Two former CIA allies in Afghanistan are now fearsome warlords responsible for killing scores of American troops in the escalating border war, intelligence experts told the Daily News.
But officials said CIA assessments of Jalaluddin Haqqani and ex-Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are gathering dust instead of being used to fight them.
The CIA forged ties with warlords in the 1980s by funding mujahedeen battling the Soviets.
"I broke bread with Hekmatyar," recalled Vince Cannistraro, a retired CIA counterterrorism chief. "He dealt with me."
Before author Michael Scheuer ran the CIA's Bin Laden Unit, he met Haqqani in the early 1990s and remembered him as a "border brigand out of Kipling."
Both ex-spies said neither warlord was a paid CIA agent, but each likely got arms and money indirectly from the spy agency through the Pakistanis.
After the Soviets were driven out, mujahedeen like Hekmatyar battled each other. Haqqani later allied with the Taliban until the regime fell following the 9/11 attacks.
Now, with help from Al Qaeda-linked Arabs, the duo coordinate increasingly sophisticated attacks on U.S. Special Forces based at dozens of secret camps along the rocky border frontier, where Osama Bin Laden may be hiding among Pashtun tribesmen.
Yet some intelligence officials claim CIA dossiers created years ago on the Afghan warlords are useless today and admit they don't share them with frontline U.S. commanders.
"I'm not saying there's no benefit, but tactically I'm not sure what went on 20 years ago has any bearing today," said a skeptical U.S. official in Washington, who tracks the insurgency.
But one secret U.S. warrior who recently hunted border insurgents was shocked to learn of the CIA's past relationships with the enemy leaders, adding, "The information would have been extremely useful."
Scheuer said, "You'd know the whole lay of the land if you reviewed the information we had."
"Know thy enemy. If you don't factor in that knowledge, you're fighting blind," Cannistraro said.
Pentagon analysts taking a different stance than the CIA discovered that Haqqani's son Saraj now has operational control of a network with deep ties to Bin Laden's henchmen.
"[Haqqani's] organization has remained intact from the Soviet era, and are much more closely aligned with the Arabs than [the Taliban are]," a defense intelligence official told The News. Haqqani has Arab backers providing Al Qaeda jihadists to lead his Pashtun fighters against U.S. forces. "The Arabs go on operations and help them do it in a smarter way," said the official.
Well-funded Arabs in a war that escalated even after the Sept. 18 election are a troubling sign that Afghans have won support from Gulf financiers who have also thrown money at Iraqi rebels, officials said.
Arab "advisers" were with Pashtun guerrillas on June 28 when they shot down a chopper rescuing a Navy SEAL team in northeastern Afghanistan, killing 19. A chopper in southern Afghanistan on Sept. 25 was also downed by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing five, officials disclosed.
"When you have a helicopter shot down in Kunar [Province] and then one in Zabul, it's obvious that there are some strategic decisions being made at above the tactical operation level," said a defense intelligence official.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 01:17 ||
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Another great example of deskbound old-boys dicking over the field operatives and military people, the old "THey dont need to know this" BS being used as a coverup of the old boys ties.
Bastards are embarassed they made deals with the lesser devil (Islamsists) to get rid of the larger devil (Soviets) and are trying to make it look unimportant and bury it by hushing people up instead of doing them in after they turned, liek they were supposed to.
Hold your enemies close, and your "friends" closer.
supposedly The CIA has a very top heavy staff ratio vs. "enlisted employees".
What kind of numbers/% would you hazard as dead wood cya types, who put career before duty to one's country Oldspook.
upper mgmt maybe, who set the mission?
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/03/2005 4:33 Comments ||
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#3
Hek used to run an English language website. Prior to 9-11 his main theme was to beg for admission into the Taliban, with whom he initially challenged. I have doubts that he is capable of even raising a tin pot terror force. If he did, he would be targeted by both government (and Coalition) jihadi forces.
#4
Hek is being used as cover by the ISI to divert attention from the real trouble makers and the ISI hands behind them.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 6:26 Comments ||
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This is typical NY bullshit. Warlords are businessmen, businessmen in the business of crime.
Drugs, women, arms, killings. What would they have to gain by fighting Americans? Why would they want to have more U.S. troops to their squalid little region? Especially if O.B.L. is there.
#7
One mistake made by the CIA was relying on the ISI to handle the jihadis.
ISI armed and funded the most extreme ones (Hek and other vermin) knowing full well their anti-american orientation.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:59 Comments ||
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The two were ISI favorites. We didnât get to pick and choose who we funded. I believe we channeled some support to Massoud though the Brits. If Crile's account of the CIA operation is accurate, I think the control of the Stingers was done really well and probably prevented their use against us.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/03/2005 14:52 Comments ||
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I worked at NPIC (Nat'l Photo Interpretation Center - it's been changed twice at least since then) in DC for almost a year in 1980, as a reservist. That's the only area that I know intimately. The ratio of worker/management was about 70/30 then. I've heard it's close to the same today, but I don't know for sure. The figure of CIA employees is deceptive, as there are dozens of "commercial firms" that do contract work for the Agency in everything from data management to janitorial services to clandestine operations.
The problems with the CIA isn't that it's heavily bureaucratic, but that it's been growing extremely more politicized every year since about 1975. Part of the problem is the propensity to hire ONLY Ivy-League grads for many departments. This was even true of NPIC - many of the people hired didn't know a GAZ-66 from a MIG-21 when they were hired, but rapidly became "managers". The Clintons, of course, did everything possible to ensure total control over the CIA in perpetuity through appointments, favorable hiring practices, and the use of political clout to force those who weren't willing to be so thoroughly compromised to retire.
The best thing Bush could do would be to dismantle both the CIA and State, and start over. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of doing that in the midst of the current war.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/03/2005 18:21 Comments ||
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Thanks OP,
I gather from what you've said, in lieu of a complete CIA overhaul, the
best we can hope for is for Porter to dismantle as many of the Clintoon Click he can by firing, and transfering any leftovers to paper clip ops.
..and bringing in non Ivy-Leaguer to fill the vacant desks.
thats better than nothin, lets hope he has some drag upstairs and a bit of luck.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/03/2005 20:39 Comments ||
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An agreement by the end of the year on a sustained ceasefire in Darfur is "possible but difficult", according to the United Nations' top envoy in Sudan. Jan Pronk said on Friday that the two main rebel groups and the Sudanese government, which started a seventh round of talks in Abuja, Nigeria, this week, remain distant on many issues on the negotiating table - including sharing power and oil wealth. But he said: "We are going in the right direction. It is possible that there is a peace agreement at the end of this year, like last year on the 31st of December we had peace between the north and the south."
Pronk, a former Dutch environment minister and a Sudan veteran, was referring to an accord nearly a year ago ending a separate 20-year conflict. A "framework agreement" for Darfur was "possible but difficult because the positions of the parties in the talks are still far apart", he said. Among the reasons for his guarded optimism was that after the peace deal between the north and south, Sudan's National Unity government has included the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, creating a "different political climate".
