Hi there, !
Today Fri 05/15/2009 Thu 05/14/2009 Wed 05/13/2009 Tue 05/12/2009 Mon 05/11/2009 Sun 05/10/2009 Sat 05/09/2009 Archives
Rantburg
531698 articles and 1855975 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 64 articles and 254 comments as of 13:58.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Pak commandos dropped into Taliban stronghold
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [] 
7 00:00 Skunky Glins 5*** [] 
6 00:00 .5MT [] 
4 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
14 00:00 .5MT [] 
4 00:00 ed hardy [] 
3 00:00 Bertie Ulumble2954 [] 
6 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
2 00:00 tu3031 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 Richard of Oregon [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
2 00:00 rabid whitetail []
9 00:00 trailing wife [2]
11 00:00 tipover []
18 00:00 JosephMendiola []
3 00:00 AlmostAnonymous5839 []
1 00:00 tu3031 []
1 00:00 tu3031 []
3 00:00 Pappy []
1 00:00 trailing wife []
0 []
0 []
7 00:00 Kofi Claitle6576 []
0 [1]
3 00:00 anonymous5089 []
7 00:00 Frank G [1]
0 []
1 00:00 Kofi Claitle6576 []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 00:00 Gabby [1]
1 00:00 Zorba []
11 00:00 JosephMendiola []
3 00:00 illeagle [1]
6 00:00 rhodesiafever []
2 00:00 Frank G []
4 00:00 trailing wife []
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
10 00:00 Skunky Glins 5*** []
6 00:00 .5MT []
1 00:00 ed hardy []
14 00:00 trailing wife []
2 00:00 ed hardy []
Page 4: Opinion
12 00:00 trailing wife []
2 00:00 DK70 the scantily clad []
3 00:00 mom []
7 00:00 trailing wife []
5 00:00 JosephMendiola []
1 00:00 rabid whitetail []
2 00:00 mojo []
Page 6: Politix
5 00:00 Zorba [1]
6 00:00 Jumbo Slinerong5015 []
11 00:00 JosephMendiola [2]
4 00:00 SteveS []
10 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
Afghanistan
US fires top general in Afghanistan as 'war worsens'
Follow-up. Scare quotes mine.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama fired the top U.S. general in Afghanistan on Monday, replacing him with a former special forces commander in a quest for a more agile, unconventional approach in a war that has gone quickly downhill. With the Taliban resurgent, Obama's switch from Gen. David McKiernan to Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal suggests the new commander in chief wants major changes in addition to the additional troops he's ordering into Afghanistan to shore up the war effort.

McKiernan, on the job for less than a year, has repeatedly pressed for more forces. Although Obama has approved more than 21,000 additional troops this year, he has warned that the war will not be won by military means.
Thus laying the groundwork for a grand skadaddle ...
Defense Secretary Robert Gates echoed that view at a grim Pentagon news conference announcing the leadership overhaul. "As I have said many times before, very few of these problems can be solved by military means alone," he said. "And yet, from the military perspective, we can and must do better."
"It's time for new leadership and fresh eyes."

A new team of commanders will now be charged with applying Obama's revamped strategy for challenging an increasingly brutal and resourceful insurgency. The strategy, still a work in progress, relies on the kind of special forces and counterinsurgency tactics McChrystal knows well, as well as nonmilitary approaches to confronting the Taliban. It would hinge success in the seven-year-old war to political and other conditions across the border in Pakistan.
Which is just about lost to the Taliban/ISI/military schemers ...
McKiernan, named to his post by former President George W. Bush, had expected to serve into next year but was told he was out during Gates' visit to Afghanistan last week. Gates said he asked for McKiernan's resignation "with the approval of the president." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, and McKiernan's military boss, Gen. David Petraeus, both said they supported the switch.

The White House said the recommended change came from the Pentagon. "The president agreed with the recommendation of the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the implementation of a new strategy in Afghanistan called for new military leadership," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

McChrystal is a former special forces chief credited with nabbing one of the most-wanted fugitives in Iraq. Taking a newly created No. 2 slot under his command will be Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, a veteran of the Afghanistan fight who has been Gates' military shadow, the top uniformed aide who travels with him everywhere.

By year's end, the United States will have more than 68,000 troops in the sprawling country -- about double the total at the end of Bush's presidency but still far fewer than the 130,000 still in Iraq.
McKiernan and other U.S. commanders have said resources they need in Afghanistan are tied up in Iraq.

Although Obama had pledged to add forces in Afghanistan while shutting down the Iraq war, his new administration has sought firmer control over the pace and scope of any new deployments. Gates and Mullen have both warned Obama that a very large influx of U.S. troops would be self-defeating.

Asked if McKiernan's resignation would end his military career, Gates said, "Probably." But he praised the general's long service, and when pressed to name anything McKiernan had failed to do, Gates demurred. "Nothing went wrong, and there was nothing specific," he said.

Gates, too, was appointed to his position by former President George W. Bush. He noted that the Afghan campaign has long lacked people and money in favor of the Bush administration's focus since 2003 on the Iraq war. "But I believe, resources or no, that our mission there requires new thinking and new approaches from our military leaders," he said. "Today we have a new policy set by our new president. We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador. I believe that new military leadership also is needed."

