Asia Times Online has reported, however, after discussions with Taliban commanders, that this year the Taliban would carry out specific planned operations all across Afghanistan. This is in contrast to previous years when cadre flocked to southern Afghanistan in their thousands and were killed in the hundreds. That is, the Taliban have reverted to a calculated guerrilla war rather than trying and take on NATO's numbers.
Good luck with that. Go pay a visit to Mr. Dostum, he's been rather bored lately ...
The Arghandab operation can be seen in this context. Even if the Taliban do succeed in overrunning Kandahar, they are certain, at this stage, not to attempt to retain it for too long, even a few hours would send a very powerful message to NATO and the Karzai administration.
As Fred noted yesterday, the Talibunnies were going to try and take a city of 450,000 people with an undergunned battalion. Shrewd, real shrewd ...
The activity around Arghandab has also had the effect of turning NATO's focus away from the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nooristan, where land and air operations are in full swing, apparently in search of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. These extend across the border into Pakistan's Mohmand and Bajaur tribal agencies.
Taliban contacts tell Asia Times Online that once the Taliban take the Kandahar operation to a climax, whatever form it might take, they will open up another surprise front in eastern Afghanistan in an attempt to spread NATO as thin as possible.
That might work for a bit until we whack enough Talibunnies to convince the rest to hightail it for the border ...
The Taliban initiative this year began with moves to choke NATO's supply lines in Khyber Agency in Pakistan, and to force the Pakistani government to sign peace agreements with militants in the tribal areas to allow the free flow of men and supplies into Afghanistan to fuel the insurgency there. The latter objective was achieved in full, the former to a lesser extent.
Because the Pak army isn't the Afghan army or NATO ...
#1
We put up with one "army" fighting us from a safe haven, and it took forever to stabilize Vietnam. We don't need to play that game again. We need to tell Pakiwakiland that they either govern - totally - the Tribal Areas, or we're going to sterilize it. Of course, that depends on whether McCain or Obama become our next president. It's too late for Bush.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/20/2008 12:14 Comments ||
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I strongly support Pres Nixon, when he ordered hits on Viet Cong rear bases in Cambodia. Harborage is an act of war. As for Pakistan, one PEW poll reported 65% admiration levels for Osama bin Laden. And Sindhis hate him. Ergo: open support for al-Qaeda is extremely high in Punjabi, Pashtun, Waziri, and Balochi areas.
US support for ground operations in Afghanistan isn't written in stone. The Pashto Heroin republic can be carpet bombed from the former Northern Alliance stronghold. That can happen.
Great idea. I suggest moving all the inhabitants out and replacing them with honest, hard-working Mexicans, who will have the entire country drywalled within six weeks. They're better behaved and their cooking's better. But don't eat the green chilis.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe he should send a strongly worded memo to the Somalians.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/20/2008 0:31 Comments ||
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#3
We'd still have to do something with the Somalis. my suggestion is that we move them to the Saudi "Empty Quarter". Not much there they can screw up.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/20/2008 12:14 Comments ||
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#4
...while at the same time, the Somalilanders are BEGGING for international recognition and investment, not military intervention and perpetual handouts.
A Lebanese-born businessman living in Venezuela denied U.S. government accusations that he has helped financed Hezbollah, saying he doesn't know anyone in the group. Fawzi Kan'an, owner of the Caracas-based travel agencies Biblos and Hilal, was accused by the U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday of financing Hezbollah. Also accused of helping provide funding is Ghazi Nasr al Din, whom the United States identified as a Venezuelan diplomat in Lebanon.
Shoulda changed his name to 'Juan Valdez' ...
The U.S. government regards the Iranian- and Syrian-backed organization as a terrorist group and has no dealings with it. Any financial assets found in the United States belonging to the two must be frozen and U.S. citizens are forbidden from doing business with the men.
The Treasury Department described Kan'an as a 'significant provider' of financial support to Hezbollah.
Interviewed at his Hilal travel agency in Caracas, a street-level office with barred windows that blends in among Venezuelan businesses, Kan'an denied the U.S. accusations while fielding calls in Arabic. 'That's pure lies,' he told The Associated Press.
'All lies!'
'What do I have to do with Hezbollah? I don't know the group, don't know anyone.'
'Never hoid o' da mugs!'
Asked if he knows of any accounts that have been frozen, Kan'an said he does have accounts in the United States 'and they aren't frozen.'
This article starring:
Fawzi Kan'an
Ghazi Nasr al Din
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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The expansion of a U.S. military airbase in Kyrgyzstan is expected to top the agenda of a visit by the U.S. assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs to the former Soviet republic, Kyrgyz media said on Wednesday. Good move. The Pak government are busy making peace with the Talibs and leaving them to control the western reaches of Pakistain. That means they control our supply lines into Afghanistan. Last week we encountered the revealing phenomenon of shooting at Talibs and hitting Pak Frontier Corps. Coming in through Central Asia will be more complicated, both geographically and politically, than coming in through Pak, but it'll be safer and more reliable.
George Krol will arrive in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on June 19 to discuss issues of regional security and the Manas base, currently rented by the U.S. He is also set to discuss economic cooperation and meet with representatives of non-governmental organizations. "Washington intends to expand its military presence at the Manas airbase and has asked Kyrgyz authorities to allot additional 300 hectares to erect new military facilities," the Kyrgyz 24.kg news agency said.
The U.S. airbase at Manas airport, located 30 kilometers (17 miles) east of Bishkek, accommodates 1,000 U.S. troops along with nine refueling and cargo planes supporting antiterrorism operations in Afghanistan. According to the agency, a deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command is expected to accompany Krol on his three-day visit. The Kyrgyz presidential press service said it had no information on whether the Manas base would be discussed.
#1
During the building/rehabbing of that base, the US added something like 5% to Kyrgyzstan's GDP. And the base is still accounts for something like 1% of GDP because of all the local purchases involved. Mainly food stuffs and vetted workers, since that is a base that does NOT have much off-base contacts with locals.
James Taranto, "Best of the Web" @ the Wall Street Journal
Whither the Angry Left? You'd think the big Democratic victory in 2006 and the promising campaign of Barack Obama would have soothed them, but no. Today the House, by a bipartisan 293-129 vote, passed compromise legislation on wiretapping of overseas terrorists, and to judge by the reaction on some blogs, the left is as unhinged as ever. A sampling (quoting verbatim):
-- " 'New Democratic Congress' Earns It's Whopping 17% Approval Rating(RealClearPolitics)By Crowning King Bush And Funding His WarIn Iraq With ZERO Restrictions. Why? Well, because the Dems expect Barack Obama will be our next president, so why NOT 'crown' the lame duck known affectionately by his [ahem... VERYfew--again,RCP] fans as 'Dubya,' since the 'Royal Torch' will soon be passed on to their 'Inherit King of The Oval Office Throne,' Barack ('Barry') Obama. Obviously."--GunTotingLiberal.com
-- "[Rep.] Lamar Smith [R., Texas] luvs it. Gosh, it makes him feel cozy and safe. Like a fuzzy sweater or a teddy bear, perhaps. . . . [Rep. Sylvestre] Reyes [D., Texas] thanks all of them. [CHS notes: I may barf.] Post 9/11 blah blah blah. . . . [Rep. Mac] Thornberry [R., Texas]: boogah boogah booogah terrorists are scary boogah boogah boogah political issue blah blah blah. . . . [Rep. Trent] Franks [R., Ariz.]: Jihadist terrorism and nuclear proliferation...boogah boogah boogah..."--Christy Smith, Firedoglake.com, "liveblogging" the House debate
-- "I guess I hope President Obama uses his powers responsibly, but on some level I'm sort of rooting for massive abuses so the right can get what they've been asking for."--Matthew Yglesias, TheAtlantic.com
-- "It's bad enough watching the likes of Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel and a disturbingly disoriented Nancy Pelosi eviscerate the Fourth Amendment, exempt their largest corporate contributors from the rule of law, and endorse the most radical aspects of the Bush lawbreaking regime. But it's downright pathetic to see them try to depict their behavior as some sort of bipartisan 'compromise' whereby they won meaningful concessions. . . . Surrendering and fearful: that's the face of the Democratic Party. It's how they show they're not weak."--Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com
-- "I'm not as livid as Glenn."--Andrew Sullivan, TheAtlantic.com
For a balanced view of the subject, see the editorial in today's Wall Street Journal.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/20/2008 16:56 ||
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#3
"I guess I hope President Obama uses his powers responsibly, but on some level I'm sort of rooting for massive abuses so the right can get what they've been asking for."--Matthew Yglesias, TheAtlantic.com
If BO should get elected which is not certain by any means, the abuses would be brought about by a Donk administration. The abuses would probably include spying on political foes in the U.S. and we would head towards a totalitarian state administered out Washington.
