One of Britain's most senior policemen says the country should talk to Al Qaeda to try and end their bloody campaign of violence. Sir Hugh Orde, a front-runner to replace Ian Blair as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he could not think of a single terrorist campaign that ended without negotiation.
And after 30 years of tackling the IRA Sir Hugh, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said he was convinced that policing - detecting plots and arresting people - was not enough alone to defeat terrorists.
Killing terrorists is a big part of it, too, though Sir Hugh missed that lecture at the police academy ...
His comments come the day after Al Qaeda released a shocking image of their vision of America - devastated by nuclear attack. The terrifying computer generated picture showing the ruins of Washington DC was released on an Islamic extremists' website.
Sir Hugh admitted that negotiating with terrorists meant 'thinking the unthinkable' and said some of the biggest risks his officers took were talking to people that 'historically they would not have dreamed of talking to'.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper his 2004 meeting with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was an example of how one-time enemies can become partners in peace.
Gerry Adams is a contemptible person, but he also isn't looking for the twelfth iman and isn't contemplating 72 virgins in Paradise. At some level there's a chance of a breakthrough with him that we're not going to have with Binny ...
Asked if he was saying 'we should talk to al Qaeda', Sir Hugh said: 'Well that's the logic of...I don't think that's unthinkable, the question will be one of timing.'
He added: 'If you want my professional assessment of any terrorism campaign, what fixes it is talking and engaging and judging when the conditions are right for that to take place.
'Is that a naive statement? I don't think it is ... It is the reality of what we face.
'If somebody can show me any terrorism campaign where it has been policed out, I'd be happy to read about it, because I can't think of one.'
#1
Seems this guy doesn't know that Jerry Adams had no desire on making English convert to catholicism, speak gaelic, eat irish stew and drink guiness.
#4
"Sir Hugh" doesn't even know his own British history, or he'd know that the British counter-terrorism effort in Malaya resulted in the destruction of two muzzie terror groups and free and fair elections in that country.
The man just breathed new life into a dying carcass, the jacka$$.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2008 11:42 Comments ||
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#5
If the negotiation starts with the choice of (a) Al Queda unconditional surrender (b) Al Queda leave or die than I can accept negotiations. Otherwise, I don't think so.
#6
Negotiating sounds great. First, AQ must denounce violence against non-Muslims, acknowledge the historic and legal rights of Israel, denounce the religious apartheid of the Saudi government and all other Arab governments, affirm the equality of women, and accept freedom of expression and of religious belief including the right of Muslims to convert to other faiths, to practice a broad variety of Islamic traditions or to have no particular faith.
Also, no more f*cking goats.
Once we have this bare minimum agreed, negotiations on other issues may be considered. Until then: Kill as many of them as we can.
It would also be a reasonable expectation for senior British police officers to agree the same points. If they can't they should be fired.
#7
I really hate the equivocation of the terms "talking to" and "negotiating".
We should always "talk to" terrorists, so that they are under no illusions why we are killing them. So that they are unable to delude themselves, or others viz the morality of their acts.
In theory, even negotiation is fine, although the term without qualifiers implies too wide a range of possibilities. We have always had and always will have the possibility on the table whereby if they stop attacking/killing us, we will stop attacking/killing them. By definition, this is the line at which negotiation stops and appeasement begins.
Sir Hugh Orde ought to know better than to even suggest negotiation when the enemy is nowhere near implicit acceptance of these terms. He mentions the neccessity of "Judging conditions". Present conditions do not even warrant talking about negotiating.
#11
Our nation building follies encourage this kind of talk. In 1945, we outlawed Nazism as a form of association and expression, etc; in 2003 we outlawed Baathism in Iraq (Coalition Provisional Authority Order #1). We need to outlaw Islamofascism now and forever. Indulging political islam has been tried: and failed. Let's do something else, like ordering shoot on sight orders against Islamofascists.
#12
Excallibur, perhaps we should start with the goat thing as our initial demand and then trust but verify. The humiliation and humor would be awesome.
I think eliminating speculation will solve this. Even OPEC thinks the natural price of oil should be about $65/bbl. The difference has to be made up by speculation or manipulation. I doubt the oil companies are stupid enough to manipulate prices. That leave speculators and manipulators outside the big oil companies. All this could be brought to a screeching halt if they would have to accept delivery of the oil and pay for transportation fees to their storage facilities or rent or something. Of course, all this is in my barely educated opinion, but sometimes that's what works best! ;-)
Agency looks for fraud and price manipulation in crude-oil markets; crude has soared 42% since December.
Federal regulators are six months into a wide-ranging investigation of U.S. oil markets, with a focus on possible price manipulation.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday said it started the probe in December and took the unusual step of publicizing it "because of today's unprecedented market conditions."
Crude prices, which on Thursday hovered around $127 a barrel, have risen more than 42% since early December. Gasoline prices are nearing a national average of $4 a gallon, up from about $3.20 a year ago.
The commission said details of the investigation remain confidential, but announced a handful of other initiatives designed to increase transparency of U.S. and international energy futures markets.
For example, the CFTC said it will immediately require monthly reports from institutional investors who manage funds designed to mimic the price of crude oil and other energy futures. The goal, the agency said, is to identify the amount of such index trading and to "ensure that this type of trading activity is not adversely impacting the price discovery process."
The CFTC also said it has reached an agreement with its British counterpart and InterContinental Exchange Inc.'s Futures Europe to expand surveillance of energy futures contracts with U.S. delivery points, including the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude, which trades on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The implementation of today's measures will improve oversight of the energy futures markets to ensure they reflect fundamental economic forces of supply and demand, free of manipulation and fraud," the CFTC said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, earlier this week asked the CFTC to provide the committee with more information about its oversight of energy commodity markets.
The New Mexico Democrat said he was concerned about increasing trading activity in U.S. crude oil taking place overseas and in over-the-counter markets. He also questioned the CFTC practice of classifying so-called "swap dealers," including large investment banks, as "commercial" market participants alongside traditional buyers and sellers, such as oil companies and airlines.
"The practice of including investment banks in the commercial participant category calls into question the CFTC's continued assertion that noncommercial participants, or speculators, follow rather than lead oil price movements," Bingaman wrote in a letter Tuesday.
Congress earlier this month voted to give the CFTC greater oversight of unregulated electronic exchanges, such as ICE, as a way to protect consumers and deter price distortion and manipulation.
A Senate subcommittee investigation last year found that hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC, which collapsed in 2006 after losing more than $6 billion in natural-gas trades, had shifted its activities to ICE from the regulated Nymex to avoid trading limits, and that the "excessive speculation" raised homeowners' heating bills.
Speculation has been cited as one on many factors contributing to surging petroleum prices, along with assumptions about new supplies, limited demand growth, possible supply disruptions overseas and the dollar's depressed value against other currencies.
#1
Speculation has been cited as one on many factors contributing to surging petroleum prices, along with assumptions about new supplies, limited demand growth, possible supply disruptions overseas and the dollar's depressed value against other currencies.
I guess they hide overt acts and conspiracies to 'obstructing domestic energy extraction and development' under "new supplies".
