[Al Arabiya Latest] Sudan's elections commission on Monday announced a two-day extension to voting until April 16, after many voters experienced delays across Africa's largest country in the first open elections in 24 years.
"There is a two-day extension throughout the whole country," Sudan's National Elections Commission Secretary-General Jalal Mohamed Ahmed told Reuters.
Observers earlier urged the commission to extend voting after thousands of ballots were cast incorrectly and polling faced serious delays in many areas of Africa's largest country.
The complex presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections, which began on Sunday and were scheduled to last three days, had been hoped to transform Sudan from a nation emerging from decades of civil war to a democratic state.
But after a wave of opposition boycotts the vote now looks likely to confirm the 21-year rule of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir--the only sitting head of state wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, which alleges he was behind mass murder and rape in Darfur.
Sudanese election observers said polling stations in parts of the north and much of the south had experienced serious delays on Sunday and in some areas voting had not begun because ballot papers had not arrived.
"They may well really need to extend the period for these places where the materials haven't arrived," said al-Baqer Alafif, head of one of the largest Sudanese observer teams.
"In the south because the materials haven't arrived in many centres, some haven't even started voting yet," he added. He welcomed a call by the main south Sudan party for extended voting as many in the semi-autonomous south wasted hours searching for the correct voting stations.
"We want four on top of the three days ... in southern Sudan," said Samson Kwaje, campaign head of south Sudan's incumbent President Salva Kiir, who is also expected to be re-elected.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who is in Sudan monitoring the country's landmark elections said there was little doubt that polling will have to be extended.
The elections and a plebiscite on independence for south Sudan next year are key parts of a 2005 peace deal that ended a two-decade-long civil war between Sudan's north and south.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Carter's there - the election is doomed.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/13/2010 15:16 Comments ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Saudi Arabia's Senior Ulema Council is currently holding closed-door sessions to discuss two important issues affecting the kingdom; the financing of terrorism, and Takfiri fatwas.
But who is going to bell the cat? The many senior and junior members of the House of Saud who are involved in both those activities, I mean.
Last week, another closed-door session held by the Saudi Shura Council discussed calls to criminalize Takfiri fatwas that are issued from outside the official religious institute in order to put an end to the issuance of such fatwas that have been on the rise in recent years. Takfiri fatwas are fatwas or religious advisory opinions that state that a certain practice or act is haram or religiously impermissible and that anybody who takes part in such practices is not a Muslim.
Sources close to one of the members of the Senior Ulema Council stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that the sessions being held by the council in Riyadh are "secret and extraordinary," while another source at the Senior Ulema Council explained that the meetings, which commenced on Saturday and will end today Monday 12 April, will discuss the criminalization of the "Takfiri fatwas," and the "financing of terrorism."
Regarding last week's Shura Council meeting on Takfiri fatwas, official sources said that the proposal put forward by Dr. Zuhair al-Harthi was the subject of intense discussions by members of the Council. Sources also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Dr. al-Harthi, a member of the Shura Council's Human Rights Committee, justified his decision to put forward this proposal on the grounds that the fatwas in question exceed their limits, and that this phenomenon has reached the point of "infringing upon the principles, values, and spirit of religion and the value of national unity and also diminishes the prestige of the state, as well as impacting on external relations between Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world."
It's the impacting on external relations bit that hurts, y'know.
According to sources, Dr. Zuhair al-Harthi said that it was the duty of the Shura Council to "act to protect the blood of Muslims as well as protect Islamic Shariaa law from distortions, and the time has come to issue a system or law to criminalize Takfiri fatwas that are issued by non-official institutions."
Al-Harthi confirmed that the issuance of a decision criminalizing illegitimate Takfiri fatwas "is no longer a luxury but a necessity."
This is the first formal move in Saudi Arabia towards putting an end to illegitimate Takfiri fatwas that have given some religious clerics a foothold in the country. One of the most prominent Takfiri fatwas to cause controversy was the fatwa against gender mixing in places of work and education.
Sources who attended last week's meeting informed Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Harthi told the Shura Council that "the Takfiri fatwas that are issued now and then are issued by figures that do not meet the requirements to issue fatwas, and they are not affiliated to the official [religious] institution." He added that the problem lies in the fact that such figures are considered to be "Saudi Arabian religious clerics" when in fact they are not affiliated to the official institution and therefore have no right to issue such fatwas.
