has arrived in Qatar in preparation for the opening of a political office to host negotiations between America, the insurgents and the Afghan government. The envoys from the former regime have assembled in the past month and the first tentative talks could begin within weeks according to former Taliban officials now part of Hamid Karzai's peace council.
A Taliban declaration earlier this month that the movement would open an office "to come to an understanding with other nations" is seen as the most significant political breakthrough in ten years of conflict.
The delegation was apparently granted safe passage to the Gulf state despite several members still being on a United Nations' sanctions blacklist banning international travel.
It includes Tayeb Agha, former secretary to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has acted as go-between with American and German diplomats for more than a year.
Mr Qalamuddin, once chief of the Taliban's "vice and virtue" police, told The Daily Telegraph the envoys were all well-educated, fluent in English and considered moderate, but committed to the movement.
So they still favor beheading infidels, oppressing wimmin and preventing anything after the 12th century from coming into Afghanistan, except for their own creature comforts...
It's so much easier to bug their phones and laptops -- and follow their messengers home -- when they're so helpfully out there in the open.
BRUSSELS: The head of NATO called on France on Thursday to continue its training operations in Afghanistan until a planned withdrawal, despite the killing of four French soldiers by a rogue Afghan soldier.
As regards the French contribution to our operation in Afghanistan, let me stress that we all agreed at the Lisbon summit to a process of transition of security responsibility to Afghan forces and an associated timeline, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference at NATO headquarters.
We outlined a roadmap and its important to the success of our operations that we maintain a commitment to this agreed plan, he said referring to a decision taken at NATOs last summit, which took place in Lisbon in 2010.
The French government said on Tuesday it would wait until Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Paris today (Friday) to sign a cooperation treaty, before deciding whether to speed up the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan.
France has 3,600 troops in Afghanistan as part of the 130,000-strong NATO-led force there. French troops mainly patrol Kapisa, a mountainous province near Kabul. One thousand French troops are due to leave by end-2012 and the rest by 2014.
The killings in the Taghab valley of Afghanistans eastern Kapisa province were the latest in a series of incidents in which Afghan troops have turned on Western allies in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Paris has said it wants security guarantees for its troops from the Afghan authorities and clarity on how Kabul was recruiting its new soldiers.
The commander of ISAF, General Allen, is cooperating closely with the leaders of Afghanistan to improve the security of our soldiers and our instructors when they work side-by-side with their Afghan partners, Rasmussen said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2012 00:00 ||
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In the United States, the white feather can symbolize superior combat marksmanship. Its most notable wearer was Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, who was awarded the Silver Star medal for bravery during the Vietnam War.
Election year!
Socialist rival Francois Hollande has pledged to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of this year if he wins the election held in two rounds in April and May.
[An Nahar] NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... has no intention of launching new air operations in Libya despite deadly festivities taking place in a former bastion of late dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... , the alliance chief said Thursday.
Fighting erupted in the oasis town of Bani Walid earlier this week, three months after NATO ended its air war in Libya and declared it had accomplished its mission to protect the civilian population.
"We are not present in Libya and we have no intention to return," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference.
Rasmussen noted that the U.N. mandate that authorized the operation was no longer active.
The seven-month NATO bombing mission crushed Qadaffy's army, giving rebels an edge in the conflict.
"On October 31 we terminated the operation because we clearly assessed that we had done our job and done it successfully," he said. "This is also the reason why we have no intention to return. Our mission has been completed."
Libyan Defense Minister Osama Juili declared Wednesday that Bani Walid was back under government control after Monday's violence left at least five people dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2012 00:31 ||
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[An Nahar] Libyan's regular army and array of militias have been torturing loyalists of slain dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... , several of whom have been killed in jug, human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... groups charged on Thursday.
Amnesia Amnesty International said that despite promises, Libya's new rulers have made "no progress to stop the use of torture", as Doctors Without Borders suspended its work in the third-largest city Misrata over similar claims.
Their accusations come after a top U.N. official raised concerns that militias composed of former rebels who helped topple Qadaffy were posing an increasing security risk as they repeatedly clashed with each other.
"Several detainees have died after being subjected to torture in Libya in recent weeks and months amid widespread torture and ill-treatment of suspected pro-Qadaffy fighters and loyalists," London-based Amnesty said in a statement.
