NEW YORK - The Pentagon is considering sending up to 7,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Citing unnamed Bush administration officials, the Times said the push could drive U.S. forces in Afghanistan to some 40,000, the highest level since the United States invaded the country in 2001 and toppled the Taliban government. One official said it would likely result in 'the re-Americanization' of the war.
That's likely a good idea. If we need 7,000 troops, take them from Europe, including Kosovo if necessary.
The increase would drive U.S. troops presence from about half to two-third of foreign troops in Afghanistan, and would require a reduction in troops levels in Iraq by at least a modest amount, the newspaper said. Planning for the increase began in recent weeks, it said.
'There are simply going to be more American forces than we've ever had there,' the Times quoted a senior official as saying.
NATO commanders in Afghanistan say they need about 10,000 more troops, but some dozen NATO countries have pledged only about 2,000, the Times said, citing unnamed NATO officials. So far only France has begun preparing more troops for deployment -- some 700. The officials also said the decision for more troops could be left to the next U.S. president, who will take office in January, and that few additional troops were expected in Afghanistan any time soon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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It doesn't matter how many troops we have there.
#3
Make sure every one of those soldiers is a pilot who comes with a crop duster and 10,000 gallons of Roundup(TM) and this "surge" won't need to last longer than a week or so.
#4
shouldn't hollywood and the democrats be right on this? They've been complaining for some time now that this is where we should have taken the fight. It will be fun to watch their disorganized retreat.
#6
The New York Times reported on Saturday. Citing unnamed Bush administration officials,
because the NYT has "favored insider" status among Bush officials....riigghht
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2008 9:02 Comments ||
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#7
IMO, this is more evidencia of COVERT, PC = PDENIABLE recognition by the USA = USDOD that Osama + Radical Islam are indeed redirecting their Jihad's strategc focii towards RUSSIA-CHINA + CENTRAL ASIA. IN THE ABSENCE OF INVADING IRAN, THE USA = US-ALLIES MUST PRECLUDE ISLAMIST NUCLEAR TERROR [Iran-Bloc + Militants] EVEN IFF IT MEANS RISKING ANTAGONIZING RUSSIA-CHINA, etc.
*2008-2012/13 > USA = rising US-led OWG-NWO is presently winning the WOT in the ME, but can still be defeated at this stage - likewise, Radical Islam is presently losing in the ME but can still defeat the US-Allies. IFF THERE IS ANY ISLAMIST "HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI", andor AMER HIROSHIMA options, THE TIME FOR SAME IS NOW!
#8
No, AFGHANISTAN does matter - my read of Islamist strategy indics that Osama = Islamists have decided that BIPOLAR [US-West vs Islamism] IS BETTER THAN MULTIPOLAR [West, Islamism, Russ-China, etal.], at least for time being in CENTRAL ASIA AS ISLAMISTS ACQUIRE ENCLAVES + espec STRATEGIC WEAPONS CAPABILITIES.
An explosion has cracked historic remains of one of the famed Bamiyan Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban seven years ago, an Afghan culture official said Saturday.
NATO-led troops destroyed two pieces of unexploded ordnance close to the smaller of the two statues on Thursday, Najibullah Harar, chief of information and culture for Bamiyan, told The Associated Press.
The blast caused cracks in what is left of the 34.5 meter-high statue and its side walls, he said. UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said there had been a controlled explosion about 100 meters from the statue and the UN was checking into the incident. He said it was unclear if the Buddha remains were damaged.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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That's ok. Remember when the archeologists found an equally giant statue of the lying Buddha buried not far from the Bamiyan Bhuddas? A great many souvenirs of Afghanistan's rich pre-Islam are no doubt waiting to be discovered... and the archeologists have so much experience reassembling shards.
Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Americas staunchest ally in the royal house, Minister of Defense and head of the Sudairi branch of princes, is dying of cancer at his villa in Geneva, Switzerland.
His brother, interior minister Prince Nayef, is standing by in Riyadh expecting to succeed him. And he will not have too long to wait before he reaches the throne. King Abdullah, at 85, is praised by Western analysts for the wise reforms he has introduced but some of the younger princes say he is no longer up to coping with the stresses and strains of his royal duties and most days he takes several hours off to rest.
