#1
Better get your serving of defeat in soon. Looks to me like between the Pak army and the pressure being applied on the western border by us, the AQ and Taliban are fighting at an unsustainable level. And it looks like some of the tribal leaders are really turning. Am I wrong?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/01/2008 19:57 Comments ||
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#2
Britain had no alternative to supporting the United States in Afghanistan, but we should tell them that we want to be part of a winning strategy, not a losing one like Basra, he was quoted as saying. In the short term we should dissuade the American presidential candidates from getting more bogged down in Afghanistan . . . The American strategy is doomed to faillike the Surge.
#4
Having taken Vera Cruz, in the Spring of 1847 Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott undertook a daring expedition against Mexico City, in the heart of Mexico. [Knowing he couldn't garrison his supply line, he cut himself loose from it.] Hearing the news, the Duke of Wellington, 78-years old, said of Scott, then 61, "That poor young man is lost. He has been carried away by successes. He canât take the city and he canât back up on his bases. He wonât leave Mexico . . . .
But on 18 September, just five months after the fall of Vera Cruz, Scott took Mexico City. Hearing the news, the Wellington changed his tune, saying "He is the greatest living soldier."
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday he has asked the Saudi Arabia's king to help facilitate peace talks with the Taliban in order to bring an end to the Afghan conflict.
Mr. Karzai said there have not yet been any negotiations, only requests for help. But he said Afghan officials have travelled to both Saudi Arabia and to Pakistan in hopes of ending the conflict.
"For the last two years, I've sent letters to the king of Saudi Arabia and I've sent messages, and I requested from him as the leader of the Islamic world, for the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and for reconciliation in Afghanistan ... he should help us," said Mr. Karzai.
Mr. Karzai said the government is trying to encourage militants to lay down arms. He underscored that he has in the past reached out to Taliban leader Mullah Omar to "come back to your home soil and work for the happiness of the people."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Does it have a back end to it?
I mean what does it pay? Cause the Saudis only understand one thing, $$$$.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made a call for peace to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as the Taliban Supremo offered international forces a safe retreat from Afghanistan if they agree to withdraw from the war-torn country. "A few days ago I called upon their leader, Mullah Omar, and said 'My brother, my dear, come back to your homeland, come and work for the peace and good of your people and stop killing your brothers'," Karzai told reporters on Tuesday.
Karzai denied reports that negotiations with the Taliban had taken place in Saudi Arabia but said he had written to the Saudi king to ask him to help bring peace to Afghanistan and the region. "There have been no negotiations in Saudi Arabia. If any negotiations take place, it will be in our own land," Karzai said after prayers on the first day of celebrations following the fasting month of Ramadan.
Karzai is an ethnic Pashtun, the country's biggest ethnic group that includes Mullah Omar and most members of the Taliban.
Karzai also said he would assure the protection of Mullah Omar and other Taliban members who wished to make peace with international forces in Afghanistan. "They should come back and not be afraid of the foreigners. I will stand in front of the foreigners," said Karzai.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
maybe Karzai should be dealt soem of the taliban=s special treatments for their prisoners. He is about as full of shit as the rest of the region.
(AKI) - A helicopter contracted by the United Nations has crashed in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, killing all four crew members, a spokesperson for the world body said. "Preliminary reports indicate there are four crew members dead and that the aircraft had been completely destroyed," Marie Okabe told reporters in New York. "There were no passengers on board."
According to the UN-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the helicopter crashed on Monday near the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons after takeoff from Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. "There'll be further information following an investigation," Okabe said.
Earlier this month a UN helicopter in Darfur landed safely after being shot at in the third incident of its kind in Darfur, where a conflict pitting rebels against government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen has raged since 2003.
The Kalma camp is host to some 80,000 displaced people and the site of clashes last month with Sudanese security forces that resulted in the death of dozens of residents.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > NORTH KOREA ALLEGEDLY FIRES ON CHINESE FISHING BOAT. Being seen by various Pundits as a SNIPE AGZ CHINA.
ION CHINA, WORLD MILITARY FORUM > CHINA'S NEW UNDERWATER MONITORING SYSTEM CAN BEAT THE FIVE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER BATTLE GROUPS, in WESTPAC up to 800-1000 KMS.
#2
Hmm, I'll wait for the official report too. It could have been something unintentional or accidental. It's probably a very ambiguous headline on purpose.