The former rebel movement from the south is "more sympathetic to the demands of liberation movements in Darfur", according to Pronk. However, the possibility of independence - envisioned in south Sudan where a referendum on secession is due within six years of the peace deal - was "not in the cards" for Darfur. Pronk, noting that Sudan was due to celebrate its 50th year of independence on 1 January, said that the Khartoum government had an interest in making peace by that symbolic anniversary. "Quite a lot of political leaders in Sudan would like to show that Sudan can be not only independent but also peaceful," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/03/2005 00:18 ||
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British and US diplomats have protested to the Libyan government after two international satellites were illegally jammed, knocking off air dozens of TV and radio stations serving Britain and Europe and disrupting American diplomatic, military and FBI communications.
Among stations hit were digital broadcasts by Five, BBC World, CNN International, US sports channels, cable TV networks and 23 radio stations. According to an email sent by one of the satellite owners, Loral Skynet, the US state department said it "would take it into their own hands" unless the interference stopped.
Last night the Foreign Office confirmed it had raised the issue in talks between the British embassy in Tripoli and the Libyan government.
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, said it was considering taking a complaint to the International Telecoms Union.
The jamming started on September 19 after the launch in London of a small British and Arab-owned commercial radio station broadcasting on human rights and freedom of speech issues to Libya. Ten minutes after the station - initially known as Sout Libya - went on air a transponder carrying the station was jammed for 50 minutes along with other stations. The jamming stopped when Sout Libya stopped broadcasting.
The station relaunched as Sowt Alamel, this time through a new satellite called Telstar 12. As a precaution, the broadcasts were sent to the US first, and then beamed up to Telstar, making it impossible for anybody to jam it, except from America. Yet the moment it went on air, the jamming started again, knocking out the other stations without affecting Sowt Alamel.
An anonymous email sent to a company which helped the station said: "We can tell you we know the reason for these problems, it is the presence of the so called 'ALAMAL' radio Audio channel on your satellite. This channel broadcasts terrorist propaganda, intended to spread terrorist ideas amongst the listeners mindes [sic]."
The station has now voluntarily agreed to suspend its service. Its director, Jalal Elgiathi, said: "Our radio station had commercial advertising and altogether we have lost £250,000."
In other words, the Libyans won.
Last night 10 parliamentary questions were tabled by Andrew Mackinlay, Labour MP for Thurrock and a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee. "We need a full explanation of what has happened and whether Britain has insisted as part of its trade talks with the Libyans that it respected international law."
Industry sources confirmed that Five had lost its signal from the satellite, but said that the situation had been "quite quickly resolved". Other broadcasters were unaware their channels were affected. A BBC World spokeswoman said: "We're consulting with our cable and satellite partners in the region to clarify the situation."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/03/2005 00:38 ||
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Jammers create one heck of a radiation signal and make one big target for an anti-radiation missile. Maybe Libyia didn't get the Ronnie's last message. Appearently the little chicken sh*ts in Congress have encouraged you to stand up to George. You don't know George. You bugger our satellite and we'll bugger you.
#2
As a precaution, the broadcasts were sent to the US first, and then beamed up to Telstar, making it impossible for anybody to jam it, except from America.
The lack of law and order in Nigeria poses considerable risks to travelers. Violent crime committed by ordinary criminals, as well as by persons in police and military uniforms, can occur throughout the country. In recent months, Lagos has witnessed a spike in crime. Some expatriates have been robbed in the outlying Lagos suburb of Lekki. In a working class section of mainland Lagos, an October 2005 clash between police and residents left several dead. Even Victoria and Ikoyi Islands, which are generally safer than other parts of Lagos, have experienced attempted bank robberies, and have seen an increase in smash-and-grab car robberies, including some involving expatriates.
Kidnapping for ransom of persons associated with the petroleum sector, including U.S. citizens, remains common in the Niger Delta area. The Delta region remains calm but tense following the arrest in London of a prominent governor on charges of money laundering, as well as the arrest of a local militant leader for treason.
Religious tension between some Muslim and Christian communities results in occasional acts of isolated communal violence that could erupt quickly and without warning. The states of Kano and Kaduna are particularly volatile. Rival ethnic groups have clashed violently in the Niger Delta region around Warri city and in Southeast Plateau State. Senior al-Qaida leadership has expressed interest publicly in overthrowing the government of Nigeria. Links also were uncovered connecting Nigerians to al-Qaida in 2004.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 00:31 ||
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Yep, the same old pattern repeats itself once more, this time in Nigeria - anywhere oil is discovered or is being pumped, islamonazis rise up and start their terrorist activities to either disrupt production and development, or to destabilize the government. The terrorists know our major weakness is the thirst for oil. They want to do whatever they can to criple our abilities, and lack of adequate oil supplies could be a major crippling factor - for our economy, for our military, and with trade to other nations. That's why I consider the people in the United States that fight so hard to keep us from developing domestic resources to be treasonous scumbags thinking only of their pet "causes". We need to shoot a few of them - today.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/03/2005 18:39 Comments ||
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hmmmm - threatens Saudis oil control of the market as well...any tie? I'm still waiting for the wetwork to take the WOT back to their princeling masters. Start with Naif - lying POS
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/03/2005 18:52 Comments ||
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anywhere oil is discovered or is being pumped, islamonazis rise up and start their terrorist activities to either disrupt production and development
Venezuela, Russia, Mexico, Louisiana? Or Norway,Canada or Alaska? Bad things happen in underdeveloped oil producing locales, but it's not because of Islamonazis, Islamonaxis simply take advanatage of what will happen anyway. Teh big problem is that Islamonazis already lived in so many places where oil was discovered.
According to the former Al-Qaida press agency Azzam Publications, âThe Tora Bora mountain range comprises of low foothills and lofty mountains. It was expected for the Americans to land at the lower foothills first. Therefore, the Commander of the Mujahideen gave the order for new and relatively inexperienced brothers to go to the higher mountains, leaving the experienced fighters at the bottom.â The strategy proved ineffective as a result of smothering U.S. tactical airstrikes: âthere was no difference between the night and the day: the sky was raining fire and the Earth was erupting volcanoes.â Abortive attempts at regrouping and retreating caused the deaths of possibly hundreds of fleeing Al Qaida fighters caught underneath a hail of cluster bombs. As a result of the defeats at Tora Bora and three months later at Shah-i-Kot, âalmost all remaining al Qaeda forcesâ fled across the border with Pakistan seeking refuge in the remote, mountainous, and âlightly governedâ frontier provinces.
At the time, the bad guyz were claiming Shah-i-Kot as a victory, and the MSM did their best to buy into it.
Previously, when confronted with forced withdrawals from various global conflict zones, Arab-Afghan commanders had attempted to profit from the âexfiltrationâ of veteran mujahideen fighters by arranging for them âto be useful again in spreading the Jihad across other lands.â Likewise, between 2002 and 2003, an elite group of distinguished, mid-level Saudi Al-Qaida commanders abandoned their posts in the Afghan mountains and quietly returned to the Arabian Peninsula. Afterwards, an online Al-Qaida publication printed by senior Saudi Al-Qaida members would explain, âin its war with America, the Al-Qaida network adopted a strategy of expanding the battlefield⊠This strategy has priceless advantages; the enemy who had only his own country to defend realizes that he now must defend his enormous interests in every country.
