ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri will visit Kabul this week to discuss with Afghan authorities how to combat a growing insurgency in the ethnic Pashtun belt straddling their long, porous border. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Kazai, agreed in September to call traditional tribal gatherings, or jirgas, on both sides of the border to win support against a resurgent Taleban. Maybe they can call a lashkar and break out the drums ...
Basically, he will discuss how to bring about peace and calm in bordering areas of the two countries, Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a weekly news conference, referring to Kasuris Dec. 7-9 trip. The focus would be how to activate traditional institutions to bring down violence and promote peace in the bordering areas, she said, referring to the proposed jirgas. "Because that's what we're all about, peace and fluffy kittens ..."
Aslam said Kasuri would discuss Pakistans strategy to use political and economic means in tandem with military tactics to combat the insurgency. We would like to see peace in Afghanistan, she said. "On our terms, of course ..."
It is our conviction that for that we require a comprehensive strategy which must have political reconciliation, massive economic reconstruction, apart from the military action that is already being taken. "None of which will be provided by us ..."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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I thought you called a jurga but formed a lashkar.
#2
"It is our conviction that for that we require a comprehensive strategy which must have political reconciliation, massive economic reconstruction, apart from the military action that is already being taken.
Massive economic reconstruction?
Translation: Give us money and we'll be good little Muslims and stop Taleban caused violence-until the installment is due.
Americans, grab your wallets and your email list of politicians-it's surely being negotiated. Say the words, America, I know you can do it: The Taleban is America's enemy.
The morons apparently still want to "activate traditional institutions to bring down violence"; Allah, that ol traditionalist, has set such a sterling example of how to settle disputes peacefully. Whose eyes get extinguished, whose limbs lopped off, and whose daughter given away as a sex slave in the name of justice THIS time?
(SomaliNet) The UN envoy to Somalia Francois Lonseny Fal said on Monday that he was more hopeful to continue Somali peace talks ahead after having crucial meeting with senior officials of Islamic Courts in the capital.
During his one day visit in Mogadishu, Mr. Fall had close doors meeting the leaders of Shura Council of Islamic Courts particular with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Islamic Courts. After the meeting Mr. Fall and Sheik Aweys held a joint news conference inside the headquarters of the Islamic courts. Mr. Fall told the reporters in the capital that the discussion with the Islamic leadership was positive and successful. "Our meeting with the Islamic courts was fruitful and it in fact has raised our hope that they would continue talks with the transitional government," Mr. Fall said while answering questions asked by the reporters at the main Islamist headquarter in north of Mogadishu.
Shortly after the press conference, François Fall and his delegation flew back to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Earlier, Mr. Fall expressed that he was hopeful that both Somalia rivals would resume talks in Sudan in mid December as scheduled. Sheik Aweys told the reporters that he had discussed with the UN envoy over several issues relating to the current political situation in Somalia. "We Islamic Courts told the UN delegation that lifting the embargo on Somalia would cause major conflict in the region, we also indicated to them that the solution might came only when the Ethiopian troops withdrawn from Somalia," Sheik Aweys said adding that the Islamic Courts Union are any time ready to continue talks with the interim government but the world must not keep silent of the Ethiopian aggression.
He said the Islamic Courts made it clear that they totally against the US proposal at the UN in which it wants to lift the embargo.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) In a move that may prove perilous to Chad, the United Nations (UN) agencies and numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are withdrawing staff from eastern Chad, humanitarian sources said.
Eastern Chad is currently housing some thousands of refugees from neighbouring Sudan and where rebels have recently upped attacks. Meanwhile, Rebels in Chad on Saturday deployed around the town of Guereda, in the far east of the country, after attacking government positions there the previous day. Guess the French decided not to sortie their fighters.
According to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s Helene Caux Abeche, "After incidents in Guereda, the hold up of our staff and the theft of our vehicles, it was decided that international and national staff in the far eastern towns of Iriba, Guereda and Bahai be redeployed to Abeche and N'Djamena."
Press reports indicate that during an attack by rebels from a coalition led by the Rally of Democratic Forces (RAFD) in Guereda on Friday last week, HCR buildings were attacked and two of their vehicles were stolen. Which word in 'Rally of Democratic Forces' doesn't belong with the others?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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"Democratic"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/05/2006 6:28 Comments ||
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Well, some of the underage girls (and boys) might be safer.
The cash-strapped regime of North Korea, which has a worldwide reputation for its criminal dealings in weapons sales, drugs and near-perfect counterfeit U.S. $100 bills, may have found a new illicit source of hard foreign currency: international reinsurance fraud. A growing number of major underwriters around the world strongly suspect that communist dictator Kim Jong-Il's regime is running an elaborate major insurance and reinsurance scam on them, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars or more.
The alleged fraud involves a wide variety of North Korean industrial and personal calamities where insurers have been presented with perfect government-controlled documentation of accidents, including deaths, along with carefully gathered photographic evidence, all compiled in a startlingly brief time. That paperwork is coupled with a resistance to letting foreign insurance adjusters examine some of the most crucial physical evidence, except after long delays and under a watchful eye, if at all.
Suspicions in London began to gel in July 2005, when North Korea reported that a medical rescue helicopter had crashed into a government-owned warehouse that authorities said was crammed with disaster relief supplies. The entire contents of the warehouse, which ran to hundreds of thousands of items, were destroyed, KNIC said, submitting within 10 days a list compiled by the relief center of every single commodity that it said had been lost.
In the case of a ferry accident that allegedly took place last April, North Korean authorities declared that 129 people had died aboard the vessel after it struck a rock about 1,000 yards off the Korean coast, and only about 100 yards from an island. All of them, the Koreans claim, had been automatically covered with life insurance when they bought their ferry ticket. Here the claims from reinsurers totaled about 5 million euros, or roughly $6 million. When insurers asked for permission to send an independent diver to inspect the ferry wreck, they were refused.
Britain's Foreign Office says the lack of firm proof of fraud is why it hasn't taken action on the reinsurance issue, although British diplomats say they are aware of it. But as the British government is trying to put limits on Kim Jong-Il's nuclear weapons program, the lack of an official British reaction could also be an attempt not to rock the boat, as well as to protect its diplomatic presence in Pyongyang.
#9
The central focus of concern is the absolute control of ownership and information in North Korea by Kim Jong-Il and his regime. All North Korean insurance is controlled by one state-owned firm, the Korea National Insurance Corporation (KNIC), formerly known as the Korea Foreign Insurance Company, which in turn purchases reinsurance coverage abroad for risks that it has {purportedly] assumed in its domestic market.
Normally, most domestic insurers will use one, or at most two firms of brokers to obtain reinsurance. KNIC may use many, according to industry sources, and the brokers may well have no idea what business their colleagues are doing, or in what reinsurance markets.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/05/2006 10:00 Comments ||
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#10
Actually, this sort of thing is good news. It shows the pathetic means the North Koreans are having to resort to. I mean, what kind of government funds itself with insurance scams? Most of them just raise taxes.
#11
I figure Kimmie would be hell-on-wheels if Amway could entroll him. Think of his downstream...... Everyone who has his picture would spring for at least 2 cans of room deodorizer a month. Profit!
#12
It's almost like...he's always got a loophole. We want to see the damage, he says pay up or he'll kill us. He doesn't fill out the forms, we complain, he says pay up or he'll kill us. We want to talk to witnesses, he says they're all dead and to pay up or we'll be dead too. You think he was a friggin dictator or something.
