[Al Jazeera] Former US military prisoners in Afghanistan have said that they were abused in a secret prison on Bagram airbase as recently as this year, raising fears that detainee mistreatment has continued despite an overhaul of US detention operations in the country.
Yeah, yeah -- that one's straight from the manual. It would be nice if they came up with something new and interesting.
It wasn't a secret prison -- everyone knew it was there ...
The abuse - which includes exposure to extreme temperatures, lack of adequate food and bedding, lack of natural light and interference with religious duties - is alleged to have occurred at a secret "screening" facility on the military base north of Kabul.
That's not abuse, that's sharing the conditions of their captors. I thought jihadis were supposed to be such manly tough guys, but I seem to have been mistaken.
Just a bunch of skulking Nancy-boys ...
The existence of the site, known amongst Afghans as the "Tor Jail", has never been admitted by US authorities, although it does acknowledge it runs a number of field sites in which prisoners are held immediately after surrendering.
Prisoners are kept at the field sites before either being handed to Afghan authorities, released, or transferred to the main US detention facility at Parwan, on the edge of Bagram airbase.
International standards
The US task force responsible for running detentions in the Afghanistan insists that treatment in all its facilities meets international standards.
But a report released this week by the US-based Open Society Foundation, details the testimony of 18 detainees held at the Tor Prison who say the TV wasn't fixed for a whole week there.
The testimony includes repeated claims that their cells were kept uncomfortably cold so they were unable to sleep, that they were given inedible food, and that bright lights were kept on in windowless cells 24 hours a day.
They prob'ly would have complained worse about being kept in the dark...
Such treatment would not only fall short of international standards for the treatment of prisoners,
That is to say, legitimate prisoners of war. These gentlemen don't fit the category description in any detail except being members of the species Homo sapien.
but also would run counter to US military's own guidelines on the issue, which says prisoners should not be exposed to "excessive or inadequate heat, light, or ventilation".
The differences between the secretive Tor Prison and the main Bagram site have raised questions about whether the smaller site is being run by a different military agency to other detention sites in the country, which come under the mandate of Joint Task Force 435 (JTF 435).
Jonathan Horowitz, the author of the report, told Al Jazeera that there appeared to be a link between the Tor Prison and US special forces activity in Afghanistan. "JTF 435 does not run the facility," he said. "The facility does seem to have tight links with forces operating under Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Whether they are the only ones in charge, I don't know."
"It's worth noting that at the Detention Facility in Parwan [the main Bagram prison], there are also interrogators and isolations cells,' he said.
"One of the big differences between the two sites is transparency. I assume that those in Tor Jail think they benefit from its secretive nature and don't want to give that up."
The allegations have come to light as the US military oversees a much-publicised effort to improve its record on detainee treatment in Afghanistan. Improved prison facilities have been built, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been given better access to those held in US detention.
Eighteen prisoners who passed through the site were interviewed for the report. Half of them said that they had been taken to the prison in 2009 and 2010, after Barack Obama, the US president, had already ordered an overhaul of detention operations in Afghanistan.
The US military has denied that it runs secret prisons in Afghanistan, and said it does not mistreat the prisoners it holds there, insisting that conditions are compliant with both the Geneva Coventions and the military's own guidelines.
Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Robbins, a Pentagon spokesperson, said the US department of defence (DoD) "takes all credible allegations of detainee mistreatment very seriously".
"Furthermore, DoD conducts thorough and regular assessments of all of its detention facilities and operations to maintain oversight, accountability and to ensure humane treatment of detainees," she said in an email to Al Jazeera.
The US military does run temporary detention and screening facilities in Afghanistan, "which are classified to preserve operational security," she said. "However, both the ICRC and the respective host nations have knowledge of these facilities ... [and] these facilities are consistent with international and US law."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, this is almost as sad a story as "No Ice Cream at Gitmo"...
#2
Nonsense, if there really WAS an evil, Secret Prison, there'd be no-one alive to talk about it.
Quote Pirate captain Jack Sparrow,
"No survivors? then who tells the tale?"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/16/2010 11:26 Comments ||
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#3
But a report released this week by the US-based Open Society Foundation, details the testimony of 18 detainees held at the Tor Prison who say the TV wasn't fixed for a whole week there.
#4
But a report released this week by the US-based Open Society Foundation, details the testimony of 18 detainees held at the Tor Prison who say the TV wasn't fixed for a whole week there.
Phuecking Soros yet again.
Posted by: RIcky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/16/2010 12:34 Comments ||
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Pakistan said on Friday it was willing to assist talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and Nato confirmed its forces had helped ensure a senior Taliban commander reached Kabul. Nato and US officials have said they are ready to do more to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, but Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the talks must be led by Afghanistan itself.
"We are there to facilitate. Because we want to see a stable, peaceful Afghanistan. It's in Pakistan's interest to have stability and peace in Afghanistan," Qureshi said in Brussels before talks on Pakistan's economic development.
"Specifically, a peaceful and stable Afghanistan completely subordinate to Pakistan. We'll start to feel satisfied when our Taliban are in charge in Kabul once again."