One of the biggest Dutch newspapers "De Telegraaf" reports that Al Qaeda sleeper cells have been activated and instructed to attack targets in a number of countries. The call was made by the recently arrested Syrian Abu Musab al-Suri. Abu Musab al-Suri's followers have been active in spreading "the message" the last couple of days. A spokesman of the Dutch anti terror coordination authority stated they will look at the information and might consider a change in terror level. Al-Suri has forwarded his message before he was arrested and called upon his followers to straike targets in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, France Italy, Germany, Denmark, Russia, Australia and Japan
Murielle Degauque was, by all accounts, a normal child. A typical girl next door, you might say. True, as a teenager growing up in southern Belgium, she dabbled in drugs and preferred boys to books. But there was nothing to indicate that she would become the first Western woman to launch a suicide bomb attack in the name of jihad when she blew herself up in Iraq last month. "She was absolutely normal as a kid," said Jeannine Samain, who lives a few doors down from the Degauque family home in Monceau-sur-Sambre.
Speaking to the Belgian newspaper La DerniÚre Heure, Degauque's parents, Jean and Liliane, described the typical growing pains of an adolescent girl. She had a talent, they said "for sticking with the difficult kids" . On one occasion they had to travel 170km to the Ardennes to find her. Of her boyfriends, her mother said: "I don't know how many there were."
Something of a round heels, was she?
But Murielle Degauque's life began to take a more sinister turn when the former bakery assistant met a Belgian of Moroccan extraction, Issam Goris, who took her to Morocco and helped her convert to Islam. It was a liaison which led the 37-year-old daughter of a hospital secretary to travel to Baghdad, strap explosives around her belt and detonate them in an attempt to kill American troops in Iraq. In the event, only Degauque died. But her death has left her family, friends and former neighbours wondering about the past and a nation fearing for the future.
Degauque's relationship with Goris was not her first serious one; she had already married and divorced a Turkish man and met and then left an Algerian.
That was after the guy with the hat, and before the garage band musician...
But the later attraction to Goris was to prove fatal. By now Degauque was unemployed and at risk of losing her state benefits. Degauque's parents said Goris claimed to have a house in Morocco, horses and a Mercedes and three motorbikes. They never learnt whether it was true.
When she returned to Belgium, Liliane and Jean Degauque found that their daughter had changed. She changed her name to Myriam and wore a veil. When visiting the family home in Monceau-sur-Sambre, Issam Goris would eat with Jean; the women would stay in another room. Neighbours noticed the change too. Ms Samain recalled the last time she saw Murielle eight months ago: " She was veiled. By that time she would just say bonjour and that was it." Some reports suggest that the couple travelled to Iraq in the autumn by car via Turkey. In any event it appears that Issam was killed by American forces. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2005 07:53 ||
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Hey Jacques, you missing a few islamic radicals?
Two flights chartered by the CIA made stopovers in France in 2002 and 2005, the French newspaper Le Figaro said Friday, adding to likely questions facing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visits Europe next week. ...
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2005 07:17 ||
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And of course if the CIA charters a jet it must be full of detained islamic radicals. I mean, why else in the world would the CIA ever want to fly anywhere?
In a dispute that security officials say illustrates the difficulties of creating a united European front against terrorism, Belgian officials on Friday accused France of endangering an anti-terror operation by disclosing that a suicide bomber in Iraq was a Belgian woman.
The Belgian authorities said French anti-terrorism officials had nearly foiled a lengthy investigation into an Al Qaeda terrorism network operating in Brussels by revealing the identity of Muriel Degauque - a former baker's assistant turned Islamic suicide bomber - before Belgian anti-terrorist police officers closed in on her cell.
They said the French leak had forced the Belgian officers to speed up planned dawn raids that this week resulted in the detainment of 14 suspects, 5 of whom were charged Thursday with involvement in a terrorist network that sent volunteers to Iraq. The network had included Degauque, a 38-year-old Belgian from the old industrial town of Charleroi, who blew herself up in Baghdad on Nov. 9.
"We are very concerned that French officials revealed the name of the Belgian suicide bomber before the Belgian police had made any arrests," said Annaik Devoghel, spokeswoman for Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian justice minister. "This could have compromised an investigation that took months of work."
Belgium has yet to confirm who was behind the leak, but Belgian officials said all the evidence pointed to Jean-Louis BruguiÚre, a French anti-terror judge who has been closely involved in the investigation.
A Belgian official close to the case, who declined to give his name because of the diplomatic sensitivities of the dispute, said, "How can we trust French officials when they have loose lips?"
BruguiÚre was unavailable for comment, despite repeated attempts Friday to reach him. Officials from the Paris tribunal overseeing the French capital's judges declined to comment.
Onkelinx, who was attending a two-day meeting of justice ministers in Brussels, told reporters on Thursday that she had raised her concerns to the French Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On Friday, the French Ministry of Justice declined to comment.
Belgian officials said Degauque had become radicalized after marrying a Belgian of Moroccan origin, who helped convert her to Islam.
After the marriage, she changed her name to Myriam, wore a veil and became devoutly religious.
She joined a terrorist cell linked to Al Qaeda before traveling to Iraq, where she targeted a U.S. military convoy south of Baghdad.
Police officers said a Belgian passport had been found on her body, along with papers which showed she had entered Iraq via Syria. Her husband was killed in Iraq in a separate incident, the police said.
EU justice and interior ministers tentatively agreed Friday on plans binding telecommunications companies to retain phone calls and e-mails for a minimum of six months for use in counterterror investigations, diplomats said, The Associated Press reported from Brussels.
The compromise, which was agreed to by a majority of EU nations, still needs the approval of the European Parliament, but foresees leaving it up to EU governments to retain such data for from 6 to 24 months, officials said.
Italy and Ireland led the opposition to the plan, arguing that new EU legislation would contradict national laws that already go further.
However, at the end of the talks, only Poland, Ireland, Slovenia and Slovakia remained opposed, not enough to block the measure.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 01:13 ||
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WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland's new defense minister on Friday suggested that additional U.S. aid would be a crucial factor in determining whether to continue playing an active role in the war on terror. A day before heading to Washington, Defense Minister Radek Sikorski said meetings with top U.S. military officials would help Poland reach a decision within the next few weeks whether to keep its 1,500 soldiers in central Iraq or stick to the last government's plan to bring them home next month.
Sikorski, however, said the war on terror has strained the resources of this country of 39 million, which is still emerging from communism and is struggling to deal with the burdens of being a NATO member. "We've invested a lot of energy - both blood and treasure and government attention, and political capital - in the mission and we certainly want to end it with success," Sikorski said. "By success, I mean handing over our sector of responsibility to a democratically elected Iraqi government ... and I think they are actually pretty close to success."
He said the Iraq mission has cost Poland $600 million - 10 percent of the country's annual defense budget - money that could have gone to modernizing the military, as NATO requires. He indicated that Poland could use U.S. help as it modernizes, but would not say whether an extension of Poland's mission in Iraq was directly contingent upon it. "Whereas our army has increased its readiness and we are proud to have participated in an operation to help to stabilize Iraq, to bring democracy in Iraq, we could have modernized our forces faster with those funds," Sikorski told The Associated Press.
