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Karzai raves at Western interference
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Karzai Slams the West Again
KABUL, Afghanistan--President Hamid Karzai lashed out at his Western backers for the second time in three days, accusing the U.S. of interfering in Afghan affairs and saying the Taliban insurgency would become a legitimate resistance movement if the meddling doesn't stop.

Mr. Karzai, whose government is propped up by billions of dollars in Western aid and nearly 100,000 American troops fighting a deadly war against the Taliban, made the comments during a private meeting with about 60 or 70 Afghan lawmakers Saturday. At one point, Mr. Karzai suggested that he himself would be compelled to join the other side --that is, the Taliban--if the parliament didn't back his controversial attempt to take control of the country's electoral watchdog from the United Nations, according to three people who attended the meeting, including an ally of the president.

Mr. Karzai blamed the lawmakers' resistance to his move on a foreign conspiracy, they said. The Afghan president's latest remarks came less than 24 hours after he assured U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that he was committed to working with the U.S. That phone call was precipitated by a similar--but less vitriolic--anti-Western diatribe Mr. Karzai delivered earlier last week.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  he himself would be compelled to join the other side
Well, if he f*cks up the taliban like he has his own government...
Posted by: Spot || 04/05/2010 8:09 Comments || Top||

#2  "A businessman with close ties to Mr. Karzai said the Afghan leader was insulted by Mr. Obama's comments and left with even greater doubts about the American commitment to Afghanistan."

Isn't this the usual result of any world leader meeting with the Big "O"?
Posted by: Angese the Lesser6184 || 04/05/2010 10:10 Comments || Top||

#3  If Karzai goes into opposition to the West, the West is toast. He is a formidable opponent. When he was notified that he was to be Afghanistan's leader, he was in the middle of a firefight, finger just about blown off a 500 lb bomb he directed onto an enemy position.

The day US Socialist Democrats took over America, relations with all of our allies has been thrown into disarray. Obama and Clinton need to go.
Posted by: war on terror || 04/05/2010 10:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Why do we support this turd. He wants to take over the election commission so he can rule forever. He is corrupt as the day is long. We need to get out of that craphole...tomorrow.
Posted by: remoteman || 04/05/2010 13:45 Comments || Top||

#5  If Karzai goes into opposition to the West, the West is toast.

No. The Northern Alliance will string up Karzai and go to town on the Pashtuns. Not disturbing Pashtun beauty sleep won't be part of the NA's ROE.
Posted by: ed || 04/05/2010 13:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Karzai almost had a finger blown off directing a 500lb bomb? I thought he was in exile in Great Britain??
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 13:51 Comments || Top||

#7  What do we do if it really is the will of the Afghan people to shelter the Taliban, make peace with them and maybe be ruled by them?

What if the Afghan people don't mind terrorist attacks on the west organized from their territory?

In the end this is about the fundamental nature of the western mission in that country. Are our troops ultimately servants to the Afghan people or are they in the country to destroy the Taliban, as an act of retaliation for 9/11?

Official statements by representatives of the US gov support both interpretations, but they're not compatible, a decision must be made.
Posted by: Angusoque Ghibelline1266 || 04/05/2010 13:54 Comments || Top||

#8  Late in 2001 Karzai was the US designated Golden Boy after Abdul Haq ignored advice and went into Afghanistan on horseback and managed to get himself strung up on a tree. The US SOF team directing the Kandahar battle called down a 2000# JDAM on their own position (dead battery). As the bomb hit, the SOF team leader covered Karzai with his own body and took the shrapnel. As far as I know, Karzai still has all his fingers.
Posted by: ed || 04/05/2010 14:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Isn't it time for Karzai to be served the special Sushi? The Polonium Special. Maybe Ricin dusted Salad or something.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 04/05/2010 14:18 Comments || Top||

#10  No, it's time for us to figure out that the difference between Karzai and the next Afghan leader is primarily the way they spell their names. It is a place without intrinsic value. That is why we should leave. That is why we should leave now.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2010 14:31 Comments || Top||

#11  Decisions decisions. The deadly pufferfish sushi filet. But POTUS is too much of frappéd and pampered chef to bring out the ginzu knives and chopping block IMHO.
Posted by: Richelieu || 04/05/2010 14:31 Comments || Top||

#12  I think it's time someone else wears the funny hat.
Posted by: Craimble Darling of the Munchkins9210 || 04/05/2010 14:51 Comments || Top||

#13  I understand why we tried the hail mary pass attempting to get Democracy to gain a perch in the barren womb of Mesopotamia but I don't really understand the attempt in Afghanistan. Consistency has some value I guess but some things aren't worth fighting for and some cultures don't understand things.

We should have reinstalled the constitution and King (or a credible royal) from before the coup that led to the Soviet invasion. Reboot Afghanistan, try to put them back in time before they went all civil war and holy war rather than adding this great new Democracy thing to the mix.

Having said that we should have done a similar thing in Iraq. Even if we were going to go for Democracy they had a functional constitution that could have been edited to remove Royal this and that.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2010 18:34 Comments || Top||

#14  Pull out. Tell them they had their chance. Explain that if they continue the drug and terrorism trades targeted strikes will happen to appropriate political (terrorism) and civil (drugs) targets.

Then blow up shit as necessary.

F em.
Posted by: Hellfish || 04/05/2010 20:00 Comments || Top||

#15  Things are, as always, delicately unbalanced in Afghanistan, especially those bits where President-by-courtesy-of-America Karzai holds court. So what does the head of America do? He runs over there especially to tell his dear friend Hamid that if he doesn't meet an ever-changing but impossible standard post-haste and publicly, the American troops that that are needed to maintain this fragile imbalance will be pulled out without any further warning... or something along those lines. Can you blame the man for being seriously annoyed with the entirety of the Western world that dragged him into this situation, however much he may have thought he wanted it originally?
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2010 20:57 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egyptian police arrest publisher of ElBaradei book
CAIRO - Egyptian police have arrested the publisher of a book about former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei and his calls for political change in Egypt ahead of elections this year and next, a security source said. Ahmed Mahanna, head of Dawan publishing house, was arrested on Saturday, the source said.

ElBaradei, in a twitter statement, said: "The detention of a publisher of a book about me and my ideas of reform shows a repressive regime afraid of its own shadow."
SOP for dictators, Mohamed. Including yourself if you somehow win the 'election' ...
The book "ElBaradei and the Dream of the Green Revolution" was written by Egyptian journalist Kamal Gabrayal, who also works in the state-run Roze al-Yusef publishing house, which publishes a daily newspaper and a weekly magazine.