#6
Anyone around here from the Dayton area? Any 'seething' going on?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/01/2008 14:53 Comments ||
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#7
The Dayton paper has a linked article saying a can of pepper spray was subsequently found near the mosque. But I was under the impression that pepper spray is pretty durable on the skin (certainly that's my own experience when cooking with capsicum [hot] peppers), and I find it a bit odd that chemical testing in response to the 911 call found no chemical or pepper spray residue on the child.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 17:33 Comments ||
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#10
Not that I am cynical or anything (HA!), but am I the only one that this may have been an inside job to gain sympathy?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/01/2008 17:45 Comments ||
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#11
"My words can't keep them safe from what is nothing less than terrorism, American style"
As opposed to normal BOOM type of terrorism that they are used to? These are not actions I would condone, but Dayton has fairly high crime rate, making this seem tame in comparison (no booms just a bang every now and then).
The streets of Dayton were bogged down today with many people seething. Oh wait, that is because of major road construction. Move along, typical day, nothing to see here.
Even if it was some non-muslim jerk it seems a stretch to blame t on the "Obsession" Dvd. Could have been something that happened back in 2001 for all we know.
So get ready to cough it up, boys. Or have your EU buddies cough it up for you...
The Palestine Liberation Organization cannot win dismissal of a lawsuit by victims of bombings in Israel by claiming the attacks were acts of war rather than terrorism, a judge ruled Tuesday.
US District Judge George Daniels said the 2004 lawsuit on behalf of victims and their families can proceed toward trial. It seeks up to $3 billion in damages from attacks between January 2001 and February 2004. The lawsuit alleges that the PLO carried out the attacks to pressure the United States and Israel to submit to its demands and to terrorize, intimidate and coerce the civilian population of Israel into acquiescing to its political goals.
Daniels rejected the PLO's argument that two machine-gun attacks and five bombings were acts of war. The Jerusalem-area incidents killed 33 people and wounded hundreds, including scores of US citizens. Daniels said the attacks targeted public places - not military or government personnel or interests. Two bombings were on downtown streets; others occurred at a crowded bus stop, a cafeteria at the Hebrew University and a passenger-filled civilian bus. The use of bombs in these circumstances indicates an intent "to cause far-reaching devastation upon the masses," the Manhattan judge said, with a "merciless capability of indiscriminately killing and maiming untold numbers in heavily populated civilian areas." Such attacks "upon non-combative civilians, who were allegedly simply going about their everyday lives, do not constitute acts of war," he said. Daniels also said the violence meets the legal definition of "international terrorism."
The judge also rejected arguments that the PLO was entitled to sovereign immunity or that the lawsuit must be brought in Israel rather than the United States. It was brought under the Antiterrorism Act of 1991, which provides US residents, their survivors and heirs civil remedies in US courts if they are injured by international terrorism.
Lawyers on both sides did not immediately return telephone messages for comment. I'd get the money up front, boys, or you'll end being the ones suing them.
A one-time admirer of Osama bin Laden who plotted a hand-grenade attack at a mall jammed with Christmas shoppers and tried to trade two stereo speakers for the weapons was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday.
Derrick Shareef of Rockford said he once admired bin Laden as a sheik and a scholar but has changed his views and opposes violence. "I am not an extremist," said Shareef, who was sentenced on his 24th birthday.
U.S. District Judge David H. Coar said he hopes Shareef has changed but that a long sentence still was warranted to discourage others who might plan similar attacks. He could have given Shareef life in prison. "Almost every defendant who appears in this court says, 'I have now seen the light and if you just give me another chance it won't happen again,'" Coar told Shareef. "Some of these are people with criminal records as long as my arm."
Shareef was arrested Dec. 6, 2006, in a Rockford parking lot after he offered an undercover FBI agent two stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a 9 mm pistol. Agents said Shareef's plan was to detonate the grenades in garbage cans in the big Cherryvale Mall on Dec. 22 the Friday before Christmas. The blasts were expected to spray the mall with lethal shrapnel, the agents said. "There is absolutely no question that he intended to carry this out it would have killed many innocent people," prosecutor Sergio Acosta said.
Shareef's attorney Donald Young, accompanied by Shareef's mother, declined to comment. In an impassioned brief filed with the court, Young had portrayed Shareef as a confused young man who had grown up in a fatherless home and fallen under the sway of the informant, a onetime member of Chicago's big, drug-selling Four Corner Hustlers street gang.