"First of all, I think there is an executive order out on Osama bin Laden's head, and if I'm president and we had the opportunity to capture him, we may not be able to capture him alive," Obama said. "I think it does not make sense for me to speculate in terms of what the best approach would be in trying him and bringing him to justice. I think what would be important would be for us to do it in a way that allows the entire world to understand the murderous acts that he's engaged in and not to make him into a martyr and to sure that the United States government is abiding by the basic conventions that would strengthen our hand in the broader battle against terrorism."
Obama went on to say, "you know I've used this analogy before but one of the hallmarks, one of the high water points, I think, of US foreign policy, was the Nuremburg Trials. Because the world had not seen before victors behave in ways that advanced a set of universal principles. And that set a tone for post-war reconstruction and creation of an international order that I think was extraordinarily important."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Although the results of the Nuremberg trials was, in my opinion, justified and just, it was in fact a case of ex post facto application of justice. The Nazis had done nothing that was illegal under German law at the time. Once we had won, we imposed our version of the laws we wanted.
I wonder if today's Supreme Court would have let the results of the trials survive. At least several of the Nazis could have lived a few years longer by appealing to the US Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus. It would have taken years for the case to wend its way through the American courts, and if the Supreme Court heard the case, it would have taken years more to resolve all the cases.
Some of the Nazis tried were not prisoners of war - they were civilians.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/20/2008 15:24 Comments ||
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Republican John McCain vowed today that if he's president, Osama bin Laden will be either killed in combat or executed -- a stern response to Democrat Barack Obama suggesting Wednesday that he would put the terrorist mastermind in the equivalent of the Nazi war crime trials after World War II to avoid making him a martyr.
'Senator Obama is obviously confused about what the United States Supreme Court decided and what he is calling for,' McCain said in a statement issued by his campaign. 'After enthusiastically embracing the Supreme Court decision granting habeas in US civilian courts to dangerous terrorist detainees, he is now running away from the consequences of that decision and what it would mean if Osama bin Laden were captured. Senator Obama refuses to clarify whether he believes habeas should be granted to Osama bin Laden, and instead cites the precedent of the Nuremburg war trials. Unfortunately, it is clear Senator Obama does not understand what happened at the Nuremburg trials and what procedures were followed. There was no habeas at Nuremburg and there should be no habeas for Osama bin Laden. Senator Obama cannot have it both ways. In one breath he endorses habeas for terrorists like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and in the next he denies its logical conclusion of habeas for Osama bin Laden. By citing a historical precedent that does not include habeas, he sends a signal of confusion and indecision to our allies and adversaries and the American people.
'Let me be clear, under my administration Osama bin Laden will either be killed on the battlefield or executed,' McCain continues. 'Senator Obama's failure to comprehend the implication of the Supreme Court decision he embraced and the historical precedent of Nuremberg raise serious questions about judgment and experience and whether Senator Obama is ready to assume the awesome responsibilities of commander in chief.'
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
That's pretty clear. Pretty straightforward. Just what I wanted to hear on dat topic.
#2
Talk is cheap even for McCain. No one talks about Pakistan, though or Iran. When they talk about how they will circumvent political niceities regarding Pakistan and Iran to get to OBL and kill him or arrest him(book him Dano) then I will think they are serious.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/20/2008 13:29 Comments ||
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#3
As you say Jack, talk is cheap in Washington and it is the political season. I would hope that McCain is the kind of person carries through on what he says he is going to do.
Dubya wins another one. When does he become a lame duck?
(WASHINGTON) House and Senate leaders have agreed to a new compromise surveillance bill that would effectively shield from potentially costly civil lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government wiretap citizens' phone and computer lines after the September 11 terrorist attacks without court permission.
The House will debate the bill on Friday, potentially ending a months-long standoff about the rules for government wiretapping inside the United States. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said the new bill "balances the needs of our intelligence community with Americans' civil liberties, and provides critical new oversight and accountability requirements."
The issue of legal protection for telecommunications companies that participated in "warrantless wiretapping" has been the single largest sticking point. The Senate passed a bill that immunized them from lawsuits. The House bill was silent on the matter. The White House threatened to veto any bill that did not shield the companies, which tapped lines at the behest of the president and attorney general but without permission from a special court supposedly established for this very purpose the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
"Warrantless wiretapping" went on for almost six years until it was revealed by the New York Times. Some 40 lawsuits have been filed against the companies by people and groups who think they were illegally eavesdropped on by the government. The compromise bill would have a federal district court determine whether the telecommunications companies received signed orders authorized by the president asking them to place wiretaps to detect or prevent a terrorist attack. If so, the lawsuits would be dismissed.
But not all Democrats are falling in line. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont said he does not support the immunity deal because it prevents a court from reviewing the legality of the warrantless wiretapping program.
And since the USSC has granted habeas corpus to terrorists, why shouldn't the courts rule on the wiretapping of terrorists?
A congressional official said he believes all the companies have such orders, and therefore all 40 cases would be dismissed. There was small chance of them progressing anyway; the Bush administration has stymied them by invoking its state's secret privilege to bar evidence from being brought into court.
The compromise bill also requires several inspectors general to investigate the wiretapping program to determine its extent and legality. The report is due in a year at which time it will be buried.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendment bill also would:
Require FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who are overseas
Allow the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiring surveillance orders before renewing them
Prohibit the government from invoking war powers or other authorities to superseding surveillance rules in the future.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Libs don't seem to have any Staying Power lately.
#3
That's a reflection not of W's non-lame-duck status, but of the rightness and public support of his position. The Donks are afraid to face voters after doing what their nutroot base wants. That shows the Pelosi tools are not in the majority of American opinion (despite their repeated and frantic assertions), and not convinced of the righteousness of their MoveOn-supported position. If they were, they'd go to the mat on this and suffer (or enjoy) the voter's evaluation....pussies
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2008 18:50 Comments ||
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The attorney for one of the men accused of plotting an armed attack on Fort Dix argued in motions filed in federal court today that references to al-Qaeda in the indictment are unnecessary and inflammatory to a jury.
'Yasss. Better to call them something else. Perhaps... ummm... ''quizznitz''!'
The five men accused in the plot are set to stand trial in September. They could face life in prison if convicted of planning to kill U.S. soldiers. Prosecutors said in the indictment that the men 'were inspired by, among others, al-Qaeda.'
Which is not the same thing at all as ''quizznitz.''
