KHANSHIN, Helmand province - It is all too rare a phenomenon lately: local residents cheerful at the sight of foreign troops. But Operation Khanjar (Dagger Thrust), which the United States Marines Corps launched in early July in southern Helmand, has so far delivered on its promise to put protection of civilians ahead of killing the enemy.
"When the American forces first came to our village, we were very frightened," said Mohammad Isaa, a resident of remote Khanshin district, which the Marines cleared just one day after the start of the operation. "But there was no fighting, and no Taliban. The soldiers are just walking around, but they haven't bothered anybody yet. They are not searching houses. They tell people that they are here for our security, so we can participate in the [presidential] elections. They also said, 'If you don't make problems for us, we will never make problems for you.' We are very happy now."
"These Americans are very good people. They wave and speak to us in a very friendly way. And they have helped us finally to get rid of these cruel oppressors."
Khanshin, one of Helmand's largest but least-populated districts, is mostly desert. Villages are scattered throughout, most boasting just a bazaar with a few dozen shops. It is one of five districts targeted in Operation Khanjar, the others being Nawa, Garmsir, Dishu and Marja.
Assadullah Sherzad, the provincial chief of police, said that Nawa, Garmsir and Khanshin were now clear and stable. "In those areas that we have cleared, we have established security checkpoints," he told reporters. "The police have been able to keep those areas clear of the Taliban."
Operation Khanjar has met very little resistance since it got under way early in July; the overwhelming firepower of the US forces doubtless had the Taliban thinking better of a face-to-face fight. But even more surprising than the lack of a counter-punch has been the reception given the troops by the Helmandis, who have been battered and let down over the past eight years.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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In some parts of Afghanistan, Americans are the "well diggers", because they were always asking if they could provide anything the villagers want, and throwing in a new water well on general principles.
Hand digging water wells is one of the great major pains in the butt of living in desert areas, and they are vital as well. So this is a universally appreciated activity.
#2
I assume a drilling machine is used, not hand digging.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2009 13:15 Comments ||
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#3
Ps, i once drilled wells to pay for the equipment cost to drill my own, it's simple, even in sand, you use a coagulator in the drill flushing water.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2009 13:30 Comments ||
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Hundreds more British troops could soon be sent to Afghanistan, a defence minister hinted yesterday.
Downing Street has already said that the 700 extra troops sent to Helmand temporarily for the operation to protect the integrity of next month's elections will stay, probably to help to train Afghan troops. However, Bill Rammell, the Armed Forces Minister, hinted that the current total of 9,150 could be increased further as military chiefs call for up to 2,500 more soldiers on the ground.
Earlier Gordon Brown accepted the case for more helicopters in the region. In a change of tone, he acknowledged that more were required for the "general" Afghan mission and said that they were being ordered. He denied that a lack of helicopters was costing British lives after Lord Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office Minister, appeared to back criticism that the British force was not properly equipped.
Lord Malloch-Brown told The Daily Telegraph: "We definitely don't have enough helicopters." Under pressure from No 10, he later issued a clarification: "There are without doubt sufficient resources in place for current operations."
The issue dominated the Prime Minister's monthly press conference at which Mr Brown insisted: "For the operation we are doing at the moment we have the helicopters we need." He also described as completely wrong any assertion that the recent loss of lives had been caused by an absence of helicopters.
"More helicopters in general, yes," he said. "That is why we are putting them into Afghanistan." More Merlins would be there by the end of the year, more Chinooks next year, and numbers had increased by 60 per cent over two years, he said.
Why not borrow/buy some from Euro allies who don't otherwise contribute? The Brits (I suspect) have air and ground crews. Get some French, Spanish, Italian helicopters and get them to Afghanistan now.
The remarks put the Prime Minister more in line with the approach taken by present and former British commanders, who have been calling for more help to tackle the Taleban.
Earlier, on a visit to Salisbury Plain where he met troops preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, Mr Rammell confirmed that a review of troop numbers there would take place after the Afghan elections. Asked if he would meet the desire of military chiefs who have asked for an additional 2,000 to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, the minister said: "This is a Government that does listen to the advice that it gets from the service chiefs. That is why we increased the numbers from 5,500 to 9,000." He added that the figure was kept under review.
Additional British troops are ready to head out to the front line if called upon. Brigadier James Cowan, commander of 11 Light Brigade, the next brigade to deploy to Afghanistan in the autumn, said: "It is up to ministers to decide. I will make do with what I am given. I am a practical man."
