(SomaliNet) Somalia interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi Wednesday left for New York city in USA to attend the assembly of the United Nations Security Council. Before leaving the country, Mr. Gedi told the reporters he will brief the UN about Somali issues. The reconciliation conference he said will be on the agenda of the UNSC assembly on June 28. definitely, I will discuss the countrys developments with the UN member states, said Gedi. The premiers trip to the USA comes as escalation of anti government violence still rages in the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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The House of Representatives is expected Thursday to approve the 2008 foreign aid bill, allocating the $2.4 billion needed to fully fund the last year of an expiring 10-year plan for Israel military assistance but for the first time restricting some Egyptian military funds.
The vote comes on the heels of a White House endorsement of a new 10-year package which will increase funds to Israel starting in 2009. The 2008 House legislation requires the US Secretary of State to certify that Egypt is addressing arms smuggling into Gaza, as well as some human rights abuses, before $200 million of a total of $1.3 billion in military aid is given to Egypt. The rest of the aid package to the Arab power has no such restrictions, but the move is seen as a sign of growing American dissatisfaction with Egypt and loosening in the relationship between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"We are sorry about the event and investigating the details," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying.
"After hearing the event, we have immediately started investigation into it," he added, "We were trying to kill him, and those who failed in carrying out their orders will be most severely chastised."
A Kuwaiti diplomat who was assaulted in front of his country's embassy in Iran arrived home for a medical checkup on Wednesday and was greeted at the airport by his foreign minister who said Kuwait was "very angered" by the attack.
Muhammad al-Zobi, the second secretary at the Kuwaiti embassy in Teheran, had bruises on his forehead and nose. He said the embassy had been "besieged" at one point on Tuesday, but did not provide any other detail on his assault.
The diplomat's beating up "was not an attack on an individual, it was an attack on Kuwait, and Kuwait is very angered by what happened," Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah told reporters at the airport. Sheikh Muhammad accused the perpetrators of seeking to "undermine Kuwaiti-Iranian ties." He hoped the attack was an isolated incident and that the perpetrators would be found and prosecuted.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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A British union of public service workers approved a partial boycott on Israel, calling to "pressure" the Jewish State in the fields of sport, academic relations, culture and economics, Israel Radio reported Wednesday overnight. Because, you know, "these people" need to be taught a lesson!
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06/21/2007 03:25 ||
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#1
Funny how no-one suggests boycotting Pakistan considering the ISI murdered 50 people on the tube... Total and utter wankers.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/21/2007 7:38 Comments ||
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#2
Oh, no!
A bunch of public service workers! Israel's primary source of funding and political clout is gone!
Whoa is me! Whatever shall become of Israel now?
If there is anything I know about union meetings(having been in the largest trade union in the US before) is that nobody goes to the meetings. That leaves the dildo heads to pass wacky shit like this.
#4
Oi, I do not wanna hear that shit ever again that Britain is doomed, and don't you dare fucking fuck with my British pride.
Seriously man, no matter what you think of Blair and everyone else, the people of Britain are the ones fighting Iraq, and Afganistan. Honestly the UK is supporting both wars. More then most other countries. I thank the US for many things, but just because some wankers in the Commerce sector have now got a voice, doesn't mean you have to say Britain is doomed.
An official from the European Union Commission said Turkish secularism is quite dangerous.
"Oh, yasss! Ever so much more dangerous than Islamism!"
An EU official speaking at a conference in Brussels said the state should be indifferent to religions, keeping an equal distance from all of them. However, he said what is witnessed in Turkey is the rejection of religion from the public sphere, which is quite dangerous.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. There's effectively only one religion in Turkey. That particular religion suppresses all other religions either officially or unofficially whenever it achieves state power. In fact, it did so in Turkey, officially and egregiously, when it did have state power.
Rejection of religion from the public sphere has been a long-held principle of the liberal-progressive Left, such that ... oh. That religion. Sorry, thought you were talking about Christians and Jews.
"Theory, meet practice."
"How d'y'do?"
"Practice, this is theory."
"Hi, there!"
Massoulie said he found Turkish secularism quite dangerous in that regard.
"I was ever so frightened! I'm very sensitive, y'know."
Massoulie was speaking at a conference titled Islam and Democracy in Asia -- does it work? Perspectives from South East Asia, organized by the European Policy Centre in Brussels Tuesday.
Oh, good place to bring up the subject, isn't it? Pakland's been suppressing other religions since long years before its founding. They've got a minister of relgious affairs who's not very interested in the affairs of the Shintoists or Wiccans, and they've got a religion column on their passports so the hated Ahmadis can't go to Mecca. Bangla, likewise nearly all Muslim, is overrun by the likes of Bangla Bhai, killing people so's to make them yearn for the joys of shariah, as the oozing corruption of its political system allies itself with its religious parties in a startling case of like-loving-like. And if Sri Lanka wasn't in the midst of a bloodthirsty Tamil insurrection they'd prob'ly be in the midst of a bloodthirsty Muslim insurrection like inoffensive, religiously free Thailand's going through. India, which has the Muslims outnumbered by Hindoos, Buddhists, Jains and such has them under control, though they periodically erupt in the mindless violence which constitutes the heart of the Koran.
Replying to a question on whether secularism in Turkey was an aggressive and undemocratic one and the fact that EU has many different versions of secularism, Massoulie said he could even criticize secularism in his own country of France.
"I'm very good at criticizing. Nothing ever pleases me."
Underlining that fact that references to religion were not accepted during the debates on the EU Constitution, Massoulie said the EU had shown once again the principle that the EU as an institution is indifferent to different faiths. Lets focus on Turkey. There can be aggressive secularism, meaning that my vision of secularism is indifferent to religion in the public sphere. But we can not have the rejection of religion from the public sphere, which we see in Turkey and which I believe is quite dangerous, he said.
Oh, sure you can. You've had exactly that since the time of Attaturk, which is why Turkey's been more stable longer than any other country in the Moose limb world.
This article starring:
François Massoulie, an EU Commission official from the Iranian desk
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"François, did you hear something just now?"
"Hear something? No, but now that you mentioned it, I think I hear..."
"Hear what, Your Excellency?"
"It sounds like someone's knocking. Knocking on the gates of Vienna."
#2
Secularism is always positive when the alternative is Islam, and any fool who thinks different should be compelled to read every article in the Rantburg archives.
#4
Consider how France tries to ban all religious symbols in schools and in politics. Then, consider what François is talking about. Then get a MRI for whiplash.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/21/2007 7:08 Comments ||
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#5
On 9 December 1905, a law was passed in France separating the church and the state.
House of Representatives passes resolution calling on UN Security Council to punish Iranian president for statements made regarding destruction of Israel
WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the UN Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating international laws pertaining to genocide by calling for the destruction of Israel.
Written after the Holocaust, the UN Genocide Convention defines the act of genocide as, among other things, the act of killing members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the targeted group. It also however prohibits conspiracy to commit genocide, as well as "direct and public incitement to commit genocide." A majority of 411 members of congress voted in favor of taking Ahmadinejad's to court for his statements, agreeing that they fell under the prohibited actions detailed in the UN's Genocide Convention. Two representatives voted against calling on the UN to take such action.
Take him to court. Boy howdy that'll do it. Feel safer already.
Article 4 of the Genocide Convention states that anyone found to have committed any of the listed genocidal crimes shall be punished whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals."
As a Member State, says the House resolution, Iran is signatory to the United Nations Charter which specifies in Article 2, Section 4 that all Member States must "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."
The resolution then quotes the statements made by Ahmadinejad on October 27, 2005, in which he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," described Israel as "a disgraceful blot (on) the face of the Islamic world," and declared that "anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury."
He said that back in 2005. What took you guys so long -- had to form a study commission? Where's the sternly-worded demarche?
