Pakistans Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, said on Saturday that Islamabad had a vital interest in peace in Afghanistan and has deployed a large number of troops to prevent illegal cross-border movements, while pointing to internal reasons that recent international reports say have led to insurgency by Afghans in their country.
In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, in response to a recent article written by renowned political commentator Fareed Zakaria (The Afghan Key: Musharraf), Ambassador Akram wrote: Pakistan has a vital strategic interest in peace in Afghanistan. The Taliban are not the future for Pakistan or Afghanistan.
Pakistan, he said, had deployed 80,000 troops to prevent illegal cross-border movements and in 80 operations conducted against terrorists has lost 600 soldiers. Preventing cross-border movement is a responsibility of Afghanistan and international forces share. They should match our deployments on the other side.
He then referred to a UN report released in September, which noted that the insurgency is being conducted by Afghans inside Afghanistan, with five distinct leadership centres, all within Afghanistan. He stressed that the UN report identifies the interlinked sources of insecurity in Afghanistan: an absence of good governance, pervasive corruption, Pashtun political alienation, the drug economy, failure to deliver economic and social development, and resurgence of the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
If the Saudi financed recruitment through Madrasas and Islamofascist political parties is allowed to continue, then the terror war will not end. However, our insane insistence on using tactics that make war unwinnable, will cause defeat by pullout.
We couldn't destroy the Soviets during the Cold War, because they possessed nuclear deterrence. Now with terrorists within our midst - and increasing through insane immigration laws and mosque based jihad recruitment - we have embraced the same Containment policy that was forced on us by Soviet fait accomplis. We don't have to contain Muslim aggression; they are weak. But if we continue to fight unwinnable wars while nation-building with Iranian and Saudi surrogates, then the mortal Muslim enemy will strengthen.
#2
We can't directly go after the Saudis until Iran is settled, Sneaze Shaiting3550, because most of the world is more dependent on Saudi oil than we are -- and the two countries produce something approximating a third of current petroleum pumped.
Iraq is now producing something like 80% of what it was before the invasion, and apparently is something like 80% pacified, if I understand correctly. Next will have to be Iran, because of that whole nuclear bomb thingy. Then once that is settled and back to reasonable production levels, only then can we go after the Saudi princelings without sending the entire world into a 1930s type depression. Simply put, they hold the oil gun against our heads.
#4
only then can we go after the Saudi princelings without sending the entire world into a 1930s type depression. Simply put, they hold the oil gun against our heads.
Yeah, that's a show stopper. I wuz talking to my cousin Kelly on the front stoop last Saturday and tried to explain that there's this littlestrip of land about 15 km wide and about 'ye long where most of the oil is, it's Shia!
#5
Oil is oil, the only parts of the world less dependent than the US on imported oil are the parts which import less of their total consumption than the US does. The risk of sending the entire world into another Great Depression is great indeed.
Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said on Sunday that the government of President Hamid Karzai was losing its popularity in Afghanistan due to its anti-Pakistan statements.
Pakistanis and Afghans are one people, and their leadership can win public support provided they begin efforts to bring the citizens of both countries closer, Durrani said.
Pakistanis and Afghans are one people, and their leadership can win public support provided they begin efforts to bring the citizens of both countries closer, Durrani said at a Meet the Press programme at the Peshawar Press Club.
The minister said Pakistan did not want to hurt the sentiments of Afghans by responding to Karzais statements in the same language. He said the two countries were liked via social, cultural and religious bonds, and anybody who tried to break those bonds would face a public backlash. Like in the past, we will remain friends in the future, Durrani said. The minister said there were no disputes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, merely misunderstandings. He said he was planning a visit to Afghanistan with a team of journalists to remove these misunderstandings. He said the freedom of the press in Pakistan had strengthened the government. The government respects democratic institutions and the media, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has angrily rejected a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that says war criminals are holding positions in his administration. The US-based HRW report released this week named in particular legislators Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and Mohammad Qasim Fahim, former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, Energy Minister Ismail Khan and Vice-President Karim Khalili. It proposed Afghan and international judges should hear cases against them relating to the 1979-1992 communist regime, the 1992-1996 civil war and the 1996-2001 Taliban regime. I have no use for Rassoul Sayyaf, but demanding his trial - and that of Rabbani and Ismail Khan - as "war criminals" reveals either absolute ignorance about anything that's happened in Afghanistan since 1979 or a level of fatuous self-righteousness of Jimmy Carterian proportions.
A statement from his office says Mr Karzai considers the report to be stoopid incorrect and regrettable. "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan states that a number of jihadi leaders have played a positive role in ensuring peace, system-building and strengthening our national institutions in the past five years," it said. "The Afghan Government wants Human Rights Watch to prepare its report on Afghanistan based on realities and realistic assessments." "When you pull this stuff out of your ass we'll treat it like what it is."
Several leaders who were involved in decades of conflicts and bloodshed in Afghanistan are still holding key government positions, including some working as provincial governors. Many of these leaders, known as warlords, still maintain their own private armies, making it difficult for the US-backed leader to extend his authority beyond the capital, Kabul. On the other hand, if they didn't have their "militias," the national army would have been smothered in its crib and Karzai wouldn't be in Kabul.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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KABUL - French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie who is a woman announced Sunday that France would withdraw hundreds of its special forces from Afghanistan within the next few weeks. Well pull our special forces out of Afghanistan in the coming weeks, Alliot-Marie told reporters during her visit to the Afghan capital Kabul.
She was referring to some 200 French special forces stationed in eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, aimed at hunting down Taleban fighters in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. France has deployed a total of 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the remainder serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Seven members of the French special forces have been killed in action in the war-ravaged country, while 12 others have been wounded since their deployment. The French special forces contingent is currently based in eastern Nangarhar province.
I appreciate the work the French special forces have been doing. Wonder if Alliot-Marie (and by extension, Dominique de Villepin who is a man) simply isn't willing to put French forces at risk in any way. That sure does seem to be what it looks like.
I guess, in the French view today, that's why they're called Special Forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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"The soldiers know they are not to wander off from the group. They know they are to use inside voices when in enemy territory. And they know they are to go to the bathroom prior to all ground assaults. This group is ready."
On a side note , one shouldnt mock the French SF , I have had the pleasure of working alongside them in the late 70's and they have nothing but my respect , even if their political masters are a bunch of cheese eating surrender monkeys
Hell freezes over. Film at eleven...
SEOUL (AFP) - A United Nations rights envoy has urged North Korea to spend its money feeding its people rather than on nuclear weapons, as talks opened in Beijing on scrapping the nuclear programme. Vitit Muntarbhorn, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, was speaking after a four-day fact-finding visit to South Korea. He is barred from visiting the North.