Trapped by the right war/wrong war rhetoric, or responding to the rightward movement of the British electorate being reported in all the papers?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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North Korea on Thursday hit back at comments by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, describing her in an unusually personal attack as not intelligent and a "funny lady".
A foreign ministry spokesman quoted by the communist state's official news agency accused Clinton of making "a spate of vulgar remarks unbecoming for her position everywhere she went since she was sworn in".
"We cannot but regard Mrs Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community," the spokesman added in a statement. "Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."
The North took particular umbrage at recent comments by Clinton likening Pyongyang's recent missile launches to the behaviour of an unruly attention-seeking teenager.
"Her words suggest that she is by no means intelligent," the statement said, adding that Pyongyang is protecting itself against "the US hostile policy and nuclear threat, not to attract anyone's attention".
Clinton could make a contribution to US foreign policy "only when she has understanding of the world", it said.
At a regional security forum in the Thai resort of Phuket on Thursday, Clinton urged members to enforce the UN sanctions imposed against the North for its nuclear and missile tests.
Later Thursday, she was due to say the US and its partners will move forward on a package of economic incentives and opportunities including normalising relations in return for the North's "irreversible denuclearisation".
A North Korean delegate in Phuket described the package as "nonsense" and urged the United States to drop what he termed its hostile policy.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/23/2009 13:04 ||
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Got one right.
Now if they'd said "Conniving" I'd go with it in a flash.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2009 13:17 Comments ||
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#2
Are they aware of what she is capable of crushing with her massive thighs?
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States has come up with scenarios to cope with any contingencies in North Korea after leader Kim Jong-il's death, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said Wednesday.
"We are prepared to execute a wide range of options in concert with allies in South Korea and in discussions through (the Department of) State, which would have the lead, with countries in the region, and internationally if necessary," Adm. Timothy Keating said at a news conference at the Pentagon. "I don't think it is axiomatic that the departure of Kim Jong-il means a national security crisis. We'd hope it wouldn't. But we are going to be prepared if it does mean that."
"What would happen if and when he cedes control or is no longer capable of exercising control? Don't know," the commander said. "But I can tell you that we have plans with the United States Forces-Korea and others in place if the president tells us to execute those plans in the event of some uncertain succession in the North."
The commander made his remarks as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her counterparts from South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, members of the six-party talks on ending North Korea's ambitions, in Phuket, Thailand, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum. On the Thai resort island, Clinton expressed the U.S. intent to normalize ties with Pyongyang "if they will agree to irreversible denuclearization."
Otherwise, the top U.S. diplomat warned, the reclusive communist state "will face international isolation and the unrelenting pressure of global sanctions."
Keating said he was not sure about the North Korean leader's health and possible successor. "The facts as I know them are fairly limited. He has clearly suffered some change of health. Is it the result of a stroke? Is that change the result of a stroke? Is there some larger issue at stake? I don't know," he said. "He's a different man today than he was a year ago, physically, in appearance. As to his mental acuity, I don't know. As to the plan for succession, I don't know."
On allegations that North Korea is cooperating militarily with Myanmar, Keating said, "If it is, in fact, Burma that is receiving goods and assistance from North Korea, that's against -- that violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718. And we, along with the international community, would be very concerned if that is, in fact, occurring."
Clinton Wednesday expressed "growing concerns" over "military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously," hinting at the possible transfer of nuclear and missile technology to Myanmar, formerly Burma.
At a daily news briefing, State Department spokesman Robert Wood elaborated on Clinton's remarks made a day earlier. "What the secretary meant to say said was that we and our other partners in the region are very concerned about military cooperation, the extent of military cooperation between Burma and North Korea," Wood said. "And what we want to see happen is that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874 be fully implemented. We intend to do that, and we encourage other countries to do that, as well."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Baracky will take full credit for "taking out Kim Jong Il!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2009 19:01 Comments ||
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Baracky will take full credit for "taking out Kim Jong Il!"
He'll sure try.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2009 20:59 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States has been unable to trace the source of the massive cyber attacks that paralyzed a number of government and commercial Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. earlier this month, the top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday.
"We have not figured out exactly who conducted that July 4th -- that attack that began on July 4th," Dennis Blair, director of National Intelligence, told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce National Security Task Force meeting.
South Korean officials suspect that North Korea was behind the attacks, although they have failed to present concrete evidence for the allegation.