"Officials from national security attacked the house at 1:00 a.m. and my son was not there so they called him from his mother's mobile phone and told him to return. They said: 'we want you and are waiting for you at home'," independent newspaper al-Shorouk quoted Mahanna's father as saying on Sunday.
Shades of the RAB ...
ElBaradei has called for a new constitution with checks on power, guarantees of a fair vote and better respect for human rights. He has begun an on-the-road campaign to petition for reforms, attending Friday Muslim prayers in Cairo and travelling to Mansoura, a provincial capital in the Nile Delta.

Analysts have said ElBaradei's call for change is unlikely to force reform to the constitution, which makes it nearly impossible for any person to run for the presidency against the ruling party, headed by President Hosni Mubarak, 81, who has ruled Egypt for almost 30 years. Other analysts, however, have pointed to ElBaradei's use of the media and public appearances, such as attending the Coptic Easter festival on Saturday, which have brought him face to face with senior government officials.

"ElBaradei's presence at the Coptic Easter festival showed his political intelligence," Nader Shukri, an expert on Coptic affairs in Egypt, told Reuters. His attendance was well received by Copts in Egypt, Shukri said. A Facebook group has been set up by Egyptian Copts to promote ElBaradei as president.
Suckers ...
Dawa, outreach, is incumbent upon all Muslims... generally followed by a demand for increased jizya from the community just reached out to.
A supporter of ElBaradei and former senior judge, Mahmoud El-Khoudairy, told Reuters some weeks ago the government would detain ElBaradei's supporters to pressure him to abandon his political platform.

"The government might not be able to do anything to ElBaradei due to his current popularity and that the whole world knows him, but they can simply arrest his supporters and without his supporters, what will he do? Nothing," he said.

A parliamentary election is expected in December followed by the presidential election next year.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Egypt court orders top Brotherhood men released
CAIRO - An Egyptian criminal court on Sunday ordered the release of 16 senior members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group who were detained in February. Egyptian authorities had accused the senior members of trying to set up training camps to stage attacks in Egypt.

"The court has issued its decision but we are awaiting the execution of the verdict...and this is not guaranteed because this is a political case," the Muslim Brotherhood's lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud told Reuters.

Among the released members are deputy leader Mahmoud Ezzat and Essam al-Erian, spokesman for the group and member of its governing body. Abdel-Rahman Al Bir and Mohi Hamed, also governing body members, were ordered released.
They'll be back in stir by the end of the week ...
The Brotherhood, though banned, won a fifth of the seats parliament in 2005 when members ran as independents but since then the authorities have squeezed the Islamist group out of mainstream politics. Analysts expect the group's support to shrink at the parliamentary elections in the second half of this year.

The government of President Hosni Mubarak, whose predecessor was gunned down by Islamic militants, is wary of any group with Islamist leanings, including the Brotherhood which long ago renounced violence and insists it seeks peaceful reform.
Unless they can get Hosni and his son in their gunsights ...
Peaceful reform: one man, one final vote. They plan to achieve their Caliphate by ballot instead of bullet, and are willing to take as long as necessary to get there incrementally.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Security fears: online visa applications handled by US firm
Visa applicants can apply online through Computer Services Corporation websites instead of attending a British embassy and without conducting face-to-face interviews with any British diplomatic staff.

CSC won a £300 million five-year contract in 2007, along with the Swiss-based firm VSF Global, to conduct outsourced visa checks for Britain. Although the Home Office still has the final say in whether a visa is accepted security experts fear that the "tick box system" makes it easier for bogus applicants and potential terrorists to slip through the net.

Sir Andrew Green, a former British Ambassador and Director for the Middle East in the Foreign Office, runs the pressure group Migration Watch. He said: "The crucial interview with experienced staff has been replaced with a system where, as long as you say the right thing on the forms and have the right documents, your application will be approved."

He told the Mail on Sunday: "The government says that official still have the final say but the reality is that, unless someone in London picks up on a forged document or some other scam, the filtering is done "in country" by the agency staff and it would be rare for someone in Whitehall to raise any questions."

CSC and VSF Global deal with around 80 per cent of of the 2.75 million visa applications each year from 109 countries. Around two million of these are successful.
Posted by: lotp || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Narcowarehouse secured in Zacatecas
Zacatecas, State of Zacatecas, Mexico. - Personal assigned to the 11 Military Zone secured a narcowarehouse in the Fresnillo municipality, where they found 12 vehicles, including two recent-model armored light trucks (Humvees).

The military authorities did not reveal whether some of the vehicles belonged to the three lots that were stolen by armed groups last March in the municipalities of Villa de Cos, Enrique Estrada and Rio Grande, where they assaulted the train and two trucks that were transferring more than 30 automobiles of agency.

In an official notice, the Secretariat of the National defense (Sedena), informed that in response to a citizen complaint, staff assigned to Base de Movable Operaciones located the warehouse in the Fresnillo-Station section of San Jose.

The characteristics of the two armored light trucks are described as Suburban, Lincoln Navigator brand, wine-colored license plates with circulation number ZFD1374; as well as another gray Chevrolet with plates number ZFD1374, both of the state of Zacatecas. Other seized vehicles were a Cheyenne with Zacatecas license plate number ZA52763, along with a Dodge ram 2500, double cabin, white color with foreign plates 01FRX3 of Texas; as well as a Tsuru automobile, Nissan brand, with burgundy Jalisco license plate number JDT8676.

While the rest of the vehicles lacked circulation plates, there was a gray Ford Grand Marquis along with other Tahoe light trucks, Ford F-250, GMC Yukón XL, suburban LT and a wine-colored Mustang. Also a Yamaha motorcycle, sport model, and five pairs of military boots.

It was reported that all the articles were put at the disposal of the delegation of the General Office of the judge advocate general of the Republic (PGR).
Posted by: Pappy || 04/05/2010 00:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hehe, a Suburban is a Chevy. A Lincoln Navigator is a Ford product, not a brand of Suburban.

Posted by: crosspatch || 04/05/2010 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  That's what was posted in the article, crosspatch.

It was a toss-up between translating enough to make it readable, or translating it an possibly losing something in the process.