McKiernan issued a short statement in Kabul. "All of us, in any future capacity, must remain committed to the great people of Afghanistan," McKiernan said. "They deserve security, government that meets their expectations, and a better future than the last 30 years of conflict have witnessed."
In June 2006 Bush congratulated McChrystal for his role in the operation that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. As head of the special operations command, McChrystal's forces included the Army's clandestine counterterrorism unit, Delta Force.

He drew criticism for his role in the military's handling of the friendly fire shooting of Army Ranger Pat Tillman -- a former NFL star -- in Afghanistan. An investigation at the time found that McChrystal was "accountable for the inaccurate and misleading assertions" contained in papers recommending that Tillman get a Silver Star award.

McChrystal acknowledged he had suspected several days before approving the Silver Star citation that Tillman might have died by fratricide, rather than enemy fire. He sent a memo to military leaders warning them of that, even as they were approving Tillman's Silver Star. Still, he told investigators he believed Tillman deserved the award.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As I said in yesterday's thread on this subject:

My guess is that Petraeus is just putting putting his team in place. McKiernan was assigned on June 3, 2008. Patreaus didn't get CENTCOM until September 16, 2008. This is Patreaus building his staff, I believe.

I will add that I have no indication that the war is "worsening" in any way except the media reporting. There will be more combat but because we are going to get more aggressive and confront the Taliban, not because they are getting more aggressive or gaining any ground.
Posted by: crosspatch || 05/12/2009 3:00 Comments || Top||

#2  War worsening can be from any number of reasons. You can just bet that the Beltway is full of non-military types who are just full of ideas as to how to conduct the war.

In Vietnam, congressmen loved to fly over for a weekend, then order the military brass to do things--or else. That is how things evolved like "no fire zones", body counts, and operations being aborted for no reason in particular.

The Brookings Institution was full of kibitzers who did everything in their power to interfere with US forces. Their attitude was "don't listen to the military, listen to us describe what the military is doing."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/12/2009 8:52 Comments || Top||

#3  The war is worsening because the Karzai government is making the Heroin Industrialists richer, and they pay off the Taleban
Posted by: Bertie Ulumble2954 || 05/12/2009 17:55 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali president says rebels work for foreign govts
Somalia's president accused insurgents on Monday of working for foreign governments trying to destabilise his Horn of Africa nation after four days of fighting killed at least 70 people.

"We have an Islamic government, but misled Somalis kill innocent people. These guys work for foreign countries that do not want us to be a peaceful nation," President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told reporters in Mogadishu. "I tell them to stop fighting. It is illegal to shed the blood of your innocent brothers." Ahmed - himself a former rebel - did not name any countries, but UN reports have accused Eritrea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Arab states of violating an arms embargo on the country.

On Monday, sporadic explosions and gunfire rocked some northern districts of the city, and six soldiers died when police fought with troops trying to help some of the insurgents. "We captured several sacks of weapons that some military men were secretly transporting to the opposition," one policeman, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. "They attacked us and we chased them ... six of their dead bodies lie here." he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Bangladesh
Prove innocence in war crime
[Bangla Daily Star] A Dhaka court yesterday summoned Jamaat leaders Ghulam Azam, Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, and 32 others to appear before it on July 20 to explain why they should not be declared war criminals for committing crimes against humanity during Bangladesh's liberation war in 1971.

According to the court order, Jamaat's former ameer Ghulam Azam, incumbent chief Nizami, Secretary General Mojahid, senior BNP leader Salauddin, and the 32 other accused will also have to explain why they should not be disqualified from contesting in elections on charges of war crimes.

The 32 other defendants include Jamaat's senior central leaders Abdus Subhan, AKM Yosuf, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Molla, Delwar Hossain Saydee, Mir Kasem Ali, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Barrister Korban Ali, and Advocate Ansar Ali, and former BNP lawmaker Abdul Alim.

The majority of the rest of the 32 are also leaders of Jamaat, the anti-liberation force, which was constitutionally banned immediately after the country's liberation in 1971, but it was allowed to resume political activities after the bloody August 15, 1975 regime change.

The court's order sent the entire Jamaat hierarchy into a hectic damage control manoeuvring, with leaders frantically calling each other seeking advices on what steps they should take to save themselves from the long hands of the law, party insiders said.

Jamaat's Senior Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Kamaruzzaman however told The Daily Star that the party's lawyers will take necessary steps in connection with the court summons.

Jamaat Secretary General Mojahid told reporters yesterday that the case is baseless, adding that no Jamaat leader of any level is linked to any war crime, the case was filed with mala fide political intentions.

On taking into cognisance a civil suit, filed on November 13 last year by three lawyers -- Mohammad Liton Miah, Mohammad Safayat Hossain Sajib, and Rajeeb Ahmad -- Judge Iftekhar Ahmed of the 9th Assistant Judge's Court took the matter for trial and issued the summons yesterday.

The suit seeks to declare the defendants war criminals, barring them from contesting in elections.

Now, the burden of proof lies on the defendants, who will have to prove themselves innocent of the charges.

Thirteen of the defendants, who are already dead, will be exempted from personal appearance before the court, counsels of the plaintiffs said.