Prince Nayef, the would-be king, who is roughly 75 years of age a mere spring chicken on the Saudi royal geriatric scale has managed to push his way to the front of the race for the throne despite his unpopularity. A scion of the Sudairi branch of the royal family, he is disliked for his bad temper, cantankerousness, hidebound opinions and close ties with the most extremist clerical circles.
Aged 83, Sultan contracted cancer many years ago. In late March, he moved to his palace in Rabat, Morocco, where Saturday, April 26, his condition took a turn for the worse. A special royal aircraft flew the Crown Prince to Geneva, Switzerland and handed him into the care of his regular Swiss doctors. There was nothing they could do at that point except place him in an induced coma to spare him pain.
#1
...With friends like him, we didn't need any enemies. He was the most tolerant of the sons of Abdul Aziz, no more than that. Nayef flatly and openly does not like us, and it'll come out PDQ.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/04/2008 13:58 Comments ||
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#2
dying of cancer at his villa in Geneva, Switzerland.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PainKillers are unIslamic/
and
um....
Fuck him and his mortuary.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 15:48 Comments ||
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#3
If we had a CIA that could keep secrets and not blab to the NYT, I'd try to arrange for Nayef to 'take a drive into the desert'.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2008 17:42 Comments ||
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#4
TOPIX > LEBANON DAILY STAR OP-ED - IS THE MIDDLE EAST ABOUT TO DISINTEGRATE [ thanx to Dubya's ME policies]? New MidEast versus OLD MidEast. DOMINANT CONFLICT is bwtn US-IRAN for REGIONAL HEGEMONY/
CONTROL, seconded by IRAN-SAUDI ARABIA for oil, econ + and pan-Islamic thought, etc. SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF MUSLIM-ME SECUL DEMOCRACY VV ISLAMIST RADICALISM COULD ULTIMAT BE DECIDED BY OUTCOME IN TURKEY.
Almost eight years after al-Qaeda nearly sank the USS Cole with an explosives-stuffed motorboat, killing 17 sailors, all the defendants convicted in the attack have escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials.
Jamal al-Badawi, a Yemeni who helped organize the plot to bomb the Cole as it refueled in this Yemeni port on Oct. 12, 2000, has broken out of prison twice. He was recaptured both times, but then secretly released by the government last fall. Yemeni authorities jailed him again after receiving complaints from Washington. But U.S. officials have so little faith that he's still in his cell that they have demanded the right to perform random inspections.
Two suspects, described as the key organizers, were captured outside Yemen and are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. Many details of their alleged involvement remain classified. It is unclear when -- or if -- they will be tried by the military. It just ain't fair, is it Mr. Craig (WaPo) Whitlock?
This article starring:
Jamal al-Badawi
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/04/2008 06:25 ||
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#1
Alas, after this November, Gitmo will be history.
Posted by: Jack Slineger4174 ||
05/04/2008 10:27 Comments ||
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#2
That is a major problem. If we hold these people in a prison in some other country, that country becomes a target for attack by people who would want to spring those prisoners either by blackmail (let them out or we will bomb your capital) or outright springing them from prison.
If we bring them onto our soil, we risk legal complications. I can think of no better place to put them than gitmo. Unless maybe we have some old submarines we can use for brigs under the ocean someplace.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2008 15:32 Comments ||
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#5
Ice Station Zebra.
Why, it seems like just yesterday I sent a young man to make inquiries there. It was very, very complex matter. I didn't understand most of it.
Something about our German scientists and their German scientists, our rockets, their cameras and what not. Film was in there too. Also something about a Skate.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 15:56 Comments ||
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#6
Hold them underwater at least 10 mins.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2008 16:33 Comments ||
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#7
There is a really simple and LEGAL answer to the problem : simply apply the relevant portions of the Geneva Conventions and execute them as illegal combatants. The Geneva Conventions have VERY clear standards as to what constitutes legal and illegal combatants, and the Gitmo Boys absolutely fall into the ILLEGAL column.
#8
Methinks UNCLES FIDEL-RAUL CASTRO realize that the NEW WORLD - read, USA - is prese winning that aspect of the WOT known as WAR FOR MACKINDER'S WORLD ISLAND = MACKINDER'S WAR, and that Commie QUBA/QUEBA could be left out of a future OWG CARIBBEAN/PAN-AMER FREE TRADE ZONE.