#2
Speculators provide important liquidity to markets. Perhaps you might want to consider that traders in the oil market can leverage on a 7% margin requirement versus 50% in stocks. Change this and the rules of the game might change.
Also think about all those tankers Iran has tied up storing oil they can't sell and preventing other oil from reaching the market.
Ultimately I've got a lot more confidence in the market resolving this problem than the government. It has a far more effective way of dealing with speculators.
This list of government actions does not lead me to believe government will do much to lower the cost of energy.
#3
Ultimately I've got a lot more confidence in the market resolving this problem than the government. It has a far more effective way of dealing with speculators. There is no free market in oil, and there hasn't been one since the days of John D. Rockefeller. The "Panics" of the 19th and early 20th centuries were a very effective way of dealing with speculators and resolving such problems, but I really don't recommend them. The market in housing and credit in the USA has obviously failed, and some of the speculation in oil is a spillover from that crisis.
#5
The market is taking care of the housing problem right this very minute. I'm looking at 1 for a possible rental.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/30/2008 17:55 Comments ||
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#6
Even OPEC thinks the natural price of oil should be about $65/bbl.
Not that I'm an expert, but I have a sneaking suspicion that OPEC might be beginning to get concerned about a possible technological breakthrough that could leave them eventually eating their oil. They may be greedy bastards, but they ain't stupid. They know that in the long run, $135 a barrel is their death warrant.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/30/2008 19:18 Comments ||
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#7
If we're talking about the Pelosi/Reid government I'm sure it'll get straightened out. Heh heh.
(VOI) - Senator Barack Obama said that he was considering visiting American troops and commanders in Iraq this summer, the New York Times newspaper said on Thursday. "Mr. Obama declined an invitation from Senator John McCain to take a joint trip to Iraq, saying, "I just dont want to be involved in a political stunt," the paper added.
He has, however, been sufficiently shamed ...
In a brief interview here, Mr. Obama said he might take a foreign trip after securing the Democratic presidential nomination. No details have been set, he said. "Iraq would obviously be at the top of the list of stops," he added.
Mr. Obama visited Iraq in January 2006 as part of a Congressional delegation to the Middle East. He has not returned since becoming a presidential contender. "Mr. McCain and the Republican National Committee have sought to use the 2006 trip to highlight a lack of foreign policy experience," the daily commented.
For weeks, aides to Mr. Obama have been quietly discussing a foreign trip, but the long Democratic nominating contest delayed concrete plans. "If Im going to Iraq, then Im there to talk to troops and talk to commanders," Mr. Obama said. "Im not there to try to score political points or perform. The work theyre doing there is too important."
Mr. McCain responded to the possible trip by saying he was "glad to hear that Senator Obama is now, quote, considering a trip to Iraq. Its long overdue. Its been 871 days since he was there."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Consider WAFF.com > AYATOLLAH SISTANI [Iraq]: IRAQI FATWA SUPPORTING ARMED JIHAD AGZ AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF IRAQ IS POSSIBLE AND "ISLAMIC"???
Also, OBAMA > FINAL DEMOCRAT PARTY NOMINATION WILL BE DECIDED IN SIX DAYS.
#5
Hopefully we get some good shots of the troops being "coerced" into being with him. The shots of them with Hillary and Kerry are freakin' hysterical.
#10
He will gain no additional voters from a trip to Iraq. Of the 300,000 or so troops, US State diplomatic community pogs, and contractors, he's got possibly 60,000 in his pocket. He and his handlers are well aware that he has little hope of winning over the remaining 240,000. I doubt he'll be going to Iraq anytime soon. If he does go, I hope General Petraeus finds a reason to be somewhere else.
Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan, defending his book critical of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, said on Thursday he may have made a mistake by not speaking out sooner.
You made a mistake by speaking out at all ...
Under fire for what former White House colleagues see as a betrayal of the Bush administration, McClellan said on NBC's "Today" show that, at the time, he had misgivings about the war and felt the administration was rushing into it. In the end, however, he said he trusted Bush and his advisers.
The "Today" show interview was the first for the former White House spokesman since news of his book, "What Happened -- Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," hit the capital.
All the reporters lauding him today thought he was dumb as a box o' rocks back when he was the Chief Presser ...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
McClellan is a fourth rate advisor, a press secretary. Only a press with a liberal agenda would give any credence to this guy's ax grinding.
He has no new information to give: just his personal views on the Bush administration. We coulda loaded up the Huffington Post for this material.
I got ten bucks that sez McCellan's book won't be mentioned in the press at all by June 10th.
#3
I'm sure the dork's book will be the talk of the Sunday shows. Then.... chirp chirp chirp chirp
Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 ||
05/30/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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#4
said on Thursday he may have made a mistake by not speaking out sooner.
Of course, Scotty doesnt think it was a mistake to wait just another six months until Bush was out of office to release his book. Im sure the fact that it is in the middle of an election year is just one of those co-winkee-dinks. I mean when your speaking truth to power timing is everything.
#5
He's a fuggen idiot. Not one footnote, not one documented reference, nothing but allegation, guided by a publisher that works for The Nation and publishes Soro's books.
Compare that to Feith's books which has tons of footnotes and 90 pages of documentation in the back part of the book about why and how Bush took us to war in Iraq - a book that I might note the MSM ignores because it doesnt match their desired narrative - while this POS does match thier bash Bush narrative and thus gets the publicity.
McClellan was spectacularly ineffective, and he was so inept and incompetent that he is one fo the few people that Bush actually FIRED! That takes a LOT of doing.
The guy is an incompetent boob, who is being vengeful, and used as a tool by the left.
#8
McClellan, McClellan... why does that name ring a bell? Could this a$$wipe be any kin to the McClellan that gave another president (Abe Lincoln) so much grief during a time of war? At least that McClellan had a brain, even if it was half-pickled.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2008 11:48 Comments ||
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#9
Karl Rove made an excellent point on Hanity and Colmes:
McCellan writes about an incident where he spotted Karl Rove and Scooter Libby speaking together and how unusual it was to see them together.
Rove points out that he and Libby spoke together at least once a day (their offices were 20 ft from each other). The fact McClellan hardly ever saw them together is an indication of how out of touch he was.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/30/2008 12:24 Comments ||
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#10
Rove points out that he and Libby spoke together at least once a day (their offices were 20 ft from each other). The fact McClellan hardly ever saw them together is an indication of how out of touch he was.
Well, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure space, a time for the political change to occur to accomplish the reconciliation. That didnt happen. Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didnt accomplish its goal.
And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians-they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities-the Iranians.--
#3
Pelosi is a complete moron but I am not surprised that the City of San Francisco sent her to Washington to represent their city. She is perfect for the role. Total and complete idiocy.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Thursday he will seek to adopt novel Israeli methods, like behaviour-detection technologies, to better secure America's airports.
"That's a scenario where Israel has a lot of experience," Chertoff said in an interview with Reuters. "I think that it is of interest to us to see if there is any adaptation there."
Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport, known for its strict security measures, relies heavily on techniques that detect suspicious behaviour among travellers.
