Among all the propaganda was this:
The Kandahar jailbreak this month, a meticulously planned Taliban operation combining heavily armed fighters and suicide bombers, was the first operation since the switch from Helmand to Kandahar. More than 2,500 prisoners (contrary to claims of 1,100 mentioned in the media) were freed.
While these events were unfolding, the Taliban made another significant move in Khost. More than 2,500 'precious assets' was mobilized from the North Waziristan tribal area in Pakistan to Khost, where, with the assistance of the local population, they established bases. Significantly, the Taliban no longer need to retreat to the sanctuary of Pakistan's tribal areas when attacked by NATO - they now have secure bases deep in Khost.
Pro-Taliban tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud's men seized Jandolla, a rural town 70 kilometers east of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. Then they abducted 30 members of a government-appointed peace committee, killing most of them.
And for the first time, the Taliban revealed their impressive strength by entering the capital of NWFP, Peshawar. Last week the Taliban had also gone into Peshawar and kidnapped - and then released - 16 members of a local Christian community. There is now a belief in security circles that should they want to, the Taliban could take the Peshawar Valley.
The Taliban also relayed a message to Islamabad that should the military begin operations in the tribal areas, a 'reception', including several new groups, would be ready and waiting. The show of power worked. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani convened a high-level meeting on Wednesday afternoon, attended by all intelligence chiefs and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, at which it was agreed that dialogue was the best way to deal with the militants.
(SomaliNet) A hardline Somali Islamist leader accused of ties with Al-Qaeda on Monday chided Saudi Arabia for backing a UN-sponsored Somali truce he charged was a plot to attract the oil-rich kingdom's cash. "We love the Saudis and especially their money, but we want them to be wary of some tricky issues that are not realistic at all," Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an influential cleric designated as a terrorist by Washington, told AFP in a phone interview.
Last week, Saudi King Abdullah described as a "breakthrough" an agreement signed at UN-sponsored talks in Djibouti on June 9 by the transitional federal government and the main opposition alliance. The deal provides for a cessation of hostilities to come into force within a month but Aweys promptly rejected the document signed by his own movement's leaders, arguing that it failed to impose an immediate Ethiopian withdrawal.
"The Saudis should only involve themselves in a genuine reconciliation process that will bring lasting peace and end the occupation of Muslim Somalia," he said. "The so-called agreement in Djibouti only legitimised Ethiopian occupation of Somalia and the continued destruction of lives and property," he added.
Only a deal that makes the Sheikh an Emir is good enough ...
Ethiopian troops came to the rescue of the embattled interim government in Somalia in late 2006 and ousted the Islamic Courts Union, which was headed by Aweys and briefly controlled large parts of the country.
And he's nursed that grudge ever since ...
"The Saudis have no ill-intention against Somalia, but are being misinformed on the flawed process initiated in Djibouti. The whole idea is to extort money from the coffers of unsuspecting Saudi leaders," Aweys argued. "The Saudis are honest people who are being approached by dubious Somali characters," he added, speaking from Asmara, where his Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) has been based since its inception in September 2007.
Hiding out with his pals the Eritreans instead of leading from the front ...
Aweys, who is not a member of the ARS top leadership, remains in Eritrea with other hardliners but the movement's top executives and signatories of the June 9 deal are now in Djibouti and Somalia. "The whole purpose was to divide the ARS and strengthen the enemy of our nation, unfortunately some of our members were trapped by those who wanted to deepen the division," Aweys railed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Saudi the friend of most Islamist/Terrorist organistions!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
06/27/2008 5:42 Comments ||
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Somalia faces a serious food crisis if no nation steps forward with naval ships to escort relief shipments through pirate-infested waters, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned Thursday.
A Dutch frigate is now in its last days shepherding two WFP-chartered vessels which shuttle between the Kenyan port of Mombasa to Somalia where the United Nations warns 3.5 million people will need food relief by the year's end. 'We need a foreign navy to take over the escort system before mid-July when we hope to send a ship from Durban, South Africa, loaded with WFP food to Mogadishu,' WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon told AFP.
How about the Panamanian Navy? Or the Liberian Navy? Or the Seychellean Navy?
'WFP has still not received any confirmed offer from any foreign navy, but we have been in contact with many governments and pray that someone will step forward.'
Somalia's waters are among the most dangerous in the world prompting the UN Security Council earlier this month to authorise foreign warships to enter Somali waters to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea.
The WFP's appeal comes as it seeks to double the amount of food it ships to Somalia with a view to feeding around 2.3 million people a month, Smerdon said.
Since November last year, French and Danish frigates have escorted WFP shipments to Somalia, which has been gripped by lawlessness since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Aid groups have scaled down operations in the face of growing insecurity, largely blamed on Islamist militants who have waged a guerilla war since they were toppled by Somali and Ethiopian forces in early 2007.
Smerdon said: 'If humanitarian assistance cannot reach Somalia because of piracy, we fear that we could see scenes similar to the 1992-1993 famine in Somalia that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.'
Hyperinflation and recurrent drought have worsened conditions in Somalia -- and because of the poor state of Somali roads and the civil unrest, 90 percent of UN aid reaches Somalia by sea.