GITMO IRONY > OWG-NWO > Gitmo could easily be transformed into a CHIN-STYLE FREE TRADE PORT ala Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. WILL CUBAN COMMIE IDEO- AND ANTI-US HARDLINERS ACCEPT THIS???
#9
SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE NUMBER ----- < Can Cuba's Commies-Totalitarianists accept MAO-IST STYLE AUTHORITARIANISM + US TRANSFER OF MIL-ECON PRESENCE FROM GITMO TO PUERTO RICO = CANARY ISLANDS???
Governor signs law protecting residents against suits in foreign courts
New York state fought back today against terrorism apologists who have used foreign libel laws to silence opponents as Gov. David Paterson signed a law granting protections under the First Amendment. The Libel Terrorism Protection Act was inspired by New York-based author Rachel Ehrenfeld's battle with a British court over her 2003 book, "Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Funded and How to Stop It."
New York officials said the law will make it more difficult for "libel tourists" to threaten authors and publishers with foreign libel suits. It bars enforcement of a libel judgment in foreign courts unless a New York court determines the decision is consistent with the free speech and free press protections guaranteed by the U.S. and New York state constitutions.
"New Yorkers must be able to speak out on issues of public concern without living in fear that they will be sued outside the United States, under legal standards inconsistent with our First Amendment rights," said Paterson. "This legislation will help ensure the freedoms enjoyed by New York authors."
Ehrenfeld, a WND contributor, called the law "a wonderful precedent," according to Publisher's Weekly. She intends to "go back to court and win the case" and hopes "other American authors will continue to expose what needs to be exposed and that publishers will not be shy in publishing it."
Britain's libel law has been used in a number of instances against writers who speak out against international terrorism. As WND reported, Saudi banker Khalid Bin Mahfouz filed suit against Ehrenfeld after she named him in her New York-published book as a funder of Islamic charities that supported terrorism.
She asserts there are more than 10 lawsuits outstanding by numerous plaintiffs in the U.S. claiming billions of dollars in damages from Mahfouz's alleged involvement in financing the 9/11 attack of the World Trade Center. Only 23 copies of her book were sold in the United Kingdom, but Mahfouz took advantage of the country's liberal laws and filed the suit there, charging damage to his reputation.
The British court issued a $225,000 judgment against Ehrenfeld after she refused to appear, on advice of her counsel in Britain. The author then sought a judgment in New York declaring the British decision unenforceable in the U.S., because her work is protected under American law. The New York Court of Appeals ruled Ehrenfeld's suit could not be heard under state law unless legislature made changes.
Paterson, who succeeded disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer last month, urged the federal government to take similar action. "Although New York state has now done all it can to protect our authors while they live in New York, they remain vulnerable if they move to other states, or if they have assets in other states," said Paterson. "We really need Congress and the president to work together and enact federal legislation that will protect authors throughout the country against the threat of foreign libel judgments."
State Sen. Dean G. Skelos noted "the truth is a critically-important component of the war on terror. American authors, like Dr. Ehrenfeld, who expose terrorist networks and their financiers should not be subject to intimidation and lawsuits in foreign courts designed to circumvent our First Amendment rights," he said. "This is important legislation, and I thank Governor Paterson for signing it into law."
WND reported last year Cambridge University Press defaulted on a libel suit filed by Mahfouz, issuing an apology and agreeing to pay court fees and damages and destroy all unsold copies of a 2006 book by two American authors. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, said at the time that Cambridge University Press's apology had "ominous implications" for investigators of terrorism financing.
#4
I don't know what your guys see but what I'm reading here "between the lines" is covert extension of US OWG legal-financial sovereignty over Great Britain = Europe???
New DELHI - In following the will of its people by attempting to find a negotiated solution to mounting extremism, the new Pakistani government is wading against American skepticism, the lessons of the recent past, and some suggest its own military establishment. Early indications, however, point to the enormousness of the task facing Pakistan's new ruling coalition. The US is likely to increase pressure after a major State Department report last week concluded that Al Qaeda has rebuilt some of its pre-9/11 capabilities from havens in Pakistan's contested border region with Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants have the upper hand in these Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where the region's colonial-era rules limit the new government's authority.