Al-Harthi also told the Shura Council that he believed that the silence over the growing phenomenon of Takfiri fatwas represented "a crime against the nation." He said that such illegitimate fatwas shared certain themes like "blood spilling, denouncing others as apostates, and devotion to the concept of exclusion." After this, according to a member of the Shura Council who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, al-Harthi called on the Shura Councils' Committee for Islamic Affairs to adopt the proposal to institute a system to criminalize illegitimate Takfiri fatwas in collaboration with the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta.
For his part, Sheikh Azeb al-Mesbel, Chairman of the Committee for Islamic Affairs, refused to comment on any plans to criminalize illegitimate Takfiri fatwas.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION WORLD NEWS > SO ALL YOU AL QAEDA, TALIBAN, AND OTHER MUSLIM EXTREMISTS HAD BETTER GET YOUR YELLOWCAKE WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
* SAME > US: AL QAEDA MAY GET NUKES FROM PAKISTAN.
#2
The takfir fatwa is one of the pillars of some of the modern salafi schools of Islamic law (requiring extra stringency in observance e.g., waking up at 3 am for mandatory prayer).
Without the threat of takfir, the Salafists would have to persuade other moslems to adopt their Safiri ways by either logic or their example. Those won't work.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/13/2010 8:28 Comments ||
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#3
If Muslims would have taken their tradition of 'there is no priesthood in Islam' seriously, their religion would not now be such a force for destruction in the world.
[Bangla Daily Star] A special court yesterday sentenced 50 accused personnel of 20 Rifle Battalion to different jail terms for their involvement in the Thakurgaon BDR mutiny in February last year.
The court however acquitted a jawan as the allegation brought against him could not be proved.
BDR Director General Maj Gen M Mainul Islam, heading the three-member special court-2, delivered the verdict in the mutiny case at 4:00pm. The other members are Lt Col Mahfuzur Rahaman and Maj Didar Al Latif.
Two jawans were sentenced to imprisonment for seven years, five to six years, two to five years and six months, five to five years, two to three years, four to two years, three to thirteen months, 14 to six months and 13 others to four months' rigorous imprisonment. The court also fined them Tk 100 each.
This is the second verdict of a BDR special court set up for trying accused mutineers of the paramilitary force. The same court on April 7 delivered a verdict in a case against 29 accused BDR members of 25 Rifle Battalion in Panchagarh.
In the judgment, Maj Gen Mainul said all facts and evidence proved that the accused were involved in the mutiny in Thakurgaon BDR Battalion on February 26.
Nayeb Subedar Md Shahidullah Biswas and Sepoy Md Shajahan were sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment, Habildar Md Abdul Haque, Sepoy Arifur Rahman Majumder, Subedar Maj Khondaker Mohammad Mohosin, Sepoy Md Meraz Ali and Sepoy Md Nahidur Rahman to six years, Sepoy Md Jahirul Haque and Assistant Lance Nayek Md Siddiqur Rahaman for five years and six months, Lance Nayek Md Selim Mia, Sepoy Md Zakir Hossain, Nayek Md Anamul Haque, Lance Nayek Md Nurul Islam and Sepoy Habibur Rahaman for five years, Sepoy Md Ali Akbar and Assistant Nayeb Subedar Md Fazlur Rahaman Bhuiyan for three years, Sepoy Md Razu Ahammed, Sepoy Md Ruhul Amin, Assistant Sepoy Md Nazmul Huda and Assistant Sepoy Md Saiful Islam for two years, Assistant Lance Nayek Md Anwar Hossain, Habildar Golam Mostafa and Sepoy Md Amzad Hossain to 13 months of rigorous imprisonment.
Habildar Md Jalal Uddin, Lance Nayek Abul Basher, sepoys Rezaul Karim, Mohammad Arshad, Md Jasim Uddin, Md Pappu Mondal, Md Manjurul Basher, Md Akhteruzzaman, Masum Billah, Md Halim Rana, Md Selim Reza, Ebne Masud Rana, Ziaur Rahman and Md Sabur Uddin were awarded six months' rigorous imprisonment.
Habildar Rezaul Karim, sepoys Abdullah Al Mamun, Md Ekabbar Ali, Mohammad Zillur Rahaman, Md Hanif Uddin, Md Rabiul Islam, Md Moksedul Haque, Md Babul Akhter, Shahin Mahmud, Mahmud Elias, Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Md Mir Hossain and Wasim Akram were sentenced to four months' imprisonment. Most of them were new recruits at that time.
Nayeb Subedar Saiful Islam, now on leave preparatory to retirement (LPR), was acquitted.
The court awarded lesser punishment to 44 of the 51 accused as they sought mercy confessing to their guilt after the court framed charges against the accused on April 8.