You're more than welcome to try it, Patron.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/05/2010 22:10 Comments || Top||


Mexican drug lord says cartels invincible
The right-hand man of Mexico's most notorious drug boss says the country's war on the trade is futile.

Ismael "el Mayo" Zambada, the right-hand man of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, said in an interview the illicit business would never be brought down because millions of people were involved. Zambada says the supply of drugs will continue even if cartel bosses are caught or killed.

He blamed the government for surging drug violence and said president Felipe Calderon was being duped by his advisers into thinking he was making progress.

"One day I will decide to turn myself in to the government so they can shoot me ... they will shoot me and euphoria will break out. But at the end of days we'll all know that nothing changed," Zambada told the investigative news magazine Proceso.

"Millions of people are wrapped up in the narco problem. How can they be overcome? For all the bosses jailed, dead or extradited their replacements are already there."

Mounting drug violence in Mexico has killed 19,500 people since Mr Calderon launched an army-led attempt to crush the cartels after taking power in 2006.

Arturo Beltran Leyva, a former ally turned rival of the Sinaloa cartel, died in a hail of gunfire in December as Mexican marines surrounded him in a luxury apartment complex. Analysts at the time hailed his death as a blow against the cartels, but the past three months in Mexico have been the most violent of Mr Calderon's rule with around 2,800 drug murders, including a rash of killings of children.

Proceso, an influential magazine with a strong history of covering the drug war, said Zambada contacted it directly in February to set up an interview because he was interested in meeting Julio Scherer, the magazine's founder.

Zambada, 62, one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, has never been arrested despite a $5 million reward offered in the United States.
Posted by: lotp || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Matriach to Patriach : Catholic To : Muslim : Will Turn For : Better ! Make For Infrastructure : Betterment : Cartel : Reforms : More : Reform : Country : Stable !1
Posted by: Doobah Goohah Gooke || 04/05/2010 5:16 Comments || Top||

#2  He seems to make some sound observations.
Posted by: Gaz || 04/05/2010 8:22 Comments || Top||

#3  No one is invincible.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/05/2010 10:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Is the bulk of what these cartels are shipping into the U.S. marijuana and cocaine? Any heroin?
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/05/2010 10:26 Comments || Top||

#5  johnQC: they are starting too grow alot of heroin inmmexico since parts of the country have a prime growing climate for the poppy plant. Also crystalmeth is starting too take over the bulk of the shipped drugs into the US
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 13:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Meth, cocaine, heroin are dangerous drugs. Legally prescribed pain drugs are also a problem and can be as addictive as the above drugs. These need to be controlled within the U.S. and at the borders.

I am not a marijuana user so I don't have a pony in the race but it seems that the criminal element is involved in the marijuana business--much like prohibition and alcohol. It does not seem like marijuana is in a class with heroin, pills, cocaine, or meth. I think this subject may have appeared here before but what do Rantburgers think about the legalization and taxing of marijuana? This would get a lot of the crime out of it. However, I'm not certain I would want to work with someone who is stoned or be on the road with stoned drivers. Legalization a good or bad idea?
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/05/2010 14:40 Comments || Top||

#7  I've been watching the show Weeds trying to make up a decision. I don't smoke, however, But IMHO think half of the enticement that is so captivating about weed is all the juvenile excitement of sneaking around in order to get it and of course the profit. Nothing kills a buzz like easy availibility; ie imagine if weed was in the supermarket aisle right next to the cheap box wine.Only outlaws can have it so it's glam.
Posted by: Richelieu || 04/05/2010 15:10 Comments || Top||

#8  more than likely you have been at work before with ppl who where stoned and you didn't know it.The reason they don't want marijuana legalized is that would take alot of profits out of the big drug companies who make drugs such as anti depressants and benzos.
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 15:52 Comments || Top||

#9  I keep thinking at some point the baby boomers are gonna retire and start smoking up, and trying the drugs they were too smart to try when they were young, figuring now that they are old what difference does it make.

When that happens there will be a push for legalizing even some crazy stuff (Perhaps with a 65 age limit or something). Either way the problem with the drug lords will probably get worse.

Best thing we could do is promote the druglords to get into the Casino business and tame them the way the mob in Vegas was tamed. That way they could (a) promote peace for their own profits (b) get Yankees to cross the borders to use the drugs rather than bring the drugs into the USA.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2010 17:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Best thing we could do is promote the druglords to get into the Casino business and tame them the way the mob in Vegas was tamed.

Did you start a little samplin when you turned 65, rj?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2010 17:49 Comments || Top||

#11  Phuck that. Close the border. Put illegal immigrants found in the U.S. on expedited trial and deport them with a tracking microchip in them set to explode if they ever try to re-enter the United States. Make Marijuana legal, but do selective hybrid breeding to make it "tamer" pot like lite beer. Allow only a certain amount per customer. Thats how it is done.
Posted by: Elmusotle the Obscure5778 || 04/05/2010 17:54 Comments || Top||

#12  Close the border and mine it. O.K. maybe not a good idea you might blow up a few stray cattle and prairie dogs.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/05/2010 18:00 Comments || Top||

#13  "you might blow up a few stray cattle and prairie dogs"

's OK, john - we'll make more.™ ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/05/2010 18:10 Comments || Top||

#14  with tamer pot you will just use more just likewith lite beer what's the point?
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 18:41 Comments || Top||

#15  Just say No to cheap drugs
Posted by: lex || 04/05/2010 18:42 Comments || Top||

#16  because its kitchen tested mom approved.
Posted by: Thrurt Barnsmell7160 || 04/05/2010 18:45 Comments || Top||

#17  Hey generic drugs are just as good as regular prescriptions! /sarc
Posted by: Thrurt Barnsmell7160 || 04/05/2010 18:46 Comments || Top||

#18  I keep thinking at some point the baby boomers are gonna retire and start smoking up,

It's already started from what I've been reading, rjschwarz. Those baby boomers always were quick off the mark. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2010 21:59 Comments || Top||

#19  more than likely you have been at work before with ppl who where stoned and you didn't know it

I dunno, it shows.

There's a consistent percentage of Rantburgers who constantly post under the influence.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/05/2010 22:14 Comments || Top||

#20  Re. Mexico, failing state alert. "A firebell in the night," as TJ said about another burning issue 200 years ago
Posted by: lex || 04/05/2010 22:53 Comments || Top||

#21  I cannot tell when people are stoned or drunk. But I'm pretty sure most people are not like me in this.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2010 23:20 Comments || Top||

#22  Lex, when I first read your comment, I thought it said "fireball"; then I thought it said "firehell."