The 13 deceased defendants include Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, ASM Solaiman, former prime minister Shah Mohammad Azizur Rahman, Advocate Mohammad Ainuddin, and Abdul Majid Talukder.

Yesterday's court order follows the AL-led government's initiative to hold long due trials of war criminals of 1971 under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973.

Many other criminal cases were also already filed in different parts of the country against war criminals, and some of the accused were already arrested in connection with the cases.

In the wake of a tidal demand of all sections of the people, the immediate past caretaker government inserted a new provision in the Representation of the People Order, barring convicted war criminals from contesting in parliamentary elections.

Before the ninth parliamentary election, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda assured Sector Commanders' Forum of collecting historical documents on trials of war criminals that had taken place between 1972 and 1975, in an effort to bar convicted war criminals from contesting in the poll.

But the Election Commission (EC) failed to deliver on its promise, paving the way for many alleged war criminals to be able to contest in the December 29, 2008 parliamentary election, without any difficulty despite having widespread allegations of war crimes against them.

During yesterday's hearing, lawyers of the plaintiffs submitted documents to prove the charges of war crimes against the defendants.

They argued that the defendants were actively involved in war crimes during Bangladesh's liberation war in 1971, and they should be declared war criminals disqualifying them from contesting in any election.

After the hearing, the court took the charges into cognisance for trial, as it found substantial evidence in favour of the charges.

Advocates Delwar Hossain, Syed Ahmed Mostafa Rana, Khandaker Mohibul Hassan, Saidur Rahman Saju, and Abdul Mannan appeared for the petitioners.

Within moments of the court's order, pro-Jamaat lawyers thronged the court to collect the case documents.

The plaintiffs prayed that Ghulam Azam and the 35 others be declared war criminals for their involvement in genocide, rape, arson, pillaging, and for collaborating with the invading Pakistani army in 1971.

They also prayed for barring all war criminals from forming any political party in the country, and for disqualifying them from participating in any election in the country.

The plaintiffs also mentioned in their plaint that in the immediate aftermath of Bangladesh's liberation, Ghulam Azam and the 35 other accused were identified as war criminals, but are yet to be tried.

The accused also killed a large number of intellectuals on November 14, 1971, the plaintiffs stated in their complaint.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. not eyeing talks with N. Korea outside 6-party framework
[Kyodo: Korea] The United States assured Japan on Monday that it has no plans to hold bilateral talks with North Korea outside a framework of the six-nation process on denuclearizing Pyongyang, senior Japanese officials said. Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy who is traveling around Asia for consultations on the North Korean issue, referred to the plan during separate meetings in Tokyo with Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka and Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign MinistryŽs Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Notice how they always seem to come back somehow to what Bush was doing?
Posted by: tipover || 05/12/2009 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  OTOH WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC ARTIC claims that during the 2003 KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS, CHINA secretly deployed approxi 200,000 armed troops to its borders wid NOKOR + MYANMAR, fka BURMA [ 100,000 +/- each], OSTENSIBLY TO DETER ANY US MILSTRIKES AGZ NORTH KOREA ANDOR CHINA PROPER FROM SAME. CHIN greatly feared a US STRATEGIC MIL STRIKE agz its soft underbelly emanating from MYANMAR-THAILAND REGIONS, besides also US Milfors based in JAPAN, etc. An ARMED CLASH took place between PLA SPECOPS + US ARMY DELTA FORCE [led?] MIXED? GROUP along the MYANMAR-THAIL borders resulting in casualties on both sides, espec for the USA = DELTA FORCE GROUP!?

IOW, CHIN feared an attack on its six or weak flanks as the bulk and focii of its PLA was agz RUSSIA, JAPAN [US], US-SOKOR + TAIWAN, NOT MYANMAR OR THAILAND, ETC.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/12/2009 2:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Hi,how you goin?It's my great opportunity to enter your wonderful blog,which extremely deserves me to pay a visit.The phenomenon you described leaves me to can't help appreciating your blog design style and content.How abundant it is! Meanwhile there is a mushroom growth of persuing punk rock trend,while the brand mostly expected is ed hardy.Acorrdingly,not only young people experience ed-hardy's booming,they buy ed hardy,but also numerous people indulge in cheap ed hardy.I promise,once you enter my blog,you will enjoy an excellent meal of Ed-hardy.Let us surf in the ed-hardy together.Compared with other gentleman brand,i strongly recommend you to
ed hardy men accessories.How can we imagine ed-hardy vanish overnight!So guy come om !We keep abreast with each other,our blog will be uniquely popular!




ed hardy
buy ed hardy
cheap ed hardy

ed hardy men accessories
Posted by: ed hardy || 05/12/2009 2:55 Comments || Top||



Norks Say Talks with the South 'Pointless'
North Korea on Saturday continued its rhetorical assault on the rest of the world, ...
... that's nothing new ...
... saying talks with the South would be pointless. "There simply is no need to even consider holding talks between the North and the South while the Lee Myung-bak group is publicly trying to smear the name of our republic and bluntly denying it," the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement.

That has raised fears North Korea could sabotage inter-Korean talks in Kaesong where the South wants to discuss the detention of a Hyundai Asan staffer at the industrial park, who has been held incommunicado there for more than a month.

The statement apparently came in reaction to South Korean comments on the North's dismal human rights record.