What an asshole...
#14
Lets see.. drug trafficking, kidnapping, counterfeiting, now insurance fraud..
And this criminal enterprise is considered a sovereign state? A legitimate government?
The United States of America actually sends diplomatic envoys to negotiate with these criminals?
Posted by: john ||
12/05/2006 17:58 Comments ||
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Don't laugh, but StrategyPage says this scam has already brought in over $100 million.
Posted by: ed ||
12/05/2006 18:01 Comments ||
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Until Bush came along, yes. Until Bush came along, even the US Sec State was on the NorKie dance card. Until Bush came along, China didn't get the credit due for being this mongrel's bitch.
#17
Who would have ever imagined a stand up guy like 'Lil Kim would run a scam?
ROFLMFAO! Any dumb bastard that would insure a Nork asset deserves to be scammed! A fool and his money had no business being together in the first place!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/05/2006 18:48 Comments ||
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#3
Isn't the real question, "What value does England realize maintaining a special relationship with Scotland?"
Posted by: Lil Kim ||
12/05/2006 16:19 Comments ||
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#4
Twas me, Lil Kim.
Posted by: ed ||
12/05/2006 16:26 Comments ||
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#5
Nukes?
Without the US warhead designs (UK uses a variant), ballistic missiles (UK uses missiles from a common pool), or submarines (critical subsystems come from US manufacturers), the UK would not be a nuclear power.
Posted by: john ||
12/05/2006 16:39 Comments ||
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#7
Who else is going to buy those old MGs /Jags/RRs/land Rovers just cuz they are either a) 'cute' or b)instant snob appeal. and then explain the Lucas electrical sysem ('Lucas, Prince of Darkness') as an endearing feature, not a bug....???
Posted by: Ranchin B. Hard ||
12/05/2006 16:50 Comments ||
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#8
The USA should have declared free trade with England and Australia (and perhaps every Anglosphere nation) long ago. Even if those nations don't like free trade and impose restrictions on their side of things the US should suck it up and give them easy market access.
If anyone is to have an extra benefit in the US economy I'd like it to be England and Australia who have been solid allies for a century and counting.
#11
Wonder if Winston is turning over in his grave. It was all for naught? PM Churchill wrote about the attack upon Pearl Harbor -
In two or three minutes Mr. Roosevelt came through. "Mr. President, what's this about Japan? "It's quite true," he replied. "They have attacked us at Pearl Harbor. We are all in the same boat now."
No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. I could not foretell the course of events. I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all!
Yes, after Dunkirk; after the fall of France; after the horrible episode of Oran; after the threat of invasion, when, apart from the Air and the Navy, we were an almost unarmed people; after the deadly struggle of the U-boat war - the first Battle of the Atlantic, gained by a hand's-breath; after seventeen months of lonely fighting and nineteen months of my responsibility in dire stress. We had won the war. England would live; Britain would live; the Commonwealth of Nations and the Empire would live.
How long the war would last or in what fashion it would end no man could tell, nor did I at this moment care. Once again in our long Island history we should emerge, however mauled or mutilated, safe and victorious. We should not be wiped out. Our history would not come to an end. We might not even have to die as individuals. Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder.
He understood what his fellow countrymen have forgotten. And so their history will come to an end.
#15
My contempt for these British idiots has no bounds. They have absolutely nothing to feel superior about that has come from their own efforts in the last 40 years. They're living on inherited momentum and you can see that when you watch how lefty and willing to be subsumed in the great EUtopia they are. They're a lost cause so even discussing the "special relationship" is moot. They don't have the balls to face the internal enemy they allowed in so their country will, in its present form, cease to exist by the midpoint of this century. I've studied their history professionally and I can state with absolute certainty that the men who created the British Empire would hold their current descendants in complete and utter contempt. When I was in the UK last year I could not believe how ashamed they seemed to be of their own history. What a bunch of worthless, gutless, uninformed whiners they are. I guess all the good ones either emigrated or died in the wars. Britain--and its component parts, Scotland and Wales, are done. The world is just waiting for the curtain to fall on the last sorry act and judging from the way events are moving over there, they won't have to wait long.
Posted by: mac ||
12/05/2006 17:48 Comments ||
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Was it just me, or were most of the truly immature and idiotic comments posted from the US? We, at least those of us for whom English is a first language and are old enough to have studied American and world history before our schools became politically correct, acknowledge a special relationship to England, the country from whom our culture, ideals, and institutions evolved. Granted, we Americans are an ecletic bunch and picked up better ideas along the way whenever we encountered them, but at the root, we are forever indebted to England.
#17
As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder.
Wow, brutally succinct and eerily prescient. No western leader could possibly get away with a statement like that any more [yes, I know it wasn't from a speech].
1) The (continental) Europeans pontificate
2) Russia and China ignore it, or try to make money off it.
3) Same (as Russia / China) from the UN
4) Japan debates it's constitution
5) The rest of Asia contemplates their respective navels.
6) The Arab nations blame it all on Israel.
7) Three countries - the US, UK, and Australia take decisive action.
#21
Fifty years ago it was a different story, but now New Zealand is a nation of lefty peacenik sheep bothers. The Canadians still have some spunk left but they need someone to give them a ride to the party.
#22
The Canadians and Kiwis performed with outstanding valor in WWII. Since then New Zealand has gone European. Canada's forces (what's left of them) are outstanding. But their military has suffered from years of neglect. Neither country has the political will to act on the world stage.
#23
They don't have the balls to face the internal enemy they allowed in so their country will, in its present form, cease to exist by the midpoint of this century.
Yes, and if you squint your eyes and look real hard, you'll see we're heading in the same direction.
German politicians from across the political spectrum have reacted strongly to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's recent comments on Iraq. Annan has said Iraq is in the middle of civil war, and that Iraqi people are worse off now than they were under Saddam Hussein. The CDU party's foreign politics expert Eckart von Klaeden has called Annan's comments cynical and dangerous. Social Democrat Hans Ulrich Klose has said life for people in Iraq has completely changed now that they're free from a dictator, and the FDP's Wolfgang Gerhardt has called Annan's comments simply out of the question.
#2
Ah, well. At least they got good beer and BMWs, right?
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 13:46 Comments ||
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But I don't buy German stuff. Or French or Belgian or Spanish or Russian (except for the oil commodity thingy which I can't control) or Chinese - and that last one is a buggah, too. Lol.
#4
Me too, .com, me too. I miss a lot of our Euro friends from across the pond. Been out a lot lately, but I assume it's cause of our recent elections?
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 20:52 Comments ||
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#5
I'm not sure when TGA went away - I was out of the loop at the time, I think. Heh, how would I know, lol.
It's true that some of our friends and cousins are often missing, these days. That definitely hurts discussions, too. Thank Gawd for JFM & Anonymous5089.
Japan was embarrassed to discover that a Japanese machinery manufacturer had illegally shipped a jet-mill grinder to Iran in 1999, and that the equipment (which uses highly compressed air to shape solid materials) was being used in the manufacture of solid fuel rockets for Iran's ballistic missiles. The machinery was cheap ($129,000) and does have non-weapons uses. But the manufacturer did not ask permission of the government to export the gear, and is thus been punished by not being allowed to export anything for two years. Japan, Germany and the United States are all producers of precision manufacturing equipment that is needed to produce modern weapons. All three countries have to be careful who they export to, as there are often no other sources for some of this precision equipment.
