In an attempt to gain support from the African states in the Security Council, the co-sponsors of a draft resolution that would establish a hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur on Monday dropped from their text the threat of "further measures" if the parties fail to fulfill their commitment to the early and effective implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement.
The old draft "stresses that, in the event the parties fail to fulfill their commitments and the requirements of this resolution, the council "will take, 90 days after the adoption of this resolution, further measures."
The new combined force to be called the UN African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), would incorporate some 700 personnel belonging to the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS), and would consist of some 20,000 military personnel and observers making it one of the largest UN peacekeeping missions in history. The transfer of authority from AMIS to UNAMID "shall take place as soon as possible and in any event no later that December 31st" of this year," the draft said. AMIS mandate expires on that date.
The hybrid force, to be established for an initial period of 12 months, would be authorized to use "all necessary means in the areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities to protect its personnel and to monitor whether any arms or related material are present in Darfur in violation of the agreements. The draft also said the council would "stress its willingness to consider, in due course and as appropriate, reducing the size of UNAMID, on the joint recommendation of the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union, should the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur significantly improve." US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters earlier in the day that the co-sponsors - US, UK and France - met today with the African states in the council - Congo, Ghana and South Africa- to finalize the draft text.
Diploblather at the link if you care.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
dropping the threat of further measures just exposes how ineffectual this entire charade will be. if its not already.
British parliamentarians on Monday softened their demands for negotiating with Hamas and said that while it is critical for the group to renounce violence, it does not necessarily need to recognize Israel for preliminary contact to be established with the European Union. Since the EU itself would like to stop recognizing Israel
George Galloway, the Respect MP, was ordered out of the House of Commons last night during a debate on a motion to suspend him for 18 days over his alleged financial links to Saddam Hussein's regime.
Michael Martin, the Speaker, "named" Mr Galloway for repeated infringements of the Commons rules and attacks on the integrity of the MPs on the Commons standards and privileges committee.
As the debate continued, Sir George Young, the Conservative chairman of the committee, told MPs that Mr Galloway was "trapped in a fantasy world of conspiracy and victimisation for his views".
Sir George upheld the account of David Blair, The Daily Telegraph's diplomatic correspondent, who entered the foreign ministry in Baghdad shortly after Saddam's overthrow and found documents purporting to show that Mr Galloway had taken money from the Iraqi regime for the Mariam Appeal charity.
The cross-party committee last week accused Mr Galloway of damaging Parliament's reputation. The 18-day suspension, which will run from Oct 8, was later approved without a vote.
Mr Galloway said the committee was a "politicised tribunal". Mr Martin intervened repeatedly and as the MP was ordered from the chamber, he shouted that he would continue his speech outside for anyone who wanted to hear it.
The committee censured Mr Galloway for failing to register an interest and "excessive" use of facilities for the charity.
It also said that he should be punished for "conduct aimed at concealing the true source of Iraqi funding of the Mariam Appeal".
Sen. Norm Coleman has the last laugh on Scurrilous George in the WSJ today. Turns out the Brits used a forensic scientist to validate the documents found in Baghdad.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
This guy is nothing more than a con man and enabling thug disguised as some kind of left wing moonbat. That's his cover but in reality he is a thief and swindler. We have a lot of them here in our Congress.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/24/2007 10:01 Comments ||
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#4
Well, if he loses his seat in Parliament, I'm sure he'll land on his feet. The world will always be in need of bald guys in catsuits who submit to voluntary humiliation, won't it?
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2007 10:55 Comments ||
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LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he would not rule out military action against Iran, but believed a policy of sanctions could still persuade Teheran to drop its disputed nuclear programme.
Yap, yap, yap.
I firmly believe that the sanctions policy that we are pursuing will work, but Im not one whos going forward to say that we rule out any particular form of action, Brown told a news conference, when asked if he would rule out a military strike against Iran.
He firmly believes it will work. Just has to. Nope, won't say what he'll do if it doesn't.
The United Nations Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions since December on Iran for failing to halt enrichment, a process which can produce fuel for power plants or material for warheads. A third sanctions resolution is being considered. Iran resumed working with the U.N. watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency this month to clear up outstanding questions about its nuclear activity and improve IAEA inspectors access to its enrichment plant.
This, say some European diplomats, has prompted the six big powers working on the issue -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- to quietly put off forever until September efforts to toughen existing sanctions, in hopes Irans improved cooperation with U.N. inspectors may defuse the standoff.
I firmly believe the sanctions we are imposing on Iran are sanctions that are having an effect already ... we are going to have to consider what we do in future, Brown said. There will probably be a third resolution in relation to Iran soon ...I appeal to the Iranian authorities to understand the feelings that other countries have about the development of their nuclear weapons programme.
If they considered the feeling of other countries, they wouldn't be the Mad Mullahs, now would they?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
FREEREPUBLIC > SYRIAN OFFICIAL - WAR AGZ ISRAEL WILL BE "BALLISTIC", i.e. very likely be a de facto missle war + asymmetric guerilla war/actions agz Tel Aviv + Israeli interests in Lebanon. No promises on NOT using WMDS-CBR's.
#2
We'll see how much Gall Mr Brown has, when the Offensive to stop Iran's nuke progress starts; whether by Israel or the US...I'm going to be counting how many Battle Groups and troops the Brits contribute. My gut suggests to me, like The Cornwall incident, the poodle nation may fade to the background in a valiant retreat.