On August 3, 2006 the Iranian president said that the Middle East would be better off "without the existence of the Zionist regime." He also called Israel an "illegitimate regime" with "no legal basis for its existence." During the Iranian-organized conference questioning the Holocaust on December 12, 2006 Ahmadinejad told the assembled audience that Israel would "soon be wiped out."
The House resolution also noted the financial and training support Iran openly provides organizations like Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad, among others all terror organizations whose charters call for the destruction of Israel.
Not that the Dhimmicrats would actually do anything about this. Other than a resolution.
The resolution condemns Ahmadinejad's statements, calls on the UN to charge him and consider measures to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and "reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership between the United States and Israel and reasserts the steadfast commitment of the United States to defend the right of Israel to exist as a free and democratic state." Everybody knows that UN would do no such thing as punish Ahmadinutjob. But perhaps this is a prep screen for something else.
Posted by: ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Even without any tangible threats to back up these charges, they carry a lot of weight because they are morally and factually correct. That is a big step up from the typical nonconfrontational diplomatic gobbledygook we get out of the State Department or the UN.
#2
I think the stress of a wartime president and a traitorous press has caused Bush to go off the deep end. He said you are either with us, or the terrorists. More and more he is with the terrorists.
#3
You are either with us, so you get taxed, or you are with the terrorists, so you get aid.
Hey Condi, help me with my math here. Should we tax Massachusetts or give then aid ?
Posted by: w ||
06/21/2007 10:32 Comments ||
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#4
This is incredible. Note the "State Department" is sponsoring this. This president really is lost because he himself has no sense. He's allowing aides to put him in deep do-do just as Lyndon Johnson did years ago. When Kennedy brought in his glamor crew of academic advisors, he could control them because he himself was a capable filter on their nuttiest ideas. Once Johnson inherited them, he was not capable of comprehending their basic foolishness and got his ass into a real jam. History repeats. No more Texans in the White House. I guess they need to stay out on the ranch.
#7
"In part this was because these parties offered an uncorrupt alternative to the more secular parties in power..."
If you exclude bad faith negotiations, hypocracy, and revenge killings as "uncorrupt", I guess that statement makes sense.
Oh BTW... "hey rantburgers here's YOUR president..."
Elmereper, here in the states we refer to the POTUS as "The" President regardless of party affiliation. A basic civics class is offered to immigrants at a reduced cost. Feel free to take advantage of the hospitality.
#8
This is just another step toward the so-called 'realist' school. We have some 'idealist' policies and some 'realist' policies. Many of these policies are seamlessly reversable (e.g., we can 'engage' with the Egyptian MB and then 'disengage').
If the Egyptian MB can be of use dealing with Iran/shiite infiltration into Gaza or South Egypt(marginally possible), then its not a big deal.
#9
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is the grandfather of this current round of muslim terrorism and spawned Zawahiri, al-Qaeda and other of the world's worst murders. I'm trying to wrap my brain around the immense stupidity of this, but I can't.
I think a lot of the head snapping, WTF naivety of the our leaders is founded on the belief that all people are the same and the same phony, glad handing that works in Washington will actually win over those who are indoctrinated to kill and enslave them. The world is not a D.C. cocktail circuit and real monsters do exist and are in charge of most of it.
Posted by: ed ||
06/21/2007 12:33 Comments ||
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#10
ed,
if you refuse to support lesser evil for tactical reasons, then
there is no reason to support Fatah against Hamas
no reason to support the Iraq govt against Al Q
no reason to support the Pakistan govt against their enemies
and
no reason to support the Afghan govt against the Taleban.
#11
mwh, the Muslim Brotherhood is not the lesser evil. They are the root cause of today's suffering. As the other side of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood struggle is Mubarak, are you actually advocating supporting EMB against Mubarak? Hop would that help our cause?
Posted by: ed ||
06/21/2007 13:10 Comments ||
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#12
These developments, in light of Hamas's control of Gaza, suggest that President Bush who has been careful to distinguish the war on terror from a war on Islam has done more than any of his predecessors to accept the movement fighting for the merger of mosque and state in the Middle East.
Must have gone on a real bender with that Religion of Peace [spit] Kool-Aid he's so fond of sipping. Lesser evil and other diplospeak platitudes aside, as bigjim noted, such actions will only lend an air of credibility and prestige to an organization that seeks a global caliphate.
Terrorism or not, the mere notion of a global caliphate represents the penultimate extinction of human rights as we know them. Islam and terrorism are inseparable. The Koran preaches it and far too many of its adherents practice it. Islam is the only ideology that has embraced terrorismnot as a disdained and infrequently used expedientbut as a central tenet and fixture of its overall strategy.
I invite others to consider just exactly how this sort of backpedaling by terrorism's staunchest opponent will facilitate even more appalling degrees of accommodation and appeasement by the Democrats. Those who were once unafraid to name them as such have just presented the Axis of Evil with engraved calling cards.
In Egypt, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, Islamist parties trounced their secular rivals. In part this was because these parties offered an uncorrupt alternative to the more secular parties in power, but some advocates inside the administration also say it reflects a tangible momentum for parties that seek to create Islamic republics.
This idiotic notion completely ignores the fact that said Islamist parties are corrupt at a far deeper level. DepotGuy rightly points out Islams common mode theocratic government brings with it a host of other far more profound flaws than merely siphoning off foreign aid funding. The entire framework of Islamic governance is at odds with every single aspect of Western liberty and freedom.
One leading European Islamist, Tariq Ramadan, who is the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, is being denied a visa to assume a professorship he has been offered at Notre Dame University.
Yet, this is insufficient to sway those involved away from such an incredibly bad idea.
The policy debate inside the administration is also contentious, with law enforcement agencies such as the FBI skeptical that the Muslim Brotherhood is not clandestinely more involved in supporting violent jihad than the organization's emissaries let on.
It is precisely for this reason that Islam needs to be banned instead of being granted even greater plausibility. Taqiyya firmly stands in the way of all possible progress towards rapprochement. It is a stumbling block of insurmountable proportions. There is no way to trust a living Muslim that their words and deeds will correspond correctly. This has been demonstrated repeatedly in Afghanistan and Iraq. Karzai signs The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then shrinks from vocally ensuring the right of Abdul Rahmans right to convert away from Islam to Christianity. The near constant treachery of al-Maliki in Iraq needs no further elucidation.
Making the case today for outreach is Mr. Leiken, who co-authored with Steve Brooke a paper for the March-April issue of Foreign Affairs titled, "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood." That paper argues that Ikhwan has drawn contempt from violent Islamists such as Al Qaeda for its general disavowal of armed struggle. Tracing its history to its founding, the paper says the group today, particularly in Egypt, is genuine in its desire to participate in democratic politics.
Quite obviously no one is paying attention. Hamas was democratically elected and only brought further mayhem and installation of Islams theocratic crapulence in the Gaza Strip. While Democracy is a vital component of good government, it does not ensurein and of itselftrue liberty and freedom. Hitler was democratically elected.
He said he thinks diplomacy with Ikhwan could help us help them to moderate Hamas. "It is conceivable that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, aware Gaza could serve as an index, will try use its influence to get Hamas to be constructive," he said. The Egyptian government has used the Muslim Brothers for at least 10 years as a back channel to Hamas.
It is delusional in the extreme to think that any Muslim organization sincerely wishes to see a resolution of the Palestinian crisis that does not involve the destruction of Israel. Our politicians cherish this illusion and continue to invest massive amount of personal and political capital while just as persistently ignoring the blowback of uninterrupted terrorist attacks against Israel.
Zeyno Baran, did say she was worried about a new direction by the Bush administration.
"The thinking is that to deal with terrorism, we need to deal with Muslims who will take care of their communities so there will not be people here and there doing terrorism," she said. "So we treat the brotherhood like an umbrella organization, like the Council on American Islamic Relations or the Islamic Society of North America. You make them partners. They might Islamize the Muslims, but it's okay because they can think or do what they want as long as they are not violent. That is the misunderstanding and mistake."