#1
Weird as it might sound, this is one of the best reasons why Japan must take on the onus of becoming an East Asian nuclear power. Between exporting low-noise propeller machine tools and centrifuge milling equipment, one of the few ways for the Nipponese to expiate their sins is to become an anti-Chinese nuclear base.
#2
Of course, we Rantburgists know that these machines are loaded with secret spy gadgets that tell us every detail of the items being worked on, along with the identities of the workers and the GPS coordinates of the facility.
If I were the mullahs (which I thank Cthulhu I am not), I would order them destroyed forthwith and go back to hand filing.
A suspected Russian spy who obtained a Canadian passport thanks to a well-made fake birth certificate, is to be deported, a Canadian judge ruled. Canadian authorities arrested the man who calls himself Paul William Hampel on November 14 in Montreal, accusing him of being a Russian spy working under a false Canadian identity.
According prosecutors, the man had obtained a Canadian passport three times on the basis of his fake birth certificate A summary of evidence released by a federal court said the suspect was an "elite Russian intelligence officer" who masqueraded as a Canadian citizen to gather information "for over a decade both within Canada and abroad." Good field craft.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg authorized his arrest by issuing a security certificate. The rarely used procedure, launched in 1978, allows authorities to arrest and expel a foreigner deemed a threat to Canadian security. The certificate used to arrest Hampel was the first issued under the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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Good God! They nailed an illegal and they're letting him go?!?!
A new full-body x-ray machine to be tested this month at a US airport has raised concerns about privacy issues with some rights advocates saying the technology amounts to a virtual strip search.
The "Backscatter" machine to be used at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona will enable screeners to detect non-metallic devices and objects as well as weapons on a person's body, authorities say.
But critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the machine can display graphic images of nude bodies and its use will pave the way to widespread abuse of the images taken, with some possibly being posted or traded on the Internet. Uh, oh. Now the ACLU has discovered naughty bits. As I said before, we have terrabytes upon terrabytes of high quality pr0n on the web, and the ACLU is worried about this?
Federal officials, however, have downplayed such concerns saying that screeners will be able to blur out a person's genitals and that the x-ray image will be erased from the screen once a passenger is cleared through the machine. Some blurs will be bigger than others.
The Transportation Security Officer operating the system will also not be able to print, store or transmit the image and will be viewing the x-ray in an area not visible to the public.
Officials said "Backscatter" will be a voluntary option for passengers undergoing secondary screening and is an alternative to the physical pat down procedures currently conducted at security checkpoints. Which makes it a non-starter, except for show-offs, lol.
#4
An obsidian knife will not be caught in the standard magnetic screening gate but was quite adequate for removing the beating heart from an Aztec human sacrifice. It would be caught by this x-ray.
Once you've been laid out for emergency room surgery you gain a whole new perspective on 'privacy concerns.'
#8
One's anatomy would have to be quite distinctive to be identifiable from a backscatter photo. This is another attempt by the technically ignorant ambulance chasers to generate lawsuits for which they will be paid. The ACLU has become the AntiAmerican Ceaseless Lawsuit Unit.
#14
Just to satisfy my curiosity, what is that thing against the gentleman's belly that looks like a power drill?
Could be the belt buckle/zipper combo. Or, that "stimulation" toy that judge used under his bench sometime back, I don't know. May need closer inspection, TW, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 11:16 Comments ||
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#15
Isn't x-ray supposed to be dangerous to your health ?
I mean, why do they put a lead vest on you at the dentist office, and why do the techs always leave the room ?
WXJames - those wearing the lead vests get several exposures a day, every day. I get x-rayed once a year - or so. I suspect the danger of the backscatter thingy is significant if you travel three times a day, every day, and get secondary screening every time. Still, somebody ought to give the "official" answer....
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/05/2006 12:31 Comments ||
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#17
Someone suggested the best way of confronting nonsense like this is with equal and opposite hysteria:
"They are doing this to look at young children NAKED!!!"
"They plan to record the pictures and colorize them and sell them on THE INTERNET!!! TO PERVERTS!!!"
#18
"An obsidian knife will not be caught in the standard magnetic screening gate but was quite adequate for removing the beating heart from an Aztec human sacrifice. It would be caught by this x-ray."
I have several titanium bladed knives which pass through conventional metal detectors without incident. They don't hold an edge well, but no metal detector worries.
"to satisfy my curiosity, what is that thing against the gentleman's belly that looks like a power drill?"
It is a concealed knife in the belt buckle. You can see a lanyard hanging down to let him grab it quickly.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
12/05/2006 13:04 Comments ||
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#19
"I mean, why do they put a lead vest on you at the dentist office, and why do the techs always leave the room ?"
Cause they're cowards! I aint afraid of no x-ray.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
12/05/2006 13:06 Comments ||
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#20
Is that a parrot on his shoulder?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2006 15:12 Comments ||
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#22
Lol, Sea. I liked the "evil-minded bores" bit. Hey if boinking animals is okie-fine, then this isn't much. They did refrain from collecting the vital info that would encourage "active interfence", after all. Just admiring from afar, lol.
President Pervez Musharraf said he was opposed to independence for Kashmir, but both India and Pakistan will have to compromise over the disputed territory, in an interview made available Monday. Yes, we are against independence for Kashmir, Musharraf told the Indian NDTV news channel in an interview, excerpts of which were made available to the media on Monday.
Musharraf said both India and Pakistan would have to make compromises. He called for equal change in both countries Kashmir policies.
He mooted a four- point agenda: withdrawal of both armies from the region; neutralisation of Kashmiri borders without changes in the Line of Control; self-governance, with both countries patrolling the region; and neutralisation of the LoC. He cautioned that the four-point agenda should not be considered a condition for Kashmir talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday his policy of "zero tolerance" of sexual abuse in the United Nations' far-flung global operations is still not getting through to civilians and soldiers. "We're making progress, though. We're down to 85 percent tolerance."
A conference on eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse brought UN staff, member states and non-governmental organizations together to discuss new strategies for addressing the problem, as a frustrated Annan reported that allegations of sexual misconduct against U.N. peacekeepers continue. "My message of zero tolerance has still not got through to those who need to hear it - from managers and commanders on the ground, to all our other personnel," the secretary-general said at the beginning of the daylong conference at the Millennium Hotel across from UN headquarters. "Acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by both civilian and uniformed United Nations personnel continue to occur."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
In the UN culture of corruption typified by the Oil for Food scandal that enriched the suits, what is a poor UN soldier to do? Since most refugees don't have anything of value to loot, the UN troops take what they can get. Oil for Food for the big shots. Food for Nooky for the troops.
Since the UN "Peacekeepers" are not allowed to actually use their "rifles" against the bad guys, they use their "guns" against the good girls. UN peacekeeping operations under current UN ROE are useless and should be terminated.
#2
Got a problem with your workers?
British Navy Solution: Occasional Flogging
Trump's Solution: You're Fired!
UN Solution: Hold a Conference!
Have they decided which belly dancers they want for the entertainment?
Posted by: The Doctor ||
12/05/2006 9:19 Comments ||
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#3
Hey, Kofi, is this really gonna take all day? Because my teenage hooker's waiting on me upstairs and, if it is, I'll tell her to go Christmas shopping or something....
#4
lol, doc. Just when you think you're getting somewhere, Kofi's gonna be outta there in 27 days. I have hope the next guy (from S. Korea) is better, but ya never know with the UN.
Hope Coffee enjoyed the "entertainment" and the caviar.