#4
We might have gutless leadership but if you remember Gulf war 1 & 2,Afghanistan and Balkans we were always there unlike many of our Europeans counterparts.
Respect your allies or lose them!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
07/24/2007 5:19 Comments ||
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#5
There was a report the other day that the British armed forces are at maximum deployment. If I understood it correctly, there simply aren't any more reserves to throw at new problems... not to mention bullets.
#9
The Brits are good troops. Our troops are good troops. Both of our nations suffer from left nattering nabobs of negativism and defeat--mostly in the dhemmi-led Congress. We need civilian leaders worthy of the troops. The so-called dhemmi debate last night was a pathetically staged piece of dreck.
#10
1. Even if there are no Brit troops to go into Iran, thats not whats important, whats important is that if and when the US goes in, the Brits would give their political support to our action.
2. The more Gordon Brown really wants sanctions to work, the more he has to leave force on the table. Only the prospect of the use of force by the US and UK will frighten the Russians into allowing tougher sanctions to pass.
#13
We are only sick due to mass immigration which Labour has encouraged leaving us with no identity and therefore diluted patriosm.This PC Government is creating our Great country to decline as they put the immigrants ahead of their own and the proud to be british country are being actively pressurised to accept a multicultural country that was alien to us back in the 50's.The British spirit of WW11 has been replaced by delusion and apathy.This country has a welfare culture that Maggie Thatcher would never would have accepted.We are the dumping ground of Europe/World when its comes to scroungers,benefit seekers.As one czech girl told me on a recent visit to Prague 'Your country is soft they accept all the gypsies from eastern europe who do not want to work!"
Posted by: Paul ||
07/24/2007 9:58 Comments ||
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#14
Roger Wilco, Paul. I would rather have a Para regiment, a few SAS and SBS squads, some Harrier cover and nice canteen with hot tea than to have the French or German divisions of pansy-wansys at my disposal. It isn't the quantity but the quality. And at the heart of the warrior class it doesn't get much better than the British soldier.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/24/2007 10:05 Comments ||
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#15
Give me an SAS team, a bn of Paras, and British tac-air, and I'll call that better than a full mech division of the pukes the German Army has sent to the Stan.
Don't diss the Brits. They punch well above their weight.
#16
So is it agreed that the picture of the little dog is not a nice way to depict our cousins across the pond? Or maybe it was meant for Mr. Brown and not the rest of them.
Left wing people are the enemy not the hardworking british people who are fleeing the UK in droves BTW!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
07/24/2007 11:55 Comments ||
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#18
I'm pretty sure Steve intended that picture as a commentary on Gordon Brown's selection of several anti-US ministers rather than as a hit on Britian herself.
Most of us here at Rantburg are deeply worried about Britain precisely because we value her as a key ally and as the original source of so much that is good in our country.
#19
By the time Brown gives up on sanctions there won't BE a UK anymore. Check in with EU Referendum. This IGC "treaty" will stip all sovereignty from the individual Euro states and give it to Brussels in the area of Foreign and Defense Policy.
Even the weasels themselves admit that the "new" treaty is the constitution that was voted down by the French and the Dutch.
But this time, they kept the content but call it a treaty so no referendums will be allowed. Brown has already said that the Brits won't get a vote.
#21
"I appeal to the Iranian authorities to understand the feelings that other countries..."
Feelings? Feelings? Nothing more than feelings? What? Was Brownine at Babs' concert the other night and she did this old song just for him and it is now an earworm in his pointy little skull?
The High Court of Justice on Tuesday gave the state 14 days to remove an 82 centimeter-high cement barrier built along a 41-kilometer stretch of road linking Jewish settlements in the south Hebron hills.
It also ordered the state to pay NIS 30,000 in costs to the three groups that originally petitioned against the barrier for failing to implement the order within the six-month deadline handed down by the court on December 14, 2006.
During a hearing on Monday, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justice Ayala Rocaccia fiercely criticized the army for failing to carry out the order on time. "There was an explicit order to remove the barrier," said Beinisch. "This is not the way to treat the court." Procaccia added, "If this is the way the state behaves regarding verdicts, what can one ask of the average citizen? What message are you trying to convey?"
What the state of Israel cares for the lives of Jews living in Judea & Samaria, Jezebel.
#3
I wonder what the high court will say when a car full of explosives drives over the site of the demolished wall and blows up a jewish neighborhood.
I don't think 82 centimeters is high enough to qualify as a "berlin wall" type of structure, it would only be for keeping vehicular traffic out.
#5
bigjim-ky, you know exactly what they will say when that happens. Nothing, nada, zip, bupkis. After all, the dingleberry with the bomb has a constitutional right to kill people, dontcha know.
#7
In this case, there is a problem. If a settlement is in the West Bank, but contiguous with Israel, and the wall is built around it, fine. It is a de facto part of Israel, even if it technically in the West Bank. It is gone for good.
But other settlements, that Israel has already disavowed, deep within the West Bank and nowhere near the border, are a different matter.
By protecting the highways between such deep settlements, the Israeli Army has created multiple partitions to the West Bank. This means that Paleos living on one side of the highway might have to travel 20 miles to get to the other side of the road *in their territory*.
Eventually, Israel has said it plans to close these deep settlements in the West Bank anyway. But since closing the settlements in Gaza cost Likud a LOT of support, nobody is really enthusiastic about shutting them down in the West Bank.
So the court is putting its foot down, in essence saying that the Army cannot build additional protections to these deep settlements. Though they can defend them, they cannot protect them.
