For a country with a fighting history such as Afghanistan, where invading forces have so often been humbled, there could be no greater indignity than to be told to hand over your guns and fight with the weapon of the infidel. Yet the new recruits to the Afghan National Army (ANA) are being asked to swap their beloved Kalashnikov AK47, probably the most famous weapon in the world, for the American M16.
To judge from the bewildered and disapproving faces of the Afghan soldiers yesterday at Camp Tombstone, the training facility in the middle of Helmand province where the Americans and British train the ANA, the decision to scrap the AK47s for the M16 was not going down too well.
The reason for this dramatic change in the fighting culture of the average Afghan soldier is not to boost the coffers of the American manufacturer of the M16 - although it undoubtedly will. Rather, it is designed to improve the efficiency of the ANA and teach its soldiers how to preserve ammunition to ensure that, when a battle is fought, the enemy is defeated before the bullets run out.
Traditionally, the Afghan will fire his Kalashnikov from the hip as he advances, spraying the enemy in all directions on automatic mode until every bullet has been expended. But that is not the way of the British or American soldier who uses his ammunition stocks with greater husbandry and fires to kill, rather than to deluge the enemy with a wall of bullets.
The M16 is fired automatically but in triple bursts, not a constant stream, and never from the hip but with aimed shots from the shoulder. It is against the very nature of warfare as practised by an Afghan soldier, but at Camp Tombstone the first attempts are being made to consign the AK47 to history.
The reaction of the soldiers of the ANA's No 3 Kandak (battalion) of the Afghan 4th Brigade, normally based in the southern province of Uruzgan and now spearheading the switch to the M16, said it all. This is made of plastic, it will break, one cried. They held up the M16 in ridicule. Same comment when we gave up our M-14s, Matel toy!
But the powers that be, including these soldiers' own commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Abdul Hai Neshat, believe that the future is M16, and the AK47, however well loved, is the past. Yesterday at Camp Tombstone was the first time that No 3 Kandak had laid its hands on the US weapon.
A key part of the British Army's job at the base is to instruct their Afghan counterparts how to fire the M16, but officers admit that convincing them to adopt the gun could be tough. The Kalashnikov is cleaned just by covering it in diesel. It comes out looking spotless, Major Robert Armstrong, the Royal Irish Regiment officer responsible for training the Afghan soldiers, said. But we tell them that the M16 is lighter and more accurate than the AK47 and I think they'll come round. There's no question, though, that the AK47 is a good rifle. You can bury it in the sand for 100 years, dig it out and it'll fire first time.
Sergeant Rab McEwan, of the 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, had the task of introducing the Afghan soldiers to the M16. I'm happy with the way it has gone so far but for the Afghans, the Kalashnikov is a cultural thing - they'll take time to get used to the M16, he said.
Colonel Neshat had one reservation. I'm concerned whether there will be enough ammunition with the M16. My soldiers are used to firing hundreds of bullets.
#1
there could be no greater indignity than to be told to hand over your guns and fight with the weapon of the infidel.
Because, you know, the ruskies were dark-eyed afghans, and the USSR was a pure sharia-following islamic state, very friendly to afghanistan, yup, yup, yup.
#3
Is this an attempt to keep the black market from recycling ammunition stocks out of ANA stockpiles into the hands of the enemy?
Afghanistan & the Afghan Army seem like a poor place to introduce a finicky contraption like the M-16. If you're worried about spray-and-pray, give them modified semi-automatic AKs. There must be enough of them floating about, and the back-conversion kits can't be that much more expensive than converting to the pricy M-16.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/16/2008 12:15 Comments ||
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#4
Forget the AKs and M16s and give them single shot Sharps .50 cal. buffalo guns. Worked for the buffalo, should do the Taliban quite nicely.
#7
I'm still not convinced the M-16 is "the weapon of the future", but it does have some good points. It's ideal for fighting against an enemy at close range, or in an urban environment. I've seen enough people spray a whole clip of ammo at once, but with only about 18 rounds, it's not like emptying a 70-round banana clip from an AK-47. The biggest problem with most of the armies in that part of the world is that they "spray and pray", instead of aiming. When they come up against a well-disciplined army that shoots to kill, they die like flies. That's the reason the Arab armies always lose against the Israelis, and why the Indians repeatedly mop the floor with the Pakis. Fire discipline isn't just to preserve ammo, but is also to increase enemy body count.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/16/2008 13:31 Comments ||
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#8
My favorite Sharps 50 story: Billy Dixon scouted the Texas Panhandle for the Army, hunted buffalo for the train companies, and defended the Adobe Walls trading post against a Comanche attack with his legendary (Sharps.50) buffalo hunting rifle.
In June, 1874, Dixon and a group of 28 men and one woman occupied the five building outpost of Adobe Walls on the Canadian river north of Amarillo. The group was attacked that year by a band of more than 250 Comanches led by chief Quanah Parker, and that is when Dixon went into the history books for firing "The Shot of the Century."
On the third day of the stand-off, a group of Indians was noticed about a mile east of Adobe Walls. It is said that Dixon took aim with his Big 50 Sharps rifle and fired, knocking an Indian off his horse almost a mile away. The Indians left the settlement alone after that.
#9
One additional advantage of the M16 family is that it rapidly becomes useless unless maintained by a disciplined army. Another advantage is cultural and psychological, in that precision and marksmanship are rewarded over spray n' pray.
That being said, tactically from a grunt's perspective in the field, there are better choices than the M16.
1 - Different sounding report when fired. Easier to tell if you're hearing bad guys firing.
2 - Mebbe we're having a fire sale of existing stocks ahead of FINALLY giving our guys something better.
3 - Recoup a few cents on all the dollars we have spent there.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/16/2008 14:00 Comments ||
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#11
FN makes a few guns that ANA might be able to use. Can't see them sticking with the M16 for very long. That being said, when you pick up an M16 or AR15 you can feel the difference in quality before even firing it. The AK is simpler, but a lot more sloppy of a gun in fit and finish.
#12
Perhaps having to manage their M16s will instill some discipline in them. Up to this point I can't imagine anything that the coalition has done that might help in this regard. They have only given cultural concession after cultural concession that have done nothing but reinforce their cultural habits in this regard.
#13
Traditionally, the Afghan will fire his Kalashnikov from the hip as he advances, spraying the enemy in all directions on automatic mode until every bullet has been expended.
Same as most African troops, except the Afghans keep their eyes open.
#14
The difference between an army that uses a AK-47 and one that uses an M-16, is the presence of real NCOs. If you don't have that it won't make any difference regardless.
#15
Don't knock the venerable M-14, guys. Heavy, sure, but it fires a thoroughly non-pansy .308 slug very accurately, and will rock-and-roll as well. I don't know about you, but that's what I look for in a non-hunting rifle.
#18
I know.. I know..
and how many, "FIX BAYONETS" orders will a war fighter hear today. :)
RD, remember that Scottish unit down in Basra that ran out of bullets, then charged the enemy with fixed bayonets? And won the engagement? It still happens occasionally.
#20
RD, remember that Scottish unit down in Basra that ran out of bullets, then charged the enemy with fixed bayonets? And won the engagement? It still happens occasionally.