Acosta, however, said that before Shareef ever met the informant he lived for a time in Phoenix with a man later convicted of aiding terrorists and espionage. Before his arrest, Shareef had been watching violent videos and jihad training videos, Acosta said. "So far as the informant leading him astray, the man (Shareef) was a ticking time bomb," Acosta told the court.
Young said Shareef now opposes violent jihad and has adopted more positive Muslim beliefs. He said Shareef has emerged as the imam of the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal jail where he is being held.
#1
"Almost every defendant who appears in this court says, 'I have now seen the light and if you just give me another chance it won't happen again,'" Coar told Shareef.
They're only sorry they got caught.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 9:19 Comments ||
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#2
Young had portrayed Shareef as a confused young man who had grown up in a fatherless home and fallen under the sway of the informant, a onetime member of Chicago's big, drug-selling Four Corner Hustlers street gang.
Obviously, not his fault. Let this confused young man go and I'm sure he will become the Pillar of the Community he strives to be.
Oh, wait. 35 years. Nevermind...
#5
i was thinking the same thing about putting the grenades in trashcans. Guess it is good that they brainwash them into if=diocy most of the time before use
A court on Tuesday ordered the Interior Ministry to issue red warrants for five absconders involved in a case of attempted murder of President Asif Ali Zardari during his detention in May 1999.
Additional District Judge Irfan Siddiqui also ordered to confiscate the property of former National Accountability Bureau chief Saifur Rehman Khan, his brother Mujibur Rehman, former police inspector general Rana Maqbool Ahmad and then jail superintendent Najaf Mirza.
The court declared the accused as proclaimed offenders under sections 87 and 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and ordered the ministry to contact Interpol for the absconders' arrest, after a senior investigator informed the court he had been unable to serve non-bailable warrants (NBWs) to them because they were abroad.
According to prosecution, the accused took Zardari from judicial custody to interrogate him over the murder of Justice (r) Nizam Ahmed and his advocate Nadeem Ahmed in 1995.
During the interrogation, Zardari's tongue was found slashed. Investigators alleged that Zardari had tried to commit suicide, while Zardari accused police of torture and giving him death threats.
Zardari filed a complaint of attempted murder against the accused after an inquiry found that his charges against were right.
The hearing was postponed until October 25.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
All right. I've had enough. ISSUE THE RED WARRANTS!
Oh, no! Not the RED WARRANTS, sir!
The Pakistan Army is backing tribal militias that are rising to battle pro-Taliban groups in the hope that this will turn the tide in the restive northwest of the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, Taliban groups in areas like Bajaur along the Pak-Afghan border -- Pakistanis allied with Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan -- were trying to carve out enclaves along the border. To fight them, the government has deployed more than 8,000 troops in the Bajaur region. "But a steady supply of Islamist guerillas is pouring in from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the fighting shows little sign of abating," the paper said.
However, the report went on to add, the tribal militias could provide a counterweight. "The tribesmen have risen against the militants. It could be a turning point in our fight against militancy," the paper quoted NWFP Governor Owais Ghani as saying. The province is "providing them financial as well as moral support," Ghani said.
According to the journal, military commanders believe that "the struggle for control of the tribal region is crucial to containing the spread" of Taliban and Al Qaeda to other parts of NWFP.
"The threat of Bajaur radiates in all directions and affects the entire region," Frontier Corps Inspector General Maj Gen Tariq Khan was quoted as saying.
Civil war: The paper said some analysts worry that "the emergence of the militias could escalate fighting in the border region into a mini-civil war" between the pro-Taliban people and those who oppose them.
Indigenous resistance: The report said that militias had been formed in Kurram and Khyber agencies as well as Dir. "Initially, the lashkars, as the militias are known, were organised as indigenous resistance groups without help from local government administrations, but now both the military and the provincial government support them," it said.
It also quoted the leader of the Salarzai tribal lashkar, Malik Munasib Khan, as exhorting villagers to fight the estimated 4,000 Taliban who had moved into Bajaur over the past year.
"They are killing our people and destroying our land," Khan was quoted as telling villagers at Raghagan last Friday.
According to the report, the army concurred with the Salarzai militia's claim of controlling 4,000 armed fighters. Militia leaders were quoted as saying that they had driven Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists out of their region, torching their homes and installations.