A senior Pakistani official familiar with the contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban said they had been made possible by the lifting of US opposition. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week Washington would do whatever it takes to put peace talks on track.
I understand he drew the line at nuking New Delhi, however.
I don't know whether these contacts will succeed or not but the process has been set into motion," the Pakistani official said. "It's just the beginning and this in itself is a success because earlier there has been (US) opposition."
Pakistan's backing for talks is important. Although it is officially an ally in Nato's campaign against militancy in Afghanistan, it has been accused of playing a double game by covertly supporting militants fighting there. Islamabad was the main backer of the Taliban when it was in power in Afghanistan, and has been concerned by the influence its nuclear-armed rival India has on the Kabul government.
Special forces have killed or captured more than 300 Taliban leaders in the last three months, says General David Petraeus, the head of Nato forces in Afghanistan. Gen Petraeus said the men were "important figures" and the "so-called jackpot" targets of operations conducted by British and American special forces. What do you call 300 dead Taliban leaders? A good start. Especially if they're all number three's ...
What, all of them? The organization is going to have a heck of a time training up a new lot from the shrinking pool of Number Fours in anything approaching a timely manner. The shrinking pool of Number Twos (all two of them, by definition) is going to have to cover the management needs in the meantime -- in addition to doing the training, which is going to play havoc with moving current and future projects forward on anything even approaching original timelines. Say goodbye to the annual bonus, guys, never mind stock options.
The number of such operations has increased by three or four times from its previous level, he said, as a result of more surveillance aircraft and drones that have been able to spot targets and intercept communications.
His comments came amid reports that American pilots have pounded the Taliban with 2,100 bombs or missiles in four months, an increase of nearly 50 percent over the same period last year.
Gen Petraeus said al-Qaeda had extended its presence into Kunar and Nuristan in Eastern Afghanistan where three leaders have been killed.
Meanwhile al-Qaedas senior leaders in Pakistan have been forced to go "very deep underground, figuratively speaking, maybe literally as well," he added. One message from Osama bin Laden had taken four weeks to get out, the general said.
"It indicates a considerable inability, certainly to conduct any kind of day-to-day or even week-to-week operational guidance," he said. "Although he has individuals who do that for him."
But the US general, who was answering questions at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, denied that there had been a change of tactics away from trying to win over the population as part of a "counter-insurgency" strategy and towards a targeted "counter-terrorism" strategy.
He said the increase in targeted attacks was part of a general "civilian-military" strategy that also included increasing the capacity of the government to provide services and trying to persuade the Taliban to defect, as part of what he described as a "comprehensive" approach.
"There have been several very senior Taliban leaders who have reached out to the Afghan government at the highest levels and in some cases reached out to other countries engaged in Afghanistan," he said, presumably referring to Pakistan.
Gen Petraeus added that Natos ISAF forces do "in certain respects facilitate that, given that it would not be the easiest of tasks for a senior Taliban commander to enter Afghanistan and make their way to Kabul if ISAF were not witting and therefore aware of it and allows it to take place."
But he said the discussions were only "preliminary in nature" and added: "they certainly would not rise to the level of being called negotiations."
Gen Petraeus, who wrote the counter-insurgency manual on which the current campaign in Afghanistan is based, said he had visited the country while still serving in Iraq and concluded that it was "likely to be the longest campaign of the long war" and that the situation there "precluded rapid progress."
He said that over the last 18 months they had "broadly got the inputs right" and the challenge was now to get the "outputs right."
A vital review of Afghan strategy by the White House is due in December in the face of a time limit set by President Obama for the beginning of withdrawing troops next July.
Gen Petraeus said: "We now have the right strategy in place" which "provides grounds that after time we can achieve our objectives."
Gen Petraeus pointed to improvements in Afghanistan that has seen Gross Domestic Product triple from $4bn to $13bn since 2001, fueled by greater access to electricity, education, roads and mobile phones.
He said the population of Kabul had increased from a million in 2001 to 5 million, living in "relative security," and military forces were attempting to create a "security bubble" around the major population centres in Helmand and Kandahar.
Amid concerns that cuts in British defence spending could affect the war in Afghanistan, Gen Petraeus said he had met with both David Cameron and Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary and added: "I have repeatedly received assurances that the support for Afghanistan is iron clad, that it is 'fenced' if you will, and it will be forthcoming."
#1
I admire this strategy, especially in logistically handicapped Afghanistan/Pakistan.
Kill off the troublemaker's leaders.
Rinse
Repeat
Now if we will just not trip over our johnson by setting an artificial deadline to exit before the job is finished.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
10/16/2010 0:18 Comments ||
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#2
The jihadis keep saying they love death. I see no reason not to offer them big steaming helpings. Come and get it, boys!
#3
But the US general... denied that there had been a change of tactics away from trying to win over the population as part of a "counter-insurgency" strategy and towards a targeted "counter-terrorism" strategy.