So they'll try to squeeze Uncle Sugar.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/03/2005 00:55 ||
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Money is tight nowadays. They're not getting as much as expected from the EU budget, and will probably get less in the years to come.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/03/2005 15:30 Comments ||
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There's a fair amount of opposition to involvement by the Polish people. The government would prefer to base a pullout on budgets than policies in order to keep Uncle as a friend given their undesirable location.
#3
The US has whole fleets of high dollar, but declining value, equipment in storage. I am in favor of transferring them to new NATO members. Need a few Abrams or Bradleys? How about a few squadrons of F-16C/D block 30s, F-18A/Bs, excess C-130s? Frigates and destroyers built in the 80s, comms gear when the army was 750,000. What say New Europe, want a Los Angeles class sub or an 80,000 ton carrier and become the bad ass on the block? OK, so that was overkill.
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2005 16:25 Comments ||
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UO7519, the Polish people need to decide who are their friends and what is their level of involvement in the world. How many millions of citizens did Poland lose in 1939 because they had feckless allies? From this American's point of view, we will fight side with the full power of America for those who pull their weight. For those who stay on the sidelines, Americans will feel bad for them, but it is not our problem any more. For the back stabbers, fuck 'em. The free ride is over.
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2005 16:41 Comments ||
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#5
I don't know that giving them sophisticated equipment would help their OEM budget.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/03/2005 18:19 Comments ||
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Poland has been a great ally since their freedom, Ed...I don't expect a free ride or top quality equipment free is the bottom line of what they want. They would (I am assured by many in the supposed know) like the alliances, bases, etc. that others have recently spit on. I'd take anything not necessary from France, germany, especially Spain and possibly Italy (about that CIA thing....) and look at moving it to Poland, Romania, et al
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/03/2005 18:35 Comments ||
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#7
I agree Poland has been a good ally since the fall of Communism. I think most Poles want to expand freedom and the US needs to do more to help them do it. Not just militarily, but also economic development. The US should make it policy to shift purchases from rivals to New Europe. Trade with friends, not enemies or wannabe rivals.
Poland's defense minister said that the Iraq deplyment is eating into their modernization budget. Well we have a lot of high quality equipment in storage. Let's find out their needs are and help them out. A few ships and planes will more than make up for their expenditures in Iraq. If that is not what the Poles want, then we should call their bluff. Honesty in relations is good.
My allies, onlookers and backstabbers comment was not specifically directed at the Poles, but to the world in general. No more supporting for 60 years a bunch of chauvanistic, backstabbing pissants. If US support is of value, then be of value to the US.
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2005 19:08 Comments ||
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#8
One issue is, in part, Poland's new membership in the EU. That complicates all sorts of negotiations. It also puts a strain on Polish forces, who have to patrol and manage the EU border with Ukraine ... a big foot/truck crossing frontier.
Yes, I'd like to see us cement strong relationships there.
#9
As nice as it is to hear such comments, there's a certain uneasiness that I feel about the Polish-American relationship. There's no guarantee that NATO will survive, and you don't have to look far to see that some Americans would prefer not to defend Poland in case of war (Z.F. and Pat Buchanan come to mind). A Russian friend of mine with respectable credentials is utterly convinced that Russia can start another Chechnya-like conflict with Poland, and none of Poland's allies would come to her defense. It seems I'm not the only doubting Thomas.
Keep in mind, war in Poland means war with Russia, most probably. Any threat to Poland will come from the east. I can trust Bush to keep his word. But would anyone else want a conflict with Russia? ...and China, by extension.
As much as I hate to say it, Poland's place is in Europe. The best course of action is probably to draw closer to the U.K., and remain an indirect ally of the US through the UK-US relationship.
On the other hand, maybe a huge amount of American investment (military bases) in Poland will make it harder not to defend that investment in case of a conflict.
Poles are in a difficult situation right now. They're starting to see that no one likes them, and are feeling vulnerable. This will probably draw them closer to the only military sure-bet that exists in the world right now, the U.S.
Furthermore, the EU experiment hasn't gone as planned. It was advertised as a panacea, but we're seeing problems right from the start. As I've correctly predicted (here on Rantburg, I can toot my own horn occasionally) there are problems with the EU budget, labor policies, to mention a few. In other words, Poland is not getting everything it expected from the EU. This will probably mean closer ties with the U.S., good or bad.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/03/2005 20:50 Comments ||
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The German government wants to get in touch with the gunmen in Iraq who kidnapped a 43-year-old German archaeologist and have threatened to execute her, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday.
"We will make every effort first to make contact in order to move things forward. We will avoid endangering the health and life of the hostage," Steinmeier told reporters after a meeting of the crisis committee set up to deal with the kidnapping.
The kidnapping is the first test faced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has vowed to improve ties with the United States, soured by disagreement over the invasion of Iraq.
Steinmeier said the government had not yet established contact with the kidnappers. Nor has it been given any deadlines.
"We have not received anything that we could call an ultimatum. There are the statements of the hostage-takers, which you already know, that we should end all support for the reconstruction of Iraq," he said.
Merkel has said Berlin will carry on with the previous governmentâs policy of helping to train Iraqi forces outside Iraq. She has ruled out sending German troops to Iraq.
After meeting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Merkel said a ransom payment was not being discussed at the moment for Susanne Osthoff, the first German to be kidnapped in Iraq.
"Weâre currently trying to see how we can establish contact and that is our priority at the moment," Merkel said.
The threat to kill Osthoff and her driver was made on a videotape delivered to the German public broadcaster ARD in Baghdad earlier this week, ARD said.
An image from the tape showed two blindfolded people sitting on the ground surrounded by three armed, masked men, one holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher, another reading from a piece of paper.
It was not immediately clear who had kidnapped the archaeologist who has spent around 15 years working on excavations in Iraq and who criticized the U.S. military for not preventing widespread looting at archaeological sites.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told Germanyâs Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper that Baghdad will cooperate with the German government to free Osthoff and was dealing with the issue personally.
Nick Pratt, a former CIA official now with the Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, said experience from a hostage-taking in the Sahara in 2003 suggested Berlin would end up paying ransom if one was demanded.
In that case, Germany secured the release of 14 European tourists kidnapped by Algerian rebels. Diplomats and officials say Germany paid 5 million euros ($6 million) and believe the money was used to buy arms.
One German diplomat said, however, that if someone like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was behind the kidnapping then Osthoffâs chances of emerging unscathed were diminished. If a ransom was demanded, he predicted the government would pay up.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 00:23 ||
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Merkel said a ransom payment was not being discussed at the moment for Susanne Osthoff [snip] If a ransom was demanded, he predicted the government would pay up.
#2
One German diplomat said, however, that if someone like Zarqawi was behind the kidnapping then Osthoffâs chances of emerging unscathed were diminished.
Only that this guy is clueless. As a Muslim convert and backed up by a rich, dhimmi gov't that advertises its desperation, Osthoff's chances actually look pretty good.
Posted by: ST ||
12/03/2005 3:15 Comments ||
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Let's hope they have the brains at least to mark the money so that it's traceable.