It said its delegates met detainees held in Tripoli, in Misrata and in smaller towns such as Ghariyan who showed visible signs of torture inflicted in recent days and weeks.
"The torture is being carried out by officially recognized military and security entities, as well by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework," it said.
Donatella Rouvera, senior adviser at Amnesty, said in the statement that it was "horrifying to find that there has been no progress to stop the use of torture".
"We are not aware of any proper investigations into cases of torture," she said.
Detainees told Amnesty they had been beaten for hours with whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains, bars, wooden sticks and given electric shocks with live wires.
The watchdog said the detainees, both Libyans and foreigners from sub-Saharan Africa, were tortured soon after they were seized by militias in officially recognized detention centers in places like Misrata.
Misrata withstood a devastating siege by Qadaffy's forces during last year's uprising. Its fighters later unleashed a fierce attack on the dictator's hometown of Sirte, where he was killed on October 20.
"Several detainees have died in the custody of armed militias in and around Tripoli and Misrata in circumstances that suggest torture," Amnesty added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2012 00:21 ||
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Several people have died after being tortured by militias in Libyan detention centres, human rights group Amnesty International has said. It claimed to have seen patients in Tripoli, Misrata and Gheryan with open wounds to their head, limbs and back.
Imagine that. Torture in a civil war in a third world country...
Meanwhile, charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has suspended operations in Misrata after treating 115 patients with torture-related wounds.
The UN says it is concerned about the conditions in which patients are held.
"The torture is being carried out by officially recognised military and security entities as well as by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework," a spokesman for London-based Amnesty said.
"After all the promises to get detention centres under control, it is horrifying to find that there has been no progress to stop the use of torture," Donatella Rovera, from the charity, said.
Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was being "exploited" as some patients were being brought to them between interrogation sessions. "Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions," said general director Christopher Stokes.
More than 8,500 detainees, most of them accused of being loyal to former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, are being held by militia groups in about 60 centres, according to UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.
"The lack of oversight by the central authority creates an environment conducive to torture and ill treatment," she said. "My staff have received alarming reports that this is happening in places of detention they have visited."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday accepted the charges against Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed in connection with crimes against humanity during the Liberation War and fixed February 23 for hearing on the charge framing.
The prosecution on January 16 submitted 34 charges of crimes against humanity against Mojaheed. Sources told The Daily Star then that the charges against the Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general were of being involved in the killings of many, including freedom fighters and intellectuals, during the war in 1971.
The court yesterday said it examined the formal charges, probe reports and documents submitted by the prosecution, and preliminarily found that there is enough evidence for a trial against Mojaheed, now in jail.
It asked the prosecution to submit copies of formal charges and other relevant documents to the office of tribunal registrar by January 31 so that Mojaheed's lawyers can collect those for his defence.
The three-judge tribunal headed by its Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq ordered the defence to collect the copies from the tribunal registrar's office on February 1.
During the proceedings, the tribunal expressed the hope that none from the prosecution or the defence would disclose to the media the charges brought against the accused as the hearing on them is pending.
Justice Nizamul Huq said, "The journalists are so powerful and they want to find out everything."
His comment came when Mojaheed's counsel Munshi Ahsan Kabir told the court that the prosecution disclosed the charges against the accused to the media even before the defence got hold of them.
The defence was prejudiced due to disclosure of the charges, as the defence could not give any reply to the prosecution without getting the charges, he said.
The tribunal chairman said the court agrees with the counsel.
Following the tribunal's remark, prosecutors refused to say anything to news hounds about the charges brought against Mojaheed.
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01/27/2012 00:34 ||
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WASHINGTON - US intelligence agencies will rely increasingly on international allies for information sharing as budgets tighten in the current climate of austerity, a senior intelligence official said on Thursday.
"Our dependency on our allies ... is going to grow," Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director David Shedd said. He was speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum on information sharing.
Why on earth would he say such a thing in public?
To make sure no one can point a finger at him when something goes kaboom here at home...
WASHINGTON - US intelligence agencies will rely increasingly on international allies for information sharing as budgets tighten in the current climate of austerity, a senior intelligence official said on Thursday.
"Our dependency on our allies ... is going to grow," Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director David Shedd said. He was speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum on information sharing.
Why on earth would he say such a thing in public?
To make sure no one can point a finger at him when something goes kaboom here at home...
#1
Why on earth would he say such a thing in public?