On completion of hearing, the court on Sunday fixed yesterday for delivering judgment.
Maj Gen Mainul said the verdict would remain as an example in the battalion's history. All legal proceedings were maintained during the trial and the accused were given 69 days' time in place of 27 days for making preparation to defend themselves.
He said seven civilian lawyers and a BDR official were appointed for giving legal assistance to the accused.
The trial was held in presence of visitors, relatives of the accused and journalists.
Many convicts burst into tears after Mainul pronounced the verdict. A number of them said they were punished without any reason while the real culprits remain at large.
Prosecutor in the case Lt Col Mahfuz Alom, also commanding officer of 25 Rifles Battalion, told journalists that such a verdict was essential for a disciplined force.
Emran Chowdhury, one of the counsels for the accused, said there is no scope for questioning any witness according to the BDR law.
Public Prosecutor Mosharaf Hossain Kajol said justice has been done. He said there is no option to challenge the verdict as the special court is the highest court for BDR.
The court ordered the prosecution to send copies of the verdict to the BDR headquarters, deputy commissioner, jail superintendent and superintendent of police in Thakurgaon and all high-ups of 20 Rifle Battalion.
The trial began on February 3 and was adjourned on February 4 giving the accused 64 days to make preparation to defend themselves.
Nurul Islam Fakir, deputy assistant director of 20 Rifle Battalion, placed the charges against the 51 as the complainant on February 3.
Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy represented attorney general at the court. Public Prosecutor Monjurul Alam was also present.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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Colombian authorities reported on Monday that a Venezuelan helicopter gunship violated its airspace in the department of Arauca, where other Venezuelan overflights have been reported in previous months.
Col. William Arcos, of the Arauca Police Force, said that the helicopter was seen over a village of the Colombian department. The chopper allegedly entered further into Colombian territory, DPA reported. .
"A Venezuelan helicopter gunship coming from that country flew near the military detachment we have in (the village of) Caracol," the official reported.
According to Arcos, the helicopter flew for several minutes over the territory of Arauca and later entered the Venezuelan territory.
In January, the Colombian government sent a protest note related to the flight of a Venezuelan helicopter over the city of Arauca. Caracas denied the claims.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like the only way to prove this is to shoot them down and let them fall where they may.
A senior U.S. diplomat is en route to Kyrgyzstan for the first high-level direct dialogue between the United States and the interim government that assumed power there last week. The State Department says it is "very good news" that the new administration will uphold an agreement allowing the United States to use an airbase there for Afghanistan flights.
The decision to send Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake to Bishkek follows a weekend telephone conversation between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the head of Kyrgyzstan's interim government, Roza Otunbayeva. Speaking with reporters, Blake said that in meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with the interim leaders he will offer humanitarian aid and other support, and seek details of announced elections and a democratic transition in six months.
The State Department says Ms. Otunbayeva told Clinton that the new administration will abide by an agreement allowing the United States to use the Manas airbase near Bishkek as a transit hub for military flights to and from Afghanistan.
Blake said that while the new authorities in Bishkek have a "full plate" of other matters, he expects the Manas base arrangement - which the United States had been talking with the previous government about extending - will come up.
"Ambassador [Richard] Holbrooke was in Kyrgyzstan and Bishkek not too long ago and said the government at that time had agreed to continue those arrangements, and we welcome that, of course," said Robert Blake. "And it's very good news that Ms. Otunbayeva said that they will continue to abide by those agreements. Of course, the United States is prepared to talk at any time with her and the members of the provisional government about these arrangements."
Blake said he would have no contact in Kyrgyzstan with ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev or his representatives.
Mr. Bakiyev, who fled Bishkek last week after violent unrest in which scores of protestors were killed by security forces, has refused to surrender.
Blake said he understands there are differences among members of the interim government about whether Mr. Bakiyev should be arrested or allowed to leave for foreign exile. He said the United States takes no position on that issue, which he said should be "managed" by the Kyrgyz people in accordance with their constitution.
State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley, meanwhile, said the United States does not consider last week's transfer of power in Bishkek a coup and that the issue of recognition of the Kyrgyz government was never at issue.
"There is a transitional administration that has taken over operation of government ministries," said P.J. Crowley. "We recognize that reality. It's not for us to say that today the leader of Kyrgyzstan is Otunbayeva versus Bakiyev. What we recognize is that there's a process underway that within six months' time will produce a new government, one that we hope will be more democratic." So long, Bakiyev, and don't apply for a visa ...