Blair described as "unsophisticated" the denial of service attacks that used tens of thousands of compromised computers to launch simultaneous requests for information, temporarily rendering the Web sites attacked unreachable. "It was a relatively unsophisticated botnet-type attack that nonetheless did deny service for some Web sites in this country," he said.
The U.S. government is cooperating closely with foreign governments to determine the origins of the rare attacks, he said.
"The process of tracking it down is still going on," Blair said. "That is a good one -- back to one of our previous questions -- in which we're working with foreign partners to try to compare data to figure out if we can actually nail it down."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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That's what they need, by gum, a food ministry! Perhaps they could have universal food coverage! They could have a food czar -- one of Kimmie's sons would do. Problem solved!
SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Wednesday it has created the Ministry of Foodstuff and Daily Necessities Industry as the country strives to resolve its food shortage within years.
The Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly issued a decree on setting up the ministry, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a one-sentence dispatch. It gave no further details.
In the New Year's editorial published by state media organizations as the nation's yearly slogan, North Korea vowed to "solve food problems by our own efforts" and rebuild the country's frail infrastructure by 2012, the centenary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, who is North Korea's founder and the father of the current leader, Kim Jong-il. By the target year, North Korea aims to build a "strong, prosperous and powerful nation."
North Korea is expected to suffer from a food shortage of up to 840,000 tons this year, according to a South Korean government estimate based on U.N. reports. North Korea's total grain production is expected to reach around 4.29 million tons this year, which falls short of the minimum 5.13 million tons needed to feed its 24 million people, it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Maybe this is the sort of ministry that will lead prayers for food.
Top defense officials from South Korea and Russia have agreed on the need for close cooperation when dealing with issues concerning North Korea.
Seoul's Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov in Moscow saw eye to eye on giving support to a five-way dialogue framework to bring Pyongyang back to the nuclear talks. The two sides reaffirmed that there should be consequences for North Korea's brazen behavior.
This year North Korea withdrew from the six-party nuclear talks and conducted its second nuclear test as well as test-launched a salvo of missiles, prompting the United Nations Security Council to slap sanctions on the North.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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North Korea is soon expected to call for a reunion event for families separated for more than 50 years due to the Korean War. This is according to a report in the latest edition of progressive magazine Minjok 21. The report is written by Chung Chang-hyun, a senior editor who had access to a source who recently visited the Stalinist state.
Quoting the source, Chung said there is a high possibility of a proposal by the North for a resumption of family reunions in time for Chuseok, one of Korea's biggest traditional holidays, which falls on Oct. 3 this year.
It also added that the proposal is likely to take place through working-level talks initiated by North Korea's Red Cross to its South Korean counterpart and the location may be at Mt. Kumgang, situated in North Korean territory.
The Unification Ministry said that there have been no calls by the North on the matter as of yet but stated that the issues with separated families are considered a significant problem that must be resolved above anything else.
There have been 16 rounds of family reunions since the first summit between the leaders of the two Koreas in June 2000, but the arrangement for the event had been cut off since last year due to North Korea's protest against President Lee Myung-bak's hardline stance on its nuclear program.
Chung and experts say the proposal is likely to place South Korea's conservative government in a predicament, as many view North Korea's move as a means to take initiative on the talks or make difficult demands by offering a situation in which the South cannot help but unconditionally accept.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Seems like an excellent scheme to get the food donations moving. Divert the targeted families' rations to military reserves, leave 'em lean & pitiable enough to inspire their relatives to scream bloody murder & stampede Seoul into opening the food supply taps again.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/23/2009 13:23 Comments ||
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#2
Be Very careful, sounds like a trap to take hostages.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2009 13:34 Comments ||
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In 1993, R. James Woolsey, about to become President Clintons first Director of Central Intelligence, remarked to a Senate committee on the defeat of international Communism: We have slain a large dragon. He then added: But we live now in a jungle filled with a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes. And in many ways, the dragon was easier to keep track of.
Years later, we still seem bewildered. Americas military has demonstrated astonishing ingenuity and adaptability, as I have argued here. But have other instruments of national power risen to the challenges posed by international jihadism?
In his new book, Winning the Long War, Ilan Berman, vice president for policy at the American Foreign Policy Council, makes a persuasive case that they have not, that the U.S. instead has lost the initiative on the dominant battlefields of todays conflict: ideology, strategic communications, economics, law, and development. Regaining the initiative, he urges, should be among the highest priorities of the new administration. Earth to Berman: the new administration is on the other side
#1
"But have other instruments of national power risen to the challenges posed by international jihadism?"
