[Quqnoos] President Karzai presented a second slate of 16 nominees to fill his Cabinet after parliament rejected 17 of his 24 first picks. The new list, includes three women, nominated for the ministries of health, social affairs and women, was submitted Saturday to the Lower House of parliament by Vice-President Karim Khalili.
The Afghan president has nominated his Security Council chief, Zalmay Rasul, as the minister of Foreign Affairs -- the position remained vacant in his first list.
Today's picks didn't include nominees for ministers of energy and telecommunication as the parliament rejected Ismael Khan, a former Jehadi leader, and Amirzay Sangin -- Karzai's initial choices for the posts. Fourteen of the 16 nominees are new names and the MPs are expected to check out their background over the next few days.
Names of two former ministers, Zarar Mohammad Moqbel, the ex-Minister of Interior, and Amina Afzali, a former Minister of Youth Affairs, also appear in the second list.
Lawmakers will review the candidates during the next several days before of voting expected next week.
Karzai last week ordered the parliament to cancel its winter recess so it could consider new nominations for Cabinet posts.
Nominees must present themselves to parliament and face questioning from MPs before a secret ballot for approval.
Following the rejection head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said that lawmakers' decision to reject 70 percent of President Karzai's Cabinet nominees was a "political setback".
Kai Eide said the rejection will only delay efforts to get a functioning government up and running.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Residents of a southern Egypt village were furious on Saturday after houses and shops owned by Coptic Christians were burnt as sectarian tensions flared in the wake of a deadly drive-by shooting.
Muslim gunmen shot dead six Copts in the nearby town of Nagaa Hammadi on Wednesday night as worshippers emerged from Christmas Eve mass, one of Egypt's deadliest sectarian attacks in years in which a policeman was also killed.
On Saturday, men in traditional flowing robes and with crosses tattooed on their arms surveyed the damage in Bahgura, where shopfronts that were once blue and green were now charred black after overnight arson attacks.
They charged that Muslim "thugs" who live in the town went on the rampage on Friday night, lobbing fireballs into Christian-owned shops and some houses.
Muslim residents said the action was in retaliation for the shooting death of a member of their community, while Christian villagers said a woman from their community had died in fire attacks on their property.
Security sources denied there had been any deaths.
Past sugarcane fields lining the Nile, riot police and plain-clothed officers guarded the entrances to villages and towns near Nagaa Hammadi in impoverished Qena province, which relies entirely on sugar production.
In Bahgura, a crowd of villagers vented their anger to a plain-clothes policeman, and at least one person lunged forward in an attempt to hit him before being restrained by other residents.
"You don't want the truth to come out, you don't want them to see what's happened," one man shouted as police asked reporters to leave town.
Arson attacks
Christian homes and shops were burned by Muslims, the villagers charged. "They are Muslims and they live in this village," one man said.
"What can we do? They are protected and we are not!" shouted another.
Christians in Bahgura, and in Nagaa Hammadi where the Christmas Eve killings took place, are convinced that the authorities are turning a blind eye to the sectarian violence.
Some even accuse the authorities of actively protecting Muslims they say are behind the simmering tensions.
The interior ministry on Friday announced the capture of three suspects from Wednesday's shooting, including Nagaa Hammadi resident Mohammed al-Kamuni, known locally by his nickname Hamam.
But the ministry announcement merely left Copts demanding more answers.
"We all know Hamam," one Christian resident of Nagaa Hammadi told AFP. "He's a hired thug. We want to know who is really behind the shooting."
The Nagaa Hammadi attack was the deadliest since 20 Copts were killed in sectarian clashes in 2000, also in southern Egypt.
Copts, who account for nearly 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million, are the Middle East's largest Christian community but complain of routine harassment and systematic discrimination and marginalisation.
In the aftermath of the Nagaa Hammadi killings, many Copts fear a new outbreak of violence and are unwilling to tone down their anger at what they say is a government attempt to hush up Egypt's sectarian problem.
"The only reason things remain quiet is because of the heavy hand of security. Remove that hand and things will blow up," Malaak, 22, told AFP, declining to give her surname.
Another Christian, who also asked not to be identified, said: "The problem between Muslims and Christians is huge. And the police, security and politicians are all involved."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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SANAA -- Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh said he is open to dialogue with Al-Qaeda militants, as a top official warned that dozens of foreign jihadists are grouping in a remote part of the impoverished country.
"If Al-Qaeda (militants) lay down their arms, renounce violence and terrorism and return to wisdom, we are prepared to deal with them," Saleh told Abu Dhabi TV in an interview carried by Yemen's Saba news agency on Sunday. "We are prepared to deal with anyone who renounces violence and terrorism," he said.
If they did all that you wouldn't need to deal with them. They'd be auto mechanics or IT support guys or farmers or teachers.
All the farmers are growing khat, and the teachers mostly can barely read and write, as I recall, and are paid accordingly. The only thing those mooks are qualified to do is to fire guns wildly at nothing in particular until the villagers give up because they feel a headache coming on.
Saleh, whose country is also facing a Shiite rebellion in the north and a movement for autonomy in the south, stressed the government will crack down heavily on those who resort to violence.
"They are a threat not only to Yemen but also to international peace and security, particularly Al-Qaeda. They are ignorants, drug dealers and illiterate. They have no relation with Islam," he said.
The governor of southern Shabwa province, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, was quoted as saying on Sunday that dozens of Al-Qaeda fighters have streamed in from Afghanistan to join local members of the jihadist network in lairs carved out in the province's rugged Kour mountain.
The Romans handled that lair thingy when they reduced Masada. Granted, it took a trained and disciplined army and more than twenty minutes of wild shooting at nothing in particular, but even so.
"There are dozens of Saudi and Egyptian Al-Qaeda militants who came to the province," Ahmadi told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily. "This is in addition to Yemenis who came from Marib and Abyan (provinces) and a number of militants from Shabwa province itself," he added.
Got thumped in Iraq, Afghanistan is too far away, and Somalia is too turbulent. Yemen is the new stronghold for al-Q.
Saudi analyst Anwar Eshki said Al-Qaeda militants have been fleeing to Yemen after they came under tremendous pressure in Afghanistan and Pakistan in addition to a crackdown in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
"Run away! Run away!"
"The (Al-Qaeda) network is trying to establish itself in Yemen," Eshki, head of the Jeddah-based Middle East Strategic Studies Centre, told AFP.
Eshki believes Al-Qaeda in Yemen "will be far more dangerous than in Afghanistan because of its proximity to Gulf oil resources and transportation lines."
And besides, Yemen is the heart of Arabia, whereas Afghanistan is... not Arab.
President Saleh, meanwhile, said security forces and air force have achieved "impressive victories" against Al-Qaeda in the provinces of Abyan, Shabwa and the capital Sanaa.
For a given definition of impressive, they have indeed.
Yemeni security forces insist they are winning the war against the jihadists, pointing to two separate air raids in December that killed more than 60 suspected Al-Qaeda members. On Wednesday, Yemeni officials announced the capture of key Qaeda leader Mohammed al-Hanq and two other militants believed behind threats against Western interests in Sanaa that caused embassies to close for several days.