I do now that you mention it TW.. I need some memory tea plz! ~:)
(Xinhua) -- The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Sunday termed the Taliban announcement to launch "spring offensive" as propaganda and downplayed it. "The so-called Taliban spring offensive is mere propaganda," Carlos Branco, spokesman of the alliance, told a press conference here in the Afghan defense ministry. "There is no insurgent's spring offensive. The initiative is at the hands of Afghan National army and ISAF," Branco stressed.
Playing down the threat Branco added that the Taliban had lost capability to face NATO and Afghan troops, instead they began attacking soft targets and killing civilians. Suicide attacks and roadside bombings have claimed the lives of more than 300 people mostly civilians since January this year.
Afghan defense ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi also said that militants lost the capability to face troops and that is why they had resorted to suicide attacks and roadside bombings which often claim civilian lives. Taliban key military commander Mullah Brother in an audio cassette released to media outlet in south Afghanistan early last month claimed the militants would launch spring offensive dubbed Abrat or lesson when the weather gets warm.
Militants in their latest waves of violence targeted road construction companies twice over the past week leaving more than 35 persons dead and injured civilians including two Indian engineers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
IRNA > JEMAAT El-ISLAMI CONDEMNS PLAN GRANTING US DIRECT ACCESS TO PAKISTANI NUCLEAR SYSTEM; + AZERBAIJAM SUPPORTS IRAN'S NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES; + IRAN STRESSES VALIDITY OF AGREEMENST SIGNED BY IRAN, FORMER SOVIET UNION.
* TOPIX > CENTRAL ASIAN ISLAMIC REPUBLICS EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR IRANIAN NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY PLANS.
Sorry, BLANCO, but methinks OSAMA + Radical Islam have BIGGER THINGS IN MIND than just Pakistan.
#2
Trying to draw them out by playing on their mooselimb sense of pride, are we?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
04/16/2008 8:15 Comments ||
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#3
I believe the plan is for speaker equipped Humvees to patrol the Afghan-Pak border and make fun of taliban pee pees.
Posted by: ed ||
04/16/2008 8:30 Comments ||
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#4
"Taliban key military commander Mullah Brother ... claimed the militants would launch spring offensive dubbed Abrat or lesson when the weather gets warm. "
Maybe it's not warm enough yet. We are just expecting it earlier because we know about Global Warming.
#6
"Taliban key military commander Mullah Brother ... claimed the militants would launch spring offensive dubbed Abrat or lesson when the weather gets warm. "
You mean the Taliban can't handle the Dreaded Afghan Winter Early Spring?
#7
Ah, Spring. A time when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love; when the swallows return to Capistrano and the Taliban die in large numbers. It's a lovely time of the year
#9
ASIA TIMES > IRAN HOMES IN ON THE CASPIAN. Many in Iran argue that their nation is duly entitled by prior agreements/treatises wid RUSSIA to a full 50% of the Caspian - Iran's officos, however, are for now distancing themselves from said claims in favor various energy and trade deals.
IRNA > Iran is also getting ready to invest in SRI LANKAN ENERGY PROJECTS.
(Xinhua) -- The Untied States Assistant Secretary of State Richard A Boucher has termed the reported support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to Taliban militants as groundless and rejected it, a local newspaper reported Tuesday. "There is no logic that we or any other NATO member help Taliban. Taliban kill us, they kill you Afghans, they kill Pakistani and Europeans," daily Outlook quoted Boucher as saying.
Reports emanating from Afghan circles said last week that ISAF troops drooped arms and munitions to Taliban insurgents in Arghandab of southern Kandahar province. A parliamentarian, Zalmai Mujadadi, told reporters early in the weekend that the international troops intentionally provided the arms and munitions to militants
However, NATO's spokesman Carlos Branco said on weekend that it was a mistake and the case is under investigation. Afghanistan intelligence chief Amrullah Salih also rejected the report, adding unintentionally a small of food stuff and munitions was dropped to the area and went to Taliban hand.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Six Somali pirates who seized a French luxury yacht and held its 30 crew hostage for a week will be brought to France to face trial, a judge said on Tuesday.
French troops arrested the pirates in the Somali desert on Friday after they had handed over the hostages and fled with their ransom. Those arrested were just part of the pirate crew, and some of the ransom was recovered with them. "The six men will be transferred to Paris tonight or Wednesday night," said the French judge, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that the men were being held by French troops in Djibouti and would be flown to France.
French officials said last week France had the right to try the pirates, believed to be Somali fishermen, but some experts have questioned the legality of such a trial.
The armed group attacked the yacht on April 4 some 850 km (530 miles) off the Somali coast. They then sailed the boat and its crew -- 22 of whom are French -- to Somalia. The crew were flown back to Paris on Monday.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf had agreed to let French troops bring the pirates to France for trial, the judge said. "These pirates are currently on a French boat and we are awaiting President Yusuf's confirmation before bringing them to France, where we want these pirates to be tried," Prime Minister Francois Fillon told parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
France has called for greater international cooperation to police the waters off lawless Somalia's coast, where piracy is a lucrative activity. This case "marks the start of a reconquering of this zone by international law," Fillon told lawmakers.
The pirates will be held for questioning upon their arrival in France. A preliminary investigation was launched on Monday for "boat hijacking, kidnapping and confinement in an organized gang with ransom payment" which carries a maximum life sentence.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, this is a long way from an ideal outcome (i.e. they only caught six, those six are still breathing, and their village is not yet a smoldering ruin) - but it is at least a credible movement in the right direction.
Evidently there is at least a trace of testicular fortitude somewhere within the French government. My hat is off to them for at least making some kind of effort.
#4
We need a pic of the guillotine for this article.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/16/2008 11:52 Comments ||
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#5
"boat hijacking, kidnapping and confinement in an organized gang with ransom payment" which carries a maximum life sentence.
Unfortunately, Al, France,and all of the EU is too sophisticated these days to use the guillotine.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/16/2008 16:35 Comments ||
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#6
They'll probably end up on generous govt. benefits in a Paris "no-go" neighborhood.
A would-be terrorist who conversed with birds also lived in a luxury three-storey beachfront home, drove a BMW, had a carer and a butler, regularly called telephone sex lines and masqueraded as a high-rolling gambler, a Melbourne court heard today. Izzydeen Atik, 28, also claimed to be a "good Muslim" who wanted to join a Melbourne terrorist organisation which, he said, had plans to bomb the MCG on AFL grand final day.
A Victorian Supreme Court jury heard Atik hadn't done a day's work in six years when he moved into a beachfront villa at Williamstown in Melbourne's south-west in 2005, funding his lifestyle through credit card fraud. He told the court he occupied the palatial home by himself, except for his brother, who fraudulently collected a carer's pension from Centrelink in return for looking after him, and the butler who ultimately replaced the brother. Atik is a key prosecution witness in the trial of 12 men who have pleaded not guilty in Australia's largest-ever terror trial.
Having told the court yesterday of the group's intended targets, including the MCG and Crown Casino, Atik repeatedly claimed memory loss today when cross-examined about psychological treatment he had received over several years in Sydney.