As the Agency Deputy Director responsable for the Policy, Plans and Requirements, David Shedd ( a Pres. Bush appointee) probably had his budget cut and went public as a kind of protest.
Maybe the DIA will depend on Open-source intelligence (OSINT)!
#2
Budget austerity? No problem. Fire an s-load of the upper management Eli "honorable schoolboys" that have monopolized the place for 50 years.
Our intelligence agencies have long been dependent on the Ivy League schools, a good analogy for which would be if the US Navy and Army were reliant on Annapolis and West Point for all their officers.
Instead, the intelligence agencies need the equivalent of ROTC on campuses around the country. While they do recruit there, it is only for low level jobs. But that is where they need to recruit to get less inbred skills.
The current Defense Department budget again makes the DOD the premier funder of security assistance to foreign countries, giving it more than double the comparable budget of the agency popularly associated with Americas foreign aid, the State Department.
The $17 billion Pentagon aid budget for the 2012 fiscal year is the second in a row to exceed the State Departments by $10 billion, a disparity that has begun to provoke debate among foreign policy experts in Washington. Seven years ago, circumstances were reversed, with the State Department spending triple the amount the Pentagon spent on such aid.
Some foreign aid experts have complained that, as a result of the shifting responsibilities, U.S. aid priorities have shifted from trying to establish good governance to supporting stronger foreign military partners.
Defense-funded security assistance programs, like those funded directly by the State Department, include military and police training, counter-drug assistance, counterterrorism activities, and infrastructure projects. These programs, detailed in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, have been steadily expanding, according to a March 2011 report by the Stimson Center, a nonprofit policy research group in Washington.
The expansion has largely come at the expense of the authority of the State Department, which was long chiefly responsible for the planning, budgeting and oversight of security assistanceincluding military trainingwith the Department of Defense responsible for implementation. After 9/11, the Pentagon has assumed more authority in foreign aid budgeting and planning.
#1
Maybe the ineffectiveness of State in executing its part of the mission [if not interference] in Iraq has resulted in a reality check on who one can count on. There's an observed principle in action - important work flows towards competency.
#3
They lost a lot of credibility over their 'work' in Iraq and didn't improve their track record any in Afghanistan. And perhaps the DOD's more effective at spending funds as they're intended.
#2
Reminds me of when WW11 ended. Support services will be hit also. Massive negative on economy. O will wave his magic wand and provide assistance.
His still has that private stash.
#4
The very best way to soften a RIF that large would be to offer hiring preferences to vets too sweet to miss. Preserve their seniority and pay scale and you will get some high quality employees.
Many police departments have used that idea for years to recruit former MPs, who just laterally transfer from the Army to their department with some legal refreshment about state and local law. And their retention is a LOT higher than for academy graduates, a lot of probies washing out after they hit the street.
Oddly enough, doing so would be great for the vets, as they would be getting better pay as civilians.
#5
They could cut the defense budget without any reductions in troops just by reforming the procurment process.
When I was working on the B-1, we estimated we could make it for 1/4 the cost just by cutting out the red tape. The same was true for the Apache helicopter. These problems have gotten worse since the end of the cold war.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/27/2012 10:54 Comments ||
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#6
They will hollow the force worse than BJ Clinton did when I was in. That sucked.
The US military/intelligence enjoys a substantial technological lead over the rest of the world. That will be eroded over time if we don't keep up the investment.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
01/27/2012 12:32 Comments ||
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Don't worry, Mike, the Republicans will be in to take the blame by that time.
In yet another act of improving bilateral relations, India and Pakistan have announced progress on a gas pipeline project also bringing into the fold Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Officials from India and Pakistan have announced they are moving closer to inking a deal to import gas from Turkmenistan via a pipeline through Afghanistan. The 1,700-kilometer "TAPI" duct will transport over 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually from fields in Dauletabad in southeastern Turkmenistan.
In high-level talks in New Delhi this week, Indian Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said "considerable progress" has been made on the project. His Pakistani counterpart, Asim Hussain, added at the meeting that "the issue of transit fees is being discussed with Afghanistan. A joint strategy is also being created between India and Pakistan."
When the four countries signed a framework agreement back in 2008, the Asian Development Bank estimated the cost of the TAPI pipeline project at around $7.6 billion.
After the talks in New Delhi, the Indian oil minister emphasized that the pipeline would help address the energy needs of the region. Reddy also clarified that security concerns were discussed with Afghan officials, who themselves sought to provide reassurance that necessary measures would be taken to protect the TAPI project.