Yemen insists it can win the war against the militants without US military intervention, but analysts fear bin Laden's ancestral homeland cannot tackle the jihadists on its own.
On the other hand, who is going to notice a couple of Special Forces teams wandering up and down that rugged mountain at night?
Hundreds of taped sermons by Al Qaeda hate cleric Anwar al-Awlaki have been withdrawn from public library shelves after questions were raised by the Sunday Express. Muslim-led Tower Hamlets Council in east London removed 258 talking book' cassettes on Friday after we asked bosses to justify being the only authority in the capital stocking his work. The tapes were available to borrow from the council's main library in Whitechapel, a few hundred yards from where Detroit bomber Umar Abdulmutallab worshipped at the controversial East London Mosque.
American-born Awlaki, who records his messages from his base in Yemen, has been named as the 23 year old's spiritual mentor and the man who encouraged him to try to murder innocent civilians. His sermons on The Lives of the Prophets', The Life of Mohammad' and The Hereafter' were ordered by council library managers in 2004, just a few months after he gave a series of lectures in Britain extolling the rewards of martyrdom.
Last Thursday, more than half of Tower Hamlets's tapes were out on loan. But in a statement issued on Friday, the council said: As part of the borough's 'No Place for Hate' pledge, our commitment to promote community cohesion, and our ongoing work to review what's on our shelves, we have removed all titles from the borough's Idea Stores and libraries.'
However, Awlaki, 38, who is banned from the UK, is popular among hardline sections of British Muslim youths, largely because English is his first language. He spoke at the East London Mosque via a telephone link on New Year's Day, while three months before in 2008, he was given a platform at the Wandsworth Civic Centre in southwest London, where he called on Muslims around the world to rise up in jihad to free the blessed' detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
He said at the event organised by the Cageprisoners campaign group: We should make jihad for our brothers and an angel will make the same jihad for you. We will be benefitting ourselves. We should assist them in whatever way we can. We have a responsibility to our brothers who are behind bars. The release of the prisoners is a clear and all-encompassing command.'
Last year, authorities in Kensington and Chelsea banned another broadcast due to take place at its town hall in central London. However, the sermon is freely available on the internet, where it has been viewed by thousands of followers. In it, he says Muslim prisoners in Belmarsh high secrurity jail in southeast London, the current home of Abu Hamza, have been let down by fellow brothers'. He also tells followers not to be afraid of jail because it is a place for contemplation' and where they can become closer to Allah.
In another broadcast, he says tells supporters that they should learn from the early experiences of the Prophet Muhammad and realise that they do not need to issue warnings before they attack.
The ban in Tower Hamlets comes as a major behind-the-scenes row brews between Britain and American intelligence agencies over what information MI5 passed to the US over Abdulmutallab's links to Awlaki. An intelligence source said: We are fairly certain that time and again Awlaki makes a virtual tour' around Britain's Muslim community, trying to recruit more recruits for Osama bin Laden.'
#1
As part of the boroughs 'No Place for Hate' pledge, our commitment to promote community cohesion, and our ongoing work to review what's on our shelves, we have removed all titles from the borough's Idea Stores and libraries.
I liked it better when there was only one convenient place to get the material and there was an electronic record of who went looking for it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/10/2010 14:47 Comments ||
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#2
So what is the penalty for aiding and abetting the enemy or even being the enemy? Rhetorical, I know,
A London-based satellite broadcaster that describes itself as "the voice of authority for Muslims in the UK" has been accused of giving a platform to Anwar al-Awlaki, the extremist cleric with alleged links to al-Qaida and to the man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day.
The Islam Channel, a free-to-air English-language channel that claims to be "a trustworthy source to the two million-plus population of Muslims in the UK", last year carried adverts for a box set of DVDs of Awlaki's sermons and for at least two events at which the cleric was due to be the star speaker via a video link.
The channel's website has allowed visitors to click through to a pooled archive of Islamic scholars, from which they can download sermons by Awlaki, including "Stop Police Terror", "Brutality Towards Muslims" and "It's a War against Islam".
Leading British Muslim organisations, including the Islamic Society of Britain, have promoted Awlaki's lectures in the past, but now condemn his views. Haras Rafiq of Centri, a counter-extremism consultancy, said Awlaki's online influence over young radicals was becoming a serious concern. "The internet has by far overtaken TV as the favourite pastime of youngsters in countries such as the UK and the ability for people to download Awlaki's sermons is helping to provide radicalisation on demand," Rafiq said.
The channel's chief executive officer, Mohamed Ali Harrath, has been on an Interpol wanted list since 1992,
Has he indeed? And the police have done nothing about it? Whatever happened to the kind of international cooperation Britain showed Libya recently?
after his native Tunisia accused him of attempting to create "an Islamic state by means of armed revolutionary violence". Harrath denies the charges.
A spokeswoman for the channel said it had been unaware its website had provided links to Awlaki's sermons. She said the sermons were in an online archive shared with many websites. "Islam Channel has not at any time given a platform to Mr Awlaki," she said. The channel has now removed the link.
Maajid Nawaz, a former presenter on the Islam Channel who is now director of the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, said: "Islam Channel is beamed into thousands of Muslim homes every night. With such influence, however, comes responsibility."
following his 50% devaluation. Nice going, asshat
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that businesses have no reason to raise prices following the devaluation of the bolivar and that the government will seize any entity that boosts its prices. "no reason" if you want to go out of bizness
Chavez said he'll create an anti-speculation committee to monitor prices after private businesses said that prices would double and consumers rushed to buy household appliances and televisions. The government is the only authority able to dictate price increases, he said. worked for Nixon
The bourgeois are already talking about how all prices are going to double and they're closing their businesses to raise prices,' Chavez said in comments on state television during his weekly Alo Presidente' program. People, don't let them rob you, denounce it, and I'm capable of taking over that business.' "I can ruin it faster than they can!"
Chavez devalued the bolivar as much as 50 percent on Jan. 8 for the first time in almost 5 years, as last year's decline in oil revenue caused the economy to contract an estimated 2.9 percent, its first recession since 2003. The government set a multi-tiered currency system that Chavez says will stimulate national production by making imports more expensive.
The devaluation may add to inflation by 3 percent to 5 percent this year, Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said. The government forecast an inflation rate of 20 percent to 22 percent this year, after consumer prices rose 25 percent, according to the National Consumer Price Index.
The government also will attack' the so-called parallel exchange rate, which Chavez called illegal.' "anything is illegal, if I say it is!"
Venezuelans turn to the parallel rate when they can't get government authorization to buy dollars at the official exchange rate. The bolivar traded at 6.25 per dollar on Jan. 8, traders said.
They put the value of the dollar at more than 6 in an arbitrary and illegal manner,' Chavez said. We have to organize to reduce and attack that speculative, illegal dollar that hurts the Venezuelan economy so much.'
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2010 17:05 ||
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#1
Venezuelans - take a good look at Zimbabwe, this is your future.
Americans - take a good look at Venezuela, this is our future.
