on regional stability," he said, quoted by the presidency.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2013 00:00 ||
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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.
[An Nahar] Two teenaged Norwegian sisters who 
Nawaz Sharif
[Pak Daily Times] A new book brings to a wider audience a theory of cover-up, sweeping blame and staggering security failures behind the 2007 
Pervez 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