It said some in the Salarzai tribe had initially been sympathetic to Taliban. "But many rebelled after the Taliban tried to impose a harsh system of Islamic rule on the local population," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
If I was a certain clan in Pak-Land whose land Binny and the other Al Qaeda big wigs are I would be negotiating with the US Government directly. My opening bid would 100 million and two hundred green cards.
#2
They could set up as goatherds in California and the Southeast, so they'd have familiar jobs; in California the goats could clear eucalyptus trees and brush from the fire-prone hillsides, and in the Southeast the goats could eat kudzu. The follow-on sales might be a bit problamatic, though -- I'm not sure eucalyptus-flavoured chevre' would be a big seller.
#5
Oddly enough I had the idea of getting a few goats to clear my land last week, the first person I contacted said she only raised Show Goats? And wouldn't lend me any. Odd?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 9:24 Comments ||
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#6
There are a few goat herders who provide grazing/clearing as a service. I'm not surprised that breeders who show their livestock wouldn't lend them out to random inquirers, tho. I have show dogs who can flush and retrieve birds or course rabbits/hares, and I certainly wouldn't lend them out to random hunters ....
#7
Penguin is right. The best deals to be had are probably from Uncle Sam, if you don't mind relocating. But hurray! Offer is available for a limited time only.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/01/2008 12:41 Comments ||
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#8
I believe I was unclear, I've never heard of SHOW goats.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 16:11 Comments ||
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(PTI) Amid intense US pressure to deliver on the war on terror, the chief of Pakistan's powerful ISI has been shunted out of Islamabad and replaced by Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, considered close to the reform-minded Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Lt Gen Nadeem Taj, on the hit list of US for alleged ties to Taliban extremists and militant groups in the Pak-Afghan border, was replaced by Pasha, who was serving as Director General of Military Operations in the General Headquarters.
An army statement yesterday announced the elevation and appointment of Pasha, said to be close to army chief Kayani, to the sensitive post of Director General of the ISI to replace Taj, who was hand-picked by Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani President.
Pasha's appointment was approved by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who directly looks after the affairs of the intelligence establishment, 'The News' daily reported.
Pasha has been overseeing Pakistani military operations against insurgents in the country's restive northwest. He had also commanded troops for the UN mission to Sierra Leone in 2001-2002 and was appointed as an adviser on peacekeeping operations by the world body last year.
Taj, a distant relative of Musharraf, has been transferred to head the Gujranwala-based 30 Corps. He was appointed as head of the ISI in September last year, shortly before Musharraf stepped down as Army Chief.
The US had been pressing Pakistan hard to replace Taj as late as Sunday night. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly met CIA Director Michael Hayden this weekend in New York. What they discussed specifically is unclear but Hayden reportedly provided Gilani with a proposal for "ISI reform" in July, media reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting. Can the good John Frum comment on the true significance?
Police and intelligence services know Shah Rukh is tall, fair, speaks good Hindi and isn't a movie star. But bar these next-to-useless facts, almost nothing is known about the man, who is thought to have run a secret Karnataka bomb factory, which supplied the disassembled improvised explosive device kits used by Indian Mujahideen (IM) terror cells nationwide.
Ever since the September 19 encounter in New Delhi's Jamia Nagar area, which claimed the life of IM operatives Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid, Shah Rukh has turned off his cellphone, and broken contact with other jihadists. Police believe he is a key player in efforts by IM operatives -- who have escaped a recent nationwide counter-terrorism sweep, including top organiser Mohammad Subhan Qureshi, mafioso-turned jihadist Riaz Batkal and Students Islamic Movement of India leader Qayamuddin Kapadia -- to stage a fresh series of bombings.
Southern jihadist Shah Rukh, the Karnataka Police suspect, is a critical figure in a still-unidentified south India cell of the IM which, more likely than not, carried out the July 25 serial bombings in Bangalore. In a manifesto issued after the serial bombing of Jaipur this summer, the IM had said its north India operations were being carried out by the Mahmood Ghaznavi Brigade, named after the 11th century warlord who ruled over parts of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and India.
Based on the interrogation of IM suspects, investigators now say the Mahmood Ghaznavi Brigade was in fact the Delhi-based cell commanded by Amina group of Uttar Pradesh men entrusted with the operational execution of the terrorist network's bombings. However, the Jaipur manifesto also referred to the existence of a unit to attack southern India, the Shahabuddin Ghauri Brigade. It appears to have been named in memory of Muizzuddin Muhammad bin Sam -- the 10th century general of the Ghauri empire, who defeated Privthviraj Chauhan at Tarain in 1192 and laid the foundations for the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate.