"The military-first policy, particularly its expenditure on arms and nuclear proliferation in the DRPK (North Korea), is regrettable because the money should be spent on human development and particularly to address food security issues as well as other human needs," he told a press conference in Seoul.
Vitit said donors had also become less willing to contribute after the North's missile tests in July and its nuclear test on October 9. He said the UN's World Food Programme had appealed for just over 100 million dollars to feed 1.9 million people over the next two years, but had received only 12-13 percent of this in donations.
"The whole humanitarian aid has been very much impacted upon by the nuclear test and missile tests, as some contributors become much more reluctant both multilaterally and bilaterally to give aid." Vitit also noted that food shortages dated back to the mid-1990s "due to natural disasters and mismanagement." But at the end of last year the North decided to accept less monitoring of food aid and "started to pressure UN agencies and NGOs to limit their operations and even to leave the country."
Saying it "takes two to tango," he urged the North to show its commitment by allocating its own funds to ensure adequate food supplies.
Vitit visited South Korea's Hanawon refugee resettlement centre and said all those he met talked of "hardship, deprivation and repression" in the North.
He urged nations which receive North Koreans fleeing their homeland to treat them as refugees rather than economic migrants. Vitit did not single out any nation but rights groups have strongly criticised China which routinely returns refugees to North Korea, where they face imprisonment and torture.
He said positive developments in the six-party talks, which resumed Monday, would open opportunities for humanitarian action."There may be in that process, some possibilities for addressing other issues, security concerns, as well as possibly human rights," Vitit said. He urged the North to end its "discrepancies and transgressions" on human rights and implement the four international treaties to which it is a party.
In a report released in October, Vitit accused North Korea of practising "merciless discrimination against handicapped persons by setting up collective camps for them where they are designated according to their physical deformity or disability."
The report also charged that women in North Korea were being subjected to violence as well as "human trafficking and sexual exploitation."
The envoy, in the report, also focused on the root causes pushing North Koreans to flee abroad -- citing political repression and widespread hunger. Oh, I'll bet KCNA won't be too happy with this guy...
#3
"Less monitoring of food aid" > STRATEGYPAGE/
OTHERS > why? becuz what the army or Kimmie = Kimmiecrats don't get is being resold = exported for $$$ or special interests/favors.
Didn't see a pony in there, but they'll probably want one...
BEIJING - North Korea defiantly declared itself a nuclear power Monday at the start of the first full international arms talks since its atomic test and threatened to increase its arsenal if its demands were not met.
Reiterating those demands in its opening speech, the North said the United Nations must lift the sanctions imposed on the communist nation for its Oct. 9 nuclear test. It also said the United States must remove the financial restrictions that led the North to break off the six-nation negotiations 13 months ago.
The North also said it wants a reactor built for it and help covering its energy needs in the meantime, according to a summary of the speech released by one of the delegations involved. Five nations are trying to persuade the North to abandon nuclear weapons the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
The North said that now that it is a nuclear power, it should be treated on equal footing with the U.S. It warned that if its demands were not met, it would increase its arsenal, according to the summary.
#1
"CHINA ... to persuade it to disarm": WORLDTRIBUNE.com > CHINA PLANNING COVERT OPS AGZ NORTH KOREA. I.e. "Regime change" by various PLA-planned scenarios-methods, from full-scale, unilateral mil invasion to "intelligence activities" [read - kidnap/assassinate]. Article > China's allegedly angry at Norkie nuke test, and wants to replace Kimmie & Regime wid PRO-CHINA NORKIE = CHINESE? GENERALS. IOW, NORTH KOREA = KORYE/KUNGYE PROVINCE OF CHINA???
North Korea nuclear disarmament talks, resuming today after a hiatus of more than a year, will probably fail to yield an agreement because the U.S. and North Korean positions are too far apart, analysts said.
North Korea has boycotted the six-nation talks since November last year, saying it wants the U.S. to lift financial sanctions imposed because of allegations of money laundering and counterfeiting by North Korean companies. North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb Oct. 9.
The test adds to pressure on the U.S. to reach an agreement, after mounting criticism of the Bush administration over the war in Iraq, a nuclear accord with India, Iran's nuclear program, and the Republican Party's loss during the mid-term elections.
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Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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OMG - I hope that's a photoshop. No wonder he's ronery.
#2
Definitely a photoshop. Kimmie's feet don't touch the floor when he sits in a chair. He's the one always kicking the back of your seat in the airplane.
MADRID - Mujahedin fighters have returned to bases in Spain after gaining combat experience in Iraq and are now a potential threat to European security, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Sunday. According to El Pais the fighters worked alongside cells controlled by late Al Qaeda senior leader and Jordanian extremist Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, killed in June.
They are the new Trojan horse of Al Qaeda and its satellites on our territory and they are already preparing themselves, deputy director of the European police network Europol, Mariano Simancas, told El Pais. They represent a serious threat for the countries of the European Union, Simancas added.
El Pais quoted anti-terrorist sources as saying that an unspecified number of formerly Spanish-based Algerians and Moroccans who had gained experience in handling arms and explosives in Iraq had now returned. But they are doing nothing for the moment. They are biding their time, which complicates things when it comes to making arrests, one unnamed expert told El Pais.
I believe the Spanish security forces will work on this; they're as competent as the rest of the Euro security apparatus (that is to say, darned good). The question is whether the government will unleash the hounds and let the security teams do their job. I suspect Zappie wants to sweep this under the rug.
They could start with the staff of El Pais, methinks. Don't spare the #9 truncheon gents, we have spares.
On general principles or for reporting this? I don't mind this reporting; it's keeping us informed. Not surprising at all that the mooks are returning to Y'Urp; it's safter there for them and they can plot the return of Andalusia.
So, how do they know? ESP(aña)? Lol. I'm just sayin...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
They are biding their time, which complicates things when it comes to making arrests
Arrest them for participating in foreign wars. Check their cell phones and ransack their laptops -- I'm sure some of the phone numbers will match our lists, or the calls will have been made from quite an unacceptable location (the back garden of the former #3, two iterations ago, f'r instance), and there'll be bomb-making instructions from master bombmaker #2, three iterations ago.
#3
Put a sock on it, Icerigger. TW has the right approach. I'm not going to violate the Constitution to get these guys.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/18/2006 10:09 Comments ||
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#4
what winds me up is , they go off fighting to Iraq or wherever, then come back to Europe , re-new their state benefits whilst indoctinating misguided gullible youth , then go off again . Rinse and repeat
#5
When I was in Spain this summer (still owe you the damn writeup and a few pix), I toured the Seville Cathedral. It was built upon the former Almohad Mosque after the Reconquista. Most of the mosque was torn down (fairly standard 'we conquered you' protocol), but the builders preserved the "Courtyard of Orange Trees" and the freestanding minaret, which was converted into the bell tower now known as "La Giralda".