With the caveat of my not being a ground-pounding expert, seems COIN is more effective if there's a closed-loop situation, i.e., no Taliban commuting from their bedroom communities in Pakistan and Iran.
[Arab News] Plans for referendums that could split Sudan in two are being hampered by delays, poor funding and a "negatively charged atmosphere" of threats and accusations, a UN panel said on Friday.
Sudan is less than three months away from the scheduled start of two votes -- one on whether its south should declare independence and the other on whether the contested oil-rich area of Abyei should join the north or oil-producing south.
Both votes were promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between north and south Sudan.
Relations between the former foes have remained deeply troubled and diplomats have warned there is a risk of a return to conflict if either plebiscite is delayed or disrupted.
Members of a high-level UN panel on Friday told journalists they were "very concerned" about a lack of progress in preparing for the votes with less than 90 days to go before the official start date of Jan. 9, 2011.
"On both sides (north and south) the atmosphere remains negatively charged. Threats and accusations are being made," said former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa, head of the panel UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon set up to monitor the referendums.
Northern and southern officials have accused each other of building up troops either side of their ill-defined shared border in recent weeks.
Mkapa said the commission set up to run the southern independence vote was short of funds and did not have enough money to hire staff or pay for basic equipment and the transportation of election materials.
"Funding from both the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan is lagging. They must come forward with their share of the funds," he told a press conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Somalia's president named a new prime minister on Thursday, bringing into the government a Somali-American who has taught at a community college in New York state.
Good luck, sir. It would be very good if you could bring some order and sanity to that place. Please do not go too native, that's turned out badly with some of our alumni in similar positions in the past...
Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed replaces Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, who had a long-running feud with the president and resigned last month.
A statement from the hapless Somali government said that Mohamed is a former Somali diplomat. He worked in the Somali Embassy in Washington from 1985 to 1988, according to the government's website.
Mohamed has taught conflict resolution and leadership skills at Erie Community College, a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, according to his resume. He has a master's degree in political science from SUNY-Buffalo, it said.
Mohamed will be asked to name a Cabinet within one month.
Mark Bowden, a top UN official with oversight of Somalia, said Mohamed's Cabinet is expected to be smaller than the bloated group of politicians that Sharmarke had control over. Among officials in Sharmarke's Cabinet was a minister of tourism in a violence-plagued country that sees only a handful of tourists each year.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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Opponents of the veil claim it oppresses women and presents a barrier between those who wear traditional dress and the rest of society.
But in a new report from think-tank Civitas, Alveena Malik, a former faith adviser to the last Labour government, said the test of whether religious symbols are appropriate should be based on whether they are practical.
Politicians in France and Belgium have voted in favour of banning the full veil, or niqab, and other European countries are thought to be considering similar action.
In a new report, Women, Islam and Western Liberalism, Mrs Malik said: We in Britain need to take a different direction from others in Europe and to accept the veil as part of a modern British way of life.
She continued: The wearing of religious symbols, including the full veil, should be a fundamental human right of an individual in both the public and private sphere.
The real test for religious symbols in the public sphere should always be: Does the wearing of a symbol (such as the kirpan, turban, yarmulke, crucifix and the veil) hinder a citizens ability to perform their public civic duties?
Britain is in a "unique" position to embrace such a public display of faith because of the role the church plays in the affairs of the state and its "multicultural diversity".
Mrs Malik was appointed by last government to a panel of faith advisers for the Department for Communities. She has overseen British Council guidance on intercultural dialogue.
#3
I'd suggest that a bunch of non-moslem women in normal clothes, but also wearing the head-and-face covering, go into some banks and the Post Office to transact business, go for their driver's license picture, etc. If they're challenged and told to remove their face masks covering, get huffy and demand their "culture" be respected.
Hilarity (and probably, in Britain, in few arrests) would ensue.
Might need to officially start the "religion" first. Not sure what to name it - "Church of the Sub-Genius" is already taken. "Church of the BurstMaize" perhaps?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/16/2010 18:07 Comments ||
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#4
She has overseen British Council guidance on "intercultural dialogue".
So I take it smiley face multiculty bullshit like this falls under that category?
#5
Walking past one of the ICUs this week on my way to see a patient, I saw a woman in a black burqa in the hallway.
It didn't bother me in the least.
If a woman believes that wearing a headscarf, chador or burqa in public is a proper way for her to show her reverence to God, fine, I have no problem.
If a woman is afraid that if she doesn't wear a headscarf, chador or burqa in public that she'll be beaten by her family or the neighborhood hard boys, then I have a problem.
If a woman wears a headscarf, chador or burqa in public as a way to put a stick in the eye of the secular state, then I have a problem.
Ms. Malik proposed a test for the wearing of religious symbols. I just explained mine.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2010 19:50 Comments ||
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that he will soon provide 35 tanks to Venezuela, after his meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to whom he vowed to sell other weapons.
"Russia fully complies with the bilateral agreements in the field of military-technical cooperation. Shortly, Russia plans to provide a new batch of weapons. They are 35 tanks," said Putin at a joint press conference with Chavez at his residence Novo-Ogoriovo, outside Moscow.