Clearly, Ms. Baran gets it. The fact that CAIR still operates inside of America is living proof of how hopelessly inadequate our efforts at fighting terrorism are to date. Seeking some middle ground with the Muslim Brotherhood is of absolutely no use when a consistent trademark of such groups is tilting the playing field to their advantage in every conceivable respect. You may as well try to win money at cards by playing a skilled magician.
#13
The MB in Egypt is pretty close to the situation that exists in Turkey with their Islamic party. That is, they're just borderline enough, and hugely popular, that it would be injudicious to mess with them unless you have to.
In the case of Turkey, they DO run the place, but the military keeps them in check. In Egypt, they are the opposition, with the government keeping them in check.
Frankly, even if we were opposed to both of them, there is damn little we can do about it other than to declare war against Egypt or Turkey. The Saud family as a whole is far more troublesome than either.
So what do you do? Engage or ignore? Declaring them as a terrorist organization is like declaring the Democrats a terrorist organization. Sure they help the enemy, and sure they want the US to lose in the war. But then what?
There are times when being a realist is actually realistic.
#15
The MB in Egypt is pretty close to the situation that exists in Turkey with their Islamic party. That is, they're just borderline enough, and hugely popular, that it would be injudicious to mess with them unless you have to.
In the case of Turkey, they DO run the place, but the military keeps them in check. In Egypt, they are the opposition, with the government keeping them in check.
Frankly, even if we were opposed to both of them, there is damn little we can do about it other than to declare war against Egypt or Turkey. The Saud family as a whole is far more troublesome than either.
So what do you do? Engage or ignore? Declaring them as a terrorist organization is like declaring the Democrats a terrorist organization. Sure they help the enemy, and sure they want the US to lose in the war. But then what?
There are times when being a realist is actually realistic.
#16
Yes, we know that Zawahiri came from Egytian Islamic Jihad which emergerged from Egyptian MB. MB is islamist, and (pretty much) salafist - just like our "friends" the Saudis. They have not (yet) pursued a game of terror, though they certainly arent enemies of Hamas, who do.
But no is suggesting (I hope) that we support MB. Just that we talk to them.
#17
They have not (yet) pursued a game of terror, though they certainly arent enemies of Hamas, who do.
Liberalhawk, while I do not expect that you have access to classified intelligence regarding the Muslim Brotherhood, how can you make such a totally unsupported statement like the above?
Taqiyya makes, literally, anything possible. Would you willingly play chess with someone who announced beforehand that they hadnot just every intention of cheatingbut a god-given right to do so? The chess analogy is inadequate in that, at least, you can watch the board. There is no watching the board with Muslims.
You correctly note the Muslim Brotherhood's lack of enmity for Hamas, despite the MB supposedly having abandoned terrorism. You quite properly equate the MB with the Saudis, yet refuse to concede the danger of granting either of them any credibility with respect to truly fighting terrorism. Much like the era of nation building is over with, so must the ridiculous concept of realpolitik be thrown under the wheels. The recent immigration bill here in America should have served final notice of that.
NEGOTIATING WITH TERRORISTS ONLY ENCOURAGES MORE TERRORISM.
Rewarding terrorists with the prestige of recognition and any other forms of settlement is a direct incentive for them to continue with business as usual. Additionally, Islams terms areby its own admissionnon-negotiable. Any pretense of flexibility is merely an instance of taqiyya or hudna. Do you argue this? During WWII we did not try to bribe Japan into abandoning its use of kamikaze suicide pilots. We shot them out of the sky at every opportunity and eventually used nuclear weapons to force the surrender of an unrepentantly vicious enemy.
How has this changed? It there any more worth to an Islamic caliphate in comparison to an Imperial Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere? Is there the least difference? Finally, is there any deal with the Devil worth making? Islam is so unutterably evil thatdespite its claims of America being the Great Satanthey are the embodiment of Lucifer himself.
#18
Our goal should be the destruction of terrorism and terrorists--NOTHING LESS. We have been mollycoddling them for 30 or 40 years and look what it has gotten us. Zenster is right: You cannot negotiate with terrorists who have as their goal the destruction of you. If you lay down with dogs who have fleas, you get fleas.
#19
If I recall correctly, Hamas is the Palestinian (perhaps Gaza, anyway) branch of the Islamic Brotherhood, inspired in all things by MB writings. I think Hamas is actually an anagram of something religious and warlike, not a reference to the Syrian massacre of the residents of Hama. While I assume that the MB is not directly financing Hamas, the ties are nonetheless not attenuated, despite the MB finding it easier and more comfortable to achieve their caliphate by ballot rather than bullet.
A new think tank run by former U.S. defense officials has published a detailed plan that would have the United States withdraw from Iraq in phases, beginning in 2008 and ending in 2012. The report made available on Wednesday by the Center for a New American Security headed by former Pentagon officials Kurt Campbell and Michele Flournoy also sets what it calls "more realistic" objectives for America in Iraq.
Because as we all know, the Pentagon can't possibly figure out how to withdraw us from Iraq when the time comes.
These aims include preventing the establishment of al Qaeda safe havens, a regional war and genocide instead of President George W. Bush's goal of creating a democracy. The center, which aims to advance a strong centrist national security strategy, added its voice to the debate as violence in Iraq spiraled.
Spiraled .. downwards.
The administration should end the current troop surge in Iraq and "launch a transition process that focuses U.S. forces on an advisory role and reduces our military presence in Iraq from approximately 160,000 today to about 60,000 by the end of 2008," the report said
Sounds like the Iraq Study Group warmed over. With about as much effect. You rather get the idea they started with a conclusion and worked backwards.
A key aspect of the plan, which has four phases, would be to set timelines for accomplishing political and security goals and for the ultimate withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2012 "at the latest."
Translation: the Iraqis really aren't sovereign, they just think they are. They have to do as their betters tell them.
The report said it builds on the bipartisan Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton but goes beyond that study by recommending the timelines for U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq and a detailed plan on how to carry that out.
Run like a railroad it will ...
Phase I, lasting until Bush leaves office in January 2009, would transfer leadership of security operations to Iraqis while the United States makes a major effort to train U.S. advisors, raising the number in Iraq from 6,000 advisors now to 20,000 by the end of 2008. The 20,000 advisors would be part of the 60,000-force target for early 2009.
The administration would "hand its successor, at best, a precarious situation in Iraq. But by making the recommended changes it may avoid taking America over the brink of strategic exhaustion," the report said.
'Brink of strategic exhaustion'? Must have been a Dhimmicrat who wrote that.
It urged Bush to announce that the United States plans no permanent military bases in Iraq but would retain a significant military presence in the region.
Why would we do a damned-fool thing like that? Keeping our options open for bases in Iraq -- especially the Kurdish region -- is the best guarantee of getting the Syrians and Iranians to behave.
Under Bush's successor, forces could be drawn down even more in Phase II and be completely out by 2012, the report said.
This is just cover for the Dhimmicratic nominee.
Some may suggest the United States should withdraw only when victory is achieved but "there will no American victory in Iraq in the terms defined by the Bush administration," the report concluded.
Sez who? We kill al-Qaeda, we get the Sunnis to get with the plan, and we get the Sadrists to behave (by nailing the Iranians). Victory conditions are simple: we win, terrorists lose.