"We consider it a pipeline of peace," Reddy said. "Everyone needs gas."
As I recall, we've reached the point where the majority of our supplies do not go through Pakistan, so it's not quite the threat it used to be...
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday informed the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce that the government has also suspended United States supplies to Afghanistan following ban on the clearance of ISAF/NATO containers to Afghanistan.
FBR Customs chief Dr Naeem Ijaz Qureshi told the committee headed by Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan that the suspended supplies also included those made to the US forces operating in Afghanistan in the wake of November 26, 2011, unprovoked airstrikes on two Pakistani border posts in Mohmand Agency. When committee members inquired about the competent authority which directed the FBR to stop clearance of supplies to NATO/ISAF forces operating in Afghanistan, FBR Acting Chairman Mahmood Alam, FBR Member Taxpayer Audit Hafiz Muhammad Anis and Dr Naeem Ijaz Qureshi were not aware about the written or verbal directives to the FBR in this regard.
The acting FBR chairman requested the committee to give some time for responding to the inquiry. Khurram directed the FBR to clearly give the name of the authority on whose directives the FBR had suspended NATO/ISAF supplies and also explain whether the FBR had any written instructions from any authority to implement such decision.
It's not just the stopping of supplies, it's the pilfering. Read on:
Meanwhile, the FBR Member Taxpayer Audit and head of the probe committee Hafiz Anis informed the committee that consequent to the reports appearing in the national media highlighting massive pilferage of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) containers inside Pakistan, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the "ISAF container scandal" and issued notices to various stakeholders, including the FBR. After the preliminary hearings, the Supreme Court on September 30, 2010, directed the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) to probe into the matter and submit answers to 15 questions, specifically highlighted by the Supreme Court.
The FTO submitted its report in the apex court in January 2011 and concluded that it was impossible for an ATT container to complete a round trip from Karachi to Torkham or Chaman and back to Karachi in eight days. Based on these criteria, the FTO reported that during the period from January 1, 2007, to October 15, 2010, as many as 7,922 containers had completed the said round trip in eight or less than eight days, and the goods imported therein thus never crossed Pak-Afghan border and were instead pilfered or dropped within Pakistan. The revenue loss on these 7,922 containers was estimated at Rs 19 billion. Based on benchmark of 10 days, the number of missing containers was worked out as 15,314 and revenue loss was estimated at Rs 37 billion.
On the receipt of FTO's findings, the FBR chairman constituted an investigation committee on January 25, 2011, headed by the member taxpayers audit.
Investigation has revealed that "gate-in" event of 77,884 containers is missing in PACCS and "cross-border" event of 95,374 containers is missing. It is improbable that such a huge number of containers may have gone missing, but failure on the part of relevant customs field formations to ensure proper monitoring and reconciliation through system is glaring.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2012 00:00 ||
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Still, time to let the usual suspects know we're un-happy-happy with their crappy attitude and mendaciousness.
ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNC) on Thursday decided to summon US businessman of Pakistani origin, Mansoor Ijaz, again on February 10 and asked the authorities concerned to allay his apprehensions about security arrangements.
I don't think that's possible...
Briefing the media after meeting of the committee held at the Parliament House, the committee chairman, Senator Raza Rabbani, said that Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq had briefed the committee about the security arrangements made for Mansoor Ijaz during his possible stay in Pakistan.
He said the committee reviewed the statement of the attorney general and reached the conclusion that prima facie the arrangements for the security of Mansoor Ijaz, who was scheduled to appear before the committee, were adequate.
The committee feels that if Mansoor Ijaz has any apprehensions regarding his security, it may be addressed keeping in view rules and law of the land, he added.
And if you can't trust the law of the land in Pakistain, what can you trust?
Rabbani said the committee has decided to issue a fresh notice to Mansoor Ijaz asking him to appear before it on February 10. The chairman said that the memo commission secretary will also be requested to hand over the notice to Mansoor Ijaz when he would meet him at the airport to collect evidence.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2012 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD Iraq will take legal action to ensure justice for the families of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians killed in a US raid in Haditha seven years ago, a government spokesman said Thursday, after the lone US Marine convicted in the killings reached a deal to escape jail time.