Although Putin would not elaborate, experts believe that the sale involves T-72 and T-90 tanks, which would replace the French MX-30 tanks and which have already been purchased by some 30 countries, including Iran and Syria.
Remember, the 'T' stands for 'target' ...
"We are willing to supply tanks and, with respect to other types of weapons, we will do it broadly. Russian companies have started to work according to their orders," he said.
For his part, Chavez emphasized that "the issue of military cooperation, for which we are under attack, is going very well."
Just the thing for holding your own population down, anyway ...
"Now, we do have an armed force," said Chavez, who mentioned some of the purchases of Russian weapons by Caracas in recent years, including tanks, Sukhoi fighters, which he described as "the best aircraft in the world," and Kalashnikov rifles.
Earlier on Friday, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said that Moscow will not reduce military-technical cooperation with Caracas, after his meeting with Chavez at the Kremlin.
"In this field, we have not slowed down, not even now," Medvedev said at a joint press conference with Chavez in the Malachite Room of the Kremlin.
On Chavez's previous visit to Russia, in September 2009, Medvedev promised that Moscow would supply the weapons Venezuela needed, including tanks and armored cars.
Last April, during his visit to Venezuela, Putin said that Venezuela planned to buy Russian arms worth over USD 5 billion. That figure includes a USD 2-billion loan Moscow will grant to Caracas for the acquisition of heavy weapons.
Venezuela, which according to Venezuelan sources has bought Russian weapons worth USD 4.4 billion since 2005, has emerged as a major Latin American customer of the Russian military industry, which has ignited concerns in the US and Colombia.
The Russian press has reported that Venezuela is interested in diesel-electric submarines of the class "Varshavianka" (Kilo, according to the NATO classification).
Military experts quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency said on Friday that Caracas would receive the S-300 antiaircraft missile system that Moscow decided not to supply to Iran because of the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.
Hate to break it to you, Hugo, but the S300 isn't going to stop us if we decide we need to, you know, "do something" about you ...
According to these sources, Russia has provided to Venezuela a dozen Tor-M1 air defense systems, the same ones Tehran acquired in late 2005.
Chavez's visit to Russia is part of a foreign tour for almost two weeks that will also take him on October 16 to Belarus, and then to Ukraine, Iran, Syria, Libya, Algeria and Portugal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
All US enemies are friends of Putin!
Posted by: Paul D ||
10/16/2010 6:45 Comments ||
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#2
Looks like Putty found a rube at his yard sale...
[Arab News] North Korea renewed its threat Friday to attack South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets being sent into the country, a sign of lingering tension after the sinking of a South Korean warship.
Civilian muscle regularly use balloons to launch leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong Il across the heavily fortified border, a tactic Pyongyang views as part of official South Korean psychological campaigns aimed at toppling its regime.
The North warned during military talks with South Korea last month that it might fire artillery at sites the muscle use to launch the balloons.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said earlier this month that the military would immediately resume full-scale propaganda activities against North Korea in the event of any new provocations by Pyongyang, but has so far limited that to radio broadcasts.
The broadcasts resumed after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that killed 46 sailors. A multinational investigation led by Seoul concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the warship, though Pyongyang has denied involvement.
On Friday, the North's military denounced the South Korean defense minister's comments as a declaration of a war against North Korea, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported.
"If the South side does not halt ... broadcasting and the scattering of anti-(North Korean) leaflets, it will never be able to escape the KPA's physical strikes at the broadcasting means and leaflet-scattering centers," the North's military said, referring to its official name, the Korean People's Army.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Uh, uh, NORTH KOREA = KIMMIE rely reely really Really REALLY R-E-A-L-L-Y HATE XEROX???
Gut nuthin.
* ION TOPIX > VARIOUS > NORTH KOREA THREATENS MIL BUILDUP. The DPRK is repor threatening a new "1000-FOLD" increase to its military due to US unwillingness to ease = drop sanctions agz it prior to any resumption of NUc Talks.
"1000-FOLD" BUILDUP = IMO read, NUCLEAR, not just Conventional.
The chances of Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, succeeding as the next leader are "less than 10 percent," a journalist claimed.
Kim Young-hwan, the editor of Zeitgeist magazine, made the claim on Tuesday in a keynote speech at a seminar sponsored by the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights. "The chances of a smooth succession by Kim Jong-un are less than 10 percent," he said, while the odds of confusion or a fatal crisis after the death of Kim Jong-il are "60-70 percent."
He said Kim Jong-un has few close supporters except his paternal aunt Kim Kyong-hui who will give him truthful advice. "If Kim Jong-il dies soon, it is doubtful if Kim junior will be able to establish his power and authority."
When Kim Jong-il succeeded to his father Kim Il-sung, core party leaders who were erstwhile freedom fighters like Kim Il and Choe Hyon, treated Jong-il as their nephew and offered him frank and friendly advice, the editor explained. But Jong-un is a sort of princeling of a feudal dynasty and lacks genuine advisers.