SAN ANTONIO - An Army major has been arrested on charges that he took $9.6 million in kickbacks and anticipated receiving $5.4 million more for rigging military supply contracts. Federal authorities arrested Maj. John Cockerham, a contracting and procurement officer, and his wife, Melissa, on Monday as they returned from Louisiana to Fort Sam Houston. The two are charged with accepting bribes, defrauding the United States, money laundering and conspiracy.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy ordered them held without bail pending a bond hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The couple asked for court-appointed lawyers, which Mathy granted.
John Cockerham, 41, is assigned to a division within U.S. Army South, which is headquartered at Fort Sam Houston. Melissa Cockerham, 40, is accused of accepting bribe payments for her husband and helping conceal them, according to criminal complaint affidavits unsealed Monday.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Sierra confirmed the arrests but declined to comment beyond the affidavits.
The case broke open in December, when agents seized a ledger at the couple's home on Fort Sam Houston, the affidavits said. Investigators with the Army's Criminal Investigations Division and the Defense Department's Criminal Investigative Service, as well as the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies, are examining all contracts handled by John Cockerham. They're trying to determine the companies he allegedly took bribes from, according to court records.
According to the affidavits, the bribe payments included hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash delivered to Melissa Cockerham and others in bags and briefcases. Investigators say many of the payments occurred in 2005, and the money was deposited in banks in the Middle East and then moved to banks in the Caribbean. "In total, the ledger records that J. Cockerham received $9.6 million in bribe payments from at least eight contractors and anticipated receiving $5.4 million more," the affidavits said. The seized documentation also included information about a Detroit bank account containing nearly $175,000 that was allegedly opened by Megde "Mike" Ayesh Ismail, who is also charged in the complaint. He is the suspected payoff for an $800,000 bottled-water contract that John Cockerham allegedly steered to Green Valley, a contractor in Kuwait that employed Ismail, court records say.
"A business opportunity for you...and for me, effendi."
The affidavit said the Cockerhams have admitted some involvement for their roles in the case.
#3
$9.6 million received and $5.4 million anticipated?
The sheer greed is amazing .... and it will be VERY interesting to find out if any of those contractors were connected to the Kuwaiti royal family. That's a whole lot of pocket change to be coming from only 8 sources.
#6
#1 "they returned from Louisiana"
What, besides corruption, is the connection with Louisiana, incubator of corruption?
Posted by: Glenmore 2007-07-24 12:03
Probably had family there, and visited them. The only things in Louisiana the military would be interested in are an ammo plant in the northwest of the state, oil refineries all across the southern part, sugar, and Tabasco sauce from Avery Island.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 14:54 Comments ||
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#7
I'd certainly like to see the prosecution and exclusion of all suppliers who cooperated in this bribery scheme. Someone who relies upon influence to win contracts usually won't have any scruples about cutting corners with quality and reliability, things that are crucial to our military's fighting strength.
#8
We caught a couple Marine SNCOs and an officer complicit in skimming off the top when dealing w/local contractors last time out. What broke the case is when they came home and one of the wives suspected one of the husbands cheating. That, and all three were dumb enough to buy BMW's, new harley's, and a Jaguar.......
#9
pretty obviously, they, like so many others, were discombobulated in their criminal enterprise being interrupted by the unfortunate God-driven Katrina. Sounds like they're entitled to compensation
/LA Donk
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/24/2007 20:51 Comments ||
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#10
Both the major and his wife should be put up against a wall and shot. He betrayed his oath as an officer and they betrayed the public trust. From such treachery there is no way back. Shoot them quick and bury them deep.
#11
Concur with RVW - if guilty, do the Danny Deever on them quickly. Otherwise, they may run for Congress - and end up heading some Congressional ethics committee.
Frustrated by delays in health care, injured Iraq war veterans accused VA Secretary Jim Nicholson in a lawsuit of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment. The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco,
where else?
seeks broad changes in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, it charges that the VA has failed warriors on numerous fronts. It contends the VA failed to provide prompt disability benefits, failed to add staff to reduce wait times for medical care and failed to boost services for post-traumatic stress disorder. The lawsuit also accuses the VA of deliberately cheating some veterans by allegedly working with the Pentagon to misclassify PTSD claims as pre-existing personality disorders to avoid paying benefits. The VA and Pentagon have generally denied such charges.
"When one of our combat veterans walks into a VA hospital, then they must see a doctor that day," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, which filed the lawsuit. "When a war veteran needs disability benefits because he or she can't work, then they must get a disability check in a few weeks."
"The VA has betrayed our veterans," Sullivan said.
VA spokesman Matt Smith said Monday he could not comment on a pending lawsuit. "Through outreach efforts, the VA ensures returning Global War on Terror service members have access to the widely recognized quality health care they have earned, including services such as prosthetics or mental health care," Smith said. "VA has also given priority handling to their monetary disability benefit claims."
The lawsuit comes amid intense political and public scrutiny of the VA and Pentagon following reports of shoddy outpatient care of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and elsewhere.