Michael Huff, attorney for Dritan Duka, said that references to al-Qaeda and terrorist attacks against the United States were 'hardly necessary to prove the elements' of the alleged crimes. 'As a consequence, this language may lead to a verdict based on emotion rather than fact,' Huff wrote.
Motions from all five defendants are due by tomorrow, and prosecutors are scheduled to respond next month. Huff's motions are the only ones filed so far.
He also asked for dismisal of some the charges and the suppression of evidence, including statements Duka gave to the FBI about his access to weapons. Huff said Duka wasn't properly advised of his rights before talking to agents. He also asked for evidence from electronic surveillance collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to be thrown out.
A FISA warrant's primary purpose, Huff said, is to target foreign intelligence and achieve international objectives. 'Mr. Duka and his friends are certainly not foreign powers,' Huff wrote. 'Instead, they are taxi cab drivers, pizza delivery boys and roofers.'
All of the defendants are foreign-born Muslims who have lived much of their lives in the South Jersey and the Philadelphia suburbs. Prosecutors said they planned to use a pizza-delivery pass to get on the base at Fort Dix and open fire. The defendants include Duka and his brothers, Shain and Eljvir, all of whom are illegal immigrants from the former Yugoslavia; Mohamed Shnewer, a U.S. citizen born in Jordan; and Serdar Tatar, a legal U.S. resident born in Turkey.
A sixth man charged in the case, Agron Abdullahu, was sentenced in March to 20 months in prison for allowing the Duka brothers to fire his guns during trips to the Poconos. Prosecutors have characterized those shooting range trips as training for their mission. The defense has said it was nothing more than rowdy boys playing with guns in the woods.
Dritan and Shain Duka were arrested in May 2007 at a meeting with a confidential FBI informant, who was supposed to supply them with guns. Huff reiterated in his motions that the guns 'were for target practice and sport.'
'There was no conspiracy in which to utilize these weapons,' he said. 'The only conspiracy was between the confidential informants and the government.'
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Have we reached a point yet when calling someone a 'white male' is inflammatory? I mean outside of Womens Studies Departments on our institutions of higher learning.
#3
Better file a motion to keep from using their names too, they sound very "Islamic" and that can be inflammatory also. Just look at Barak "(cencored)" Obama, we may end up with a president who's middle name cannot even be uttered for fear of being outed as a racist.
A radical right-wing Indian politician, Bal Thackeray, called on Hindus to form suicide bomber squads and attack Muslim neighbourhoods to combat Islamic terrorism - a threat promptly condemned by political friends and foes alike.
Thackeray, a Hindu extremist linked to past waves of mob violence in the western state of Maharashtra, has long advocated attacks against Muslims. Islamic terrorism is on the rise. To combat this, Hindu terrorism must be created of similar strength, Thackeray wrote in an editorial published Wednesday in Saamna, the newspaper of his Shiv Sena party. The editorial was unsigned, but his party said Thackerary wrote it.
Hindu suicide squads must be built, he wrote. Only then will Hindus survive.
The Shiv Sena - which means Shivas Army - is among the most extreme of Indias Hindu political parties and held power in Mumbai from 1995 to 2000. Traditionally, the partys main aim has been to keep people who are not from Maharashtra out of the state and to stem the spread of Islam.
Thackeray said he was happy that Hindus were behind a recent theatre attack, but displeased that innocent Hindus were injured - and that the bomb itself was so weak. Instead of planting faulty bombs, they should have planted a stronger bomb in these mini-Pakistans, he said.
Thackerays editorial came ahead of Shiv Senas 42nd anniversary on Thursday. It was promptly condemned by politicians from across the political spectrum, including Indias leading Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has long-standing ties with Shiv Sena.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Thackeray said he was happy that Hindus were behind a recent theatre attack,
Actually they were Sikh, members of a terror cell funded by the ISI.
The media seems to be desperate for some equivalent of the Islamic terror groups so that they can show that Islam is not a problem.
The Shiv Sena is a poor choice. It is nothing but a local chauvanistic group dedicated to maintaining power in their little part of Maharasthra state. Petty politicians and their thugs.
Its extreme acts are nothing but mob incitement and the occasional vandalism of Valentine's day displays. Thackeray's boys are more interested in chasing away Hindus from Bihar (so that they can control rents in the local slum areas) than in blowing themselves, or anything, up.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/20/2008 6:56 Comments ||
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#2
I see a a huge blue elephant with flowers and 3 tons of plastic explosives. Naw... maybe not.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/20/2008 14:47 Comments ||
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The presence of around 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan makes it difficult to control cross border movements, as some of the refugee camps have become havens for extremists, APP quoted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as saying on Thursday. Talking to United Nations Development Programme UNDP) Resident Co-ordinator Fikret Akcura, Gilani said an improved law and order situation and a better economy were the governments priorities, according to a staff report. Pakistan wants the UN and its various agencies to help Pakistan achieve its objectives, especially in the social sector. Pakistan wants the UNs help to control hepatitis and repatriate 3 million Afghan refugees, the premier said. Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan as it will help promote economic co-operation in the region, he said, and expressed hope that the EU would also help Pakistan in the repatriation of Afghan refugees.
He said the UNDP was an important development partner of Pakistan, adding that it had played a significant role in reducing poverty and promoting human development over the years. European Union (EU) Ambassador Jan De Kok also visited Gilani at Prime Ministers House. Gilani expressed his satisfaction over Pakistans broad-based relations with the EU, and said his government was keen to strengthen these ties, especially in the economic, security and counter terrorism areas. Pakistan is looking for an increased and early access to EU markets in order to accelerate its economy, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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The NWFP government has complete authority to enter peace deals in the Tribal Areas and these deals would be honoured, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on Thursday. Addressing a meeting on law and order in the province at Chief Ministers Secretariat, Malik said political measures are important to resolve security issues of the region along with the administrative measures, adding that federal government would provide all the resources to the provincial administration in this regard. NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan were also present on the occasion.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Swat-based Taliban have decided to boycott negotiations due on Friday with the Awami National Party-led NWFP government, Taliban leader Ali Bakht told Daily Times on Thursday. We will not attend any meeting with the government until our prisoners are released as agreed in the May 21 deal, Bakht said.
A source in Peshawar told Daily Times that Swat Peace Committee and the NWFP government had invited Taliban for a jirga in Peshawar today (Friday) to iron out differences on the peace deal.
However, Taliban have issued a deadline expiring on June 23 for the release of their prisoners and withdrawal of troops from Swat valley if the deal is to survive. According to the Taliban sources, under the agreement Taliban prisoners should have been freed 15 days after the deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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The increasing activities of Taliban on the outskirts of Peshawar are rapidly becoming a threat to business community in this provincial metropolis and businessmen have warned of shifting their enterprises to other provinces if the government did not take steps to control the law and order situation.
Expressing concern over the wave of Talibanisation around Peshawar, Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) vice president Inayat Khan said both the common citizens and investors were worried about the prevailing situation.
Security: He said the government should provide security to businessmen to ensure more investment in this cash-strapped province.
Commenting on the situation, SCCI former president Ghulam Sarwar Mohmand said around 90 per cent supply to NWFP industries from Punjab had been stopped due to the official statements and threats by Taliban.
He said the prevailing situation had compelled majority of industrialists to shift their industries to other provinces. Mohmand urged the government to ensure safety of life and property to citizens.