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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Here is a taste -- go read the whole thing. And if you like what you see, think about hitting Mr. Roggio's tipjar -- Bill is working on spec, not on salary to any of the MSM news organizations. He also is a Rantburg reader and occasional commenter, when he can. Hattip Instapundit.
I've completed the first leg of the journey to Iraq, after having moved through Dubai, Kuwait and Baghdad. I am now at Camp Fallujah. While in Fallujah, I'll embed with a Marine Police Transition Team (PTT) and also meet with the Civil Affairs Group. The next stop will be Ramadi.
Ali Al Salem:
At the transient tent (where you get to sleep and store your gear while waiting), I spoke to an Explosive Ordinance and Demolitions (EOD) contractor. These are the guys that blow up the leftover explosives and munitions from the Saddam era. He told me about how the media isn't telling the full story about the nature of the enemy, and specifically complained about the manipulation and distortion of the Kay report. He said he's run across bunkers and the equipment and chemical precursors to WMD buried in the deserts of western Iraq.
Camp Stryker:
While waiting to catch the flight to the Green Zone, I spoke to two Army captains, one who works in Civil Affairs, the other with the Military Transition Teams. Both explained how the situation could look very different based on your job, but that the Iraqi police and Army were making real progress. They said the Iraqis' skills ranged from poor to excellent, but they always saw improvement.
LZ Washington:
While waiting to manifest on the flight to Fallujah, CNN played a news segment of President Bush announcing there would be no graceful exit from Iraq, and that we'd stay until the mission was complete. Two sergeants in the room cheered. Loudly. They then scoffed at the reports from Baghdad, and jeered the balcony reporting.
In nearly every conversation, the soldiers, Marines and contractors expressed they were upset with the coverage of the war in Iraq in general, and the public perception of the daily situation on the ground. The felt the media was there to sensationalize the news, and several stated some reporters were only interested in blood and guts. They freely admitted the obstacles in front of them in Iraq. Most recognized that while we are winning the war on the battlefield, albeit with difficulties in some areas, we are losing the information war. They felt the media had abandoned them.
During each conversation, I was left in the awkward situation of having to explain that while, yes, I am wearing a press badge, I'm not 'one of them.' I used descriptions like 'independent journalist' or 'blogger' in an attempt to separate myself from the pack.
Faced with growing repression by Muslims, Christians from an ancient tradition in Iraq are calling on American political leaders for help before their entire community is extinguished.
Christian Assyrians and some of their supporters demonstrated in front of the White House yesterday, highlighting an alarming trend reported by the U.N.: While representing just 5 percent of the Iraqi population, 40 percent of the refugees fleeing the country are Assyrians.
One of the speakers at the rally, Nina Shea of Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom in D.C., told WND that because of the "ethnic cleansing," the Christians want an autonomous district in Iraq they can administrate.
The zone, called the Nineveh Plains Administrative Unit, would allow Assyrians and other Christians to practice their faith, speak and teach their language, and work their land without fear of persecution.
Unlike the Sunnis and Shiites, the Christians have no militia and are completely defenseless, Shea said.
"They need to administrate their own governmental unit to protect themselves," she said. "Otherwise, with the chaos and violence and persecution targeting Christians for religious reasons, which the U.N. has documented, they will disappear.
Shea insisted it's in the interest of the U.S. to take a stand.
With the loss of the highly educated and skilled Christians, she argued, Iraq is "experiencing a brain drain as well as sane drain a force of moderation and a bridge to the West."
"They have served the U.S. in Iraq nobly, and they will leave a real vacuum," said Shea.
While the Christians in Iraq have been repressed for decades, Shea pointed out, they have suffered more since the war began, with kidnappings, crucifixions and dozen of churches bombed by jihadist terror.
Among the atrocities documented this year:
Father Paulos Eskandar, of Mor Afrem Syriac Orthodox Church, was kidnapped Oct. 9 by Muslims and decapitated two days later. He was murdered despite Christians fulfilled a demand to post a text on the church doors condemning the pope's statement about Islam.
On Oct. 4, a car bomb detonated in a Christian area and killed nine people, including Georges Zara, member of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac National Council.
A 14-year-old boy was crucified and stabbed in the stomach, mimicking what was done to Jesus, in Albasra.
On Oct. 21, in Baquba, a group of veiled Muslims attacked a workplace where a 14-year-old boy named Ayad Tariq worked. The men asked the boy for his identity card. After seeing he was Christian the men asked whether he was a "dirty Christian sinner." Ayad answered: "Yes, I am Christian, but I am not a sinner." The rebels yelled he was a dirty Christian sinner and continued to grab him and to scream, "Allahu, Akbar! Allahu, Akbar!" The boy then was decapitated.
In August, 13 Assyrian Christian women in Baghdad were kidnapped and murdered.
In January, churches were bombed in Basra and Baghdad.
Shea noted that the Kurds, who control the north, have been denying the Christian Assyrians many of the benefits that have come from U.S. largesse.
The electric grids created by the U.S., for example, are left to the discretion of local governments to distribute and manage, and the Christians say they aren't getting their fair share. They cite instances of Kurdish villages receiving electricity while neighboring Christian villages are denied service.
Shea said she has been raising the plight of the Iraqi Christians with the U.S. government for several years, including in a face-to-face meeting with President Bush in her role as a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
She has not received a positive response.
"One of the issues here is that the Christians don't create trouble, they are just victims," she said. "They don't blow up things, so they don't get attention.
Some have told her the U.S. government doesn't want to establish a precedent of favoritism, by responding to special pleadings.
But Shea argues, "It's not favoring one group to make sure they get their fair share of U.S. construction aid.
The White House did not respond to WND's request for comment.
#1
Not to sound cynical, but first, you need to pick up a weapon and take matters into your own hands. We are getting tired of getting beat up whle you just sit on your collective asses and whine about trival shit. Some things are worth dying for.
Posted by: Ranchin B. Hard ||
12/05/2006 16:53 Comments ||
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#2
What Mister B. Hard sed.
Posted by: Get a Grip Barbie ||
12/05/2006 18:30 Comments ||
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#3
I can barely get simple concessions from people. Iraq is walking the line.
One of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite leaders said after meeting President Bush on Monday that civil war could only be staved off if U.S. forces struck harder against Sunni-led insurgents. While Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the biggest party in Iraq's government, SCIRI, met Bush in Washington, the U.S. envoy and military chief in Baghdad implored Iraqis to break a cycle of violence which they said would destroy the country.
Hakim denied that majority Shi'ites were stoking sectarian violence and put the onus on Washington to take tougher action against insurgents. "The strikes they are getting from the multinational forces are not hard enough to put an end to their acts," he said. "Eliminating the danger of civil war in Iraq could only be achieved through directing decisive strikes against Baathist terrorists (and other Islamists) in Iraq. Otherwise we'll continue to witness massacres."
Bush, his Iraq policy under growing criticism even from former allies, said he and Hakim had discussed a need for Iraqi leaders to "reject the extremists that are trying to stop the advance of this young democracy".
"I told him we're not satisfied with the pace of progress in Iraq and that we want to continue to work with the sovereign government in Iraq to accomplish our mutual objectives, which is a free country that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself," Bush told reporters at the White House.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, makes no bones: Either Israel leaves all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and agrees to the 'right of return' - or war.