Clearly they have not. The State Department and CIA were busy undermining the President the last 8 years instead of rebuilding Iraq or helping to balance out the Defense Department.
The government is targeting the terror network run by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud with precision, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Wednesday. That's in line with their complaints about the offensive in Afghanistan. If they're only going after the Baitullah network that means ISI thinks they've still got control of the other Taligroups, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Malik said Baitullah would be pursued until the elimination of his terror network. Thereby leaving his rival networks and any parallel networks in place -- viz., Mangal Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islami.
He said the government wanted to undertake anti-terror operations in all insurgency-hit areas in order to maintain pressure on the Taliban. But only on the rogue pieces of the Taliban. The rest of it, including Uzbeks, Chechens, and Arabian riff-raff, a tools to be used in maintaining "strategic depth."
The interior minister said the operation in South Waziristan Agency was not aimed at any particular tribe, but at the terror network operating in the area. To reiterate: Only at Baitullah, not at anybody else. Determination: "The government is determined to combat the Taliban and to put an end to terrorism. If we don't do it now, it will spread to the whole of the region and exacerbate the threat for the whole world," he said. But they're not doing anything at all about Haqqani network facilities...
To a question on the results of the offensive in Swat, he said the army had the support of the entire population, adding that the displaced people were returning to their homes and denouncing the terrorists. "We have discovered many caches of arms. The big difference with the previous operations is that this time we have public opinion on our side. It denounces the Taliban," Malik said.
To a query about cooperation with Afghanistan in the war on terror, the interior minister said the two countries had a "common enemy and must have a common strategy."
"It is urgent that we control the border. Thirty-five thousand Afghans or Pakistanis cross it without a visa or a passport. We have set up biometrics checkpoints. We have agreed to open an emergency telephone link and exchange information."
"During the ongoing operation, among the 1,500 arrests that we made, 90 percent concerned Afghans. There is no way through in the other direction. We are calling for reciprocal measures," he said. Interesting statistic, given that so many Taliban on the Afghan side of the border turn out to be Paks...
Referring to another question about the past strategies on the issue of terrorism, the interior minister said mistakes had been made in the past due to a lack of understanding that created doubts. "We have decided to be transparent and to respond to terrorism with democracy. Dictatorships have too often favoured terrorism," he added. About his objectives to visit Paris, Malik replied that he and his French counterpart Brice Hortefeux had agreed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and to exchange information.
This article starring:
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Baitullah Mehsud
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
STARS-N-STRIPES > seems the entire MEHSUDS TRIBE/COMMUNITY in Paki are now subject to threat of TRIBAL ARREST [everyone, everybody + their Camel].
#2
What difference does it make if some of the Taliban killed in Pakistan are from Afghanistan? A dead Taliban is a good one. Maybe they would like to bury the "foreigners" tits down and and their home grown killers tits up? Dead is dead. Just keep doing more of it.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/23/2009 10:32 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday said that Iraq is seeking a UN Security Council consensus to get out of Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Maliki said that he has sensed a good deal of understanding on the part of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council member states. This came during a press conference following his meeting with the UN chief in New York earlier today.
UN Security Council Resolution 678 was the legal authorization for the Gulf War, which was passed on 29 November 1990. It gave Iraq an opportunity to withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991 and authorized UN member states in cooperation with the government of Kuwait to use all necessary means to uphold and implement Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which authorizes the use of force to restore peace.
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets forth the powers of the UN Security Council to maintain peace. It allows the council to determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and to take military and non-military action to restore international peace and security.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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President Obama said Wednesday that he was "very encouraged" by Iraq's progress in taking over its own security responsibilities and that the United States was on track to withdraw all military forces from the country by 2011.
No thanks to you, Mr. Surrender. If you'd had your way we would have been gone by now with our tails between our legs, and the Iraqis -- and their foreign oppressors -- would have been at each others' throats.
In a brief news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after the two met for more than an hour at the White House, Obama acknowledged there would be "some tough days ahead. There will be attacks on Iraqi security forces and the American troops supporting them . . . There are still those who want to foment sectarian conflict."
But "those efforts will fail," Obama said as he gently reiterated the U.S. view that Iraq must resolve the internal disputes that continue to cause both violence and political turmoil. "America strongly supports efforts by the Iraqi government to promote national unity," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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One thing that is bothering me...
If we're pulling out of Iraq, and looking for an exit strategy for Afghanistan, why is it important that the military continue to be restructured to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
#2
...why, do you foresee us fighting on the Chinese mainland for some reason? Other than that, what is the profile of viable potential conflicts which would require a different force structure?