Residents in Haditha, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold of about 85,000 people along the Euphrates River valley some 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, have expressed outrage at the American military justice system for allowing Staff Sgt. Frank Wultrich to avoid prison.
The Haditha incident was a big crime against innocent civilians, said Ali Al Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi government. We will follow up all legal procedures and judiciary measures to seek justice in the case, he added.
Al-Moussawi did not offer specifics and the Iraqi Justice Ministry declined to comment.
Wultrich was convicted of a single count of negligent dereliction of duty. He faces having his rank reduced but he will not go to jail as a part of a plea agreement that ended his long-awaited manslaughter trial. He has apologized for the loss of life, but has said his squad did not behave badly or dishonorably. He also has defended his order to raid homes in Haditha as a necessary act and acknowledged to instructing his men to shoot first, ask questions later after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine.
Wultrichs sentence Tuesday ended a six-year prosecution that failed to win any manslaughter convictions in one of the worst attacks on Iraqi civilians by US troops during nine years of war. Eight Marines were initially charged in the case. One was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Hopefully they will enact a judicial system that suits their idea of justice. Certainly, the order of law that was in place there prior to the invasion was noted for fairness and justice. I remember some video of a political meeting where various party members were removed presumably to be shot in back of the building.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/27/2012 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
The US paid the survivors $38,000 for "pain & suffering", so by their own rules, justice has been met.
Israel is proposing to essentially turn its West Bank separation barrier into the border with a future state of Palestine, two Palestinian officials said Friday, based on their interpretation of principles Israel presented in talks this week.
The officials said Israeli envoy Yitzak Molcho told his Palestinian counterpart that Israel wants to keep east Jerusalem and consolidate Jewish settlements behind the separation barrier, which slices close to 10 percent off the West Bank. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing strict no-leaks rules by Jordanian mediators.
The proposal would fall short of what the Palestinians seem likely to accept, especially because it would leave Jerusalem on the "Israeli" side of the border.
But it would also mark a significant step for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spent most of his career as a staunch opponent of Palestinian independence.
And if talks advance in such a direction, it could also spell the end for his nationalist coalition, where key members would consider the abandonment of most of the West Bank a strategic highland and biblical heartland an unforgivable betrayal.
Israel has confirmed that it presented principles this week for drawing a border with a Palestinian state. But the politically charged nature of the talks even though they were held at a relatively low level, below that of Cabinet ministers was reflected in the guarded refusal by any top official to discuss details.
An Israeli government official said that as far as he knew, the information was incorrect, but declined to elaborate or go on the record, citing Jordan's demand for discretion.
The Muslim world doesnt have much to export besides oil and drugs. Countries that dont have oil export drugs. Countries that do have oil, export drugs anyway. Terrorist groups with their secret cells, forged documents and covert funding sources make perfect drug smuggling networks until it is impossible to tell whether they are Islamic terrorists who smuggle drugs to fund their operations or drug smugglers who kill people to religiously justify their drug smuggling. When the commanders and the foot soldiers have spent enough time in the drug trade and are sampling their own product then they stop knowing the difference.
The miserable state of agriculture in Muslim countries can be partly attributed to this toxic mix of drugs and jihadists. Subsidized food prices give farmers more incentive to cultivate opium than wheat. Islamic groups provide protection and drug smuggling routes to fund their activities. Food prices rise and the popular protests are hijacked by the Islamic groups who can hand out food backed by their real cash crops. From that angle the Arab Spring looks more like an Islamic Cartel Woodstock. FARC with a Koran instead of Das Kapital.
Drunks are not particularly dangerous. Its hard to weaponsize them in the same way that Islamic groups have weaponized drug users. Islamic drug cartels are in the process of turning parts of Asia and the Middle East into theocracies overseen by the Koran and the needle. But while the cartels make much of their money selling their products to the infidels in America and Europe, most of their real users are at home.
The godfathers of Islamic terrorism in Tehran and Islamabad are not only funding Islamic terror using drug money, they are addicting their own populations en masse. Countries cannot become major drug exporters without also creating a major domestic market for drugs along the way. While the ISI and the mullahs have tried to poison the West for profit, they have done a much more thorough job of poisoning themselves with their own wares.
While Islamists like to think of themselves as the moral alternative to the decadent West, they have thoroughly corrupted themselves and their own people. The heroin addicts of Iran and Pakistan are a grim reminder that Islam is not only brutal and violent; it is also a force of moral decay that justifies any crime in the name of its religious aspirations. The millions of Muslim heroin addicts who were made that way by heroin smuggled in the name of Islam are the true fruits of the Islamic Revolution.