Defence counsel Remy Van de Wiel, QC, told the court Atik had a history of hearing voices in his head and had claimed to communicate with birds. But under cross-examination today, he told the jury he had no recollection of the voice he knew as "Andrew" or of an imaginary female he described to doctors as a "devil".
The court heard, however, that Atik had given evidence in court proceedings last year of his encounters with "Andrew". Mr Van de Wiel, counsel for alleged terror group leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika, read to the court from a 2002 psychiatric report in which Atik claimed birds often told him their problems. "If you spend a day with me you will see the birds follow me and talk to me," Atik allegedly told the psychiatrist who compiled the report.
The court also heard Atik had moved away from his family in Sydney after problems arose between him and relatives over his desire to marry his 16-year-old cousin. Soon after arriving in Melbourne in 2003, he accompanied another cousin on a pilgrimage to Mecca, returning to Australia a "changed man" intent on rejecting a criminal past that included several convictions for credit card fraud.
But after meeting one of the alleged terror cell members at his local mosque, Atik was asked to use his experience to fund their plans for violent jihad. After receiving an assurance in the form of a "fatwah" from Benbrika that stealing from non-believers was permitted by Islam, he resumed the credit card racket using the proceeds to fund the terror group and maintain his extravagant lifestyle.
He told the court he paid taxi drivers to provide him with credit card details obtained from their passengers which he then used to buy hundreds of airline tickets and mobile phone SIM cards. The airline tickets were then sold to friends and acquaintances who paid $100 for an economy class return ticket to anywhere in Australia and $200 for business class.
The jury also heard a secretly-recorded telephone call Atik made to a sex chat line in which he offered to fly the woman at the other end of the line to Melbourne to "make me happy".
Maybe someone with more time this morning can come up with the list. I plan to contact my weasels if they aren't on it.
Carter says the search for Mideast peace should include reaching out to groups such as Hamas. The former president was the broker of Israel's peace treaty with Egypt peace treaty three decades ago. The former president told FOX News Wednesday, "I'm going to try to get Syria to be constructive in the entire peace process, that would include Iraq and Lebanon, as well."
A group of more than 50 congressmen from both sides of the aisle sent a letter Tuesday beseeching former president Carter not to meet with Khaled Meshal, the head of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. "President Carter, do not meet with the man who ordered their deaths," wrote the congressmen.
Carter reportedly hugged and kissed a Hamas leader Tuesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah on a Mideast visit that is to culminate in a meeting Friday with the group's exiled leader in Damascus, Syria. No doubt there was later heavy petting and exchange of bodily fluids...
At least some elected officials are getting it later than sooner.
President Carter
The Carter Center
One Copenhill
453 Freedom Parkway
Atlanta, GA 30307
Dear President Carter:
On April 8, 2008, Al-Hayat reported that you were planning to visit Syria to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.
The U.S. State Department lists Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization. Hamas terrorists are responsible for the murders of at least 26 American citizenssome of them teenagers, children and infants:
David Applebaum of Ohio; Nava Applebaum, 20, of Ohio; Alan Beer of Ohio; Marla Bennet of California; Benjamin Blutstein of Pennsylvania; David Boim, 17, of New York; Yael Botwin, 14, of California; Dina Carter of North Carolina; Janis Ruth Coulter of Massachusetts; Sara Duker of New Jersey; Matthew Eisenfeld of Connecticut; Tzvi Goldstein of New York; Judith Greenbaum of New Jersey; David Gritz of Massachusetts; Dina Horowitz of Florida; Rabbi Eli Horowitz of Illinois; Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of New York; Malka Roth, 15, of New York; Mordechai Reinitz of New York; Yitzhak Reinitz, 9, of New York; Leah Stern of New Jersey; Goldie Taubenfeld of New York; Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New York; Nachshon Wachsman, 19, of New York; Ira Weinstein of New York; and Yitzhak Weinstock, 19, of California.
President Carter, do not meet with the man who ordered their deaths.
Sincerely,
Mark Steven Kirk
Shelley Berkley
John Boehner
Roy Blunt
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Eric Cantor
Tom Reynolds
Robert Wexler
Jim Saxton
Eliot Engel
Brad Sherman
Mike Pence
Dan Burton
Barney Frank
Mark Souder
David Dreier
Carolyn Maloney
Peter King
Jerrold Nadler
Sam Johnson
Thaddeus McCotter
Michael McNulty
Gresham Barrett
John Campbell
Steven Rothman
Ron Klein
Candice Miller
Peter Roskam
Anthony Weiner
Joe Wilson
Howard Coble
Vern Buchanan
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Joe Knollenberg
Jon Porter
J. Randy Kuhl
Ted Poe
Scott Garrett
Trent Franks
Jeb Hensarling
Robin Hayes
Denny Rehberg
Marsha Blackburn
Rodney Frelinghuysen
Chris Shays
Frank LoBiondo
Todd Platts
John McHugh
Doug Lamborn
Donald Manzullo
Vito Fossella
Allyson Schwartz
John Carter
Jim Gerlach
John Doolittle
#3
My congresscritter (Doug Lamborn) is on the list, but he's the only one from Colorado. Where are the names of senators who will sign this letter?
(crickets chirping)
Carter is a disgrace to the United States. He was as president, and he's been ever since. He "brokered" a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that has been observed more in its breaches than in its accomplishments. The man needs to quietly disappear.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/16/2008 14:09 Comments ||
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#4
Hard to get a donk's attention. Try gee haw. Or promise votes. If that doesn't work squeeze the nuts hard.
For Clarity, "The Leaking Like a Sieve Open Boarder issue" Shades of Reagan, "I didn't leave the party, the party left me".
HAZLETON, Pa. (AP) Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes announced Tuesday night that he has left the GOP and is considering joining the Constitution Party. Keyes, who also ran as a Republican to challenge Barack Obama's U.S. Senate bid in Illinois in 2004, says he is talking with leaders and rank-and-file members of the Constitution Party.
"They're considering me, I'm considering them," Keyes said in a conference call late Tuesday night. "We have so much in common that I find it hard to believe we won't be able to work out a common basis for working together."
Keyes singled out the nation's present "border issue" as a reason he is leaving the GOP, saying it is a "threat to the sovereignty to the American people."
"There are clear signs that our leaders no longer have an allegiance to the sovereign people of the United States," Keyes said. Dear God I finally know who I've voting for.
#3
"According to ballot access expert Richard Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News, who periodically compiles and analyzes voter registration statistics as reported by state voter agencies, it ranks third nationally amongst all United States political parties in registered voters, with 366,937 registered members as of November 2006."
Here is the Wiki, which lists States in which the Constitution Party are on the ballot:
Sorta reminds me of the 1000+ that abandoned the Iraqi security forces when push came to shove about Tater.
U.S. diplomats may be forced to serve in Iraq next year if enough qualified candidates do not apply for certain jobs, the State Department warned employees Tuesday. A similar threat to call up diplomats last year drew fire among foreign service officers. Many of them objected to being forced to work in a war zone, even though Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iraq was the department's priority.
It's not 'forced' service. You're assigned to a station. No one will put a gun to your head if you don't want to go, but you won't get to keep your job. You volunteered, remember? You filled out an application, you took the Foreign Service examination, and you accepted the job. Go flip burgers if you don't like your assignment.