He said some recent statements from government circles regarding beefing up of security in and around Peshawar had further increased the awe and fear among the people.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistans Islamist press has thrown its weight behind a group of mid-level and senior officers in the armed forces, who have been pressuring Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-General Pervez Ashfaq Kiyani to terminate counter-terrorism operations in the North West Frontier Province and resume support for the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last weeks air-strike on a Pakistan border post in the Mohmand Agency, in which several soldiers were killed, led jihadist leaders and commentators to call an end to Islamabads cooperation with the United States and to demand that it wind down the détente process with India, which they claim is working to exterminate Pakistan.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, chief of the Lashkar-e-Taibas parent religious body, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, called on June 12 for Pakistan to give a tit-for-tat reply to the United States. It could do this, he suggested, by dissociating itself from the war on terror and joining the mujahideen to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan and its Islamist backers ie Saudi need to be dealt with in the same way as we deal with Iran in the future!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
06/20/2008 9:09 Comments ||
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Nigerian ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi has been elected to head the United Nations Human Rights Council and has pledged to act as a "bridge" between the often-fractious groups within the body. "As an African I shall be a bridge between East and West, North and South," Mr Uhomoibhi told the 47-member council after being elected by acclamation. "I have no interest to elevate one over the other."
"Although one may note that some bridges are indeed toll bridges. They take a great deal of upkeep, naturally. One might even say that some bridges are high maintenance."
The council was set up in 2006 to replace the widely discredited Human Rights Commission, but has itself come under fire for factionalism and a perceived over-concentration on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr Uhomoibhi said he would continue the work of his predecessors to break down what he called the "block syndrome" in the work of the council, adding he was in favour of "cross-regional, cross-cultural and cross-civilisation dialogue".
"I shall respect all shades of opinion although I shall cling to my own beliefs and convictions without allowing them to impede my judgement or conflict with my duties as president," he said. The council will hold its next regular session from September 8-26.
#2
Proving yet again that UN really does stand for Useless Nitwits. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/20/2008 11:47 Comments ||
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#3
A Nigerian? In the 'sixties there were Biafran separatists. Currently, many residents - mostly Christians and Spiritualists - of the oil rich South want to excise the parasitic Muslim north from Nigeria. Security problems have reduced Nigerian oil production by half, as have they ended investment. That can change.
#4
Been living in Berne as the ambassador has he? Another rich member of NIDO (Nigeria in Diaspora)....in of all places, high cost Switzerland. I smell crude oil money and lots of it.
SHARQAT, Iraq Military leaders in northern Iraq are pushing to draw down the "Sons of Iraq" program in their part of the country and plan to cut off funding for many of the groups just one month before the provincial elections scheduled for November.
The groups are paid neighborhood watches that began spontaneously when Sunnis turned against al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgent groups. American leaders began supporting them financially, and many military leaders have since credited the groups with turning around Iraqs security situation.
The process in northern Iraq could be a harbinger for how it is done by American units in other parts of the country. The decision to cut off funding has some soldiers worried that Iraq could lose some of its hard-won security gains when the groups disappear.
"Them getting rid of the Sons of Iraq is going to be one of the biggest mistakes theyve made," said 1st Sgt. Michael Livingston, a 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldier who has worked extensively with the security volunteers in the Ninevah and Salah ad Din provinces.
Col. Michael A. Bills, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment commander, made the decision to terminate the "Sons of Iraq" contracts in the areas under his control, which comprise all of Ninevah province and part of Salah ad Din province. Most of the 3rd ACRs "Sons of Iraq" groups are clustered around Qayyarah. The 3rd ACR does not have any of the groups in Mosul.
Bills decision is part of a bigger push from Multi-National DivisionNorth. Officials originally set a firm date for ending the program because the contract money came from funds that could only be used for "temporary critical infrastructure protection," said Capt. Matt Rodano, the officer in charge of reconciliation issues for MNDNorth. They read that phrase to mean one year after a program started.
"That kind of became the date where those contracts were going to turn into pumpkins," Rodano said.
The programs success made them remove the hard date and leave it up to the discretion of the commander overseeing the contracts. But they still pushed to "pursue an aggressive plan," he said.
Numbers have fallen from a peak of about 31,500 in MND-N to about 30,700. Rodano couldnt say exactly where he expects those numbers to be in October.
"Our intent is to get down pretty significantly by the end of the year," he said.
Lt. Col. Thomas Dorame, the 1-3 ACR commander, said he learned about the October funding deadline a few months ago. Dorame said Iraqi soldiers often tell him that theyve heard the Iraqi government plans to pick up the tab, but he said hes never been able to confirm those rumors.
Dorame said part of the reasoning is financial. American money is paying for the groups at a time when coalition leaders are transferring responsibility and costs to the Iraqi government. U.S. officials also never asked the Iraqi government to approve the groups, although the Iraqi government doesnt officially oppose them.
Most importantly, no one envisioned the "Sons of Iraq" as a permanent part of the Iraqi security forces. Some Shiite government leaders have questioned the wisdom of supporting armed groups in a movement that originated among Sunnis.
"The Sons of Iraq were never a long-term solution, nor do we want them to be a long-term solution," Dorame said. "They were to fill legitimate security gaps and to buy us time."
But the groups have also provided jobs in a country where more than half of the young men in many cities are unemployed.
Ali Achmet, a Sharqat "Sons of Iraq" member, is typical of many. He had no job until he joined the organization four months ago and depended upon his brother for money. Now he makes $200 to $300 a month.
"We are making Iraq safe," he said.
Similarly, many insurgents only targeted American and Iraqi forces because of the money al-Qaida and other insurgent groups paid them, according to Dorame and Capt. Samuel Cook, the commander of 1-3s Crazyhorse Troop. The program effectively allowed the Americans to outbid the insurgents for Iraqs fighting-age males. Works for me.
With the program gone, poor young men might return to being insurgents if not for ideology, then for necessity.
"This is the worst news that Ive heard," said Khamis Salah Allawi Al Jameli, a "Sons of Iraq" leader in Sharqat. "Believe me, if they destroy the Sons of Iraq, the terrorists, theyre going to come back."
The absence of security volunteers will also force more American soldiers into the labor-intensive job of guarding Iraqs roads. Cook estimates that "Sons of Iraq" checkpoints free up his workload by about a third to a half.
"You talk about drawing down the surge and then past the surge, and then you draw down the [Sons of Iraq] before the police are ready for them? Youre just asking for trouble," he said.
Dorame, Cook and Livingston acknowledge the "Sons of Iraq" were always a temporary solution.
The goal has always been to phase out the program and transition its members into longer term jobs, such as with the Iraqi security forces. While many are eager to join the Iraqi police, many want to avoid the Iraqi army because they can be transferred away from their homes. The Americans are encouraging all the volunteers to apply, but Dorame is hoping 30 percent to 40 percent of his security volunteers actually transfer over.
Rodano said 568 of the volunteers have been moved into the Iraqi police and 153 into a work training program.
But instead of a hard end date, some would like to see the program phased out, perhaps with a 10 percent drawdown each month. This would give the men more time to find jobs and give the area more time to absorb all the extra workers.
#1
It's hard to say how this will turn out. A big part of the reason there were no jobs previously was because al Qaeda spent its time shaking down and blowing up businesses. If al Qaeda is eliminated, I imagine businesses will return and start investing in the kind of infrastructure that brings jobs galore. It's also kind of a waste of money to have people carrying rifles when they could be contributing to the economy. The key is making the transition smooth.
#2
I hear Iraq's economy has been growing nicely, which means more jobs for the lads, not to mention both the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police have been heroes in the latest fighting against the Shiite insurgents. Then, too, it's kind of hard to go back to being an insurgent when all the neighbors know you were fighting them just last week... and tail-end insurgents are considered so uncool that even little girls are telling the soldiers where they keep their weapons stashes. Finally, I thought Congress was about to send President Bush exactly the military budget he'd demanded, which means there should be money for everything necessary, shortly.