#3
As times before, 2009-2012/2016 POST-DUBYA POTUS PERIOD = the MILTERRS nor any ISLAMIST HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI, ETC. can't ask for better conditions than these, when the latters' potent or victorious enemy is all but leaving or abandoning the battlefield(s) to them.
* ION ISRAELI MIL FORUM > REPORT: MIDDLE EAST
ATOMIC CONFLICT COULD KILL TENS OF MILLIONS. SAME Artic also indics that ISRAEL WILL HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME TRYING TO DESTROY IRANS NUCPROGS VIA MILSTRIKES.
Leading left-wing Israeli intellectuals signed a petition Wednesday demanding the government to allow an independent, external investigation into last winter's Gaza war. The signatories included authors David Grossman and Amos The Wizard of Oz, as well as outspoken former lawmaker Yossi Sarid of the left-liberal Meretz party and 25 academics, actors, musicians and public figures.
The petition came after 30 Israeli soldiers last week said the Israel Defense Force had lenient open-fire policies, used white phosphorous smoke bombs in populated areas, and forced Palestinian civilians to act as "human shields" during the 22-day offensive. They made the statements in anonymous testimonies to an Israeli anti-occupation organization, Breaking the Silence.
Soldiers used Palestinian civilians, often neighbors, to knock on doors and check houses in which Palestinian gunmen were believed holed up, a practice known in the past as the "neighbor procedure" and deemed illegal by Israel's highest court, said the group's report.
"We, citizens of the State of Israel, whose army is the IDF, demand to know the truth regarding the fighting carried out in our names, our money and at the price of danger to the lives of our loved ones," said the text of the petition. "The military strength of Israel is meant to protect not just the lives of Israelis but also the Israeli way of life, of value to all parts of our society."
The petition charged the testimonies by the 30 soldiers made the Israeli military's official stance, which said it had found not a single case in which soldiers deliberately harmed Palestinian civilians, appear "detached from reality."
Israel has refused to cooperate with the international investigation led by South African war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, saying his mission was mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council, which it charges is biased against it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
You idiots.
Probe the launch pad it has become.
From beach blanket bingo and weekend getaway to warriors hellhole.
Go live there and then come back with your report.
#4
Really. If these "incidents" bothered these guys so much why not go on the record and really take a stand?
As far as the "intellectuals", they'll be bitching right up to the time they get thrown on the trains.
#6
The need to be loved by one's peers is one of the strongest social impulses. Whenever the personal threat to the professorial classes recedes for any extended period of time, this crap will creep back into the news. Regardless of the long-term prospects for annihilation.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/23/2009 13:11 Comments ||
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The grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic revolution, is reported to have left the country to avoid attending Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidential inauguration. Hassan Khomeini, a supporter of the defeated reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has travelled to an unnamed "neighbouring country" to escape official pressure to be present at next month's swearing-in ceremony, according to the pro-reformist news website, Salaamnews.
His absence would be a blow to the authorities' hopes of using the hallowed Khomeini family name to confer legitimacy on the event in the face of allegations that Ahmadinejad owes his re-election to fraud.
Hassan a member of the pro-reformist Association of Combatant Clerics is the most well-known and politically active of Khomeini's surviving descendants. He has previously been attacked by hardliners for his moderate views and for an allegedly opulent lifestyle.
Last year, a pro-Ahmadinejad website accused him of indulging in steam baths and driving a BMW after he publicly urged military groups to stay out of politics.
His father, Ahmad Khomeini, was one of the late ayatollah's closest aides but died in mysterious circumstances in 1995. Rumours circulated that he was poisoned after falling foul of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the then president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, although the official cause of death was a heart attack.
Wasn't the thorium-flavored shrimp?
Other members of the Khomeini clan have also fallen from official favour in recent years. Another grandson, Ali Eshraghi, also a reformist, was barred from the candidates' list for last year's parliamentary elections by the guardian council, although he was later re-instated. Hossein Khomeini, Hassan's cousin, is a political outcast after repeatedly expressing pro-American views and calling for the regime's overthrow.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The Association of Combatant Clerics... the ACC?
Go Demon Deacons, DUKE SUCKS! (Same for the Tar Holes)
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 12:10 Comments ||
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#4
So Fredo is spending a little time with the Molinari family on the coast?