A cable to employees, obtained by CNN, said the State Department would soon begin to identify candidates for jobs at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, and other provinces.
"We face a growing challenge of supply and demand in the 2009 staffing cycle," according to the cable. Try getting rid of the BS and paying the rest.
The cable added that no other open State Department jobs would be filled until the Iraq jobs were filled. It also noted that more than 20 percent of the foreign service's 12,000 officers have already served in Iraq and Afghanistan, considered the two major hardship posts.
In 2007 the issue caused an uproar in the State Department, resulting in a contentious town hall-style meeting in October. One official called the order to serve in Iraq "a potential death sentence." "I just have no respect for the whole process because you've demonstrated a lack of respect for your own colleagues," said foreign service officer Jack Croddy. I wonder what American military forces would have to say in response to this.
"Thank you for that comment. It's full of inaccuracies, but that's OK," Harry Thomas Jr., director general of the foreign service, shot back.
Others pointed out the risks of such assignments, considering the dangers of a war zone, lack of security and regular rocket attacks on U.S. personnel.
Rice, who did not attend the meeting, tried to calm things by underscoring the State Department's attempts to do "everything that we can to try and protect our diplomats." Which is why Blackwater is still there.
However, she said, "This is one of the highest priority tasks of the United States, and we're going to meet our obligations."
In the end, the State Department found enough volunteers to fill the needed posts. The latest cable says officials hope the same thing will happen this year.
#3
How many at State retired or resigned last year? How many will this year, especially if no other assignments are filled until Iraq and Afghanistan have been covered? In truth, if Secretary Rice accomplishes nothing more than clearing out the deadwood and those who've gone native in the wrong places, it will be a great service to this country.
#4
How harsh and brutal. It's just like indentured servitude. Imagine joining a company and being told where you are going to work. Oh, the humanity! On the bright side, at least they are not being sent to Detroit.
#7
Is DOS having trouble reaching its re-enlistment goals? Is this information published or do they keep it classified? Does that show that the cookie-pushers do not support their department's policy of craven defeatism and backstabbing?
Unease with Pope Benedict XVI's approach to Islam has led a U.S. Muslim group to decline joining in an interfaith event with him later this week. It's all the Pope's fault because he didn't want to convert to Islam.
Several other U.S. Muslim leaders expressed similar concerns about the pope, but pledged to participate in the Washington gathering, saying the two faiths should do everything possible to improve relations. Even if it involves showing up only to mitigate the bad press that skipping out would generate.
"Our going there is more out of respect for the Catholic Church itself," said Muzammil H. Siddiqi, chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America, which interprets Islamic law. "Popes come and go, but the church is there." Translation: Natter natter natter.
Siddiqi, co-chairman of the West Coast Muslim-Catholic Dialogue, is among the Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Jain and Hindu leaders scheduled to meet Benedict on Thursday at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. Muslims and Roman Catholics each have more than 1 billion followers worldwide. U.S. Catholic and Muslim leaders started holding interfaith talks in the early 1990s, and many of the Muslim leaders invited to the event Thursday are veterans of those discussions.
But Salam al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, said the event seemed "more ceremonial than substantive" and his organization would not participate. He said he was disappointed that no time was made in the pope's six-day trip for even a brief private meeting with U.S. Muslim leaders. Boy, I'd sure like to have a public meeting with the Pope. It'd impress the heck out of all my friends.
This is the first trip to the U.S. that Benedict has made since he was elected in 2005 to succeed John Paul. He turns 81 on Wednesday.
"It would have been a good opportunity for him to have a dialogue," al-Marayati said. No, it would have been a good opportunity for you to have a dialogue. Which you have failed to capitalize on. Again. And somehow it's all the Pope's fault. If you're Muslim, anyway. I'll tell you what: How 'bout you guys host next time?
The pope has been praised by supporters for his frankness in approaching Islam and interfaith dialogue in general, but critics have called him insensitive. Insensitive? Strange word coming from a group that kills their own every time they don't agree with something someone else says or does.
Muslims in many nations reacted angrily when the pope quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor connecting Islam with violence in a 2006 speech at Germany's Regensburg University. Tensions eased after Benedict traveled to Turkey that same year, visiting Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque. Muslims will continue to call it the Blue Mosque until the last bit of Papal Contamination has been removed, at which point they will call it the Red Mosque.
The pope was applauded for organizing a Nov. 4-6 meeting in Rome with Muslim religious leaders and scholars, as part of a push for more dialogue between Catholics and Muslims. Muslims are frantically organizing a reciprocal event.
But many Muslims said the pontiff insulted them on Easter Sunday in St. Peter's Basilica, when he baptized Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born commentator who has criticized what he called the "inherent" violence in Islam. Islamic leaders said the prominence of the ceremony, not the conversion itself, was troubling. Otherwise, they would have had to settle with being upset about the conversion itself.
"It's true that some of the gestures, some of the statements make us uncomfortable and we feel badly about it," said Sayyid Syeed, national interfaith director of the Islamic Society of North America, the largest communal group for American Muslims. "But our challenge is to not let those challenges hamper progress." Syeed will attend the meeting Thursday. A challenge doomed to failure. But I digress.
Imam Yahya Hendi, a leading advocate of interfaith dialogue and chaplain at the Jesuit-founded Georgetown University, had met John Paul and said he would participate in the interfaith gathering, because "I believe in the power of love and the power of dialogue." Hendi will also be among the thousands of people at a ceremony for the pope Wednesday at the White House. He's discovered quite by accident that lots of infidels react favorably to this kind of crap that was initially meant as a joke, so he uses it.
But Hendi said that he and other Muslims were concerned that the pope wasn't visiting a mosque or meeting with leaders who represent the millions of Muslims living in the U.S.
"Since he came to office, things have happened that have been used on both sides to build up walls," Hendi said. "I think this could be a good opportunity for Pope Benedict to help people to build bridges." The muslim halves of those bridges have been built and are just waiting for the Christian halves of the bridges to be built.
American Muslims are unlike any Islamic migrant community Benedict has encountered in Europe. Many Muslims in the U.S. came for higher education and are now professionals academics, business people, physicians and engineers who are settled in the wealthier suburbs. Paragraph is of the auto-snarking variety.
They've battled discrimination and intensive government scrutiny following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Yet they have also benefited from American constitutional protection for religious freedom. The U.S. Justice Department, along with civil rights groups that usually represent Jews and Christians, often help Muslims secure their religious rights in the workplace, public schools and elsewhere.
Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core based in Chicago, said that he was inspired as a boy by the interreligious outreach of the late Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. But he's dead now, isn't he?
Patel, a Muslim born in India, said he had no concerns at all about participating in the Washington gathering, even though he wished the Easter conversion hadn't been so public.
"I think that we have to find ways to cooperate on important matters concerning the earth, including climate change, reducing disease, reducing poverty, increasing respect," he said. "That's where our focus should be." Yes it should, shouldn't it? But now matter how perfect the Western world could become in this imperfect world, it wouldn't be nearly as perfect as Allan, so I guess you'll always have an excuse for your behavior.