I toured the (enormously huge, and extremely Gothic) cathedral first, and then began my ascension of La Giralda. The tower is accessed by a sloping, elegantly bricked walkway that winds around and around the inside of the tower; there are regular portals and small balconies intercut on all four sides from which the muezzins would call al-Andalus to its knees each day. I pictured the curly toed slippers and soft padded shoes of the Almohadis climbing this path, then I pictured the hard leather boots of the Spaniards as they hauled up the machinery of the bell tower and reclaimed Spain for Christianity.
I finally rounded the 26th turn in the tower and gazed with satisfaction over the medieval center of Seville...and took note of the ring of gleaming new minarets encircling the outskirts of the city. Yikes.
#6
No Trailing the answer is simple, close down every freaking mosque, ban the porKoran and be done with it.
It might well come to that, Icerigger. But Spain will never get to that point if they don't first grow enough spine to do the hard work I suggested. And I think I used to be a Scoop Jackson liberal, before 9/11, as much as I fit any label. Dr. Steve, it's Spain. I don't believe they live under the American constitution nowadays. ;-)
Seafarious dear, thank you for a beautiful and evocative word picture. I look forward to the mixed pleasure of reading your trip report. Yikes, indeed.
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#8
Until the moonbats truly understand that the jihadis intend to kill all the LLL men and turn the LLL women into baby making machines...you are talking to deaf ears. It will take another 9/11...or worse to actually wake them up.
#11
But let's not fight to win, let's wait till all the PC liberals come to the final reality.
Allan's Snackbar or off with yer head. You decide.
I don't care, I'm ready to come out of the mountains under cover of a snow storm and murder muzzies in the streets of Brooklyn or wherever. We real Americans will do whatever must be done.
Maariv journalist Ben Caspit reports that he has obtained documentation which shows that the law firm in which former American secretary of state James Baker is senior partner used an Israeli agent to bypass the US sanctions on business dealings with Iraq.
Houston-based Baker Botts, with extensive dealings in the Arab world, earned tens of millions of dollars in fees from a deal it brokered between the Korean Hyundai concern and the Iraqi government at the peak of the sanctions imposed on the government of Saddam Hussein, according to Israeli businessman Nir Gouaz, who has been asked in 1998 by Baker's office to mediate in the deal. . . .
I've not seen this story anywhere else in a primary source, so there's no way to tell if it's a for-real or not. If it is, . . . oh, Momma!
Anyone out there seen this reported anywhere else? Is Israel Insider a reliable source?
Posted by: Mike ||
12/18/2006 15:44 ||
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Anyone out there seen this reported anywhere else? Is Israel Insider a reliable source?
No and I don't know. But I do know my surprise meter barely budged when I read this.
Muslims are trying to show a different side of their faith in a high-visibility place: along Interstate 95.
A new billboard near the Boynton Beach-Delray Beach line encourages drivers to "Explore the life of the Prophet Muhammad," and directs viewers to the Council on American-Islamic Relations Web site, www.Cair.com. The sign sits along the southbound side of the highway, but faces drivers heading northbound.
People who go to the Web site can request a book or a DVD on Islam, said Altaf Ali, CAIR executive director for Florida.
Ali said CAIR decided to go on the offensive after last year's Danish cartoon controversy, in which 12 Danish editorial cartoonists depicted Muhammad in unflattering ways. Chapters throughout the United States began designing billboards to counter negative perceptions. Placards in California last year said: "Even a smile is charity. A message from your Muslim neighbor," with smiling Muslims in the background.
"There are a lot of negative perceptions about Islam and the life of Muhammad," Ali said. Many see the religion as advocating violence, but he believes those who study closely will see a peaceful, charitable faith.
Odd, the closer I look, the worse it gets.
"We're not proselytizing. We're just getting information to people," said Rubina Hossain, a Muslim from Palm Beach Gardens. "A lot of it is our fault that we don't get the word out."
Right.
Hossain said her first-grade daughter brought home a pamphlet recently that explained the world's many faiths, but Islam was not included.
Lol. I call bullshit.
"People think we don't believe in the same God, that we're a tribal, desert cult," Hossain said.
CAIR, a national civil rights group, estimates about 70,000 Muslims live in South Florida, with about 7 million in the United States.
A "national civil rights group". Lol.
Ahmed Hijazi, a Muslim from Pompano Beach, hopes the campaign encourages drivers to open up to a new view of the faith. "Maybe they have a friend who is a Muslim and there are things they always wanted to know," Hijazi said.
The I-95 campaign will last for a month, Ali said. So far, only one person has contacted CAIR for a DVD, he said.
#3
they'd get way more support if the frikkin billboard said "we abhor the atrocities performed in our name." It would be even better if they condemned al qaeda, bin laden, suicide bombing, etc.
but no. I guess they don't think that's the way to change our perceptions.
I'm not sure what they're expecting to make happen from this. it's downright condescending.
#4
A couple of years ago, CAIR launched a huge "free Koran" campaign. I wanted to see which version they were sending out, so I requested one. Turns out it was the "Now! With 20% Extra Antisemitism!" version by Muhammad Asad -- formerly Leopold Weiss, a Polish Jew. They had to pick that one.
It was also huge, glossy, and clearly expensive, and they were requesting donations from the ummah to pay for them all, which gave me an idea. I asked Mr. exJAG to get the word out, so practically half of 10th Mtn Div ordered one, to deplete their resources. A few were squrimy about giving their address to CAIR, but c'mon, what are they gonna do.
So, I'd actually encourage everyone you know to order free stuff. Never hurts to see what the enemy's saying, it's good for target practice, and above all, each one in our hands takes a bite out of their da'wa campaign.
#10
exJAG: A couple of years ago, CAIR launched a huge "free Koran" campaign. I wanted to see which version they were sending out, so I requested one. Turns out it was the "Now! With 20% Extra Antisemitism!" version by Muhammad Asad -- formerly Leopold Weiss, a Polish Jew. They had to pick that one.
It's still on offer. But you have to pay $7.65 for shipping. Which is still not a bad deal for a hard cover job. They claim it retails for over $50.
#13
Yep, CAIR's Koran goes for $55 ($39.60 at Amazon). It's three inches thick, the size of a physics textbook, and weighs as much too. I don't know about strong but soft, but it sure is a handsome pedestal for my stuffed pig named Otto.
Special Forces units work in allied countries and clash with the CIA.
WASHINGTON U.S. Special Forces teams sent overseas on secret spying missions have clashed with the CIA and carried out operations in countries that are staunch U.S. allies, prompting a new effort by the agency and the Pentagon to tighten the rules for military units engaged in espionage, according to senior U.S. intelligence and military officials.