#1
I sense a potential need for.... contractor outsourcing. I've never been shorted or missed a dfas payment. A few of my buddies have been erroneously "deceased" and payments stopped, but they were able to recover all payments without a great deal of difficulty. DFAS appears to run both smoothly and efficiently.
http://www.dfas.mil/
In FY 2006, DFAS
Paid 145.3 million pay transactions (5.9 million people)
Made 7 million travel payments
Paid 13.8 million commercial invoices
Posted 57 million general ledger transactions
Managed military retirement and health benefits funds ($255 billion)
Made an average of $424 billion in disbursements to pay recipients
Managed $20.9 billion in foreign military sales (reimbursed by foreign governments)
Accounted for 878 active DoD appropriations
#2
Ditto for us, Besoeker. The travel payments alone are a hugely complex requirement.
No, the VA system has not betrayed veterans. It might have fallen short but I am pretty damned sure it wasn't deliberate nor was it a betrayal. That language has me spitting mad.
I see 2 issues intertwined in the attacks on the VA. First is the absurd fantasy held by many on the left that it is possible for humans to create and run a perfect bureaucracy. And second is the deep desire to corrode the trust of the public in the military and of the military in the leadership.
There are real problems with the leadership in some cases and the military isn't perfect. But this is being used pretty cynically by some on the left.
And in the middle is a military that was gutted under Clinton, rose up magnificently to the challenges of the last 6 years and is weary and strained but still functioning with great honor and effectiveness -- where allowed.
No More Vietnams. NO MORE. We need to stand up to the attacks, while fixing the problems. We need to rise up vocally and publicly against the Nation's lying articles that slime our brave soldiers and contractors - this war's equivalent of Kerry's Vietnam Winter Soldier lies.
#3
"When one of our combat veterans walks into a VA hospital, then they must see a doctor that day," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense,
See a doctor the same day for any complaint? How about some real Common Sense? (That statement of his shows he is grandstanding).
Hell, you don't get that in active duty! First a medic for triage at the troop med clinic for sick call, then a nurse for exam and eval at battalion, then a PA at base infirmary or local hospital - that's normally the best you'll do unless you're acutely ill with something very serious.
These guys are grandstanding. Does the VA work? Of course it barely does - its a government agency, so its going to have slow movement, stifling paperwork and all kinds of idiocy attached to it. No lawsuit in the world will change that unless it forces the VA to privatize.
I say turn to Kaiser Permanente and use their model. Its been better for me than tri-care.
#4
Our boy Paulie also reviews books. Here's one he reviewed at the Veterans for Common Sense website...
Others defend our liberties by writing excellent books. Republic: A Novel of America's Future should be required reading for as a forcast of what can go wrong when people fail to take responsibility for their freedom.
Written by my good friend Charles Sheehan-Miles, I felt a deep cold chill after reading the book, set in independent-minded West Virginia. Charles weaves a very realistic tale warning us what to expect when Dick Cheney remains President through 2017, and our United States falls further into a tyrannical abyss.
His political fiction takes a common sense Gulf War hero, Lieutenant Colonel Murphy, and places him in a very difficult situation where he must choose between our Constitutional values and the political expedience of tyranny.
His book is not déjà vu for anyone who lived during Adolf Hitler's tyrannical rise in Nazi Germany in 1933 portrayed in William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
With the new novel's fast pace, youll get a political thriller with accurate scenes depicting our corrupt Administration and Congress lifted right from BuzzFlash or TruthOut, among the last reliable media outlets remaining not owned outright by supporters of the Administration.
There are also war scenes to please folks looking for realistic whiz-bang tank battles set in the rugged terrain of cold, wooded West Virginia and not deep inside a blazing and desolate Iraq. Republic is the best contemporary fiction Ive ever read. The book reminds me that, to paraphrase Sinclair Lewis, christo-fascism is happening here in America.
With the loss of habeas corpus, with the rise of military tribunals who are answerable to no one that can impose the death penalty, with widespread illegal government eavesdropping on your new i-phone, and with our Federal Government lying to start wars of aggression resulting in hundreds of thousands dead and bankrupting our Treasury, we should all emulate the dedicated refugees in the woods at the end of Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, reciting and remembering the noble ideals of the Enlightenment before they are erased by Winston Smiths enemies as if we lived in George Orwell's 1984.
Sadly, Charles reminds us in the reality-based world that George Lucas' Empire did strike back against democracy in 2000, when the ghosts of disgraced President Richard Nixon, including Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Cheney, took power. All they want is more brutal power. Now we live under the gun of Blackwater mercanaries, our President's own praetorian guard. We have faith-based government that imposes a religious litmus test before providing social services and naming new political appointees. We have corporations gutting consumer and environmental regulations designed to protect people from corporations -- just as we fought the East India Company in 1776.
The modern Rasputin, Karl Rove, manipulates voter registration and elections so that a dry-drunk moron with thirty percent approval ratings gets installed and re-installed as president when all Bush truly wanted was to be dictator. And we have a President and Congress blindly infatuated with defense contractor campaign cash contributions and piles of purloined profits from their addiction to endless government funding of unrestricted neo-conservative pre-emptive war.
Sounds like a lefty The Turner Diaries.
Grandstanding? Ya think?
#5
I'm a disabled veteran. It took me about 15 months for my initial evaluation to result in a pension, and almost two years for the second evaluation after my condition worsened. One of the major problems is that there are few counsellors to help vets apply for disability, and the wording of disability claims has to be very precise. On average, I see eleven different doctors when I go for an evaluation. That takes most of one day, and sometimes more than one day.
That the VA is overworked and understaffed is a given, but it's the role of Congress and the President to correct those problems, not the courts. This lawsuit has no legs to stand on, and will eventually be dismissed.