The editor also said, "Because Kim Jong-un studied abroad or attended special schools at home like Kim Il Sung Military University, he has had little opportunity to get to know and form relationships with the sons of other leaders." If Kim senior does not die soon, the editor said Kim Jong-un could come into conflict with Kim senior, whose judgment and concentration are waning with age and illness.
Others warn that young North Koreans may not accept the dynastic succession. Son Kwang-ju, editor-in-chief of the NK Daily, said, "It's unlikely the North's third-generation dynastic succession will settle into a secure and sustainable system."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
They are writing "piglet" on his posters in NK.
#2
fear mongering. They said when the first Kim died we would be at war within a year because his son was ill equipped to lead and a war monger. Now he is about to die and the same rhetoric is out about his son. I will take a wait and see mode on the new kid. He just might not like how daddy ran the place.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/16/2010 0:44 Comments ||
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#3
They are writing "piglet" on his posters in NK.
Is this a dread NorK insult or are they suggesting he be killed and eaten?
#6
I expect that things will settle down soon and return to what passes for normal. This is because there is no one pushing for change, no opposing force.
Remember that utterly feckless royals ruled throughout the world for more than a thousand years, solely out of inertia and having no one to stand up against them.
[Arab News] Turkey's top Roman Catholic bishop has publicly accused Turkish ultra-nationalists and religious faceless myrmidons of being behind the slaying of the country's senior bishop.
It would be good if the silent majority of Turkish Moderate Muslims got their Islamicists under control before they end up going to war with us, too. Those who make themselves our enemies tend not to enjoy the result... and we've been getting more efficient lately.
Monsignor Ruggero Francheschini told a Vatican meeting that he was speaking out to correct the "intolerable slander" that had surrounded the slaying of Monsignor Luigi Padovese, the Vatican's apostolic vicar in Anatolia.
Padovese was stabbed to death by his driver outside his home in Iskenderun on June 3, a day before he was to leave for Cyprus to meet Pope Benedict XVI. The slaying shocked the Turkish church and cast a cloud over Benedict's visit. It was the latest in a string of attacks in recent years on Christians in Turkey, where Christians make up less than 1 percent of the 70 million population.
Turkish officials have insisted the slaying was personal and not religious or politically motivated, and Benedict himself played down the motive at the time of the slaying, saying it was not a "political or religious assassination." But Franceschini, head of Turkey's bishops' conference, told a meeting of bishops gathered to discuss the plight of Christians in the Middle East that Padovese was the victim of "premeditated murder" by the same forces that Padovese had denounced for killing a priest in 2006 and three Christians in 2007.
The latter were tortured to death over a number of days, as I recall.
Francheschini said Padovese's killing was part of a "dark plot of complicity between ultra-nationalists and religious fanatics, experts in schemes of tension." His comments appeared to be a reference to a series of ongoing cases against hundreds of secularists in Turkey whom prosecutors believe are behind several sensational attacks, including on religious minorities.
Much more minority than they used to be, like the rest of the Ummah. Only in Israel are religious minorities safe.
Prosecutors say the accused have been trying to create an environment of chaos that would force the military to overthrow the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Only in Israel are religious minorities safe.
I guess all the religious minorities around the world better move to Israel then. They've sure been treated poorly in the West...I mean, we're so nice and docile we give them priority over our own culture, as if our culture wasn't worthwhile or worthy of any respect.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
10/16/2010 11:39 Comments ||
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#2
Only in Israel are religious minorities safe.
I guess all the religious minorities around the world better move to Israel then.
My apologies, Black Charlie Chinemble5313. I worded that poorly, above. What I hoped to imply was that within the outer boundaries of the Ummah, the Muslim world, only in Israel are religions minorities safe. Of course, Israel has separated itself from the Ummah, as a Jewish rather than Muslim state, but we've now moved so far from a pithy in-line toward essay territory.
As for minorities moving to Israel, Haifa now contains the world headquarters of the Bahai'i faith. Every Bahai'i is expected to make pilgrimage there at some point in his/her life, like the Muslims do to Mecca. Out of courtesy to the host country they sign up for a time slot, and when their turn comes up, off they go. I believe when they sign up they are told to expect the call some time within five years. Trailing daughter #2 has a girlfriend who had to cancel the trip her mother had signed them up for, as it was just before her university exams.
#3
Mental step I skipped in my comment #2 The Bahai'i faith was founded in Iran, where the Baha'ullah (possibly misspelt) undertook a 500 mile journey of faith... or perhaps it was his disciple... at any rate, the center of the faith ought to be Iran as the Arabian peninsula is the center of the Muslim faith, but of course the Baha'i are persecuted there.
#2
I don't seee why any fallen soldiers family should have too pay for the expenses of burying their loved one. We pay for every third world shithole in the world too eat and their weapons year after year , it's about time we take the money and take care of our own first.