#3
Also, why let this money pollute the political process if there are elections coming up? Some of it would surely be diverted for political purposes...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/20/2008 19:06 Comments ||
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Iraq is preparing to allow four of the biggest western oil companies to renew exploitation of the country's vast reserves for the first time in almost four decades.
Iraq's oil ministry stepped up talks with BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total after the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, visited Iraq in March, where he also pressed the government to revive efforts to pass the hydrocarbon law that nationalist MPs were blocking. The first contracts are expected to be signed this month. Some 90% of Iraq's budget comes from oil revenues.
Iraq's oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, told the Guardian this week that the deals did not amount to the privatisation of the country's oil. But the four companies are heirs to the consortium given the concession to control Iraq's oil by King Faisal, the foreign Sunni Arab whom the British imposed on Iraq's majority Shia population after occupying the country during the first world war. They lost their right to explore new fields in 1961 after the monarchy was overthrown, and nationalisation followed under the Ba'ath party.
There was no competitive bidding for the concessions, which are to be awarded to the four giants plus Chevron and some smaller companies. After the US-led invasion in 2003 the companies supplied advisers and trainers to the oil ministry for free in the hope of getting a foot in the door. The Russian company Lukoil did the same but lost the contract for Iraq's largest undeveloped field to Total and Chevron. Chinese and Indian firms also lost out.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting. A large slice of modern world's ills can be traced back to OPEC countries nationalization of oil reserves and the failure of the West to enforce the oil companies property rights. Which itself stemmed from Suez, when the Americans didn't support Britain and France.*
Now Iraq is going to invite them back in. This looks like we are going to see a belated alternate history. Wholly, a good thing IMO.
* In case anyone interprets this as USA bashing. The US did the wrong thing in the Suez Crisis for (arguably) the right reasons - they thought national sovereignty trumped private property rights.
#2
I think it was more not wanting to be seen or shown by the USSR to be supporting Europeans in the reimposition of their colonial power over the newly independent 3rd world. At the same time as the uprising in Hungary. Ike wasn't going to get in a war over either. Many bad things have happened in the name of anti-colonialism, especially ending it.
It's hard to remember how different we were from the Europeans then.
The Iraqi move should prove positive and set an excellent example for the future.
#3
Ike was a good President but he made his worst foreign policy mistake--possibly America's worst ever--by not backing Britain and France at Suez.
His worst domestic mistake was appointing Earl Warren. Both have had tremendously bad consequences for America and the rest of the West.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/20/2008 11:50 Comments ||
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#4
I always wondered who the UK and France had in mind to run and defend the canal.
Naw, Ima funning you, I know exactly who they had in mind for that little task.
Austria!
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/20/2008 17:34 Comments ||
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#5
George,
I inquired once about some FO documentation that should have listed who the Eden government anticipated would lead Egypt after retaking the Canal. I found it was classified under the 75 year rule and thus won't be seen until 2031.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/20/2008 19:42 Comments ||
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#6
I am most interested to learn the size of Iraq's reserves after modern methods of assessment & exploration are used.
JERUSALEM, June 19 (Reuters) - Israel and Syria are unlikely to hold full peace negotiations before the end of the year, or without the involvement of the United States, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak was quoted as saying on Thursday. Barak told French newspaper Le Monde that indirect talks between the neighbours, which are being mediated by Turkey, amounted to "preliminary contacts", not negotiations.
"I don't think we will have negotiations before the end of this year nor without the contribution of the Americans, who, alone, can help bridge the gaps," he said, adding he believed the United States would get involved in the future. But he said a meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could provide a psychological boost that could move the process forward.
The interview, published in French, came ahead of a visit to Israel next week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and amid speculation Olmert and Assad may meet during a summit of European and Mediterranean leaders in Paris next month.
Assad said on Thursday that more progress was needed before he would agree to a meeting with Olmert, who has declined to say whether he will meet his Syrian counterpart in Paris but has voiced optimism direct talks could start soon.
The countries concluded a second round of indirect talks on Monday and agreed to continue negotiations over the fate of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Syria wants it to return.
Barak said that while there were great strategic advantages to keeping the Golan, Israel was "ready to consider putting an end" to its occupation of the territory. "At the right time, if the negotiations succeed, we will be ready to take difficult decisions," he said, echoing similar comments by Olmert.
Israel has said a peace deal depends on Damascus distancing itself from Iran and severing ties with groups such as Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah -- demands Assad has dismissed.
Since that would quickly result in his being removed from power and executed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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GAZA CITY - A fragile truce took hold in the Gaza Strip Thursday, ending, for the time being at least, months of deadly violence and prompting Hamas to call for an end to the Western boycott against it. The truce - the result of months of indirect, Egyptian-led negotiations between Israel and the radical Islamic movement ruling Gaza - took effect at 6 am (0300 GMT) Thursday morning.
Although Israel negotiated the truce with Hamas indirectly, internal Israeli critics have charged the deal grants legitimacy to the radical Islamic movement and recognition of it as the de-facto ruler of the Strip.
Correct. Whether 'direct' or not, Hamas is now the go-to people for the Paleos, and Abbas is roadkill.
Hamas too called on Western leaders 'to change their attitude' toward the movement after it committed to the truce. 'We call on the international community to reconsider its decision to impose an embargo on the movement,' Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza City.
But European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, although he welcomed the truce, said it was too early to say whether the EU could begin holding direct talks with Hamas, which the bloc considers a terrorist organization. The truce, he nevertheless said in Brussels, could create 'a dynamic that will allow political dialogue to continue.'
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Hamas was still a 'terrorist organization,' with which Israel did not and would not hold direct negotiations. 'Hamas and the other terrorist organizations have not changed and have not become patrons of peace. These are contemptible and bloodthirsty terrorists,' Olmert told a conference near Tel Aviv.
Yet you still talked with them, and conceded important issues to them, in return for essentially nothing. Once some 'splinter' group launches rockets at you, you'll be a laughing-stock.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald from Jerusalem published Thursday, he also warned that the truce was Hamas' last chance to avoid a massive military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Olmert was scheduled to travel to Egypt Tuesday, for talks with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on the truce brokered by Cairo.
The first stage of the three-phase, six-month truce entails a mutual end of hostilities. According to Hamas officials, Israel is to lift severe restrictions on the entry of fuel into the Strip already in the first hours of the truce. As of Sunday, it is to ease restrictions on the entry of other goods.
What does Hamas do in return?
One week after, Cairo is to invite Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and European Union representatives for talks on a mechanism to open the Rafah border crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
how about a 24hrsX30 days=......720 hrs waiting period? That's a LOT of gunsex to hold off on, and I don't think you children can make it that far. 1 Mont, 30 Days, shouldn't be that hard. Yet, the Paleo losers will amaze with their staggering ability to meet low expectations. A tsunami would be urban renewal
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2008 0:25 Comments ||
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#2
they talked to them via Egypt, which theyve done on occasion for some time, IIUC.
What did they concede? Not the calm, theyve always been prepared to offer that. Theyve also always said theyd drop the blockade with suitable controls at the border crossings. Well it looks like theyve made some concessions at crossings. If that leads to bad things, the whole deal can be dropped. like frank says theres still a lot that can go wrong here. Even Olmert knows that - and he knows the deal can fall apart - he probably wont be PM when it does though.
The EU might talk to Hamas? But theyve already done so, right? And the value of the EU boycott has been denigrated right here, correct? The EU doesnt matter, and it doesnt matter if theyre pissed off, right?