#2
Venez. Prez Chavez warns Price Speculators sez troops will seize control any biz that raises prices in response to devalue of Venez. currency ! Solution : Rantburg Mutt : SloveniaSimpott007 said : Make 3 Day Holiday : Redemption Venezuela : Daze ! Have Declared : Buying Spree : Anything : Made : Have : Venezuela : Toyota : Venezuela : Grundig : All : Celebrate : Down Pricing Rollback : WonBolivar : Viva : Chavez Sale : Make : More like 12% Off : No Barter Batter Charter : No Maketer Black Marketer : Sale ! Troops : PX Sales : Everything : Venez. People : Cheep Prices : Make Cheaper : Hail : VENEZUELA : YUPPIE !
#4
re:#2: Apparently I picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2010 18:52 Comments ||
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#5
Hugo sez : There was no reason for prices to go up , & speculators biz would be handed to the workers ! 7131 : Have 3 Day : Weekend Shopping : starting : every : Friday ! Shore Up : Bolivar : Hola , Ola , Allah Akbar !
#6
Venez.'s rushed to shop buy imported goods before the Bolivar's Devaluation : Comes Into : Effect ! Still : Dood It : Helps : Viva , Venezuela : Every Friday : 3 Day Weekend : For Next : Duration : June , 14 , 2011 !
#7
Hugo sez : Devaluing the : Bolivar by at least 17% will boost competiveness & reduce dependence on : Imports ! Have MultiCapitalists Corporates : Home Theme : Put National Flag : On : Made In : Venezuela ! Hola ! Commerce Through : Humanity ! Imports : Exports : Made : Venezula : Theme ! We Luv : Venez.'s !
A day late and a dime short. But, maybe, at last
MONTREAL (CBC) - A group of Canadian and U.S. Islamic leaders on Friday issued a fatwa, or religious edict, declaring that an attack by extremists on the two countries would constitute an attack on the 10 million Muslims living in North America.
The 20 imams associated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada said this marked the first fatwa by the Muslim clergy declaring attacks on Canada and the U.S. to be attacks on Muslims.
"In our view, these attacks are evil, and Islam requires Muslims to stand up against this evil," the imams said in their fatwa.
Calgary Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, said attacks on Canadian or U.S. soil are essentially attacks on Muslims. "We are part of this society," he said. "This is my home, and if anybody attacks on Canada, in fact, attacks on my home." Jist of the article. It's taken 9 years to hear this. But I'll take it.
#1
I have confidence that, despite this administration, we will be as patient and devote an equal amount of time at a minimum to review this statement before applying any change in perspective.
However, the current PC crap has to STOP.
#3
Just another form of conflict with Islam, Shiite against Sunni, Sunni against Wahabi. The purpose of Islam is still submission whether peacefully or violently.
#4
Reach for the dictionary, swat up 'taqiya', various spellings. Oh, and they forgot to mention the other 200-odd million kaffirs that are legitimate targets.
Sounds like a hudna whilst the numbers are being consolidated. As .com would say, which end do you pick the turd up? My call is taqiya, faithfully reported.
#8
Maybe the imans are sensing that the good folk (or what they call infidels) are getting just a little pissed with 9/11, shootings at Ft. Hood, attempts to blow up planes, and the many other acts of terrorism. And maybe too many of these imans fly the airlines in Canada and the U.S.--just worry about their owns skins?
#12
ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > "CHINA IS THE DESTINY OF SIBERIA" WHERE RUSSIA MEETS CHINA.
And, by extension, where CHINA meets the OWG STRATEGIC NODE OF RUSSIA's PROPOSED SIBERIA-BASED NORTH PACIFIC BRIDGES = CHUNNELS, ETC. LINKS TO JAPAN, ALASKA US State, + possibly NORTHWESTERN CANADA???
#13
Saab : Sob : Founded : 1937 : Conceived : GM : Bought : Saab : 1989 2008: Not Made : Profit : 2001 : Saab : Employs : 3,400 : Sweden : lost : 30 Billion : Kronor : Sterling Currency : 412 m : : No Profit
#14
GM : Still : Trying : Selling : Saab : Since : Last Year : In : June : GM : Announced : Agreed : Sell : It : TOO : Sports carmaker : Koenigsegg : Only : They's Swede Company : Pulled Out : November 2009
#15
GM : Still : Trying : Selling : Saab : Since : Last Year : In : June : GM : Announced : Agreed : Sell : It : TOO : Sports carmaker : Koenigsegg : Only : They's Swede Company : Pulled Out : November 2009
#17
GM : sez : It had selected : Restructing Group : AlixPartners : : Supervise : Orderly Winding Down : Saab ! Try this : One , DUH !! US Group : GM : Confirmed : That it : Received : Several Proposals : Saab : Which was trying to : Evaluate !
#18
One Bid : Comes : From : Group : Including : Formula One : Group : Bernie Ecclestone ! Swedish union , IF Metall , Representive : Saab's Board : Criticized : GM : Start : Liquidation Sale ! Hero Wolf ( Ole : Adolph : Off : To The Showers , DOH !! ) Still Continuing : Explore A : Sale ! GM : Initiatives : Irresponsible : Pursue Sale : Of : Saab : (Sob) : Winding Down : sez : Stefan Loefven ! -Union Leader 2 Bids : 2 Groups : Bid On : Saab ! Ecclestone : sez : to : Bloomberg News Agency : Saab : Was/Is : A Good : BRAND !!
#19
Second : Confirmed Bid : Has come from : Dutch Sports : carmaker : Spyker ! A 3rd Group : Swede Buyers : Not Confirmed ! Joeran Haegglund/Haeglund : Swedish Enterprise Ministry : State Security : Swedish News Agency : TT ! Swedish Delegation : Joeran : Leads : For : GM & Ford ! Which : Process : Selling : Swedish : Unit : VOLVO : Chinese : Carmaker : Geely !
The chance to secure crucial information about al-Qaeda operations in Yemen was lost because the Obama administration decided to charge and prosecute Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as an ordinary criminal, critics say. He is said to have reduced his co-operation with FBI interrogators on the advice of his government-appointed defence counsel.
The potential significance became chillingly clear this weekend when it was reported that shortly after his detention, he boasted that 20 more young Muslim men were being prepared for similar murderous missions in the Yemen.
The lawyer for the 23-year-old Nigerian entered a formal not guilty plea on Friday to charges that he tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25 -- even though he reportedly admitted earlier that he was trained and supplied with the explosives sewn into his underwear by al-Qaeda in the Arab state.
"He was singing like a canary, then we charged him in civilian proceedings, he got a lawyer and shut up," Slade Gorton, a member of the 9/11 Commission that investigated the Sept 2001 terror attacks on the US, told The Sunday Telegraph.
"I find it incomprehensible that this administration is treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue. The president has finally said that we are at war with al-Qaeda. Well, if this is a war, then Abdulmutallab should be treated as a combatant not a criminal."
Abdulmutallab could have been held and interrogated in military custody under existing US legislation before a decision was taken whether to charge him before a military tribunal or a civilian court, according to Michael Mukasey, the last Attorney General under President George W Bush.
Mr Mukasey argues that it was crucial to gain intelligence from him immediately as details about locations, names and other plots is subject to rapid change. For the same reason, he dismissed the argument by John Brennan, Mr Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser, that investigators will garner valuable data during any plea-bargaining talks.