#5
Ahhh... Another fund-raiser for the terrs. Just as I thought, seeing that she is a convert and has been working in Iraq for fifteen years.
Yeah, I'm a cynic... it's another term for good pattern recognition.
U.S. counterterrorism agencies have not detected a significant al-Qaeda operational capability in the United States since the 2003 arrest of a truck driver who was in the early stages of plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
Nevertheless, al-Qaeda's capabilities aren't clear and the group remains dangerous, the new deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kevin Brock, said in an Associated Press interview.
The uncertainty reflects the tension facing national security officials even though the country has gone four years without a domestic attack from al-Qaeda.
Brock was the FBI's special agent in charge of the Cincinnati office that investigated Iyman Faris, now serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and abetting terrorism and conspiracy. Faris, a Pakistani who became a U.S. citizen in 1999, was exploring whether he could ruin the Brooklyn Bridge by cutting the suspension cables.
Brock said the case demonstrated al-Qaeda's weakened state following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Faris didn't strike Brock as someone who could carry out a sophisticated plot though he was ordered by a top al-Qaeda leader now in custody, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to handle complicated operations.
"Since the Iyman Faris case and other investigations, the FBI and other agencies are just not detecting an operational capability by the al-Qaeda organization in the United States of imminent significance," Brock said.
Yet he and other senior officials say now is not the time to relax.
"We have to assume that they remain a very viable and very dangerous threat," Brock said. "You almost can't define al-Qaeda just as an entity that you can put on an organizational chart. It has now expanded to an ideology that has gotten quite dangerous."
Brock presides over one of three daily teleconference calls on the latest terror threats in the U.S. and abroad. Sitting in the operations center's conference room, he and other officials from the CIA, FBI, Pentagon and elsewhere draw from more than two dozen U.S. networks and receive information on computer monitors that, with the push of a button, emerge from within a conference table.
Elsewhere, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a speech Thursday that there is no alternative to constant pressure in the anti-terror effort. "We are continuing, every day, to evaluate and employ existing laws and tools that can help us in this fight," Gonzales told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York as he pressed for renewal of the Patriot Act.
Forty-five days after Sept. 11, Congress overwhelmingly passed the anti-terror legislation, but its reauthorization has been delayed this year by Republicans and Democrats who want to ensure there are adequate checks on governmental investigative powers.
In 2002, then-CIA Director George Tenet publicly touted CIA-FBI successes in bringing "terrorists to justice" by grabbing them off the streets and delivering them to third countries. Called rendition, the practice is now criticized by U.S. allies, human rights groups and some policymakers.
California Rep. Jane Harman, the House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, said the domestic terror threat has changed. She worries about the copycats with a "faint connection to al-Qaeda" but potentially as dangerous as the organization itself.
House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., said there have been hints that al-Qaeda operatives continue to work toward attacking the United States, beyond the group's public pronouncements.
"I don't believe that ... we have gotten so good at this that we are perfectly safe. I still worry about attacks on the homeland and U.S. interests overseas and believe we have significantly more work to do," he said.
Hoekstra said the focal point has moved from the United States to Iraq because the various terrorist organizations want to beat the United States there, akin to how jihadists ran the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Brock said he doesn't believe the invasion and war in Iraq can be blamed for the threat reports that come into his center each day. "That would be too simplistic," he said. "There is too much of a diverse nature to these threats."
Had the U.S. not invaded Iraq, Brock said, terrorists would still carry out attacks. "But now they are mostly carried out in Iraq. That is where most of the people willing to commit suicide are going."
Officials have investigated whether the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has connections within United States. In communications intercepted by the U.S., Osama bin Laden has encouraged al-Zarqawi to look beyond Iraq.
Brock said distant links between al-Zarqawi and individuals in the U.S. do emerge and are investigated. For example, one extremist may phone another, whose number is found on a slip of paper in a third extremist's pocket.
"But there is nothing that has surfaced in the recent past that tells us that there is some imminent threat," Brock said.
He said the most worrisome attack would be one causing mass casualties â "God forbid," a weapon of mass destruction. "We have to look at this from a hierarchy of horror, and work downward," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 00:18 ||
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Hey Mr. counterterrorismofficial, how is the hunt for the Anthrax cell going? You know the anthrax that one of the Sep. 11 hijackers was infected with in mid 2001.
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2005 16:58 Comments ||
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We still have borders so porous a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier could swim through without being detected, a very poor information-sharing protocol, and limited or nonexistent citizen participation in anti-terrorist activities. Until those problems are resolved, we're going to be extremely vulnerable and open to attack in our own back yard. Unfortunately, few people in government are really concerned in doing what's necessary to correct these problems. I guess when San Francisco goes up in a radioactive cloud and the surviving Oakland A's have to play their home games in Las Vegas someone will get concerned.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/03/2005 19:34 Comments ||
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I guess when San Francisco goes up in a radioactive cloud..
If this is going to happen, hopefully it'll be after I've left the Bay Area.
In a victory for National Security, and the American citizen not to be blown up, a judge ruled today against the ACLU, and for NYC Subways in their effort to protect their citizens.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Friday that police had a constitutional right to randomly search passengersâ bags on the New York City subway to deter terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ruled the searches were an effective and appropriate means to fight terrorism, and constituted only a âminimal intrusionâ of privacy. âThe risk to public safety of a terrorist bombing of New York Cityâs subway system is substantial and real,â Berman wrote in his opinion.
âThe need for implementing counter-terrorism measures is indisputable, pressing, ongoing and evolving.â
Random bag searches began on July 22 after a second set of bomb attacks on Londonâs transit system.
In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the ruling, calling bag searches a âreasonable precautionâ that police would continue to take.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which had sued to stop the searches, plans to appeal, Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement. She said the âunprecedentedâ bag search program violated a basic freedom.
When Kevin Keenan comes to work each morning in a downtown San Diego high-rise, he enters his office through an unmarked door outfitted with a two-way intercom.
Kevin Keenan is the new executive director of the local ACLU chapter, which has 8,000 members and pivotal roles in several hot-button issues in San Diego.
There's no sign or logo on the door. Visitors press a button on the intercom and are queried by a receptionist inside before being granted access.
Those precautions are necessary in Keenan's line of work: He is the new executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/03/2005 15:28 Comments ||
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An UN official on condition of anonymity revealed a big tent scam: âUNHCR gave Pakistan Army more than 2,000 âwinterizedâ tents for distribution among the most deserving quake-victims living at the altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea level. But the army officers sold them in Islamabadâs markets. A farmer Mr. Nizamuddin bought one such tent for one of his relatives living in Azad Kashmir. The UNHCR checked the local markets and it was confirmed that the same tents had been sold.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 18:42 ||
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Thirty years after the East Pakistan cyclone and the Pak army is still incapable of saving lives.
They are good at killing civilians though. The Pak army has killed more of its own citizens than any army in the last thirty years.
Have never won a war though...