Both work. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/05/2010 23:24 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Discontent Grows over Moscow's Impotency in Dealing with Terror
Posted by: tipper || 04/05/2010 15:05 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  yet if they kick the shit out of the terro groups there would be an international outcry kinda like when the US or Israel does it
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 15:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Perhaps if they stopped holding hands with the major financiers and promoters of that terrorism the would have more credibility.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2010 17:27 Comments || Top||

#3  "yet if they kick the shit out of the terro groups there would be an international outcry kinda like when the US or Israel does it"

Maybe, chris, but the Russians won't give a sh*t.

(Actually, I don't either, but the vocal Lefties and the MSM - but I repeat myself - sure seem to.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/05/2010 18:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Hard to defeat brutal ganglords when your own state, incl the upper ranks of the military, has been criminalized....
Posted by: lex || 04/05/2010 18:18 Comments || Top||

#5  lex i was gonna say the same thing done been proven that certain generals where selling the islamonuts weapons
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 18:38 Comments || Top||

#6  A pity the Russian state has been criminalized. If we and the Russians were to reach some sort of accommodation, let alone alliance, imagine how much easier the war on terror would be for us. Full court press on Iran, for starters.

Maybe we should ask Putin what his price is. Can't be much more expensive than a TARP or two.
Posted by: lex || 04/05/2010 18:40 Comments || Top||

#7  We should.
Posted by: Thrurt Barnsmell7160 || 04/05/2010 19:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Maybe we should ask Putin what his price is.

Putin's price is being the sole hyperpower, or at least the superpower of Europe. We can't afford that.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2010 22:01 Comments || Top||

#9  TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > VARIOUS > RUSSIA METRO, DAGESTAN, INGUSHETIA BLASTS SIGNAL GROWING ISLAMIST INSURGENCY INSIDE RUSSIA?

* SAME > MOSCOW: NO COMMON THREAT AMONG BOMBINGS.

You can just fe-e-e-l THE SIMSPONS' MONTY BURNS looking out his window just in time to see a pig fly, courtesy of Homer = Bart, can't ye!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 22:12 Comments || Top||

#10  Putin's price is being the sole hyperpower, or at least the superpower of Europe

Not sure of that. More motivated by lucre than by power, I think. If he wanted power, he'd not have presided over the destruction of Russian technology, science, military prowess etc. Also would have forged an alliance with China by now.

No, I think he's another version of John Gotti. A mafioso in a Brioni suit.
Posted by: lex || 04/05/2010 22:51 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Nork 'Red Star' operating system focused on security
Unlike Windows ...
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's new "Red Star" computer operating system is mainly designed to control the flow of information on the Internet tapped by users, a review by a state-run think tank said Monday.

The Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) said a detailed technical analysis of Red Star version 1.1 shows it is a Linux-based operating system with low-end options similar to those found in products that reached the market in the early 2000s.
That's just got to be a target for some hackers ...
It added that while it is similar to the ubiquitous Windows OS, emphasis has been placed on meeting security and other local requirements. There is only one Korean-language version of the system and due to the limited number of compatible applications there is little likelihood of its being put to wider use.

STEPI's study is the first technical analysis of the Red Star OS that was first developed in 2002 by the North's Korea Computer Center. Prior to its introduction, Pyongyang used the English versions of Microsoft Windows.
So even the Norks understand that an old Linux distro provides more security than Windows ...
A Russian student in Pyongyang recently purchased an updated version of the Red Star and introduced it on his blog, though this was not a specialized review.

"The review was needed to get an estimate of how far North Korea's OS software has progressed," the STEPI report said. It added that Red Star represents North Korea's attempt to overcome the country's isolation in the computer field while at the same time coping with security concerns.

The communist country maintains close tabs on information and data into and out of the country and does not permit its people to freely surf the World Wide Web, with particular emphasis on prohibiting visits to South Korean Internet sites. The institute under the education and science ministry said there is almost no political content and that developers have continuously updated the Red Star OS over the years.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The OS is only as secure as the processor...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/05/2010 10:03 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germans march against war in Afghanistan
BERLIN: Thousands of protestors demonstrated in Germany at the weekend as part of traditional "Easter Marches" which this year focussed on the country's unpopular military intervention in Afghanistan.

The demonstrations came after three German soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan late Friday, after which German troops mistakenly killed six Afghan soldiers, according to authorities.

About 2,200 people demonstrated on Sunday in Berlin on a former Soviet military landing strip, which for long was the focal point of the pacifists' campaign in Germany, organisers said. Demonstrators also gathered in the western city of Cologne on Sunday, while on Saturday 1,200 protestors marched in the southern city of Munich and 1,500 in Stuttgart in the southwest on the 50th anniversary of the "Easter Marches".
Fooey. They get more people for traditional parades. Call me when they get half a million.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Marching Germans, always something to keep an eye on.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/05/2010 7:49 Comments || Top||

#2  War protests must not be much fun anymore without Bush. Yeah they can blame Obama but its not the same.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2010 18:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Taliban claims attack on US consulate
ISLAMIST militants armed with guns and suicide vests have targeted the US consulate in Pakistan's north-western capital and unleashed carnage at a political rally, killing 43 people.

Pakistan's main Taliban faction claimed responsibility for the attack on the US consulate, in a telephone call to AFP from an undisclosed location.

"We accept the attacks on the American consulate. This is revenge for drone attacks," Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Azam Tariq said.

The apparently coordinated attacks were the deadliest so far this year in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where the Government is closely allied to the US-led war against al-Qaeda and in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The ability of heavily-armed militants to get so close to the US mission and other military installations, such as the provincial headquarters of Pakistan's premier spy agency, will raise further questions about endemnic insecurity.

Up to 15 militants armed with explosives and driving in two vehicles targeted the heavily guarded US consulate in Peshawar, a city of 2.5 million on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, setting off multiple explosions.

"The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn't succeed in getting there," Pakistani police officer Ghulam Hussain said.

"One of the suicide bombers blew himself up close to the gate.

"Police guarding the US consulate started retaliatory fire. More blasts took place.

"We have recovered unexploded material from four different points."