"He certainly should know that the kind of facts that Abdulmutallab might be expected to know have a shelf life that is a lot shorter than the plea bargaining process," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week.
Mr Obama announced a series of steps designed to "connect the dots" by tackling the failures in intelligence that meant Abdulmutallab was not identified as a terror suspect and the activities of the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen were not seen as a threat to the US homeland.
He also declared: "We are at war against al-Qaeda". The bold statement was welcomed by conservative critics who believe that Mr Obama has deliberately avoided using terms such as "war" and "terrorism" during his first year and initially described Abdulmutallab as an "isolated extremist".
But they also say that the administration has demonstrated a lack of vigilance by downplaying threats and that charging the former London college student as an attempted mass murderer rather than a terrorist gives off dangerous mixed signals.
Dan Goure, a national security analyst and Pentagon adviser, said that the Obama administration's philosophy and approach was fuelling the intelligence imbroglio.
"There is a strategic disconnect between the different parts of our government which are currently engaged in very different conflicts," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "Not everybody is at war and no amount of connecting the dots is going to deal with that issue.
"The president has finally acknowledged that we are at war, the military certainly knows it's fighting a new kind of war, the intelligence community is not sure whether we're at war and is keeping its head down and the justice and homeland security departments are treating terrorism as a crime and do not think we're at war at all."
The missed clues about Abdulmutallab and the terror plot came less than two months after the Fort Hood massacre committed by Maj Nidal Hasan, a Muslim officer about whom numerous red flags were missed. Both men were in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born preacher now based in Yemen.
And just five days after Christmas Day, a suicide bomber killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan after he was brought on to a US base without screening to meet agents who believed he was about to spill the beans on al-Qaeda's top leaders.
The three incidents have caused a fresh crisis for the US intelligence community more than eight years after the Sept 2001 suicide attacks highlighted glaring weaknesses in how America's 16 different spy agencies operated.
The bipartisan 9/11 Commission, of which Mr Gorton, a lawyer and former Republican senator, was one of 10 members, recommended a radical overhaul. At the heart of the shake-up was the creation of the National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), drawing experts and analysts from sometimes competing agencies, under the auspices of the new Office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI).
The new offices were intended to force the disparate US intelligence world to share information and, in Mr Obama's words, "connect the dots".
But Mr Brennan's investigation into the Christmas Day attack singled out the NCTC and the CIA for blame.
For although the new apparatus is much better at collecting information, it also seems to have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data now available. So when Abdulmutallab's father reported his concerns about his son's radicalisation to the CIA station chief at the embassy in Nigeria, his name was added to more than 550,000 already on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide) database at the NCTC.
#1
Within the intelligence community, there is particular frustration at the DNI over the slow progress in introducing new computer technologies that would give analysts with appropriate security clearance the chance to filter databases across multiple agencies.
The technology and tools are ALREADY available. It is NOT a 'systems' problem, it is a turf problem. There, I said it.
#5
Turf problem? Political in-fighting in our government? Structural problem? Incompetence? Fragmented efforts between intelligence organizations. Wrong model (law and order model) for addressing the problems? Maybe all of the above.
#8
Itis NOT a 'systems' problem, it is a turf problem.
Any problem involving data is inherently a political problem involving turf.
We Americans continue to think that technology, in whatever form, can substitute for clear thinking, superior strategy, and humint. Can't and never could.
Twenty-seven organizations on Friday asked the Department of Homeland Security to change newly tightened airport-security rules that they say will result in racial and ethnic profiling.
In a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, the groups -- about half representing Muslim Americans -- criticized a new policy that requires extra screening for people traveling to the U.S. from or through 14 countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism or countries "of interest."
The terror-sponsor list includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, while the countries of interest include Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.
The groups said in the letter that with the exception of Cuba, the directive targets individuals traveling from Muslim-majority or Middle Eastern countries with no regard as to whether the passenger poses an individualized threat.
The groups also said the extra screening diverts attention and resources from legitimate leads and suspicious behavior.
"All of us are concerned about the security of our nation. However, security policies based on ethnic and religious profiling are both ineffective and contrary to constitutional principles. Terrorism is neither ethnically nor geographically confined," the letter reads.
DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said the agency would respond directly to the letter's authors. He said the Transportation Security Administration, an arm of the DHS, "does not profile."
The new DHS policy is one of several actions the Obama administration took following a failed attempt by a Nigerian national to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet flying to Detroit on Christmas Day. The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is accused of hiding explosives in his underwear. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday.
"As is always the case, TSA security measures are based on threat, not ethnic or religious background," said Mr. Chandler. He also noted that the new directives applied to every person flying to the U.S. from or through the list of 14 countries, and required that a majority of travelers flying to the U.S. from everywhere else in the world go through enhanced, threat-based and random screening.
Among the groups are the Muslim Advocates, the Arab American Institute, the Muslim Bar Associations in several states and the Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
yay, bias.
Its Moslem males with Moslem names and they look like..well...Moslems. If you want to stay alive, you dont CARE if he has a mother who loves him.
If you want to stay alive you shoot everybody who has a beard and wears a dress. And the dog.
I will tell you something..eventually we arent going to care if they ARE human? We wont mind in their case. We will target the entire city and everybody in it. Where do you THINK it will all end?
They will cut us a deal? I dont think we are going to have sweet reason and a happy outcome. I see somebody winning and somebody losing. I dont see "peace". Lets just get it over with and quit fooling ourselves. Get in close, smile, and stick the bastid.
We will have to do it eventually ANYWAY. There isnt going to be a happy outcome. Eventually we are going to have to close the door and get Abdrool. I am sorry for his mother, but somebody take her for a walk. Put a blanket over her head and use a two kilo rock.
#2
the directive targets individuals traveling from Muslim-majority or Middle Eastern countries with no regard as to whether the passenger poses an individualized threat.
Let me tidy up that statement. "the directive targets individuals traveling from Muslim-majority or Middle Eastern countries to determine if the passenger poses an individualized threat."
#3
Terrorism is neither ethnically nor geographically confined,
I beg to differ. Stick pins in a map or make a table of ethnicity and religion. See any common factors?
Random sampling is a powerful tool for statistical quality control. But it only makes sense when each part has an equal likelihood of being defective. If all the bad parts you ever found came from the same factory or machine, it only makes sense to focus your sampling efforts there.
#4
Profiling is NOT bullshit, it's practical and accurate, which is why there's so much yelling and racket, it's a manufactured smokescreen to prevent it's practical use.
In short, ignore the 5th column noise and use the tool.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/10/2010 13:16 Comments ||
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#5
Why not do both? LA, SF, Seattle, NYC can do it the way the want and sane people can allow the security systems to work effectively. Works for the lunies, works for me. Win-win.
LAHORE - Chairman Nazaria Pakistan Trust (NPT) Majid Nizami has said Hindus are eternal enemies of Pakistan and that is why Hindustan has always been trying to destabilise Pakistan in the disguise of establishing "friendship".
"Hindu is our enemy and I will keep saying this till my last breath. India wants to finish our existence as an independent Muslim state in South Asia. So we should be alert and vigilant about the evil designs of Hindus," Majid Nizami stressed.