Posted by: chris ||
10/16/2010 10:17 Comments ||
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#3
I am really sick of our unworthy political class in the United States.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
10/16/2010 11:46 Comments ||
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A soldier says he shot cell phone video during last year's Fort Hood deadly rampage but that an officer ordered him to delete the footage.
Under cross examination Friday, Pfc. Lance Aviles has told a military court that he deleted the two videos at the direction of his NCO on the same day as the shooting, Nov. 5.
FORT HOOD -- The courtroom doors opened Thursday afternoon, but no one immediately appeared. The name was called aloud moments before and those inside knew of the man for whom they waited.
A tall soldier in an Army Combat Uniform made his way inside. He leaned heavily on a cane in his right hand, the left side of his body followed slightly behind as he swung it forward to keep up with the rest of him. His walking was laborious, but steady. This soldier was going to make it through the low swinging door, up a ramp and to a waiting chair by himself. That's what cav scouts do.
Staff Sgt. Patrick Lee Zeigler Jr. swore the testimony he was about to give was the truth. He carefully lowered himself into the chair and awaited the prosecutor's questions.
Patrick's answers were concise. His voice was strong and deliberate. At times he spoke slowly as if his lips were waiting for his brain to send the right words -- words that would tell his story to those waiting before him.
[Geo TV] Oxfam, the international aid agency, has called for Pakistain's debts to be dropped because of the destruction caused by the flooding and the massive costs of relief and reconstruction.
How about if some of that portion of the loans that made their way into private Pakistani accounts were to reverse their path, instead? Mr. Ten Percent is only one of many, after all.
The agency said some of the world's wealthiest countries are getting more from Pakistain in debt repayments than they have given to help victims of the floods that devastated the country.
Pakistain's foreign debt is estimated to be 55 billion dollars ($55.2 billion) and it is expected to pay nearly 3 billion dollars in repayments this year. Foreign governments have committed about half that amount to the Pakistain flood relief effort. Oxfam said only one-third of the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Pakistain flood appeal had been funded.
Advertisement: Story continues below The call for debt cancellation coincides with a meeting in Brussels today of the Friends of Democratic Pakistain, n group which includes Australia.
Oxfam said France, Japan, South Korea and China - all members of the group - had received more money from Pakistain in repayments than they had given as flood relief.
''France received 62 million dollars in debt payments in the first nine months of the last financial year, more than 15 times its direct contribution to the flood response. Japan received 111 million dollars, more than five times its contribution to the response. South Korea received four times as much, and China three times as much.''
Australia has given about 75 million dollars in aid. Oxfam said it does not receive any debt repayments.
Flooding in Pakistain in July and August cut a swathe of destruction across the country. At least 1600 people were killed and about 20 million displaced.
The head of Oxfam's humanitarian campaigns, Consuelo Lopez-Zuriaga, said it was ''a moral and economic absurdity'' that France and Japan were receiving large debt repayments while poverty-stricken Paks were struggling to rebuild.
Pakistain has estimated that reconstruction could cost as much as 45 billion dollars.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Unless you are obama creating and spending stimulus money... $55billion is a lot of money to throw away.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/16/2010 1:09 Comments ||
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#2
Okay. How's about we pull all government funding from Oxfam and take that off the top of Pakistan's debt? Does that work for them?
#3
Always, always willing to spend someone else's money.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/16/2010 12:28 Comments ||
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#4
Am I to gather from the comments that none is Oxfam holds none of the debt?
Why... that would suggest this is nothing but empty posturing by an international aid agency.
Heaven fore fend!
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/16/2010 13:39 Comments ||
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#5
If they weren't such class A bastids, maybe someone would have been willing to cut them some slack.
Karma's a biatch, baby, and it doesn't always wait until the next lifetime, either. If youse guys would have been talking to your Hindu neighbors instead of planning attacks on their major cities, maybe they could have explained the concept to you in a way even a five year old could understand.
[Pak Daily Times] Intelligence reports suggest that hard boyz belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) plan to use poisonous gas in terrorist attacks, sources told Daily Times on Friday.
According to intelligence reports, TTP was also considering other novel ways to carry out terrorist attacks. Reports say that the hard boyz could target sensitive installations, important buildings, busy shopping malls, markets, public places, mosques and other places of worship. Authorities have directed the police and other law enforcement agencies to immediately ramp up security, and adopt all necessary measures to ensure foolproof security to foil the nefarious designs of cut-thoats.
Sowing and reaping, ISI. Think on that while you make your preparations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Poison gas is highly effective against civilians, is low tech, easy and inexpensive to make, hard to defend against, and low risk. It is amazing that more terrorists haven't used it.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An official security spokesman denied on Friday that the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in central Baghdad's heavily-fortified green zone was on fire.
"Smoke? What smoke?"
"News reports carried by a TV channel that fire broke out in the office of Maliki, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi armed forces, in the green zone were groundless," Maj. General Qassem Atta, the official spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Lit cigarette in the waste basket, most likely. That's a real risk in a society that isn't ashamed to smoke.
Atta urged the mass media to "observe accuracy and caution when reporting news and verify them from their direct sources".