Meshaal is officially the head of the diplomatic desk of Hamas, but is recognized as the #1 man in the terrorist organization. The target of a failed Israeli assassination attempt a decade ago, Meshaal told a Lebanese newspaper this week that Hamas will not hesitate to resume its armed warfare against Israel.
Specifically, he threatened, "If within six months, the international community does not come up with a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders [i.e., on all the land liberated by Israel in the Six Day War - ed.] and for the return of the refugees, the Palestinians will turn to an armed struggle against Israel." How will they tell the difference?
"We can have an intifada even when running the Palestinian Authority," Meshaal said, explaining that the ceasefire was not designed to bring peace, but is rather another stage in the war with Israel. "The current calm [cease-fire in Gaza - ed.], just like the escalation [before that], is part of the way we manage the conflict with Israel."
Many Israeli military men and analysts have said that Hamas is using the current truce in Gaza to rearm and regroup towards the next round of fighting.
Hamas Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniye, visiting in Syria, echoed Meshaal's position in a speech at a refugee camp. He said the Palestinians will not give up on "even one grain of sand of Palestine," and that Syrian President Assad promised him that all the Palestinian [terrorist] prisoners incarcerated in Israel would be freed.
Meshaal admitted that the Hamas-Fatah talks for a unity PA government have "encountered difficulties," but said they have not yet hit a dead end. This clashes with announcements by Hamas leaders Haniye and Mahmoud A-Zahar, who said on Monday that the negotiations had failed and were beyond recovery.
Hamas and Fatah elements traded blame and accusations for the failed talks. Fatah leader Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is expected to announce - possibly today - whether he plans to dissolve the Parliament, thus leading to a clash with Hamas.
#4
Memo to Israel: Nothing will change until the Palestinians are forcibly removed from their present locations or just flat-out killed. There is no possibly way for any peaceful coexistence with them. Quit trying to find any form of reconciliation. It is obvious that they want nothing of the sort. The sooner that all Palestinian terrortories are scraped clean of their filth, the quicker that Israel can end this interminable agony.
#5
Say it taint so - Be still my shocked Shocked SHOCKED S-H-O-C-K-E-D SSSHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCC
CCCCKKKKKED HEART, D*** YOU. Iff CLINTONISM > FASCISM = "NEW COMMUNISM/STALINISM", etc. guess it also means JUDAISM/HEBRAISM/SEMITISM = "NEW RADICAL ISLAM", etc???
#6
Tell the Church of the philistines that they barely qualify for land, much less humanity. Live and die by the sword so civilized people from everywhere can enjoy the lands that you so proclaimed as yours without approval from higher may be shared amongst them in peace. Palestine is disgusting.
The Israeli-Arab sector insists on recognition as a "national minority," including the right to return to places they quit 58 years ago, changes to the flag and anthem, immigration quotas, and more.
The Israeli-Arab Mossawa organization, billed as the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, released a position paper report to this effect on Friday. Mossawa explains that in addition to equal rights to which every citizen is entitled by virtue of his citizenship, the Arab minority also demands "group-differentiated rights." The organization lists ten such rights that it insists Israel must grant. Among them are the following, as listed and explained by Mossawa:
Official recognition of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel as a national, native minority, including its special connection to its homeland and its historic rights to it.
Arabic, already recognized as an official language, must be granted equal status to Hebrew in every aspect of public life, just as English and French are recognized in Canada. As a truly bilingual country, Israel must grant appropriate expression to the Arab-Palestinian culture in the public sphere, including noting the Arabic names of various places and giving Arabic names to public buildings, streets, etc.
Total autonomy in the spheres of education, religion and culture. At the root of this right lies the recognition of the nativity of the Arab population in Israel and its right to self-definition in these areas.
Proportionate representation in decision-making and policy-setting bodies, including all government offices and ministries, planning and construction authorities, government companies, public councils, the Civil Service, ad-hoc committees, and the like.
Extra allotments of resources such as budget allocations, land and housing, to compensate for past discrimination.
Changes to national symbols, including the flag and anthem, as emotionally-charged public resources that have a special impact on minority sectors. The State must grant appropriate expression to the presence of Israeli-Arab citizens and to their historic ties to the land. Israel's array of symbols must reflect an equal approach to both its Jewish and Arab citizens.
Equality in immigration and citizenship rights. The allocation of quotas in these areas is an expression of the country's strength, and the country must apportion them fairly, justly and equally.
Protection of the special ties of the Palestinian people with the greater Arab nation. The Palestinian population in Israel must be enabled to freely maintain and develop special ties - family, cultural, economic and the like - with the other members of the Palestinian people and the Arab nation.
Historic rights. Corrective justice demands that Israel must officially apologize and recognize the Nakba - national Arab-Palestinian catastrophe - of 1948 when the Arabs were removed from their lands. Among the issues addressed in this point are the uprooted Palestinians - 25% of the current Arab population in Israel - and their return to their original villages, such as Ikrit, Al-Ghabasaya, Al-Lajun, and others, as well as assets of the Moslem Waqf that must be administered by the Moslems.
Israeli-Arabs claim that hundreds of destroyed villages, in various parts of the country, as theirs. Many of the villages were hostile locations serving the Arab enemy during the War of Independence, and the land on which some of them stood has since become Jewish-populated, such as in Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva. The Meggido Prison, for instance, is built atop what was once Al-Lajun, and the north Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Aviv stands on what was once called Sheikh Munis. Though the return to these villages is unrealistic, it is felt that persisting in raising this demand can only help the nationalist Arab cause in Israel.
One of the participants at the official presentation of the paper, Dr. Raef Zreik, said that it does not go far enough. He said that the Israeli-Arabs can officially recognize the right of the Jews to a state only as part of an "overall peace agreement with the Palestinian people."
In the news this week are vandalism and destruction wrought upon a Talmud Torah (Jewish religious school) by Arabs in the city of Acco, an initiative to increase Arab rights in the city of Ramle, and an attempted murder of a Jewish cow-farmer by Arabs in the Jezreel Valley, not far from Afula.
#1
fine, you've been recognized for what you are. Expulsion to follow
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/05/2006 13:35 Comments ||
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#2
Frank G, couldn't be soon enough. One way tickets to Gaza with fair compensation for their lands. Let them see how they like trying to keep their possessions when surrounded by their fellow Palestinians.
#5
I'm all for this! Recognize them, line 'em all up against the wall they're building, and shoot them. Do the same thing for the "palestinians" in Gaza and the West Bank. Beat the sh$$ out of any third-party interference. Establish the rule of Israel over all the territory they were allotted by the Balfour declaration. In any further military confrontations, keep any land they seize, and drive the arabs out.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2006 15:17 Comments ||
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French Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal showed her support for a number of Israel's key policy stances regarding Iran and Hamas as she spoke with journalists in Jerusalem on Monday at the end of her two-day visit to Israel. She took a particularly hard line against Iran's nuclear development when she stated her opposition to that country's drive to develop enriched uranium even for non-military uses. "We have to stop it from producing uranium even for civilian use," she said. "There are those who say that I do not understand the situation, but I do. I have long contended that Iran with nuclear power is not just a danger for Israel but for the rest of the world," Royal said. Once Iran has the ability to produce uranium for civilian consumption, there is nothing to stop Iran from using it to develop nuclear weapons, she added.
If elected in the spring, she said, she would push the international community to take an equally hard line on the issue. She said as much to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when she met with him earlier in the evening. "He thanked me for my opinions," she said.