He expressed these views while addressing a farewell ceremony held in honour of a 40 students delegation belonging to NWPF and Sindh here at Aiwan-e-Karkunan-e-Tehreek-e-Pakistan on Saturday.
The student delegation had come to Lahore on 7-days educational tour on the invitation of Nazaria Pakistan Trust (NPT).
Nizami said, "We should also get rid of America which in grab of a friend is playing the role of an enemy".
He said the educational tour of the students has refreshed his memory of the historic days of 1947 when he himself as a student visited Karachi with a student delegation. "During the tour we (students) used to take our meals in Iranian Hotel in Karachi and watched movies in a cinema run by Hakam Ali Zardari, father of President Asif Ali Zardari".
Peshawar, he said, is like a second home for me because as a student I used to go to Peshawar every year but is unfortunate that now the both cities, Peshawar and Karachi, are under shadows of bomb blasts. He regretted that target killing are being done in Karachi and people are demanding deployment of Army and Rangers there. He said Pakistan was not made for bomb blasts and target killings and it is need of the hours to deploy army and rangers there to protect the lives of the people.
He said Pakistan was established in the name of Islam and two-nation theory because Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations having nothing common.
Nizami said Hindus are hypocrite and they cannot be trusted while America is also not a friend of Pakistan and we need to be careful.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/10/2010 09:35 ||
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#1
Apparently Nizami didn't get the memo from the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2010 13:59 Comments ||
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#2
D *** NG IT, now I'm hungry for SUBWAY HOAGIES!
* ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > MUGHALIZATION | PAKISTAN-BANGALDESH PLANA "MUGHALIZATION" TO SPLIT INDIA [aleged new Muslim Nation will comprise all of NORTH + EASTERN INDIA, + link AFPAK to BANGLADESH.
* TOPIX > HUNDREDS OF AL QAEDA AND ISLAMIC JIHADI FIGHTERS FLEEING YEMEN AND AFGHANISTAN TO LEBANON.
[Dawn] Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned the reproduction of Danish caricatures of Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) by a Norwegian newspaper.
The Foreign Office strongly condemned the reprinting of the blasphemous Danish caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in a newspaper in Norway.
They may be blasphemous in Pakistan, but Norway does not allow that concept to rule beyond the private domain... just as Pakistan's laws do not apply beyond its own borders. Sorry.
Pakistan urged Norway to take appropriate measures and ensure that the people who committed this blasphemous act were appropriately reprimanded.
And so Norway has, by doing nothing at all.
The caricatures were originally printed in a Danish newspaper back in 2006 and sparked tremendous outrage in the Muslim world as thousands protested in Muslim countries across the world, including in Pakistan. The artist of the cartoons Kurt Westergaard was also attacked on January 2, 2010 in his home by a 28-year-old Somalian man, who was armed with an axe and a knife, but escaped unhurt and his attacker was apprehended.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
To be fair, the paper should also print a collection of islamic cartoons depicting Jews and other infidels. The "blood-eating" jews series in particular is hilarious. MEMRI has a fine collection from which to choose. The one-sided view of cartoons begs a little comparison. Sauce for the goose and all.
#2
The Lenny Bruce rule applies. He noted that by preventing the use of an expletive word, it becomes powerful and hurtful, but if that same word is used a lot, it loses its power.
Therefore, all sorts of pictures of Mohammed, and Allah as well, should be posted all over the place. Soon the Islamic argument would run out of steam.
[Dawn] Indian frontier troops Saturday accused their Pakistani counterparts of firing at least four rockets across the border into northern Punjab but said there were no casualties.
The incident is the second since September when two rockets allegedly fired by Pakistani troops landed near the popular tourist attraction of Wagah in Indian Punjab.
Border Security Force (BSF) officials said two of the cross-border rockets exploded in farms on the Indian side while the remaining two did not detonate.
Fifty percent effectiveness? Is that as pathetic as it seems to me in my ignorance?
"No casualty has been reported," a BSF official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Frontier commanders from both sides met to discuss the alleged shelling, he said in the Sikh pilgrimage city of Amritsar.
There was no immediate comment available from Islamabad but the BSF official said Pakistani commanders at the meeting denied firing the rockets.
The Indian army meanwhile claimed cross-border firing at Kashmir's disputed borders early Saturday and said it occurred during an unsuccessful attempt by alleged Pakistani militants to sneak into Indian territory.
"There was firing by the Pakistanis before the militants tried to breach fencing along our borders," army major general Surendra Nath said in Jammu, Indian Kashmir's winter capital.
Nath said Indian soldiers foiled the infiltration bid.
The BSF in Kashmir claimed a rocket was also fired from Pakistan into the Indian zone of the divided Himalayan region.
There were no casualties, officials said, adding that a high security alert was sounded following the failed infiltration attempt.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The mother of militant leader Fazlullah said on Saturday that her son will not surrender until Sharia is implemented. Fazlullah's mother and teacher were presented before the media in Swat.
His teacher, Waliullah Kabal-Girami stated that he had taught his former student that any kind of violence is against the teachings of Islam and had urged him to remain on the righteous path.
Fazlullah's mother said that the Army was looking after her well and that she had no complaints. She also said that she had exhorted her son to not pursue the murderous path. However, he had refused to budge.
His teacher said that on numerous occasions he had taught his pupil that Islam prohibits suicide bombing and that it offers no mercy from the senseless blood shedding that is being wrought in the country's north.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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As a town in Jordan has shelved a plan to name a street after Iraqi former leader Saddam Hussain in the wake of the political and diplomatic furore it sparked in Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, a Jordanian tribe has decided to name all the males born this year as Saddam and all its daughters "Raghad", "Hala" or "Rana" after Saddam's daughters.
That's one way to limit their future prospects for education, career, and marriage, thus reducing the income of the entire tribe.
Jordan's Prime Minister Sameer Al Rifae said his government would not accept the decision taken by the municipal council of Al Mazar, a small town 250 kilometres south of Amman, the capital. "Prime Minister Al Rifae stressed that the idea of naming the street after Saddam would not be recognised by the Jordanian Hashemite Kingdom," Kuwait's Ambassador to Jordan Faisal Al Humoud Al Sabah was quoted as saying by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
Nabeel Al Shareef, Jordan's Minister of State for Information and Communications, told the Ammon news service that the residents of Al Mazar submitted a petition to the municipal council to revoke their decision about naming one of the town streets after Saddam Hussein. The council eventually accepted the petition and cancelled the decision, he said.
The council made the U-turn during a meeting on Saturday under local and regional pressure, led by Kuwait's foreign ministry. Several Kuwaiti MPs planned to demand on Sunday a freeze of Kuwait's relations with Jordan if the street naming move was upheld.
Jordanian notables supported the call not to pay public tribute to Saddam. "It is like stabbing Kuwait in the back because of a person who does not represent the official or even popular Jordanian view in any way," Ghazi Al Fayez, former parliament speaker, said. "It is just the case of an individual decision and I think that the Jordanian government will now replace him," he told Kuwaiti daily Al Rai.
Most Jordanians have opposed the idea of the street naming and held that Jordan as a country and the people should not be accused of making blunders, Al Fayez said. "Unfortunately, there are dozens of Jordanians who made highly deplorable mistakes involving other countries. Every time, the government has distanced itself from them and invariably explained that it did not support what they did or said," he said.