Three powerful explosions and bouts of gunfire echoed through the area, where an AFP reporter said the attacks occurred at a checkpoint about 20m from the US consulate where heavy thick smoke spewed into the sky.

Pakistani police and army sealed off the area, preventing journalists from accessing the scene and later carried out a number of controlled explosions.

A provincial cabinet minister said four militants, a policeman and another person were killed during the attack.

It was not clear whether some of the assailants may have escaped.

Earlier today, a suicide bomber attacked an open-air rally in the north-west district of Lower Dir, where Pakistan waged a major offensive against local Taliban insurgents last year.

The attack killed 41 people during a celebration organised by the leading secular political party in north-west and was the deadliest in Lower Dir since the anti-Taliban offensive.

Residents reportedly said the bomb exploded close to the stage at the political gathering.

Lower Dir borders Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, where suspected Taliban armed with petrol bombs and rockets torched eight tankers used to supply fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan before dawn today.
Posted by: tipper || 04/05/2010 11:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  attacks occurred at a checkpoint about 20m from the US consulate

So was that like even in the same city as the consulate? Same upazilla? And did Abdul somehow take a left at Albuquerque, miss the consulate and detonate at a Paki rally? Did he notice the lack of business suits and a plethora of shawar kameez? Did he think it was the US consulate visa line?
Posted by: ed || 04/05/2010 13:26 Comments || Top||


Drones Batter Al Qaeda and Its Allies Within Pakistan
Posted by: tipper || 04/05/2010 11:28 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Under American pressure, however, the Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, has provided important intelligence for targets, American and Pakistani officials have said.

But increasingly the Americans appear to have developed their own sources, the militant said.


IOW, the new sources are not on the ISI-Approved list?
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2010 14:57 Comments || Top||

#2  have we built ad drone big enough too carry nukes yet?
Posted by: chris || 04/05/2010 15:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah, Chris. Called ICBM.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/05/2010 17:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Kimmie, where are uuuu? Come out come out wherever you are we want to hit you with a ICBM.
Posted by: Elmusotle the Obscure5778 || 04/05/2010 17:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Well gosh darn if the NYT doesn't paint a relatively positive picture of the drone doctrine under 0bama compared to that guy who is to blame for all of our problems now, in the past, and for the foreseeable future. All appearances indicate, as far as the NYT is now concerned, that it's actually a half-decent idea to kill bad guys-- who want to kill us (and a LOT of us) if given the slightest chance-- wherever and whenever we have the opportunity.

Funny how that works, huh?
Posted by: eltoroverde || 04/05/2010 20:20 Comments || Top||

#6  have we built ad drone big enough too carry nukes yet?

"more than likely you have been at work before with ppl who where stoned and you didn't know it.."
Posted by: Pappy || 04/05/2010 22:17 Comments || Top||


We'll serve masses at the cost of our lives, says Zardari
GARHI KHUDA BUKHSH: The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its leaders will continue to serve the country and the people, even if it means laying down their lives for this purpose, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday.
Not unless the Talibs whack him like they whacked his wife ...
“We will continue to serve Pakistan and its people even at the cost of our lives,' he said while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a transplant centre at Gumbut Medical Institute and the 6th draw of the Waseela-e-Haq programme under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

“We will continue to fight for our rights and those of the masses, without any fear of sacrifice,' he said.

The president said the 18th amendment would ensure that no dictator trampled the constitution ever again. He said some people might have wished that the government should have adopted constitutional amendments much earlier, “but there is a time for everything and it is being done now as the necessary consensus is there'.

Zardari said the PPP would continue to pursue the policies of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto for the uplift of the people. He said it was Bhutto's philosophy that has continued to garner the overwhelming support of the masses.

He said the BISP aimed at empowering women and the PPP was struggling for the cause from day one. Later the president distributed certificates among the women who were selected in the draw.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  TOPIX > VARIOUS > IRKED ZARDARI THREATENED TO JOIN TALIBAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 23:24 Comments || Top||

#2  OOOOOPPSIES, my bad, that should be KARZAI/KHARZI, not Zerd.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 23:27 Comments || Top||


AJK president ‘restores' deposed chief justice
LAHORE: Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Raja Zulqarnain Khan reinstated deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Riaz Akhtar Chaudhry after consulting legal experts, while AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider termed the president's decision unconstitutional, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.

President Zulqarnain landed in Islamabad after cutting his UK visit short and met experts there. After the meeting, the president annulled the decision to sack Justice Riaz and directed that he be reinstated.

Addressing reporters at the Kashmir House in Islamabad, Prime Minister Haider – accompanied by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rashid Abbasi – it was incumbent upon the president to act upon his advice, as the 1974 constitution of AJK was different from the 1973 constitution of Pakistan.

Reinstatement: He said the AJK president could not issue an order to reinstate the deposed CJ without his consent. He said Justice Riaz had been ousted on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council and could only be reinstated on the advice of the PM or the SJC.

Meanwhile, AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir said President Zulqarnain had violated Article 7 of the 1974 constitution. Differences have surfaced between the president and the prime minister in the state after the reinstatement of the deposed chief justice, he added.

Separately, according to a private TV channel, AJK President Zulqarnain called on Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is the chairman of the Kashmir Council, at the PM's House in Islamabad and discussed the constitutional as well as the judicial crisis with Gilani, who refused to play a role or interfere in the matter.

AJK CJ Justice Riaz also restored SC Registrar Fazil Hashmi, who had been removed from office by acting CJ Justice Manzoor Hassan Gilani.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Pope fears for Christians in Pakistan
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI said in his traditional Easter Sunday message that he fears for the lives of Christians in Pakistan. Condemning persecution and lamenting the “suffering' of Christian minorities he said, “May the Risen Lord sustain the Christians who suffer persecution and even death for their faith, as for example in Pakistan. The pope urged humankind to undergo a “spiritual and moral conversion' during his traditional Easter message as paedophile priest scandals rock the Roman Catholic Church.

“Humanity needs a spiritual and moral conversion,' the 82-year-old pontiff said in his traditional “Urbi et Orbi' message. “It needs to emerge from a profound crisis, one which requires deep change, beginning with consciences.'