The Socialist's stance on Iran is tougher than France's position. Paris wants to punish Teheran for failing to halt uranium enrichment - which can produce material for atomic warheads as well as energy - but it says that, in principle, Iran can have access to nuclear power.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
If you put your ear up to her head, you can hear the ocean
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/05/2006 0:23 Comments ||
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#2
Lol. *snort* Glad I didn't have a cup in my hand, lol.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday that efforts to form a national unity government must continue and have not reached a dead end. "The door for dialogue must be kept open and talks between the Palestinians must continue," he told reporters in the Syrian capital. "However, if there are sides among the Palestinians who want to close the door on dialogue, then they alone would bear responsibility for the results of their position," Haniyeh said, referring to the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Monday urged the government to negotiate with "moderate" figures in the Palestinian Authority. Peres is the Israeli equivalent to Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
OK. First, find some. I think Anne Rice did an interview with one. Or was that some other mythical creature?
Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said his party's faction meeting Monday that "the flow of weapons to the Gaza Strip is turning it into a second Lebanon." Netanyahu also said that if the Kassam fire weren't stopped, there would be tragic results, and that "the desire to restore quiet to Sderot cannot be reconciled with the desire for a unilateral cease-fire."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Never forget that Netanyahu offered Arafat 95% of what he was asking for, and then Arafat launched the Intafada against Israel instead of taking the deal. I think Ben is the prime example of a liberal mugged by reality, which is he wants to hammer the Gaza now.
A new study has found that of the 24 major armed conflicts taking place worldwide in 2005, more than half (13) involved Muslim governments or paramilitary groups on one or both sides of the fighting. Not being an academic, I'm not aware of the procedures for getting large amounts of money to produce "studies" like this that can be done in 20 minutes or less, thereby leaving lots of free time for drinking beer or bowling or both at once, since I'm ambidextrous. If somebody knows how it's done, shoot me an email.
According to Monty Marshall and Ted Burr of the Centre for International Development and Conflict Management, among six countries with emerging armed conflicts, four are predominantly Muslim, whereas Thailand, involves a Muslim separatist movement. Daniel Allott, a policy analyst for a group called American Values, writes in the Washington Times that the study highlighted a central question: Is Islam especially prone to violence? Are habitual consumers of an entire pizza at a sitting prone to corpulence?
He argues that there is disturbing proof that a far deeper culture of violence pervades much of the Islamic world. Ummm... Right. Casual observation confirms that. Y'don't even have to get overly empirical about it.
Marshall and Burrs study also rated 161 countries according to their capacity to avoid outbreaks of armed conflicts. Whereas 63 percent of non-Muslim countries were categorised as the strongest prospects for successful management of new challenges, just 18 percent of the 50 Muslim nations were similarly designated. Meaning that someplace like Malawi actually has a better handle on the idea of "progress" than most Muslim countries. Those currently trading gunfire with their neighbors are likely, though it's not guaranteed, to have less of a handle than those who aren't.
Allott maintains that this evaluation reveals the glaring reality that violence is a fact of life in many Muslim nations. But is Islam itself the impetus? Ooooh! It's the poorly framed question fallacy! "Is it the pizza that causes my gut to rest on my knees? Or is it the beer? Or could it be the occasional half gallon of chocolate ice cream?"
He quotes a recent Pentagon analysis which found that most Muslim terrorists say they are motivated by the Qurans violent commands. The 9/11 hijackers and London bombers made martyrdom videos in which they recited the Quran while talking of sacrificing life for Allah. "Legume, there is something - I wish I could put my finger on it! - that these killers have in common!"
"It's not that they're all left-handed, is it, Inspector?"
"No. I don't think that's it, since many of them aren't. Mohammad Atta, for instance, was right-handed."
"Are they all redheads?"
"I believe most of them are brunettes."
"Perhaps that's it?"
"You know, Legume, you could be right!"
He writes, We simply cannot overlook extremist interpretations of religion as a significant part of the problem when terrorists yell, God is great! as they decapitate their victims or blow themselves up in a crowded market. He writes that some Muslims appetite for destruction is not surprising given the ability of prominent Muslim leaders to foment hatred of the West. "Could it have something to do with their penchant for truculent rhetoric, professor?"
"No, Legume. I don't think that's it. But the fact that most of them are brunettes... Now, that might be a clue!"
But while experts assure us only a small percentage (perhaps 10 percent) of Muslims are willing to participate in terror, with 1.2 billion Muslims globally, thats more than 100 million jihadists ... The West must recognise these violent outbursts for what they are: calculated acts of outrage meant not to refute but to intimidate non-Muslims into not speaking up at all.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Why, shut my mouth and shit my drawers. What a shocker this little tidbit is.
#3
Well, that's probably true, JE3087. The rest provide funding, smuggle arms, hire legal cover, or act as subhuman shields. But they don't personally explode or saw off heads.
#5
Are habitual consumers of an entire pizza at a sitting prone to corpulence?
Ooooh! It's the poorly framed question fallacy! "Is it the pizza that causes my gut to rest on my knees? Or is it the beer? Or could it be the occasional half gallon of chocolate ice cream?"
Wow, it's like you know me by heart, yet we've never met, that's so weird, that's even a little bit frightening.
#6
More of these studies and faster please. Appears that the old "poor, uneducated Muzzies" plea has been put to bed, or at least we don't hear much about it. Of course, I'd always argue that when your Profit is a two-bit land-based pirate, with a Bill Clinton sized appetite for sex, a drug-induced (or is it Satan induced) proneness for "revelations" that back up his murderous/thieving habits, then maybe you're not truly a "religion." But, that's just me. And, I didn't even need a million dollar grant to conduct my "study" lol!
Imagine how much more the 'burg could uncover if'n we only got our grubby hands into Uncle Sam's pockets for some "studies." I believe that Mecca and Medina would be glowing, oh, about 10 minutes after we released our final report, lol!
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 11:23 Comments ||
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#7
I believe that Mecca and Medina would be glowing, oh, about 10 minutes after we released our final report.
It'll take that long? They should have become glowing holes ten years ago, along with Cairo, Khartoum, Tehran, Azadabad, Damascus, Qom, Peshawar, and about 192 other sites.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2006 15:23 Comments ||
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#8
lol, OP. The 199 most holy sites in Islam(tm), eh? Why not just go for the Top 200?
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 15:51 Comments ||
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#9
200 holey sites of Islam... now, that is a concept!
I'd skip the lighshow, if not a prerequisite, but I am not that picky.
#1
It is so obvious they would do this and yet had not occurred to me until it is pointed out. I expect this exclusion will not deter the usual "progressives" and "Marxists" for lending their support to the project.
Tehran, 5 Dec. (AKI) - Speaking shortly before senior diplomats from six world powers were scheduled to meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned the European Union that any punitive measure would be considered an act of hostility by Tehran. "I am telling you in plain language that from now on, if you try, whether in your propaganda or at international organisations, to take steps against the rights of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will consider it an act of hostility," Ahmadinejad said. Should be very effective against the EU.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council- the Unite States, Russia, China, Britain and France - plus Germany are discussing a draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran after the country ignored a UN 31 August ultimatum demanding that it halt sensitive nuclear work which the international community fears is aimed at building nuclear weapons. Iran claims its atomic programme is solely for civilian use. Lol. Hell, even Elbaradai, the Grate Equivocator, has finally given up on this fiction.
"If you insist on pursuing this path (Iran) will reconsider its relations with you," the Iranian president was also quoted as saying on Tuesday during a visit to the Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea.
