Democracy is so much more fun than the alternatives, example #422,973,619,687,163,578.
[Tolo News] Afghan parliamentarians Saturday voted to choose the speaker of the house, but no politician could make it up to the seat.
Yonus Qanooni, Abdul Rasul Sayaf, Abdul Zaher Qadir and Mirwais Yasini were competing to win majority of votes, but only Qanooni and Sayyaf were the two candidates with majority of votes.
On the second day on Saturday the second round of voting was launched and consequently Sayaf won 119 votes and Mr Qanooni received 116, but once again they couldn"t make it up to the 50+1 and the third round is expected to be held tomorrow.
At the same time Afghan Senate launched voting to determine a head in the senate house.
Despite President Karzai"s opposition to the voting in Senate House, Fazl Ahmad Mohammedanyar was elected as head of the Afghan Senate.
In the Senate House vote, 65 senators were competing to win the seat and finally Fazl Ahmad Mohammedanyar was elected as the head, Mohammad Alam Ezedyar as the first deputy and Rafiullah Gul Afghan as the second deputy of the Afghan Senate.
President Karzai had previously called on senators to postpone the vote until appointed members of the senate house are introduced.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] Thousands of people have joined a Facebook group calling for anti-government protests across Sudan on Sunday, the day preliminary results are due out on the vote on southern independence.
Entitled "January 30, a word to the Sudanese youth," the Facebook site shows an angry protestor holding an Arabic placard that reads: "A better Sudan." The call comes after Egypt's April 6 Facebook group set up by young Egyptian activists three years ago helped bring tens of thousands onto the streets this week for anti-regime rallies that have rocked the country.
With more than 10,000 followers so far, the Sudanese site calls for peaceful demonstrations in Khartoum and other Sudanese cities at 11am to demand an end to "injustice and humiliation."
"We will come out to protest the high cost of living, corruption, nepotism, unemployment and all the practices of the regime, including striking women... that are contrary to the most basic laws of Islam and humanity, and violate the rights of mA source at the Popular Congress Party of Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi refused to comment on the planned protest. Other opposition parties could not be reached to say whether they would participate.
Just last week, Turabi was jugged shortly after saying that a Tunisia-style revolt, which ousted veteran strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali earlier this month, was likely in north Sudan.
Nationwide protests in neighbouring Egypt forced embattled geriatric President Hosni Mubarak to sack his government as he promised economic and political reforms.
Widespread economic and political discontent has provoked street protests in north Sudan in recent weeks, although they have been sporadic, with the army keeping tight control in the capital.
The preliminary results for Sudan's January 9-15 referendum on independence for the south, to be announced on Sunday in the southern capital Juba, are expected to deliver a landslide for secesson, which would split Africa's largest country in two in July.
In Yemen, dozens of activists calling for the ouster of Yemen's President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed with the regime's supporters in Sanaa.
Plainclothes police also attacked the demonstrators who marched to the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa chanting "Ali, leave leave" and "Tunisia left, Egypt after it and Yemen in the coming future."
The chants were referring to the ouster of veteran Tunisian strongman Ben Ali early this month and to continuing demonstrations against President Mubarak in Egypt.
No casualties have been reported in the Yemen festivities.
Protests have been taking place on a nearly daily basis in Sanaa since mid-January calling for an end to Saleh's rule which began in 1978.
Saleh was re-elected in September 2006 for a seven-year mandate. A draft amendment of the constitution, under discussion in parliament despite opposition protests, could allow him -- if passed -- to remain in office for life.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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ElBaradei comes home and almost immediately becomes a chief spokesman / agitator for those who are pushing the revolution. Almost makes you wonder whether ElBaradei is one of the chief puppeteers.
WASHINGTON - Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei put pressure on the United States on Sunday to support calls for President Hosni Mubarak to step down, saying "life support to the dictator" must end.
In a series of interviews with U.S. television networks from Cairo, ElBaradei also said he had a mandate to negotiate a national unity government and would soon reach out to the army, at the heart of power in Egypt for more than a half century.
ElBaradei said it was only a matter of time before Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for three decades, stepped down. He urged President Barack Obama to take a stand.
"It is better for President Obama not to appear that he is the last one to say to President Mubarak, 'It's time for you to go," he told CNN.
Which means that the outcome is not quite certain: if ElBaradei and the Muslim Brotherhood could topple Hosni without a call from Obama, they'd do it.
ElBaradei, a possible candidate in Egypt's presidential election this year, dismissed U.S. calls for Mubarak to enact sweeping democratic and economic reforms in response to the protests.