OS, I couldn't agree more. Tricare isn't very good for retirees, and hardly better for active duty. It usually takes me three to six weeks to get an appointment for anything but a chronic problem. The VA is not an emergency care service, although some hospitals do have walk-in clinics. The average waiting time for walk-ins is two to six hours, unless the problem is critical. The service is a little better at private hospitals, but not by much.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 15:03 Comments ||
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A former sailor charged with giving terrorists secret information about the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them also discussed attacking military personnel and recruiting stations, prosecutors said Monday.
Hassan Abujihaad discussed sniper attacks on military personnel last year and in 2003 or 2004 discussed attacking recruitment sites, federal prosecutors said.
It was unclear yet whether Abujihaad would face new charges based on those allegations. Prosecutors have told Abujihaad's attorneys that they might use the discussions to try to introduce evidence of uncharged conduct. ``It's an ongoing conspiracy to engage in attacks on U.S. military personnel,'' prosecutor Stephen Reynolds said in U.S. District Court.
Abujihaad's lawyers reacted skeptically. ``The government will have a tall task claiming there is a conspiracy out of that,'' defense attorney Robert Golger said.
Abujihaad, 31, pleaded not guilty in April to providing material support to terrorists with intent to kill U.S. citizens and disclosing classified information relating to the national defense. He has been held without bail since his arrest in March in Phoenix, where he worked at a UPS warehouse.
Abujihaad is charged in the same case as Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist arrested in 2004 and accused of running Web sites to raise money for terrorism. Investigators found information about the location of U.S. Navy ships on a computer belonging to Ahmad, who is to be extradited to the U.S. Abujihaad exchanged e-mails with Ahmad while serving on the USS Benfold, a guided missile destroyer, in 2000 and 2001, according to an FBI affidavit. In those e-mails, Abujihaad discussed naval briefings and praised Osama bin Laden and those who attacked the USS Cole in 2000, according to the affidavit.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why isn't he in military court?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/24/2007 0:17 Comments ||
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#5
Super Hose, he was discharged from the Navy in 2002; most of the things he is accused of occured in 2003-2004 and later.
He may have been named Paul Hall when he enlisted in the Navy; he changed his name when he converted to Islam.
#6
Might want to look into the shipments he handled @ UPS; incoming or outgoing to the ME might have been sufficient for him to slip stuff by customs and into who know whos hands??????
as a grunt he would probably fall into the invisible area we all walk through every day: becomes one with the scenery.
Islamabad, July 24: Pakistan has been barred from meeting its military expenditures through World Bank's budgetary support, after the global lender included such spendings into its negative list.
"World Bank's budgetary support for Pakistan cannot be utilised for military expenditures as it falls in the negative list for the country's operation," The News reported on Tuesday, quoting a bank's official without naming him.
The World Bank has so far been the largest provider of development assistance finance to the Islamic nation but according to sources, "it has recently expressed concern over the Pakistani government diverting portions of loans to meet military spendings".
Pakistan has increased its defence budget to USD 4.5 billion for the Fiscal Year 2007-08 up by nearly ten per cent from the current financial year.
"Separate allocations would be made for the purchase of 'Thunder' aircraft from China and 'F-16' multi-role fighter jets from the United States," the Dawn had earlier reported, quoting sources.
In order to get rid of the financial woes, the World Bank official said, "Provinces are used to pay off expensive loans to the federal government after receiving loans from the International Development Association (IDA) assistance".
"The World Bank's assistance mainly relies on budgetary support rather than programme loans, as the bank considers this approach as good instrument for moving towards the whole reform agenda in a coherent manner."
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/24/2007 07:45 ||
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#1
Note to Pakistan: "Development Aid" loans are meant to build roads, dams, hospitals, schools etc. Warplanes and artillery guns are not considered "development" in the civilized world.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/24/2007 7:59 Comments ||
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#2
The WB seems to be using the special non-fungible money again. That way the Paks won't be able to move 4.5 billion out of general funding and into the military account, and replace it with the WB's 4.5 billion.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 9:23 Comments ||
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#3
Fred, luckily the WB anticipated that. They gave the money in specially marked $100 bills. That way, they can tell if the marked bills show up in a defense contractor's account.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Sunday asked Pakistan's foreign minster, Khurshid Kassuri, "Will the Pakistani military go into that tribal area along the border with Afghanistan and crush the Taliban and al Qaeda."
The minister's irate response was that the Pakistani military is already there. "Pakistan's commitment cannot be doubted by anybody," he continued, "and that is why some of our people do not like what we read in some of your newspapers ... It really makes us very angry when we are suffering so many casualties."
The minister made it clear that he was particularly concerned about stories suggesting the US military might attack the tribal areas itself, since Pakistan cannot tolerate the level of civilian casualties among its own people that the US finds completely acceptable in Iraq. "We do not want something said just for the purpose of having an effect on American public opinion," he said. "The whole purpose of this exercise is to win hearts and minds of the people."
"Look at the ratio of casualties between your troops and Iraqi civilians," Kassuri continued. "Do you know what our casualties have been? When five or six hundred of our soldiers have died ... we were able to get hold of about eight or nine hundred fatalities by the militants, which means the ratio is 1 to 1.2. Whereas the ratio in Iraq I do not wish to even mention. ... We cannot afford what is conveniently called collateral damage."
After Kassuri indicated that he was offended by by the insulting tone of many US newspaper stories about Pakistan, Blitzer played him a clip of Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend saying, "The president's made perfectly clear, if we had actionable targets anywhere in the world, putting aside whether it was Pakistan or anyplace else, we would pursue those targets."