The spy missions are part of a highly classified program that officials say has better positioned the United States to track terrorist networks and capture or kill enemy operatives in regions such as the Horn of Africa, where weak governments are unable to respond to emerging threats.
#1
The CIA hired Valerie Plame* and failed to tell us about 9/11 ahead of time. Thanks to the CIA's incompetence, the military is having to do its own intelligence work.
* Way too good-looking to be an agent runner. Stands out too much in crowds. And then there are the personality issues, which led to her recruiting her husband to carry out a mission he was unequipped to accomplish (in Niger).
#2
But critics point to a series of incidents in recent years that have caused diplomatic problems for the United States.
Excuse me, what hasn't caused "diplomatic problems" of late, and who gives a damn?
In 2004, members of an MLE team operating in Paraguay shot and killed an armed assailant who tried to rob them outside a bar, said former intelligence officials familiar with the incident. U.S. officials removed the members of the team from the country, the officials said.
So fuc*king what? Would "U.S. officials" have preferred the "armed assailant" have iced the MLE team? Klingons are likewised "removed" over similar incidents, and there have been many.
In another incident, members of a team in East Africa were arrested by the local government after their espionage activity was discovered. Cost of doing binness. It happens to Klingons as well.
"It was a compromised surveillance activity," said a former senior CIA official familiar with the incident. <B>After a suspicious call to host nation intelligence and police The official said members of the unit "got rolled up by locals and we just happened to have SUV's and DS drivers standing by....got them out." The former official declined to name the country or provide other details.
He said it was an isolated example of an operation that was exposed, but that coordination problems were frequent.
"They're pretty freewheeling," but highly effective and frequently successful the former CIA official said of the military teams. He said that it was not uncommon for CIA station chiefs to learn of military intelligence operations only after they were underway, and that many conflicted with existing operations being carried out by the CIA or the foreign country's intelligence service.
Such problems "really are quite costly," said John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center. "It can cost peoples' lives, can cost sensitive programs and can set back foreign policy interests." Foreign policy interests? Examples please? "Costs lives," you mean like 9/11?
Rubbish, Klingon whining and rubbish coming on the heals of Rumsfeld's departure. Timing is everything.
#3
SF are very direct. They see the obvious and go after it. If they see a hostile arms merchant, they immediately want to take him down. CIA, on the other hand, sees the same guy and says, "How can we use him?"
Both techniques are important. There are a lot of bad guys out there who are just better off dead, and sooner rather than later. However, there are also a lot that you can turn to your advantage to haul in bigger fish and bust up enemy operations.
In Vietnam, the CIA dominated too long, and while it was aware of large networks of bad guys, it did nothing to take them down, always hoping for the even bigger score. But when the Phoenix Program came along, its purpose was to wipe the slate clean, and it did. They finally took down the enemy networks that the CIA had so carefully documented.
But neither the SF or the CIA could counteract a major problem: the friendly civilian government was pretty rotten. A third effort was needed, to do some nation building in South Vietnam. With all our focus on defeating their enemies and building their military, we neglected their core problem.
#5
This is a bullshit propaganda attempt by those who opposed this from the start and now that Rummy is out are bent on ending it. It must be working well or the folks would not come out against it. It's not uncommon for station chiefs to bitch when even a JSET comes into country.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/18/2006 8:12 Comments ||
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49 Pan:
Precisely so! And I might add, "coordination" with the COS or his #2 does not necessarily mean cooperation, assistance, or a thumbs up! The embassy teams are the "resident experts," just aske em. Everyone else is a "drive-by" no matter what anyone says. Been that way for years, gonna stay that way as long as you have a diplo-dink appointee in the corner office that the COS can run to.
#7
I was a JUSMAG 3 and the COS made me crazy. Won't share, then gets pissed when you step on his contact or compromise an op. I just wish they would wourk as a team, it could all be dufferent. Stay safe Beso!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/18/2006 8:49 Comments ||
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#8
49 Pan.
If you recall after 9/11 the COS was a Birkenstock wearing political. He was raised in the culture of when Jimmy Carter castrated the CIA. The MLEs still have their balls attached and go after the target sets which the RA ignores because its to dangerous. BTW, This is the second time the MLEs have been outed.
Posted by: Joe of the Jungle ||
12/18/2006 10:10 Comments ||
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#9
In short, they're getting the job done and CIA (a bunch of frat boys playing I Spy) looking bad.
#11
As much as I like to beat on them, I just wish they would all work as a team with DOD and vis versa. In some areas they are working together and great things are happening. There are great operators on both teams, usually at the lower levels, and enough glory to go around. Like many have said here before, the old cold war dogs that won't work as a team need to go.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/18/2006 12:06 Comments ||
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#12
49Pan, impossible to work as a team when you have differing objectives. Military side is interested in winning and if you have to kill to do so, you do it. CIA is still over-emphasising in risk management, and preoccupied with ass-covering, feifdom bulding, "silo" (or chimney) intel, and politics. They don't share key data despite the new emphasis on sharing data from the other elements of the IC (lots easier to get raw data instead of analyst product anymore EXCEPT from CIA). And whats worse is that they have been proven to leak (politically) so that's why the MLEs do not advise the CIA - no data coming from them that the MLEs can use, and can't trust em with the data the MLEs have, nor with OPSEC. CIA isn't on the same team anymore. CIA has become nearly as bad as State with their aversion to direct action. Don't think you need to ask me again why I came back on the military side of things...
#15
First, you can count the number of nations that are "staunch" US allies on the fingers of your hands. Secondly, the CIA is the biggest cluster-F$$$ bureaucracy in the nation, and needs a thorough house-cleaning from top to bottom. Two halfhearted attempts have come to nothing. Thirdly, US Special Forces have ALWAYS been trained in intelligence collection, which they are very good at. Finally, this "put all the intel under one director" idiocy has proven to be a fiasco, with nothing but turf wars coming from it. We may need to fire everyone above GS-15 in all the spy agencies, and build a new leadership that understands that their first obligation is to follow the Constitution and obey the directions of their bosses, not their own bureaucratic agenda.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/18/2006 15:22 Comments ||
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#16
You are so right!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/18/2006 15:50 Comments ||
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#17
At one time, the CIA had a real formidable covert COIN force of its own, and did not need much help from the military in carrying out seek-and-destroy missions against targets. That was all gutted by Senator Church and his buddies in the 1970s, and the rot that started then was advanced by Carter's and Clinton's policies of politicizing advancement in the Agency, based on perceived political loyalty to their administrations. That is why today, the only effective teams for covert ops are the military.