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[Haaretz] Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that under no circumstances would the PA sign an agreement with Israel which required the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state or a land swap.
Oh well. Start the bulldozers, Avi!
"The PA recognized Israel's existence in 1993, and now Israel needs to recognize the Paleostinian state in line with the 1967 borders," Abbas said during a meeting in Ramallah with Knesset members from the left-wing party Hadash.
Abbas clarified that the PA would exhibit flexibility regarding the nature of the negotiations, but added that they would not negotiate on issues the Paleostinian people consider principal matters.
"If we showed flexibility on these issues the peace agreement would have been signed a long time ago," Abbas said.
"And the Arabs would stop sending the checks!"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered Monday to halt settlement construction if the Paleostinians were to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, but the Paleostinian leadership was prompt to reject the proposal.
"If the Paleostinian leadership will say unequivocally to its people that it recognizes Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, I will be ready to convene my government and request a further suspension," Netanyahu said while speaking at the opening of the third session of the 18th Knesset.
"Just as the Paleostinians expect us to recognize their state, we expect reciprocal treatment," said Netanyahu.
"This is not a condition but a trust-building step, which would create wide-ranging trust among the Israeli people, who have lost trust in the Paleostinian will for peace over the last 10 years."
Hadash Chairman Mohammed Barakeh, who participated in the meeting with Abbas, said that the timing of the meeting was not coincidental and was purposely set up in light of the recent discussions regarding Netanyahu's offer.
"We came to Abu Mazen [Abbas] and the Paleostinian Authority officials in order to hear a clear and official stance regarding the stalled negotiations, and we made it clear that we [Israeli Arabs] would not be a herd of sheep during the negotiations between Israel and the Paleostinians," Barakeh said
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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#1
When the inbreeding is bad enough it gives "Stuck on Stupid" new meaning.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/16/2010 0:41 Comments ||
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#2
Then why should Israel recognize them? This is beyond pointless, Israel really should just PUSH everyone out and annex it as part of Israel by right of conquest.
#6
I think the lights have dawned on Netanyahu that there is not going to be any peace, because the Paleos don't want it; and that no matter what Israel does, the Paleos can't prevent it, and Israel won't suffer for it.
So the bottom line is that the only thing holding Israel back are contentious Israelis. Ignore them, push ahead on all fronts, and Israel wins.
#8
two can play at the "reasonable" conditions that are absolute killers for the other side. Right of Return is one the Paleos love. Bibi is right to demand recognizance as a Jewish state, and the Paleos will NEVER do it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2010 16:23 Comments ||
Top||
#9
"Got my 'Cheeze Wiz', boy?"
__________________________
(KUNA) -- The United States expressed on Friday "disappointment" in the decision of the Israeli government to build further settlements in East Jerusalem and urged Israelis and Paleostinians to resume direct negotiations.
"We were disappointed by the announcement of new tenders in East Jerusalem yesterday. It is contrary to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties", said assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy Philip Crowley in a press briefing.
"We will continue to work, as we have, to try to create conditions for direct negotiations to resume", he added.
The Israeli Housing Ministry announced plans to build 238 homes in East Jerusalem, despite opposition from the United States and Paleostinians.
Crowley noted that the Israeli side informed the US administration about the building plans ahead of time.
"We told them we felt this was contrary to what we were trying to do to get direct negotiations resumed ... the government of Israel is well aware of our concerns about this", he added.
The 10-month building moratorium in the West Bank expired last month, the Israeli government refused to extend it and the Paleostinians suspended peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the vaporous Arab League said it will ask the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society next month to recognize a Paleostinian state.
"We continue to promote direct negotiations as the best way to resolve to conflict and see the emergence of a Paleostinian state that meets the aspirations of the Paleostinian people, and security and stability for Israel and the rest of the region", said Crowley.
"There are critical issues involved in this process. They need to be negotiated between the parties. And we oppose unilateral steps on either side", he added.
Asked if the United States would veto such resolution, Crowley replied "we are doing what we think is the best way to end this conflict, and that is our position. As to how we will vote, obviously, that is a hypothetical question".
"We are doing everything in our power, and we are making clear to the parties that we want to see this direct negotiation continue. So we are not focused on what happens if; we are focused on how can we create the conditions that allow the parties to continue", he added.
US envoy George Mitchell was expected to travel to the region but Crowley said the US administration is "still evaluating what the appropriate next steps are".
"We believe it is in their interest to continue in this process, because otherwise there is no other avenue to create a state that the Paleostinians deserve and the security and stability that the Israelis deserve", he concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
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#1
Crowley a descendent of Aleister by any chance?
BTW... The US isn't "Disappointed" rather the current socialist leadership is.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/16/2010 0:45 Comments ||
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Police have detained 15 Pakistanis on suspicion of being involved with a foreign terrorist group. A combined force of soldiers and police yesterday raided My House hotel in Yala province and took the 15 men away for questioning.