A little over three years ago, a report appeared in the Associated Press (AP) linking the mosque founded by former NBA star and recent inductee into the basketball Hall of Fame, Hakeem Olajuwon, with the financing of Islamic terrorist charities. At the time, Olajuwon said he didnt know. Now, he will need to find a new excuse, as he continues to associate himself with terror-related entities and individuals.
On April 7, 2008, Hakeem Olajuwon was one of seven people to be newly inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Its an honor that attests to his greatness as a world-class athlete. However, the stardom and fanfare that he acquired over his 18-year NBA career became tarnished, when a report was released by the AP discussing his ties to the funding of terrorist organizations.
The story, which came out in February of 2005, stated that Olajuwons mosque, the Islamic Dawah Center (IDC), in 2000 and 2002, gave over $80,000 to two charities connected to Al-Qaeda and Hamas, respectively the Islamic African Relief Agency ($81,250) and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development ($2430).
The Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA) had been shut down by the U.S. government in October of 2004 for having supplied money to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. As well, several IARA officials have been linked to Al-Qaeda, including a former fundraiser for the group, Ziyad Khaleel, who purchased a satellite telephone that bin Laden used to plan the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a.k.a. Occupied Land Fund, had been closed down by the United States, in December of 2001. The organization was founded by Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, in January of 1989, and had raised millions of dollars for Hamas.
When the money transfers took place, Olajuwon was the Vice President of the mosque. Additionally, as the AP piece mentioned, Olajuwon had participated in a 1999 HLF celebrity bowling tournament. [He participated in the 98 tournament, as well.]
According to the IDCs 990 federal tax forms, under the name Hakeem Islamic Daawah Center Inc, for 2002 and 2003, it also gave $25,000 to the Hamas-related Islamic Relief (IR); $25,000 to unindicted co-conspirator of the 2007 Dallas HLF trial, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); $5000 to the Hamas financier, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA); and $1000 to the Muslim Brotherhood created Muslim Students Association (MSA).
Noted by the AP, the mosques giving of the funds to the IARA happened after a number of news stories came out discussing the groups various ties to terrorism. Regardless of this, Olajuwon pled ignorance, saying he and his Islamic center had no way of knowing that the organizations they were donating to had anything wrong with them. He told the New York Times, At the time they were raising the money in 2000, we didn't even know anything about a terrorist.
And then, more came out concerning Olajuwons Islamist ties. As reported in the Lone Star Times, he has had involvement with another mosque with a shady past, the El-Farouq Foundation, a.k.a. Masjid El-Farouq. The Texas State Comptrollers office currently lists Olajawon as a Director of the center.
The stated goal of El-Farouq is the building of bridges for the better understanding among all faiths to ensure a brighter future in a society of tolerance and respect by encouraging all to come and learn the true teachings of Islam. However, according to Freedom House, a nonpartisan human rights advocacy organization, in its report titled Saudi Publications on Hate Ideology Invade American Mosques, El-Farouq propagates hate material aimed at non-Muslims.
Freedom House provided quotes from texts found at El-Farouq to back up its claim. They included: Democracy is an evil system and we have been ordered to reject evil. (Al-Asala magazine, Issue 2, 1992) And Residing among the unbelievers continuously is also forbidden because it is dangerous for the belief of the Muslim. (Science of Tawheed Unity, Book 32, 1991) About this, Freedom House stated, The message is that the peaceful coexistence of Muslim and non-Muslim in a multi-cultural state is not simply unachievable, but is undesirable and even punishable...
According to El-Farouqs 990 federal tax forms, for 2001, the mosque donated $6781 to the Holy Land Foundation. In tax year 2002, it gave $5000 to the Islamic Broadcasting Network (IBN), a media outlet that features shows hosted by Al-Qaeda fugitive Anwar al-Awlaki and terrorist defender and head of the Muslim American Societys Freedom Foundation, Mahdi Bray.
In tax year 2003, the mosque donated $505 to Dar-ul-Salam Publications, a Saudi based organization that sells books, CDs and DVDs with unindicted co-conspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Bilal Philips. The group also offers a video featuring fellow unindicted co-conspirator Siraj Wahhaj along with Olajuwon. According to Dar-ul-Salam, in the About Us section of its website, Islam is also under way, as is the work on the preparation of decent [sic] children literature for their moral training. The importance of this work will be appreciated if it is realized that our new generation has been ruined by the syllabi prepared by the European and American Jews.
Furthermore, for 2003, El-Farouq accepted $4567 from the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR), a mosque that has been linked to Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In June of 2003, Olajuwons Islamic Dawah Center hosted an event sponsored by the Houston chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA-Houston). The speaker for the event was Sulayman Nyang, a former National board member of the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The event was not the last one dealing with Olajuwon and ICNA. In July of 1994, Olajuwon spoke at ICNAs 19th Annual National Convention, where the group honored him with an award. Following the speech, ICNAs media division, Sound Vision, interviewed him at his home. That interview is currently offered for sale by Sound Vision.
This month, on April 8th, ICNA once again honored Olajuwon, with a note of congratulations on its website. It stated, Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) congratulates Brother Hakeem Olajuwon, a devout Muslim on his election into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Hakeem very openly let it be known that he was a practicing Muslim. He fasted during Ramadan despite facing dehydration in intense match ups. He stayed on the court instead of being in the locker room when his team mates celebrated with customary champagne baths upon winning the Championship. Hakeem set an example for Muslim Youth by being a regular attendee at his local mosque.
As reported in the Houston Chronicle, at a 1995 conference hosted by the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA), a group that has been implicated in the financing of Hamas, Olajuwon told a crowd of mostly young people, America needs Islam, Islam is the only solution and the only way of life. The morality of America is almost bankrupt. There is no morals.
If Olajuwon has set an example for youth at his mosque, it has been a negative one. The thousands of dollars that his Islamic Dawah Center has accepted from and has given to extremist and terrorist organizations is appalling and cannot be justified. The fact that the center has been used to host radical Muslim groups is, as well, disturbing. Yet, this all makes sense, when one considers who the persons were behind the establishment of this center.
The two individuals involved in the mosques founding (apart from Olajuwon) have their own troubling histories. Co-founder Mohammad Rashad Khalil, the former President of IDC, was also President of the Virginia-based Muslim American Society (MAS), a group that uses the internet to praise terrorist organizations and spread violence and hatred against non-Muslims. Co-founder Jamal Badawi, who is involved with both ISNA and CAIR, wrote a book well-known to the Muslim community, entitled Gender Equity in Islam, where he justifies the beating of women by their husbands.
For Olajuwon to cavort with these types of individuals says a lot about him. And for him to be involved with organizations that exchange money with groups that wish to do us harm says even more.
Yes, it is true that Hakeem Olajuwon is an exceptional athlete. No one could ever say otherwise. But being a great basketball player doesnt mean that the person behind the ball is great as well. In this case, Olajuwon has a lot to answer for, and the answers cant all be I didnt know.
#1
Sorry! This article was so long that I was going to make it just a link. Unfortunately, I accidentally hit enter as I was trying to change the headline. Moderators, thanks in advance for cleaning up my mess!