#18
Gener agree wid Shieldwolf. "Getting rolled up by locals" - crux of the problem right there. MLE's, etc were originally intended as last-resort only, when Civie INTEL does not have the armed manpower or required Techs, espec when armed combat is likely, time is off the essence, local allies-resources are limited or unavailable, and the opposition possesses overwhelming firepower + mass. In any case, where the military or tactical combat aspects of recovery = destruction are involved, the USDOD + Lead Mil Service controls, NOT the CIA. In my day, where joint teams are involved Civies don't take charge until the combat/mission is over and area is secured. The aftermath no longer concerns the DOD or lead service. LEAD SERVICE > usually or predomin means US Army + Army INTEL-SPECOPS.
Spending on Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror would reach a record $170 billion in fiscal 2007 under the latest U.S. Defense Department emergency spending request.
The military's request for $99.7 billion more in funding comes on top of the $70 billion that Congress approved in September and is 45 percent higher than the $117 billion in supplemental funding approved last year. The request, under review at the White House, is in a 17- page, Dec. 7 memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. About half the new money -- $48 billion -- would go to the Army, which says its costs have risen sharply as fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan drags on and more equipment is damaged or destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Anyone for tossing a few nukes to do the job, then partying with the rest of the requisition cash?
#4
#2 No. Good lord.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-18 10:15
Hold on a minute, Steve. Sooner or later, we're going to have to quit trying to "build a democratic Middle East" and destroy our enemies. I believe the time is fast approaching where we have to make the same decision Harry Truman did - use military force, with tens of thousands die, or use nukes to crush both our enemy's will and his ability to fight. I don't think nukes in Iraq or Afghanistan would do any good, but I wouldn't hesitate to use them against Riyadh, Tehran, Qom, and Islamabad. It would put an end to the financing, destroy the source of the problems, and send a clear message that the US not only has the means, but the will, to do whatever it takes to win, including the use of nuclear weapons. The person that finally does it will be villified immediately, but looked upon as a wise man in the long run. Nukes aren't nice, but they ARE effective. Right now, we desperately need "effective".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/18/2006 15:28 Comments ||
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#5
RUSSIA > plans to contract US$100-plus Bilyuhn in defense, trade, and econ wid Iran. All together men, wid feeling, ITS GOVERNOR DUBYA'S FAULT.
Perhaps they'll start rehearsing procedures for a proper firing squad?
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - The U.S. military is rehearsing for hearings on whether 14 top terror suspects can be held indefinitely without charge as enemy combatants, but defense lawyers say the outcome is preordained.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 13 others will be the highest-profile detainees to undergo the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals, and the first to do so in two years.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the 13 others will be the highest-profile detainees to undergo the so-called Combatant Status Review Tribunals, and the first to do so in two years. The proceedings, expected early next year, are open to the media.
At the hearings, a military panel will evaluate whether the men should be classified as ``enemy combatants,'' a designation which allows them to be held indefinitely and prevents them from challenging their detention in the U.S. court system.
``The biggest thing we're doing is opening up the books, reviewing procedures and conducting rehearsals so that we do it correctly,'' Navy Capt. Philip Waddingham told reporters who recently visited Guantanamo. He is the lead officer at Guantanamo for the Pentagon-based office in charge of determining detainees' status.
It is unclear whether Mohammed and the others - who until recently were being held in secret CIA prisons - will agree to attend the hearings. If they do, the military says they will remain shackled and would be forbidden to talk to reporters. The rehearsals are being conducted inside the same space reserved for the hearings - a small room inside a trailer equipped with a few leather chairs, one plastic seat for the detainee, and little else.
Combatant Status Review Tribunals were held for 558 detainees between July 2004 and January 2005. All but 38 were deemed enemy combatants.
Defense attorneys have condemned the hearings as shams because classified evidence is withheld from the detainees and they are not afforded defense lawyers. ``There is no question that these 14 have no chance,'' said Brent Mickum, an attorney who represents two Britons at Guantanamo. ``The decision has (already) been made that they are enemy combatants.''
It does seem pretty simple, doesn't it?
At the hearings, a panel of three officers will evaluate whether detainees merit the designation. A military ``personal representative'' will help prisoners prepare for the proceedings.
IMNERHO, SCOTUS has completely hosed any possibility of a rational procedure. Prolly exactly what was intended.
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12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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"The proceedings, expected early next year, are open to the media."
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Sunday that Pakistan would continue supporting the people of Kashmir until a just and fair settlement of the disputed territory was secured in accordance with their aspirations.
During talks with Lord Nazir Ahmad, a member of Britains House of Lords, (upper house of parliament), the prime minister stressed that Pakistans ongoing peace process with India needed to move from dispute management to dispute resolution, adding that Islamabad had made several proposals towards this end.
Aziz described the Kashmir community living in Britain as an asset, stressing that they had always played a pivotal role in highlighting the Kashmir issue at the international level. He also appreciated their support following last years earthquake, before briefing the visiting parliamentarian on reconstruction efforts in quake-affected areas, such as the construction of new schools, hospitals and houses.
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12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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For the past year, a secret has been slowly spreading among Taliban commanders in Afghanistan: a 12-man team of Westerners was being trained by Al Qaeda in Pakistan for a special mission. Most of the Afghan fighters could rely only on hearsay, but some told of seeing the English brothers (as the foreign recruits were nicknamed for their shared language) in person, Newsweek quotes an eyewitness, a former Guantánamo detainee with close Taliban and Qaeda ties, as saying on condition of anonymity.
The witness says he met the 12 recruits in November 2005 at a mud-brick compound near the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali. That was as much as the tight-lipped former detainee would divulge, except to mention that Adam Yahiye Gadahn, the notorious fugitive American Al Qaeda, was with the brothers, presumably as an interpreter.
Another Afghan had more to say on the subject. Omar Farooqi is the nom de guerre of a former provincial intelligence chief for the Taliban; he now serves as the Talibans chief Qaeda liaison for Ghazni province, in eastern Afghanistan. He says he spent roughly five weeks this past year helping to indoctrinate and train a class of foreign recruits near the Afghan border in tribal Waziristan, and among his students were the English brothers. The 12 included two Norwegian Muslims and an Australian, along with nine British subjects, says Farooqi. Their mission, Farooqi told Newsweek, will be to act as underground organisers and operatives for Al Qaeda in their home countries and their yearlong training course is just about finished.
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newsweak bites: For the past year, a secret has been slowly spreading among Taliban commanders in Afghanistan: a 12-man team of Westerners was being trained by Al Qaeda in Pakistan for a special mission. Most of the Afghan fighters could rely only on hearsay
Militants belonging to banned jihadi outfits are planning suicide attacks on army installations in Pakistan and foreign troops in Afghanistan in revenge for the air strike on a Bajaur madrassa in November, Daily Times has learnt.