Pol Lt Col Sujarit Wongsagade, said an employee at a local private bank told police he had noticed irregularities in transnational transactions conducted by a group of Pakistani customers. The banker said the men had transferred money from their accounts to someone who is officially listed in the bank's database as a person involved with a foreign terrorist organisation.
The suspects claimed they had gone to Yala to raise money to help orphans and flood victims in their homeland. However, police became suspicious of the men and are keeping them under observation.
Meanwhile, a respected Muslim cleric in Pattani narrowly escaped death when an M16 bullet pierced his kapiyoh, or Muslim hat, barely grazing his head.
Imam Yakobe Raimanee of the Pattani Central Mosque came under fire from an unknown number of gunmen armed with M16 assault rifles at his home on Monday night, Muang station police chief Naruacha Suwannalapa said
Mr Yakobe was about to close the front gate of the house after returning from the mosque when the assailants fired at least five times at him. He was unhurt in the attack but one of the bullets passed a hair's breadth from his head and ripped a hole in his hat.
The Philippine leadership has been told to show some backbone as Hong Kong's government declared itself disappointed by the response to the killing of eight tourists. The reaction came following Manila's decision to water down recommended actions against people blamed for the shambles of a hostage rescue attempt on August 23.
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday had ordered that only administrative charges be laid against four police officers and three government officials. He also cleared the Philippine police chief and an interior undersecretary of blame in the miserable and bloody failure of police in tackling the tourist bus hostage situation.
But Aquino's decision ran contrary to an investigation committee that called for criminal and administrative charges to be leveled against 12 officers and officials. That led to the Hong Kong government to issue its statement last night.
Aquino defended his decision to spare people from criminal sanctions.
We vowed justice for all, he said. We have a process. We are following the law. The bottom line is, just because one sector wants charges filed it does not mean that charges will be filed.
Back in Hong Kong, a police spokesman said full findings of its own investigation including reports by experts will go to the Coroners' Court. It submitted a preliminary report to the court last week. The force would not comment on a report that at least one hostage had been killed by so-called friendly fire.
[Arab News] Iran's prosecutor-general has said two Germans who were jugged in Iran when they tried to interview the son of a woman sentenced to be stoned to death had admitted breaking the law, state media reported on Friday.
Germany has said it is seeking the release of two news hounds seized on Monday after meeting the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose death sentence for adultery was shelved last month following a global outcry.
A German Foreign Ministry front man told a news conference in Berlin there was no new information regarding the pair and German diplomats had been unable to speak to them.
Adultery is punishable by stoning under Iran's Islamic law. Ashtiani also faces a charge of being complicit in the murder of her husband, a crime for which she could face death by hanging.
President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has denied Ashtiani was ever sentenced to stoning and says foreign media whipped up the story to discredit Iran.
The Germans' detention risks worsening relations as the European Union tries to bring Iran back to talks over its nuclear program, which the West fears may be aimed at creating an atomic bomb.
Iran says the Germans entered on tourist visas and had no right to act as news hounds. Accredited correspondents working for foreign media need official permission to travel outside Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2010 00:00 ||
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The Lebanese Army said on Friday it would remain the guarantor of Lebanons unity, assuring citizens there were no indicators that regional and international conflicts would reflect negatively on Lebanon.
In a rare statement issued by the Guidance Directory of the Lebanese Army Command and addressing army soldiers, the command stressed that the army will remain the guarantor of the unity and the sustainability of the nation, and [it] will not allow opportunists under any slogan, or circumstance, to mix between political disputes and the path of security and stability in order to tamper with security and inflame the fires of sectarian tensions.
Fears of Sunni-Shiite strife have mounted after Hizbullah said it expected some of its members to be targeted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of late Premier Rafik Hariri. The Army Command said the diversity of the opinions of the Lebanese regarding raised matters was a well-known democratic phenomenon as long as it did not touch national principles.
The army [also] lashed out at sides spreading rumors regarding the unity of the Lebanese Army and security forces following the issuance of the impending indictment. It indicates the inability of those [sides] to make political gains and [pursue] private interests and their attempt to undermine the first national institution that represents a red line for all Lebanese, said the statement. The army noted that its main mission to defend the countrys borders against Israeli aggression would not affect its readiness to combat terrorism, pursue Israeli agents and preserve civil peace.
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.
Pakistan said on Friday it was willing to assist talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and Nato confirmed its forces had helped ensure a senior Taliban commander reached Kabul. Nato and US officials have said they are ready to do more to help Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, but Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the talks must be led by Afghanistan itself.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that he will soon provide 35 tanks to Venezuela, after his meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to whom he vowed to sell other weapons. 
North Korea renewed its threat Friday to attack South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets being sent into the country, a sign of lingering tension after the sinking of a South Korean warship.
[Pak Daily Times] Intelligence reports suggest that 
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An official security spokesman denied on Friday that the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in central Baghdad's heavily-fortified green zone was on fire.
The Lebanese Army said on Friday it would remain the guarantor of Lebanons unity, assuring citizens there were no indicators that regional and international conflicts would reflect negatively on Lebanon.