Well Ive always thought they do matter, and yeah, if the EU gets REALLY buddy buddy with Hamas (more than a token visit by Solana) its bad. But Israel has to INSIST that that would be punishing Israel for the deal, and that it would prevent future deals. Right now I think Livni or Barak can say that more strongly than Olmert, just cause Olmert is done.
As for Abbas, well hed better take responsibility for himself now. His politics is complex, but part of the reason Israel turned to deal with Hamas was cause Abbas wasnt a help.
If IJ or Dogmush hits Sderot, Israel will hit Gaza, and the calm will end. Israel has to get Shalit back before then. Hamas wants to get a big convoy of fuel and stuff before that. Consider it part of the ransom for a hostage. You do the deal, get the guy back, and then your hand is free again.
As for Olmert personally, being a laughingstock, he already is. Hes delusional if he thinks this will add more than a couple of weeks to his premiership.
(Xinhua) -- Israel is ready to make major concessions on the redrawing of its borders in an effort to secure peace with Syria and the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview broadcasted Thursday on BBC Arabic Television.
'There is no cause or reason to enter a war with Syria,' Olmert said during the interview, which was held in Olmert's Tel Aviv office.
Olmert said his government was determined to continue efforts to resolve the conflict that has been going on for generations, and that he was working towards bridging the 'historical gap' between Israel and Syria through negotiations.
On Wednesday, the prime minister said in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro that Israel and Syria, which have recently renewed indirect talks under Turkish mediation, are not far away from direct peace talks. Olmert said that direct peace talks could be opened once Israel and Syria agree on a precise agenda and issues to discuss, adding that better relations with Syria would alter the whole dynamic of the Middle East.
Turning to relations with the Palestinians, the prime minister told BBC that progress has been made on numerous issues in Israel's talks with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), including the dispute over the borders. Despite boasting progress in many fields with the PNA, Olmert remains skeptical that a full agreement can be signed and delivered during the remaining months of U.S. President George W. Bush's term.
The Bush administration sponsored an international meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007 in a bid to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas pledged at the Annapolis meeting to try to reach a deal before Bush leaves the White House in January 2009.
During the BBC interview, Olmert also touched on Hamas. Olmert said the Islamic movement would be welcome to join peace negotiations after it accepted and complied with the demands of the international community, namely calling off terror attacks and recognizing Israel. 'I don't think there can be reconciliation (with Hamas) without basic acceptance,' said the prime minister.
The conditions set by the Quartet, the Middle East peacemakers which consist of Russia, the United States, the UN and the European Union, also call for Hamas to observe past accords signed with Israel and release Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a 2006 cross-border raid.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
No, actually Israel is ready to lock you up, Udi, and throw away the key
An army helicopter has been shot down or crashed in Yala province and all 10 people aboard were killed, a military spokesman said on Friday. Army spokesman Col Acra Thiproj said the crash was an accident. "All 10 people on board were killed when the helicopter developed a technical problem and tried to land, but crashed to the ground," he said. The pilot reported engine trouble and that he would have to attempt a crash landing. The helicopter appeared to explode as it hit the ground. All those aboard were killed, including eight soliders, a police officers and a civilian.
The helicopter was on its way back to Bannang Sata military base in Yala province. It was carrying a military forensics team which was investigating the murder of a border police sergeant in an insurgent ambush. While there was no initial indication that Islamist rebels were involved in the helicopter crash, the site of the crash was in an insurgent-infested region. Officers said they would have to investigate the incident before ruling out ground fire as the cause of the crash.
(Xinhuanet) -- One of three Islamic militants up for execution in Indonesia for the 2002 Bali bombings said in an interview that al-Qaida would be 'very likely' to carry out revenge attacks if authorities kill him, a magazine reported.
Imam Samudra and two other Indonesian militants were sentenced to death in 2003 for their roles in the suicide attacks that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, at two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali. The three who have admitted to planning and taking part in the strikes are awaiting a final legal appeal to their sentences.
Samudra was interviewed in prison by a local hard-line Islamist magazine, Jihadmagz. Asked whether al-Qaida would send operatives to Indonesia to launch attacks if he were executed, he said, 'That is very likely. God willing, hopefully that will happen. Everyone knows that the armies of Allah are (everywhere).'
The magazine, which has a circulation of 10,000, hit newsstands in Indonesia last week.
The Bali attacks were carried out by members and associates of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group whose leaders came under the influence of al-Qaida in the late 1990s when they trained and fought in Afghanistan. Since then, militants have launched three more attacks on Western targets in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. The latest attack, against restaurants in Bali in 2005, killed 12.
This article starring:
Imam Samudra
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
hmmmmm - I thought you welcomed death, you lying coward. Why would it need be avenged?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2008 20:22 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Supreme Court extended the term of a restraining order on Thursday to prevent the minority Muslim community from being settled in an area the majority Sinhalese have claimed as a historical religious site in the Eastern Province.
The court issued the restraining order last month. On Thursday the court extended the term of the order till mid-September when the case would be taken up for hearing.
Some 500 houses have been built in the Deegavapi area of the Eastern Province meant to settle Muslims affected by the December 2004 tsunami devastation.
The all Buddhist Monk party JHU or the National Heritage Party has petitioned the Supreme Court and sought a restraining order to prevent the Muslim settlement at Deegavapi.
The JHU said the area has been identified as a Buddhist religious site of historical importance.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Then I would conclude their SC has a lot more common sense than ours, at this time.
WASHINGTON: Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
So let's see who got the message ...
Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.
More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said. The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.
Israeli officials declined to discuss the details of the exercise. A spokesman for the Israeli military would say only that the country's air force "regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel."
But the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies. A senior Pentagon official who has been briefed on the exercise, and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political delicacy of the matter, said the exercise appeared to serve multiple purposes.
One Israeli goal, the Pentagon official said, was to practice flight tactics, aerial refueling and all other details of a possible strike against Iran's nuclear installations and its long-range conventional missiles. A second, the official said, was to send a clear message to the United States and other countries that Israel was prepared to act militarily if diplomatic efforts to stop Iran from producing bomb-grade uranium continued to falter.
"They wanted us to know, they wanted the Europeans to know, and they wanted the Iranians to know," the Pentagon official said. "There's a lot of signaling going on at different levels."
Several American officials said they did not believe that the Israeli government had concluded that it must attack Iran and did not think that such a strike was imminent.
Shaul Mofaz, a former Israeli defense minister who is now a deputy prime minister, warned in a recent interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot that Israel might have no choice but to attack. "If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack," Mofaz said in the interview published on June 6, the day after the unpublicized exercise ended. "Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable."
But Mofaz was criticized by other Israeli politicians as seeking to enhance his own standing as questions mount about whether the embattled Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, can hang on to power. Israeli officials have told their American counterparts that Mofaz's statement does not represent official policy. But American officials were also told that Israel had prepared plans for striking nuclear targets in Iran and could carry them out if needed.
Iran has shown signs that it is taking the Israeli warnings seriously, by beefing up its air defenses in recent weeks, including increasing air patrols. In one instance, Iran scrambled F-4 jets to double-check an Iraqi civilian flight from Baghdad to Tehran.
Iran might not have any F-4s leftover if they tangle with the IAF ...
"They are clearly nervous about this and have their air defense on guard," a Bush administration official said of the Iranians.
Any Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear facilities would confront a number of challenges. Many American experts say they believe that such an attack could delay but not eliminate Iran's nuclear program.
From Israel's perspective, a five year delay (for example) would be as good as total destruction of Iran's capability. A lot could happen in five years.
Much of the program's infrastructure is buried under earth and concrete and installed in long tunnels or hallways, making precise targeting difficult.
Also makes entombing the program that much easier ...