Continued on Page 49
Two men accused of agreeing to broadcast the Hezbollah television channel Al Manar in the United States will face trial on terrorism charges in January, a US judge ruled on Wednesday. US District Judge Richard Berman set January 5, 2009 as the trial date for Javed Iqbal, 44, and Saleh Elahwal, 55, in what defence lawyers said was one of the more unusual terrorism cases moving through US courts.
Iqbal was arrested and initially charged in August 2006 on allegations he negotiated on behalf of his Brooklyn-based company HDTV Ltd with representatives of the Beirut-based Al Manar network to air the channel in America. Iqbal, a Pakistani who moved to the US more than 25 years ago, and Elahwal, who lives in New Jersey and who prosecutors say also operated HDTV, were indicted three months later. Initial court documents said Al Manar between December 2005 and March 2006 paid them more than $111,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Good! I hope the terrorism charge sticks to them like sh*t!
SRINAGAR: Perhaps we should start calling ourselves the Hizb ul-Mujahireen instead of the Hizb ul-Mujahideen, the terrorist groups supreme commander, Mohammad Yusuf Shah, joked with a confidant last month. Shahs wordplay did nothing to mask the bitterness of his tone: the feared mujahideen, or religious soldiers, he had once commanded now degenerated into a party of exiles, unwanted either at home or in Pakistan.
Although the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are still three months away, both the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party have held dozens of rallies in preparation of an intense contest. Islamist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is also campaigning vigorously, calling on his supporters to boycott the elections.
From his headquarters in Pakistan, Shah shaped the outcome of the 2002 elections, using his terror squads to attack NC activists and coerce rural supporters of the party. One hundred political workers, mainly from the NC, were killed adding to 61 lives claimed by terrorists in 1996; 57 in 1997; and 76 in 2001.
Robbed of a near-certain victory by NC rigging in the 1987 elections, when he contested as a Muslim United Front candidate, Shah crossed the Line of Control and joined an Inter-Services Intelligence-run jihad training camp. He vowed to wreak vengeance on India and the NC and delivered on his threat. But the triumphant homecoming Shah hoped for has proved a mirage. In the years since 2002, the Hizb has haemorrhaged commanders and cadre leaving the terror group and its supreme commander powerless spectators this time around. Its rank and file are demoralised; its field units strapped for funds and weapons; and its patrons in the ISI suspicious of its motivations.
Decimated organisation
For all practical purposes, what was once Jammu and Kashmirs numerically-strongest terror group has just one field unit a dozen-odd operatives grouped around southern division commander Shabbir Ahmed Mir in Tral town. It has been unable to mount a single attack of consequence for over a year, as cell after cell has been betrayed to the Jammu and Kashmir police or penetrated by Indian intelligence.
Ideologically committed leaders like Pervez Ahmed Dar, who, using the codename Musharraf acts as the Hizbs financial chief, have attempted to staunch the tide but to little avail. Dars immediate superior Farooq Ahmad Bhat was shot dead in February; key lieutenants such as central division commander Tajamul Islam and top south Kashmir operative Raees Dar are in jail.
No successor yet
Ever since Nasir Ahmad Dar, the organisations chief of military operations within Jammu and Kashmir, surrendered to authorities earlier this year, the Hizb has been unable to appoint a successor. Kulgam-born Riyaz Ahmad Bhat was selected, but the commanders parents travelled to Pakistan and arranged for his marriage, ensuring that he stayed on in Pakistan rather than risk death by returning home.
To make matters worse, the ISI no longer seems to trust the Hizb. Pakistan Army units actually turned back Hizb units attempting to cross the LoC this summer a reflection of the ISIs fear that the groups cadre are likely to tamely surrender once they are home. It is not an unfounded suspicion: almost a hundred Hizb operatives have done just that over the past year.
Jihadist build-up
Instead, the ISI is putting its faith in Pakistani jihadists. Upwards of 300 Lashkar cadre are thought to have massed at the Sawai Nallah near Muzaffarabad, along with similar numbers of Jaish at Chela Bandi and al-Badr at Chetiyan. Signs of the jihadist build-up are already evident. Last month, bus passengers near the Lolab Valley, for example, were twice stopped by jihadist units and asked to turn in any policeman among them.
Polemic sans bite
Hizb chief Shah has been increasingly theatrical in his polemic, promising attacks against Israeli tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, for example, and threatening to take the jihad to Lahore unless Pakistan reverses its policies. But in both Pakistan and India, this polemic is understood for just what it is: the rage of an ageing and battered beast that has lost its bite.
This article starring:
FARUQ AHMED BHAT
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
MOHAMAD YUSUF SHAH
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
NASIR AHMED DAR
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
PERVEZ AHMED DAR
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
RAIS DAR
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
RIYAZ AHMED BHAT
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
SHABIR AHMED MIR
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
Syed Ali Shah Geelani
TAJAMUL ISLAM
Hizb ul-Mujahideen
Posted by: john frum ||
05/30/2008 12:51 ||
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President Pervez Musharraf has dismissed media speculation that he is preparing to resign, saying it is part of a malicious campaign to create unrest in the country, the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.
Musharraf said at a dinner on Thursday attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani "the rumour mongers wish to create differences" between him and the army."
He was referring to a news report about his meeting with army chief General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani late on Wednesday that claimed that they discussed his resignation.
Pakistan's Geo TV said that according to Musharraf's office, Musharraf said at a dinner that his relations with the army chief were "excellent" and the report was false.
A Pakistani daily reported Thursday that the president had decided to resign following his meeting with Kayani.
Disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan has said that allegations he passed on nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea are false.
In a rare interview since he was put under a virtual house arrest, Khan said he had been made a scapegoat and he had made his 2004 confession in the wider interest of the country.
Khan was put under house arrest after he confessed to using Pakistan as the hub of a large proliferation network.
I think the confession was my mistake, he told DawnNews TV channel on Thursday.
Khan alleged that he has been betrayed by his friends who had promised that nothing would happen to him and he would be able to live a respectable life.
He said he had been given a written confessional statement to read. I should not have read the written statement. I should have spoken in my own words and changed things, he said.
He said pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Senator S.M. Zafar had assured him that no harm would come to him after the confession.
I was assured that I would be a free man and be allowed to go anywhere I want, he said.
In response to a question, the 72-year-old Khan said: I am an innocent man, but I dont want to indulge in any controversy.
The scientist made his first public appearance last week after a four-year detention when he visited the Academy of Sciences amid tight security.
The government is reported to have relaxed restrictions on him and allowed him to meet his friends.
Khan was arrested on 31 Jan, 2004, under the Security Act for allegedly transferring nuclear technology and centrifuges to other countries.
When asked if he had been involved in leaking nuclear secrets to any other country, Dr Khan said he was not a part of any illegal or unauthorised deal in any way, nope, nope, nope. We believe you. Yeah.
On being asked if he was willing to speak to officials of US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said: Why should we. We are an independent country, we have not violated any international law, we are not signatory to the NPT, I am a free man, we have no obligation, then why should I agree to that?