But ships are a prime target for pirates, who operate high-powered speedboats and carry heavy machine guns and rocket launchers along Somalia's 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) of largely un-patrolled coastline.
Lately, a multinational taskforce based in Djibouti has been patrolling parts of the waters off the Somali coast, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, where a pirate mother-ship is believed to be operating. In addition to selling on stolen food aid, pirates demand ransoms to free the crew members of the ships they pounce upon.
In one instance, the crew of one WFP vessel was held hostage for 45 days and in another case one man was killed while attempting to beat off pirates boarding the boat.
In 2005, the WFP temporarily suspended aid deliveries by sea after two pirate attacks on its ships.
The French-based charity group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF - Doctors Without Borders) warned of a disaster unfolding. 'Somalia is no longer on the verge of a catastrophe, the disaster is happening now,' MSF director of operations Bruno Jochum said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Better yet, turn it into ethanol.
Posted by: ed ||
06/27/2008 0:56 Comments ||
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#4
'Somalia is no longer on the verge of a catastrophe, the disaster is happening now,'
Yeah, we got the same message when we went into Afghanistan and you and your fellow NGO travelers predicted mass starvation and a human catastrophe of biblical proportions. Didn't happen. I doubt you'll ever get a clue about cause and effect. Cause if you did, you'd champion the American military instead of vilifying them in bring a definitive end to crap like this than the slow motion death you and yours only seem to arrange with all your brains. A robust ROE to whack the miscreants and latitude to do their job without parasites like the usual suspects of the international and leftist communities [I know I'm being redundant] yields real results. The day you get the clue, give us a call, unless your brethren have completed their task in disassembling the one tool in the world that actually seems to work. Till then enjoy your moral superiority.
#6
Blackwater could probably come up with a fleet pretty quick.
Maybe get a letter of marque and reprisal while they're at it.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
06/27/2008 11:14 Comments ||
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#7
UN seeks foreign navy to escort food to Somalia
When it packed full of its usual complement of Liars and Theives Shove that entire M'Fucking Evil Box into the East River.
Then have Sea Going Tugs Tow that bastion of Liars and Theives out into International Waters and Cast it Loose... letting all those M'Fucking Bastards we've been paying for float around Cape of Good Hope up to the indian Ocean!
#8
Perhaps if they allowed the skipper of the boats have an open hand in how and when to use his weapons you might, just might get some takers. but there are undoubtedly a bucket ful of restrictions on that kind of thing.
#9
IIRC, the RUSSIANS had already oferfed to suppport such an international scheme, and in any case had also already stated they will be deploying RussNav ships to the area regardless.
Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on June 15, 2008:
"Israel is a Country Just Like Any Other Country in the World"
Interviewer: "Abd Al-Wahed Nur, the leader of the Sudanese Liberation Movement, has announced that his movement has an office in Israel. Do you support such a measure?"
Dr. Khalil Ibrahim: "This is the business of the Sudanese Liberation Movement and Abd Al-Wahed. Israel is a country just like any other country in the world.
"The Prophet Muhammad had good ties with the Israelis [sic]. When he died, he had a debt to a Jew. He would trade with Jews.
"Relations with Israel are not a crime. How many Arab countries have Israeli embassies in their capitals? The Israelis are of the People of the Book, and so are the Christians and the Muslims.
"Allah said: 'Argue not with the People of the Book unless it is done in the best way.' The Sudanese government is trying to create what is called 'a taboo.' A taboo forbids something that was not forbidden by Allah.
"Relations with any country or citizen... If Allah did not want these people, why did he create them? Israelis, Arabs, British people, Americans, and Africans Allah created them all. When Allah created Adam, he was just one person. Now there are over seven billion descendents of Adam in the world. If Allah did not want them, he could have annihilated them. It is Allah who holds people accountable."
"Hundreds of People From Darfur Have Now Gone to Israel Why? Because They Are Being Crushed, Killed, and Displaced In Their Own Country"
Dr. Khalil Ibrahim: "As for the Sudanese government, if anyone, not Abd Al-Wahed... [Sudanese President] Omar Al-Bashir used to go to Israel, didn't he? Didn't Ali Othman Taha leave his plane in Jordan and fly by helicopter to Israel on a daily basis? These two used to go to Israel in secret, but if Abd Al-Wahed says he has a person there... Hundreds of people from Darfur have now gone to Israel why? Because they are being crushed, killed, and displaced in their own country."
Interviewer: "Do you in the Justice and Equality Movement support political ties between Israel and Sudan?"
Dr. Khalil Ibrahim: "We support political ties with any country in the world. We are in favor of good relations between Sudan and any country in the world irrespective!"
"Today, the Palestinian President Himself Met With the Israeli PM"
Dr. Khalil Ibrahim: "But of course, we support the rights of the Palestinian people in its land, its freedom, its right to self determination, and its right to live in its own country. We support all this.
"Today, the Palestinian president himself met with the Israeli PM. What is wrong!? If they had no ties, how could they possibly meet? The Palestinian president is meeting with the Israeli prime minister. The Egyptian government established relations with Israel.