The United States says it has a common interest with the Philippines in protecting freedom of navigation in the South China Sea but does not want to re-establish a military base on its territory. As senior diplomats and defense officials from both countries began two days of annual strategic talks, both sides said the focus was on increasing military cooperation in other ways, such as joint exercises.
Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Defense Department spokeswoman said, "The idea that we are looking to establish U.S. bases or permanently station U.S. forces in the Philippines, or anywhere else in Southeast Asia, as part of a China containment strategy is patently false."
Philippine defense spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said the Philippines will discuss requests for an additional U.S. Coast Guard cutter, a squadron of F-16 fighter jets and other weapons.
#2
There really isn't a need for a permanent base. What might work are operating agreements to utilize current Philippine facilities (and include necessary improvements).
That would give a political 'out' for their government, provide some quiet military assistance to the Philippine military, and still be able to have a presence in the area.
#3
Vietnam is still trying to lease Cam Rahn Bay back to us, and we have the new agreement with the Australians. Lots of nations in the Pacific are looking around and noticing that the US Navy is not as prevalent in the area as it used to be, and some of them are trying to arrange facility usage deals to get us to keep stationing ships in their area.
#4
Agree wid #2 - IMO what Manila really desires is $$$, not new or refurbished US bases as many Filipinos remain sensitive to the issue despite any econ benefits to the country.
That being said, CHINA is unilaterally proceeding wid establishing its presence + flag in PHIL-claimed SCS shoals off Palawan because the Philippines aren't able to militarily challenge or stop them.
As before, the real crux for Rising China is getting absolute sovereign control oer TAIWAN + flanks of the air-sea corridor between OKINAWA + NORTHERN PHIL.
The European Union embargo on Iranian oil will only come into effect in six months, but the leadership in Tehran wants to act first: Exports to Europe are set to be halted immediately. It is a move which could mean added difficulties for struggling economies in southern Europe.
It's a move which has tit-for-tat written all over it, but one which could nonetheless have a serious impact: The Iranian government wants to present a bill to parliament this weekend calling for an immediate halt to oil deliveries to Europe. The move, with most reports citing the Iranian news agency Mehr, has come about in response to the EU agreement to impose sanctions against Iran, which were announced earlier this week.
The sanctions banned any new contracts for buying oil from Iran, but allowed existing deals to continue until July in order to give countries time to find other sources. But that process is now at risk after the latest move from Tehran, a step the Iranian government had already threatened.
The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has effectively abandoned his headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, diplomatic and intelligence sources said on Friday.
"Meshaal is not staying in Syria as he used to do. He is almost out all the time," said a diplomat in the region who spoke on condition on anonymity.
A regional intelligence source, who also did not wish to be identified, said: "He's not going back to Syria. That's the decision he's made. There's still a Hamas presence there, but it's insignificant."
The sources said Meshaal would not publicly shut down the political headquarters of Hamas in Syria, where it has long been hosted by Assad and by his father before him.
"In the past month he may have only stayed five days in Syria and the rest he spent in Qatar, Turkey and Egypt," said the diplomat. "But he did not close the headquarters in Syria in full and there are some Hamas officials still there."
"Our belief is that Hamas will not announce a departure from Syria even if it happened," the diplomat added.
The sources said Meshaal was currently in Egypt. But "there was no agreement to open an office in Cairo. Not yet," said the diplomat. "The expected residence for Meshaal is Qatar where he may stay most of the time until the Syria smoke has cleared."
A YNet op-ed says that Hamas is in trouble, losing funding from Iran and its headquarters in Damascus.
But another Yediot article in Hebrew, quoted in Arabic sources, says that Turkey has agreed to give Hamas some $300 million annually.
Turkey's stock market has fallen off a cliff. Where are they going to get the money to finance an unofficial war with Israel?
#3
Why would non-Arabic Turkey want an unofficial war with Israel?
Erdogan and his Islamicists hate Israel for existing, Mike, but the Turkish army worked happily with Israel for an awfully long time. Even though many of the senior officers are arrested, jailed, or resigned in protest in the past year or two, the army isn't going to fight Israel...and isn't likely at this stage to be able to win if it were stupid enough to try. The alternative, given the Gaza flotilla effort was embarrassingly unsuccessful as an act of war as well as in turning the world solidly against Israel, is to go with the fighters on the ground.