"Is that acceptable to your government, Foreign Minister?" Blitzer asked.
"Pakistan's army is one of the most organized armies in the world. ... What we can do, nobody can do better," the foreign minister spat out. However, he continued on a more conciliatory note, "All I would like to ask from you, Wolf, is for the American public to realize that Pakistan has been in the frontline. It has suffered major casualities. And we would like those to be acknowledged."
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/24/2007 07:42 ||
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#1
"Pakistan's army is one of the most organized armies in the world. ... What we can do, nobody can do better,"
About a decade ago President Mubarak of Egypt is said to have confronted Nawaz Sharif about Egyptian jihadis training in Pakistan.
Sharif gave the usual excuses about the army not being able to move against the terror training camps.
Exasperated, Mubarak asked him "What if I send my army to clean out the area? We can do it if your army is incapable".
But Kasuri is correct about the Pakistani army bing organized. The ISI is staffed by officers on temporary assignment from their regular military units. The ISI does the bidding of the Pak Army General Staff. It is no rogue organization.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/24/2007 8:11 Comments ||
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#2
Wolfie Blitzer reminds me of young snot nosed punk who tries to stir up trouble between his older sisters buy snitching one off against the other.
Hard to believe that this guy is the professional standard for Television today.
Some CNN broad probably has his nuts in a jar.
~~~~~
As for making The Paki-Waki foreign minster and his friends 'very angry', too fucking bad sissys.
What we did in A-Stan originally was a brilliant strategy, executed brilliantly.
We out 'asymmetrical'ed' the Talibunnies.
It really should be the model in the long war against Islamic terrorism.
We have the resource and the minds to do it 'Light', Parking an Army somewhere [Iraq] with the long logistics tail should be the last resort...if need OK but...
In Afghanistan we had Ahmad Shah Masood and the Northern Alliance to work with. [9/11 NY and Masood's assassination]
Today events are unfolding fast in Pakistan, tending South..
What are your thoughts on the Paki Shiites are there any reliable allies in that group? You would think that they would have some great Intel and be natural enemies of the Paki Sunnis.
...
#8
US newspapers make me angry, also. And for the same reason Khurshid. Your pansy-wansy Army is so organized it can't stop parading and making charts instead of fighting.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/24/2007 10:11 Comments ||
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#9
RD: Asymmetric warfare is fine, etc. I would prefer radically asymmetrical retaliation. You threaten us; we kill you.
#10
Sorry, but I just don't give a damn about "collateral damage" in Islamic countries. The "collateral" is the same citizenry that has tolerated this Islamic nonsense. Islam is the problem. Islam has always been the problem.
#13
There are many, especially in the Gilgit and "northern areas" of Pak Kashmir that have never forgotten the pogrom instigated against them.
Insurgencies in Gilgit, Balochistan, Waziristan etc would be fairly easy to sustain by the CIA. Nothing like the Northern Allliance though... no real threat to the Pakistani state which can bring overwhelming firepower and manpower to bear.
USAF could rapidly degrade most of the airpower and heavy weapons but it is unlikely the locals could resist the Pak infantry.
There is however an army nearby available for use. With more than a million men, all volunteers, and a long fighting history.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/24/2007 11:21 Comments ||
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#14
Not to mention strong opinions on the topic of Islamicism in Pakistan ....
#15
What bothers me is guys like this don't seem to understand the concept of a free press. It's just like the ayatollahs who get their panties in a bunch about Salman Rushdie. It's just like the Chinese who "warn" us about US media reports that attack the crap they export to us. Get over it you morons. If you don't like what somebody says then present us with a logical counter argument. Otherwise, if you are unable to compete in a free market place of ideas, go back to your $h!t holes because we are sick of your whining and your threats. The US media, as irresponsible as they may be, are not subject to your totalitarian dictatorships and they are free say whatever they want. In case you didn't know, that's what we're fighting for.
Spot on, Excal! We need to make Islam's penchant for seething a very painful and lethal proposition. This "Death to America" taurine fecal matter should be rewarded with a promptly delivered sniper round wherever it gets spewed.
Illiterate Muslims rely quite heavily upon word-of-mouth communication. High context cultures' value of oratorial skills makes it crucial that we dispense with those who are disposed to fomenting terrorism and violence in general. The West must abandon its egocentric relativism and finally understand that Muslims DO NOT think like we do, if they even do at all.
It's long past tea to give up all hope that Islam will ever act rationally. NOWHERE in history have they given any indication of it and to think so makes us nearly as stupid as them. Some extremely harsh behavioral modification is in order lest it become necessary to simply eliminate the problem altogether. Those Muslims who manage to survive the process will thank us for it later. Those who do not, will not, cannot or refuse to are the ones we want dead anyway.
#18
The death and dismemberment of pakiwakiland is long overdue. We need to hold talks with India about ending this piece of crapulence called pakistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 15:31 Comments ||
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#19
i agree with you zen that was great rant and i think we are already talking with the Indians about wakiland since they seem too buy alot of US and chinese military hardware.by the way the chinese was put in there since there seems too be alot of tensions between pakis and chinese here lately
#20
Hey Pakistan, maybe if you wouldn't get your turbans in a tizzy over everything imaginable (up to and including discussions about the weather and the correct time of day), the rest of the world might actually give a crap. Until then, *yawn*.