"If Abd Al-Wahed opens an office in Israel, is it a crime? No, it isn't. The way I see it, this is no crime. Abd Al-Wahed is free to do so. People should work to resolve their problems. We support a two-state solution one for the Palestinians and the other for the Israelis. These two states should coexist peacefully, as good neighbors. If it is possible for them to coexist fine. If not, each side should establish its country, and they should live in peace. What is wrong?"
Seizures of amphetamines have risen sharply in Saudi Arabia, suggesting a surge in consumption of the illegal stimulant in the kingdom, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia accounted for 28 per cent of all global amphetamine seizures in 2006, the latest year for which data are available, according to the UNODCs annual report.
The quantities impounded in the kingdom started to rise sharply in 2004 and reached 12.3 tonnes in 2006. This is equivalent to the sum of all UK seizures the biggest amphetamine market in Europe from 2000 to 2006, the report said.
A further two tonnes of amphetamines destined for Saudi Arabia were seized in neighbouring Oman.
Muslims travelling on trains from Brighton have objected to sniffer dogs being used to search them for drugs and bombs. The trial by the British Transport Police (BTP) on all rail passengers travelling through the station prompted complaints from some Muslims who said their religion did not allow direct contact with dogs.
So don't carry explosives, and the dogs will leave you alone ...
The findings, outlined in a Government report, showed that in another trial on the Heathrow Express platform at London's Paddington station, body scanners were considered unacceptable on religious grounds by female Muslims. The report on five rail security trials conducted in 2006 and the public's response to them also revealed that some Asians and black people felt they could be selected for tests because of their ethnicity or because screening staff saw them as potential terrorists.
But the BTP said that despite being conscious of other people's beliefs, no-one would be absolved of the security checks on religious grounds. A BTP spokesman said: 'We are obviously aware of, and sensitive to, cultural sensitivities.
'BTP officers do have the power to stop and search anyone under section 44 of the Terrorism Act. This also covers the use of dog handlers and dogs, which are used to indicate any substance they have been trained to detect.
'As a force we obviously look at feedback about how people from all faiths and backgrounds view the use of dogs and how we can incorporate that into how the dogs and their handlers interact with people.'
#5
May I suggest they take the slow boat ... to Pakistan.
Posted by: ed ||
06/27/2008 12:34 Comments ||
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#6
on religous grounds my arse...they were probably of the fundamental persuasion and pushing the jihadist platform....subvert the wests laws using religion....this i hope will never be accepted....maybe if we trained sniffing goats the muzzies would be a bit more comfortable..can't say the same for the goat!
Posted by: dan ||
06/27/2008 13:20 Comments ||
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#11
The trial by the British Transport Police on all rail passengers travelling through the station prompted complaints from some Muslims who said their religion did not allow direct contact with dogs.
My religion does not allow direct contact with bomb effects.
#12
The trial by the British Transport Police on all rail passengers travelling through the station prompted complaints from some Muslims who said their religion did not allow direct contact with dogs.
My religion does not allow direct contact with bomb effects.
The US is taking North Korea off its state sponsors of terrorism list in return for a long-awaited declaration by Pyongyang about its nuclear activities.
George W. Bush, US president, announced on Thursday the beginning of the 45-day process to remove North Korea from the list and its immediate exemption from the Trading with the Enemy Act. Both are largely symbolic measures that affect US assistance and trade with Pyongyang.
The deal, under the framework of the six-party talks on North Koreas nuclear programme, is intended to lead eventually to North Korea surrendering its nuclear arsenal a step that sceptics doubt Pyongyang will take.
#1
As usual, count your fingers after shaking hands.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/27/2008 14:18 Comments ||
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#2
RIAN > NORTH KOREA HAD TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS/ARMS TO GET INTO US GRACE. NOKOR built 'em to lose 'em/give 'em up - wants US to show the $$$ love???
Canadian terrorism suspect Mohammad Momin Khawaja enjoyed his visit to an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan and it appeared to have a lasting impact on him, a star Crown witness told his Ottawa trial yesterday. "He said he got to fire AK-47s, RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] and light machine guns," Mohammed Junaid Babar testified. Mr. Babar explained he caught up with Mr. Khawaja right after he attended the camp. "He was excited and he enjoyed it."
The camp was built by fledgling British terrorists taking direction from "core" al-Qaeda members, and its graduates went on to kill dozens of civilians in the "7/7" subway strikes in London.
The court heard yesterday that Mr. Khawaja, while not the camp's most notable attendee, travelled from overseas to put in his time at the Pakistan camp and always did whatever he could for the wider group. "He was there maybe two to three to four days - not that long," testified Mr. Babar on the second day of the heavily guarded trial.
The informant, raised in Queens, N.Y., was living in Pakistan in the summer of 2003, and acted basically as a fixer for Western Muslims who had set up the training facility in the mountainous region of Malakand, Pakistan, near the Afghan border.
Mr. Babar testified that about 10 young men, most of them British, stayed with him in Lahore as he helped transport them to and from the camp, 16 hours away.
To assist in transforming the extremist Internet junkies into self-styled holy warriors, the witness said he helped supply the camp with fertilizer, chemicals and chemistry equipment, so attendees could practise making improvised bombs.