The job of overcoming these obstacles has largely fallen to the overlooked member of Pakistan's new ruling coalition, the Awami National Party (ANP). As Pashtuns, the ANP can talk to the Taliban as ethnic brothers. Yet as disciples of the nonviolence espoused by its late founder, Abdul Ghaffar Khan the so-called "Frontier Gandhi" and follower of the Mahatma the ANP is uniquely qualified to attempt peacemaking. Whether it succeeds could determine whether Pakistan finds the peaceful resolution that a majority of its people so desire or descends back into war.
"The responsibility for a deal lies with the ANP because of the ANP being Pashtun and because they have been very critical of the way the war on terror has been conducted," says Rasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Facing opposition to cease-fires
The ANP is a minor partner in the national parliament, but it leads the ruling coalition in the strategically vital North West Frontier Province. Adjacent to the central battleground of FATA, the province is the front line against the Talibanization of Pakistan. Rising militancy in FATA has spilled into it with bombings against barbers who trim beards and owners of DVD shops both Taliban taboos.
Already, the ANP-led government in the North West Frontier Province has had to withstand global criticism for its new, conciliatory tack such as last week's release of Sufi Mohammed, a pro-Taliban hard-liner, from jail.
The US has warned against negotiations, saying they lead only to toothless cease-fires that have allowed militants time and space to tighten their grip on territory. Indeed, the State Department's annual terrorism report released last week suggested that suicide attacks in Pakistan more than doubled to 887 last year because terrorists were able to regroup during a 2006 cease-fire.
For this reason, a new potential cease-fire with militants in FATA, reported last week but apparently abandoned, raised deep concern in Washington. "It's important that any agreement be effectively enforced and that it not interrupt any operations where we are going after terrorists in that area," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.
The White House was right to be worried, some experts agree. "The government is negotiating from a position of weakness," says Seth Jones, an analyst at RAND Corp., a security consultancy in Arlington, Va. "There should be no illusions these [militant] groups are trying to strengthen their position."
Army 'capitulated' to militants
But others see another dynamic at work in the scrapped cease-fire, too. "The military is out to save itself," says Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," a book considered one of the most insightful looks into the group.
He suggests that the failed deal was not the fault of the new government, but of the Army, which wields great influence in FATA, because it is controlled federally. The deal was essentially a capitulation to militants, Mr. Rashid adds, because the Army wants to get out of an unpopular campaign.
The military denies this, saying it is not in any direct negotiations with the Taliban. "The government officials are negotiating with them through interlocutors," says Maj. Gen. Atthar Abbas, an Army spokesman.
Yet due to the peculiar rules governing FATA, the Army does have more of a voice there. In the North West Frontier Province, the only government negotiators are new lawmakers. In FATA, however, talks are being supervised by a governor appointed by President Musharraf, and the regional Army corps commander, in addition to federal lawmakers, says Rahim Dad Khan, a member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), an ANP ally.
ANP pushes for more accountability
The ANP, for its part, wants to bring more accountability to negotiations by putting all the facts before the people. Past negotiations under the military-led government were never made public, says Sen. Zahid Khan of the ANP. So when agreements inevitably fell apart amid accusations and counteraccusations, no one knew who was right. "We'll make all the developments in the talks public so as the masses can judge who is backing out of his words," he says. "The party going against the agreement would have to take the ire of the masses."
In this way, negotiations can serve a strategic purpose. Defense analyst Ikram Sehgal says there are many natural points of disagreement between Pashtun tribals and foreign terrorists, such as the tactic of suicide bombing. "Terrorist ideology is completely anathema to tribal ideology," he says. "The whole idea is to drive a wedge between the tribals and the terrorists."
Yet Rashid and others say that to ultimately succeed, the government must have a policy beyond just talks or bullets, for that matter. The government of North West Frontier Province has drawn a $4 billion development plan designed to spread the authority of the government through new counsels and government positions. But it must address the root causes of the tribal belt's problems the economic backwardness and political isolation that have made the area a haven for militants, analysts add.
"They have to offer some strategic vision," says Rashid. "[The terrorists] want sharia. What are you offering?"
Posted by: john frum ||
05/04/2008 13:13 ||
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Abdul Ghaffar Khan with the Mahatma
Posted by: john frum ||
05/04/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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#2
I have seen another photo of both. For one side tiny and weak Ghandhi and tpowring over him Abdul Ghaffar Khan looked strong enough to kill a bear with his bare hands
Also Abdul Ghaffar Khan's daughters didn't wear a veil and talked in public. He is a hero for some Pashtuns but other despiuse him: not chsuvinitic enough, no Taliban-like enough, mleddled with kaffirs...