On Friday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry also said talks with the U.S. would be "useless."
"Talks with everyone are useless!"
A South Korean government official said, "The second round of the Kaesong talks was suggested first by North Korea. There is a slim chance of the statement directly affecting the upcoming talks on the Kaesong industrial park." North Korea wants more money for workers at the complex and higher land use fees.

But the statement does suggest that the North Koreans will be implacable with regard to the agenda of the next round of talks. A North Korea expert said the CPRF statement may be a "warning that the talks themselves could not materialize if we mention the Hyundai Asan staffer."
So not only do they snatch a citizen from another country, they won't talk about it. There's something in international law about a government kidnapping someone. Someone might want to look it up.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  On Friday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry also said talks with the U.S. would be "useless."

"We don't even talk to ourselves any more!!"

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/12/2009 5:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I agree. Shut up and shoot.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 05/12/2009 10:33 Comments || Top||


Europe
France, Saudi close to civil nuclear pact
RIYADH -- France and Saudi Arabia are close to finalizing a civil nuclear cooperation pact which could lead to the sale of French atomic energy technology, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Sunday.

A deal could be completed "soon," Lagarde said after a day of meetings with top Saudi economic and energy officials as well as Saudi King Abdullah. "The talks have progressed well," she added.

Lagarde gave no details of what would be covered by the agreement, but officials said it could be completed and signed by the end of 2009.

Saudi Arabia, despite sitting on the world's largest oil reserves, is considering nuclear technology to drive its power-hungry desalinisation plants, which supply water to the fast growing population. Riyadh last year signed a pact with Washington on civil nuclear cooperation, which the United States hopes will open the way for sales of US nuclear technology and equipment to the Saudis.

Lagarde was on a one-day visit to Riyadh to discuss bilateral economic issues and promote France's energy and transport sectors. She said she held talks with Saudi oil officials on how to stabilise oil prices, which have swung wildly in the past year, and that a working group on the issue could meet soon in Paris.

"We want less volatility, more predictability," Lagarde said late Saturday after arriving in Riyadh.

She added that oil prices, currently around EUR 42 (USD 57) a barrel, would be reasonable at between EUR 51 and 59 a barrel, roughly half of the peak hit in July 2008. "Most people would agree that anywhere between EUR 51 and 59 would be good," she said.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Liberty City Six convicted -- or five of them, at least
A federal jury in Miami has convicted five men of plotting with al-Qaida to topple Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices in hopes of igniting an anti-government insurrection. A sixth man was acquitted.

Tuesday's verdicts came after six days of deliberations in the third trial of the "Liberty City Six." The first two trials ended in mistrials when jurors could not agree on the men's guilt or innocence. A seventh man was acquitted in the first trial.

The men were arrested in June 2006 on charges of plotting terrorism with an undercover FBI informant they thought was from al-Qaida. Defense attorneys said terrorist talk recorded on dozens of FBI tapes was not serious and the men wanted only money.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2009 14:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


US appoints Islamist lawyer to Gitmo detainee
[Al Arabiya Latest] Although he has been banned from entering the United States and accused of being part of a militant group, Egyptian lawyer Montasser al-Zayyat said he was recruited by the United States to defend a Saudi detainee held in Guantanamo Bay over charges of terrorism.

Veteran lawyer of Islamist groups, Zayyat, was set to fly to the United Arab Emirates where he would meet Pentagon officials to discuss his security if he were to accept to defend Saudi national Mustafa Hosawi.

Zayyat said he received a phone call from the Pentagon after Hosawi refused to be defended by a court appointed lawyer.

"At first I thought it was a joke then turns out he is a major at the Pentagon. He told me a Saudi detainee asked for me by name and that in the three court hearings he attended he refused the lawyer chosen for him and insisted on me," Zayyat said.


Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Great. I just demand that the LAWYER share the same fate as his client. Both should probably hang, but forcing them to swim from Gitmo to Venezuela with cut Achilles tendons would be enough.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/12/2009 16:40 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
'Ex-Malakand commissioner gave shelter to Taliban leader'
Awami National Party spokesman Zahid Khan has claimed that former Malakand commissioner Javed Shah provided shelter to Taliban leader Faqir Muhammad in his house, a private TV channel reported on Monday. Talking to the channel, he said whenever the NWFP government representatives had gone to meet the former Malakand commissioner for talks they found Taliban present at his residence. Khan said people were not supporting the Taliban anymore, adding around one million people had been displaced during the ongoing military operation. He said the NWFP government did not delay the establishment of the Darul Qaza appellate court.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


'No leniency for elements that forced operation'
Elements responsible for the factors leading to the launch of a military operation in Malakand do not deserve any leniency, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said on Monday.

Talking to media during a visit to the Sheikh Shahzad relief camp in Mardan, he said the entire nation shared the grief of the displaced and would not abandon them. He said the Punjab government would extend full support to the internally displaced persons, and directed the PML-N leadership to utilise their resources to minimise the displaced persons' suffering.