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 19:28 Comments ||
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Still, not surprising for an army whose official motto is "Jihad and Piety in the Name of Allah"
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 19:30 Comments ||
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Sheesh! Talk about the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"
Posted by: Warner ||
12/03/2005 21:24 Comments ||
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UNHCR giving tents to the PAK military? Even the most naive NGO knows better than to give aid supplies directly to a third rate military for distribution and not be there for the hand out. If the UN wanted to really help they would have hung around for more than thirty seconds and directed the handing out of the tents. But no, the UN just dumps the stuff on the PAK Army and runs back to their penthouses and BMWs in NYC. Now that people are going to freeze they calmly blame the Army. If they would finish what they started this would be a different story.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/03/2005 21:34 Comments ||
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After the Bam earthquake in Iran, hundreds of millions in relief aid was pledged.In an interview with a western journalist,the governor of Bam province stated that he "felt no obligation to aknowledge let alone be grateful to western donors as it had been the will of Allah which had delivered the relief"....The old "INSH ALLA" two-step again...........despite the pledges,only thirty million dollars was forthcoming...Did the official diss the donors too soon ,or did Allah just decide he didn't feel like "INSHING"? My point is, can you really ever help people who have this kind of mentality?
Posted by: Warner ||
12/03/2005 22:31 Comments ||
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New Delhiâs interest in the advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and other sensitive military technologies topped the agenda at the Nov. 23 meeting of the India-U.S. Defense Policy Group in Washington.
U.S. officials promised to consider an Indian request to buy the advanced radar, which is more sensitive, reliable and flexible than New Delhiâs current sensors, said sources familiar with the meeting.
Chaired by Shekar Dutt, Indiaâs defense secretary, and Eric Edelman, the U.S. defense undersecretary for policy, the meeting marked the seventh gathering of the policy group and the first for its Defense Production and Procurement Group, Indian Embassy officials said Nov. 23.
The new groupâs members âdiscussed ways to strengthen cooperation in the field of defense supplies as well as industrial and technological cooperation between USA and India,â the statement said.
Washingtonâs AESA decision could guide the Indian Air Force as it contemplates an $8.5 billion purchase of up to 200 multirole combat aircraft, an Air Force official said.
New Delhi has issued an international request for information for the contest, which has drawn responses from Lockheed Martin about its F-16 and Boeing about its F/A-18. Both firms cleared their initial submissions with the U.S. government. Franceâs Mirage fighter, Swedenâs Gripen and Russiaâs MiG also are competing.
New Delhi is expected to announce a formal request for proposals by late December. U.S. sources said India might buy two different aircraft to fulfill its needs.
One version of the AESA radar, made by Raytheon, Waltham, Mass., is just entering the American arsenal aboard U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. The F/A-18 radar has not been mass-produced or approved for export, Raytheon spokeswoman Faith Jennings said.
But the Pentagon has approved the export of a version of the F-15 that has interested air forces in the Middle East and Asia that fly the fighter, said Raytheon executive Arnie Victor.
The discussions followed landmark agreements between New Delhi and Washington.
In June, Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed a 10-year defense cooperation framework agreement. In July, U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to give U.S. civilian nuclear technology to energy-hungry India.
The latter agreement, which would require amending U.S. laws, raised a furor in Congress. But some key lawmakers who once strongly opposed Indian access to nuclear technology and fuel are now signaling their support.
Among them is Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., a key member of the U.S. House International Relations Committee and co-chair of the House Pakistan caucus. Burton recently told India Abroad, a weekly newspaper that covers the Indian diaspora in the United States, that he was âleaning very strongly towards supporting the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal right now.â
U.S. and Indian officials expect the agreement to be blessed by Congress before Bushâs planned visit to India early next year.
Officials at the Pentagon and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which oversees U.S. arms transfers, were unavailable to comment by press time. DSCA officials and Indian Embassy officials in Washington involved in the discussion were away in India.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 06:10 ||
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I don't like to be too technical, but the real question here is..... How Many?
#2
I'm assuming the AESA is too heavy to fit into the LCA.
This order will only be for the Super Hornets if purchased.
Reports claim the fighter order will be increased to 200. Speculation is 60/140 mix from two vendors.
Say 60 Super Hornets (so 60 AESA radars) with percentage offset contracts given to Indian companies and 140 Mirage 2000-5s to be built in India (with complete transfer of technology from France).
Then again, the 140 may go to Mig for an updated Mig 29 with Israeli, French and Indian avionics.
Dassault has powerful friends in the Indian MoD however and they have resurrected the Mirage 4000 - a two engine, larger version of the Mirage 2000. They want the order for all 200 aircraft.
Saab is bidding with their Gripen. Germany has convinced the Indian Gov't to consider the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Don't write off Lockeed Martin, they are pushing hard for the F-16s.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:04 Comments ||
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The IAF wants to simply their logistics and maintenance so reducing the number of aircraft they operate is a factor.
They are quite pleased with the Mirage 2000 and would prefer 200 of them. This was the original request that the MoD shot down, demanding competitive international bidding.
While the Super Hornet is a good aircraft, it is expensive. The goodies on offer are what may sway the contract. India has nothing comparable to the latest AESA radar and the air to ground PGMs the SH can fire are an added bonus.
The Chinese factor is important. Pakistan operates the F-16 and has transfered one to China so they would be familiar with this.
The Su-30s are also operated by China.
F-18s are another matter (especially combined with Israeli Phalcon AWACs and the IL-78 tankers). The Chinese have no experience with these. They would give them something to think about if introduced into the theatre.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:17 Comments ||
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2) Its not so much the radar sets that are an issue as much as there are issues regarding ITAR waivers with engine tech. India doesn't want to deal with the ITAR restrictions from what I hear and the only way they'd be willing to put up with them is they got some really advanced radar sets for a good pricing.
Ah.. so the 4000 was an error..
But didn't the IAF reject the Rafale?
In any event, it is way too expensive, especially for a 200 plane order. No way that would pass the Indian Finance Minister
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 21:40 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI - India announced on Friday ambitious acquisition plans for its navy and said the new military hardware would give it greater clout in the strategic energy corridors of the Indian Ocean. It also said the Indian navy, besides constructing or buying ships, submarines and aircraft, was also building ties with countries in the region to expand its bluewater reach in the Indian Ocean. âThe Indian Ocean is now the highway along which over a quarter of the worldâs trade and energy requirements move,â Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash told a news conference in New Delhi.
âThe Asia-Pacific region holds immense promise for political, economic and military cooperation and the vital role maritime forces play in this regard makes the Indian Navy a key component of the nationâs foreign policy.â
The 137-ship navy played an international role during last Decemberâs tsunami last December when New Delhi deployed its warships to help devastated Sri Lanka and Indonesia. âIt became our defining moment as people could perceive the speed with we could react (to the tsumani),â Prakash said of the operation to help victims in two foreign countries as well as in Indiaâs far-flung Andamans archipelago. âThe exercises we undertook with various navies in the past year underline the theme that we have reached out far into the Indian Ocean region,â he added.
The navy has already handed out contracts for construction of 27 vessels to state-owned ship-builders and has embarked on its grandest mission to indigenously build an aircraft carrier, Prakash said. âWeâre reducing dependence on foreign suppliers to cut down revenue drain and uncertainties in supplies,â he said, adding that a recent 2.1 billion-dollar deal to acquire six French Scorpene submarines would enhance naval strength.