"The American government cannot ask the Egyptian people to believe that a dictator who has been in power for 30 years would be the one to implement democracy. This is a farce," he told the CBS program "Face the Nation."
So CBS is indirectly enabling this farce...
"This first thing which will calm the situation is for Mubarak to leave, and leave with some dignity. Otherwise I fear that things will get bloody. And you (the United States) have to stop the life support to the dictator and root for the people."
"I have been authorized -- mandated -- by the people who organized these demonstrations and many other parties to agree on a national unity government," ElBaradei told CNN. "I hope that I should be in touch soon with the army and we need to work together. The army is part of Egypt."
And soon it shall be his army...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2011 14:20 ||
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Mr. Magoo has Iran's money and Muslim Brotherhood's thugs behind him. I expect Obama to champion his for President as a "vote for democracy"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/30/2011 16:17 Comments ||
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Almost makes you wonder whether ElBaradei is one of the chief puppeteers
ElBaradei's just a marionette himself, controlled by Tehran.
We also call them 'Useful Idiots®'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/30/2011 16:43 Comments ||
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El who??
Posted by: Gloluger Dark Lord of the Chinese3197 ||
01/30/2011 22:33 Comments ||
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This smells to high heaven. ElBaradei is the face of the UN, representing anti-semitic "global governance", not democratic reform. He'll give the Islamists an equal place at the table complete with diplomatic immunity in a "unity government" and we will be worse off in the long run but I don't see how Mubarak can hang on. And I agree that ElBaradai is a puppet but the master puppeteer always seems to be Soros when the money is followed.
CAIRO Jan 30 (Reuters) - Egyptian opposition forces have agreed to support opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei to negotiate with the government, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday.
This is nothing but trouble. ElBaradei is a snake.
"Political groups support ElBaradei to negotiate with the regime," Essam el-Eryan told Al Jazeera television.
Al Arabiya television carried the same report on screen but did not attribute it directly to Eryan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2011 14:17 ||
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not as bad as it sounds
if El Baradei negotiates he will be blamed when things go wrong
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/30/2011 17:07 Comments ||
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CAIRO -- An official at Cairo airport says 19 private jets carrying families of wealthy Egyptian and Arab businessmen have flown out of the capital.
"Boeing 757 don't fall us now!"
Come fly with me
Let's fly, let's fly away...
The official said the jets left Saturday carrying dozens of family members of Egypt's business elite. He said most of the planes were headed for Dubai.
Beats Saudi-controlled Arabia if you're an Egyptian.
The passengers included the families of telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris, the executive chairman of Orascom Telecom,
...cell phone supplier to the North Koreans...
and Hussein Salem, a hotel tycoon and close confidant of President Hosni Mubarak.
They'll all be 'former close confidants' real soon. Then they'll be 'Hosni? Hosni who?'
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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I hope they take the Suez Canal with them.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/30/2011 10:09 Comments ||
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If it ain't Boeing, we ain't going.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/30/2011 16:03 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] A senior Israeli official on Saturday expressed his concern about the risk of the fall of the regime of Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, facing an unprecedented internal challenge.
Israel has four immediate neighbors. Two of them, Syria and Lebanon, are catspaws for the Iranians. Egypt is about to become a Sunni-led Islamicist state thanks to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Jordan looks like it could be teetering.
Why, it's almost like a plan...
Yep. The Muslims got 'em surrounded. They've done that before -- each time Israel ended up bigger.
But those times Israel had a fair degree of support from Washington. Today?
"The most worrisome is the uncertainty prevailing in the most influential country in the Middle East," said the official who told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He stressed in this context the «important strategic and economic ties" between Israel and Egypt, the first Arab country to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.
He felt however that the "regime would remain", even make a change at the summit.
Israel continues Saturday to maintain a low profile on the situation in Egypt for fear of being accused of interference.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even gave explicit instructions Friday to ministers and spokespersons not to speak publicly, according to a government source.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the Foreign Ministry, in permanent contact with the embassy in Cairo is holding intensive consultations on developments in Egypt, according to sources from that department.
On Thursday, a government minister, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , estimated that President Mubarak was strong enough to overcome the wave of protests.
Egypt in 1979 concluded a peace agreement with Israel in return for withdrawal (completed in 1982) of all Egyptian territories conquered by the Israeli army during the war of June 1967.