According to reports submitted by intelligence agencies to the Interior Ministry, Maulvi Inayatur Rehman and Maulana Faqir Mohammad of the Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) have pledged before their supporters to target VIPs in Pakistan and US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The bombed Bajaur madrassa was run by the TNSM and is thought to have been used as a training camp for militants.
Sources said that British and US diplomats and nationals were also possible targets of the militants. Leaders of the Harkatul Mujahideen, Lashker-e-Jhangvi and Khudamul Islam have also pledged to cooperate with the TNSM and called for a joint strategy, the sources added.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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Fine. We'll totally obliterate one village in the frontier provinces for every attack you make. If you kill someone, we'll also use napalm and CBUs. You want brutality, you'll get brutality. You want to die, we'll help you. To get things off on the right note, Miranshah, Mir Ali and Wana will be the first three targets. The pakis and their "wishes" be damned. Still wanna "play"?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/18/2006 15:40 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD, Dec. 17 Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain pledged his support for the Iraqi government in a surprise visit here on Sunday. Less than a mile from where he spoke, gunmen in police uniforms seized 25 employees of an Iraqi aid organization.
Mr. Blair said the preparations to give control of Basra, the southern city where the British military is based, to Iraqi troops were going well. But he added that British troops would remain in Iraq until the job is done and the Iraqi Army could stand on its own. We stand ready to support you in every way, Mr. Blair said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in the Green Zone. He flew to Basra later on Sunday.
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In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq's economy is growing strong, even booming in places.
By Silvia Spring - Newsweak International
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - It may sound unreal, given the daily images of carnage and chaos. But for a certain plucky breed of businessmen, there's good money to be made in Iraq. Consider Iraqna, the leading mobile-phone company. For sure, its quarterly reports seldom make for dull reading. Despite employees kidnapped, cell-phone towers bombed, storefronts shot up and a huge security budgetup to four guards for each employeethe company posted revenues of $333 million in 2005. This year, it's on track to take in $520 million. The U.S. State Department reports that there are now 7.1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Iraq, up from just 1.4 million two years ago. Says Wael Ziada, an analyst in Cairo who tracks Iraqna: "There will always be pockets of money and wealth, no matter how bad the situation gets."
Civil war or not, Iraq has an economy, andmother of all surprisesit's doing remarkably well. Real estate is booming. Construction, retail and wholesale trade sectors are healthy, too, according to a report by Global Insight in London. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered companies in Iraq, up from 8,000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars, televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects 13 percent for 2006. The World Bank has it lower: at 4 percent this year. But, given all the attention paid to deteriorating security, the startling fact is that Iraq is growing at all.
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#2
We never get gratitude, Zenster. Look at Europe and Asia. But if we don't have to fight a shooting war against them, if they become truly capable of self-goverment instead of requiring yet another destructive strong man driving his society toward murder and conquest, if the people are busily involved in improving their bit of the world while improving their lives and that of their families, I'd count that as success enough. Busily striving people don't seek jihad against the kafirs.
The withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq won't be ``sudden,'' Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said, as U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged continuing support to the establishment of democracy and stability in the nation. The Iraqi government has an ``understanding'' with coalition forces, al-Maliki said at a press conference with Blair in Baghdad today. ``When withdrawal happens, it won't be sudden, it won't be a surprise,'' he said. ``It will be part of an agreement between us.''
Blair was in Iraq for the day as part of a tour of Middle East capitals to try to persuade the region's leaders to support peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. He says a settlement there would help bring peace to other countries, including Iraq.
Britain has 7,200 troops in Iraq, the second-largest force after the U.S., stationed in the south of the country around Basra. Ministers have raised the possibility of handing over responsibility for the area by the middle of next year. ``This is something that is happening by agreement with the Iraqi government,'' Blair said. ``As Iraqi forces are capable of taking over in Basra, so our forces stand back.''
Baghdad is the center of a sectarian conflict between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and the Sunni Muslim minority. Questioned about continuing violence in Iraq, Blair blamed insurgents who want Iraq's democracy to fail.
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12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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All is quiet in Bethlehem. On Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity stands in the pale gloom of dusk, its doors open to passing pilgrims. But inside, the nave is empty of visitors and the collection boxes depleted of coins. In the candlelit grotto downstairs, a silver star marks the spot where Jesus is supposed to have been born.
It is one of the most sacred sites in Christendom, but there are no tourists queuing to see it. Just 500 yards down the road, Joseph Canawati is not looking forward to Christmas. The expansive lobby of his 77-room Hotel Alexander is empty and he says: "There is no hope for the future of the Christian community. We don't think things are going to get better. For us, it is finished."
Life for Palestinian Christians such as 50-year-old Joseph has become increasingly difficult in Bethlehem - and many of them are leaving. The town's Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006. There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.
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For some reason, a submission utterly devoid of any long URL's got RSAd. Therefore, I'm going to try and post this in two or three separate parts (all due respect to Rantburg), to avoid any such further inconvenience.
Life for Palestinian Christians such as 50-year-old Joseph has become increasingly difficult in Bethlehem - and many of them are leaving. The town's Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006. There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.
Hookay, we're onto something here. Evidently, the next passage contains something extremely sensitive:
Jerusalems only hope lie in one of two places. Either it is subjected to multinational government, just as post-war Berlin was, or it must remain under Israeli control. Previous Palestinian treatment of the Church of the Nativity proved for once and all what awaits Islamic rule of a location containing so many Christian shrines. Anyone who doubts this should refer to how the Palestinians turned the Wailing Wall into a urinal.
#4
Race track (to use another less sensitive adjective). [Got it.]
For those of you who think that I am anti-Christian, please know that the above is a position that I have maintained for many years before arriving here at Rantburg. One only need examine how Muslim archaeological activity is threatening to devastate the entire Temple Mount, al Aqsa Mosques Dome of the Rock and all.
#6
The West continues to bend to Muslim pressure. Again, while we are allowing those vulgar savages into our countries, they exclude and persecute Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc.
#7
The sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism is all around in Bethlehem.
Make that, "all over the world". And supported by ever Christian hating liberal. Why?
Because Islam hates Jews and Christians and so do liberals. If they weren't already, the Pig skin bound quran turns arabs into animals, liberals love animals...
And where is the UN outrage?! Personally I'm waiting for this whole thing to turn into a much needed Crusade. Cause folks that's what the Kaaba rounding Meccans are doing to us.
#8
The West won't wake up until there's a mushroom cloud on our soil. And we won't be able to strike back definitively because: a.> we won't know whodunnit; b.> we can't stop smoking from the crack pipe that is oil dependence.
#9
Every time I hear Muslims bleat in the press about their religion being insulted by the West, I think of Palestinians thugs crapping in the Church of the Nativity. It is time that the rest of the world realizes that Islam is a scourge. Muslims cannot and will not coexist with their fellow men. Given that, we should realize there are no good muslims and they should be eradicated root and branch.