Assistant Secretary Blake said Maksim Bakiyev, son of the president, arrived in the United States last week as head of a Kyrgyz delegation for talks with State Department officials that were cancelled. Blake said the younger Bakiyev has since left the country and that he had no contact with U.S. officials.
The senior official avoided direct comment on a Washington Post newspaper report that last week's Kyrgyz unrest had been partly fomented by Russian media reports. He said only that President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev had a very good conversation on Kyrgyzstan last week in Prague and that they agreed on the importance of restoring law and order there. Did Obama bow over the phone?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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Link to .pdf
At present, investment in oil production is only beginning to pick up, with the result that production could reach a prolonged plateau. By 2030, the world will require production of 118 MBD, but energy producers may only be producing 100 MBD unless there are major changes in current investment and drilling capacity.
By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 MBD.
A severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production and refining capacity. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India. At best, it would lead to periods of harsh economic adjustment. One should not forget that the Great Depression spawned a number of totalitarian regimes that sought economic prosperity for their nations by ruthless conquest.
The Chinese are laying down approximately 1,000 kilometers of four-lane highway every year, a figure suggestive of how many more vehicles they expect to possess, with the concomitant rise in their demand for oil. The presence of Chinese "civilians" in the Sudan to guard oil pipelines underlines China's concern for protecting its oil supplies and could portend a future in which other states intervene in Africa to protect scarce resources. The implications for future conflict are ominous, if energy supplies cannot keep up with demand and should states see the need to militarily secure dwindling energy resources.
Another potential effect of an energy crunch could be a prolonged U.S. recession which could lead to deep cuts in defense spending (as happened during the Great Depression). Joint Force commanders could then find their capabilities diminished at the moment they may have to undertake increasingly dangerous missions. Should that happen, adaptability would require more than preparations to fight the enemies of the United States, but also the willingness to recognize and acknowledge the limitations of America's military forces. The pooling of U.S. resources and capabilities with allies would then become even more critical. Coalition operations would become essential to protecting national interests.
#2
During this Great Recession mil spending is going to drop less the cost of any active war operations. You can count on everyone else of any 'Coalition' are going to cut if not gut their military. They already are sucking effectiveness after the Cold War peace dividend they've spent buying time till the bill is due on unsustainable social programs. Given the inability of most of the existing Western nations to effectively inter operate with American mil now, it's going to be even worse then. There's not going to be a 'Coalition' beyond someone tacking the name on some piece of paper that has zero effective range beyond any room it's composed in given a decade or so down the road.
#4
-- Regardless of 'mandarin' theories, economic prosperity since the 1600's has hinged on abundant cheap energy of whatever source. One of the reasons England's economy outstripped France's starting around 1750 was the availability / cheapness of English coal vs. whatever energy sources France had, which both countries needed to make iron & steel.
--- One could make the case that the current economic stagnation is exacerbated by or even due to the current high price of petroleum. Finding more petroleum won't help unless and until the price can be considered cheap!
--- By 2030, the world will require production of 118 MBD I cannot make sense of statements like this. The world requires wetter water and an infinite supply of free beer, also. The world cannot use more than current production/stockpiles, whatever that happens to be.
--- Enemies of the USA will also be constrained by decreasing availability of cheap energy. 9/11 wouldn't have happened without the ability to fly Islamofascists all over the world at discounted air fares.
#5
Feb. trade deficit increases to $39.7 billion The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the deficit for February increased 7.4 percent to $39.7 billion. That was larger than the $38.5 billion deficit economists had expected. Exports edged up 0.2 percent while imports jumped 1.7 percent.
Imports rose a larger 1.7 percent to $182.9 billion as imports of consumer goods rose to the highest level since October 2008. Increases were recorded in shipments of computers, televisions and other electronic appliances, toys and games and clothing. Imports of all petroleum products rose 1.6 percent to $27.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis even though the number of barrels of crude oil imported fell in February to the lowest level in 11 years.
Posted by: ed ||
04/13/2010 12:46 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Drill here, drill now. What is the problem with the government, it is almost like it wants us to have $5 gas.
#7
IOW, IMO what this Artic is tyring hard NOT to say is that America = Amerika, the Mighty OWG USSA = Weak OWG USRoA SSR, must find a way to expand and make NUCLEAR-BASED TECH AVAILABLE AND AFFORDABLE TO FREE MARKET MASS CONSUMERS.
Clearly a job for FUTURAMA'S mad Mad MAD M-A-D MMMMMMAAAAAAAADDDDDD FRANKEN/ZILLA SCIENTISTS, + FRYE.
* "Its almost like it wants us to have $5.0 gas" > wehell,IMO THEY DO.