Of course, that inexpert opinion is worth exactly what you just paid for it.
Iran must open its nuclear facilities to a team of inspectors heading to Tehran on Friday as the full extent of its atomic work remains a mystery, a leading international official has said. Yukiya Amano, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief told AFP that the organisation's previous efforts to verify whether all its activities were for non-military purposes had been hampered by "a lack of cooperation" from Iran which he hoped would change.
"The high-level team leaves today and starts work tomorrow," Amano said. "We hope they (Iran) will take a constructive approach. We hope that there will be substantial cooperation."
However he added that there was the possibility of more nuclear secrets being uncovered in Iran.
"We are not very sure that Iran has declared everything," Mr Amano said in Davos, Switzerland.
At the same meeting, Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defense Minister, said an Iranian nuclear weapon would mean "the end of any anti-proliferation regime".
"Iran is determined to more forward toward a nuclear- military program," Barak told a panel in Davos today. "They are ready to fight and deceive the whole world to turn into a nuclear-military power."
[An Nahar] Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... chief Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani are to head to New York on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan on Syria, Arabi said.
The two will "hold a meeting with the U.N. Security Council on Monday to seek ratification of the vaporous Arab League decision on Syria," for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... to hand power to his deputy, Arabi said.
Arab League ministers meeting in Cairo last week had asked for U.N. support in their efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, where a crackdown on protests has left more than 5,400 people dead since March.
The League called on Assad to delegate powers to his vice president and clear the way for a national unity government to be formed within two months.
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01/27/2012 00:23 ||
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[An Nahar] U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... on Thursday condemned the killing of a Syrian Red Islamic Thingy chief and demanded the Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... government investigate the crime.
Ban is "deeply concerned" at the killing of Abdelrazak Jbeiro, the Syrian Red Islamic Thingy secretary general, who was ambushed Wednesday while driving in the restive northwest province of Idlib, said U.N. front man Martin Nesirky.
"The secretary general condemns the attack that killed him, which targeted a vehicle clearly marked with the Red Islamic Thingy emblem.
"He calls on the Syrian government to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. The secretary general reminds all of their obligation to respect and protect humanitarian workers as they perform their duties and impartially serve all those who are in need," said Nesirky.
The International Committee of the Red Thingy has also expressed "shock" and demanded that the Damascus government, which has launched a deadly crackdown on opposition protests, investigate the killing.
Syria's official SANA news agency said Jbeiro was killed by "an armed terrorist group" which opened fire with a machine gun.
The Syrian government blames "terrorist gangs" for the popular unrest that has swept the country since March, leaving thousands dead.
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01/27/2012 00:20 ||
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[An Nahar] President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Iran is ready to sit down with world powers for talks on its nuclear program as he brushed off the harmful effect of newly imposed sanctions.
"They have this excuse that Iran is dodging negotiations while it is not the case...," the Iranian leader was quoted as saying by state media. "Why should we run away from the negotiations?"
Ahmadinejad was implicitly responding to comments made by Western officials urging the Islamic republic to return to negotiations over its contested nuclear program.
"The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... stands together in sending that clear message to the government of Iran: that we wish to go back to negotiations, to invite them to pick up the issues which were left on the table in Istanbul a year ago," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday
The last round of talks between Iran and the major powers consisting of Britannia, China, La Belle France, Germany, Russia and the United States was held in Turkey in January 2011, but the negotiations collapsed.
Ahmadinejad also downplayed the effect of the newly imposed Western sanctions saying they would not hurt his nation.
"Once our trade with the Europe was around 90 percent but now it has reached 10 percent and we are not seeking this 10 percent... experience has shown the Medes and the Persians will not be hurt," Ahmadinejad said during a visit to the southern Kerman province.
"For the past 30 years, the Americans have not been buying oil from us. Our central bank has no relations with you," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2012 00:18 ||
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#1
Sorry, the well of "talks" as delaying tactics have long since run dry. Iran either permits inspectors everywhere, or it faces the consequences. Nothing else to talk about.+
[An Nahar] Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... hoped on Thursday that a statement issued by the Syrian National Council would put Lebanese-Syrian relations on the right path and called for U.N. Security Council action if Leb comes under attack by Syria.