Khan termed the nuclear test conducted in 1998 a good move under the circumstances and said credit for it was due to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
If he had not done it, it might have encouraged India to do some misadventure. There was a general consensus to go for the nuclear test, the whole nation wanted it and it was done properly.
He said that by gaining nuclear capability, the country had become free of the fear of a war and 500,000 Indian troops on the border did not dare attack it.
We have a safe and good command and control system. Nobody can take away any nuclear weapon from Pakistan, he said.
#1
Regrets getting caught, too. Also regrets that no muzz bomb has gone off in America, I'll bet...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/30/2008 10:47 Comments ||
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#2
I frimly believe that what Dr. Khan did was both authorized and deemed legal by the government of his country... and those that disagree are mere kaffirs anyway, not entitled to contradict their Muslim betters.
The country has gone to the dogs in the last 10 years, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan said on Thursday, rebuking President Pervez Musharraf, AP reported. Khan told Dawn News that hopes of Pakistan progressing in economic development after becoming self-sufficient in national defence had not been realised. Asked if he blamed Musharraf, Khan said: The team leader is to be [held] responsible for the failure of the team but all those who were with him did not assert themselves and do a proper job [either]. Khan also said in the interview that there would be further revelations about the countrys nuclear proliferation scandal, AFP reported. He said most facts were known, but there are some things they will be out in time.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Khan is a patsy for Perv and his army!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/30/2008 12:43 Comments ||
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Baitullah Mehsud, the most prominent militant commander in Pakistans restive tribal belt and alleged by the United States and previous Pakistani government of masterminding Benazir Bhuttos assassination, is spending around Rs 3 billion on militancy annually, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said on Wednesday. He [Mehsud] is spending between Rs 2.5 - 3 billion yearly on procuring weapons, equipment, vehicles, treating wounded militants and keeping families of killed militants fed, the governor told Daily Times at his office on Wednesday.
Narco-dollars: Ghani said this significant sum could not be generated solely through zakat or donations, but stopped short of elaborating the sources of funding. He appeared convinced, however, that narco-dollars were feeding militancy in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. In this regard, he held the US and United Kingdom responsible for ignoring my early warnings of serious repercussions if poppy cultivation was not curtailed in Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban regime. According to a report on Afghanistan published by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in March this year: Narcotics traffickers provide revenue and arms to the Taliban, while the Taliban provide protection to growers and traffickers and keep the government from interfering with their activities.
In 2007, Afghanistan provided 93 percent of the worlds opium poppies, the raw material for producing heroin, the US report adds. In my meetings with the US and British envoys [in Islamabad], I was pleading [for] the two countries to not allow poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, otherwise the narco-dollars will not help end the militancy, said Ghani.
During a visit to the Baitullah Mehsud-controlled areas in South Waziristan last week, journalists were surprised at how well organised the militants were, prompting the reflection that all of this is not possible without access to significant funding. They [militants] are in [an] operational condition and for that purpose they need resources, Behroz Khan, Geo English TV bureau chief in Peshawar, told Daily Times. Good resources [funding] are a must for the militants, and on permanent basis too.
During a meeting in March last year, a close aide of Baitullah Mehsud, Zulfiqar Mehsud, told Daily Times that in the first place [militants] spend huge sums on the means of communication vehicles, fuel and equipment and then on treatment of wounded fighters, and lastly on keeping the killed comrades families fed.
We have to change vehicles after we use them for a year, Zulfiqar said. Every vehicle at our disposal must be in top condition because we have very rough and tough roads and hilly areas and cannot afford to keep vehicles that are not as fit as our job requires.
The Taliban are spending the bulk of their resources on procuring vehicles and fuel as they are constantly on the move to evade the eyes of the pilot-less US spy planes, a Taliban commander told Daily Times in Kotkai, South Waziristan, on Saturday.
This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Taliban
Behroz Khan, Geo English TV bureau chief in Peshawar
Owais Ahmed Ghani
ZULFIQAR MEHSUD
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The best reason for the 'War on Drugs' is because the drug money funds terrorist Islamofascism. The other good reason is because drug money is the motive behind huge chunks of non-Islamofascist organized crime and gang terrorism.
We've been fighting THIS war a lot longer than the 'War on Terror', and with a lot less success. It might be time to look for a new strategy.
#1
Y'know, if Christians had kept their mojo from the first century, then they could lay hands on members of the US military officer corp, Department of State officials, congress, and the executive branch, and miraculously make spines grow where none exist.
But don't lose all hope yet! I'm working on it! (TM).
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/30/2008 18:15 Comments ||
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#8
I don't know - but thinking about how we always banged on about cultural sensitivities and all that - this doesn't pass the smell test for me. Do we trust the source for this story? Does it sound credible, given the incessant lectures about sensitivity to the local culture? Knowing how sensitive the local Moslems are to any hint of Crusader proselytizing?
I admit, there might be a military congregation in-country, with a coin of that nature. It's one of those military customs, doing coins for a strictly in-house in-group. I have one, for the Air Force Lounge at Yongsan Army Garrison. It says "A little patch of blue in a sea of green".
I'll bet you dollars to donuts, that a local national employee got ahold of some in-house evangelical circle's member-commemorative coin and decided to go squealing to a handy media outlet, blathering on about Crusader proselytizing. This is one of those calculated stories, intended for local consumption and wildly blown out of all proportion.
A U.S. Marine in Iraq has been removed from duty amid complaints that he was handing out coins with Bible verses at an American checkpoint, the military said Thursday. A military spokesman said Iraqis in Falluja complained that the Marine was giving the coins, which were printed in Arabic, to people at an entry control point in Falluja. U.S. military regulations prohibit religious proselytizing.
"This has our full attention," said Col. James L. Welsh, chief of staff of Multi-National Force, West. "We deeply value our relationship with the local citizens and share their concerns over this serious incident."
At least one of the coins is stamped with the words "Where will you spend eternity?" according to a report published Thursday by McClatchy Newspapers. The other side of the coin reportedly contains a verse from John 3:16 that reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Several Falluja residents said they were given the coins over a two-day period and complained that U.S. troops, whom they consider foreign occupiers, were acting as Christian missionaries. "Regulations prohibit members of the coalition force from proselytizing any religion, faith or practices," said Col. Bill Buckner, a coalition spokesman. "Our troops are trained on those guidelines before they deploy."
A military statement said "appropriate action" will be taken if the reports are substantiated.
The reports stoked religious concerns in Iraq just weeks after Iraqi police discovered that a U.S. soldier had used the Quran, Islam's holy book, for target practice. The U.S. commander in Baghdad took the unusual step of holding a public ceremony and reading a letter of apology from the soldier, a sniper section leader, to local Iraqi leaders.
Many in attendance were members and leaders of Sunni militias that the U.S. military has courted to help fight al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents. Sunnis often face criticism from other Iraqis for cooperating with American troops.
Falluja, also a mostly Sunni city, was the scene of bitter and bloody fighting early in the Iraq war between U.S. troops, al Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni insurgents loyal to Saddam Hussein.