Mr. Khawaja passed through the camp quickly and returned to Canada before the bomb-building courses began, according to the Crown witness.
Mr. Khawaja, the first man charged under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, is accused of trying to build a remote-controlled detonation device for a British cell as part of a trans-Atlantic conspiracy dating back to two years before his arrest in 2004.
But Mr. Babar also testified Mr. Khawaja brought a large sum of Canadian dollars into Pakistan "for the brothers" during his trip. And after he left Pakistan, Mr. Khawaja e-mailed Mr. Babar to arrange the pickup of another donation of 1,000 British pounds donated by a third party, in order to support the terrorist training effort. Mr. Babar also testified the wider group was granted permission to use Mr. Khawaja's uncle's house in Rawalpindi as a base of sorts - including for an intended meeting with a senior U.K.-based terrorist known only as "Q."
The alleged al-Qaeda member from Luton, England - the shadowy figure known as "Q" - was one of three alleged "core" al-Qaeda members mentioned in passing yesterday by Mr. Babar. A related British trial has heard that "Q" has never been arrested.
The witness further testified that two "core" al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan gave guidance to the group: An "Abu Munthir" in Pakistan (who was reportedly arrested in 2004) and an "Abdul Hadi" (possibly the "Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi" now being held in Guantanamo Bay).
Certain graduates from the Malakand camp went on to plot remote-controlled fertilizer-based bombs around London. They were rounded up in Britain in March, 2004, as Mr. Khawaja was simultaneously arrested in Ottawa on allegations he helped build a remote-controlled detonation device for the group. Five of the British conspirators are now serving life sentences.
Another faction of Malakand graduates was not arrested, and those graduates' freedom had tragic results. They were led by a man who was among the accused in the so-called "7/7" suicide bombings, which killed 52 Londoners riding subways and buses on July 7, 2005.
The U.K. citizen's "martyrdom" video was later spliced with footage from top al-Qaeda figures lauding the attack, and circulated widely on the Internet.
Mr. Babar, the star witness in the Canadian proceeding, testified he knew the 7/7 suspect when the man stayed in his house in Pakistan en route to the camp, a few weeks after Mr. Khawaja had done the same.
Mr. Babar, who immigrated to New York from Pakistan when he was two years old, was arrested in the United States shortly after the fertilizer bomb conspiracy was broken up.
He is testifying in Canada, as he has already in Britain, under the terms of a plea deal, in hopes of reducing his eventual U.S. sentence.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Convicted terrorist Sami Al-Arian has been indicted in Virginia on two counts of criminal contempt after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury despite a grant of immunity. Al-Arian, who pled guilty in 2006 to conspiring to provide goods and services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has argued that his plea agreement ruled out any cooperation with the government. Two appellate courts, the 4th Circuit and 11th Circuit have rejected that argument, saying no such agreement is in the written plea and was not uttered during Al-Arian's plea hearing.
The indictment offers few details, except to give Oct. 16, 2007 and March 20, 2008 as the dates of his alleged criminal contempt. The grand jury's focus is believed to be on terror financing by the Herndon, Va.-based International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
IIIT was the single biggest donor for Al-Arian's Tampa-based think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE). The president of IIIT Al-Arian wrote a letter in 1992 referring to WISE as an extension of IIIT.
IIIT also housed Bashir Musa Nafi, one of the original founders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In 1995, Al-Arian sponsored a petition for a workers visa on behalf of Nafi to allow him to work as a research director employed by WISE. However, Nafi was actually employed by IIIT, and false information on his INS petition leading to Nafi's deportation to London in June 1996.
Al-Arian waged a hunger strike to protest his grand jury subpoena. He previously had been found in civil contempt, a court order that essentially froze his prison sentence from the 2006 plea and extended his incarceration. Under terms of the plea agreement, Al-Arian was supposed to be deported upon completion of his prison term.
His supporters have portrayed the subpoena as an act of retribution by the Department of Justice after Al-Arian's 2005 trial ended in eight acquittals and a hung jury on the remaining nine counts.
At Al-Arian's sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge James Moody called Al-Arian a "master manipulator," adding "[y]ou looked your neighbors in the eyes and said you had nothing to do with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This trial exposed that as a lie."
Marion Prison is cold in winter and hot in summer. Enjoy, Sami ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Kathleen Engle, 16, from Fairfield, California, said she had looked into the Peace Corps and other options but decided on the military. 'I was in fifth grade when 9/11 happened and that's when I decided the best thing I could do for my country was this,' she said, playing a video game called 'America's Army'.
'I guess it's going to be hard to kill someone, but if that's your job and that's what our commander tells us we need to do, I'm going to do that in order to protect my country.'
you go, girl.
Mario Vazquez, 17, from El Paso, Texas, hopes to be a neurosurgeon but first he says he has a duty to America. 'My Mom is actually the one that found out about it,' he said of the West Point summer program. 'My mother is from Mexico ... she said it's a good place to get discipline.'
'I owe a lot to this country because of what it's given me, because of what it's given my family, but I also have fears because it's a lot of sacrifice,' he said. 'You put your country before yourself and you sacrifice your family and a lot of other privileges.'