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Robert S Mueller told a meeting in London last week that Al Qaeda would not go quietly into the night, having established new sanctuaries in ungoverned spaces, Tribal Areas, and the Frontier province of Pakistan.
Addressing a meeting at Chatham House, Mueller said Al Qaeda is resilient and its network is now diffuse. And it continues to adjust its strategies and tactics. We now confront a three-tiered threat. He said the top tier is the core Al Qaeda organisation, which has established new sanctuaries in Pakistan, which means that it can reconstitute its leadership, recruit new operatives, and regenerate its capability to attack.
The middle tier is perhaps the most complex, he added. We are finding small groups who have some ties to an established terrorist organisation, but are largely self-directed. He called them as Al Qaeda franchises hybrids of homegrown radicals and more sophisticated operatives. He said that July 7 London bombers were an example of this middle layer. Two of them trained at camps in Pakistan, but they came back to Britain and lived there while they plotted their attacks. The arrests last September of small terrorist cells in Denmark and Germany were other examples, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Iraqi Kurds have won two major concessions from the central government in Baghdad one on oil and the second on the state of their militias known locally as Peshmerga.
Regarding oil, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has agreed to give the Kurdish regional administration in the north the right to sign oil development deals on its own. This is one of the biggest concessions the government makes for the Kurds and meets one of their long-standing and most important demands, analysts say.
The deal, they said, comes as Maliki is under immense pressure not only from his former Shiite allies like Moqtada al-Sadr but also from the disgruntled Sunni parties.
According to a new draft of the Oil and Gas Law, which the parliament has yet to pass, Maliki has accepted a Kurdish request to adopt a former version which gave them additional rights. Under the new agreement, the 15 oil deals signed by Kurds with foreign firms would be legal while previously the Oil Ministry denounced them as null and void.
The agreement may signal to the hitherto reluctant foreign oil firms to start developing fields in Iraqi Kurdistan in earnest.
Maliki has also agreed to integrate Kurdish militias into the countrys security apparatus, a move that will add them to the payrolls of the interior and defense ministries. But Kurdish militiamen, registered in the Kurdish regional government, number more than 190,000, almost as many as the number of troops under Iraqi government disposal.
The pact on Kurdish militias means that from now on the central government will pay the Peshmerga instead of the Kurdish regional government.
Interesting discussion by some milbloggers who are involved in training Iraqi pilots. One good Gulf War story:
[names and units redacted] flew fighter-bombers in Iran-v-Iraq and both had their bacon saved by the US Navy. The Aegis picket ships (who painted everything within 500 miles or so) would often give egressing Iraqi aircraft notice of bandits closing on their locations. When DS kicked off, most of the Iran-v-Iraq vets decided they weren't going to shoot up people who'd previously saved their asses -- but if they'd flat out refused to fly, they would have been shot; if they flew to Syria, they thought they'd be shot down by the Iraqi ADA ring oriented on Israel; they couldn't go to Turkey because Turkey was a Coalition partner. So, they went to Iran, got thrown in jail and beaten up for a while, and then were released at the end of hostilities. Most of the non-flying done in OIF was due to the Saddam's Got Control of the Situation Syndrome, but a bit of it was Iran-v-Iraq vets -- fixed- and rotary-wing -- hot-starting engines on purpose and frying them to ground the aircraft.
How much is true and how much is eyewash for the old gringo? Dunno, but both Su-7s on display here have slag for engine guts.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/16/2008 10:44 ||
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#1
Geeze, Capt. Succorso, that was a nice manoeuvre. Too bad ya slagged the jump drive...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/16/2008 10:55 Comments ||
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#2
...On at least two occasions I know of, we came damn close in the mid and late 80s to deploying to save the Iraqis from the Iranians, and combat pilots have long memories, so this doesn't seem impossible.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/16/2008 12:06 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD - The US military continues to go after Shiite militiamen in an effort to quell the deadly rocket-fire that has been hitting the Iraqi capital's fortified Green Zone with increasing accuracy. On Sunday night it killed six gunmen in eastern Baghdad after American soldiers were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades.
But while clashes carry on with Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which the US says is responsible for unleashing the salvo of rockets and mortars targeting American and Iraqi government buildings, US military officials are putting out feelers to Mr. Sadr's associates. They are reaching out to elements within his militia that they could possibly work with to end the violence and are launching public-works projects designed to win over local hearts and minds inside Sadr City, the Mahdi Army's main Baghdad stronghold.
"At my level, I'm seeking engagement with individuals that are willing to work with us for the purpose of supporting stability and meeting the needs of the people," says Major Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commanding general for Multi-National Forces in Baghdad.
Continued on Page 49
#1
IRANIAN.WS > HARDLEY: IRAN A THREAT IN IRAQ. AQ's influence is diminishing but Tehran's support of Militia groups contins unabated; + IRAN RAISES NUCLEAR STAKES BEFORE BIG POWER MEET.
OTOH, IRNA > IRAN READY TO INVEST IN IRAQI KURDISTAN; + PAYVAND > IRAN MAY PARTICIPATE IN AZERBAIJAN GAS PROJECT + IRAN WAGING A PROXY WAR WITH THE US.
(AKI) - The leader of an al-Qaeda cell in Iraq has called on Sunni tribal leaders to abandon US-backed militias battling al-Qaeda and to rejoin the insurgency. In an audio recording released on Islamic forums on the Internet on Tuesday, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who leads the Islamic State of Iraq, called on Sunnis in the Iraqi army, police and the so-called Awakening Councils to return to al-Qaeda and fight against US forces in the country. The Awakening Councils are US-allied Sunni militia movements fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. "Five years have passed since we began the blessed Jihad against you, and we are still here to fight," said al-Baghdadi on the audio message.
The 30-minute audio tape is said to have been released to mark the fifth anniversary of Baghdad's capture by American forces on 9 April 2003. The United States has reportedly described al-Baghdadi, as a fictitious character, used to give an Iraqi face to an organisation dominated by foreigner al-Qaeda fighters.
In his message, al-Baghdadi addressed Sunni tribal leaders who had decided to align themselves with the Iraqi government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. "How many of their men are currently detained in the jails of the Islamic State of Iraq or al-Qaeda and how many of your men are detained in the jails of the American forces and of the Iraqi government?" he said. He also asked why the Sunni tribes "signed a ceasefire with the Sadrist Shia militias" and continue "to fight against us who are Sunnis".
He urged members of the so-Called Awakening Councils to join al-Qaeda and unite its forces against the US troops. Established in 2006, the Islamic State of Iraq is an umbrella organisation comprised of several radical insurgency groups . It aims to establish a caliphate in the Sunni Arab dominated regions of Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Two aides to Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric have escaped assassination in separate attacks in southern Iraq, Police said Tuesday.
According to police, Sheik Ali al-Fudhaili was seriously wounded in one attack and his driver was killed when gunmen ambushed their vehicle in Basra. Gunmen also fired on the car of Habib Salman al-Khatib in the Shi'ite city of Kut. Al-Khatib was not injured but one of his guards was wounded, police said. Both clerics are representatives of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Gee. Golly. Shucks. Gosh. I wonder who could possibly be behind this?