Last week, the Bangalore police held Mohammed Samee Bangewadi, a Bijapur-based engineering student, who is alleged to have been part of a jihadist cell which was planning to bomb western tourists Goa last winter. Bangewadi, Karnataka Police sources told The Hindu, had been under discreet surveillance ever since the arrest, last year, of the jihad cell's leader, Pakistan-trained Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Raziuddin Nasir. While media accounts have suggested Bangewadi participated in the Bangalore bombings, there is, in fact, little evidence so far to bear out the proposition. However, investigators suspect that the attacks involved some of the dozens of Karnataka and Kerala men thought to have trained at SIMI-organised jihad camps in 2007-08.
Karnataka investigators have also been able to establish that IM strategist Qureshi visited and met with still-unidentified jihadists at Bijapur on July 12. Later, Qureshi is believed spoken to Bangewadi to discuss means to route funds meant for the legal defence of members of the Karnataka jihadi cell. Finding out who Qureshi met on his visit to Bijapur could help locate the missing southern module of the Indian Mujahideen.
Much of what is known about the IM's bomb-factory -- which supplied the components for the near-identical improvised explosive devices used in Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi -- has come from the interrogation of Mohammad Saif, one of several Azamgarh men arrested from New Delhi after the Jamia Nagar encounter.
Delhi Police investigators say that Saif, along with still-missing IM operative Shadab Malik, brought the disassembled components that were put together to make the 10 IEDs for use in Delhi -- curved metal plates, which were used to direct the explosive; detonators; timers; and ammonium nitrate power.
Investigators found Saif had travelled on the New Delhi-Mangalore Mangala Express on August 26 to Mangalore, where he checked in at the New Broadway Hotel under the pseudonym Rahul Sharma. Soon after, they made three phone calls to Shah Rukh from public telephones, and finally arranged to meet at the Manipal University campus. Shah Rukh handed Saif and Shadab a bag with the IED components, which were then assembled under Amin's supervision in New Delhi. Identical tactics were used in Rajasthan and Gujarat, investigators say.
Behind the door of the Dani Limba safehouse used by Amin in the weeks before the bombings, police found a detailed circuit diagram, which demonstrated just how the disassembled components were to be wired together.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > INDIA > INDIA DEPLOYS 1000 CPRFT troops TO CITIES IN KANDAMAL DISTRICT IN WAKE OF NEW ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE; + BANGLADESHI ISLAMIST MILITANT GROUP [HuJI's] LINKED TO NEW SERIAL TERROR IN TRIPURA CITY.
Also from SAME > INDIAN HINDU MILITANTS WARN OF ALLIANCE WITH ISLAMISTS AGZ CHRISTIANS AND NON-HINDUS.
HMMMMM, methinks many of India's HINDUS and other indigenous are realizing that the US is now waging a NEW WAR FOR CONTROL OF ASIA = ASIAN MAINLAND, ETC. AGZ THE ISLAMISTS, AND DON'T WANT THE US-ALLIES/WEST TO WIN!?
Looks like INDIA's HINDUS have a touch of RUSSO-GEORGIAN FEVER and are now all but demanding to convert to ISLAM JUST TO STOP OR SPITE THE US-ALLIES AND JUDEO-CHRISTIANS???
Reminds me of a FREEREPUBLIC Poster > Iff the SOMALI PIRATES want mercy and to live, or live longer, they'd better surrender to the US NAVY, NOT THE RUSS NAVY!?
US officials have expressed the desire to talk directly to Dr A Q Khan in the third round of the Pak-US Strategic Dialogue held here on Monday but Pakistan has rejected the demand.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that it would be in the interest of both the nations not to talk about the past. "There might have been mistakes on both sides and even someone could have practised hypocrisy but it is over now."
Pakistan, however, offered to get all the answers from Dr Khan in case the US has any further unanswered questions, a diplomatic source told The News.
A number of officials who participated in the dialogue said that the talks were held in a very pleasant atmosphere and both parties spoke candidly and openly. On the question of Dr A Q Khan the Pakistani point of view was very clear, that Dr Khan is a national hero, and a complete investigation has already been done but if the US wants to ask further questions it could be arranged only through Pakistanis.