According to Al Fayez, the town mayor, Mohammad Al Sarayrah, is a well-known Baathist who had studied in Iraq. "There is now a petition circulating among the people in the area condemning his individual behaviour and decision," he said.
People familiar with the region said that Saddam Hussein who was executed in December 2006 remained a popular figure there and that the decision to name a street after him could be "one way to exact revenge on Iran's role and influence in Iraq."
Perhaps that sentence makes more sense in the original Arabic, because I have no idea how Iran crept into the discussion.
In Amman, the view was that "the whole issue had been over-inflated and did not deserve all the attention it was getting." However, the controversial issue could be compounded after Al Nawaysa tribe, from Al Mazar area, said that the decision to cancel the naming of the street after Saddam was taken after "blatant interference in Jordan's domestic affairs."
"The tribe council held a meeting following the latest developments and has agreed to ask all the members of the tribe to name their sons born in 2010 'Saddam' and to name their new-born daughters 'Raghad', 'Hala' or 'Rana' after the daughters of the martyr Saddam Hussein," the tribe council said. "We will also start collecting donations from the tribe members to build a multi-purpose hall that we will name 'Hall of the Greatest Martyr Saddam Hussein' in tribute to his glory," the tribe council said.
Glory. That seems to have a different meaning in Arabic as well.
[Ma'an] De facto Prmie Minister Ismail Haniyah and a Libyan relief delegation signed on Thursday an agreement whereby 1,000 Libyan families will support 1,000 Palestinian families affected by Israel's war last winter, sponsored by the Gaza Ministry of Social Affairs.
"It is not strange that Libyan people should help and stand by Palestinians because both nations are like brothers and have real partnership. Palestinians are still suffering from the blockade but they will be released from it with the help of the Libyan people," said Haniyah.
The de facto prime minister's comments followed a visit on Thursday with the Libyan delegation of the International Organization for Peace to the Rayan family, who erected a tent on the ruins of their home in northern Gaza, demolished by Israeli soldiers during Operation Cast Lead. The family's father, Sheikh Nizar Rayan, was killed during Israel's military offensive.
The Libyan delegation was received by a number of Hamas officials and heads of Gaza municipalities, in addition to numerous Palestinians from northern Gaza.
The son of Sheikh Nizar Rayan welcomed the attendees and expressed his gratitude to the delegation. "We are proud of all Arabs who lend a hand and support Palestinians living under the Israeli seige," he said.
The Medal of Bravery was offered to the head of the Libyan delegation, Khaled Al-Hamidy, by Haniyah for their efforts to break the siege imposed on Gaza.
Al-Hamidy assured those present that Arab and Islamic nations do, indeed, support Gaza families and "will help them to face the blockade. Israel's practices won't oppose people's steadfastness and strength."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Screwed 1000 suckers to feed 1000 lazy bums.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/10/2010 13:09 Comments ||
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[Ma'an] A Hamas delegation headed by the Islamist movement's senior most leader Khalid Mash'al met with Syrian President Bashir Al-Asad in Damascus on Saturday to discuss the status of the occupied Palestinian territories.
The meeting tackled the latest developments in the Palestinian territories as reconciliation efforts between rival factions Hamas and Fatah reached an impasse, according to Hamas official Izzat Ar-Rashq.
The conveners also addressed continuous Israeli assaults, settlement activity, plans to Judaize Jerusalem and divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to the ongoing crippling siege on the Gaza Strip.
The Syrian president was briefed on the reasons for stalemate in the reconciliation process and the amendments Hamas would like addressed before signing the Egyptian-sponsored document.
Ar-Rashq pointed out that the Hamas delegation updated Al-Asad on the reasons which led to the stalemate in reconciliation efforts, and the amendments Hamas wanted addressed before signing the Egyptian-sponsored document.
Al-Asad reaffirmed his concern for Palestinian reconciliation, asserting that he will support any effort that will lead to an agreement between Palestinian factions, according to the Syrian News Agency. The Syrian president reiterated that Palestinian unity would be the only means to restoring Palestinian rights and face the challenges they are confronted with.
The meeting held between the Hamas delegation and Hamas officials was undertaken as part of a tour of Arab, Muslim and foreign countries in order to "crystallize a national relief strategy to face the failure of Palestinian reconciliation efforts," Ar-Rashq said. Additionally, the tour will aim at finding solutions to "the extremist Israeli government led by Netanyahu and his foreign minister Lieberman," he said.
The Hamas delegation has also visited Yemen, Libya, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Hamas members were not behind the shooting death of an Egyptian soldier during protests that turned violent earlier int he week, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Ma'an on Saturday.
"Hamas has information that confirms the Egyptian soldier was shot by the Egyptian forces opening fire at Palestinian protesting the attack against the Lifeline [British Member of Parliament George Galloway's] convoy," the official said.
The de facto Ministry of Interior, Abu Zuhri said, has undertaken investigations into the incident, the results of which will be announced upon completion.
"We shall not forget that 35 Palestinians were injured during the recent clashes with the Egyptian forces, including two deaths," the spokesman said.
"We shall have Dire Revenge!"
Abu Zuhri accused the Egyptian authorities of using the death of the Egyptian solider in the media to cover up the construction of the US funded steel wall, aimed at curbing the Gaza smuggling tunnel industry.
Hamas officials have been in contact with Egypt to contain the crisis, he said, adding that "it is clear that the relationship between Hamas and Cairo needs a special meeting to organize the basics of the relation and alleviate recent developments, which were caused by the steel wall decision."
The Egyptian media reacts
Meanwhile, the Egyptian daily Al-Jumhouriya described Hamas a gang on its front page. "We were surprised that the Gazan candidates turned into a gang that rules with metal and fire, benefiting from the smuggling of drugs, Viagra and food."
The Gazans need Viagra? That would explain the missing million in Palestinian population numbers.
"If we leave the Gaza gang to continue out of control, they will bring Al-Qaeda to the Sinai," said editor-in-chief of the daily Muhammad Ali Ibrahim.
"We tell this Gaza gang that claims heroism, whose officials sleep in palaces in Damascus and eat the best food on earth, while leaving their people without food and shelter, that it is time to be questioned. History has never witnessed such a gang that imposes its opinion on a country."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Viagra?! Well, there are those 72 virgins waiting for "martyrs". might need a little help. Also explains their collective stupidity - no blood available for the brain.
#2
Hamas: Soldier killed by Egyptian bullet, not Palestinian
Yep we raided the Egyptian armory and stole a whole buncha THEIR ammo, so we know what he was shot with.
We know you Can't tell the bullets apart, so our claims (no matter how weird) MUST be true.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/10/2010 13:24 Comments ||
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Doha-based Egyptian scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi says if it is proven that acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas instigated the Israeli war against Gaza, he must be stoned.
"During the debate raised over the Goldstone UN report which accused Israel of war crimes against Gaza, there were reports that Abbas encouraged Israel to launch its offensive against Gaza," Qaradawi said as he delivered a Friday sermon at Doha's Omar bin al-Khattab mosque.