This article starring:
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Habib Salman al-Khatib
Sheik Ali al-Fudhaili
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Iranians...criminals...terrorists...who knows. SO many guns and so little intelligence.
#4
And yet an Israeli diplomatic visit to Qatar is an insult. Apparently, from the vantage of grand ayatollahs, diplomatic courtesy is an insult - the attempted murder of clergymen is a demonstration of respect.
Good to know. Obviously Israel needs to assassinate a couple of Fudlullah's assistants to satisfy his amour propre.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/16/2008 10:56 Comments ||
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#5
a poem for the muslim world and esp for Iraq.
From Aeschylus, but hat tip to JK Rowlings
Oh, the torment bred in the race, the grinding scream of death and the stroke that hits the vein, the haemorrhage none can staunch, the grief, the curse no man can bear.
But there is a cure in the house and not outside it, no, not from others but from them, their bloody strife. We sing to you, dark gods beneath the earth.
Now hear, you blissful powers underground - answer the call, send help. Bless the children, give them Triumph now.
So where's Jimmy today?
CAIRO (AFP) - A Hamas delegation crossed into Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday for talks with Jimmy Carter after Israel barred the former US president from visiting the Palestinian territory. The delegation, which includes leaders Mahmud Zahar and Said Siam and four others, went to Cairo as at least 17 people were killed in Gaza violence, including three Israeli soldiers, two Palestinian children and a cameraman. Can we come too, Mahmud? It's too...noisy here.
Carter and his wife Rosalynn flew to the Egyptian capital from Tel Aviv in a private jet, an airport official said. So I guess Jimmy thinks Global Warming's a crock too? Nah, I doubt it...
When asked about a meeting with Hamas, Carter's trip director Rick Jafculca said: "That is the plan. We hope it will take place. If it happens it will take place tomorrow. We're not providing any other details." But...how about them Maoists in Nepal, huh? The boss was so happy...
Hardline Hamas leader Zahar hailed the prospective meeting. "President Carter can break all the Israeli restraints that they want to place between him and Hamas and so we and our brothers in Damascus are determined to meet with him," he told reporters at the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. To meet and take advantage of one of the most Useful Idiots on the planet is a gift from Allah indeed.
The former president is expected to meet exiled Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal in Damascus on Friday, despite strong opposition from Israel and the US administration. At least they'll have something in common to talk about. Khaled can't get into Gaza either. Not that he wants to... Carter "affirmed the legitimacy of Hamas and that it is a national liberation movement despite the fact that he did not say so officially," Zahar added. Thanks, Mahmud. You just confirmed what everybody said this asshole's massive ego trip was gonna do.
Zahar and Siam are considered hardline Hamas leaders who planned the violent takeover of Gaza from forces loyal to moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in June. Which probably put's them way up on Jimmy's hit parade.
The delegation is also to meet Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to discuss a possible ceasefire with Israel, reopening the Rafah crossing, and the fate of an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006. Maybe they can also discuss that little Hamas "crash the border" party we were reading about yesterday?
(Xinhua) -- Supporters of Islamic Hamas movement erected a protest tent in front of Rafah crossing point in southern Gaza Strip to demand the reopening of the Egyptian borders. Tens of Hamas supporters, including women, children and officials, participated the sit-in tent protest, which will last for three days. The demonstrators raised banners slamming the Arab and Muslim nations for their position towards Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
They also set up a symbolic cemetery called "the Arab silence graveyard" near the tent, representing tens of victims who the authorities said died due to the lack of medicine or access to outside hospitals.
Israel has sealed off all crossing points into the strip since June last year following Hamas' violent takeover of the enclave from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces. From its side, Egypt also maintained the closing of Rafah crossing with the strip, which Israel doesn't physically control.
Ahmed Bahar, the deputy speaker of the Hamas-held Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), has urged Egypt to open the crossing to avoid more deterioration of the Palestinian humanitarian crisis as Israel has been completely holding off fuel shipments into Gaza. "The siege paralyzed all aspects of life," he said, questioned "shall the Arabic petrol keep on going to the Israeli tanks which kill our people?" However, Hamas has denied earlier Egyptian press reports which accused the Islamic movement of trying to breach the borders by force.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
But yesterday they were going to invade Egypt most martially. I'm confused.
Former President Carter angered Israel's government Tuesday by embracing a Hamas politician during a visit to the West Bank, ignoring Israeli and U.S. designation of the Islamic militants as a terror group.
Israel accused Carter, the broker of the first Arab-Israeli peace accord, of "dignifying" extremists. But Carter vowed to meet Hamas' supreme leader this week in Syria.
Carter, a Nobel Peace laureate, also laid a wreath at Yasser Arafat's grave, another break with U.S. policy during a private peace mission to the Middle East that includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria where the virulently anti-Israel Hamas movement has its headquarters. Carter returns to Israel on Monday.
Carter has been shunned by Israel this week, and the White House has criticized him for his willingness to meet with Hamas leaders. Carter says the U.S. and Israel should stop isolating the group, whose control of the Gaza Strip threatens to undermine Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. "Since Syria and Hamas will have to be involved in a final peace agreement, they have to be involved in discussions that lead to final peace," Carter said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
During the graveside ceremony, a two-man honor guard escorted the 83-year-old Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Carter placed the wreath on the grave, then solemnly nodded before turning away. Later, a Palestinian host told Carter that Arafat's resting place was temporary, and the Palestinians hope to move his remains to Jerusalem one day. Carter did not react.
President Bush blamed Arafat for the breakdown of peace talks and subsequent wave of violence and cut off of contacts with the longtime Palestinian leader before he died in 2004. Bush did not visit Arafat's grave when he visited Ramallah this year.
Carter also attended a reception organized by his office for Palestinian dignitaries in Ramallah. At the gathering, Carter embraced Nasser Shaer, a senior Hamas politician, meeting participants said. Embraces between men are a common custom in Arab culture. "We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception," Shaer said. "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."
Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister and education minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government that unraveled last year, is considered a leading member of the Islamic militant group's pragmatic wing. After a stint in an Israeli prison last year, he is now a professor at a West Bank university, teaching comparative religion.
Palestinians say Shaer, an academic, was not involved in Hamas attacks against Israel, and Israel has never charged him with violent activity. Carter's office refused to comment on the closed meeting.
Carter is scheduled to meet Khaled Mashaal, the group's exiled leader, in Damascus on Friday. "The official Hamas position until this day is that it won't negotiate with Israel or recognize it under any circumstance," Israeli Foreign Ministry official Yigal Palmor said. "Jimmy Carter has dignified this position with his presence, and one cannot but wonder how this attitude is supposed to promote peace and understanding."
Carter's comparisons of Israeli policies in the West Bank such as separate roads for Jews and Arabs to apartheid in South Africa also have angered Israeli leaders.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is not meeting with Carter this week, and the only Israeli leader to host him, President Shimon Peres, criticized Carter for the planned meeting with Mashaal. Carter has offered to serve as a conduit between the militant group and the U.S. and Israeli governments.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#7
Anymouse,
You forgot the massive unemployment . . . and the killer rabbits!