The pope also touched on key hot spots in the world, calling for a “true exodus' from conflict in the Middle East, “the land sanctified by (Jesus') death and resurrection.' He urged “a true and definitive ‘exodus' from war and violence to peace and concord', in the Middle East. “To the Christian communities who are experiencing trials and sufferings, especially in Iraq... Peace be with you!' the pope said.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Christians Druze : Respect : Isalm ! Civil Rights : Equalities : KORAN ! Sure : Hope : Brotherhood : Togetherness : State Of : PAK !!
Posted by: Solomon Whineque5603 || 04/05/2010 4:26 Comments || Top||

#2  How do any religions get on in muslim majority contries?

Islam cannot live with other religions.Please note UK/US re Muslim immigration!
Posted by: Kofi Thinese2517 || 04/05/2010 11:44 Comments || Top||

#3  How do any religions get on in muslim majority contries?

The British used to run the place. Now the Pakis do, and by that I mean Britain.
Posted by: ed || 04/05/2010 13:00 Comments || Top||


India not behind water shortage
KARACHI — The Indian high commissioner has rejected Pakistan's allegations that India was responsible for the current water shortage faced by Pakistan and urged the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) to play a more effective role to resolve the issue.

Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal made the remarks during a function organised by the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations and the Pakistan-India Citizenship Forum on Saturday.

“It is wrong to blame India for the current water shortage in Pakistan. In fact India too suffered serious droughts in the year 2009 and the rainfall during the monsoon season was 20 per cent less than the normal,' he emphasised.

Sabharwal also rejected Pakistan's allegations that construction of dams and other structures by India on rivers in the Indian-administered Kahsmir was depriving Pakistan of its share of water.

“The water flows would have showed a progressive decline and that so far has not been the case,' he remarked.

The Indian ambassador also stated that India had no “storage and diversion canals network' to stop Pakistan's water share, and all claims in this regard were just baseless allegations.

“Of late, it has been alleged in Pakistan that India is responsible for its water shortage. These claims have nothing to do with reality. On the contrary India provided Pakistan its share of water during the wars of 1965 and 1971,' he claimed.

Currently, Pakistan and India are at odds over water distribution, with Pakistan accusing its neighbour of stopping the flow of water by constructing dams.

Fears of a possible confrontation between the two countries over the water issue have been expressed by many government functionaries in Islamabad who also demanded its resolution at the earliest.

Sabharwal stressed the best option to resolve the water issue was the Indus Water Treaty which should be utilised more effectively, besides the PIC under which the two countries had met for 100 times.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Under the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan gets 80% of the water. Nehru believed this concession would foster friendship.
Posted by: john frum || 04/05/2010 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Not the only thing he was wrong about. But I'd bet he is still revered in India.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2010 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Not by everyone

From an article by Wing Commander (retd) R V Parasnis...


Soon after Independence the first commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces, General Sir Robert Lockhart, presented a paper outlining a plan for the growth of the Indian Army to Prime Minister Nehru.

Nehru's reply: "We don't need a defence plan. Our policy is non-violence. We foresee no military threats. You can scrap the army. The police are good enough to meet our security needs."

He didn't waste much time. On September 16, 1947, he directed that the army's then strength of 280,000 be brought down to 150,000. Even in fiscal 1950-51, when the Chinese threat had begun to loom large on the horizon, 50,000 army personnel were sent home as per his original plan to disband the armed forces.

After Independence, he once noticed a few men in uniform in a small office the army had in North Block, and angrily had them evicted.

Soon after Independence he separated the army, navy, and air force from a unified command and abolished the post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces, thus bringing down the status of the seniormost military chief.

He continued to demote the status of the three service chiefs at irregular intervals in the order of precedence in the official government protocol, a practice loyally continued by successive governments to the benefit of politicians and bureaucrats.

During the 1947-48 war with Pakistan in Kashmir, Nehru interfered with purely military decisions at will, which delayed the war and changed the ultimate outcome in Pakistan's favour. He developed a precedent to violate channels and levels of communications at that time. His penchant for verbal orders to the various army commanders, of which he kept no records, violated the chain of command.

After the defeat inflicted by China, Nehru who honestly believed in India-Chinese brotherhood was shell shocked. He died a short while later.

"I remember many a time when our senior generals came to us, and wrote to the defence ministry saying that they wanted certain things... If we had had foresight, known exactly what would happen, we would have done something else... what India has learnt from the Chinese invasion is that in the world of today there is no place for weak nations... We have been living in an unreal world of our own creation."
- Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajya Sabha, 1963
Posted by: john frum || 04/05/2010 13:02 Comments || Top||

#4  ION TOPIX > CHINA CLAIMS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR MEKONG RIVER EXHAUSTION + PROLONGED DROUGHT DAMAGING FOOD CROPS IN ASIA.

* IIRC SAME > LACK OF WATER THE TRUE ORIGIN OF THE [bloody] DARFUR CONFLICT?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 22:27 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel lets clothes, shoes into besieged Gaza
GAZA CITY - Israel allowed a shipment of clothes and shoes to enter the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday for the first time in nearly two years, a Palestinian border official said.
In other news today, Gaza Radio AccuTraffic notes congestion in all in-bound tunnels due to deliveries of guns, ammo and partly-assembled cars.
“Israel allowed five trucks of shoes and five trucks of clothes to enter on Sunday for the first time since the summer of 2008,' Raid Fatuh, a Palestinian border official in charge of coordinating such shipments, told AFP.

The Jewish state has sealed the territory of 1.5 million people off from all but vital aid since the Islamist movement Hamas seized power in June 2007, tightening sanctions imposed after the 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier. Large amounts of clothes, appliances and other basic goods are brought in however through smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza-Egypt border, and although prices have gone up, there are no shortages of such goods.

An Israeli military official confirmed the shipment and said it was part of a package of goods approved for UN-run projects in the impoverished territory.

“Everything is coordinated with the UN so we are sure who is getting the clothes,' the official said on condition of anonymity.
Perhaps they have those RFID inventory control tags sewn-in ...
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Turkish envoy to Israel replaced
Turkish ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol has been recalled and will be replaced after less than a year in office, Ankara announced on Sunday.

According to Turkish reports, Celikkol's replacement will be Kerim Uras, a local diplomat who is an expert on Middle Eastern affairs. The reason for the move was not disclosed.

In January, reports surfaced that Celikkol asked to be recalled after a humiliating public debacle in which he was seated on a lower chair than that of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and another Israeli diplomat when he the ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
It's in the Sunna or the Hadiths or something: no kaffir may have his head higher than that of a Muslim, lest the kaffir come to think they are equal.
The Jerusalem Post reported in February that Celikkol had never requested reassignment, but had said that there was "no way back" from the disrespectful insult.