The Council, which is Syria's leading opposition movement, said Wednesday that it wants to start a new chapter in the complex and often-troubled relationship with Leb.
In remarks to news hounds, Geagea said it remains to be seen if the Council's request would be met, stressing that it is a good way to repair ties.
The LF leader also lamented that the Syrian navy attack on three Lebanese fishermen off the coast of the northern town of Arida earlier this month was a "political message to those concerned."
Unfortunately the message was sent after shedding the blood of Lebanese, he said.
Sixteen-year-old Maher Hamad was killed after the Syrian navy opened fire on his boat off Arida. His uncles Fadi and Khaled Hamad, who were with him, were seized and handed over to the Lebanese army the next day.
The government should ask for an apology from the Syrian authorities over the Arida incident, Geagea said.
He also stressed that the Lebanese government should stop any attack on Leb or resort to the U.N. Security Council if Syria infringes on its illusory sovereignty again.
Or else the government would be complicit with Syria against its own people, he warned.
About a decision by Leb to steer itself clear of the Assad regime's deadly crackdown on Syrian protestors, Geagea said President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... and Premier Najib Miqati should "give clear indications to Foreign Minister (Adnan Mansour) on a true policy of keeping a distance (from the Syrian) crisis and not just in words."
The LF leader called for a fair implementation of the law, rejecting the "persecution" of Syrian refugees in Leb.
"Leb is in its nature the land of freedom and we won't allow any authority to tarnish its image," he warned. "We support the implementation of the law equally and (reject) to politically target" the refugees.
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01/27/2012 00:17 ||
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[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... stressed on Thursday the importance of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... deal is the only solution available, reported the Russian news agency Novosti.
"I discussed importance of a political solution according to the vaporous Arab League plan", Jumblat said to LBC television later Thursday night, adding that " I know that we have entered into violence and counter violence in Syria, But Russia has to condemn the Syrian regime for the violence because it was the initiator."
He stressed the need to have an common American, Russian, Iranian, Turkish and Arab position for a solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that he is not authorized by the Syrian opposition to talk on its behalf."
He said after holding talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: "Russia must understand the demands of the Syrian people."
He warned that any alternative to the Arab deal will lead to further escalation and possibly foreign intervention.
Foreign intervention is rejected by all concerned sides, said the MP, who traveled to Russia on Wednesday.
Jumblat added that Russia has cooperated with Syria in several fields, noting however that "Russia, as a friendly state, must understand the rightful demands of the people."
"I hope that Russia will side with the voice of the rightful people," said the Druze leader.
Earlier this week, the MP called on Russia to "launch a political initiative together with the countries concerned in order to pull Syria out of its crisis."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2012 00:17 ||
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DAMASCUS: An Arab League team is taking the 10-month-old crisis in Syria to the UN Security Council, as security forces launched an assault on a protest hub near the Syrian capital on Thursday.
At the Cairo-based Arab League, the organizations chief Nabil Elaraby said he and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani were to head to New York on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan on Syria. They are to hold a meeting with the UN Security Council on Monday to seek ratification of the Arab League decision on Syria, for President Bashar Assad to hand power to his deputy, Elaraby said.
Because his deputy will be a paragon of sweet reason...
Arab League ministers last week urged Assad to delegate powers to his vice president and clear the way for a national unity government within two months, a plan which Damascus has ruled out as interference in its internal affairs.
Russia said on Thursday it would continue to promote its own draft resolution on Syria in the UN Security Council, staking out a tough position ahead of talks on a Western-Arab draft. Foreign Ministry spokesman ruled out neither a compromise on the rival Security Council resolution nor a veto from Russia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2012 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.
BRUSSELS: The head of NATO called on France on Thursday to continue its training operations in Afghanistan until a planned withdrawal, despite the killing of four French soldiers by a rogue Afghan soldier. 
Libyan's regular army and array of militias have been torturing loyalists of slain dictator 
Several people have died after being tortured by militias in Libyan detention centres, human rights group Amnesty International has said. It claimed to have seen patients in Tripoli, Misrata and Gheryan with open wounds to their head, limbs and back.
BAGHDAD Iraq will take legal action to ensure justice for the families of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians killed in a US raid in Haditha seven years ago, a government spokesman said Thursday, after the lone US Marine convicted in the killings reached a deal to escape jail time.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Mahmoud 
Samir Geagea
Najib Miqati
Walid 