The PML-N chief was accompanied by NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, MNA Hanif Abbassi, PML-N leader Saranjam Khan, Pir Sabir Shah and former federal minister Azam Khan Hoti. Kulsoom told the gathering the PML-N delegation had come to the refugee camp to convey its sympathies to the affected families. She said they had to expose the real faces of the elements trying to destabilise Pakistan on the behest of foreign powers. She urged PML-N workers to fully participate in relief activities.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


US working with UN to help NWFP IDPs: Hillary
The United States is working with the United Nations to help hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons of the NWFP, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday. "The United Nations brings relief, they (UN) bring humanitarian aid. We are looking at what can be done to help the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the region because of the Taliban and the Pakistani Army's offensive," she said. Speaking at the Annual Global Classrooms DC Model UN Conference, the chief US diplomat referred to places experiencing conflict and violence and said, "We worry about displaced people in Darfur. We just have so many concerns and the United States cares deeply about the entire world."
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


$4.9m emergency US aid for IDPs
The US will provide $4.9 million in assistance to families displaced by the conflict in the northern areas, the US embassy has said in a statement.
Ten percent of that's a hefty bit of jack, but there's even more where that came from...
Told you the other day that this was coming ...
"With this latest effort, we stand ready to continue assisting the people of the NWFP by working alongside the Pakistani and provincial governments as well as the international community," the statement quoted US Ambassador Anne Patterson as saying.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Govt wants minimum bloodshed: Zardari
Reaffirming Pakistan's resolve to defeat the Taliban, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday every effort would be made to keep civilian losses to a minimum while fighting extremism. "We don't want to make one million dead," he said, citing the killings that occurred during anti-terror operations in Algiers and Afghanistan, among other countries. He told a large gathering of Pakistani-Americans at a local hotel Al Qaeda was like a monster and eliminating it needed international efforts.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IsraelŽs PM rules out land for peace with Syria
[Al Arabiya Latest] The new Israeli government will not cede the strategic Golan Heights for the sake of peace with Syria, a senior official quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as telling his cabinet on Sunday, as the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman became in charge of the "strategic dialogue" with the United States.

The announcement comes after heated debate among ministers about the wisdom of pursuing the indirect contacts with Syria via Turkey launched by the former government of Ehud Olmert.

The return of the strategic plateau seized by Israel in the 1967 war is a non-negotiable Syrian demand.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  TOPIX > US HISTORIAN [Berlin/Germany-based]: ISRAEL AT RISK OF "BIG EXPLOSION" [i.e. IMMINENT COLLAPSE]. Among other, PERT says Israel can not have a 20% Muslim population [+ rising] and remain un-affected by the latter's electoral or sociocultural, etc. potential.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/12/2009 2:01 Comments || Top||

#2  When Obama pushes Bibi on this he should respond in a way The Teleprompter Messiah understands:

"We won"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2009 14:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel´s PM rules out land for peace LIES with Syria

Fixed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/12/2009 14:38 Comments || Top||


New Palestinian govt within 48 hours: Abbas
[Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas announced on Monday that a new government will be formed in 48 hours and Hamas immediately attacked the move as an attempt to sabotage reconciliation talks set to resume earlier next week. "A new government will be formed within the next 48 hours," Abbas told a meeting of his Fatah party.

The new Palestinian government will replace the current cabinet headed by Salam Fayyad. But according to Palestinian officials, Abbas will once again ask Fayyad to form the new government that will not include the rival Islamist movement Hamas.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  is it gonna be called Hamas 2
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 05/12/2009 12:02 Comments || Top||

#2  So...let's put them on the clock, shall we?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/12/2009 12:06 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Fatwa™ in Egypt: Source of pigs is Jooooooos
A new Fatwa™ published in Egypt determines that the source of all the existing pigs in the world is Jooooos, who were cursed by Allah™. The new edict was issued by Sheikh Ali Osman from the Egyptian Waqf™ ministry.

Due to their Joooooish roots, Sheikh Osman sez, it is permissible to slaughter all the pigs. The religious scholar was quoted as saying by a Jordanian newspaper that he personally believes the source of the pigs is Jooooos and thus the consumption of pork meat is banned in Islam™.

He added that a person who consumes swine flesh is considered as one who consumed another "impure person." Sheikh Osman said his Fatwa™ is being supported by the heads of al Azhar™, but they fear to publicly confirm it. He said he still wait for response from al Azhar Fatwa Committee™ to get an official approval for his new edict.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/12/2009 13:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, yeah, because everyone knows the best hams and bacon are kosher.

/sarcasm
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 05/12/2009 13:52 Comments || Top||

#2  ...he personally believes the source of the pigs is Jooooos and thus the consumption of pork meat is banned in Islam™.

Last I heard, Shecky, was banned in Judaism too.
Oh, yeah. Nevermind...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/12/2009 13:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually the "source off all existing pigs" looked more like this:


Too bad it's not around anymore. That porker would've eaten Islamofascists for lunch.
Posted by: Charles Darwin || 05/12/2009 17:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually the "source off all existing pigs" looked more like this:


Too bad it's not around anymore. That porker would've eaten Islamofascists for lunch.
Posted by: Charles Darwin || 05/12/2009 17:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Ima of course figure the Juice are taking care of their swine.