To wit,
As times before, 9-11 + GWOT > AMONG OTHER, 'TIS ABOUT SETTING UP [Pro-US vs Anti-US]OWG-NWO INCLUDING NATIONAL-GLOBAL/UNIVERSAL SOCIALIST ORDER, EVEN IFF THE POLITICOS, ETAL. DON'T = WON'T WANT TO ADMIT SO AT THIS TIME.
MSM-Net > PCorrectly-Deniably ascribed as "THE RISE OF THE REST" OF THE US-WORLD.
D *** NG IT, TWASN'T OUR GOVT NICE ENOUGH TO NOT ASK MAINSTREAM AMERICA = AMERIKA TO VOTE ON WHETHER YOU WANTED SAID SAME OWG-NWO, US-GLOBAL SOCIALIST ORDER, .................@ USE YOUR $$$ TO PAY FOR DEV THE REST OF THE WORLD!?
#8
The Chinese are laying down approximately 1,000 kilometers of four-lane highway every year, a figure suggestive of how many more vehicles they expect to possess
Not mentioned: increasing the ability to move large numbers of military and paramilitary forces, provide landing strips for aircraft, etc.
Security has been tightened in parts of northern Pakistan after violent protests over moves to rename North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
At least five people have been killed since trouble broke out in the Hazara region on Monday. Hazaras in NWFP are part of a different ethnic group from majority Pashtuns and oppose calling it Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.
The National Assembly approved the new name as part of a package of constitutional amendments last week. The changes would also curb the power of the president, and still need to be approved by the Senate.
Pashtuns dominate NWFP but not the province's Hazara division.
"Additional security personnel have been called in to protect government offices across the region," Iqbal Khan, head of the local administration in Abbottabad, told the BBC.
(Reuters) - U.S. Special Operations Forces on a training mission in Pakistan are playing an expanded but largely unseen role in the country's counterinsurgency campaign, working with paramilitary units to "hold and build" tribal areas as militants are cleared out.
U.S. defense and administration officials say the elite trainers, who currently number more than 100, have not and are not authorized to take part in Pakistani military offensives in the semi-autonomous tribal regions, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, along the Afghan border. Pakistan has balked at U.S. offers of joint military operations there, officials said on condition of anonymity.
But Special Ops trainers play a bigger role than has been widely disclosed in helping Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps, such as surveying and coordinating projects aimed at winning "hearts and minds" and preventing Taliban fighters from returning to areas once they have been pushed out.
A Pentagon proposal would deepen that role by creating a special $10 million pool of funds the trainers could spend more quickly on civil affairs and humanitarian projects in the FATA in coordination with their Pakistani counterparts. U.S. defense and administration officials spoke about the training program and the new proposal on condition of anonymity because, as one said, the relatively small American military presence is such a "radioactive" issue in Pakistan.
U.S. and Pakistani officials worry that detailed disclosures about the role of Special Ops could compromise operational security, spark a backlash among Pakistanis against their government and fuel already high anti-American sentiment. Say anything more and the New York Times will be publishing it all on page 1 ...
There are 200 U.S. military personnel in Pakistan, including troops who guard the sprawling American Embassy compound in Islamabad. The number of Special Operations trainers fluctuates from as little as 60 to about 120.
A February bombing that killed three Special Operations "civil affairs" specialists in northwest Pakistan partly exposed how small U.S. teams sometimes venture out beyond the confines of heavily guarded military bases.
Washington is in talks to increase the number of Special Ops trainers and authorize sending them to sectors deeper in the tribal regions, but details have yet to be worked out.
"This is in the line of essentially training," a senior U.S. defense official said of the Special Operations Forces. "This is a part of winning hearts and minds -- endearing the public to the military and to the government."
"We're in full support, essentially behind the scenes with a Pak-Mil (Pakistani military) face on it, to be able to have them legitimize the government of Pakistan and the military as the people that have brought security to the area and now are providing the initial tools to be able to help and build."
The $10 million in funds, which has yet to be approved by the Pentagon leadership, would be modeled after the Commanders' Emergency Response Program, or CERP, which has become a linchpin of U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and has been credited with helping turn the tide in Iraq. CERP-funded projects are intended to gain the confidence of local residents and leaders and discourage them from cooperating with insurgents. The program has been authorized for war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq -- not Pakistan.
"It does give me some different authorities to be able to assist the government of Pakistan, the Pak-Mil, a little bit quicker, with the right accountability," the senior U.S. defense official said. "We have controls in place," he added when asked about congressional concerns about oversight.