Posted by: regular joe ||
07/23/2009 16:39 Comments ||
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#5
Easy with the DUKE SUCKS there Old Spook. Nothing but a friendly rivalry. Now if you want to talk about Maryland, I could not agree more. (Hey, I don't even hate the Tar Heels. Don't care for them much, but I don't hate em.)
Iran's state television will air the confessions of those arrested over involvement in orchestrating the post-election unrest in the country, a lawmaker says.
Iran Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission asked the Intelligence Ministry to make the confessions obtained from the detainees available to the public by broadcasting them on Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting (IRIB).
"We asked the (Intelligence) Minister (Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i) to inform people about those who have organized the turmoil," member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Zohreh Elahian was quoted by ILNA as saying on Wednesday.
"People lost their lives and properties during the unrest and have the right to know those responsible for their loss," she added.
This is while former president Mohammad Khatami, a staunch supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, had earlier claimed that the confessions were extracted 'under pressure', hence were 'futile and outdated'.
Elahian also said that all of those detained in the country's recent turmoil had been released after preliminary investigations with the exception of those who are believed to have organized the unrest.
Former vice president Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, former deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, former deputy speaker of the Parliament Behzad Nabavi, prominent Iranian journalist Saeed Hajjarian, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh head of the Association of Iranian Journalists Ali Mazroui are among political figures arrested in Iran's post-vote unrest.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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With out any indication of relenting, defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says he will not drop his challenge to the June 12 election results. Mousavi, who has so far refused to acknowledge the re-election of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Wednesday that he would be sure to pursue his complaints through legal procedures.
"One must respect the constitution in all circumstances," said Mousavi in an address to a group of academics and journalists. "I believe that individuals can resort to the constitution in pursuing their political demands and complaints."
Iran's war-time prime minister said that the country's political factions are closely intertwined, to such an extent that the exclusion of one party could negatively affect the whole political system.
"Political parties in Iran have proven to be vulnerable," said Mousavi. "But when a particular faction helps create a sense of social identity in the masses, then nothing can break its resolve. If a part of is excluded, other parts will move on and continue their path," said Mousavi.
Mousavi said that the awareness of the Iranian people is decisive at such a critical juncture in the country. The Iranian nation should be kept informed through constructive dialogue, he opined.
Mousavi went on to claim that the Ahmadinejad government would cause complications for Iran both at home and on the international stage. "The elite do not want to work with such a government," the ILNA news agency quoted Mousavi as saying.
"This non-cooperation would inflame an obvious lack of efficiency and legitimacy, which is likely to raise many domestic and foreign issues," he said.
Mousavi concluded that the only way out of "the ongoing crises" is returning to people what "they really want".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied his own Supreme Leader by refusing calls to remove his controversial deputy, who is also a relative.
Mr Ahmadinejad last week appointed Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who is related to him by marriage, as his deputy but the decision was roundly condemned by hardline clerics and politicians. Mr Mashai angered conservative leaders last year when he said Iranians were friends of all people in the world, even Israelis.
Iran's Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Khamenei ordered his removal, but Mr Ahmadinejad has refused to back down. Despite his power the Ayatollah does not have a formal role in appointing or removing government appointments.
He can only order people killed ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Despite his power the Ayatollah does not have a formal role in appointing or removing government appointments.
What's a poor Ayatollah to do?
Climb to the minaret and start singing!
f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fuh...
Fa Fa Fa, Fatwah tah tah.
I said-a Fa Fa Fa, Fah-twah tah tah.
Don't you know about the word?
Everybody knows that Fah-twah's the word!
papapapapapapapapapapapapapapa... papa umm mau mau
papa umm mau mau
remove short round
papa umm mau mau
remove short round
papa umm mau mau ...
Don't you know about the word?
Everybody knows that Fah-twah's the word!
(apologies to The Trashmen)
Posted by: The Ayatollah Of Rock-n-Rollah ||
07/23/2009 1:26 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Didn't Frank G and the Turbans do a cover on that one?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2009 8:13 Comments ||
Top||
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.
Hundreds more British troops could soon be sent to Afghanistan, a defence minister hinted yesterday.
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States has come up with scenarios to cope with any contingencies in North Korea after leader Kim Jong-il's death, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The United States has been unable to trace the source of the massive cyber attacks that paralyzed a number of government and commercial Web sites in South Korea and the U.S. earlier this month, the top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday.
The government is targeting the terror network run by 
Iran's state television will air the confessions of those arrested over involvement in orchestrating the post-election unrest in the country, a lawmaker says. 