"There also were reports that he stalled a vote on the report by the UN Human Rights Council," said the Egyptian scholar, who is a Qatari citizen, as well.
"The Arab League should investigate the matter, and if it is proven that Abbas instigated the Israeli war against Gaza, he deserves to be publicly stoned in Mecca because this would be a betrayal on his part," he added.
However, Qaradawi pointed out that he was not issuing a religious ruling (fatwa), but simply calling on the Arab league, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and certain other unbiased parties to conduct a probe.
"I did not issue a fatwa. I am not a judge or investigator," he stated, rejecting a contrary claim made by the acting Palestinian Authority Chief.
Abbas accused Qaradawi of issuing such a fatwa, while speaking to members of the Qatari media during a visit he paid to the Persian Gulf littoral state last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
You know... I was just thinking of a chocolate sundae with a cherry on top - Spencer Tracy
#7
You were meant to become a Rantburger, Rhodesiafever. QED. :-)
Mr. Wife has two similar tales that I am aware of, from his days doing that factory start-up in Greece: once he dropped off a letter at the post office, walked around the corner only to hear the boom; the second, he couldn't get on an overcrowded ferry to the islands, which was subsequently attacked by terrorists in motorboats with machine guns. I put his life in the hands of Providence in 1987.
[Dawn] The Palestinians on Saturday insisted on a full Israeli settlement freeze before renewing peace efforts, putting a damper on a US call to revive talks with no preconditions.
Ok. No talks until then. Send the American whatsisname, and the Quartet representatives home. They can be recalled when talks restart. Think of the CO2 saved because the diplomatic airplanes aren't flying back and forth, not to mention fuel costs and catering bills.
"A resumption of peace talks requires the complete halt of settlements" in the occupied West Bank, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
Erakat also demanded that Israel comply with its commitment under the 2003 peace roadmap, which calls for a "halt to all settlement activity including natural growth and Jerusalem."
Erakat also said negotiations should be picked up from the point they were left when they broke down in December 2008.
So far, there has been no reaction from the Israeli government.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume the peace talks without preconditions, in Washington's latest bid to return the sides to the negotiations table.
Clinton backed the key Palestinian aim of creating a state along the borders that existed before the 1967 Israeli-Arab war, but said the lines would be modified through mutually agreed land swaps, presumably to account for some Israeli settlements that would remain.
The Palestinians have insisted the borders of their promised state encompass all of their land Israel occupied in 1967, including mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- which Israel later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community -- as their capital.
"Resolving borders resolves settlements. Resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements," the chief US diplomat told reporters after meeting Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Washington.
"We are working with the Israelis, the (Palestinian Authority), and the Arab states to take the steps needed to relaunch the negotiations as soon as possible and without preconditions," Clinton said.
The parties can reach a solution that "reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders," she said.
President Barack Obama administration's efforts to revive the peace talks have so far been frustrated despite heavy pressure on Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states to make positive gestures.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in November a partial suspension of settlement activity in the West Bank but not in occupied east Jerusalem as a gesture ahead of the resumption of talks.
The Palestinians have nevertheless repeatedly insisted on a full suspension of settlement construction in all land occupied in 1967.
Obama's special Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who said earlier this week that peace talks should not last more than two years, was expected to return to the region later this month to push the latest US initiative.
Mitchell will hold consultations in Europe next week with allies and more members of the quartet made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Settlements seem to be a very efficient way to get rid of the Palestinians. EVERY SQUARE INCH even if it is an inch at a time. Keep it up, its working.
Steady, every day, month by month, year by year until NOTHING is left of the Palestinians. Nada, Zip. The WHOLE enchilada.
Brazil is beautiful this time of year. Get a ticket and make your future in the Amazon for Allah. Bye.
No, really.
By ten years from now the settlements will do us all a lot of good. Keep it up. You wont miss them, trust me.
#2
The Palestinians on Saturday insisted on a full Israeli settlement freeze before renewing peace efforts, putting a damper on a US call to revive talks with no preconditions.
Once again it must be stated clearly. Settlement freeze has always been an issue to be resolved but its never been a precondition for any talks until Obama publicly announced his position. Hillary tried to roll back his statements only to have the AL spew date pits in her face. Now Mitchell is talking tough about suspension of guaranteed Israeli loans not a good role for him. Even rookie diplomacy demands you dont have to make it better just dont make it worse. Im beginning to think this guy could screw up a wet dream.
Stopped reading right there.
Remember the old phrase
Don't let your alligator mouth overpower your Mickey Mouse ASS.
Paleoweenies, You're in NO position to DEMAND shit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/10/2010 13:29 Comments ||
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#4
Now Mitchell is talking tough about suspension of guaranteed Israeli loans
I don't think Israel needs American loan guarantees the way they used to, not since Bibi Netanyahu Reaganized the economy back in the '90s. I've been reading The Israel Test, and find Israel's recent history fascinating. Not at all the kind of thing they talked about when I was a child.
[Straits Times] PRIME Minister Najib Razak on Saturday moved swiftly to calm religious tensions as news emerged that a fourth church had been targeted by arsonists.
The church attacks - following a recent High Court ruling that allowed Christians to use the word 'Allah' to refer to God - has stunned Malaysians unused to such violence.
The attacks drew condemnation on Saturday from leaders across the political divide.
'Acts such as the burning of the house of worship of other religions are a heinous act,' said Datuk Seri Najib who, along with several Cabinet ministers and their deputies, visited the Metro Tabernacle church here.
Exhorting all parties not to act emotionally, he also announced a RM500,000 (S$206,000) relocation fund for the church, the ground floor of which was gutted by the fire.
'This is a sincere contribution from the government,' he told reporters. 'The government is deeply committed to maintain harmony and cordial relations between the various races and religions in our country.'
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
My Father used to say, Turnabout is fair play, I think the Copts need to burn down a mosque for each church torched, and machine Gun the Islamics leaving prayer EXACTLY as the Muslims have.
That would put a stop to this shit quickly.
Problem now is the Muslims do this shit unpunished, THAT MUST STOP.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/10/2010 13:38 Comments ||
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#3
I think the Copts need to burn down a mosque for each church torched
#4
Unfortunately, while the Muslims can torch Christian Churches without any sort of punishment.
If a Christian were to torch (or even draw a cartoon about) a mosque they would be swiftly sentenced to death.
See Dhimmitude.
Remember - Islam is a 'religion' who's god, Allah, is such a pathetic excuse for a 'god', that he cannot tolerate any competition or even cartoons...
Wasn't it in Indonesia where some parents were almost sentenced to death for [inadvertantly] inviting a muslim child to an Easter party? In the same country some muslims who sawed off some christian girl's heads off got a mere 15 years (with time off for Islamic Holidays). Same place where the mastermind behind the Bali bombings is already free from prison.
#5
Don't believe what this particularly scandalous PM Najib is saying. He and his party is responsible for stoking up this issue(to stay in power) which is actually a non issue. That's why not all muslims support him and his infernally racist UMNO party.
#6
Anyone wishing to understand the situation in M'sia with a finer tooth comb can glean something very helpful from this site, for example:
http://freemalaysiatoday.com/english/
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Malaysian church was firebombed Saturday, police and church officials said, the fourth such attack in two days as a row escalated over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims. "Only we have God. You can only have God by joining us."