Partz is partz.
Posted by: .5MT || 05/12/2009 18:51 Comments || Top||

#6  ION ISRAELI MIL FORUM > seems the MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD is calling for the end of Egypt's formal peace treaty wid ISRAEL, + boycott of USA, FRANCE + BRITAIN etc. for suppor Israel.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/12/2009 22:10 Comments || Top||

#7  The sheikh would rather kill Joooos, but pigs are defenseless targets. Coward woose.
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 05/12/2009 22:39 Comments || Top||


Pope stops interfaith conference after Israel insult
Pope Benedict XVI cut short an interfaith conference in Jerusalem after a Palestinian cleric accused Israel of killing women and children and destroying mosques.

Sheik Tayssir al-Tamimi, the head of the Palestinian sharia court, delivered a spontaneous six-minute speech in Arabic at Monday night's meeting calling on the pope "in the name of the one God to condemn these crimes and press the Israeli government to halt its aggression against the Palestinian people."

"Israel destroyed our home, exiled our people, built settlements, ruined the Muslim holy sites, and slaughtered women, children and senior citizens in Gaza," Tamimi said as organizers tried to persuade him to stop speaking.

Upon being informed of the content of the speech the pope, whose own address was interrupted by the Muslim cleric, stopped the conference.

The heads of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel, several churches in Israel and Vatican officials were present at the meeting.

Following the incident, papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi issued a statement that read, "The intervention of Sheik Tayssir al-Tamimi was not scheduled by the organizers of the meeting. In a meeting dedicated to dialogue, this intervention was a direct negation of what a dialogue should be. We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the Pope aiming at promoting peace and also interreligious dialogue, as he has clearly affirmed in many occasions during this pilgrimage. We hope also that interreligious dialogue in the Holy Land will not be compromised by this incident."

The director-general of the Chief Rabbinate, Oded Wiener, said that Jewish members would no longer take part in a long-standing, three-way interfaith dialogue until Tamimi was barred from attending, Ha'aretz reported.

Tamimi attempted a similar stunt during Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel nine years ago, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/12/2009 08:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Upon being informed of the content of the speech the pope, whose own address was interrupted by the Muslim cleric, stopped the conference."

That explains the delay yesterday. He didn't know what was being said in arabic until it was translated. I am a little surprised they didn't have in-line real time translation.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 05/12/2009 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  This seems to have gotten very little play, aside from Gateway Pundit. I am quite surprised as it has the potential to be one of those events you are reading about in history books 50 years later. It is too bad B-16 doesn't have a Thatcher or Reagan to play off. Yet.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/12/2009 10:52 Comments || Top||

#3  No wonder the left is in love with these silly "religion of peace" type persons, neither have any class.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 05/12/2009 11:05 Comments || Top||

#4  THe amusing thing is the degree of projection* in the Sheiks outburst, it's the RoP that deliberately targets civilian targets such a bombing pizza restaurants and rocketing border villages. It's the RoP that deliberately destroys the religious buildings of others (e.g. Bamyan Buddha).

Walking out was wrong, the Pope should have started laughing at the hypocrite!


*A trait also shared with most lefties.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2009 12:12 Comments || Top||

#5  "Well... thanks for that, uh, um, insightful commentary Sheik Tamimi... but I think we'll take a break there. Say, about 2 centuries..."
Posted by: mojo || 05/12/2009 14:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Pictures of the Gloriously Beautiful but sadly ineffective Chevron B-16 are redacted in the name of ummm... getting along with Papists and such like.
Posted by: .5MT || 05/12/2009 17:59 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Unmanned patrol vehicle enters service in Israel
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A jewish version of Shahid.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2009 4:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually, Grumpy G(r)om, it really is, isn't it? Civilized people have low manpower and need to compensate (even, OVERcompensate) through tech, while the muzzies have zero tech (at least indigenous), but an endless supply, for now, of warm bodies. Drone vs suicide bomber.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/12/2009 6:55 Comments || Top||

#3  A jewish version of Shahid.

Which brings the question : does it wrap its exhaust pipe in several layers of aluminium foil, to "protect" it, should it ever be blown to piece??? We have so much to learn from the islamic civilization.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 05/12/2009 6:58 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder what will Paleos think then it'll start asking them if they're Sarah Connor?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2009 8:07 Comments || Top||

#5  The announcer is HOT
Posted by: Croluck Uniling1007 || 05/12/2009 8:52 Comments || Top||

#6  The announcer is HOT
And of course, now the thread has been completely derailed.

That being said, she is hot:)
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/12/2009 10:15 Comments || Top||

#7  > The announcer is HOT

I only clicked the link because of this comment!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2009 12:14 Comments || Top||

#8  The announcer is HOT

Ah yes, all that good sun, good food, and mandatory military service exercise makes great looking Israeli women.
Posted by: Clomoling Black6393 || 05/12/2009 12:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Your right - the thread is derailed.

and the Announcer is HOT

I bet her broadcasts drive the muzzies crazy...