The Honorable Dr. William J. Perry, Chairman of the Board
Professor and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Stanford University
The Honorable Dr. Madeleine K. Albright,
Principal, The Albright Group LLC
The Honorable Richard L. Armitage, President, Armitage International
Norman R. Augustine, Former Chairman, Executive Committee, Lockheed Martin Corporation
Admiral Dennis C. Blair, USN (Ret.), Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Command
The Honorable Dr. Richard J. Danzig, Sam Nunn Prize Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
William J. Lynn, Senior Vice President, Government Operations & Strategy, Raytheon Company
Lieutenant General Greg S. Newbold, USMC (Ret.), Managing Director, Torch Hill Capital
John D. Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
Board of Advisors
Rand Beers, National Security Network
Dr. Hans Binnendijk, Director, Center for Technology and National Security, National Defense University
Dr. Ashton Carter, Ford Foundation Professor of Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Dr. Michael Green, Senior Advisor and Japan Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies
#17
Looks like you outfoxed ol' Pappy, 8872. Prolly skeered 'em off.
Now go away and play somewhere else, O.K.?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2007 6:18 Comments ||
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#18
It's kinda funny... a leftard troll over at Protein Wisdom was railing about the "on or off thinking" of the right -- that we saw only two states to everything. Then along comes the troll in this thread, and it can't seem to see the space between chaos and paradise.
If we REALLY want to see violence and horror in Iraq, we should put Democrats in charge. Look what they've done to Detroit, New Orleans, LA, etc.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/21/2007 6:54 Comments ||
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#19
That list isn't a think tank. It is a hit list of seditionists.
#22
As if 8872 would want us to intervene in Iran. He very likely also thinks we were wrong to remove the Taliban, and he's been banging pots to get Mr. Harper to remove Canadian troops from there.
Crawl back into your cocoon, 8872, I'm sure nothing more important than universal health care will disturb you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2007 8:57 Comments ||
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#23
Hey, everybody! Let's start a think tank!!
Posted by: Kurt Campbell and Michele Flournoy ||
06/21/2007 10:52 Comments ||
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#24
"I tried to think but nothing happens."
-Curly
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2007 11:39 Comments ||
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#25
I enjoy the occasional thinking myself. But speaking of think tanks...I hope the Burg is getting its hands on some of that lucrative think tank cash. Seriously though, the resources available to the public by way of you guys here at Rantburg are phenomenal to say the least. I have no doubt ye creators and mods are maximizing revenue flow hereabouts through some thinking. Myself, I most enjoy the tanking, and a few short hours from now I will begin said tanking to my liver's ultimate disdain.Cheers!
#27
As if 8872 would want us to intervene in Iran. He very likely also thinks we were wrong to remove the Taliban, and he's been banging pots to get Mr. Harper to remove Canadian troops from there.
You forgot to call me a Leftie, Pinko, Commie or something like that. Is that how you rationalize the world to yourself, Steve? "Anyone who disagrees with me must be some leftist scum."
Afghanistan is a lost cause with Pakistan next door. Maybe if you made it the 51st state...who knows.
I'm sure nothing more important than universal health care will disturb you.
Made your millions off the backs of the poor by overcharging insurance companies? Or have you done anything good for the world, without charging millions that is? If not, then you shouldn't criticize universal health care.
#28
The problem with universal healthcare, little one, is that it quickly becomes neither universal nor caring... and shortly thereafter bankrupts the society that demands it. Like a child eating sweets every day, and enjoying it thoroughly ... until his teeth rot. Trailing daughter #1 had a Kindergarten classmate in exactly that situation when we lived in Germany; I cannot imagine what her parents were thinking when they neglected to say no to her all those years.
Former Tourism Minister Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar served a legal notice on the Lal Masjid shariat court on Wednesday for issuing a fatwa asking her to apologise for hugging a male paragliding instructor in France. The notice served through Dr Aslam Khaki said the fatwa damaged Bakhtiars reputation, family honour and political career.
The notice asks Mufti Yunus, who issued the decree, to apologise for un-Islamic and unlawful conduct that hurt the dignity of an honourable Muslim lady. The notice, seen by Daily Times, warned that failure to apologise would result in civil and legal proceedings. Bakhtiar visited France in March where, aside from attending a fundraiser, she went paragliding. Upon completing a successful jump, her instructor Mario congratulated her with a hug.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday said the government should dismiss Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq who apparently justified suicide attacks on author Salman Rushdie. The minister has done a great disservice both to the image of Islam and the standing of Pakistan by calling for the murder of a foreign citizen, Benazir said in a statement. She said although the sentiments of Muslims were outraged when Rushdie was awarded a knighthood, neither Islam nor the law allowed suicide attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
After 60 yeras living on our money it would be time they started to live on their work. Instead they burned the warmhouses left by Israel. Force them to give back untiul the last cent.
Oh, and how much worse are the refugees of Darfur? Why is this guy even mentionning the fate of peole who have so much money for terrorism and whose kids are fat? Are the Darfur kids fat?
#2
This is like listening to someone piss and moan about the plight of rattlesnakes. Hell, even rattlers serve a more productive purpose on this earth.
#3
The world hasn't given a rat's arse about the paleos for 50 years, but they have always used them as a guilt trip.
Nobody cares, I don't care, I don't know anybody that does care. Split up, blend in, intermarry, get jobs, then you won't be refugees. But they won't do that cause they are holding out for Jerusalem or something goofy like that. Just hanging out, waiting for the jews to go extinct so they can take over their stuff.
#6
Nobody wants ya. That means down the well you go...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/21/2007 16:27 Comments ||
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#7
All sorts of groups have "earned" a rather handsome living off of feeling sorry for the paleostains, and trying to get others to feel sorry for them. It's time to pull the plug, shut down the supply of money, and let these groups starve to death. The rest of the arabs can either fund their brothers or let them starve - it's up to them. I've paid far too much, and I won't pay any more. Anyone who thinks the US Government hasn't forked over billions to these groups needs to do some homework.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2007 17:41 Comments ||
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#8
Boy howdy, Old Patriot, I just knew you'd bring a box of Kleenex to the party.
Will the executions be carried out as timely as, say, Saddam's?
CCCI CONVICTS 99: SENTENCES 16 TO DEATH, 7 TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) convicted 99 individuals from May 20 to June 2 for violations of the Iraqi Terrorist Law, Penal Code and Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Orders enforced by the Iraqi judiciary.
Six Iraqis were convicted of torture and kidnapping and sentenced to death May 20. Convicted were: Moaazea Khazaal Abdul, 47; Hussein Jihad Hassan, 51; Abd Al Qadar Qasim Jameel, 35; Mustafa Mahmoud Ismael, 31; Qais Habib Aslem, 50; and Islam Mustafa Abd Al Sattar, 20; all from Iraq.
The Central Criminal Court sentenced Marwan Jassim Hamadi, 21; Ali Akil Abass, 19; and Talab Abulla Abbas, 26, to death May 21 for kidnapping and torturing an Iraqi man in Al Anbar province. Marines from the 3rd Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, captured the terrorists Nov. 28, 2006 - less than five hours before the terrorists were planning to execute the Iraqi man they had kidnapped. The three were convicted of violating Article 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law.
Faris Abdallah Alwan, 27, was sentenced to death May 20 by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq for serving as the media and propaganda emir for a terrorist organization. He was captured by Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Division (Airborne) Dec. 13, 2006 in Baghdad.
Ali Ahmad Abd Al Wahid, 23, and Fawwaz Mukhlif Al Qaydi, 28, were sentenced to death by the CCCI May 28 for violating Article 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law. Ali, a Libyan citizen, and Fawwaz, a Saudi Arabian citizen, both came to Iraq to conduct terrorist operations. They were captured by Iraqi Army units in Al Anbar and were turned over to Multi-National Forces Feb. 20, 2007.
Ahmed Nory Mohammed, 29, and Hosham Bidawe, 27, were sentenced to death May 30 for engaging in terrorist acts, including kidnapping. The two Iraqis were captured Jan. 9, 2007 by Marines from the 3rd Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force prior to carrying out a planned execution of an Iraqi doctor. The two were convicted of violating Article 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law.
Dawud Salaman Al Ubydi, 39, an admitted member of Al Qaeda, was sentenced to death May 30 for participating in suicide bombing and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks on the Sheraton and Al Hamah hotels and arranging transportation for Al Qaeda numerous times for various operations. Dawud was captured Sept. 28, 2006 and was convicted of violating Article 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law.