There is also concern that not all of the facilities have been detected. To inflict maximum damage, multiple attacks might be necessary, which many analysts say is beyond Israel's ability at this time.
Maximum damage is certainly the goal, but considerable damage might be good enough. Again, a substantial delay to Iran's ambitions helps Israel considerably.
But waiting also entails risks for the Israelis. Israeli officials have repeatedly expressed fears that Iran will soon master the technology it needs to produce substantial quantities of highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
Iran is also taking steps to better defend its nuclear facilities. Two sets of advance Russian-made radar systems were recently delivered to Iran. The radar will enhance Iran's ability to detect planes flying at low altitude.
Supposedly. Ask the Syrians how that worked out.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, said in February that Iran was close to acquiring Russian-produced SA-20 surface-to-air missiles. American military officials said that the deployment of such systems would hamper Israel's attack planning, putting pressure on Israel to act before the missiles are fielded.
Over the past three decades, Israel has carried out two unilateral attacks against suspected nuclear sites in the Middle East. In 1981, Israeli jets conducted a raid against Iraq's nuclear plant at Osirak after concluding that it was part of Saddam Hussein's program to develop nuclear weapons. In September, Israeli aircraft bombed a structure in Syria that American officials said housed a nuclear reactor built with the aid of North Korea.
Pentagon officials said that Israel's air forces usually conducted a major early summer training exercise, often flying over the Mediterranean or training ranges in Turkey where they practice bombing runs and aerial refueling. But the exercise this month involved a larger number of aircraft than had been previously observed, and included a lengthy combat rescue mission.
Much of the planning appears to reflect a commitment by Israel's military leaders to ensure that its armed forces are adequately equipped and trained, an imperative driven home by the difficulties the Israeli military encountered in its Lebanon operation against Hezbollah.
"They rehearse it, rehearse it and rehearse it, so if they actually have to do it, they're ready," the Pentagon official said. "They're not taking any options off the table."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 11:56 ||
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#1
I am curious why it is that this exercise took place on 06/03/08 and it is just now being reported on CNN on 0620/08. Why have the MSM been sitting on the story this long. Was it pressured by the Bush administration or someone else? Something as important as this should have been reported as soon as we became aware of it. Any comments? I would love to hear from someone who really knows.
#3
"exercise took place on 06/03/08 and it is just now being reported on CNN on 0620/08. Why have the MSM been sitting on the story this long. Was it pressured by the Bush administration....?"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, like the MSM would do anything to cooperate with the Bush administration.
I'll take "something else" - either they're lazy, or they couldn't figure out how to use the story to bash Bush.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/20/2008 18:06 Comments ||
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#4
Dear Friends:
This post by Steve is nice, but it is naive.
Israel doesn't piss without letting the US know, and some argue with respect to Middle East policy the opposite is true too. The idea that the US **believe it may be a message to Iran** - hahahah
No shit. But the US and Israel are one arm. No such thing as unilateral my friends. They'll just play good cop / bad cop while the whole shitstorm drops on Iran. Before Bush leaves office, mark my words, Iran will be bombed heavily. We are not in control people. Never have been.
Posted by: Michael ||
06/20/2008 18:26 Comments ||
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#5
Perhaps the Pentagon should back away from speculating, even if the intent is to cause concern within Iran. Israel, why it's necessary as a U.S. Ally is troubling at the least. Nonetheless, we've sat idle while Israel has engaged in two attacks that should have resulted in war. Crossing Jordanian airspace to bomb Iraq's nuclear facility was a crass violation of international law... an act of war. As A U.S. citizen I'm all for someone taking Israel off the map... What Israel needs to do is implement the six UN resolutions our country has assisted it in evading for better than sisty years. Why speak of Morality or Justice when we violate every treaty we enter into? I think an Israeli attack on Iran will result in the opening of a war that will immediately involve both Russia and China. If we cannot defeat Iraq, a country about the size of Texas, after a trwelve year bombing exercise, what chance do we have against Russia and China?... NONE! People need to get a life and keep abreast of current affairs as well as history. Iran is no longer a British colony, it's natural resources belong to its people.
#6
Thank you, Michael! Bombing Iran would make me very happy -- it would be awfully nice to remove the current most urgent threat to regional stability. But of course we aren't in control; can you imagine what the world would be like if little civilian housewives from the outer suburbs were in control? I'm much, much happier to leave such things to those who've made a proper study of it.
#7
Willis dear, Iraq building a nuclear facility for the purpose of manufacturing weapons was a greater violation of international law... and since those bombs were intended to be aimed at Israel, Israel had a right to nullify the effort by destroying it, especially given that Iraq has never ended the state of war it declared against Israel in 1948. Acts of war are permitted by the combatants when the countries involved are at a non-negotiated and openly intended by the belligerent (that would be Iraq, in this case) to be temporary pause in fighting. Go to www.MEMRI.org to read some of the things Iraq's ruler Saddam Hussein had been saying just before the Osirek site was destroyed.
And please do stop throwing around big words until you actually know what they mean, my dear Willis. I promise we'll wait for you to catch up.
#8
Halfway is not good enough. You dont smack a king with a stick, you shoot him once in the chest and then once in the head.
half a war is suicidal. You kill your enemy , you dont take off a toe and a finger and expect that to be it.
If Israel goes in it goes for the kill or dont go at all. And the US is going to be blamed anyway so we go in too, same same, and we go for the kill as well. A complete kill. Whatever it takes, no rematch, no second chances. There is no "nice" way to commit murder. You make sure the body is dead. And you dont even bother to hide the body since you cant hide the blood.
Dont wound Iran. We dont have to occupy it, but we do have to kill it. If we need to use nukes to reach deep, then do it and dont apologise. And if anybody complains take their name for next time. It isnt a game.
Iran wanted to play. Too bad for them. Half way is no way. The whole head ...and then their guts on their shoes.
Be the one left standing. We can pray about it later. There is absolutely no future we want to share with a NUCLEAR IRAN.
#9
But the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be augmented and supportednoticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies.
#10
Angleton 9 could not be more correct in his statement about how to handle the Iranian problem. It's "pay me now or pay me later." As always, the "later" costs are a LOT higher.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/20/2008 19:38 Comments ||
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#11
DRUDGEREPORT > IRAN: WE WILL STRIKE BACK WITH A STRONG BLOW [in the Mouth/Israel's Mouth].
HMMMMM, HMMMMMM, INTERESTING COINCIDENCE > One of the GUAM TAOTAMONAS/SPIRITS prowling around in Agana this week SEEMINGLY "TOUCHED" ME IN MY MOUTH [actually, Left Upper Lip] a couple of nites ago. WOKE UP IN TIME TO CLEARLY SEE A SHAPELESS/FORMLESS DARK "FUZZY-WUZZY" WHOM TURNED AWAY AND WENT UP THE STREET.
#12
If we cannot defeat Iraq, a country about the size of Texas, after a trwelve year bombing exercise, what chance do we have against Russia and China?... NONE!
#13
Michael: wrong. Israel frequently does things without telling us. Osirak as one example.
Willis: you bet bombing Osirak was an act of war. Saddam's lust for a nuclear bomb so as to wipe Israel off the map was also an act of war, though you wouldn't have known until Saddam had gone and done it. You pro'ly don't care about that, but I hope you'll grant that the Israelis did.
With reference to "if we cannot defeat Iraq ...", you might want to back off the Daily Kos for a moment and check out the situation as it stands in Iraq now. Saddam is dead, Uday no longer is raping innocent women, Iraq has a constitution and an elected government, and al-Qaeda is being run out of Iraq. That's my definition of defeating the old regime and the terrorists, though it may not be yours.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 20:28 Comments ||
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#14
Willis again: As A U.S. citizen I'm all for someone taking Israel off the map...