#21
Seems like most of the collateral damage in Iraq is from suicide bombers blowing themselves and innocents up in markets, police stations, outside hospitals, etc. Muslims seem to have a high tolerance for this. It's an odd way to win hearts and minds, but it seems to warm the hearts of a lot of Muslims.
Pro-Taliban militants on Monday warned Pakistani soldiers to quit fighting or face more suicide attacks, as peace talks faltered in the conflict-torn area bordering Afghanistan. The militants threatened that explosives would bring soldiers the gift of death in a pamphlet entitled Till Islam Lives in Islamabad, distributed in Miranshah in the North Waziristan tribal district.
The pamphlet, issued by a group calling itself the Mujahedin-e-Islam, accused troops of doing the bidding of the United States and leading impure lives. The Governors FATA Secretariat on Monday set up a 48-member peace committee for Sarokai, sub-division of South Waziristan Agency, to maintain peace in the area. The committee consists of leaders from diverse tribes, religious scholars and agency councillors, according to South Waziristan Agency Political Officer Khaista Rehman.
He said the committee was first of its kind in Sarokai, adding that more committees would be established in Ladha and Wana divisions. He said these committees would help solve minor conflicts of the local tribes. The peace committee members will meet fortnightly to review its performance, Rehman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#4
Much like how Christian symbols were eradicated in lands overrun by Huns and Vandals, Islam needs to be chiseled from every edifice it currently occupies.
#5
anyone ever seen the documentary from al jizz abput the taliban blowing up the giant buddhas in afghanistan? It took them like 3 weeks and they had too bring in paki engineers too show them how too do it
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed resigned on Monday from National Assembly. Qazis private secretary Attaur Rehman submitted the resignation to the NA speaker.
In his resignation, Qazi said one-man rule was bypassing parliament on important matters. Military operations in Balochistan, Waziristan, Bajaur tribal agencies and the Lal Masjid operation had widened the gulf between the people and the army, he said.
MMA secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Qazi had breached the MMAs discipline. The resignation is a shocking disappointment for me. The MMA wanted explanations from Qazi, Fazl told reporters after an All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM) Joint Action Committee meeting at PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haqs house.
Fazl ducked a question about MMA Deputy Parliamentary Leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmads demand for holding an election for a new MMA chief. Hafiz Hussain Ahmad praised Qazis decision and urged other MMA members to follow him.
Online adds: MMA sources said the resignation was Qazis personal decision and that it was unlikely that other MMA members would resign.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Die already, you bearded freak. When will Pakis learn that their cleric class are parasites?
The federal government on Monday rejected the local Taliban demand for the removal of security check posts across North Waziristan. The big no to the Taliban demand came at the jirga members meeting with NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai in Peshawar, following their two-day stay in Miranshah where they held parleys with Utmanzai tribe elders and clerics. The governor excused himself from meeting the demand, saying there is no question of removing the check posts unless the government is assured (by the Taliban) of an improvement in the security condition, a jirga member, who wished not to be named, told Daily Times.
The jirga member said the governor argued that the check posts had been re-established due to deteriorating law and order in North Waziristan. Now we will go back to Miranshah tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss the government demand with the Taliban, the jirga member said. He did not agree that the talks had been hit by snags over the question of check posts. A government communiqué, meanwhile, said the jirga members told the governor While some progress has been made during the two-day negotiations with the North Waziristan Agency tribesmen, more time and effort will be required for a conclusive and purposeful dialogue.The jirga is likely to meet the governor before leaving for Miranshah.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD - Iraqs top five political leaders are due to hold a summit this week in an attempt to end a political crisis which has paralyzed the country for months, officials said on Monday.
They told Reuters that Kurdish, Sunni Arab and Shiite leaders acknowledge the political impasse and may meet on Friday. They will be holding marathon meetings. So far we have the 27th as the date but it is yet to be confirmed, a senior government official told Reuters.
The summit will bring together President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. It will also involve Masoud Barzani, president of Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and a top aide of powerful Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. The government official said the summit may also be extended to include other key figures such as former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi.
The leaders are expected to discuss various issues, including how to agree on amending the constitution. The identity of the disputed oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk could also be on the agenda, officials said.
Malikis government is under mounting pressure to meet benchmarks set by Washington to end sectarian violence and push for economic and political reforms. But political wrangling among its factions has left it weak and shaky. Sunni Arab ministers in the government have stopped attending cabinet meetings, while Shiite ministers loyal to fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have left the government.
The situation is very serious and the country is deadlocked, so they need to meet to move things forward, said a senior Shiite official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If you would do your jobs regardless to your tribe, you may be okay. Same could be said about our congress, but there is no hope for them.
Last year saw a sharp, 50-per-cent surge in the number of Israelis who obtained German citizenship, federal statisticians said Monday as they released naturalization figures.
Out of 124,830 people who renounced their old citizenship in 2006 and became Germans, 4,313 were from Israel, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said.
The overall number gained 7 per cent compared to 2005, rising for the first time since an upwards spike in 2000 following law changes.
Foreigners can apply to be naturalized as Germans after eight years as legal immigrants, but Germany does not grant them citizenship unless they legally abandon their old nationality.
Meanwhile, immigration of Jews from France TO Israel is at record highs.
#1
interesting, I gather then you can't hold dual citizenship if you are a German citizen. Jewish history is so deeply traced in Europe I can understand the pull on some folks inspite of the Holocaust.
my opinion, we should have the same here to. No dual citizenship. Especially if a person works in/for our Intel or Government for loyalty sake.