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/16/2008 12:25 Comments ||
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#8
I wouldn't call him the "worst" president ever, just the most useless. We're still living with the disasters created by FDR and Woodrow Wilson. Even LBJ didn't have the clout to screw things up like those two did. Kahtah's trying to catch up, but there's not much there to work with.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/16/2008 14:36 Comments ||
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#9
And what we all forget is that Gerald Ford thought so much of himself that he kept Ronald Reagan from running in 1976 leading to the entire crap this man laid on the country. Had Ford simply accept the 'accidental president' chapter in history and not run for the office in '76, when Reagan first made moves for the office, how the world would be different today.
(Xinhua) -- The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) wound up its operations in Sri Lanka on Tuesday with a set of recommendations to make a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the human rights abuses a more meaningful exercise.
The IIGEP was invited by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to supervise the functions of a probe panel appointed by him in November 2006 to investigate allegations of human rights abuses blamed on the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.
The IIGEP in its concluding statement said "the government should respect and implement the internationally agreed doctrine of command responsibility as part of the law of Sri Lanka whereby superiors of those who have committed criminal acts may also be held responsible."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
HMMMMM, so Syrian authorities allegedly knowingly gave seized Al Qaeda passports to [non-AQ?] Muslims headed to Lebanon to fight the Lebanese Army - SOUNDS ALOT LIKE PRIMA FACIE THIRD-PARTY FRAUD = THIRD-PARTY LEGAL ALIBI/CO-INCIDENCE/DENIABILITY ALL AROUND!?
#3
al-Rooters: translated/ from Russian to English What's going on in Syria?
Today Syria is getting the most modern air defense systemPantsyr-S1.
the Syrian delegation has arrived to Tula, where the system is produced, to take its order. The Pantsyr-S1 is self-propelled short-range missile air defense system.
United Arab Emirates funded the development of the system and were the first to make an order. At the moment all the contracts are for the sale of 64 Pantsyr units for about USD 2.5 billion, the sum can reach soon USD 5 billion.
Syria was reported earlier to have made the order for 36 units, UAE -50 units, Alger-38 units. The Russian armed forces will get the first Pantsyr-S1 in 2009, two more in 2009.
_____________________________________________
The Times of London reported Tuesday that Russia has sent technicians to upgrade Syria's air defense system after Israeli electronic warfare systems allowed IAF warplanes to attack a target in Syria last month.
The Times account also said that the airborne electronic warfare system, which it said jammed the Russian-made radar and the Syrian army?s communications, was "believed to have been designed in readiness for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear sites."
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday lifted censorship on the fact that the air force carried out an air strike against a target deep in Syrian territory on September 6th. But censorship remained in effect on critical details of the mission, including the nature of the target.
According to foreign media reports, the air strike apparently targeted a North Korea-built nuclear facility in northeastern Syria. Syria and North Korea, however, have both vehemently denied any nuclear cooperation.
#4
Syria is paying for another air defense system that it again won't be able to use effectively against the Israelis? Better that than something actually useful for them, I s'pose... better for Israel, at any rate.
Hezbollah denied a report by the Iranian News Agency, Fars, that it will launch an offensive on Israel in Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 if the Jewish state wages a new war. "We would not initiate war but in case they wage any war in the future ...there will be a counter attack behind the front lines...and for the first time since 1948 in Palestine itself," Fars quoted a Hizbullah Shura Council member as telling Syrian magazine al-Hakika.
Hizbullah said in a statement that al-Hakika magazine "did not conduct an interview with any of the Shura Council members, and thus, remarks attributed to the so-called Shura Council member to Fars news agency are absolutely not true."
The high-ranking Hizbullah official was also quoted as revealing in his remarks to al-Hakika that the body of slain commander Imad Mughniyeh was moved to Lebanon before Syrian secret service agents had the chance to examine it.
Mughniyeh was assassinated in a Damascus car bombing Feb. 12. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah ordered Mughniyeh's body to be transferred "immediately" to Lebanon minutes after the bombing, Fares quoted the Hizbullah official as saying.
He added that Syrian President Bashar Assad asked Nasrallah to keep the identity of the assassinated official secret but the Hizbullah leader refused. The Shiite group accused Israel of killing Mughniyeh and pledged to avenge his death.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Are the Iranians losing it? Mahdi Army is going down, and now the Hezzie puppets seem to have developed some independence...
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/16/2008 6:22 Comments ||
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Syria is supplying the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon with rockets in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak charged on Tuesday. "Resolution 1701 is not being applied. The transfer of rockets from Syria to Lebanon is continuing and Hezbollah's military build-up is continuing," Barak's office quoted him as saying during a visit to an Israeli air force base. "I think the Security Council has to act and see how the resolution is applied and enforced," the former chief of staff said.
The resolution, which put an end to a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006, demanded the pullout of the Israeli army from south Lebanon and its replacement by a UN-backed Lebanese army deployment.
The resolution called for the disarming of all militias -- an allusion to Hezbollah as well as to Palestinian militant groups -- and the prevention of illegal arms sales and smuggling operations in Lebanon.
Israel launched a massive offensive after the July 12, 2006, capture of two of its soldiers in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah which had sought to impose a prisoner exchange.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric sharply criticized Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's visit to Qatar and said Tuesday that her comments about Hezbollah and Hamas reflect Israel's "brazenness and arrogance."
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued a statement calling Livni's trip and her remarks "a big insult to all Arabs and Muslims."
Such trips are designed to drive a wedge between Arab countries willing to make peace with Israel, and those who are not, the statement said. "The visits...are not only meant to normalize (Israel's ties with Arab countries)...but are also designed to pave the way for an Arab-Israeli alliance against other Arabs and Muslims who refuse to let the usurper entity (Israel) liquidate the Palestinian people," Fadlallah was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/16/2008 00:00 ||
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"Muslims who refuse to let the usurper entity (Israel) liquidate the Palestinian people... because they prefer to do it themselves."
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/16/2008 12:05 Comments ||
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#2
Further evidence that something wicked this way comes.
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.
Six Somali pirates who seized a French luxury yacht and held its 30 crew hostage for a week will be brought to France to face trial, a judge said on Tuesday. 
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Robert S Mueller told a meeting in London last week that Al Qaeda would not go quietly into the night, having established new sanctuaries in ungoverned spaces, Tribal Areas, and the Frontier province of Pakistan.
Iraqi Kurds have won two major concessions from the central government in Baghdad one on oil and the second on the state of their militias known locally as Peshmerga.
Two aides to Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric have escaped assassination in separate attacks in southern Iraq, Police said Tuesday. 
Former President Carter angered Israel's government Tuesday by embracing a Hamas politician during a visit to the West Bank, ignoring Israeli and U.S. designation of the Islamic militants as a terror group. 
Hezbollah denied a report by the Iranian News Agency, Fars, that it will launch an offensive on Israel in Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 if the Jewish state wages a new war. "We would not initiate war but in case they wage any war in the future ...there will be a counter attack behind the front lines...and for the first time since 1948 in Palestine itself," Fars quoted a Hizbullah Shura Council member as telling Syrian magazine al-Hakika.
Lebanon's top Shi'ite Muslim cleric sharply criticized Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's visit to Qatar and said Tuesday that her comments about Hezbollah and Hamas reflect Israel's "brazenness and arrogance." 