If this peace has always been considered "cold" and limited to no diplomatic relations lead to a rapprochement between the two peoples, it has nonetheless withstood two wars in Leb (1982 and 2006), two Paleostinian Intifadas (1987 and 2000) and the blocking of the grinding of the peace processor between Israel and the Paleostinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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A very religious friend on mine sez it is all Biblical prophesy. Might be, but it is all about fanatics and nutcases, too. Maybe that is what the Bible is really talking about in that section. Well, the holiday is off in the plains of Armageddon......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/30/2011 16:06 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] The Minister of Aviation, General Ahmad Chafik, was appointed Saturday to form a government in Egypt by a decree of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, succeeding Ahmad Nazif, announced on state television. Ahmad Chafik is a personality generally appreciated within the Egyptian elite, including the opposition. Many analysts had mentioned his name to eventually succeed President Mubarak in the absence of power.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Israeli television reported more than two months ago, precisely on 22 October 2010, that Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak thought designate Omar Suleiman, head of Egyptian intelligence, as vice president.
Three months ago, the Egyptians were surprised to see all the streets overrun with posters claim Omar Suleiman president. The authorities have immediately reacted and the police undertook an arrest campaign in the ranks of young activists of the National Party who would have been handled, especially since the number of posters was impressive. In parallel, electronic sites launched slogans such as "neither Neither Djamel nor the Mohammedan brothers, we want Omar Suleiman." This campaign to support Omar Suleiman was in fact to bar the road to the succession of Djamel Mubarak.
On the morning of September 1, 2009, Egyptian intelligence chief and foreign minister, Ahmed Aboulgheit were on board an Egyptian plane to Eritrea to conduct negotiations with Eritrean officials about the conflict over the Nile waters.
A few minutes after the plane takeoff, the captain announces the discovery of a failure requiring an emergency landing. Arriving at an airport in southern Egypt, the aircraft was inspected by aviation experts under the eyes of Omar Suleiman's men. It turned out that the damage was caused in order to blow up the aircraft in flight. They realized that this technical failure was sabotage and an investigation was then launched with Smart Company officials, of the Department of Civil Aviation.
The Egyptian authorities have stifled the case and the front man of Foreign Affairs told the press that this was simply a technical failure.
The Egyptian opposition, backed by Egyptian intelligence, points to what they called the lobby Mubarak, accusing him of being behind the attempted liquidation and liquidation of Omar Suleiman. The amazing thing is that it had all the details about the incident despite the blackout of the authorities on the matter.
Not most, but all the details. Under the circumstances, unbelievably amazing.
The opposition has also revealed other liquidation attempts in which Omar Suleiman has beat feet, including an attempted poisoning, where several of his bodyguards died.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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Another view on Suleiman, from two years ago. Gen Suleiman is the only serving intelligence chief who has personally taken apart an Islamist insurgency.
He may soon carry this experience to Egypt's presidency and, if so, his many allies in the West will doubtless cheer his accession.
Yet Gen Suleiman has no experience of managing an economy, let alone running schools or hospitals. A man whose only expertise is in diplomacy, intelligence and counter-terrorism is somehow judged to be qualified to lead a desperately poor country. Gen Suleiman's rise is a sobering sign of the world's priorities.
#2
A man whose only expertise is in diplomacy, intelligence and counter-terrorism is somehow judged to be qualified to lead a desperately poor country. Gen Suleiman's rise is a sobering sign of the world's priorities.
Because plugging the leaks and putting out the fires always takes second-place to shuffleboard matches and pina coladas for the passengers (including the rats).
[Bangla Daily Star] Former Jamaat ameer Ghulam Azam will be jugged on charge of committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War, 1971, an investigator said yesterday.
The mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small...
Mohammad Abdul Hannan Khan, the senior-most member of the war crimes probe body, said this adding they made some progress in investigation into allegations against Azam.
Hannan, however, did not mention any timeframe for the arrest.
He was talking to The Daily Star after a meeting with war crimes prosecutors and leaders of a forum called Antorjatik Aporadh Tribunal Dhaka Sohayak Mancha (platform for supporting the tribunal).
Shahriar Kabir, convener of the forum, who was present at the meeting, told the media that statements of Ghulam Azam published in the daily Sangram in 1971, are enough to try and punish Ghulam Azam for crimes against humanity.
During the war, Azam in an issue of the Sangram, a Jamaat mouthpiece, said, "Pakistain is the house of Islam for the world Mohammedans. Therefore, Jamaat activists don't justify living if Pakistain is disintegrated."
He also expressed concern over not arresting Ghulam Azam, who has become the country's anti-liberation and fundamentalist symbol-figure.