At $10 million, the CERP-like funding would represent a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars in U.S. aid promised to Pakistan, although the amount could be expanded later.
As was the case in Iraq and Afghanistan, the senior defense official said a CERP-like program in Pakistan "might be useful, particularly after a conflict-affected area, to immediately, rapidly go in, do quick impact projects that the Pak-Mil have come to us to seek help with, whether it be electricity, whether it be water, whether it be road."
Alongside large increases in funding to train and equip Pakistani forces for counterinsurgency operations, U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized the CIA to sharply expand a counterterrorism campaign of aerial drone strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban targets near the Afghan border.
Under the proposal, the $10 million would come out of State Department economic assistance funding for Pakistan, officials briefed on the matter said.
Critics say the move risked stoking concerns in Pakistan about U.S. meddling and could open the door to a further escalation down the road.
Advocates say an expanded Special Operations role in development is needed because U.S. government projects normally take months or longer to get approved, and because the security environment is too unstable in large parts of the FATA for nonmilitary organizations to lead the effort.
The senior defense official said the goal was to "seed the environment to then allow the security to calm down, people to return and for the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) to follow in after."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
guess that 'explains' the headline about the 71 civilians killed in the airstrike
/spit
Posted by: abu do you love ||
04/13/2010 23:02 Comments ||
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The senior U.S. general in Iraq since 2008, Gen. Ray Odierno, will be succeeded by a leading Pentagon general at the end of the summer, military officials said Monday. His replacement is Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the officials said.
Military officials spoke about the change on the condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made.
Posted by: ed ||
04/13/2010 12:34 ||
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The harsh reality for generals is they have only one shot to make the history books, and whether they do or not, their life span is still short as a fruit fly. General Odierno had a good run.
KARBALA / Aswat al-Iraq: The Indian ambassador in Baghdad said on Monday that his country seeks to open a consulate in Karbala to serve Indians living or visiting Iraq.
We have a promising thing in Karbala, where everyone looks forward to establish his city,' Abdulmajeed Bader told reporters in Karbala. This gives motivation to Indian investors around the world to come and invest in Karbala and to implement joint projects."
Karbala is hosting the first international investment conference, where 100 Indian investors and traders take part to sign memos and joint cooperation agreements.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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TOPIX > PAK DESERTERS: TALIBAN HAD PLANS TO KIDNAP INDIAN DIPLOMATS [ + PM Gilani + his close relations].
* SAME > TALIBAN THREATEN TO FOIL PLANS FOR MEHSUD TRIBE'S REHABILITATION [Talib attacks planned all across PAK].
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday said King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz expressed his wish for a government comprising all Iraq's politicians after an indecisive March 7 general election.
"The aspiration of all Arabs is that all Iraqis will participate in the running of their country," said the king, according to a statement issued by Talabani's office.
"The king said that Saudi Arabia stands at the same distance from all Iraqi parties and that the kingdom supports Iraq without interfering in its internal affairs," the statement added.
Talabani was greeted at Riyadh international airport by Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, the official SPA news agency reported, while politicians in Baghdad continued negotiations over the formation of a new government.
Talabani's arrival followed a denial by Saud on Saturday that the Saudi government was meddling in the post-election politicking in Iraq in support of former premier Iyad Allawi.
Saudi Arabia is a major regional rival of Iran and has been eager to see a reduction in Tehran's influence in Baghdad.
Riyadh has had troubled relations with incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and has refused to establish a formal diplomatic representation in the Iraqi capital, citing security concerns.
Relations with Allawi, who leads an alliance including Sunni and secular Shiite parties, are believed to be better.
The former premier visited Riyadh for talks with King Abdullah on the eve of the March election in which his Iraqiya bloc went on to secure a narrow lead over Maliki's State of Law Alliance.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Hamas has begun taxing Gaza street vendors and shopkeepers, raising speculation the ruling Islamist group is in a financial crisis fuelled partly by Egypt's building of a border wall to stop smuggling tunnels.
Experts said on Monday that perhaps only a few dozen of the hundreds of tunnels are still functional as a result of the steel wall being pounded deep into the ground along the 14-km (8-mile)-long frontier.
For Gaza's Hamas government, which takes a cut from Palestinian merchants who move items ranging from cars to fuel to food along the subterranean route, that means lower revenues in an impoverished enclave under an Israeli-led blockade.
Weapons, and it is widely believed cash, also come in via the tunnels. Oh yeah, guns and ammo also come in via the tunnels. Likely the result of moles, unknown to the tunnel operators. No one really knows how all the weapons and cash get into Gaza ...