The NWFP government on Saturday acknowledges Fridays incident in which the skins of billboards carrying pictures of women were removed allegedly by the Shabab-e-Milli (SM), the youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told Daily Times the government condemned whoever did this. What will the administration do if people take the law into their own hands at their own free will? he asked.
Most likely nothing.
The minister said that if billboards were not considered offensive in remaining three provinces of the country, how they could be considered offensive in NWFP. It is cheap popularity tactic and we would take notice of it. Either government agencies or some other people are involved in it, he said.
Mian Iftikhar said that one JI leader owned an advertising agency in Lahore, however their local leadership was destroying billboards in NWFP, which he said was a double standard.
Shabab-e-Milli: Shabab-e-Milli provincial president Abdul Qadir Saraf said that his organisation had not removed the billboards. Concerning the deadline given by his organisation for the purpose, he said that its Peshawar chapter president had issued the deadline, and had also held a meeting with the district nazim and director City Development and Municipal Department (CD&MD) on the issue.
We are thankful to the city district government and provincial government for removing these billboards, he said. Saraf said that had the billboards been defaced by his organisation, they would have accepted responsibility for it.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Somewhere; Dave Dudley is crying. (Old CW song reference; 10 points for first correct title submission)
Who is the girl wearin' nothin' but a smile and a towel
In the picture on the billboard in a field near the big old highway
Rollin' down the highway in my Jimmy, haulin' freight
From Chicago to St Louis, Lord, I see her every day
Oh, a double clutchin' weasel like me can hardly ever get
A girl to look at him that way
Smilin' like the girl wearin' nothin' but a smile and a towel
In the picture on the billboard in the field near the big old highway ....
The family of Pakistans ambassador to Afghanistan appealed on Saturday to his kidnappers to free him and expressed frustration at the governments failure to secure his release three months after he vanished on a border highway.
Tariq Azizuddin, his driver and his bodyguard disappeared on February 11 as they drove from Peshawar towards the Afghan border. In a video aired on April 19 on an Arab satellite channel, Azizuddin said that Taliban militants had kidnapped them.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the envoys family said that while some contact had been established with Azizuddin a month after his abduction, there was no sign he would be released soon.
They did not elaborate on the contact, but they said they had learned that his health was deteriorating because of his confinement in subhuman conditions.
It remains unclear if Azizuddin is really in the hands of the Taliban and whether he has become a pawn in peace talks between the government and tribal militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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The government will not negotiate or make compromises with terrorists, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday. The Pakistani nation has reached a consensus that they will not negotiate or make compromises with terrorists, to protect national interests, the minister told a joint press conference, along with his Japanese counterpart Masahiko Koumura.
Qureshi said talks would only be held with those who wanted peace and were ready to help the government bring stability in the region by ending poverty. He said, We will only engage with those people who can be our partners in bringing peace to the region, he said.
Support: Koumura supported the governments multi-pronged strategy to end terrorism, and said Japan would assist in the socio-economic aspect of the strategy. Responding to questions, he said the new government of Pakistan would not tolerate terrorists, adding that Islamabad had informed him that talks would not be initiated with terrorists operating from the Tribal Areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Talks with Maulana Sufi Muhammad will not help the NWFP government bring peace to the restive Swat district, the Taliban said on Saturday. Self-proclaimed vice chief of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Maulvi Faqir Muhammad and purported TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar told reporters that the government should hold talks with Mullah Fazlullah instead of Sufi Muhammad, the chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM). The TTP is a relatively new militant organisation. The two Taliban leaders said that dialogue had been suspended with the government. However, the ceasefire is still intact. They said Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan seemed helpless to hold talks with the Taliban, and blamed secret hands for creating differences between the government and Taliban. Separately, speaking at a function at the Peshawar Press Club, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti also said some hidden elements were trying to derail the peace process initiated by the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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Conflict has arisen between anti-United States jihadi groups, as Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munker chief Haji Namdar has ordered all Baitullah Mehsud-led militants to leave the Khyber Agency, following claims of responsibility for the suicide attack on him on Thursday. All militants belonging to Baitullah Mehsuds group have been ordered to leave the Khyber Agency following the confirmation that the suicide attack on Namdar was ordered by Baitullah, a close aide to Namdar told Daily Times on Saturday.