#1
Wow, what a puzzle! I mean, you're making people decide between a "god" who demands submission and a God who shows love. Between a leader who felt himself entitled to special perks from his people and a leader who felt himself obligated to serve and sacrifice for his people. Between a God who demands you give all for him, and a God who gave all for you.
Wotta choice. No wonder the Muslims claim the disciples got it wrong, the bible is corrupted, and that God can't POSSIBLY be that good.
#3
This Marine violated his orders against prosletyzing in uniform, which have been in place for a long time prior to our entry into Iraq.. Moreover he took advantage of the constraints placed on Fallujans, who have to go through an entry control point manned by armed US troops, to do so.
He freely joined the service and swore an oath to obey legal orders. And when his term of service is over, he's free to leave and become a missionary if he wants to.
"I don't read Arabic and had NO idea what those things said. My crazy cousin from Kansas sent them to me and told me they were good luck charms and she wanted me to give them to the locals. I was just trying to be nice."
STOCKHOLM, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Despite a strong push from Washington and the Iraqi authorities, little action on debt relief was seen at the Stockholm conference on Iraq. Both U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pressed Arab creditors to reduce debts owed by Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.
Maliki argued that the Iraqi people should not repay the debts, which were mainly the result of wars with neighboring countries. "Iraq did not benefit from this, has only reaped destruction and damage and ruined relations with neighbors," Maliki told a press conference on Thursday. He said it is legitimate for Iraq to ask for debt relief as the country no longer poses a threat to peace in the region.
Maliki said the debts, as well as international sanctions on Iraq, imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, are obstacles to Iraq's economic development.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
But they have billions and billions for the bankers and speculators who trash the market. Notice how many banks have been given the go to write off their billions of loses created in the last 8 years versus the debt driven up by loans, just as bad, during the Saddam era.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the country's leaders have averted a civil war that al-Qaeda tried to provoke and the people are united against terrorists. The Iraqi leadership has succeeded ``in preventing the country from going into a civil war that al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization, has planned,'' Maliki said at a conference sponsored by the United Nations in Stockholm today.
The security situation in Iraq has improved and al-Qaeda has been largely cleared from the country, according to the U.S. military. Iraqi and U.S. troops are battling the group in northern areas, such as Mosul, which has been a safe haven for jihadist fighters. Iraqi forces launched a crackdown on fighters loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra and Baghdad to regain control of those areas.
Maliki's comments coincided with an attack by a suicide bomber in the north that killed at least 16 people and wounded 30 more, according to Agence France-Presse.
Representatives from about 100 countries are meeting today in Stockholm to discuss Iraq's economic and political stability as provincial elections threaten to undermine security gains by empowering al-Sadr, who opposes the U.S. presence in Iraq. ``We are particularly pleased by, and gratified by, Iraq's willingness and ability in providing for its own security,'' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the conference, citing the Iraqi army's confrontations with ``extremists'' in Basra, Mosul and Baghdad. Rice also urged Iraq's neighbors to open embassies in Baghdad.
Iranian Viewpoint
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had a different point of view of the security situation in Iraq. ``Due to the mistaken policies pursued by the occupiers in Iraq, the security situation in Iraq is now so grave it has cast its shadow on other areas of life,'' Mottaki told the conference.
Iran has ``always supported the evolution of the prospects of a new, prosperous Iraq and has time and again declared its preparedness to assist Iraq,'' Mottaki added. The U.S. has repeatedly accused Iran of undermining Iraq's stability by funneling arms to Shiite militias. ``We would like 2008 to mark a boost in our bilateral relations with Iraq,'' Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said, adding that Turkey plans to intensify its diplomatic presence in the country.
Turkish warplanes pounded suspected positions of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, Turkey's army said today on its Web site.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI)-An Arab official on Thursday said the Arab League sought a Lebonan-style solution initiative to stabilize Iraq.
Cheeze. Hide the friggin' silverware...
The success achieved in Lebonan could be repeated in volatile Arab countries, Abdel Aleem Al-Abyadh, spokesman for the Arab League Secreatry General, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI) at the Arab organisation headquarter in Cairo. The official said It would be the base for the Arab League to buid on, noting embracing Arab countries ties reform would be the key trend for the future stage. The spokesman pointed out the Arab league sought stabilizing Iraq in a way similar to the agreement brokered to resolve the Lebanese crisis.
By giving veto power to the Iranians' stooges?
The Arab league played a vital role in pushing Doha agreement brokered under the patronage of Qatar. The Agreement salvaged Lebonan from falling into a civil war and led to the election of Michel Suleiman as a president after seven month of political squabbling among feuding Lebanese factions. The spokesman revealed Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa has taken a number of steps that might reflect a glimpse of hope in resolving the Iraqi crisis.
If I was Talabani or Maliki, which thankfully I'm not, I'd point out to Amr Moussa that the Iraqi crisis was a year or two ago, when Mr. Amr Moussa was afraid to set foot in the country for fear of being kidnapped and having his head chopped off. The crisis is past, and the situation is being resolved, though not to the satisfaction of Mr. Amr Moussa and most of the despots making up the Arab League.
However, the spokesman conceded the solution responsibility rests with Iraqis and not with external parties, adding Iraqis must agree that the current situation has made everyone feeling sorry, then, the Arab league could propose an initiative to meet this end. Iraq is a founding member in the Arab League and has sent several meaages to Arab countries to open embassies and to cancel debts incurred from the former regime of Saddam Husseins regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
They should instead suggest an Iraq-style solution for Lebanon. But that would be rational.
"They Have Come Up With Many Means to Achieve [the Destruction of Religion and Morality] - Such As Inventing Philosophical Theories That Destroy Religion and Morality"
Saleh Riqab: "The goal of the Zionist movement is to establish a state in Paleostine, which would become a base for ruling the entire world. Its other goals are to destroy the religions it opposes, particularly Islam; to corrupt values and morality; to spread permissiveness and sex; and to generate moral decline.
"They have come up with many means to achieve this, such as inventing philosophical theories that destroy religion and morality. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim founded the theory of the formation of religion, which attributes it to reason - which means that religion did not originate from God. This is known as the theory of 'collective thought.'
"Jean-Paul Sartre, founder of existentialism, which is based on atheism, was a famous French Jooooooo. The psychologist Freud, who interpreted the infant's relations with his mother as sexual, said, when he was given an award, 'I have never renounced my Jooooodaism.'"
Darwinism "Serves Goals of Global Jewry"
"There are also theories that were invented by non-Jews, but they disseminate them, knowing that they are scientifically false, such as the theory of Darwin. Darwin was not Jewish, but they exploited his theory. Even though new Darwinist theories have appeared, they spread the original theory, because the concept of 'survival of the fittest' serves their colonialist needs."
Interviewer: "That's what the theory says."
Saleh Riqab: "Yes. It serves the goals of global Jewry. In addition, they established destructive movements to fight religion and morality, to corrupt the leaders throughout the world, and to break down social relations among nations.
"This was led by global Freemasonry, which was founded by three prominent Jooooos, the first of whom was Herod. This is a long well-known story - the role of the Joooooos in creating the Masonic movement.