During the controversial meeting, Ayalon had chastised Celikkol over a Turkish prime-time TV show in which Mossad agents were depicted as child-killers and kidnappers. Celikkol was seated on a low stool, with no food and only an Israeli flag on the table.
Show me photos. Otherwise I have to think the description has wandered a certain distance from absolute truth.
Ayalon later issued a formal apology,
What was the apology, exactly?
following Turkish President Abdullah Gul's threat to recall the ambassador unless tensions between the two countries were resolved, but the damage was apparently done: Celikkol will not be completing his first year as ambassador.
Posted by: lotp || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I should have posted the photo with the article. The whole meeting had been broadcast on Israeli TV. Not subtle but perhaps an effective message given what was going on in Turkey at the time.

Posted by: lotp || 04/05/2010 6:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Chairs vs. couch, no doubt standard office issue -- Israel doesn't go in much for fancy office accoutrements even yet. No lowly stool, and the Israeli flag is all of 6" high. The Turkish ambassador was clearly promoted beyond his competence... or a big election campaign donor. What had he said previously, I wonder, to merit a public dressing down instead of a private word?

The thing is, Turkey is supposed to be a friendly nation, benefitting both militarily and economically from it. But the president yelled at Israel's in front of a large audience for being evil, and Turkey is on a major antisemitism kick as it draws closer to Iran in an attempt to regain the center of the Muslim Middle East that it had during Ottoman times. There have to be consequences for that.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/05/2010 7:30 Comments || Top||

#3  There have to be consequences for that.

There will be none because Barry doesn't want victory. The US is clearly abandoning its allies and preparing to withdraw form the ME. Is it any surprise that countries on the bubble are looking to get closer to the new strong horse?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2010 9:42 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Israel pressures China to back Tehran sanctions
Israel will send its most senior military strategist to China this week to convince Beijing that it is serious about plans to bomb nuclear facilities in Iran if international sanctions fail to curb Tehran's development of atomic weapons.

Major-General Amir Eshel, who heads the Israeli army's planning directorate, will fly to Beijing this week. Eshel, an air force pilot, will warn China of the international consequences of military action, particularly the potential disruption to oil supplies on which much of China's manufacturing and international trade depend. Tougher sanctions, he will argue, are the lesser of two evils.

Last month Major-General Amos Yadlin, the head of Israeli military intelligence, was dispatched to Beijing with the latest information about Iran's progress towards making a nuclear device, which some experts believe could be achieved later this year.

“Yadlin was given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personal permission to release Mossad's latest evidence about Iran's progress towards testing nuclear warheads, enriching uranium and adopting their Shahab missiles to carry nuclear warheads,' said a source.

In a move described as “incredibly rare', China sent a general to Tel Aviv last week to inspect the Israeli air force's strike capabilities. Military relations between the two countries have been strained since a deal to export Israeli-built early warning aircraft to China collapsed under American pressure in 2000.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest supplier of crude oil to China, recently promised to supply all the oil it needs at a cheaper rate than Iran in return for supporting sanctions.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2010 14:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > SLEIMAN: ISRAEL IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO ATTACK LEBANON.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 22:21 Comments || Top||


Ahmadinejad: World pressure makes Iran more determined
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that world pressure on Iran, including talks of imposing new sanctions, makes the Islamic republic more determined than ever to pursue its nuclear programme.

Ahmadinejad also reiterated his view that his US counterpart, Barack Obama, has been ineffective in ushering "real" change despite his promises.

"You (world powers) can cut your own throat, jump up or down, issue statements and declarations and pass resolutions... but don't think you can stop the progress and building of the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"The more overt your animosity towards us, the more determined the Iranian nation will be to go forward."

Ahmadinejad made his remarks in the southern city of Sirjan at a time when Obama has vowed to build world pressure on Tehran to stop its galloping nuclear drive which it has pursued aggressively under the hardliner's presidency.

Ahmadinejad said Obama has failed to usher any "real" change on the ground despite his earlier slogans.

"In reality nothing has changed. They keep on saying we have extended our hand, but the Iranian nation and the government has brushed it off. What has changed? The pressures are still on. The sanctions are still on," Ahmadinejad said.

Obama had initiated a series of diplomatic overtures soon after he took office in January 2009, but arch-foes Washington and Tehran have still failed to break their decades-old diplomatic deadlock.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2010 03:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pressure makes garbage more compact.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/05/2010 10:11 Comments || Top||


UK speedboat floats into Iran's arms
Has a record-breaking British powerboat become the “ultimate toy' for an Iranian playboy or – as US investigators fear – is it now equipped with the world's fastest torpedoes aimed at sinking an aircraft carrier in the Gulf?

In spite of efforts by the Obama administration to stop it falling into the hands of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Bradstone Challenger – a high-performance powerboat built with support from a US defence contractor – is believed to be under new and dangerous ownership.

The unusual journey of the Bladerunner 51 powerboat began in 2005 when a team led by UK adventurer Neil McGrigor took it from a Florida boatyard and smashed the Italian-held record for the fastest circumnavigation of Britain. The time of 27 hours and 10 minutes, at an average speed of 61.5 mph including fuel stops, still stands.

Advertised for sale the next year through a broker “as the ultimate toy for someone looking for something a little bit special', the 51ft craft caught the eye of the Iranians. Initial attempts to buy it were blocked by the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

As the Financial Times has learned from defence and industry sources, Iran did not give up. After the boat passed through at least two more parties, the US got wind in January 2009 it was about to be transferred in the South African port of Durban on to a Hong Kong-flagged Iranian merchant vessel, the Diplomat, bound for the Gulf.

The US commerce department's Bureau of Industry and Security asked South African authorities to block the transfer. It voiced concern that Iran's Revolutionary Guards intended to use the boat as a “fast attack craft'. The bureau noted that similar vessels had been armed with “torpedoes, rocket launchers and anti-ship missiles' with the aim of “exploiting enemy vulnerabilities through the use of ‘swarming' tactics by small boats'.

The loading went ahead because, said one source, no one saw the US notice sent by fax over a weekend. US special forces were ready to intercept the Iranian merchant vessel but the operation was called off, the source said.
Amateur hour. Or pure BS.
In the meantime, Iran was developing Russian-designed Shkval (Squall) torpedoes, known to be the fastest in the world. In April 2006, General Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards, announced the test of a torpedo moving at speeds of 360kph that “no warship can escape from'.