Around 20 people were injured in the attack at Namdars headquarters near Bara town in the Khyber Agency. The Hakeemullah Group, which is led by Baitullahs deputy Hakeemullah Mehsud, claimed the responsibility for the attack. I have been told by Baitullahs supporters that four more suicide bombers are on their way to kill me, Namdar was quoted as saying. I will not allow Baitullah to set up his own state in the Tribal Areas.
Sources close to Namdar quoted Hakeemullah as telling him that the attack was ordered following documentary evidence that you (Namdar) are a government puppet posing as a mujahid. Hakeemullah was referring to the publication of a picture in a Peshawar-based Urdu-language daily on Wednesday in which Namdar was sitting with Frontier Corps (FC) Colonel Mujahid Hussain.
We have ordered the attack to kill you because the picture leaves no doubt about your credibility, Hakeemullah reportedly told Namdar on phone while requesting the remains of the bomber. Security officials said the rivalry between Baitullah and Namdar could lead to more bloodshed in near future.
Relations between the Hakeemullah Group and Namdars organisation became tense following Namdars orders to release seven FC soldiers kidnapped by Hakeemullah on April 21.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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The NWFP government has said talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to bring peace to the FATA and NWFP are in progress, despite the TTPs announcement talks had failed. The NWFP government is in constant contact with the FATA and Swat militants to bring peace to the troubled areas of the country, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told Daily Times on Saturday.
Conversely TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud announced an end to negotiations on Saturday, saying the Taliban would not engage in dialogue until troop withdrawal from the Tribal Areas was complete, reported Geo TV.
On April 28 the TTP had also announced that talks with the government had failed, after the latters refusal to withdraw troops from FATA and Swat a demand the TTP claimed was earlier accepted.
Hussain however said the withdrawal of troops from the troubled areas was possible only after a ceasefire and agreement between the two was reached. It will take some time and needs continued efforts, which the NWFP government has started, Hussain said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, IRAQ: The nighttime walk through a difficult neighborhood in southern Rusafa was uneventful; a careful presence patrol designed to show local citizens American forces and gauge public opinion. The jumbled maze of brightly lit ramshackle shops and pitch-black back alleys is one of the less secure parts of the district.
The few blocks in Southern Rusafa are a neighborhood with the most potential to become violent because of the JAM [Mahdi Army] Special Groups networks that are known to operate in that area, according to Lieutenant Mike Hebert, the patrols leader. No one challenged the platoon, and the expressions of Iraqi civilians were studiously neutral. But the Mahdi Army presence was apparent in the nervous energy of shopkeepers who hesitantly spoke with the Americans, a fear that increased when directly asked about the Shia militia.
Rusafa is a large district in central Baghdad bordered by the Tigris River to the southwest and Sadr City to the northeast. The district is predominantly Shia, but contains significant Sunni enclaves and a small Christian population, with a surprising number of openly practicing churches, according to Colonel Craig Collier, the commander of the 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. The 450 soldiers of the 3-89 Cav are responsible for the districts security, in conjunction with thousands of Iraqi Army, Iraqi National Police, Iraqi Police, Kurdish private contractors, and Sons of Iraq (neighborhood watch).
Rusafa contains Baghdads largest and most famous markets, including the Shorja, Saria, and Bab al Sharji, some of which were the scenes of high-profile suicide bombings during the sectarian-fueled carnage of 2006-2007. Over the past year, and especially over the past six months, the district has calmed significantly. The predominant remaining threats are Mahdi Army mortar rounds aimed at the International Zone that fall short and suicide vest bombers and car bombs that target the markets and Coalition forces. Less successful suicide attacks occur maybe once a month, while once common highly successful spectacular attacks have become much less frequent.
#1
They were all corrupted. They have history in crime, robberies, murders, rapes, and all kinds of bad things. They even reached the level of kidnapping people and demanding ransoms just because they have money.
Is Mr. Johnson available in the press room? Pray ask him to shut down the web as soon as possible without injury to staff or equipment.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 10:37 Comments ||
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As international donors met in London to provide aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, US President George W. Bush included $200 million in funding for the PA as part of a supplemental budget request sent to Congress on Friday.