Israel should deal with Gaza and West Bank the way Stalin dealt with the Kulaks in the Ukraine. Seal it off. Shut off the water, food, and electricity. Come back in the Spring to clean up the mess. It is not a particularly Christian sentiment, but the Crusaders should have have dealt with the Muslims the way the cavalry dealt with the Indians. These goat abusers should have been and should be wiped off the face of the earth.
Posted by: Random Thoughts ||
12/18/2006 9:43 Comments ||
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#10
Kick all muslims out of Israel. Kahane was right.
#12
Two months ago, he was beaten up by a gang of Muslims who were visiting Bethlehem from nearby Hebron and who had spotted the crucifix hanging on his windscreen.
Kinda puts a nail in the old time religion's view of Jesus being a "good prophet," eh? Now, we see what they truly feel about Him.
On a side note, Mrs. BA and I went to see "The Nativity Story" this weekend. Very well done, but I couldn't help but think about the very thing described...last year's raid on The Church of the Nativity. How the Paleos acted like animals in a religious structure, but we can't even return fire when they use it as an ammo-dump and weapons cache. My, oh my, how the Savior must weep over what's become of his "hometown."
Posted by: BA ||
12/18/2006 15:20 Comments ||
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#13
Hope it doesn't end up like past troubles in Indonesia and parts of South Asia, where local Muslims = Muslim Gubmints used or condoned force and violence to PREVENT NON-MUSLIMS FROM LEAVING BECUZ 'TWAS THE ONLY ECONOMY THEY HAD.
Might as well - they can't hit the broad side of a barn.
A Hamas official in Gaza says the two main Palestinian factions have agreed to restore calm there after a day of violence. Gun battles broke out following a call by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - a Fatah member - for fresh elections, less than a year into the Hamas Government's term.
Hamas official Ismail Rudwan has told Reuters the groups have now agreed to resume talks on forming a unity government. He says they have also agreed to halt armed displays, return security forces to their headquarters, release men abducted by each side and end a siege of government ministries. A top Fatah official has confirmed an agreement has been reached with Hamas to cease hostilities.
Earlier Hamas gunmen opened fire at a large political rally by the rival Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip, wounding three people. And two mortar shells were fired at guards protecting the residence of Mr Abbas in Gaza, leaving four members of the elite force wounded. The attacks followed moves by Mr Abbas's security forces to seize two ministerial buildings of the Hamas-led Government.
There was also an apparent assassination attempt on the Foreign Minister in the Hamas led-Government, Mahmoud Azahar. Mr Azahar earlier accused Mr Abbas's security men of attempting a "military coup" by overrunning the ministries.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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"Palestinian factions have agreed to restore calm there after a day of violence".
Calm - Definition
Adj.: Not excited or agitated; composed:
Noun: Serenity; tranquillity; peace.
Verb:To ease the anger or agitation of.
Synonyms: placid, serene, peaceful.
Aceh's new governor-elect is under mounting pressure to disband the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which fought for independence for 30 years. Former GAM rebel Irwandi Yusuf survived war and 2004's tsunami to win Aceh's governorship in a landslide victory last week. Good idea. It's kinda crossing your signals when you're the governer, responsible for civil administration, and also a member of a rebel group.
In a dispute reminiscent of disagreements between Papuan separatists and Jakarta over the raising of the Morning Star Flag, GAM has been told by the chief of Aceh's outgoing EU-led monitoring mission to disband within six months. It has also been asked to abandon the flag, which was the symbol of GAM's 30 year war for independence. Though not yet officially governor, Mr Yusuf has already committed himself to preventing the extension of Sharia law enforcement to include cutting off the hands of thieves.
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In fact, according to the very well informed Kuwaiti daily Al Seyassah, the Syrian regime is quite worried of the results of the international tribunal investigating the death of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri.
Allegedly, Syrian top leaders have already transferred $3 billion to Iran on accounts owned by Iranian central bank. These accounts cannot be touched in case of UN sanctions. It makes sense that only Iran as the main Damascus's ally would accept hosting the Syrian leadership.
TEHRAN, Iran - Opponents of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took an early lead in key races in Iran's local elections, according to partial results announced Monday, with moderate conservatives winning control of councils across the country.
If the final results hold especially in the bellwether capital, Tehran it will be an embarrassment to Ahmadinejad, whose anti-Israeli rhetoric and unyielding position on Iran's nuclear program have provoked condemnation in the West and moves toward sanctions at the U.N. Security Council.
The incomplete results announced by the Interior Ministry suggested that the winners were mostly moderate conservatives opposed to the hardline president, rather than reformists. However, reformists, who want to bring a measure of liberalism to Iranian society and improve the country's relationship with the West, were quick to proclaim victory.
"Early results show that Mr. Ahmadinejad's list has suffered a decisive defeat nationwide," the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest reformist party, said in a statement. "It is a big 'no' to the government's authoritarian and inefficient methods." The pro-reformist newspaper Etemad-e-Melli said in an editorial: "The most important message of Friday's vote was that the people have chosen moderation and rejected extremism."
A freelance Iranian journalist of reformist sympathies, Iraj Jamshidi, described the vote as "a blow to Ahmadinejad," who was elected in June 2005. "After a year, Iranians have seen the consequences of the extremist policies employed by Ahmadinejad. Now, they have said a big 'no' to him," said Jamshidi.
#2
Sorry, but I do not expect dinnerjacket to relinquish power easily. He has tasted it and likes it. I look for prolonged internal wrangling and perhaps one or more unexplained plane crashes or other transpotation related mishaps that just happen to take out a bunch of the perceived winners, or their supporters. Hope I am wrong.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will exact painful revenge on countries opposed to its nuclear program if the U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions on Tehran, the country's chief nuclear negotiator said on Friday.
"Imposing sanctions on Iran will not help resolve the issue," Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told reporters. "If they want to deprive Iran of its nuclear work they are making a big mistake. If they want to act in a way to decrease our capabilities through sanctions we will be obliged to use painful methods in return," he said without elaborating.
Iran has previously said its retaliation against a punitive U.N. resolution could range from reviewing cooperation with the U.N.'s atomic watchdog to restricting its crude oil exports. Iran says its nuclear program will be used only for peaceful ends, such as electricity generation, and not to make bombs. It has refused to obey U.N. Security Council demands that it halt all sensitive nuclear work, such as uranium enrichment.
After weeks of talks permanent Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany are close to agreement on a draft U.N. resolution against Iran. The draft resolution includes a ban on exports or imports of materials and technology related to uranium enrichment as well as ballistic missile weapons delivery systems.