Ghulam Azam met Tikka Khan, the Pak general known as butcher of Beluchistan and architect of the March 25, 1971 genocide, 10 days after the War of Independence started.
Directly opposing the birth of the nation, Azam led the formation of Shanti Bahini to thwart Mukti Bahini fighting for the country's independence.
Ghulam Azam apparently has distanced himself from party politics since 2001.
Shahriar Kabir also observed war crimes trial would not be completed even in next three years if sufficient manpower and logistics are not provided to prosecutors and Sherlocks.
He also said "There is also a lack of coordination among the probe body, prosecutors and the government," he said.
Echoing Kabir's remarks, Chief Prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo said if the prosecutors and Sherlocks are not given enough support, the work will proceed slowly.
The meeting was held at Bailey Road residence of Tipoo in the city yesterday.
Some other leaders of the forum, Justice Mohammad Ghulam Rabbani, Justice Syed Amirul Islam, Prof Muntasir Mamun and barrister Tureen Afroz, among others, were present at the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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A senior Muslim politician has blamed unhappy arranged marriages to cousins for leading some Pakistani men to prey on vulnerable young white girls to fulfil their sexual needs.
It's not their fault. They have needs.
Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, Britain's first Muslim peer, is the first politician to make a link between first-cousin marriages and sex crimes by Pakistani men.
Make them illegal, and see if that fixes the problem.
He has spoken out after a spate of high-profile court cases where groups of Asian men have been sentenced for grooming white girls as young as 12 in Derby, Blackburn and Lord Ahmed's home town of Rotherham. More
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is moving to introduce the fifth generation of stealth fighter jets at an early date to replace its aging Air Force fighters and to secure capabilities to counter North Korea's increasing provocations, government sources said Sunday.
The move comes after the parliament cut the defense ministry's request for some 15.7 billion won (US$14 million) to launch a new fighter jet procurement program this year, granting only 300 million won.
"There is a growing consensus within the government that the next-generation fighter program must be launched at an early date," a government source said. "There is only a 300 million won fund for research this year, but (the government) may allocate additional funds from its defense budget if necessary."
South Korea purchased 60 F-15K fighter jets from U.S. manufacturer Boeing under an earlier program, known as FX II, and is set to have some of the remaining 20 aircraft from the program delivered before the end of next year.
The government now seeks to introduce and weaponize new stealth fighters before the target year.
"There has been a call for the military's increased capabilities for precision strikes since North Korea's provocations in the northwestern region last year," a government source said. "And this has also led to a growing voice in the government to speed up the next fighter jet program."
The new fighter jet program is expected to be worth some 10 trillion won ($8.97 billion). Possible candidates for jets include Boeing's F-15SE and Lockheed Martin's F-35, sources said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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So why does SKor need stealth fighters to go against NKor's fleet of aging MiGs and inexperienced pilots? Perhaps they are thinking about flying against someone else?
The ROK would like a stealth capability for two reasons: first, 'just-to-be-on-the-safe-side" when it comes to the nutcases up north. Second, to put a seed of doubt in anybody else's mind. The -35 (IF it even enters production) will probably be beyond the ROKs budget - the -15SE isn't truly stealthy, but it's stealthy enough to complicate the hell out of the local air defense equations.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/30/2011 9:55 Comments ||
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I think you're both right: having the F35 (and Korea has serious money to spend if they really want to, so it's NOT beyond their budget) would certainly provide a safety margin.
It would also worry the Chinese, which in the grand scheme of things might be a subtle way of reminding them who is BMOC on the peninsula.
But there's another potential reason, and one I think is key: the F35, and perhaps the F15SE, allows the ROK Air Force to take out selected Nork nuclear/political/government sites if needed at the opening of, or just before the opening of, a real shooting war. A defanged Kimmie is less dangerous, a dead Kimmie even less so.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2011 10:47 Comments ||
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So why does SKor need stealth fighters to go against NKor's fleet of aging MiGs and inexperienced pilots?
If you're going after them in NorK territory (think 'escort duty'), it helps.
Do a search for 'North Korean defenses'. There's one discussion group (whose name I forgot) where one submitter put up maps made by him, using intel gleaned from multiple sources.
#6
Wouldn't they be better off buying hoards of X-45..X-47 sort of UAVs?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/30/2011 13:09 Comments ||
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I dunno, but the type of F-35 they'd be buying, the A model, is a lot further along than the model that's behind but driving the price up. And a lot further along than the X-4x UAV prototypes that are flying.