Included in Bush's request for money for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he asked for $50 million to "train, equip, and garrison Palestinian Authority Security Forces," as well as another $150m. for "urgent budget support" for the PA as part of America's general economic assistance.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
OK, OK---maybe I'm being unfair. After all, USA already spent hundred of billions on infrastructure & local militaries buildup in Iraq & Afghanistan. Not to mention funding various Muzzi "countries" with smaller sums for decades.
Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Jenin Saturday to welcome 600 Palestinian Authority policemen who were deployed in the city in a bid to restore law and order.
The decision to deploy the force in Jenin follows similar operations in Nablus and Tulkarm over the past few months. "Our people are desperately in need of law and order," said Gen. Diab Ali, commander of the PA National Security Force in the West Bank. "This is the only way to achieve a state."
Addressing the policemen, he added: "You have come to a struggling people who have sacrificed thousands of martyrs and prisoners. But there are a few irresponsible people here and this makes your task clear."
The PA commander said the force that entered Jenin was not a hostile party. "The police force came to Jenin to help in imposing law and order," he added. "There will be only one authority and one security force here."
Col. Wassim al-Jayoussi, commander of the Jenin Police, called on all residents to hand over illegal weapons. He also called on wanted criminals to surrender to the police, warning that anyone who does not comply would be arrested.
He said the security operation would continue until all its goals are achieved.
The PA governor of Jenin, Kadoura Musa, also urged everyone to hand over their weapons. He said that as of now only members of the police force would be allowed to carry weapons in public.
Jenin residents expressed deep satisfaction with the security operation. "We have been suffering for years as a result of the anarchy and lawlessness in Jenin," said businessman Raed Abu al-Rub. "Let's hope that this time the Palestinian government is serious about imposing law and order."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
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#1
"Our people are desperately in need of law and order," said Gen. Diab Ali, commander of the PA National Security Force in the West Bank. "This is the only way to achieve a state."
Former defense minister Amir Peretz said Saturday he would back direct negotiations with Hamas, but that Egypt must in the meantime be allowed to mediate between the two sides. Speaking at a 'Cultural Shabbat' event in Beersheba, Peretz also voiced his support for freeing jailed Fatah leader Marwan Baghouti, saying that his release would prevent the next murder.
That statement makes no sense. None whatsoever.
The former defense minister visited the prisoner, but refused to divulge details about the meeting.
Regarding the Labor Party, Peretz accused chairman Ehud Barak of drifting to the right, saying he had lost his place at the head of the peace camp and that Labor's poor showing in the polls was therefore not surprising.
Regarding the apparent new investigations against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Peretz called on Labor to wait patiently and not to hastily respond. "I am opposed to Barak's decision to convene the party in order to discuss a response. Politicians don't need to respond to investigations of a prime minister," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
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#1
Peretz, rhymes with Putz
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2008 9:15 Comments ||
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#2
And Barghouti rhymes with Yer-Bouti.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/04/2008 9:48 Comments ||
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#3
I recall one Shiek Yer-Bouti, an oilman of a certain pithiness.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/04/2008 10:40 Comments ||
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TEHRAN Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi has insisted that as signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has a legitimate right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, which cannot be denied.
Since Iran is under the supervision of the NPT regulations, it has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In our view, as long as Iran fulfills its international commitments, this right should not be denied, Qureshi told the Mehr News Agency correspondent in Islamabad
He said Pakistan has always defended Irans right to access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Pakistan has repeatedly announced that the world should not forget that Iran has signed the NPT.
Pakistans chief diplomat added, Iranians are responsible people.
And the world is aware of the fact that Iran is a responsible country in difficult times and it respects international treaties even in times of war, he noted.
If there is concern about Irans nuclear program, it can be allayed peacefully through bilateral and multilateral dialogue, he advised.
Qureshi also called Iran a democratic state which Pakistan greatly respects
Posted by: john frum ||
05/04/2008 19:03 ||
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A former Iranian president has said exporting violence to other countries is "treason" against Islam and Iran's 1979 revolution, an apparent accusation that the country's hard-line rulers are engineering unrest abroad.