Another official said on condition of anonymity that Pakistanis asked the United States to release the funds for upgrading of F-16 fighter planes because under the current situation in Fata and along the Pak-Afghan border the importance of effective air power has increased manifold. The US officials gave a patient hearing to the Pakistani point of view and agreed with it in principle. However, they said that though certain members of US Congress are opposed to it at this stage, the US administration is committed to provide funding for F-16 up-gradation and efforts were on to get it approved from the Congress.
At the outset of the meeting Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that it would be in the interest of both the nations not to talk about the past. "There might have been mistakes on both sides and even someone could have practised hypocrisy but it is over now. There is an elected government in Pakistan and no one should ask questions about the commitment of Pakistan's military and political leadership in the war against terror."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Finance their F-16s so they can fire on U.S. commandos making cross border raids? All the while denying us access to even speak with Khan? Yeah, that sounds equitable. Really its a sweet deal for us.
#2
bigjim,
We don't NEED to talk to Khan - don't even WANT to - as long as we have a proxy on the payroll we can 'trust' (that is, who has something to lose by crossing us).
#3
#2 bigjim,
We don't NEED to talk to Khan - don't even WANT to - as long as we have a proxy on the payroll we can 'trust' (that is, who has something to lose by crossing us).
Glenmore since we're dealing the cards [$$$, Technology] we should be able to get BOTH God Damn It!
And for Heaven's sake why the hell wouldn't we want to hook the Bastard A Q Khan up to a polygraph?
Afterall don't you remember the coxksucker spoke to OBL, the Norks, the Iranians, most of the Gulf States, Syria etc. AND how 'bout hiz ring of scientist, smugglers, hiz international smuggling group and connections, flunkies, etc.
#7
Polio's making inroads, how about we introduce "Black Death"?
(After making sure they thoroughly believe medical help/ vaccines/ medicine is really a JOOOOO plot to sterilize them all, Oh wait, that part's been done)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 16:17 Comments ||
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#8
Maybe the US should ask again and add "Or Else..."?
The Iraqi government on Wednesday began assuming control of the U.S.-backed armed groups that have helped curtail violence here, in a high-stakes test for the American strategy to stabilize Iraq.
Iraqi authorities officially took command of about 54,000 so-called Sons of Iraq in the Baghdad area on Wednesday, and U.S. officials say they will transfer authority over additional members of the groups as conditions permit.
The Pentagon said in a report Tuesday that a smooth transition of the roughly 100,000 armed guards to Iraqi employment was "critical to providing stable security" in the country. Iraq's Shiite-led government has been wary of the largely Sunni forces, which include many former insurgents. Some have threatened to resume attacks if the government conducts widespread arrests or otherwise treats them harshly.
The handover of the armed groups was a low-key affair in Baghdad, where government offices are closed for a six-day holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The transition was largely symbolic, since the U.S. military plans to stay involved with the groups for several months as the Iraqi government begins paying their salaries and decides how to employ them. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 17:56 ||
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Israel has asked to buy up to 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in a deal worth as much as $15.2 billion if all options are exercised, the Pentagon said Sept. 30.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale initially would be for 25 JSFs designed for conventional take offs and landings. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale initially would be for 25 fighters designed for conventional take off and landing.
But Israel would have the option of buying another 50 of the aircraft, either designed for conventional take off and landing or for short take off and vertical landing, the agency said.
"The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as 15.2 billion dollars," it said in a statement.
The F-35 is a stealthy new multi-role fighter built by Lockheed Martin that is intended to replace the F-16.
Israeli officials have said they plan to buy 100 fighters over the next decade.
It was unclear how soon delivery of the aircraft might begin.
The DSCA disclosed the proposed sale in a notification to Congress, which has 30 days to raise any objections to the sale. A deal would then have to be concluded with the Israelis.
"It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," the DSCA said.
"Israel needs these aircraft to augment its present operational inventory and to enhance its air-to-air and air-to-ground self-defense capability," it said
Leaders of the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan on Tuesday with pledges to seek unity at talks in Cairo in the coming weeks. Healing the deep rift between them is seen as a vital step towards an eventual peace deal with Israel.
But there was no evident sign of a change of position on either part signaling that their feud, which climaxed with militant Islamist Hamas fighters forcing Fatah forces out of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, would soon be resolved.