Austin Fullmer, 17, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, said he was attracted by the prospect of moving around the world and seeing new places, and although he would be nervous about deploying to a combat zone, 'it's just another adventure.'
'I didn't quite realize there were this many kids like me,' he said, grinning as he sat in the doorway of Blackhawk helicopter parked in a field.....
#1
'I didn't quite realize there were this many kids like me,'
Actually, there are quite a lot. It's just that kid, your viewpoint is not allowed to be publicized. It's very carefully kept off the movies, TV, and every other form of mass media.
#2
"said he was attracted by the prospect of moving around the world and seeing new places, and although he would be nervous about deploying to a combat zone, 'it's just another adventure.'"
"I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/27/2008 8:20 Comments ||
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#3
'I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them.'
Gustav Hasford was quite a character. He also wrote the following amusing passage:
The South is a big Indian reservation populated by ex-Confederates who are bred like cattle to die in Yankee wars. In Alabama there is no circus to run off to, so we join the Marines.
I don't agree with it, but it's good writing, and funny as heck.
#4
I've been supporting concepts like this one for the Service Academies + College ROTC for a long time now - back in my day [1970's Guam], for a Jr. High + Senior High student = young person, besides SCOUTS + JROTC + VILLAGE DRILL-MARCHING TEAMS, there were the USAF's CIVIL AIR PATROL + NAVY SEA CADETS.
Pakistan on Thursday dismissed allegations that the ISI was behind the recent attempt to assassinate President Hamid Karzai.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said such allegations were irresponsible and seemed intended to reignite a blame game between the two countries. Mr. Sadiq said the Pakistani leadership had condemned the attack on Mr. Karzai, and in the subsequent meetings between the leaderships of the countries, Afghanistan had not given any hint of any misgivings about this.
Against this background, it is a bit surprising that such allegations are levelled against Pakistan and at this stage, he said. He pointed to media reports that suggested the assassination attempt was the result of a massive intelligence and security failure, or due to problems between the Afghan intelligence agencies and the government.
We have noted that most of the people arrested after the attack were employees of the Afghan government, including the Ministry of Defence, he said. He said Pakistan hoped Afghanistan would adopt a serious attitude and desist from vitiating the atmosphere of bilateral relations with Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Peshawar isn't under siege yet but it is within striking distance of the Taliban. They have extended their civil war to the outskirts of the Northwest Frontier Province's capital city. Peshawar is along a key supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan. It's also a major base for the Pakistan Army that has been fighting Taliban forces in the Pak-Afghan border areas.
The Taliban has reached the Jemrud Road - which runs on the outskirts of Peshawar- it is a major artery that connects to the Khyber Pass. Last week, Taliban militants entered Peshawar and kidnapped 16 members of a local Christian community but they were later released.
There are reports that another 22 people have been killed and five girls' schools were burned down in Swat.
Reports say that the militants call themselves the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan - lead by Baitullah Mehsud, the man believed to be behind many major suicide blasts in Pakistan last year and also Benazir Bhutto's assassination. His group has established a parallel government in parts of the NWFP.
After years of a military campaign, the new democratic government in Pakistan signed a peace deal with militant leaders. They claim it has brought peace to the areas but as the Taliban closes in, it is clear that this is a fragile peace that's already falling apart.
This article starring:
Baitullah Mehsud
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
They financed this mongrel to make trouble for Afghanistan and the U.S. Now he's bombing and murdering them instead.
I do love a good bit of dramatic irony with my morning coffee.
The Mehdi Army of Moqtada Sadr is evolving into a clandestine movement following Iraqi military operations targeting the group, intelligence suggests. The military wing of the Sadrist Movement, the political party loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, is 'turning itself into a secret armed organization,' an Iraqi intelligence official told the Gulf News on condition of anonymity.
But don't tell anyone because it's a secret ...
Iraqi intelligence reports suggest the group's numbers have dwindled from around 50,000 to as few as 150 in the past few years.
Intelligence officials credit decisions by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to launch military offensives against Shiite militants in the southern parts of the country as deterring the group. An Iraqi intelligence official reports as many as 2,000 Mehdi Army fighters were killed in recent operations in Basra, Sadr City and the provincial capital of Maysan, Amarah. 'This led to the almost complete collapse of the army,' the official said. Intelligence reports suggest many Sadr fighters also fled to neighboring Iran in the wake of the recent Iraqi military operations.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities, Gulf News reported, blame Iran for transporting weapons to the militia. Intelligence officials said the latest operations in Maysan province would signal 'the end of the Mehdi Army.'
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, sounds very upbeat these days about the future of Iraq. The last time I left here was in 2004,' Hertling said this week, 'and I remember standing on the roof of Baghdad airport, and a bunch of us were talking and having a cigar and saying, 'We want this more than they do, and that's scary,'' he told ABC News. 'That's not the case at all anymore. The primary word in Iraq right now is hope. They want this.'
Hertling said al Qaeda has been defeated in his area of operations. 'Defeat means they're not capable of major offensive operations,' he said. 'We don't think al Qaeda has that anymore. All the cities that we have in the northern part of Iraq, I think have been secured.'