Mohammed Ali Khorshed, 29, was sentenced to death May 30 by the CCCI.
Mohammed was the Ansar Al Sunna Military Emir of Baqubah and was responsible for supervising up to 50 insurgents. He admitted to conducting numerous IED attacks against Multi-National Forces and was convicted of violating Article 4/1 of the Iraqi Terrorist Law.
#1
Ahmed Nory Mohammed, 29, and Hosham Bidawe, 27, were sentenced to death May 30 for engaging in terrorist acts, including kidnapping. The two Iraqis were captured Jan. 9, 2007 by Marines ...
Some days, it's a shame we can't get service like this from our system. Like when OJ walked.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2007 12:48 Comments ||
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#2
I saw the headline and wondered if sixteen different imams had issued fatwas against Rushdie. Maybe I'm just a tad cynical these days . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
06/21/2007 13:40 Comments ||
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#3
I get an impression from reading between the lines that most of the captured terrorists are released, only a few get this kind of "star" treatment. Does anyone know what happened to the terr that shot LTC Kurilla, as witnessed by Michael Yon, a few years ago? That gunny had already been caught & released prior to nearly killing the LTC.
The Palestinian president has ruled out talks with the Hamas movement whom he accused of trying to assassinate him and of carrying out a coup in the Gaza Strip. Addressing his people on TV on Wednesday, Mahmoud Abbas harshly criticised Hamas for attacking "national symbols" during its takeover of Gaza last week.
That'd be stealing Yasser's Nobel Peace Prize and looting the presidential palazzo.
Abbas accused Khaled Meshaal, Hamas leader-in-exile, of being part of a plot to assassinate him, referring to the group's members as "murderous terrorists".
Unlike the upstanding al-Aqsa Martyrs, who're... ummm... murderous terrorists...
"No dialogue with those killers, coup plotters," Abbas told Fatah leaders in the occupied West Bank. Abbas said Hamas replaced the "national project" with "its project of darkness", attacking the symbols of government in Gaza, including the house of the late leader Yasser Arafat. It was Abbas' toughest speech since he fired the Hamas-led cabinet and replaced it with his own team of Fatah supporters and experts over the weekend.
"Our main goal is to prevent sedition from spreading to the West Bank, ... to prevent violations by any party, and to deal [with everyone] equally, based on law," Abbas said. He accused Hamas of trying to set up its own state in Gaza alone, a step he said would scuttle Palestinian hopes for independence. He said he had tried to prevent the conflict through "continuous dialogue". Instead, "we are seeing assassination of leaders of Palestinian security and Fatah in Gaza".
"It's a fight between the national project and this small kingdom they want to establish in Gaza, the kingdom of Gaza, between those who are using assassination and killing to achieve their goals, and those who are using the rules of law."
Abbas accused Hamas of trying to assassinate him when he planned a visit to Gaza a month ago, digging a tunnel under a road where his car was to pass and trying to fill it with 250 kilograms of explosives. He said he received videotapes of the operation, showing armed groups with Hamas signs on their shirts carrying out the work. He dismissed Hamas claims that the explosives tunnel was aimed at Israelis. "I have sent these tapes to all the Arab countries, to show how much this dark movement is acting," he said. "The coup seekers through their madness have given a golden opportunity to those who want to separate Gaza from the West Bank," he said. Abbas appealed to the Palestine National Council, a PLO body, to give his new government its support.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
To the optimistic me, this whole situation seems like an opportunity for Fatah to show the Palestinians how much better of an alternative they are, by making the West Bank a stable, relatively prosperous place. Hamas will pull their 'Let's live like the Prophet' shit in Gaza, imposing al-Qaeda conditions and alienating the populace. Meanwhile, if Fatah could set their corruption/terroristic tendencies aside and govern the West Bank like a good, secular government should - buying lots of good will with the piles of Western $$$ being sent over - they might just find themselves with a grateful public willing to vote *them* into power and to sideline Hamas. Folks wouldn't be able to get out of Gaza fast enough.
The pessimistic me then takes over: Fatah/al-Aqsa doesn't care about anyone but themselves, can't reform and even if they did, Hamas would morph fully into the Hezbollah-like militia that Iran dreams of, taking pot shots at the West Bank to reek havoc and sabotage the whole thing.
US President George W. Bush has talked with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about becoming the Quartet's Middle East peace envoy after he leaves office next week.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's associates, the White House and State Department spoke glowingly of Blair's credentials on Wednesday but said there was nothing to announce yet. Blair steps down next Wednesday. "Obviously Prime Minister Blair has been very active and deeply involved in Middle East peace issues throughout his prime ministership," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. She said Blair and Bush speak often. "It would not surprise me if they have talked about what Prime Minister Blair would like to do following the end of his term... but we don't have anything to announce today," Perino said.
Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the State Department's top diplomat for the Middle East, is in London and met with Blair this week. Al-Jazeera International broke the story that Welch raised the subject in the meeting and that there were intense negotiations between the US and London over the appointment.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Blair "is a person of great abilities and obviously somebody with great interest in the region and has made great contributions to the region."
James Wolfensohn, a former president of the World Bank, stepped down in April as international Mideast envoy for the Quartet of peacemakers - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia. The position envisioned for Blair was said to be enhanced in contrast to Wolfensohn's role. Members of the Quartet may meet in Paris next week.
Blair's office declined to comment. "There is a lot of speculation about what the prime minister will do after June 27, but we are simply not going to comment," said a spokeswoman at his Downing Street office.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed support for Blair continuing to play a role in efforts to bring about Mideast peace. "Officials in the Prime Minister's Office are aware of this idea, and Prime Minister Olmert is very supportive of Prime Minister Blair and of his continuing involvement in the Middle East and the Peace Process," Miri Eisin, Olmert's spokeswoman, said.
Former foreign minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) said he would welcome the appointment. He said Blair had proven his friendship with Israel and that if he maintained his positions, he would be a fair and balanced mediator. "Only someone with his prestige and experience can revive hope for peace in the Middle East," Shalom said.
Meretz leader Yossi Beilin said the Middle East needed a new envoy, but only one who would be willing to work full-time. He said Blair had made promises in the past to devote all his time to efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East and nothing came of it. "If there is a new Middle East envoy, whoever it is, it might help a lot, because we need someone on the ground and we haven't had one in a long time," Beilin said. "We need someone who can shuttle back and forth and always be available. It would be better for him to live in Cyprus, not London. It has to be a full-time job, because many of our problems are based on misunderstandings that only a full-time person could prevent."
Labor MK Colette Avital, who heads her party's international department, said the appointment would be a positive sign that the Middle East peace process would be given new energy. "I hope he will deal with the Middle East intensively, because we need all the help we can get," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's associates, the White House and State Department spoke glowingly of Blair's credentials
And if Tony is terminally stoooopid---instead of merely Blair, he'll accept.
A senior exiled Hamas leader on Wednesday called for the formation of a new Palestinian Authority goverment made up of independent technocrats without Fatah nor Hamas members as a way out of the crisis sparked by the Gaza-West Bank split. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas set up an emergency government based in the West Bank after Hamas' armed takeover of the Gaza Strip. The government's members are all independents, but Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk appeared to be calling for a new one, formed in consultation with the militant group. "All possibilities are open now. We can reach a consensus on a government - a technocrat government - that includes neither Fatah nor Hamas," Abu Marzouk, the Damascus-based deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The government could not work without a Palestinian consensus, especially between Fatah and Hamas," he said.
"Really. We're eager to work ever so closely with our Fatah brothers! Now that we have Gaza."
Meanwhile, Hamas leaders said on Tuesday that the US and EU decision to fund the government of Salaam Fayad won't succeed in removing Hamas from power.
"Nope. Nope. It'll never work. Yez can just fergit about it."