âThere are 36 more ships on the cards and I donât think there is any navy in the world which currently has such a large project in hand,â he said. âIndia aspires to a certain position in the world and so we must have a navy commensurate to our needs,â he said, adding New Delhi has asked Russia, its largest military supplier, to provide three latest destroyer-class warships.
Senior military officials said the navy was also shopping for 30 long-range helicopters to replace its British-built Sea King rotorcraft and was awaiting a US offer to lease to India two anti-submarine warfare P-3 Orion aircraft. âWe have not yet received the offer for the Orions and we think it could turn out to be a very costly project,â the admiral said.
Admiral Prakash said the navy, which has bases in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, was also working on a complex project to link up its warships and submarines via satellite. âWeâve taken small steps in this major direction as this is a very complex and expensive project,â he said, adding the navy would fund construction of an exclusive satellite for the project if necessary.
In the late 1800s/early 1900s, the British, then with the largest navy in the world, decided that it made no sense to be confrontational with the US -- it had bigger worries in the Kaiser's Germany. So it struck a number of deals with America which led to an informal understanding about the Atlantic. That benefited both us and them.
Now it's a hundred years later, and we're returning the favor. We need to worry about the Chinese, and it makes no sense to be needlessly antagonistic with the Indians. That means we strike a series of deals and understandings with the Indians -- military, diplomatic, economic -- so that both we and they benefit. And the Chinese? Say hi to the Kaiser for us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Steve, thanks for the nutshell report, nicely done..with chutney gravy no less.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/03/2005 3:07 Comments ||
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Good analogy, but I think it's more akin to the British guarantee of French North Atlantic ports during the same period, allowing the best part of the French Fleet to base in the Med.
#4
Memories of the Enterprise battle group sailing into the Bay of Bengal to save Pakistan in 1971.
One of Nixon and Kissinger's worst ever decisions (signal to China with Kissinger goading the Chinese Premier to open a front against India to distract it).
The battle group arrived too late to do anything if it wanted (Indian armor was already surrounding Dhaka) and India viewed the conflict as a just war, stopping genocide. This poisoned relations between Delhi and Washington for thirty years.
The US pretty much ignored India and for a few years in the late 1980s (IIRC) did not even confirm an ambassador. This left South Asia policy to be handled by Ambassador Robin Raphael in Foggy Bottom. She blamed India for the death of her husband in the Zia plane "crash" and made many pro-Pakistan noises about Kashmir. She convinced many paranoid Indians that the US was interested in Jammu and Kashmir and this made relations even worse.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:30 Comments ||
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Under President Bush, relations have probably never been so good (though Eisenhower was popular - during his visit to India crowds lined the streets throwing flowers. Nehru had to take over the vehicle himself, ordering people out of the way. The trip took hours longer than usual. When the car arrived it was filled waist deep in petals).
Bush's policy has turned things around remarkably. Combined with the influence of GE, Walmart etc, and with new found Indian confidence in its nuclear arsenal, relations look set to take off.
Ten years ago, the idea of US troops or aircraft training on Indian soil would have been unthinkable.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:42 Comments ||
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On the topic of dominance - what condition is the Kitty Hawk's hull in?
Might be a useful purchase for the IN. This would seal the F-16 super hornet contract since both the IAF and IN would need squadrons. The new base in Karwar should be able to handle a vessel of this size though the running costs may be prohibitive..
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:46 Comments ||
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India is not on our side. India is on India's side. There is no guarantee the two sides will be aligned unless we take steps to make it so.
While we look at what we could have done differently, the Indians have to want to be friends also. In the past they have not wished it to be. Regardless of how Ike was viewed as a war hero, India was not our firend in the '50's or any time later. Their number one defence supplier is Russia for a reason. India's economy could be more robust than China's were it not as xenophobic and more fabian. I'm all for strong ties with India as it makes sense so many ways. But the Indians have not wanted it in the past because of baggage from colonial days.
I'd just a soon the Indian navy continued to be built by Russians. Enough to handle the Chinese and not enough to pose a threat to us. An LPD here and there but no CVs, please.
#8
The Kitty Hawk is nearing the end of its serviceable lifetime. There is extensive metal fatigue and the need for billions in renovation to handle the latest naval aircraft. Besides, it's oil-fired, and India has limited indigenous oil production. I'd much rather the Kitty be given to Japan as a template for developing their own carrier squadrons.
Could you imagine China's reactions if Japan had a handful of aircraft carriers and the vessels to defend them, and India had the same? There would be an epidemic of heart attacks from Harbin to Hainan!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/03/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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Former Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh says new claims that he benefited from the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq are outrageous.
Both houses of parliament adjourned in uproar on Friday after opposition members called on Mr Singh to resign. Although Mr Singh has stepped down as foreign minister, he remains a minister without portfolio in the cabinet.
The new allegations were attributed to a fellow member of the Congress party, Aneil Matherani.Both men were part of a Congress delegation which visited Iraq in 2001.
Questions over Natwar Singh first arose after it emerged that he and the Congress party were named in a UN-commissioned report into the oil-for-food scandal. Mr Matherani, who is also India's ambassador to Croatia, is quoted in the India Today magazine as saying that Mr Singh had allegedly facilitated the procurement of oil vouchers during the visit. The comments, taken from a telephone conversation, were also broadcast on the magazine's sister television station, Aaj Tak.
But Natwar Singh has described the remarks attributed to Mr Matherani as "false and malicious" and said he will consult his lawyer to take further action. "My conscience is clear. I am ready to face any time-bound inquiry on the issue so that my name was cleared at the earliest," he told journalists in Delhi.
I'm betting the time to a weepy-eyed confession of some sort is about four weeks.
In a further twist later on Friday, Mr Matherani denied ever making the accusations. He told the BBC Hindi service that he had only made "off the record" comments to the India Today journalist.
He went on to "vehemently deny ever saying that oil vouchers were allotted to the Congress party led by Sri Natwar Singh". "I have not said anything... that is not already known."
India Today says it stands by its report and Aaj Tak has rebroadcast the telephone conversation throughout the day.
Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the new revelations were a matter of concern and would be looked into by the investigating authorities. "No one who is guilty will go unpunished," he said in a statement in the lower house of parliament.
But BJP opposition leader LK Advani demanded that Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi step down as chairperson of India's governing United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Earlier another senior BJP figure, Sushma Swaraj, demanded that Natwar Singh be arrested following the allegations.
In the UN report, Natwar Singh and the Congress Party were named as non-contractual-beneficiaries of the oil-for-food programme. The report, published recently and written by the former US Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker, said more than 2,000 firms made illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's government.
The Indian government has ordered a judicial investigation headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. More recently, Sonia Gandhi has promised to punish anyone found guilty of benefiting from the oil-for-food programme.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Reaction to Pak F-16 purchases India will increase the number of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) it plans to buy to 200, opening the door for more than one supplier, said Air Force and Ministry of Defence officials
The Indian Cabinet Committee on Security, which clears major defense programs, in October accepted the Air Forceâs proposal to increase the number from the original 126, for which a request for information already has been sent to overseas vendors. The value of the original contract was $5 billion; the revised plan brings the combined value of one or more contracts to $8.5 billion.