He compared the situation to one of the key turning points in the American Civil War. 'We're literally in the post-Gettysburg phase of this,' he said. 'We have defeated them in the city. They have dispersed to the desert, now we are pursuing them out into their safe havens: small villages and towns.'
The Iraqi army launched major operations in the northern city of Mosul last month, targeting Sunni insurgent groups. Hertling praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's role in the crackdown. 'He very rapidly took control of both the strategic and operational guidance to both his military and civilian commanders, and I was impressed,' he said.
'The people who had at one time opposed Maliki suddenly said, 'Hey, this guy's getting it done,' Hertling said. 'So I think he's turned a lot of the Iraqi people.'
The fight in Mosul was an Iraqi-led operation, backed by U.S. forces. 'Iraqi security forces are growing in capability, Iraqis are stepping forward,' Hertling said.
Gen. Riyadh Tawfeeq is the Iraqi commander in charge of the city. His previous job was operations commander for eastern Baghdad during the troop surge in Baghdad in 2007. He told ABC News that he shares Hertling's optimism.
#2
Its ABC News - part of the MSM. I think they just woke up and decided they coudln't hide from this anymore and if the break it now tthy have months to spin it so that it would not hurt the Obama-messiah.
#3
Even the MSM can't keep the success quiet anymore. So they will spin it so it will look like the dhimocrats had a healthy role in the victory instead of working all hours to secure an American defeat.
#4
"We're literally in the post-Gettysburg phase of this,' he said. 'We have defeated them in the city. They have dispersed to the desert, now we are pursuing them out into their safe havens: small villages and towns.' "
Unless you really know what you are talking about, you shouldn't use Civil War analogies.
#5
Penguin,
I agree. We are really in the Post-Savanah phase of the conflict.
Both AQI and Sadr's JAM are shells of their former selves and only Iran can possibly save them. In fact Iran is running out of surrogates to do their bidding.
P.S. Strategypage says Afgahnistan is now 3X as dangerous as Iraq. Maybe the Germans and Franch should transfer their troops to a safer environment!
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/27/2008 11:30 Comments ||
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#6
It hasn't been a ball, but they did a damn good job. No climax, just progress.
The death of an Israeli guard who was shot in the head during a farewell ceremony for President Sarkozy of France continued to provoke debate yesterday as the family disputed claims that he committed suicide. Smells incredibly fishy. Debka.com has nothing, and they're usually johnny-on-the-spot with this stuff.
Raed Ghanans death created a security scare at the airport where Mr Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, were saying their farewells to the Israeli Prime Minister and President. Officials at the French Embassy said they were sorry that the incident had overshadowed an otherwise productive visit by Mr Sarkozy. The timing is quite suspicious, too, with all of Olmert's political problems.
Mr Ghanan was guarding the outer perimeter of the area, positioned on a roof about 200 metres from the VIP delegation. Police said that an initial investigation revealed that he shot himself, and then fell off the roof. The coroner can find out pretty easily if it was suicide or not. The entry and exit wounds, as well as the angle of entry will tell the true story.
A band was playing when the shot was fired, preventing the French and Israeli leaders from hearing the discharge. Bodyguards ushered Mr Sarkozy up the stairs to his plane and Ehud Olmert to a bullet-proof vehicle.
Police said that Mr Ghanan, 32, was from the northern Israeli town of Beit Dajan and was a member of the Druze community, a minority group whose religion includes an eclectic mix of beliefs rooted initially in Islam.
Naif Ghanan, Raeds brother, said that police who informed the family of the death told them that the circumstances of the incident were still being investigated. 'It is unthinkable that my brother took his own life. We believe this was an accident or even an incident in which my brother was accidentally shot by one of the security officials in the area,' he said. Maybe he wanted a closer look, and looked through the telescopic sight on his rifle? Countersniper sees him, and blammo. Or, he was turned by the Iranians or other actors, and actually tried to take a shot. Suicide is pretty unlikely for a settled man with a house.
The family said that it had hired a lawyer to ensure there was a 'complete and detailed' investigation and to gain access to security video footage from the airport. Good luck with that.
The office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted on Wednesday that it is allowing the transfer of hundreds of millions of shekels to the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip every month. Most of the funds enter Gaza in currency exchanges for the dollars and euros Hamas smuggles into the territory following fund-raising trips to Iran and other supportive Middle East regimes.
In a letter to the Prime Minister's Office earlier in the week, the Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center warned that the government was actively aiding the perpetuation of Hamas rule in Gaza, despite its own stated policies. Shurat Hadin director Nitsana Darshan-Leitner explained that without the influx of Israeli shekels, the currency of record in Gaza, Hamas would be financially unable to rule. By allowing the entry of shekels into Gaza, Darshan-Leitner noted that Israel is breaching an economic embargo of Gaza by Western powers that Israel itself insisted upon, and is helping a terrorist organization to launder money, a direct violation of the Terror-Funding Act of 2005. Worse, said Darshan-Leitner, is the fact that " the Israeli government's policy of transferring shekels is assisting the Hamas terrorists with their missile attacks on the Negev communities."