It's in the air, like salt from the ocean. When the air becomes saturated, the guns and weapons, being heavier than salt, fall out of the atmosphere first. It's simple chemistry.
"There is a real financial crisis," Palestinian economist Omar Shaban said.
The Hamas administration, he said, employed 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip and had put much of its liquidity into the purchase of buildings and land.
"The crisis may also indicate either a lack of foreign financial support, Arab and Islamic, or a difficulty to get that support into the territory for some reasons," Shaban said.
For the first time since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from the rival Fatah movement of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, it has begun to collect taxes from street merchants and small business owners.
"They asked me to pay 1,100 shekels ($290) a month. How much did I earn to give them what they asked for?" asked the owner of a shop selling falafel (fried chickpea) snacks.
"Instead, I asked them to take the store and pay me the 1,100 shekels every month. It would be a better deal for me," he joked.
Taher al-Nono, a Hamas government spokesman, denied it was going through any financial problems.
"We have not imposed any new tax that did not exist in the past and we are charging tax only to those who are doing great business," Nono said.
One lucrative levy is a $6,000 license fee that Hamas charges a car buyer to bring a new vehicle into the Gaza Strip through a tunnel. The buyer also pays the tunnel owner $5,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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FWIW, Israel also has trouble collecting taxes from falafel stand owners.
In Israel, the street vendors are required to pay a percentage of revenue and the municipalities also collect license fees but both the taxes and the fees are frequently evaded.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/13/2010 13:09 Comments ||
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FWIW, Israel also has trouble collecting taxes from falafel stand owners.
Various levels of U.S. governments have trouble collecting taxes from cash-only businesses with poor bookkeeping practices. When all there is to go on is starting and ending amounts of money in the cash register, disregarding the money in various back pockets, calculating the tax owed is likely to be only slightly related to unacknowledged reality.
Frontpage Interview's guest today is Dr. Nancy Kobrin, a psychoanalyst with a Ph.D. in romance and semitic languages, specializing in Aljamía and Old Spanish in Arabic script. She is an expert on the Minnesota Somali diaspora and a graduate of the Human Terrain System program at Leavenworth Kansas. Her new book is The Banality of Suicide Terrorism: The Naked Truth About the Psychology of Islamic Suicide Bombing.
FP: Nancy Kobrin, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Congratulations on your book. Tell us about its significance and what makes it different from all other books on suicide terrorism to date.
Kobrin: Thank you so much Jamie. I must say how indebted I am to you and the entire staff at Frongpagemag.com because you provided the opportunity and invaluable space to discuss and debate my theory for the suicide attack with other colleagues. If it hadn't been here at Frontpage, I wonder if this book would have ever been written. My thanks and gratitude to you all.
This is a psychological study and its significance is that it is the first to address early childhood development and its crucial role that it plays in suicide terrorism with regard to the psychology of extremism and gender specifically with the emphasis on the devalued female in Arab Muslim shame honor cultures which have developed suicide terrorism. This is not to blame the female or the mother but to understand the power and control of her and its devastating consequences.
To the best of my knowledge and to date, I know of no other book or theory, which has made the link between the horrific abuse of the female and its ramifications with regard to murder-suicide, her split-off body parts and the alleged honor killing. I hasten to add that we are only at the beginning of understanding the phenomenon and we are in the model T stage of integrating a more in-depth or shall we say psychodynamic approach to the knowledge that we have about terrorism.
Because I understand non-verbal communication and ninety-five percent of what we communicate is nonverbal, the focus of the book is primarily on the nonverbal predatory behavior of these terrorists by looking at the imagery.
It is understandable that we tend to stress the terrible nature of the incitement of the ideologies of Jihad and violence, which are indeed extremely important. However, by over focusing on its verbiage', this tends to obscure an already confusing and terrorizing picture. The ideologies act like a girdle, which harnesses the pre-existing rage of a fragile abused child grown into a time-bomb' of a personality. I'll give an example later in the interview when I address the issue of the female suicide bomber, how we can easily miss a hidden communication' in this terrorism, precisely because it is so deeply terrorizing.
This is why people are always mystified by the nice guy or gal jihadi next door.' The mask of peace' is so well developed, giving perfect cover for a rageful personality. It hides the embroiled rage and it is so terrorizing that We just don't want to go there. . .' This is also why Islam can present itself as a religion of peace when it is a religion of two pieces Jihad and Peace two sides of a coin. If we are going to be effective in filleting the phenomenon of Islamic suicide terrorism, it is imperative that the imagery be taken into consideration and factored in with the ideologies. When read together, then other questions can be raised concerning the psychological function of religious and cultural practices.