Meanwhile, a prominent Muslim leader from the Gaza Strip was appointed Tuesday as social welfare and agriculture minister in Fayad's cabinet. Sheikh Mahmoud Habbash said he had agreed to join Fayad's cabinet because he felt that he had to carry out his "national duty at this very sensitive and difficult stage."
"So you don't have to kill me. Honest."
"The decision to lift the financial and political embargo on the Palestinian Authority is part of a conspiracy against Hamas and the Palestinian people," said Sami Abu Zuhri.
"The decision to lift the financial and political embargo on the Palestinian Authority is part of a conspiracy against Hamas and the Palestinian people," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "The Americans and Europeans are trying to blackmail the Palestinians by providing financial aid only to Fayad's government. They have been trying to remove Hamas from power since 2006, but without success." Abu Zuhri criticized the West for employing double standards in dealing with the Palestinians. "They are refusing to accept the results of a free and democratic election that brought Hamas to power. Instead, they are now supporting the illegitimate government of Fayad."
In response to reports that some Arab countries were worried about the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Abu Zuhri urged the Arab world to refrain from siding with one Palestinian party against the other. "The Arab world appears to be divided over the last developments in the Gaza Strip," he added. "Some countries have remained neutral, arguing that the world must accept the choice of the Palestinians. However, there are some Arab countries that are continuing to meddle in Palestinian affairs by supporting one side against the other.
Abu Zuhri also denied reports that Egypt had decided to move its diplomatic mission from the Gaza Strip to Ramallah. Egyptian diplomats and security officials based in the Gaza Strip were summoned to Cairo following last week's developments.
He also denied reports that Egypt has cut off all its ties with Hamas, noting that the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Force, Gen. Omar Suleiman, was continuing to talk to Syria-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.
"Hamas did not have any plans to stage a coup against the Palestinian Authority," he said. "The only problem we had was a group of American and Zionist agents who were torching houses and attacking mosques in the Gaza Strip."
Another Hamas leader, Khalil al-Hayah, on Tuesday expressed his movement's readiness to resume talks with Fatah to resolve the current crisis. He said Hamas had not planned to take over the Gaza Strip. "Hamas did not have any plans to stage a coup against the Palestinian Authority," he said. "The only problem we had was a group of American and Zionist agents who were torching houses and attacking mosques in the Gaza Strip."
Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for the PA leadership, said there would be no dialogue with Hamas because it has broken the law. "They were behind the military coup in Gaza," he said. "Before any dialogue, Hamas must withdraw its armed people from all the places they occupied and give back the power to the legitimate authority."
Mahmoud "Warty Nose" Zahar, a former Hamas foreign minister, said the Gaza Strip was witnessing a period of calm and stability for the first time since the establishment of the PA in 1994. "The border crossings have reopened and are functioning and there is no shortage in fuel and food," he said. Zahar pointed out that the state of anarchy and lawlessness had moved from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, where Fatah militiamen were waging a campaign against Hamas institutions and figures. "If these attacks continue, Hamas will be forced to take measures to defend its representatives there," he cautioned. "There are many people in Fatah who are opposed to [Fatah operative] Muhammad Dahlan and Hamas will support them."
Zahar said the only way out of the current crisis was by resuming negotiations between Hamas and Fatah.
"Either we return to the dialogue between us or we maintain the status quo and [formalize] the separation between the West Bank and Gaza Strip," he said.
"Either we return to the dialogue between us or we maintain the status quo and [formalize] the separation between the West Bank and Gaza Strip," he said. "There is no third option. If [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas wants dialogue, then he must rescind all his recent decisions, including the formation of an illegitimate government."
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior PLO official closely associated with Abbas, accused Iran of encouraging Hamas to use violence to take full control of the Gaza Strip. Iran, he added, was supporting anti-democratic forces in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories for its own regional interests.
Khaled Abu Hilal, a former Fatah operative with close links to Hamas, has decided to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of the Fatah leadership in the Gaza Strip. Abu Hilal, a former spokesman for the Hamas-led Ministry of Interior, announced that he would form a new party called Fatah al-Yasser (after Yasser Arafat.) Abu Hilal called on the "good guys" in Fatah to join his new party and on Fatah members in the West Bank to follow suit.
This article starring:
Gen. Omar Suleiman
Khaled Abu Hilal, a former Fatah operative with close links to Hamas
KHALED MASHAAL
Hamas
KHALIL AL HAIAH
Hamas
MAHMUD ZAHAR
Hamas
Muhammad Dahlan
MUSA ABU MARZUK
Hamas
Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for the PA leadership
Salaam Fayad
Sheikh Mahmoud Habbash
Yasser Abed Rabbo
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Zarar---Cro Magnan Man or earlier cousin. Or maybe Piltdown Man The missing link.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2007 3:18 Comments ||
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#2
Notice the head-banging welt on Moussa Marzouk's forehead? One can only hope that someday it will be regarded as a mark of the Devil. Isn't "Palestinian technocrat" an oxymoron?
#3
"The decision to lift the financial and political embargo on the Palestinian Authority is part of a conspiracy against Hamas and the Palestinian people"
!!!! 1984, or what?
There are some right wing Israeli parties that Hamas could support, since they are also opposed to relaxing the embargo on the PA!!!
#4
This is when we really need one of the old LSTs from WWII, loaded to the gills with "assault rockets". Just pull up offshore of Gaza and let loose. Rinse and repeat until the entire Strip is a flat land of totally pulverised rubble. Then offer it to Israel for $1.98. It's one way to end the paleostain problem once and for all. Do the same to the "terrorist trainingrefugee" camps in Egypt and Lebanon.
The only "good" paleostain is a fully-set, no longer living stain, slowly seeping into the sand. Women (training aides) and children (future paleostains) not excluded.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2007 17:49 Comments ||
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that the Palestine Liberation Organization was being pushed aside because of Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip last week. "The PLO flag is being trampled beneath Hamas's feet," Abbas said.
Oooooooo...that puts a sizeable Dent in the ol' Dignity, I bet.
Did they leave footprints on the Nobel?
Abbas added that Fatah was maintaining a "moderate" position so as not to cause a civil war among the Palestinians. Abbas spoke in Ramallah in his first address since Hamas seized power in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm amazed that Hamas even wanted to touch it after the PLO had wiped its arse with it for so long.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert landed in Israel Wednesday afternoon after a brief visit to the US. Olmert met with US President George Bush and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Olmert is expected to raise the question of assistance to the Palestinians and release of frozen tax funds in the cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, the mousepad, the collector DVD.
Angry protesters have taken to the streets in Pakistan and Malaysia to denounce a British knighthood for author Salman Rushdie, whose novel the "Satanic Verses" outraged Muslims worldwide.
Margaret Beckett, Britain's foreign secretary, said on Wednesday that Britain was "sorry" people were upset about the knighthood. However, she insisted it was awarded to Rushdie for his literary achievements. Beckett said: "Obviously we are sorry for people who have taken very much to heart this honour, which is after all for a lifelong body of literary work."
Afghanistan's Taliban on Wednesday also condemned the knighthood, which Britain's Queen Elizabeth awarded to the Indian-born British writer last week. A Taliban spokesman said: "We ... consider this another major affront to Islam by the infidels."
Pakistani anger
There was widespread condemnation for the knighting in Pakistan and several leaders called for Rushdie's death, while protesters demanded Britain withdraw the honour. Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani prime minister, condemned remarks by Ijaz-ul Haq, the religious affairs minister, who had said a suicide attack against Salman Rushdie was justified. Haq had said that the Rushdie honour merited such an attack by Muslims but later withdrew the comment insisting that he meant to say that the award to Rushdie would foster extremism.
Bhutto said that although the knighthood awarded to Rushdie had outraged the sentiments of Muslims, Islam did not permit murder and nor did the law allow suicide killings for those with divergent views.