Mohammad Khatami, a reformist and popular intellectual, made no mention of U.S. and Iraqi accusations that Iran is arming and training Shiite extremists in neighboring Iraq. But he said Iran should avoid actions that give it a bad image.
Engineering violence in other countries would be contrary to the goals of the 1979 Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khatami said. "What did Imam (Khomeini) want and what did he mean by 'exporting the revolution'? Taking up arms and causing explosions in other countries and establishing groups to carry out sabotage in other countries? Imam was strongly opposed to these behaviors," Khatami told students in northern Iran on Friday. "This is the biggest treason to Islam and the revolution."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Surely the direct exportation of the Iranian Revolution to Hizb'allah and Hamas took place when Mr. Khatami lived in the presidential palace?
A pro-government Lebanese politician called Saturday for the expulsion of Iran's ambassador and the ending of Iranian flights to Beirut because they might be carrying weapons and money to Hizbullah.
Walid Jumblatt, a member of the US-backed parliamentary majority, also warned in a press conference from his family home of Mukhtara, southeast of the capital, that he and parliament majority leader Saad Hariri could be targets of assassination. "Iranian flights to Beirut should be stopped because Iranian planes might be bringing in money and military equipment," said Jumblatt, a strong critic of the Iranian-backed Hizbullah. "The Iranian ambassador should be expelled from Lebanon."
His comments come as Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa ended a three-day visit to Beirut Saturday without reaching a breakthrough in the months-old political deadlock between the government and opposition.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2008 00:00 ||
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A fierce political row has broken out in Lebanon over claims that the radical Shia movement, Hezbollah, secretly filmed aircraft at Beirut's airport.
Heads of the Western-backed government accused Hezbollah of preparing for some kind of terrorist attack. Hezbollah dismissed the accusations as scare mongering.
The exchanges reflect the divisions that have paralysed Lebanon for eight months and left the country without a president for much of that time.
The allegation levelled by leaders of the government is that Hezbollah set up a hidden, remote-controlled camera in a container park overlooking the main runway of Beirut's international airport.
A newspaper that supports the government, an-Nahar, published documents in which the Lebanese Army's intelligence agency purportedly confirms that the camera was spotted in the last week of April, apparently directed at the runway, but was removed by three men in civilian clothing before it could be impounded.
The accusation is that the radical Shia movement, which controls the suburbs where the airport is located, was spying on air traffic in preparation for a possible attack, perhaps aimed at assassinating one of the prominent pro-government figures who fly in and out of the facility.
Hezbollah ridiculed the charges, saying that those who levelled them were simply parroting a US campaign against it and other groups which are resisting Israel. Hezbollah and its supporters accused the government of scare mongering in order to torpedo a political settlement and scare Arab and other summer visitors into staying away.
These bitter exchanges came as the Arab League's secretary-general, Amr Moussa, was on yet another visit to Beirut to try to promote reconciliation and an understanding that would allow the election of a president, a job that has been vacant since last November. Once again, it looks as though Mr Moussa is leaving empty-handed.
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.
NEW YORK - The Pentagon is considering sending up to 7,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year to make up for a shortfall in contributions from NATO allies, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Citing unnamed Bush administration officials, the Times said the push could drive U.S. forces in Afghanistan to some 40,000, the highest level since the United States invaded the country in 2001 and toppled the Taliban government. One official said it would likely result in 'the re-Americanization' of the war.
Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Americas staunchest ally in the royal house, Minister of Defense and head of the Sudairi branch of princes, is dying of cancer at his villa in Geneva, Switzerland.
Almost eight years after al-Qaeda nearly sank the USS Cole with an explosives-stuffed motorboat, killing 17 sailors, all the defendants convicted in the attack have escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials.
As international donors met in London to provide aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, US President George W. Bush included $200 million in funding for the PA as part of a supplemental budget request sent to Congress on Friday. 
Former defense minister Amir Peretz said Saturday he would back direct negotiations with Hamas, but that Egypt must in the meantime be allowed to mediate between the two sides. Speaking at a 'Cultural Shabbat' event in Beersheba, Peretz also voiced his support for freeing jailed Fatah leader Marwan Baghouti, saying that his release would prevent the next murder. 
A former Iranian president has said exporting violence to other countries is "treason" against Islam and Iran's 1979 revolution, an apparent accusation that the country's hard-line rulers are engineering unrest abroad. 