On Monday, French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy the six world powers were close to an agreement on the resolution. Talks have stalled for months over sanctions, which are opposed by Russia and China - close commercial allies of Iran - and strongly endorsed by the US.
(Rar/Aki) Emphasis added
Adding the US, I guess that covers everybody in the West, except for Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, and Canada.
#4
Bomb the he$$ out of all his ports and refineries, and let him drink his oil. Serve the little pervert right if they dunked him in a couple of barrels of the stuff and set it alight. This toad needs to learn he's still a very small frog in a huge frigging ocean.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2006 15:25 Comments ||
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Iran's top national security official urged his Arab neighbors Tuesday to eject the U.S. military from American bases in the region and instead join Tehran in a regional security alliance.
Ali Larijani told Arab leaders attending a conference in Dubai that Washington is indifferent to their interests and will cast them aside as soon as they are no longer useful.
"The security and stability of the region needs to be attained and we should do it inside the region, not through bringing in foreign forces," Larijani told an audience of business and political leaders from the Arab world and elsewhere, including the United States. "We should stand on our own feet."
Larijani assured Arab leaders listening to his speech that Iran seeks "peaceful coexistence" and that could replace the security umbrella of U.S. bases now present in the region, including in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. Other countries have strong military training and U.S. security guarantee deals.
"Iran is in pursuit of regional stability through integration," he said. "It stands by all the Muslim governments in the region." The Persians are feelin' their oats, are they not?
But many Arab leaders have expressed misgivings about a resurgent Iran, including its support for Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq and for Hizbullah in Lebanon.
They also worry about Iran's nuclear program, which they fear is aimed at producing weapons despite Iranian denials.And threats.
Some Sunni Arab countries like Saudi Arabia are traditional strong rivals of Shiite Iran. But analysts in smaller countries like Kuwait, a strong U.S. ally, have said in recent months that they are walking a fine line between not antagonizing Iran while also not antagonizing the United States.
The United States also has been worried privately about Iran's possible growing influence in the region, although many believe it is highly unlikely any Arab countries would cut security ties with the United States.Unless we cut and walk run from Iraq.
Some small Gulf countries did, however, decline to participate in recent U.S.-led anti-proliferation maneuvers in the Gulf, apparently for fear of antagonizing Iran.
Larijani expressed annoyance at Arab fears about Iranian intentions, saying Shiite Iran and its Sunni Muslim-dominated neighbors had more in common with each other than with the United States or Israel.
"Some countries consider Iran a threat to the region, forgetting about Israel," Larijani said. That's not exactly a denial of hostile intentions, is it?
Larijani acknowledged that any U.S. departure from the Gulf would come about gradually, but he contended a consensus was building, even among America's Arab allies.
"We don't accept the relationship between the U.S. and the countries of the region," Larijani said. "If you talk to Arab leaders here, you can sense that they aren't happy with the current situation. They feel the Americans are bullies. They don't want the U.S. ambassador ordering them around." Yeah, US bullies - wouldn't you be happier under the yoke of our ayatollahs, heretics brothers?
Larijani also told his audience that he believes Washington is caught in a "strategic stalemate" in the Middle East. U.S. policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and among the Israelis and Palestinians are failing, he said, and pressure on Iran and Syria has not weakened either regime.
Washington needs a major change in policy -- starting with a withdrawal from Iraq -- to improve its standing, and setting a date for departing Iraq is a first step, Larijani said.
"Should there be a timetable, that would serve as a positive sign," Larijani said. "The clearest sign would be an exit or evacuation of American forces from the region." Thank goodness there isn't a US political party doing the bidding of the ayatollahs.
Iran's nuclear developments should be seen in the same light, Larijani said.
He repeated other Iranian leaders' words that a sanctions resolution being put together by the U.N. Security Council would fail to halt Tehran's contentious nuclear developments.
And he argued that Iran's foreign policy would be subject to coercion if it agrees to give up enrichment -- as the West has demanded -- and instead seeks fuel from outsiders, he said.
"We are not after a nuclear bomb," Larijani said. "Fossil fuels are coming to an end. After that we need nuclear power plants. Nuclear plants need fuel. Historical experience shows that this fuel will not be given to us." "given". There are a few countries that would be more than happy to provide reactor-grade fuel for cash/oil. Nice work, Ali.
In addition, he warned his Arab neighbors, if Iran agreed to depend on outside nuclear fuel suppliers, that move would be used as precedent for blocking similar nuclear enrichment bids by other Muslim countries.
Larijani said Western nuclear negotiators had made this point to him, telling him that Iran could not be allowed to enrich uranium because the same right would have to be afforded Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others.
"They will allow you to have a power plant but they will keep the fuel," Larijani told his Arab neighbors. "There will be an atomic OPEC."(AP)
#2
Funny I thought that was AQ's main goal US forces fully out of the ME. The "enemy of my enemy is my friend" logic just keeps getting clearer and clearer.
It is really sad that we have a major politcal group and movement ready and willing to hand our open known enemies a victory for thier own political gain. Even sadder to me is we have a president locked in a War of Survival that was started with 3k dead US civilians on top of multiple smaller attacks. A war that if you make historical comparison to what has been done (not some pie in the sky insane impossible bars set by the media) is a unbelievable success on all fronts Economic drain, Civilian drain, Casualties, changing of hostile cultures. All of this yet the Pres can't or wont RALLY THE PEOPLE or even attempt to make the case. ERRRRRRR
#3
"Not antagonizing Iran ... ... United States" > ala Nelville Chamberlain's "PEACE IN OUR TIME". Still hasn't dawned on people that 9-11 = WOT = WAR FOR THE WORLD = WAR TO THE DEATH! The ME region is to Radical Iran what NORTH KOREA is to Commie China > A LEGALLY/TECHNICALLY UN-ANNEXED CHINESE PROVINCE OR CHINESE-CONTROLLED PROXY STATE. Beijing knows they control North Korea, Pyongyang only pretends they do.
Predicting Iran will obtain nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, the defense establishment's new and updated assessment for 2007 does not foresee the United States undertaking a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear installations, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The chances of an American strike are deemed "low," according to assessments by the security establishment. Israel also believes that international diplomatic efforts to stop Iran will fail, security sources said.
In an interivew with the Post in late September, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said US President George W. Bush would prevent the Iranians from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Asked whether he felt Bush would one way or the other stop Iran going nuclear, Olmert responded: "I believe so." He hasn't said anything different, has he?
In April, after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Iran had passed one of the major hurdles in its race to obtain nuclear power and had, for the first time, successfully enriched uranium, a high-ranking IDF officer told the Post that Iran would obtain nuclear independence in a matter of months. At the time, a battery of 164 centrifuges was used to enrich the uranium to 3.5 percent. To produce highly-enriched uranium at 90%, Iran would need to operate thousands of centrifuges without interruption for a period of several months. Except they don't need 90%; they need (I've read) perhaps 20%. An enrichment of 20% will sustain a chain reaction, you just need more uranium.
Ahmadinejad announced plans last month to build 60,000 additional centrifuges, leading Israel to believe that it was only a matter of time before Iran developed a nuclear capability. Pakistan encountered similar difficulties in its nuclear program but eventually overcame them.
The assumption in the defense establishment is that even if sanctions were imposed on Iran today, they would not be effective in deterring the regime from continuing with its nuclear plans. The Democratic takeover of the US Senate and Congress has also led to the prediction that President George W. Bush will not be able to order a military strike. They don't know Dubya very well.