In response, Olmert's office wrote that "due to conclusions that there is an Israeli interest that the transfer of funds continue, a decision was made to continue to transfer certain sums of money to the Gaza Strip."
Shurat Hadin has threatened to sue the government both in local and international courts if the transfer of funds does not cease.
#2
Why not? This is but a tactical imbecility, as compared to say, the whole oslo process, land for pieces thingie, which is a strategical imbecility (IMVHO), if you wish. So, they might just as well give them monies. Why not?
Israel and Hezbollah have prepared a written agreement on a prisoner exchange that the cabinet will deliberate on Sunday and possible approve. If approved, Israel will sign the deal that will then be taken to Beirut by the German mediators for Hezbollah's signature.
I mean, look how well the Hamas agreement's been working...
The deal with Hezbollah aims to secure the release of IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were captured in a cross-border raid by the Lebanese guerillas in July 2006, sparking the Second Lebanon War.
The cabinet will meet Sunday to hear a briefing and deliberate over the prisoner exchange deal Israel reached with Hezbollah through German mediation. Ofer Dekel, the official charged with the negotiations on all the prisoners, will brief the ministers and respond to their questions.
So far the deal with Hezbollah is described in official Israeli circles as "a framework agreement." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he believes "we will be able to reach the moment of decision with a clear conscience."
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06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip voiced its rage on Thursday after Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel Thursday, causing no injuries but further straining a shaky, week-old truce between Israel and the Gaza rulers.
'Voiced its rage'? Does that mean they stamped their tiny little feet and made angry faces?
The militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, affiliated with Hamas rivals Fatah, claimed responsibility for Thursday's Qassam strikes. In a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Ma'an, Hamas warned the militant factions against violating the terms of the cease fire with Israel, saying such violations harmed the Palestinian national interest. Hamas also threatened to take the necessary steps against the violators.
A Hamas spokesman said the 'tahadiyeh' (calm) was a national Palestinian interest, and that anyone who tried to sabotage it was acting in an 'anti-national' way. He called on Egypt, which brokered the cease fire agreement, to talk to those factions that are 'motivated by anti-national politics.'
The Hamas government spokesman added that harming the national interest for the purpose of settling personal scores 'works to advance the interests of the Israeli occupation.'
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The peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians is within reach and this is the time for tough decisions, said top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday. In a conference held at Tel Aviv University on the Israel-Syria peace negotiations and their influence on the Palestinians, Erekat said that if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas succeed in striking a peace deal, they would be "the most important people in Jerusalem since Jesus walked in it."
At the conference, hosted by the Peres Center for Peace and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, was attended by the head of the Israel-Syria peace movement Alon Liel and former Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin.
Erekat told the conference that only six months remain to hammer out the peace accord. Referring to ongoing negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian teams in recent months, he said "these are serious and long-term talks which aim to achieve an agreement that will be one total package that includes all the issues."
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06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Israel prefers to release Palestinian prisoners to the Gaza Strip rather than the West Bank as part of its swap with Hamas in exchange for abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, Army Radio reported on Thursday.
Luxembourg would be even better. Or Peru.
Samoa. They wouldn't last long.
Defense officials fear that freeing the jailed militants into the West Bank could weaken Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and strengthen Hamas in Fatah territory, the radio said.
Israel also wants the authority to determine which of the prisoners will be released to Gaza and which to the West Bank, the radio said. Israel was to present Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Thursday with new formulas that it hopes will result in progress in the case of Shalit, who has been held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since June 2006.
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The Abu Sayyaf, once the Philippines' most feared Islamic militant group, has splintered since the death of its leader and is now just a collection of bandits, the head of the armed forces said on Thursday. 'It has degenerated into a money-making group ... (with) activity devoid of any semblance of ideology or cause, they have degenerated into plain bandits,' General Alexander Yano told reporters.
He said the Abu Sayyaf's recent kidnapping of a Philippine television journalist and her crew showed that the group needed funds. The group was freed last week after a ransom of at least 5 million pesos was paid ($112,500).
Yano said he did not think the Abu Sayyaf had an acknowledged leader since their chief, Khadaffy Janjalani, was killed in a clash with Marines in September 2006. He said the group, which is estimated to have around 350 members, also no longer had permanent bases.
The Philippine military, with help from U.S. special forces, mounted a prolonged ground offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in 2006 and 2007, killing many of the organisation's key members.
The Abu Sayyaf, which has links to regional terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiah, is blamed for the Philippines' worst terrorist attack; the bombing of a ferry outside Manila in 2004 that killed more than 100 people. Since the military's offensive, however, the organisation has stayed at its base on Jolo, a remote southern island, and carried out a number of kidnappings.
This article starring:
Khadaffy Janjalani
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Syria has signaled that it is ready to 'reconsider' its relations with Iran, French officials told the a-Sharq al-Awset daily in a report published on Thursday.
The problem with Pencilneck as that, even though he can be turned, he's liable to continue turning right around, 360 degrees.
The officials said that Syria and Iran do not see eye to eye on a number of regional developments, something that is likely to cause a rift between the two countries.