(The Vehicle is kind of cool too...)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/12/2009 13:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Vehicle? What vehicle? (wink) Yeah, but the announcer was more entertaining and fun to look at.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 05/12/2009 14:21 Comments || Top||

#11  Can the USA use these on its border?
Posted by: Lagom || 05/12/2009 14:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Looks to me like an aluminum armored 2 person off road Go-Kart.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/12/2009 14:59 Comments || Top||

#13  Now all Israel needs to do is put a 7.62 minigun on it, mount a couple of Hellfires, then produce about 70,000 of them. The NEXT invasion of Gaza will be televised live.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/12/2009 17:51 Comments || Top||

#14  Damn it now I can has Chevron B-16?
Posted by: .5MT || 05/12/2009 18:53 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
UN denounces Lanka ŽbloodbathŽ
[Bangla Daily Star] The UN condemned yesterday the killing of civilians in Sri Lanka at the weekend as a "bloodbath" in which more than 100 children died, as the government and rebels traded blame for the attacks.

Two days of shelling across Sri Lanka's northern war zone killed at least 430 ethnic Tamil civilians and likely as many as 1,000 a government doctor in the area said Monday.

About 6 pm Sunday, a new round of shelling less intense than the first pounded a newly demarcated "safe zone" where the government had urged civilians to gather, according to Dr V Shanmugarajah, who works at a makeshift hospital in the war zone.

A total of 393 people were either brought to the hospital for burial or died at the facility Sunday, while another 37 bodies were brought in Monday morning, he said. More than 1,300 wounded civilians came to the hospital as well, he said.

Artillery strikes in the small stretch of coastline still held by the Tamil Tiger guerrillas caused major casualties among the tens of thousands of non-combatants, both sides reported.

"The large scale killing of civilians, including the death of over 100 children, over the weekend shows that the bloodbath scenario has become a reality," Gordon Weiss, the United Nations' spokesman in Colombo, told AFP.

The rebels said the civilians had died as the military pressed ahead with its offensive, but the defence ministry accused the Tigers of firing mortars to create a humanitarian crisis and attract foreign intervention.

"They are bombarding their own civilians with heavy weapons to lay the blame on the Sri Lankan forces," the ministry said in a statement.

"Hopefully, in their calculation, this will attract the foreign countries to throw a life line to save their souls."

The government on Monday said 250 civilians had been killed or wounded in the attacks blamed on the rebels, while the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said that the weekend death toll had risen to 3,200.

Casualty claims from the war zone are impossible to verify as journalists and international monitors are not allowed to travel freely in the area.

Sri Lanka's government believes its soldiers are on the verge of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after 37 years of conflict.

At the height of their power in 2006, the Tigers -- who want an independent Tamil homeland in the Sinhalese-majority island -- controlled roughly a third of the island.

The Tigers have since been driven back into a sliver of land on the northeastern coast, where the UN has accused them of holding up to 50,000 Tamil civilians hostage.

Sri Lankan leaders have refused all international calls for a ceasefire, despite reports from the UN last month saying up to 6,500 civilians may have been killed and 14,000 wounded in fighting since January.

Japan, which is Sri Lanka's largest aid donor, must "shoulder its responsibilities" and confront the worsening humanitarian crisis there, human rights and conflict prevention groups said Monday.

The appeal was made in a joint letter to Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso from the heads of Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.

"If the world continues to look away from the suffering of civilians in Sri Lanka, as it has largely done until now, it will be a failure of historic proportions," the letter said.

The Sri Lankan government has recently criticised Western nations for calling for a ceasefire that would end its campaign against the Tigers before a complete victory had been secured.

Last month the military announced that it had halted the use of heavy weapons in order to protect civilians as the fighting was confined to a small area measuring just a few square kilometres (square miles).
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks, UN. Your work is done here. Now get out of the fuckin way...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/12/2009 10:04 Comments || Top||

#2  in which more than 100 children died

One could speculate on exactly why the UN is grieving over the loss - or should I say unavailability? - of the children, but it is a little early in the morning for such ugly thoughts.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2009 10:14 Comments || Top||

#3  well that will cut down on how many UN troops can molest after Sri Lanka has tied this up
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 05/12/2009 12:01 Comments || Top||

#4  That's one reason the Useless Nitwits are so upset, rw.

Another is that they don't like their pet terrorists' friends' asses kicked.

I'm still trying to find my nanoviolin....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/12/2009 15:36 Comments || Top||

#5  The UN sees progress as a threat to its existance, I guess.
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2009 17:35 Comments || Top||

#6  I think you just pegged the entire UN, gorb.

They've got to protect their phoney-baloney jobs....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/12/2009 20:11 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria accuses two Britsh nationals of being involved with Al Qaeda
Two British nationals arrested in Syria almost two months ago have been accused of involvement with terror network Al Qaeda, it emerged today. Mother-of-four Maryam Kallis and Yasser Ahmed were detained separately in the capital city of Damascus by the country’s feared secret police. According to the Syrian authorities, Mrs Kallis, 36, of west London has been raising funds for an organisation linked to the extremist group. The nature of 28-year-old Mr Ahmed’s involvement has yet to be explained. However both sets of families deny there has been any wrongdoing. Mr Ahmed's sister Saima Zahur, said: ‘We are a non-controversial British family.’

Fears have been growing for the safety of the pair since the arrests on 17 March. Until today there had been no explanation for the detention. Representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have made urgent demands for access to them. So far they have been seen just twice by consulate officials for less than an hour. During those brief meetings, Mrs Kallis was described as being ‘emotional and weak’ while Mr Ahmed was described as ‘under strain.’