In addition, the prediction is that Bush's administration is headed towards talks with Iran, expected to be one of the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton report on America's options in Iraq to be presented to the US president on Wednesday. Because we should always try to meet our enemies 'half-way'.
The UN Security Council demanded in July that Teheran suspend enrichment, but Iran instead has expanded that work, recently setting up a second experimental chain of 164 centrifuges to produce small amounts of low-enriched uranium.
Teheran has said it intends to activate 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006 and then increase the program to 54,000 centrifuges. Iranian officials say that would produce enough enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt reactor, such as that being built by Russia and nearing completion at Bushehr. Or perhaps a dozen bombs in yields of 10 to 50 kT.
Experts estimate Iran would need only 1,500 centrifuges to produce a nuclear weapon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
No longer 60,000 > Russian XPerts forecast Radical Iran may go up to well over 100K by EOM December 2006. Between January-April 2007 > iff nothing changes, Rusia will deem Iran as self-sufficient, i.e. can produce enuff indigens nuke materials for Bombs-Warheads without foreign assistance.
#2
Well, Joe, the Russians leaving would be a good thing. The US has always tried to avoid killing Russian "experts" in our military actions. Once their numbers are significantly reduced, a significant constraint on military action will be removed.
#4
I noticed one glaring omission for the "defense establishment's new and updated assessment for 2007." Whether or not ISRAEL would conduct the strike. This could be good cop/bad JOOO thingy.
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2006 11:27 Comments ||
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#5
àí àéï àðé ìé- îé ìé ? åàí ìà òëùéå àéîúé
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/05/2006 11:45 Comments ||
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#10
The assessment is from "The defense establishment". If it was from the Pentagon, they'd have said so. If it was from the White House, they'd have said so. Hell, they quoted Olmert, so why not the Pentagon or the White House?
But they can't pin this "assessment" on either of them, so they fall back on the shadowy, unnamed "defense establishment", and hope lazy readers will read into it what they can't say out loud for fear of being called on it and proven to stuff words into other people's mouths.
This didn't need the hand-lotion pic, but the Morton Salt Dispenser pic.
The United Nations has reported continued arms smuggling from Syria to Lebanon. A UN report cited at least 13 incidents of weapons smuggling to Hizbullah in violation of a Security Council resolution. The report said the Lebanese Army has failed to stop smuggling along the Syrian border.
The incidents included the smuggling of 17 Katyusha-class rockets and improvised explosive devices in southern Lebanon. In another incident, the Lebanese Army found seven missiles, three rocket launchers and substantial amounts of ammunition. "It is plain that there is a need for bilateral assistance to the government to enhance its border security capabilities," UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said in the Dec. 1 report.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Unfortunately, the Lebanese Army is unable or unwilling to stop the smuggling (if they are not actively helping it). The UNIFIL forces are too busy making sure that the Israelis don't try anything that would violate the UN agreement.
Who does Kofi think will be providing the "bilateral assistance" to the government?
Calm returned to the suburbs of the Lebanese capital Monday as intensive diplomatic efforts continued in a bid to prevent further escalation of political tensions after a man was killed in clashes between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
Traffic was closed in central Beirut, Lebanon's capital, as the sit-in protest by supporters of the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbullah and its allies entered its fourth day Monday in bid to bring down the government. Soldiers and police, backed by tanks and armored vehicles continued to surround government headquarters in a protective cordon.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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The six powers seeking a UN surrender resolution on Iran's nuclear program are nearing agreement on a surrender text, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Monday. High-ranking diplomats from the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany will surrender meet in Paris on Tuesday to surrender discuss surrender measures to surrender to punish Iran for its nuclear program. "We want to surrender reach as broad an agreement as possible in the UN Security Council," Douste-Blazy said in Brussels, according to the French Foreign Ministry. "Therefore we are surrendering gathering tomorrow in Paris, to surrender discuss the text. I think that we should now surrender reach agreement on this."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2006 00:00 ||
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Mais oui, the Democrats are coming back. They will acknowledge our cultural supremacy and follow our lead. The ouster of Bolton was but the first step towards acceptance of our position.
#2
When we bomb the he$$ out of irritantan, can we "miss" with one or two, and let them land in Paris? Please? Just for "old time sake"... The French government needs to be shaken to their core - if they have one.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/05/2006 15:33 Comments ||
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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.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Foreign Minister 
(SomaliNet) The UN envoy to Somalia Francois Lonseny Fal said on Monday that he was more hopeful to continue Somali peace talks ahead after having crucial meeting with senior officials of Islamic Courts in the capital. 
A new full-body x-ray machine to be tested this month at a US airport has raised concerns about privacy issues with some rights advocates saying the technology amounts to a virtual strip search.
Getting ready for Labor Day 2007 at Ocean City (MD), hon. Thrasher's Boardwalk Fries, here we come! 
President Pervez Musharraf said he was opposed to independence for Kashmir, but both India and Pakistan will have to compromise over the disputed territory, in an interview made available Monday. Yes, we are against independence for Kashmir, Musharraf told the Indian NDTV news channel in an interview, excerpts of which were made available to the media on Monday.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday his policy of "zero tolerance" of sexual abuse in the United Nations' far-flung global operations is still not getting through to civilians and soldiers. 
Demonstrators at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. tell of 'ethnic cleansing'
One of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite leaders said after meeting President Bush on Monday that civil war could only be staved off if U.S. forces struck harder against Sunni-led insurgents. While Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the biggest party in Iraq's government, SCIRI, met Bush in Washington, the U.S. envoy and military chief in Baghdad implored Iraqis to break a cycle of violence which they said would destroy the country.
The Israeli-Arab Mossawa organization, billed as the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, released a position paper report to this effect on Friday. Mossawa explains that in addition to equal rights to which every citizen is entitled by virtue of his citizenship, the Arab minority also demands "group-differentiated rights." The organization lists ten such rights that it insists Israel must grant. Among them are the following, as listed and explained by Mossawa:
nriched uranium even for non-military uses. "We have to stop it from producing uranium even for civilian use," she said. "There are those who say that I do not understand the situation, but I do. I have long contended that Iran with nuclear power is not just a danger for Israel but for the rest of the world," Royal said. Once Iran has the ability to produce uranium for civilian consumption, there is nothing to stop Iran from using it to develop nuclear weapons, she added. 
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday that efforts to form a national unity government must continue and have not reached a dead end. "The door for dialogue must be kept open and talks between the Palestinians must continue," he told reporters in the Syrian capital. "However, if there are sides among the Palestinians who want to close the door on dialogue, then they alone would bear responsibility for the results of their position," Haniyeh said, referring to the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said his party's faction meeting Monday that "the flow of weapons to the Gaza Strip is turning it into a second Lebanon." Netanyahu also said that if the Kassam fire weren't stopped, there would be tragic results, and that "the desire to restore quiet to Sderot cannot be reconciled with the desire for a unilateral cease-fire."
Tehran, 5 Dec. (AKI) - Speaking shortly before senior diplomats from six world powers were scheduled to meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned the European Union that any punitive measure would be considered an act of hostility by Tehran. "I am telling you in plain language that from now on, if you try, whether in your propaganda or at international organisations, to take steps against the rights of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will consider it an act of hostility," Ahmadinejad said. 
Iran's top national security official urged his Arab neighbors Tuesday to eject the U.S. military from American bases in the region and instead join Tehran in a regional security alliance.
The six powers seeking a UN 