One of the main points of contention is the situation in Iraq. According to the French sources, Damascus opposes the idea of a Muslim Iraq standing under full Iranian influence.
Also threatening the states' relationship are the bubbling tensions in Lebanon. Syria does not feel that it is in its interest to get involved in the crisis there, now that it is buffing its ties with western states.
It also does not want to strengthen the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group to a point in which it could stand on its own, the officials said.
Syria is also concerned that its recent renewal of negotiations with Jerusalem will turn it hostage to any conflict between Israel and Iran.
As such, Syria is turning to the alternative option of strengthening its ties with the west and negotiating with Israel, the officials said.
Damascus is also prepared to sign an agreement of association with the European Union, the sources said. Should the EU approve the move, it will be the first fruit of developments between the bodies.
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06/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
See also TOPIX > ASSAD'S RISKY NUCLEAR GAME. Nuclear-ambitious SYRIA putting itself bwtn Iran + West vv NucDevProgs.
#2
If this rings true, the Iranians are having a bad year. They are watching the prospects of regional superiority swirling around the commode before they go down the pipe.
MP Mustafa Alouch of the Future movement, in a conversation to LBCI today said: The problem is that there are some factions in Jabal Mohsen who have historically depended on the Syrian Intelligence Services.
However he added: The nature of the army battalions that were sent to Tripoli is a sign of the situations seriousness.
Alouch said: Nasrallahs statement that he would cut off any hand that touches the Resistances weapons, and Hezbollah International Relations Officer Nawwaf Moussawis statement all confirms our need for protection.
The fighting in Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh dates back to long ago, but the type of weapons used in the latest battles were never seen before he noted.
Alouch pointed out that: There are common interests between Hezbollah and the Zionist regime.
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MP Samir Al-Jisr said in a conversation to VDL radio station today, Despite the uncomfortable atmosphere, I saw the visit of PS Berri to Baabda palace last week as a sign of the beginning of a solution. I was waiting for the end of the week for some negotiations to take place though, and they are taking place now concerningthe government and the end of this crisis will reflect positively on the security situation".
However, concerning the last incidents in the Bekaa area and the attempts to involve the army in order to weaken it he said, "We need the army and we dont want to weaken it. The Army has a security role that it should assume".
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(SomaliNet) A hardline Somali Islamist leader accused of ties with Al-Qaeda on Monday chided Saudi Arabia for backing a UN-sponsored Somali truce he charged was a plot to attract the oil-rich kingdom's cash. "We love the Saudis and 
Somalia faces a serious food crisis if no nation steps forward with naval ships to escort relief shipments through pirate-infested waters, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned Thursday.
Seizures of amphetamines have risen sharply in Saudi Arabia, suggesting a surge in consumption of the illegal stimulant in the kingdom, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported on Thursday.
Muslims travelling on trains from Brighton have objected to sniffer dogs being used to search them for drugs and bombs. The trial by the British Transport Police (BTP) on all rail passengers travelling through the station prompted complaints from some Muslims who said their religion did not allow direct contact with dogs.
Peshawar isn't under siege yet but it is within striking distance of the Taliban. They have extended their civil war to the outskirts of the Northwest Frontier Province's capital city. Peshawar is along a key supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan. It's also a major base for the Pakistan Army that has been fighting Taliban forces in the Pak-Afghan border areas. 
The Mehdi Army of Moqtada Sadr is evolving into a clandestine movement following Iraqi military operations targeting the group, intelligence suggests. The military wing of the Sadrist Movement, the political party loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, is 'turning itself into a secret armed organization,' an Iraqi intelligence official told the Gulf News on condition of anonymity.
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, sounds very upbeat these days about the future of Iraq. The last time I left here was in 2004,' Hertling said this week, 'and I remember standing on the roof of Baghdad airport, and a bunch of us were talking and having a cigar and saying, 'We want this more than they do, and that's scary,'' he told ABC News. 'That's not the case at all anymore. The primary word in Iraq right now is hope. They want this.' 
The death of an Israeli guard who was shot in the head during a farewell ceremony for President Sarkozy of France continued to provoke debate yesterday as the family disputed claims that he committed suicide. 
The office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted on Wednesday that it is allowing the transfer of hundreds of millions of shekels to the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip every month. Most of the funds enter Gaza in currency exchanges for the dollars and euros Hamas smuggles into the territory following fund-raising trips to Iran and other supportive Middle East regimes. 
Israel and Hezbollah have prepared a written agreement on a prisoner exchange that the cabinet will deliberate on Sunday and possible approve. If approved, Israel will sign the deal that will then be taken to Beirut by the German mediators for Hezbollah's signature. 
The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip voiced its rage on Thursday after Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel Thursday, causing no injuries but further straining a shaky, week-old truce between Israel and the Gaza rulers. 
Syria has signaled that it is ready to 'reconsider' its relations with Iran, French officials told the a-Sharq al-Awset daily in a report published on Thursday. 
MP Mustafa Alouch of the Future movement, in a conversation to LBCI today said: The problem is that there are some factions in Jabal Mohsen who have historically depended on the Syrian Intelligence Services. 