I know many folks hold dual passports and have different views on the subject from mine though.
#2
"The rapid decline of births taking place in German population since the mid-sixties, has severe consequences for the structure of society and it would be dangerous to ignore this development. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to compensate this decline through migration and naturalization efforts. It is the responsibility of German politics to make use of these chances. On top of that, it will be important to fulfill the task of integrating foreigners." Source: A UN report entitled "Replacement migration."
"Replacement migration" at work, but not working very well at least in Germany.
#3
Post-Holocaust, any Jew can get German citizenship for the asking, if I recall correctly. After the Wall came down, there was a flood of Soviet Jews into Germany, as well as the U.S. and Israel. It quite changed the character of the German Jewish community, not to mention straining community resources, even with government subsidies. Most, after all, knew nothing about the religion they were claiming.
Lemme see....per this article, "only" 9% of the (most moderate sample) Paki-Waki's think that suicide homicide bombings are Okey-Dokey. I live in the Chicago area. Per The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, there are apx 400,000 Muzzies in the neighborhood. If the Chicago area reflects this moderate 9%, that means only 36,000 local whack-jobs are interested in terminating the lives of anyone who gets in the way of Allan's way to the raisins. Maybe it's only 1/2 of the number? Maybe only 1/2 of that? There, now I can sleep better.....
Posted by: OyVey1 ||
07/24/2007 16:19 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Too bad taqiyya makes all such surveys worth exactly ZERO. Muslims need to be clubbed over the head with their cult's fatal shortcomings until they either lose consciousness or do something about it.
#5
The okey-dokey 9% figure means that they are likely providing a financial support for all forms of jihad, including splodeys. Even if there is only 100 dedicated splodeys within US & Canada, it is 100 too many. It took only 19 of them to bring down WTC and make a big gapping hole in Pentagon and murder nearly 3000 people one morning.
Damascus, 24 July (AKI) - Syrian authorities cancelled, just hours before it was set to take place, a conference Tuesday in Damascus by groups representing the so-called "Iraqi resistance" - including former members of Saddam Hussein's regime - opposing the Baghdad government and its US-led international backers.
No reason was given for the scrapping of the event.
"And I promise you I'll never desert you again because after 'Salome' we'll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!... All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up. "
Some 500 delegates - including former officers from Saddam's army, the Council of the Muslim Ulama, the banned former ruling Baath Party, Communists as well as several tribal chiefs - were expected to attend the gathering.
The aim of the conference was to bring together the different, mostly Sunni Muslim groups under a single political programme with delegates issuing a final joint declaration.
Syria is the home of many political exiles who fled Iraq when Saddam was toppled in 2003 following the US-led invasion.
However, not all dissident groups in the Sunni camp were in favour of the conference with former Iraqi deputy-president Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, reportedly a leader of the new, underground Baath movement (not to be confused with the "old" permanently underground Baath movement) , dismissing delegates as not being representative.
"Yeah, just put us Baathists back in the saddle and we'll show you "dismissive"!
#1
It's hard to hold a seminar when your major speakers are dead, captured, or have defected to the other side. I guess Nancy Pelosi had a schedule conflict and couldn't fill in.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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#2
Nancy Peloosi, dead, captured? What remains?
Has defected to the other side... not overtly, but she seems to be squarely planted there.
Lebanese opposition politician Michael Aoun and his allies announced that they will compete for the seat in parliament left vacant when minister Pierre Gemayel was brutally assassinated by gunmen in November 2006. "We have jointly decided to wade into the Metn elections like we did before," Aoun said in reference to the 2005 general elections, referring to his parternership with MP Michael Murr, and Tashnag Party leader Hovik Makhtarian.
Aoun's candidate, Camil Khoury, will run against Pierre Gemayel's father, former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel, who announced his intention to replace his son (pictured right) last week. "I am a candidate for the deputy's seat in the Metn (mountains northeast of Beirut). Isn't it strange that the father is succeeding his son?" a visibly moved Gemayel asked in a televised press conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
George Galloway, the Respect MP, was ordered out of the House of Commons last night during a debate on a motion to suspend him for 18 days over his alleged financial links to Saddam Hussein's regime.
LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he would not rule out military action against Iran, but believed a policy of sanctions could still persuade Teheran to drop its disputed nuclear programme.
SAN ANTONIO - An Army major has been arrested on charges that he took $9.6 million in kickbacks and anticipated receiving $5.4 million more for rigging military supply contracts. Federal authorities arrested Maj. John Cockerham, a contracting and procurement officer, and his wife, Melissa, on Monday as they returned from Louisiana to Fort Sam Houston. The two are charged with accepting bribes, defrauding the United States, money laundering and conspiracy.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A former sailor charged with giving terrorists secret information about the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them also discussed attacking military personnel and recruiting stations, prosecutors said Monday.
Pro-Taliban militants on Monday warned Pakistani soldiers to quit fighting or face more suicide attacks, as peace talks faltered in the conflict-torn area bordering Afghanistan. The militants threatened that explosives would bring soldiers the gift of death in a pamphlet entitled Till Islam Lives in Islamabad, distributed in Miranshah in the North Waziristan tribal district.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) president Qazi Hussain Ahmed resigned on Monday from National Assembly. Qazis private secretary Attaur Rehman submitted the resignation to the NA speaker.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs top five political leaders are due to hold a summit this week in an attempt to end a political crisis which has paralyzed the country for months, officials said on Monday.