#9
Wouldn't they be better off buying hoards of X-45..X-47 sort of UAVs?
Perhaps they should contact the Israelis. I have the impression American UAV manufacturers are going flat out just to supply our own needs. Besides, UAVs need controllers with lots of hours of gaming experience. I thought young Koreans spent all their time studying.
#12
So why does SKor need stealth fighters to go against NKor's fleet of aging MiGs and inexperienced pilots? Perhaps they are thinking about flying against someone else?
China has a pretty big air force. The South Koreans will need a qualitative edge to prevail against the PLAAF.
#13
IIUC PRAVDA ARTIC = claims that the US [also read, Modern Mil Powers] is contributing to Environ-harmful/destroying GLOBAL WARMING + CLIMATE CHANGE unless the US = USAF [+ USN]UPGRADES ITS COLD WAR TACAIR FLEET TO NEXT-GENERATION STEALTH LEVEL [F35, F-22, or better].
* ION NE ASIA, PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > JAPAN REJECTS MEETING OVER DISPUTED ISLANDS WID RUSSA.
Russia-proposed Russo-Nippon confab on bilateral econ cooper + dev of former Japanese Kuriles = Japanese "Northern Territories".
HMMMMM, HMMMMMM, .....my nose is twitching as per covert Russo-Nippon intentions + possible theater consequences for RISING CHINA.
Espec given ....
* SAME > LOCAL OFFICIALS DENY PLAN FOR SUPER-MERGE OF CITIES IN SOUTHERN CHINA [Guangzhou megalopolis = CHINA-TAIWAN-PHIL-VIETNAM South China Sea Super FTZ-SEZ]???
[Dawn] In a clear about-turn on the status of the American charged with murder of two motorcyclists in Lahore, the United States on Saturday claimed that the accused was a diplomat and demanded his immediate release.
The latest American statement was indubitably different from the one released by the embassy on Friday describing the accused Raymond Davis as "a staff member of the US Consulate General in Lahore", which though ambiguous, but was clearly short of declaring him as a diplomat.
More importantly, the Friday statement had come at a time when media was discussing the status of the accused and was taken by many as a corroboration of the claims that Davis wasn't a diplomat and hence had no diplomatic immunity.
The latest (Saturday) media release came a day after hectic diplomatic activity apparently failed to yield any result.
The Foreign Office looks to have also hardened its stance on the matter. Spokesman Abdul Basit called for respecting the legal process.
"This matter is sub judice and the legal process should be respected," he emphasised in a message evidently directed at the Americans.
Mr Davis is being described by the American media as a security contractor from a Florida-based firm, Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC.
That Foreign Office and the US embassy were not on the same page on the issue of status of the accused was obvious from an FO blurb that mentioned Davis as a US 'functionary', and not a diplomat.
The latest U-turn in American position clearly fits in with the business principles of Hyperion Protective Consultants.
Their website says that the personnel provided to the customer (US State Department in this case) are hired as the customer's employees. As such the "legal liabilities reside with the business contracting the service".
The US embassy statement set aside all diplomatese and not only accused the host government of 'unlawfully detaining' its 'diplomat', but criticised the remand of the accused given by a judicial magistrate.
"Furthermore, the diplomat was formally jugged and remanded into custody, which is a violation of international norms and the Vienna Convention, to which Pakistain is a signatory," the embassy statement noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I think he's a hero for pop'n the paki thugs. I expect an investigation but just don't sell out our guy, Hilary!
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Paleostinian territories occupied since 1967, "flatly denied" recent allegations by Geneva-based NGO UN Watch that "he had endorsed the conspiracy theory that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the US Government and not Al Qaeda terrorists.
UN Watch called for Falk to resign last week, citing Falk's personal blog posts. In response, UN Secretary- General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon's office condemned Falk. In a letter to Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, the secretary-general's front man Vijay Nambiar wrote that Falk's remarks were "an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in the attack."
"The pro-Israel group, UN Watch, that created this mess deliberately distorted comments I made, in my personal capacity, on my blog," [sic] Falk said in a blurb sent to journalists. "Not only that, they then deliberately connected it to my UN mandate on the Paleostinian territories, and on that basis started calling for me to be fired from that position."
"I wish to be absolutely clear," Falk's blurb continued. "I do not endorse the theory that the US government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. What I did do, in my personal blog, in which I was discussing the differing perceptions that develop after political liquidations and deeply tragic events, including the murder of Olaf Palme, the 9/11 attacks and the recent killings in Arizona, was argue that investigations must be, and must be seen to be, transparent, exhaustive and honest."