"We hope the current national dialogue sessions in Cairo will succeed in ending the division caused by a party that rejected the choice of the people," said top Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, referring to Fatah. Fatah had "cooperated with the (Israeli) occupation against their people", he added.
His comments came just days after he suggested that the path to dialogue with president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party was "impassable."
Another Fatah leader had criticized Hamas on Sunday for its refusal to start talks and relinquish control of Gaza, and accused Washington of being an obstacle to talks with Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, according to China's Xinhau news agency.
Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of Fatah's parliamentary bloc, said on Sunday that Washington does not support talks with rival Hamas. There is "a consistent American veto and interference in the internal Palestinian affairs" that Hamas boosts by its refusal to start talks give up control of Gaza, he was reported as saying.
The Islamist group sought success in Egyptian-sponsored unity talks with the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah, but would make no concessions, said Haniyeh.
Abbas marked the feast of Eid al-Fitr by laying flowers at a monument to fallen soldiers in Ramallah, his de facto capital in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership are exerting great efforts for the success of the dialogue that Egypt is holding," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said.
A deal in Cairo would pave the way to "comprehensive national dialogue that will be followed by a meeting of Arab foreign ministers", he added.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman conducted separate talks with the two sides throughout September. He met Fatah last week and will see Hamas officials on Oct 8. A Fatah official said all factions may convene in Cairo on Nov. 4.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Too complicated by half. the next rendition of a 'one size fits most' aircraft. Thought we learned that lesson with LawnDart v. 1.0 and 2.0.
while the composites and stealth parts are really groovy, I think the added burden of the lift fan for the STOL/VTOL versions are going to prove a maintenance nightmare in the forward operating areas. The weight penalty imposed by that equipment eats into payload; the only good part is that the airframe doesn't need the strengthening necessary for cat shots ( for the USN version) More F22s would have been preferable and then plow the JSF bucks into UAVs. THe USAF has been mossasses-like in recognizing the value of the UAV ( don't want to give up their ascots)
Meanwhile tanking and cargo capacity is declining. C5s and C-141s being grounded / restricted due to airframe problems, only (finally) funded a few more (5 i think) C-17s.
Next up is Bomber 2018, aka B-3. That aircraft willl impinge on cargo and CSAR Helo funds.
Israel has cut purchases of U.S.-made cluster bombs, defense officials said on Tuesday, stocking up on supplies from a state-owned Israeli company rather than heeding calls for an outright ban.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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They have plenty of non-college grunts who are highly literate and can follow directions very closely. It's a surprise they aren't manufacturing everything they can.
#2
The Israelis used to manufacture a lot more of their weapons and equipment but it became so expensive on so many items that they switched back to foreign purchases. Now they seem to concentrate on manufacturing those items that are too sensitive or likely to be restricted by the seller.
THREE death row Bali bombers today vowed there would be retribution if their executions went ahead.
Amrozi - who played a lead role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians - also said he would carry out another bombing if given the chance.
Better execute him then. And execute whoever tries to exact retribution.
His comments came as people gathered in Bali to mark the third anniversary of the second bombings in 2005 that killed 20 people, including four Australians.
Amrozi remained defiant today, as he and his co-accused - his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - were allowed out of their cells at their island prison off Central Java to mark the Islamic holiday Idul Fitri. "If it's true that there will be an execution, then all the people committing the execution will be condemned to die by God," Amrozi told journalists at the jail on Nusakambangan Island.
"Is anyone ready to die? Only God knows about that.
"If it's true that later on I will be executed, certainly there will be someone who will take revenge. I don't have to say who will take revenge."
Mukhlas also said "all the executors," including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, would pay if the three bombers were put before a firing squad. "Execution is the biggest criminal act (possible), especially when it is applied to warriors like us," he said.
"All those who are involved in the execution will be condemned by God," he ranted, adding shouts of "God is great".
"The followers will take revenge actions, other warriors. If anyone kills us then there will be a (sic) revenge from all over the place.
"I've never regretted these bombings ... I will not ask for forgiveness from those infidels."
The three bombers last week reportedly said they were confident they would not be put to death this year. The Indonesian government halted plans for their executions out of respect for the holy Islamic fasting month, but is expected to resume preparations shortly.
The three men have exhausted all legitimate legal options. However, their lawyers have launched yet another action in Indonesia's Constitutional Court, arguing that execution by firing squad amounts to torture because they might not die immediately.