"The Freemason movement used various methods to bring the political, philosophical, and literary leaders worldwide to their knees. I remember the names of Arab leaders - some are dead and others are still alive - who joined the Masonic movement. They were brought down. There were even Paleostinians among them.
"Both Democrats and Republicans Compete to Please the State of the Jooooooos"
"By the way, I'd like to say something... I don't want to mention names. The viewers will know what I mean. There is a book called Les Fous de la Paix, which was written by two Joooooish journalists. I have a copy. It was translated into Arabic, and I've read it. It mentions that one of the architects of the Oslo Accords was meeting with the Jooooooish negotiator at a hotel in Britain. According to the book, in an adjacent room, the son of the Paleostinian negotiator was with the daughter of the Joooos, and they locked the door. That's when the Paleostinian negotiator was brought down.
[...]
"We see this clearly in the U.S. elections. Both Democrats and Republicans compete to please the state of the Joooooos. That's why when a Democrat comes to occupied Paleostine, he puts on a religious skullcap, goes to the Western Wall, bangs his head against the wall, and says: 'Your philosophy and the need to please you is now inside my head.' They all compete with one another, but the Jooooos maintain a balance, and they always prefer the Christian Zionists. Thanks allah, this time, there is obama.
"I Read a Report That Clinton Used to Call Arab Leaders and Talk To Them While She Was Having Sex With Him"
"If a Democrat comes to power, like [Bill] Clinton - who served them well in Oslo and elsewhere, and almost served them in the second Camp David, but then made statements [they didn't like] - what did Zionism do? It sent him the Joooooish Monica, with whom Clinton had sex in the American White House.
"Clinton left [the White House], but there are thousands of pages documenting his sexual depravity, because he had sex in the White House. I read a report that Clinton used to call Arab leaders and talk to them while she was having sex with him." Can you imagining having sex, or rather trying to have sex, while talking to arafat?...
Interviewer: "My God!"
"In Europe, and Especially In The U.S., There Was a Quick Joooooooish Takeover of the Major Mass Media"
Saleh Riqab: "These things are documented, but the Arabs don't read them."
[...]
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which are a product of the 1897 Basel Congress, discuss how the Joooos should seize control of the world. In Europe, and especially in the U.S., there was a quick Jewish takeover of the major mass media, because in the West, the mass media shapes their mentality and their views. They don't read very much, they just listen." Unlike the Sophisticated Arab Masses.
#1
Jean-Paul Sartre was a famous antisemite. He even wrote a book (cleverly titled Antisemite and Jew) in which he explained that it wasn't the fault of the antisemites, because it's just that the Jews are so... different and disruptive, that one can't help but hate them.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu criticized Israel's refusal to allow him entry to the country, in his role as head of the U.S. special committee to investigate the November 2006 incident in Beit Hanun where 19 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire.
In a telephone interview with Haaretz after he met with Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, Tutu said he was disappointed that he was not allowed to visit Sderot and meet the victims of the Qassam rocket attacks there. The former archbishop of Capetown, South Africa - who won the Nobel in 1984 for his struggle against apartheid - was appointed to head the special committee by the UN human Rights Council in Geneva.
However, Israel has announced that it will not cooperate with the committee.
Committee representatives have asked the Israeli delegation to the UN in Geneva a number of times to make arrangements for a visit, but have never received replies. Tutu then decided to settle for a visit in Beit Hanun. He arrived in Gaza on Tuesday after traveling through Egypt, and entered the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing.
Tutu, 77, expressed his astonishment at Israel's behavior, as he has been invited a number of times to speak in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on behalf of the Peres Center for Peace, where he is a member of the International Board of Governors, along with other Nobel Prize winners.
Tutu told Haaretz that he made it clear to Haniyeh and other Hamas members he spoke to that there is no difference between firing Qassam rockets on Israeli citizens and Israeli attacks on Gazans. "We also say that the people of Sderot suffer from the Qassam rockets. We care about them too," said Tutu.
He said he expects the Israelis, as those who remember the Holocaust, like the South Africans, to be sensitive to the suffering of the Palestinians. Tutu added that he did not remember the last time he was so deeply shocked as when he met with the families of the victims of the Israeli shelling of Beit Hanun.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Desmond Tutu, the South African counterpart of Reverand Jeremiah Wright.
NGB demonstrator may be a twin-engine aircraft resembling an X-47B. Initial version will be piloted, but an unmanned endurance version is a probable follow-on.
Is Northrop Grumman building a secret bomber prototype? In late April, the company revealed first-quarter financial results. Data indicated $2 billion in new "restricted programs" contract awards at Integrated Systems, the aircraft division. This almost certainly confirms what DTI first reported earlier this year: Northrop Grumman has a classified, sole-source contract to build a demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force's Next-Generation Bomber.
USAF budgets show no funding for the Next-Generation Bomber (NGB) itself in 2008, although documents show money for technology work in Fiscal 2008-10. Northrop Grumman CEO Ron Sugar said last year that Integrated Systems had made strides in black programs and identified restricted projects as the top new-business opportunity. Taken together, the evidence points to a single, very large contract win. Northrop Grumman also acquired Scaled Composites in 2007, a company that can develop large prototype aircraft quickly.
The $2-billion contract casts new light on the decision in January by Boeing and Lockheed Martin to reveal their year-old collaboration on NGB. (Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman declined interview requests.) Hailed as an NGB "dream team" combining Boeing's bomber experience with Lockheed Martin's stealth technology, the teaming now looks like an effort to catch up with a rival that has a lead in the next major U.S. combat aircraft program.
It is likely that the prototype will build on technology under development for the Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D), putting within reach USAF's goal of a 2018 initial operational capability date for the bomber. Industry and USAF sources have talked about a competition in 2010, leading to the start of systems development and demonstration in 2011. But it would be Northrop Grumman's to lose.
Events since 2000 placed Northrop Grumman in pole position. USAF interest in a replacement bomber was rekindled after 9/11, but USAF Secretary Jim Roche and Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper focused on the Lockheed Martin FB-22, seeing it as a low-risk solution that bolstered the case for the embattled F-22.
The departures of Roche and Jumper in 2005 coincided with a change in thinking. In October, USAF defined a three-stage Next-Generation Long-Range Strike program. Phase I would keep the force effective until 2018, with upgrades to aircraft. Phase II would be a new "2018 bomber," while Phase III encompassed hypersonic concepts. This was the end of the road for the FB-22, since nobody envisioned the F-22 remaining in production long enough to dovetail with Phase II.
Late in 2005, at a conference on unmanned combat air vehicles in London, there were signs of convergence between the bomber requirement and the Joint UCAS project. J-UCAS had been kicked off as a major effort three years earlier, but USAF was interested in a platform larger than the Navy could accommodate.
Northrop Grumman J-UCAS Program Manager Scott Winship said at the time that the company had proposed completing a third prototype as an X-47C with a 172-ft. wingspan and 10,000-lb. payload. J-UCAS leader Mike Francis stressed an advantage of the unmanned vehicle: an inherently lower radar cross-section (RCS) than conventional tailed aircraft.