That allows me to understand you very well.
You're an anti-Semite.
Thanks for sharing. Head on back to the Daily Kos and bleat about how mean we are here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 20:32 Comments ||
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#15
Angleton 9 is correct in his diagnosis and wrong in his prescription.
We do not want to nuke Iran. The world will never forgive us though we may be right.
I've said this before: if I were President and had a CIA I could trust, my agents (in Operation Lemony Snickett) would stage a series of unfortunate incidents. The Mad Mullahs would be involved in auto accidents, plane crashes and mysterious fatal illnesses. Gasoline refineries would blow up. Dangerous places, those refineries. I'd turn the people against the Mullahs, and get the Mullahs looking over their shoulders at every moment.
Willis would consider all that an act of war. He'd be right. I'd still do it, since I know what the Mad Mullahs have planned for me and mine.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 20:35 Comments ||
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#16
Your prescription is more easily written than filled. My only question is the flight path.
#17
Willis hasn't got the guts to post an email addy. Courage is easy to a 53 yr old anonymous underemployed tool, posting in an unlit basement from his Mom's internet account.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2008 22:48 Comments ||
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BEIRUT - One month after a breakthrough deal to end a long-running political crisis, Lebanon remains without a government as rival clans fight it out over key cabinet posts, raising fears of a renewed conflict. The euphoria that greeted the May election of new president Michel Sleiman and promises of a national unity government has been replaced by a growing sense of doom amid continued discord between the Western-backed majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition over who gets which post in the new cabinet.
Even Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and parliament speaker and opposition stalwart Nabih Berri, both of whom had initially said that the formation of the cabinet was a matter of days, are now speaking of obstacles that remain. "I cannot deny that we are going through a difficult phase but we are deploying all efforts to form a cabinet," Siniora said Wednesday after meeting with Sleiman.
Berri for his part also admitted the make-up of the new 30-member cabinet was hampered by divisions between the parties. Under the deal struck in the Qatari capital Doha on May 21, the opposition, which is backed by Syria and Iran, will get 11 seats in the new government, the majority will get 16 seats and the president will appoint three ministers. Negotiations between the various parties however have stumbled over who should head the key defence, interior, finance and foreign affairs ministries.
Opposition Christian leader Michel Aoun is insisting that Sleiman choose a candidate for only one, rather than two, of these so-called sovereign portfolios, a scenario rejected by the majority. He has also suggested that the prime minister's scope of authority be revised, prompting criticism even from within his own camp.
He just never misses a chance to cause trouble, doesn't he ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday ruled out direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the sidelines of an international summit in Paris next month.
Assad and Olmert will be in Paris as guests of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is to announce the launch of a new Mediterranean Union on July 13. Last month, Syria and Israel announced they had launched indirect peace talks, with Turkey serving as a mediator, after an eight-year freeze. This is not like drinking tea, Assad told reporters in New Delhi when asked about the possibility of direct talks between the two, adding, Only sending signals with no real result is meaningless.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The Shiite movement Hezbollah said on Thursday that Lebanon would still need its armed presence even if Israel finally quit the disputed Shebaa Farms district in the south.
'Any Zionist retreat from the Shebaa Farms would be a big achievement for the 'resistance' for this would be the result of its role and its pressure,' Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah was quoted as saying by the state-run National News Agency. But any retreat 'will not change the fact that Lebanon needs the resistance,' he said.
Hezbollah, which claimed to have forced Israel's pullout from south Lebanon in May 2000 after two decades of occupation, sees itself as the legitimate 'resistance' to the Jewish state.
Fadlallah also accused the international community, particularly the United States, of involving itself recently in the Shebaa Farms 'for aims linked to the resistance' -- a reference to demands for Hezbollah to disarm. 'Those who think that putting the Shebaa Farms under international supervision could put pressure on the resistance... delude themselves.'
During a surprise visit to Lebanon on Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she believed it was time to resolve the Shebaa Farms dispute in conformity with 'Resolution 1701.' The resolution, which ended the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel in August 2006, was based on a plan drawn up by Western-backed Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
The plan stipulated putting the disputed Shebaa Farms under United Nations supervision pending a resolution between Lebanon, Syria and Israel on its legitimate ownership.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2008 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
Ima remember Oreo Cookie ridng for Shebaa Farms, seems like yesterday. Then head kicks does mess up the temporal side of things.
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.
Asia Times Online has reported, however, after discussions with Taliban commanders, that this year the Taliban would carry out specific planned operations all across Afghanistan. This is in contrast to previous years when cadre flocked to southern Afghanistan in their thousands and were killed in the hundreds. That is, the Taliban have reverted to a calculated guerrilla war rather than trying and take on NATO's numbers.
"First of all, I think there is an executive order out on Osama bin Laden's head, and if I'm president and we had the opportunity to capture him, we may not be able to capture him alive," Obama said. "I think it does not make sense for me to speculate in terms of what the best approach would be in trying him and bringing him to justice. I think what would be important would be for us to do it in a way that allows the entire world to understand the murderous acts that he's engaged in and not to make him into a martyr and to sure that the United States government is abiding by the basic conventions that would strengthen our hand in the broader battle against terrorism."
Republican John McCain vowed today that if he's president, Osama bin Laden will be either killed in combat or executed -- a stern response to Democrat Barack Obama suggesting Wednesday that he would put the terrorist mastermind in the equivalent of the Nazi war crime trials after World War II to avoid making him a martyr.
The presence of around 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan makes it difficult to control cross border movements, as some of the refugee camps have become havens for extremists, APP quoted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as saying on Thursday. Talking to United Nations Development Programme UNDP) Resident Co-ordinator Fikret Akcura, Gilani said an improved law and order situation and a better economy were the governments priorities, according to a staff report. Pakistan wants the UN and its various agencies to help Pakistan achieve its objectives, especially in the social sector. Pakistan wants the UNs help to control hepatitis and repatriate 3 million Afghan refugees, the premier said. Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan as it will help promote economic co-operation in the region, he said, and expressed hope that the EU would also help Pakistan in the repatriation of Afghan refugees. 
Pakistans Islamist press has thrown its weight behind a group of mid-level and senior officers in the armed forces, who have been pressuring Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-General Pervez Ashfaq Kiyani to terminate counter-terrorism operations in the North West Frontier Province and resume support for the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. 
SHARQAT, Iraq Military leaders in northern Iraq are pushing to draw down the "Sons of Iraq" program in their part of the country and plan to cut off funding for many of the groups just one month before the provincial elections scheduled for November.
With the program gone, poor young men might return to being insurgents if not for ideology, then for necessity.
Iraq is preparing to allow four of the biggest western oil companies to renew exploitation of the country's vast reserves for the first time in almost four decades.
(Xinhua) -- Israel is ready to make major concessions on the redrawing of its borders in an effort to secure peace with Syria and the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview broadcasted Thursday on BBC Arabic Television. 
WASHINGTON: Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
But Mofaz was criticized by other Israeli politicians as seeking to enhance his own standing as questions mount about whether the embattled Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, can hang on to power. Israeli officials have told their American counterparts that Mofaz's statement does not represent official policy. But American officials were also told that Israel had prepared plans for striking nuclear targets in Iran and could carry them out if needed.
BEIRUT - One month after a breakthrough deal to end a long-running political crisis, Lebanon remains without a government as rival clans fight it out over key cabinet posts, raising fears of a renewed conflict. The euphoria that greeted the May election of new president Michel Sleiman and promises of a national unity government has been replaced by a growing sense of doom amid continued discord between the Western-backed majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition over who gets which post in the new cabinet.