How did I come to this realization? I recall the first psychiatric child patient that I ever had to interview. It was on a locked ward and I was tasked to establish a rapport with a five year old boy who was hospitalized for setting fires immolation. I was told to talk with him and engage him through a game of checkers. No sooner did we sit down that he had his foot on top of mine under the table. I said to myself OMG, alpha male dominance. I realized that he was absolutely terrified of me.
Terror is not to be equated with fear. It is nameless dread, non-verbal which encapsulates a complete sense of utter vulnerability, tantamount to death.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi says the government plans to raise domestic gas prices by nearly tenfold in a bid to reduce consumption.
He said the growing domestic gas consumption could lead to a 'crisis' within the next three years, Mehr News Agency reported.
"To deal with this problem, we propose to increase the price of gas to at least 900-1,000 rials (about 10 US cents) per cubic meter," Mirkazemi said, adding that this could save up to $17 billion which could be used in developing the country's gas sector.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government plans to eliminate costly subsidies on energy and food over five years.
The Iranian Parliament (Majlis) in March passed a budget bill, permitting the government to eliminate $20 billion worth of subsidies -- half of the amount requested by Ahmadinejad.
Mirkazemi said that the price of electricity and gasoline should also be increased if there is a rise in domestic gas prices.
Iran is the world's third-largest energy consumer after the United States and Russia.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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I wonder if he got the idea from Obama's plan to do the same.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to condemn NATO support for Jundallah ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi.
In a letter to the UN chief, President Ahmadinejad complained about the supports provided by some NATO members for Rigi.
The Iranian president also sent video footage of the crimes committed by the notorious terrorist cell to the UN chief urging the UN to support the Iranian nation against terrorism.
In his letter, President Ahmadinejad also referred to the attacks on the Middle East after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"More than one million people have been victimized and several millions of others displaced in the Middle East after September 11, and all under the pretext of fighting terrorism," he added.
President Ahmadinejad said the least the UN could do was to appoint a fact-finding committee trusted by regional countries to investigate the September 11 incidents and inform the General Assembly of the results of its findings.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/13/2010 00:00 ||
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WORLD NEWS > IRAN ACCUSES NATO OF TERRORISM.
* SAME > HIZBULLAH WARNS US ABOUT MEDDLING IN LEBANESE AFFAIRS + SYRIA WARNS ABOUT ISRAELI "ETHNIC CLEANSING" [Palestinians].
o Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohamedou Ould Salahi, Al Qaeda recruiter, met with him in Afghanistan in 1992, in Germany in 1998, and requested advice by fax in 1997 about where to send wannabe jihadis for training. Three of the men Mr. Salahi sent to Afghanistan were future 9/11 hijackers (Mohamed Atta, Ziad Jarrah, Marwan al Shehhi). The fourth was Ramzi Binalshibh, who helped coordinate the 9/11 attack.
o Mr. Paul also met with Moroccan Karim Mehdi in Germany in 1993 and in 1997 or 1998, who was also connected (how incestuous this all is!) to Binalshibh and Jarrah, sentenced to French prison for plotting a terror attack against the French island of Reunion.
o Mr. Paul, part of a cell of three men based in Columbus, was the last of them to plead guilty to charges of plotting terror attacks. He was sentenced to twenty years. Co-conspirator Nuradin Abdi pled guilty to plotting to blow up an Ohio shopping mall; co-conspirator Iyman Faris pled guilty to a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
U.S. Muslims urged to jihad
In his online lectures, Anwar al-Awlaki looks like a passionate professor. His arguments are thoughtful and well-researched, and his voice is steady and clear. Videos of his speeches have gone viral, receiving hundreds of thousands of hits, and his words resonate deeply with disaffected young Muslims, angered by what they see as Western attacks on Islam.
"We are fighting for truth and justice, and you are fighting for oppression," he said in a March video calling for young American Muslims to wage a "holy war" against the U.S. Many YouTube users responded with blessings, thanks and vows to join the jihad.
Terrorism specialists say Mr. al-Awlaki could be more influential than Osama bin Laden, especially among potential radicals within the U.S. Last week, Mr. al-Awlaki, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen, reportedly was put on a CIA hit list.
Posted by: ed ||
04/13/2010 13:13 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hamas has begun taxing Gaza street vendors and shopkeepers, raising speculation the ruling Islamist group is in a financial crisis fuelled partly by Egypt's building of a border wall to stop smuggling tunnels.