‘We have visited on two occasions and have requested a further visit,' said a spokesman for the FCO. ‘The Foreign Secretary raised this case on 8 May with his Syrian counterpart to underline our demand for full and proper access. We have repeatedly urged the Syrian authorities either to charge or release the two British nationals. We now look for this to happen as a matter of priority.’

Today the Syrian Embassy in London gave the first indication as to why the pair were arrested. A statement read: ‘The Syrian Authorities arrested Mrs Kallis and Mr Ahmed in Damascus on the 17 March 2009, and the interrogations indicated that both Ms Kallis and Mr Ahmed are working for a terrorist network related to the Al Qaeda organisation and other members of the network were also arrested by the Syrian Authorities. Mrs Kallis is involved in receiving funds from her husband Mr. Massoud Ahmad (who resides in the UK) and in conveying the funds to the above mentioned network. The investigation with the members of the network is still going on.

‘The Syrian Authorities allowed a representative of the British Embassy in Damascus to visit the detainees accordingly and a decision will be taken regarding the detainees as soon as the investigation is over.’ Suggestions that the British Secret Service were involved in the arrests have been strongly denied by the embassy’s spokesman Jihad Makdissi.

It is unclear whether the pair were acquainted but both had been studying Arabic at the Abu Nour Islamic Foundation for several years. Pakistani born Mrs Kallis of West London first moved to the Syrian capital with her four children and husband Massoud in 2002 to study Arabic. The young family lived with Mrs Kallis’ sister while both she and her husband studied. Initially, they had planned to stay for just one year but lengthened their visit as they felt the warm climate was benefiting their disabled daughter.

The couple came back to the UK in 2008 with one of their sons but Mrs Kallis returned to Damascus in March this year to collect her remaining children. It was during this visit she was arrested in the street by ten plain clothes policemen and marched to her apartment in handcuffs and took her travel documents including her passport.

‘Her sister opened the door and saw her handcuffed, with eight to ten men with them,' said her husband. ‘They were barging into her house, took the passports off the children, off Maryam, off her sister as well and took Maryam away by force in front of her children.'

Meanwhile the family of Yasser Ahmed have told how he travelled to the country with his British wife and daughter to study Arabic in December 2006. Mr Ahmed, who previously worked with mentally ill children in Walthamstow, east London was in the second year of a degree course when he was arrested.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/12/2009 02:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Why would anyone live in Syria, particularly one of Pakistani birth, if they didn't need to? There are plenty of other places to study Arabic: Egypt, for instance, or Jordan, or Saudi Arabia -- where there are a great many Pakistanis -- or even Israel. I'm just surprised the Syrians suddenly decided to arrest them now.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2009 10:47 Comments || Top||

#2  where they raising money for the wrong terror group like not Hezbollah
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 05/12/2009 11:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Only 2?

Slow day, or what?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 05/12/2009 14:36 Comments || Top||

#4  #3: Only 2? Slow day, or what?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut||


Actually, Barbara, they forgot to get a license (and fork over 20% of what they raised). It's all about baksheesh.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/12/2009 17:56 Comments || Top||


Israeli PM discusses Iran with EgyptŽs Mubarak
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Monday on his first trip abroad since taking office as Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas announced that a new Palestinian government would be formed within 48 hours.

The hawkish Israeli premier will meet Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a week before heading to Washington to meet United States President Barack Obama, who has vowed to vigorously pursue Middle East peacemaking.

Netanyahu will try to secure the support of its main Arab ally for Israeli efforts to halt arch-foe Iran's nuclear drive, which the premier said he considers the main threat now faced by the Jewish state, but which Tehran says is for energy production.

"Netanyahu will tell Mubarak that Israel and the moderate Arab states should act together in the face of the common threat posed by Iran, which is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and interfere in the region," a senior official told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
43[untagged]
5Govt of Pakistan
4TTP
3al-Qaeda
2Jamaat-e-Islami
1Govt of Iran
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Moro Islamic Liberation Front
1Palestinian Authority
1Govt of Syria
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Shabaab

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2009-05-12
  Pak commandos dropped into Taliban stronghold
Mon 2009-05-11
  200 Taliban killed in Swat operation
Sun 2009-05-10
  Scores dead as drone hits S. Wazoo Mehsud stronghold
Sat 2009-05-09
  1.2 million people leave Buner, Swat other areas
Fri 2009-05-08
  Gilani orders all-out war on Pak Taliban
Thu 2009-05-07
  Sufi Mohammad's son killed in Lower Dir shelling
Wed 2009-05-06
  Mashaal: Hamas wants 10 year cease-fire
Tue 2009-05-05
  Pirates captured after attacking the wrong ship
Mon 2009-05-04
  Khaled Mashaal re-elected Hamas political leader
Sun 2009-05-03
  64 civilians killed in Lanka hospital attack
Sat 2009-05-02
  60 Taliban killed in Buner offensive
Fri 2009-05-01
  Taliban hold Buner town people hostage
Thu 2009-04-30
  U.S. missile strikes kill 10 in South Waziristan
Wed 2009-04-29
  70 militants killed in Pak operation
Tue 2009-04-28
  TNSM suspends talks with govt

Better than the average link...



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.
44.220.182.198
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (18)    Non-WoT (13)    Opinion (7)    (0)    Politix (5)