'Fostering extremism'
Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a Pakistan opposition leader, at a rally of about 200 women outside parliament in the capital Islamabad, said: "This is an attempt to provoke Muslims all over the world."
Rushdie's book, "Satanic Verses", prompted protests, some violent, by Muslims in many countries after it was published in 1988. Muslims say the novel blasphemed against the Prophet Mohammad and ridiculed the Koran and events in early Muslim history.
Robert Brinkley, British high commissioner to Pakistan, said on Monday that Rushdie's knighthood was a reflection of his contribution to literature and was not intended as an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammad. But on Tuesday, Pakistan summoned Brinkley to protest against the award. Britain's envoy in Iran was also summoned.
In Islamabad, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, a religious leader at the capital's Red Mosque, said in a statement that Rushdie should be killed. He said: "He is condemned to death. Whosoever is in position to kill him, he should do so."
In the central Pakistani city of Multan, about 300 people chanted "Death to the British Queen" and "Death to Rushdie". They burned a British flag and effigies of Queen Elizabeth and Rushdie.
Several hundred people including members of the provincial parliament protested in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The Pakistani parliament had adopted a resolution on Monday deploring the knighthood.
UK 'values'
John Reid, Britain's home secretary, reiterated on Wednesday that the government stood by the award. He said: "I think we have a set of values that accrues people honours for their contribution to literature even when they don't agree with our point of view. That's our way and that's what we stand by."
In Malaysia, about 30 protesters demonstrated outside the British embassy in Kuala Lumpur chanting "Destroy Salman Rushdie" and "Destroy Britain".
The late Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a death warrant against Rushdie in 1989, forcing him into hiding for nine years. In 1998 Iran's government formally distanced itself from the death warrant, but some groups in Iran have regularly renewed the call for his death, saying Khomeini's ruling is irrevocable.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
'Bout time for another round of cartoons, init?
AN Australian Navy boarding crew in the Gulf of Persia repelled an Iranian gunboat that threatened them a matter of weeks before 15 British sailors were captured in a similar incident, it was reported today.
The capture of the British crew in March developed into a major diplomatic incident before their release was negotiated.
But BBC reporter Frank Gardner, a security specialist, reported the Australians had pointed their guns at the Iranians and used "colourful language" before the gunboat withdrew.
"What I've been told by several sources, military sources, (is that) there was a similar encounter, in this case between the Royal Australian Navy and Iranian gunboats, some months ago, or at least some months prior to the seizing of the British sailors," Gardner told ABC radio.
"The Australians escaped capture by climbing back on board the ship they'd just searched. I'm told that they set up their weapons.
"No shots were exchanged but the Iranians backed off and the Australians were able to get helicoptered off that ship and they didn't get captured."
He did not mention the name of the Australian ship.
Australians ships rotate through duties in the Gulf, chiefly searching ships.
"What I'm hearing is that it was a pretty robust attitude by the Australians," Gardner said.
"The words that somebody said to me was that they used pretty colourful language but I'm sure that alone didn't make the Iranians back off.
"They reacted, I'm told, incredibly quickly, whereas the Brits were caught at their most vulnerable moment climbing down off the ship (and) getting into their boats."
Gardner said the British should be embarrassed about the incident but the issue was whether military intelligence had been passed on.
"The point of this story is not that the Aussies were fantastically brave and the Brits were a bunch of cowards, although I'm sure some people will interpret (it that way)," he said.
"Lessons should have been drawn from what happened to the Australian crew."
He said he had not been able to find out whether the information on the Australian incident had been passed on to the British.
Posted by: ||
06/21/2007 18:09 ||
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Shells whistling over their heads to burst inside the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared do not faze Lebanese villagers at Al-Minieh. They welcome them and want even more.
After decades of peaceful coexistence, the death of dozens of Lebanese soldiers -- some having their throats slit by Fatah al-Islam terrorists on May 20 -- have sounded the death knell of neighborly relations with the camp.
"It can never be like it was before, after what they did and allowed to be done," 56-year-old farmer Ali Baker said in Al-Minieh in northern Lebanon close to the Syrian border.
Sipping cardamom coffee with neighbors under his family's climbing vine, Baker was interrupted by the rattle of a heavy machine gun the army had set up on a hill close by. He waited for the burst of fire to end.
"No one here will forgive and forget," he said. The others agreed. "Each village in this area has lost at least one soldier." But, what about the Palestinian refugees who have fled the camp?
"We don't want them back ever," he replied.
His son Mohammed, 30, holds up the tail-fin of a small caliber mortar bomb. "This fell in the field behind the house," he said. "You call that normal? You call that neighborly?"
At a coffee shop near the northern entrance to Nahr al-Bared, traditional singer Abdullah Khwailed is a popular figure known throughout the area. But he is angry, very angry. "I know one soldier whose mother is Palestinian," he told Agence France Presse. "He doesn't speak to her any more. Now there is hate between us, a chasm that cannot be filled."
The Beirut government's pledge more than a month ago to help rebuild the refugee camp, now a wasteland of pitted concrete beams and slabs, cuts no ice here.
"These assassins and those who allowed them here must be cleared out," Khwailed fumed. "Flatten the camp and let them go to Saudi Arabia, Jordan or to the devil."
His uncle, sporting a white moustache, Islamic skullcap and the occasional gap-toothed grin, said he knew the owner of the land onto which the original 1948 boundaries of the camp were illegally expanded. "Yes, he let it happen. But if they want to reconstruct those buildings he told me he'll appeal to the police and the courts. They won't be able to rebuild," he said.
At dusk, families gather on plastic chairs, smoke water pipes and have a grandstand view of the explosions as shells detonate in Nahr al-Bared.
They are joined by Mohammed Sahramen, 53, who arrives with a few friends from a mountain village to the east. "Every day I delivered milk and cheese to that camp," he told AFP. "I did good business and some of them were my friends. But if they come back I won't set foot in there again. So I lose money? Too bad.
"They claim that these are foreign jihadists, Saudis... But we know very well that most of them are Palestinians from inside the camp. And that those who did not fight alongside them certainly agreed with them," Sahramen said.
Under its status as a de facto free trade zone, Nahr al-Bared was renowned throughout the area north of Tripoli for low prices. People came from afar to buy food, clothing and tiles from its merchants, some of whom prospered.
"It was great for shopping, sure," said 33-year-old Hassan Yassin, leaning against a red tractor. "But if they return, even if they give out stuff for free no one will go back in again.
"This is not their land," he added. "If they're allowed back it will just start all over again in three months."
Heads turn at the noise of a large explosion, and the onlookers watch a huge black and white plume of smoke and debris barrel into the evening sky.
"Ahlan wa sahlan!" laughed Hassan Yassin and his friends.
#3
'decades of peaceful coexistence'? Please, do me a favour!
I'll believe the Lebanese villagers when they stop Paleos returning to the camp, but how are they going to do that, Paleos have guns, they have milk and cheese...
In six months time Nahr al-Bared will be back to doing what all Paleo sites do, breeding death, misery and destruction.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/21/2007 14:51 Comments ||
Top||
#4
In six months time Nahr al-Bared will be back to doing what all Paleo sites do, breeding death, misery and destruction.
At least the Lebanese will no longer have an excuse to be shocked by this crapulence. The Palestinians are lepers being used as a begging bowl by Arab nations who totally disregard the dangers of infection. We have already seen Hamas threaten the use of bomb vests and vehicle bombs against fellow Muslims. When that day comes, someone please remind me not to laugh too loudly.
Palestinian mediators are continuing negotiations towards a ceasefire between the Lebanese army and fighters in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. A group of Muslim clerics on Wednesday presented the Lebanese head of military intelligence with a plan to end the standoff between Fatah al-Islam and the army at the Nahr al-Bared camp. "Final touches have been put to end the Nahr al-Bared crisis as Fatah al-Islam group has agreed on the points and ideas presented," Mohammed al-Hajj of the Palestine Scholars Association said.