"I am an academic. I believe in freedom of expression, and the freedom to openly debate even the most difficult issues. I have always been proud that the United States and the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society have been among the strongest advocates of freedom of expression," Falk concluded. "I am therefore deeply disappointed and surprised by the calculated attack on myself as a person, and on my ability to act as a voice that is not afraid to speak up on the rights of Paleostinians, in accordance with the mandate invested in me by the Human Rights Council. The constant muzzling of serious and honest debate on the Paleostinian issue in the United States and elsewhere has contributed immensely to the failure to resolve the tragic crisis there for more than half a century, to the detriment of us all."
In a recent blog post, Falk wrote, "I never endorsed doubts about the official version of 9/11 beyond indicating what anyone who has objectively examined the controversy knows-- that there remain certain gaps in the official explanation that give rise to an array of conspiratorial explanations, and that the 9/11 Commission unfortunately did not put these concerns to rest."
In a response, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer pointed out that January 11, 2011, Mr. Falk wrote on his blog that, "There are, to be sure, conspiracies that promote unacknowledged goals, and enjoy the benefit of government protection... The arguments swirling around the 9/11 attacks are emblematic of these issues. What fuels suspicions of conspiracy is the reluctance to address the sort of awkward gaps and contradictions in the official explanations that David Ray Griffin (and other devoted scholars of high integrity) have been documenting in book after book ever since his authoritative The New Pearl Harbor in 2004 (updated in 2008)."
"By attempting to justify his despicable denial of Al Qaeda's carrying-out of the 9/11 attacks as a mere call for "investigations," Mr. Falk resorts to the same transparent tactics used by Iran's Ahmadinejad and other hate-mongers who seek to deny other great atrocities of history, each with their own hateful political agenda," Neuer wrote in a response. "Mr. Falk's ad hominem attacks on UN Watch are a pathetic attempt to divert attention from his own actions. UN Watch, founded in Geneva in 1993, is an internationally-respected human rights group, accredited as a NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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Falk seems to be a trouble maker from way back...John Bolton's comments in the below 2008 article are instructive.
[An Nahar] British Foreign Minister William Hague refused to label the new government headed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati as a "Hizbullah government," saying that the new premier is not affiliated with the party.
He told al-Watan Online that the Cabinet encompasses a wide alliance in Leb that does not strictly include Hizbullah, stressing that the government should be judged by its actions.
He called for the formation of a "consensual" Cabinet that would include representatives of Lebanese political camps.
Addressing the Special Tribunal for Leb, Hague pointed out that failure to go through with the tribunal would bring about greater instability in Leb in the future.
It is important that Leb steer away from the "culture of political liquidations," the British official stated.
Furthermore, he rejected allegations that deals are being struck over the tribunal, stressing that the U.K. does not seek to thwart the course of justice.
Hague had arrived in Damascus on Thursday where he met Syrian President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad ... hereditary dictator of Syria ... and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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If they labelled it correctly, they'd have to do something about it. And really, what can Britain do?
[An Nahar] Outgoing premier Saad Hariri on Saturday held broad consultations with March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... leaders and economic and popular figures before presiding over a meeting for Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement's politburo that was dedicated to discussing the latest political developments, his press office said.
"The Mustaqbal Movement stresses its commitment to the democratic course," a statement issued after Mustaqbal's politburo meeting said, noting that "the parliamentary consultations conducted by the president" were held amid "fierce foreign pressures aimed at changing the rules of the democratic game."
"Our exit from power was not the immediate result of parliamentary consultations, it rather happened according to foreign orders ... executed by domestic tools," the statement added.
During the meeting, Hariri stressed to the political bureau members that "anything related to the so-called S-S (initiative) belongs to the past now and does not exist for Saad Hariri or the Mustaqbal Movement."
He denied approving or signing on any paper "related to the work of the Special Tribunal for Leb and its ties with the Lebanese State."
"There is a major difference between discussing certain ideas and approving them," Hariri added.
He urged the conferees to "protect civil peace and coexistence among all Lebanese."
"Each official or member in the (Mustaqbal) movement is responsible for implementing this approach," Hariri added, calling on his movement's members "not to be dragged into sectarian rhetoric."
"If street action was one of the means of expressing our political stance, it should not turn at any given moment into a weapon through which we intimidate others," Hariri went on to say.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2011 00:00 ||
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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.
CAIRO -- An official at Cairo airport says 19 private jets carrying families of wealthy Egyptian and Arab businessmen have flown out of the capital.