Craig Hooper, a San Francisco-based naval strategist who has been following the Bradstone Challenger, says Iran is scouring the world for speedboats with potential military use. Its force is based on ageing Swedish-designed Boghammar craft, as well as Chinese and North Korean speedboats.

But there is much debate whether a boat such as the Bradstone Challenger, even armed with one or two torpedoes, would represent a serious threat against an aircraft carrier in the confined waters of the Gulf.

“Though the US Navy is very concerned a swarm of small boats can overwhelm and sink a large warship, the hypothesis is untested. It has never been done,' Mr Hooper told the FT. “A small, fast boat navy is nothing more than a surprise strike and harassment force. Every time small, fast boats run into helicopters, the helicopters win.'
How about subs? How about subs and boats? How about subs, boats, and helicopters and anti-aircraft missiles? Better park that aircraft carrier at least a block away.
There is speculation that Iran wants to copy the boat's revolutionary hull design. The Bladerunner 51 model, designed by Lorne Campbell of the UK and powered by US Caterpillar engines, was built by Britain's ICE Marine. The project was partly financed by Navatek, a Hawaii-based defence contractor, which says it is developing a naval patrol boat version.

Jeremy Watts, the ICE Marine director who helmed the Bradstone Challenger's record-breaking run, says only two have been built and that Iran used “cloak and dagger operations' to try to get one.

“The boat is the newest, best thing around. I was quite fond of it,' he said.
Posted by: gorb || 04/05/2010 01:22 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Every time small fast boats run into helicopters, the helicopters win" > another reason for America to lovethe POTUS REAGAN ADMIN + ERA. The Somali Pirate Boyz are re-learning that lesson as per USN warships.

OTOH, once captured the US = USN at times quickly let their Somali Pirate charges go - hopefully this won't devol into the Navy's GWOT version of US State-Local law enforcement routinely letting Mexican illegals free because Fed Agencies-in-Charge failed to prosecute or pick them up in a timely manner, etc.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 1:47 Comments || Top||

#2  It may be fast, but I'll bet that boat can't outrun mingun rounds - as in Phalanx.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 04/05/2010 7:33 Comments || Top||

#3  A-men to the phalanx..
Posted by: CB || 04/05/2010 11:52 Comments || Top||

#4  It would be more productively used as some ayatollah's prepubescent love boat. A 51' souped up cabin cruiser carrying 2 5000# torpedoes? I don't think so, and damn sure not at 71 knots.
Posted by: ed || 04/05/2010 12:56 Comments || Top||


Iran Sanctions Yield Little
Not supposed to. Euros have too much business with Iran to let sanctions get in the way. Ditto Russia.
In its latest proposed set of tougher United Nations sanctions on Iran, the U.S. is again relying on asset freezes as one tool to pressure the country not to build nuclear weapons.

But a close look at how much Iranian money has been frozen to date in the U.S. under existing sanctions shows that the total amount is surprisingly small, less than $43 million, or roughly a quarter of what Iran earns in oil revenue in a single day. Other countries also haven't frozen very much, despite freezes implemented by the European Union and the U.N., interviews show. Switzerland, for example, has frozen only about $1.4 million in Iranian assets--a tiny fraction of the $712 million Swiss companies exported to Iran last year.

"It's peanuts," says Jeremy P. Carver, a British attorney who has advised governments on implementing sanctions. "It's not going to really change a thing."

U.S. officials do not dispute that current amounts of frozen Iranian assets seem small. In some cases, Iran has shifted the money outside the U.S. or EU to avoid sanctions. The officials emphasize that their strategy is not to seize many assets, but to pressure Iran to change its ways by making it extremely difficult for it to do business.

"The strategy is not to freeze as many assets as we can," says Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department official who has headed the U.S. sanctions initiative during both the Obama and Bush administrations. "That alone, without the full range of measures we can bring to bear, would be a failing strategy."

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION IRAN WMF > IRAN: ONLY CHINA CAN SAVE IRAN FROM [US-led]UN SANCTIONS!

and

* TOPIX > IS TURKEY TRYING TO SINK OR SAVE IRAN?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/05/2010 1:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Sanctions didn't work in Iraq under Saddam Hussein either. I didn't think they would do much in Iran. Well what's next?
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/05/2010 13:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Sanctions have never produced any real results. 50 years later, the regime in Cuba is the same as it ever was. Same in North Korea. We have no caused either of those two nations to change their policies. Nor will any amount of sanctions result in Iran changing their policies.

"Sanctions" are what politicians do when they want to appear to be doing something without really doing anything. They are a passive-aggressive measure showing that those involved have a problem with taking direct responsibility for effecting change through direct action.
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/05/2010 15:36 Comments || Top||

#4  How about The Loo Sanction, crosspatch?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/05/2010 16:57 Comments || Top||

#5  The Loo Sanction? Is that when you get in trouble for going into the Girl's room?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2010 17:52 Comments || Top||



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Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

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In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2010-04-05
  Karzai raves at Western interference
Sun 2010-04-04
  Triple car boom in Baghdad
Sat 2010-04-03
  Qaeda Gunmen, Dressed As Iraqi Army, Slaughter 24 Sunni Iraqis
Fri 2010-04-02
  Pak-origin Chicago cab driver indicted for supporting al-Qaeda
Thu 2010-04-01
  US Navy Frigate Captures 5 Pirates and Mother Ship
Wed 2010-03-31
  Dronezap greases 6 in N.Wazoo
Tue 2010-03-30
  ETA brass hat arrested in Caracas
Mon 2010-03-29
  Two boomers, 38 dead in Moscow metro
Sun 2010-03-28
  Dronezap kills four in N. Wazoo
Sat 2010-03-27
  Allawi wins Iraq election by two seats
Fri 2010-03-26
  B.O. snubs Netanyahu, dines alone
Thu 2010-03-25
  Nativity Church deportee dies alone, unloved in Algeria
Wed 2010-03-24
  Saudis break up 101-strong Al-Qaeda cell
Tue 2010-03-23
  Hekmatyar dispatches peace delegation to Kabul
Mon 2010-03-22
  Boomer kills 10 Helmand picnickers

Better than the average link...



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