A senior Defence Ministry official said the Air Force plans to phase out 60 of its 140 Jaguar aircraft in the next five years, by which time MMRCAs would start arriving. The additional planes will replace more Jaguars, aging MiG-23s, and some squadrons of MiG-27s, an Air Force official said. And the LCA will replace the Mig 21 This is PV2 over Bangalore, flown for first time yesterday, still in primer paint but with weapons integration complete.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Powered by an American GE F404 engine.
Posted by: john ||
12/03/2005 13:56 Comments ||
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The Iraqi defense minister described his country's border with Syria as a "source of evil." Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi warned Syria that his government's patience was running out. "My brothers, this is historic, national and legitimate mission. You are protecting this gate at the western border that used to be a source of evil to Iraq and a source for the entrance of vampires into Iraq," he said during a visit to the western border town of Husaybah.
Dulaimi said: "We tell our neighbors, take care of your own affairs and don't interfere in Iraq's affairs ... Iraqis are heading for the future and they will not be stopped by a car bomb or a filthy body rigged with explosives," he said.
"You should not be a gate of evil to us. I hope you will be a good gate. I also tell them don't let our patience run out," said Dulaimi. He added that "this evil alliance between Muslim extremists and Baathists in Iraqi will not succeed."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/03/2005 14:57 ||
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The decision by the Indonesian government to run checks on some pesantren (private Muslims schools), where various convicted terrorists have studied has been cautiously welcomed by many observers. "I agree with the move but it cannot be generalized for all the pesantren and it cannot be applied to all those that study in the targeted pesantren" Ahmad Najib Burhani, who teaches at the theology faculty of the Islamic University in Jakarta.
"There is certainly reason to believe that some of the material taught in certain schools contributed to the radicalizations of some people. There are certain teachings that contribute to create a mindset that says that non-Muslims are our enemy" said Ahmad Najib Burhani.
The secretary general of the religious affairs ministry Faisal Ismail said this week the government would carry out inspections on private Islamic schools accused of being recruitment centres for terrorists. The inspectors will include members of the âTask Force against Terrorismâ, the group of religious leaders recently tasked by the government to clarify the meaning of jihad, or holy war, with the population.
Under particular scrutiny is the Al-Mukmin boarding school, founded by radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, near the town in Ngruki in Central Java. Bashir, convicted of having instigated the 12 October, 2002 Bali bombing, is considered the spitirual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist group fighting for an Islamic state in the south east Asian.
Among these are Idris and Mubarok - two suicide bombers in the 2002 bombings - and Mukhlas, considered the head of the same group and on death row for the attack which costs 202 lives.
Asmar Latin Sani and Gempur Budi Angkoro, known as Jabir, also attended the school. The pair blew themselves up respectively in the attacks, on the Hotel Marriott (5 August 2003) and the Australian embassy in Jakarta (9 September 2004) in which more than 23 people were killed.
Masdar Farid Mas'udi, the director of the Indonesian Society for Pesantren Development admitted that the government's decision was just. "It is needed. I am not too sure what happen in that school. For what I am told, they promote a hard-line version of Islam. These schools have to think about their position in this issue directly and indirectly".
Another school under investigation is Boyolali's Darusy Syahadah, where Mohammed Firdaus Salik - one of the three young men who blew themselves up in Bali on 1 October killing 23 people - was once a pupil. Darusy Syahadah was funded by the foundation Yasmin that experts consider close to JI.
The decision of the ministry follows the invitation a month ago by the powerful deputy president, Jusuf Kalla, to monitor the curriculum of the pesantren.
Various other pesantren have been financed by organisations of institutions linked to Saudi Arabia. As well as the money, Riyadh has also exported the radical Wahabi interpretation of Islam.
Monitoring Islamic schools has always been a problem for the Jakarta government, struggling to find the right balance between curbing the growth of radical Islam without offending the sensibility of the Muslim population which opposes the interference of the state in religious matters.
The vast majority of the 17,000 pesantren are run by perfectly legitimate religious institutions and are vital to fill a yawning gap in Indonesia's education system.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 00:59 ||
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The Indonesian militants â Dulmatin, who goes by one name, and Umar Patek â have trained recruits and plotted attacks from their southern Philippine base, but their efforts have been hampered by several arrests and Army offensives, according to a report on the interrogation of Abdullah Sunata, an alleged rebel leader captured in Indonesia in June.
A copy of the confidential report on Sunataâs interrogation in Indonesia was seen by The Associated Press yesterday.
Dulmatin, an electronics specialist known for his bomb-making expertise, and Patek, who has focused on recruitment and training, are key suspects in the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people in Indonesiaâs Bali island. The attacks are blamed on al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.
In October, Washington announced rewards of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dulmatin, and up to $1 million for the capture of Patek, citing their alleged role in the 2002 Bali attack and involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah.
But Sunata said the two men told him in 2003 that they had cut their ties with Jemaah Islamiyah amid an intense manhunt for them by Indonesian police "because they believed that their continuous association with that group... would just make it easier for the Indonesian authorities to track them down and arrest or kill them," the report said.
The two fled separately to the southern Philippines and established a base of operations on Mindanao island with the help of a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been waging a Muslim separatist insurrection in the region for decades, according to the report.
Patek sought Sunataâs help in sending Indonesian recruits for training and membership in their group in Mindanao, preferring Indonesians who fought in deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians between 1999 and 2001 in the eastern Indonesian provinces of Maluku and central Sulawesi, the report said.
Patek and Dulmatin were involved in those clashes, which killed more than 10,000 people, Sunata said.
Sunata sent 13 Indonesian recruits in five batches for training and membership in the group in Mindanao in 2003 and 2005, the report said.
A Saudi Arabian donor identified as Abu Mohammad sent $11,500 to finance Patekâs Mindanao operations, Sunata said, adding that he had arranged for couriers to deliver the money.
Sunata and Patek regularly communicated by e-mail and mobile phone text messages, discussing "how they could continue the jihad (holy war) in Indonesia and the Philippines," the report said.
Sporadic but intense military and police crackdowns, however, led to the arrests of several members of Patekâs group and forced the militants to move to other Mindanao areas, the report said.
The report did not detail the attacks that were staged or planned by Patekâs group, but said that two weeks before Sunataâs arrest in June, he received an e-mail from Patek informing him of a planned attack on "military installations located along beach fronts." No other details were given.
Philippine authorities believe Dulmatin and Patek are still on the run in the countryâs south with al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/03/2005 00:53 ||
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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 agreement by the end of the year on a sustained ceasefire in Darfur is "possible but difficult", according to the United Nations' top envoy in Sudan. Jan Pronk said on Friday that the two main rebel groups and the Sudanese government, which started a seventh round of talks in Abuja, Nigeria, this week, remain distant on many issues on the negotiating table - including sharing power and oil wealth. But he said: "We are going in the right direction. It is possible that there is a peace agreement at the end of this year, like last year on the 31st of December we had peace between the north and the south." 
The sudden shift in behavior by 
This is PV2 over Bangalore, flown for first time yesterday, still in primer paint but with weapons integration complete.