#1
These guys are real lions of islam, they have done nothing but cry about it since they were found guilty. Now they are down to baseless threats. I only wish I could supply the gun, I've got the perfect one for such an occasion.
#3
A worn out 45-70 that only generates abut 65% of the muzzle velocity that it should. But make sure you chew the bullet heads before you shoot them. Maybe dip them in Tabasco right before firing, and don't aim for the heart, aim for the stomach.
A senior Iranian parliamentarian has warned that his country may revise its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mousa Qorbani was speaking to IRNA on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Parliament or Majlis open session. He said that the recent reports of IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei and the UNSC indicate that the West lacks good-will towards Iran despite the fact that the country has had extensive cooperation with the agency.
The comment came after IAEA Chief Mohammed ElBaradei suggested in his latest report that Iran was withholding information necessary to explain 'serious' intelligence, asking the country to comply with the agency's demands. According to ElBaradei, ten countries have provided the IAEA with documents which accuse Iran of conducting dubious tasks - such as the 'green salt project, high explosives testing, and the missile re-entry vehicle project' - in relation to its nuclear program.
Iran has dismissed the claims as based on 'fake' and 'fabricated' data and has requested the UN body to provide the country with the original documents - which can be used to prove whether or not they are authentic.
On Saturday, the UNSC also passed a resolution on Iran, demanding the country to 'comply fully and without delay' with the council's previous demands. Under US pressure, the UNSC has intervened in Iran's nuclear case and has so far imposed three rounds of sanctions against the country, requiring it to halt uranium enrichment.
Qorbani, a member of Majlis's presiding board, also said that despite Iran's widespread cooperation with the agency, the IAEA, under US pressure, issued a series of reports that provided the pretext for the West to derail Iran's nuclear program.
"There is no need to continue cooperation with the IAEA beyond the legal frameworks," he stressed. "Iran is no longer to abide by Modality Plan," the MP said, adding that the Islamic Republic will give a "swift response" to the anti-Iran resolution.
Earlier, Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani also said that the resolution might cause Tehran to reconsider negotiations over its nuclear program. "This move once again provides clearer indication that US verbiage regarding Iran's nuclear issue is based on mere political pretense and not on legal proceedings," Larijani said.
His warning comes after the UN nuclear watchdog, in its September 15 report on Iran, also declared that it could not find any 'components of a nuclear weapon' or 'related nuclear physics studies' in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 00:00 ||
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[9 views]
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#1
Iran has dismissed the claims as based on 'fake' and 'fabricated' data
You mean like the Israelli fabricated "Hole in the desert" that did not have any nuke materials, did not have iranian techs and whose remains are radioactive?
Oh, that kind of "Fabricated" Data.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 9:43 Comments ||
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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.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday he has asked the Saudi Arabia's king to help facilitate peace talks with the Taliban in order to bring an end to the Afghan conflict. 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made a call for peace to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as the Taliban Supremo offered international forces a safe retreat from Afghanistan if they agree to withdraw from the war-torn country. "A few days ago I called upon their leader, Mullah Omar, and said 'My brother, my dear, come back to your homeland, come and work for the peace and good of your people and stop killing your brothers'," Karzai told reporters on Tuesday. 
(AKI) - A helicopter contracted by the United Nations has crashed in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, killing all four crew members, a spokesperson for the world body said. "Preliminary reports indicate there are four crew members dead and that the aircraft had been completely destroyed," Marie Okabe told reporters in New York. "There were no passengers on board." 
A one-time admirer of Osama bin Laden who plotted a hand-grenade attack at a mall jammed with Christmas shoppers and tried to trade two stereo speakers for the weapons was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday.
A court on Tuesday ordered the Interior Ministry to issue red warrants for five absconders involved in a case of attempted murder of President Asif Ali Zardari during his detention in May 1999.
The Pakistan Army is backing tribal militias that are rising to battle pro-Taliban groups in the hope that this will turn the tide in the restive northwest of the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Police and intelligence services know Shah Rukh is tall, fair, speaks good Hindi and isn't a movie star. But bar these next-to-useless facts, almost nothing is known about the man, who is thought to have run a secret Karnataka bomb factory, which supplied the disassembled improvised explosive device kits used by Indian Mujahideen (IM) terror cells nationwide.
A senior Iranian parliamentarian has warned that his country may revise its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. 