Despite the tension in J-UCAS, it was a surprise when an early-2006 high-level Pentagon review killed it, splitting resources into a white-world Navy effort and a classified USAF program, while endorsing a plan to field a bomber in 2018.
It's now apparent, however, that USAF had already picked a primary approach to the NGB, and that the next two years of work, starting with the remaining Fiscal 2006 J-UCAS funding, are intended to validate that choice.
This approach emerged from J-UCAS, and particularly from Northrop Grumman, which anticipated the J-UCAS split and was prepared to respond. The company believed that the basic 42,000-lb. J-UCAS was better suited to the Navy than to USAF, had focused on the carrier-based J-UCAS demonstration and picked a design that offered high lift and a simple wingfold.
Northrop Grumman's proposal for a bigger X-47C also preceded -- and may have inspired -- USAF's switch to a larger long-range bomber. This meant, too, that the NGB program could get a running start because it would use aerodynamics and stealth technology that were in the works for J-UCAS.
The X-47B was much more advanced, in aerodynamic terms, than it appeared (see sidebar), and the same is likely true of its low-observable (LO) qualities. The aircraft is one of the first to combine a highly blended tailless configuration with new materials developed since the 1980s. The NGB will be the same, if not more so.
Northrop Grumman has stressed the "all-aspect, broadband" stealth inherent in the X-47B. Tailless shapes don't have the "bow-tie" RCS pattern, with the smallest RCS on the nose and tail and peaks on the beam configurations, which characterizes conventional aircraft. They are stealthier against low-frequency radars -- including updated, active-array VHF radars marketed by Russia -- because they do not have shape features which are so small that their RCS in the VHF band is determined by size, rather than shape or materials. It may be significant that John Cashen, leader of the B-2 signatures team, returned in 2006 after 10 years in Australia and is now a consultant for Northrop Grumman.
RCS test facilities across the U.S. have been upgraded since the F-22 and B-2 were designed: USAF's range at Holloman AFB, N.M., was reequipped to handle bistatic measurements, and a sophisticated airborne RCS measurement program based on a modified 737 was delivered in 2001.
How low can LO go? One paper, co-authored by a principal in DenMar Inc., the company founded by Stealth pioneer Denys Overholser, refers to the development of fasteners for a body with an RCS of -70 dB./sq. meter -- one-thousandth of the -40 dB. associated with the JSF, and one-tenth that of a mosquito. DTI queried RCS engineers who don't believe such numbers are possible; but then, when mention of a -30 dB. signature leaked out in a 1981 Northrop paper, nobody believed that either. Pure coincidence that it looks like the Phoenix Lights.
#5
Sources indicated that the X-47B will cost substantially less than previous generation bombers and will be powered by 100% solar power, even at night. Transatmospheric flight will allow the new bomber to reach any point on earth in 17 minutes. Due to its low cost, high cargo capacity and long range the air force plans to use its new bomber primarily to deliver aid to remote third world locations. As if that weren't enough, the X-47B uses so much carbon in its frame that manufacture actually uses more carbon than it releases, making this the first eco-friendly bomber in US history (the Russians first had eco-friendly bombers in WWII). Perhaps best of all, however, is the Bose audio system which will come standard in the base model...
The three men sentenced to death over the 2002 Bali bombings will face the firing squad in Indonesia's Central Java province at an unspecified date, a senior prosecutor said.
"We have received a letter from the Minister of Justice and Human Rights about where the execution will take place. It will be somewhere in Central Java," prosecutor Abdul Hakim Ritonga told reporters. "No specific time has been determined yet. We are waiting for the appeals process to be concluded by the Supreme Court." The prosecutor said that due to security concerns, the execution would not be carried out on the tourist island of Bali where the three were tried.
Analysts of Indonesia's justice system said the announcement indicated that the executions could be drawing near. Indonesia usually executes its prisoners by firing squad before dawn with no prior announcement. "It seems that the Government is getting ready for their execution," said Taufik Basari, a human rights lawyer from the People's Legal Aid Foundation.
The bombers have not shown any remorse over the attacks, with two saying publicly their executions will bring them martyrdom. All three men are being held in an island prison off the south coast of Java.
Mr Basari said capital punishment would only let the bombers' Islamist supporters hail them as martyrs. "The Government should consider changing their sentence to life, since capital punishment is clearly not having any effect," he said. "They openly said in court that they're not afraid of the death penalty and this is part of their 'jihad', and the Government is playing to what they want."
Irans nuclear programme has made big strides in recent months and the country is on course to pass an important threshold for nuclear weapons capability next year, scientists and analysts say.
Ever since Iran started enriching uranium in defiance of United Nations resolutions, western diplomats have highlighted the technological obstacles facing the country, arguing that they provided time to deal with the dispute over Tehrans nuclear programme.
But several leading experts say that Iran is now twice as effective in enriching uranium than before, based on a report this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
They add that during the course of next year Iran is likely to have built up a stockpile of enriched uranium that in theory could be turned into enough fissile material for a bomb in a matter of months.
While the US and its allies charge Tehran with seeking nuclear weapons, Iran insists its purposes are purely peaceful.
David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector who now heads the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, concurs with other analysts that while Iran was previously only enriching uranium at 20 per cent of the rate it sought, it is now operating at about 50 per cent.
Their centrifuges work better [at enriching uranium] and they are working to develop more advanced centrifuges, he says.
In a sign of the Iranian programmes increased effectiveness, this weeks IAEA report said that in the six months between December and May Iran put 2300kg of the feedstock uranium hexafluoride into the centrifuges at its facility at Natanz. This implies a markedly faster rate of enrichment and hence greater effectiveness than the preceding 10 months, during which Iran fed in only 1670kg of uranium hexafluoride into the centrifuges.
A diplomat close to the IAEA added that between December and May Iran had produced 160kg of enriched uranium at the lower levels suitable to serve as fuel supply.
A year ago we were talking about the Iranians making enough low enriched uranium to be put in a little glass vial and shown to the press, said Prof Peter Zimmerman, former chief scientist of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Now we have almost as much as two people weigh. Thats a lot of uranium for a plant that a year ago we were snickering at.
Prof Zimmerman added and other scientists agreed that he would expect Iran to accumulate 600kg-700kg of low enriched uranium during the course of next year.
Irans possession of such a stockpile has been described as breakout capacity the brink of nuclear weapons status since if 600kg-700kg of low enriched uranium were run though Irans facilities again, it would provide enough fissile material for one bomb.
Some analysts have suggested that Irans real goal may be such a virtual nuclear status, in which the country does not have the bomb but can develop it relatively speedily.
#2
TOPIX > NOKOR NUCLEAR DECLARATION > NORTH KOREA is reportedly apparently willing only to provide details on its PLUTONIUM NUCPROGS, AND ONLY PLUTONIUM, NOT URANIUM OR ANYTHING ELSE???
In what appears to be the biggest case of corruption in Iran, and perhaps in the Middle East, the Tehran-based Shahab News reported that the chief auditing office of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) has revealed that close to $35 billion of oil income from the financial year 2006-07 is missing. This is a serious allegation, as this amount constitutes almost half of Irans total oil income for that year.