Lebanon's army has battled Fatah al-Islam since May 20 after security forces were attacked in Tripoli. Fighting between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army at the Nahr al-Bared camp has killed at least 163 people, including scores of civilians. Al-Hajj said a meeting with the army was expected "to fix the details of setting up [a] force" which would protect about 2,000 refugees still inside the camp.
The finalisation of a truce would enable public access to the camp after the clearance of live cluster munitions used by the army. He refused to give Al Jazeera more details about the plan until they are submitted to the seven-party Palestinian committee and Lebanese army leaders. "We are expecting a ceasefire as soon as possible because we have felt an absolute and positive attitude from Fatah al-Islam group," al-Hajj said.
A Palestinian political source said on Tuesday a plan to end the fighting included the disbandment of Fatah al-Islam and the deployment of a security force drawn from mainstream Palestinian factions.
As the mediation effort continued on Wednesday, bursts of automatic gunfire could be heard at the camp during intermittent skirmishes. The Lebanese army has taken control of an area previously controlled by Fatah al-Islam fighters without entering the camp's official boundaries, mindful of a 1969 agreement which forbids the entrance of the army into Palestinian refugee camps.
Mediators said nothing had been heard for several days from Shaker al-Abssi, the leader of Fatah al-Islam. Reports that al-Abssi has been killed inside the camp have not been confirmed by Fatah al-Islam.
League talks
Meanwhile, Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, held a second day of talks with Lebanese leaders aimed at bringing together groups from the parliamentary majority with the opposition. "There are difficulties, but they are not insurmountable," Moussa said after meeting Emile Lahoud, Lebanons president. "There must be a political solution and measures that bring an end to insecurity."
Discord between Lebanon's parliamentary majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition has been at its most serious since last November, when members of the Shia party quit the Western-backed government. Hezbollah and its allies, Amal and Free Patriotic Movement, seek greater representation in the cabinet, which would give them an effective veto over cabinet decisions.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam
#1
the deployment of a security force drawn from mainstream Palestinian factions.
Mainstream Palestinian factions ya say. Hmmmm a lot of that lesser of two evils thingey going on these days.
The resigned Lebanon Labor Minister Trad Hamadeh, sent a letter to the Director general of the ministry requesting to see the mail of the ministry , to read and sign off on it. Hassan el Sabaa the acting Minister of Labor "welcomed the return of Hamadeh wishing him well in fully exercising his responsibilities as a minister". Hamadeh is the first to return to duty . No word on the other 4 Shiite ministers that have resigned last November.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
mmmm, no.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2007 21:12 Comments ||
Top||
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, will meet the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency this week as part of a push for a new round of talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, an Iranian nuclear official said Wednesday.
Larijani will meet Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, on Friday, according to the deputy head of Iran's atomic energy organization, Mohammad Saeedi.
Earlier this month, Iran abruptly canceled talks with ElBaradei, dashing hopes that Tehran is ready to end its secrecy about past suspicious nuclear activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Blah, blah, blah!
Yada, yada, yada!
Mo-Ham-Head never gets tired of hearing their bullshit.
Irans top nuclear negotiator denied the countrys Revolutionary Guards have any connection to Irans nuclear program and said UN sanctions on commanders of the elite force will only increase their status, a state newspaper reported Wednesday. The UN Security Council froze the assets on 15 Iranian officials, including members of the Revolutionary Guards, part of limited sanctions imposed on the country in March for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The Security Council froze assets of companies and organizations it said were involved in Irans nuclear program, including ones linked to the Guards. Irans top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the Guards connection to Irans nuclear and atomic issue is nil, the state-owned Iran daily newspaper reported. They (the UN) think that by this (sanctions), they have hit the Guards. But the Guards will become more popular. Their anger has let to more influence for us, Larijani, a former member of the Guards, told a gathering of officials from the force, the paper reported. The UN sanctions resolution also urges nations not to allow travel by the officials listed for the asset freeze. In April Gen Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general on the travel-ban list of the UN Security Council, completed a six-day trip to Russia on without any difficulty. Moscow defended the visit and denied it was a violation of UN sanctions on Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: IRGC
#1
UN sanctions on commanders of the elite force will only increase their status
Doubtful.
What would really hurt them would be sanctions against all companies the IRGC members own or have interests in, not just the ones involved in the nuke program. Nothing like an angry, out-of-work populace to bring down one's esteem.
#2
It's always about the anger with these people, well. Would you much rather be happy.
It's well confusing because I reckon the people of Iran aren't even sure what there angry about. Anyway angry soldiers are often clumsy. So there shit anyway. My view.
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
(SomaliNet) Somalia interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi Wednesday left for New York city in USA to attend the assembly of the United Nations Security Council. Before leaving the country, Mr. Gedi told the reporters he will brief the UN about Somali issues. The reconciliation conference he said will be on the agenda of the UNSC assembly on June 28. definitely, I will discuss the countrys developments with the UN member states, said Gedi. The premiers trip to the USA comes as escalation of anti government violence still rages in the capital.
The House of Representatives is expected Thursday to approve the 2008 foreign aid bill, allocating the $2.4 billion needed to fully fund the last year of an expiring 10-year plan for Israel military assistance but for the first time restricting some Egyptian military funds. 
A Kuwaiti diplomat who was assaulted in front of his country's embassy in Iran arrived home for a medical checkup on Wednesday and was greeted at the airport by his foreign minister who said Kuwait was "very angered" by the attack. 
An official from the European Union Commission said Turkish secularism is quite dangerous. 
House of Representatives passes resolution calling on UN Security Council to punish Iranian president for statements made regarding destruction of Israel
A new think tank run by former U.S. defense officials has published a detailed plan that would have the United States withdraw from Iraq in phases, beginning in 2008 and ending in 2012. The report made available on Wednesday by the Center for a New American Security headed by former Pentagon officials Kurt Campbell and Michele Flournoy also sets what it calls "more realistic" objectives for America in Iraq.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday said the government should dismiss Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq who apparently justified suicide attacks on author Salman Rushdie. The minister has done a great disservice both to the image of Islam and the standing of Pakistan by calling for the murder of a foreign citizen, Benazir said in a statement. She said although the sentiments of Muslims were outraged when Rushdie was awarded a knighthood, neither Islam nor the law allowed suicide attacks.
The Palestinian president has ruled out talks with the Hamas movement whom he accused of trying to assassinate him and of carrying out a coup in the Gaza Strip. Addressing his people on TV on Wednesday, Mahmoud Abbas harshly criticised Hamas for attacking "national symbols" during its takeover of Gaza last week.
US President George W. Bush has talked with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about becoming the Quartet's Middle East peace envoy after he leaves office next week. 
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, will meet the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency this week as part of a push for a new round of talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, an Iranian nuclear official said Wednesday. 
Irans top nuclear negotiator denied the countrys Revolutionary Guards have any connection to Irans nuclear program and said UN sanctions on commanders of the elite force will only increase their status, a state newspaper reported Wednesday. The UN Security Council froze the assets on 15 Iranian officials, including members of the Revolutionary Guards, part of limited sanctions imposed on the country in March for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The Security Council froze assets of companies and organizations it said were involved in Irans nuclear program, including ones linked to the Guards. Irans top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the Guards connection to Irans nuclear and atomic issue is nil, the state-owned Iran daily newspaper reported. They (the UN) think that by this (sanctions), they have hit the Guards. But the Guards will become more popular. Their anger has let to more influence for us, Larijani, a former member of the Guards, told a gathering of officials from the force, the paper reported. The UN sanctions resolution also urges nations not to allow travel by the officials listed for the asset freeze. In April Gen Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general on the travel-ban list of the UN Security Council, completed a six-day trip to Russia on without any difficulty. Moscow defended the visit and denied it was a violation of UN sanctions on Iran.