Diplomats say Russia, which along with China has blocked U.S. and European efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran, still wants some changes to the draft, particularly clauses imposing a travel ban on some Iranian officials.
Larijani played down the impact of the sanctions being contemplated by the six world powers. "These sanctions include sensitive missile and nuclear equipment which we don't have and we are not after ... This is mainly a psychological war," he said.
#3
The only thing we have to do to bring Iran to a grinding halt is take out the gasoline refineries, and the gasoline import terminals. The import 70+% of their gasoline. Knock all of those out and the balck hats are fleeing to Switzerland with their billions in a heartbeat.
Ultra-conservatives close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have failed to sweep the countrys local council and Assembly of Experts elections, with moderate forces performing well, initial results showed on Sunday.
Centrist cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani reaped by far the most votes, beating a hardline rival, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, viewed as Ahmadinejads spiritual mentor, in the Assembly of Experts elections. According to partial results, Rafsanjani held first place with 1.3 million votes, almost half a million more than the second placed cleric, the current head of the body, Ayatollah Ali Meshkini.
Calling Rafsanjani a "centrist" is purdy good disinformation, PakiWaki DT.
Quik Quiz: Stalin | Beria | Trotsky -- Pick the "centrist".
Which reminds me, didn't the "Ultras" know Stalin's Maxim: "It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes."
Truth... but the best part is that Stalin didn't say it, lol.
In the keenly-watched race for the Tehran city council, reformists were on course to take a handful of seats and end its total conservative domination of the body. The results are a clear defeat for the allies of Ahmadinejad, said the main Participation Front reformist party. Voters said a resounding no to the incompetence and authoritarian methods of the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2006 00:00 ||
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From al Guardian:
Iranian students hide in fear for lives after venting fury at Ahmadinejad
Iranian student activists who staged an angry protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week have gone into hiding in fear for their lives after his supporters threatened them with revenge.
One student fled after being photographed holding a banner reading, "Fascist president, the polytechnic is not for you", during Mr Ahmadinejad's visit to Tehran's Amir Kabir university. At least three others have gone underground after being seen burning his picture. Vigilantes from the militant Ansar-e Hezbollah group have been searching for them.
#3
Accoding to DEBKA:
"Only one-tenth of the votes had been counted in Tehran 60 hours after balloting ended because the presidents followers, backed by Revolutionary Guards stormed the central election committee. They stopped the counting several times to force the counters with threats and physical harassment to falsify the results and reverse the presidents opponents gains. The most painful blow has been the victory of his main rival ex-president Hashem Rafsanjani in early results to the powerful Assembly of Experts. Therefore, the results when published later this week may hold surprises."
Seems believable to me.
(Xinhua) -- Iranian leaders kept their hardline stance on the country's controversial nuclear program Sunday while Western powers were trying to seek a sanction resolution against Tehran at UN Security Council (UNSC) for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment work. The EU trio Britain, France and Germany on Dec. 8 introduced a modified draft resolution to 15 member states of the UNSC and hoped the Security Council could pass it as soon as possible. According to media reports, the draft requested Iran to cease enrichment and works related to heavy-water reactor and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency experts to carry out snap inspections.
Last week, Western officials said the EU trio, the U.S., Russia and China were making progress toward the resolution that would impose penalties on Iran. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovalso has said consensus in the UNSC on Iran's nuclear program can be reached in the next two weeks if the world powers take a "realistic approach".
As a response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyed Mohammad Hosseini said Sunday that Tehran's nuclear program had been in the international rules and regulations and Iran would not give up its nuclear activities even UN sanctions imposed. "We will continue our peaceful nuclear activities," stressed the spokesman at his weekly press conference.
In the mean time, during a visit to the country's Friday elections headquarters, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said"Iranians had already conquered the peak of nuclear progress and the case with the nuclear issue has been closed". More over, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also stressed Sunday that Tehran views any UNSC resolution on sanctions against Iran as a hostile measure. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Armenian counterpart, Mottaki described referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the UNSC as "illegal and politically-driven".
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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.
Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said on Sunday that the government of President Hamid Karzai was losing its popularity in Afghanistan due to its anti-Pakistan statements.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has angrily rejected a 
KABUL - French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie 
North Korea nuclear disarmament talks, resuming today after a hiatus of more than a year, will probably fail to yield an agreement because the U.S. and North Korean positions are too far apart, analysts said. 
MADRID - Mujahedin fighters have returned to bases in Spain after gaining combat experience in Iraq and are now a potential threat to European security, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Sunday. According to El Pais the fighters worked alongside cells controlled by late Al Qaeda senior leader and Jordanian extremist Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, killed in June.
Muslims are trying to show a different side of their faith in a high-visibility place: along Interstate 95.
Spending on Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror would reach a record $170 billion in fiscal 2007 under the latest U.S. Defense Department emergency spending request. 
For the past year, a secret has been slowly spreading among Taliban commanders in Afghanistan: a 12-man team of Westerners was being trained by Al Qaeda in Pakistan for a special mission. Most of the Afghan fighters could rely only on hearsay, but some told of seeing the English brothers (as the foreign recruits were nicknamed for their shared language) in person, Newsweek quotes an eyewitness, a former Guantánamo detainee with close Taliban and Qaeda ties, as saying on condition of anonymity. 
Militants belonging to banned jihadi outfits are planning suicide attacks on army installations in Pakistan and foreign troops in Afghanistan in revenge for the air strike on a Bajaur madrassa in November, Daily Times has learnt. 
BAGHDAD, Dec. 17 Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain pledged his support for the Iraqi government in a surprise visit here on Sunday. Less than a mile from where he spoke, gunmen in police uniforms seized 25 employees of an Iraqi aid organization. 
The withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq won't be ``sudden,'' Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said, as U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged continuing support to the establishment of democracy and stability in the nation. The Iraqi government has an ``understanding'' with coalition forces, al-Maliki said at a press conference with Blair in Baghdad today. ``When withdrawal happens, it won't be sudden, it won't be a surprise,'' he said. ``It will be part of an agreement between us.'' 
All is quiet in Bethlehem. On Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity stands in the pale gloom of dusk, its doors open to passing pilgrims. But inside, the nave is empty of visitors and the collection boxes depleted of coins. In the candlelit grotto downstairs, a silver star marks the spot where Jesus is supposed to have been born.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will exact painful revenge on countries opposed to its nuclear program if the U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions on Tehran, the country's chief nuclear negotiator said on Friday.
Centrist cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani reaped by far the most votes, beating a hardline rival, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, viewed as Ahmadinejads spiritual mentor, in the Assembly of Experts elections. According to partial results, Rafsanjani held first place with 1.3 million votes, almost half a million more than the second placed cleric, the current head of the body, Ayatollah Ali Meshkini.