Toldya to press the Mad Mullahs but to keep things on the quiet ...
#15
the biggest case of corruption in Iran, and perhaps in the Middle East
Credit where due, that's a tremendous achievement in the corruption league.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/30/2008 18:31 Comments ||
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#16
You try supporting multiple wives on an ayatollah's salary.
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 19:19 Comments ||
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#17
The Ayatoilets promised $12000 to each family of the Lebanon city of Bint Jubeil, for restoration after the bombardment of same by Israel. Some money was handed out in cash but the transfers were halted when Iranians protested the giveaway, in context of general suffering in their own country. I suspect pure embezzlement by the Ayatollahs accurately explains the leaching.
In recent months there have been secret contacts between the Iranian government and the leadership of al-Qaeda, top officials in the White House, the Pentagon and the intelligence community said Thursday.
US officials familiar with highly sensitive intelligence on this issue told the ABC News Agency that the contacts are on the status of high-level al-Qaeda operatives, and include two of Osama Bin Laden's sons, who have been under house arrest in Iran since 2003. The officials don't believe Iran will allow these operatives to go free, but said they don't know Iran's motivation for initiating the talks. "Iran likely sees these individuals as major bargaining chips," one official said. "How and when they're going to use those chips or whether they are going to keep them in the bank is part of an ongoing strategic discussion they are having internally."
Shortly after the US invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, al-Qaeda's central leadership broke into two groups. US intelligence believes that one group, headed by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, fled to the east to find safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The second group went west to Iran, and intelligence analysts postulate that this group includes al-Qaeda's management council, or "shura," which numbers about two dozen militants, including Adel, al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman abu Ghaith and some of Bin Laden's relatives, including two of his sons, Saad and Hamza. These militants are considered to be among the most dangerous terrorists in the world. Adel is on the FBI list of Most Wanted Terrorists and is a suspect in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The State Department has put a $5 million bounty on his head.
Iranian authorities detained these militants in 2003, and they have been under what one US official called "loose house arrest" in Iran ever since. The US government quietly sent messages to Iran through the Swiss government, requesting that the al-Qaeda figures be turned over to their native countries for interrogation and trial. Iran has refused. "Al-Qaeda would like to get those folks a deal and they've been trying to work a deal," a senior defense official told ABC News.
US intelligence analysts have several theories as to why al-Qaeda and Tehran have recently renewed contact. According to one theory, Iran initiated the talks as a threat to the United States; so that if the US takes hostile action against Iran, these captives could be released, and set free to plot attacks against the West.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Actually looks like something out of Logan's Run. Looking at the buildings in the distance reveals some rather futuristic looking designs. If this is an image of a "distant future" Washington, then it is a vivid confirmation to the terrorist enablers on the left that the terrorist organizations have very long memories as they pass down their hatred to succeeding generations. This threat will likely never go away and is a call for us to always be vigilant.
#6
OTOH, compare wid RUMORMILLNEWS > WHATDOESIT MEAN.com - SORCHA FAAL: CHINA ORDERS [retaliatory] STRIKE AGZ USA FOR CAUSING [Sichuan] EARTHQUAKE, via HAARP Alaska base??? Russian officios warning Euro, etc. officios that China is planning to attack the US for Sichuan; + OVER 103 EXPLOSIONS ON THE MOON IN TWO-AND-ONE HALF YEARS.
Guess this means JAPAN = GODZILLA may also attack the USA as Sichuan-style COLORED CLOUDS have reportedly also been observed there > 5.0 + 5.1-MAGN QUAKES ON OKINAWA???
#1
However, they [traded as AQ on the Mecca futures board] will file under Chapter 10 for reorganization and management is holding out for a bid by a market competitor. Sources say Hezbollah [Hez] looks like the most likely to absorb the loss of market created in the withdraw from market by AQ and several of its subsidiaries like AQ(in)Iraq with strong backing by Iranian investors.
#2
Interesting it's the American CIA guy with good news had to go to an Austrailian news organization. How come The New York Times didn't interview him?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2008 10:49 Comments ||
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#3
How come The New York Times didn't interview him?
They were either too busy fawning over Obamessiah, or in a state of mourning, Bobby. Besides, this could be considered by many to be "good news", and thus "no news" to the NYSlimes.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2008 11:34 Comments ||
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#4
Not if we can help it!
Posted by: Obama, Harry and Nancy ||
05/30/2008 13:16 Comments ||
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#6
AFTER 2010 or 2012 > BOTH ISLAMIST IRAN + JIHAD-TERROR WILL BE [sufficiently?]NUCLEAR, i.e. Nukes-WMDS potent enuff to cause any US-Allied = ANti/Non-Muslim-Islamist nation(s) to think thrice before engaging in new mil ventures agz same or State sponsors.
NET > PRE 9-11 and POST 9-11 > OSAMA BIN LADEN had given numerous inferences that the GOALS-SUCCESS OF RADICAL ISLAMISM + ITS GLOBAL JIHAD IS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN EVEN HE HIMSELF, HENCE WHILE OSAMA's CAPTURE OR DEATH MAY BE HAILED IN THE WEST IN LT IT MAY NOT STOP RADICAL ISLAMISM'S WAR.
NO OSAMIAM/OSAMIST US-IRAN APOCALYPTIC BATTLE >= IRAN + MILITANTS-TERROR GET THEIR STRATEGIC WEAPONS + SOVEREIGN andor "LEBANON-STYLE " ISLAMIST ENCLAVES-BLOC IN ASIA + AFRICA.
Call me weird but nethinks twas NOT what PRO-OWG ERGO ANTI-OWG ANTI-US LEFTISTS, MARXISTS, GLOBALISTS + SECULARISTS, etal. had in mind.
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.
One of Britain's most senior policemen says the country should talk to Al Qaeda to try and end their bloody campaign of violence. Sir Hugh Orde, a front-runner to replace Ian Blair as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he could not think of a single terrorist campaign that ended without negotiation.
Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan, defending his book critical of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, said on Thursday he may have made a mistake by not speaking out sooner. 
SRINAGAR: Perhaps we should start calling ourselves the Hizb ul-Mujahireen instead of the 
Disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan has said that allegations he passed on nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea are false. 
The country has gone to the dogs in the last 10 years, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan said on Thursday, rebuking President Pervez Musharraf, AP reported. Khan told Dawn News that hopes of Pakistan progressing in economic development after becoming self-sufficient in national defence had not been realised. Asked if he blamed Musharraf, Khan said: The team leader is to be [held] responsible for the failure of the team but all those who were with him did not assert themselves and do a proper job [either]. Khan also said in the interview that there would be further revelations about the countrys nuclear proliferation scandal, AFP reported. He said most facts were known, but there are some things they will be out in time.
STOCKHOLM, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Despite a strong push from Washington and the Iraqi authorities, little action on debt relief was seen at the Stockholm conference on Iraq. Both U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pressed Arab creditors to reduce debts owed by Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.
The three men sentenced to death over the 2002 Bali bombings will face the firing squad in Indonesia's Central Java province at an unspecified date, a senior prosecutor said. 