The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in southwest Kuala Lumpur was the latest target. There were no reports of injuries.
Molotov cocktails were thrown at the windows of the first and second floors of the three-storey building, the church's Bishop Philip Loke told AFP.
"They narrowly missed it, but part of the walls are burnt," he said, adding "we suspect this attack is linked to the other attacks."
At least three churches were struck early on Friday in an unprecedented spate of attacks in this mainly Muslim country as a row over a court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word "Allah" in its Malay language editions presented a major challenge to the government.
One of the churches attacked on Friday was badly burned while firebombs thrown at two others failed to cause damage.
Selangor state police chief Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed Saturday's attack, saying it had caused minor damage to the building and police were investigating.
"We believe this attack is linked to the three other attacks but nobody saw how it happened. There were no eyewitnesses," he told AFP.
Malaysia is mainly Muslim and Malay but there are substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who primarily practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. Around 9 percent of the 28 million population are Christian, including 800,000 Catholics.
The use of the word "Allah" to describe the Christian God is widespread in Arabic speaking countries such as Lebanon and Egypt but Malaysian Muslims say the issue is especially sensitive in a country that has large minorities and where they say Christian missionaries will use the word to convert Muslims.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
You would think Christians would want to avoid conflating God and Allah (spit).
#2
You would think Christians would want to avoid conflating God and Allah (spit).
It's a tool for conversion. Unlike in Arab and South Asian countries - where it is a capital offense - apostasy (out of Islam) in Malaysia is only punishable by a stint in a kind of reform school for apostates. It's a happy hunting ground for evangelicals. Whether they're having any kind of success is hard to tell, but I doubt an increase in the number of Christians there would hurt Uncle Sam's national interests.
#3
M'sia is the only country in the modern world that practices instituted racism(a variation of Apartheid)since independence in '57 and UMNO, the thoroughly dominant malay party ruling coalition is trying to remain in power by exploiting religion to a high pitch now. It has always been unabashedly hegemonic and discriminative in governance.
IRANIAN security forces have reportedly arrested 30 "mournful mothers'' protesting in a Tehran park over the death or disappearance of their children. The women were rounded up on Saturday in Laleh Park, according to opposition website Kaleme.org.
"Around 4pm we were in Laleh park and there were more than 100 police... who were not allowing the mothers to sit on the benches or gather in groups,'' an unidentified witness told the website.
"There were around 70 mothers in the park and the security chased them out. A number of them escaped but around 30 were arrested and were forcefully taken into police vans.''
The women were believed to have then been driven to a police station.
They are part of a group of mothers whose children have gone either missing or were killed following the contested re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Saturday the Iranian nation must avoid taking extrajudicial measures so as not to obstruct the path of justice.
Ayatollah Khamenei warned that at a time when sedition prevails, action becomes more difficult and determining the truth becomes harder.
The Leader went on to describe how the enemies of the first Shia Imam, Ali (PBUH) had sowed the seeds of sedition during the seventh century battle of Seffein.
"In those difficult times and unclear conditions, Ammar ibn Yasir, who was one of Imam Ali's closest, purest and most reliable companions, shed light on the situation for those who were hesitant."
"He explained that there was no difference between those who stood against the Prophet of Islam and the enemies of Imam Ali (PBUH), other than the fact that those who opposed Imam Ali (PBUH) claimed to be the guardians of Islam, the Quran and the Prophet."
Ayatollah Khamenei said since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and throughout the life of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, oppressive powers, backward people with links to the global arrogance, and deviant individuals within the country were all members of the same group.
"That is how it is today. What has been the position of the US, British and Israeli media outlets since before the election? Where do anti-religious fronts such as the communists, pro-monarchy groups and other opponents of the revolution and Imam [Khomeini] stand?" Ayatollah Khamenei asked.
"Do they all not fit in the same group of people who oppose the Islamic establishment? It is clear that the main fronts have not changed. This is an important factor."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then praised the Iranian people, particularly the younger generation, for their understanding and religious fervor.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iranian youth, who are passionate about their religion, sometimes exercise patience, "as they should", but when the time comes for action they are ready and on the scene.
"It is natural for the young members of the voluntary Basij force to be angry and hurt about how a small group violated the sanctity of Ashura and [insulted] Imam Hussein (PBUH)," said the Leader. "This insult broke everyone's heart, but we must all be careful not to fuel the enemy sedition by going to far."
The Leader made the remarks in reference to the riots on Ashura during which protesters damaged public property and clashed with security forces.
In response to the unrest, millions of Iranians took to the streets on December 30, condemning the desecration of the Ashura mourning ceremonies and expressing their anger toward the foreign-backed plot to provoke unrest in the country.
The Leader laid praise on the move and said no government in the world can call forth such an "enormous, national mobilization" in two days and bring tens of millions of people to the streets.
Ayatollah Khamenei warned that the enemy was drawing up an "intricate" plot for a "dangerous game."
"In these unclear conditions, we must act with vigilance and open eyes. However, when the conditions require, we must also show firmness. This way we can stop the enemy in its tracks," the Leader explained.
Ayatollah Khamenei then asked all responsible bodies of the Islamic Republic to precisely implement the articles of the law in a "full and firm" fashion.
The Leader said that "those who have no responsibility or legal duty" must not interfere in that process.
"Some innocent people, who hate these villains, may seriously be hurt. Therefore, everyone must refrain from taking any action on their own. Everything must be done according to the law."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
oppressive powers, backward people with links to the global arrogance, and deviant individuals within the country were all members of the same group
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 of taped sermons by Al Qaeda hate cleric Anwar al-Awlaki have been withdrawn from public library shelves after questions were raised by the Sunday Express. Muslim-led Tower Hamlets Council in east London removed 258 talking book' cassettes on Friday after we asked bosses to justify being the only authority in the capital stocking his work. The tapes were available to borrow from the council's main library in Whitechapel, a few hundred yards from where Detroit bomber Umar Abdulmutallab worshipped at the controversial East London Mosque.
A London-based satellite broadcaster that describes itself as "the voice of authority for Muslims in the UK" has been accused of giving a platform to Anwar al-Awlaki, the extremist cleric with alleged links to al-Qaida and to the man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day.
The chance to secure crucial information about al-Qaeda operations in Yemen was lost because the Obama administration decided to charge and prosecute Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as an ordinary criminal, critics say. He is said to have reduced his co-operation with FBI interrogators on the advice of his government-appointed defence counsel. 
[Dawn] Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned the reproduction of Danish caricatures of Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) by a Norwegian newspaper.
[Dawn] The mother of militant leader Fazlullah said on Saturday that her son will not surrender until Sharia is implemented. Fazlullah's mother and teacher were presented before the media in Swat. 
As a town in Jordan has shelved a plan to name a street after Iraqi former leader Saddam Hussain in the wake of the political and diplomatic furore it sparked in Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, a Jordanian tribe has decided to name all the males born this year as Saddam and all its daughters "Raghad", "Hala" or "Rana" after Saddam's daughters.
Doha-based Egyptian scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi says if it is proven that acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas instigated the Israeli war against Gaza, he must be stoned. 
