Afghanistan's counternarcotics minister has resigned only weeks after Afghan laborers finished cultivating an opium poppy crop that could exceed last year's record haul.
Habibullah Qaderi's resignation, confirmed by a deputy minister Sunday, came as U.S. and Afghan officials debate privately whether to use herbicides to reduce the drug problem. Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected that approach for the 2007 growing season, partly because some Afghans fear the chemicals could affect livestock, legitimate crops and drinking water, fears the U.S. says are unfounded.
And partly because it's a major source of income for some Afghanis.
Much of the profit from the country's $3.1 billion drug trade is believed to fund Taliban fighters waging a violent campaign against the government. Officials said Sunday recent clashes between police and insurgents left 11 suspected militants dead in the south, while Taliban fighters ambushed police in Kandahar province, wounding 15 officers.
Qaderi submitted his resignation to the president about five days ago, said Gen. Khodaidad, the deputy minister. The resignation was voluntary and driven in part by health problems, he said, though Qaderi has taken a new position in Canada as Afghanistan's consulate general. Karzai has not named a replacement.
Qaderi headed the ministry since December 2004 and survived several Cabinet shuffles, but Afghanistan's poppy crop has ballooned under his watch and the country's production last year accounted for more than 90 percent of the world's heroin supply. Western and U.N. officials have said this year's harvest could equal or exceed last year's record crop.
Khodaidad, who like many Afghans goes by one name, said Qaderi did a "wonderful job" in the north, where cultivation is expected to drop, but said "we have some problems" in the south, where violence has spiked this year.
The U.S. has proposed spraying the crops with herbicide as it does with coca plants in Colombia, where the current U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, William Wood, previously served. Britain, whose troops are in charge of Helmand province, the world's largest poppy growing region, has said it would support limited spraying.
Gen. Dan McNeill, the top general in charge of NATO-led troops here, has said he expects Western soldiers to step up efforts to combat the drug trade, though they would not be involved in manual eradication of poppy fields that Afghan officials now carry out with the help of Western advisers. Taliban fighters are believed to tax and protect poppy farmers and drug runners.
#1
Very simple. Poppy crops can be distinguished from other crops quite easily. Make a couple of runs across the poppy fields dropping cluster bombs with proximity fuses. The next guy to enter the poppy fields suddenly loses the lower half of his body. Renew the cluster munitions every couple of weeks until the poppy crop is dead in the fields. The locals will bitch to high heaven, but it'll work. Install a self-destruct mechanism in the cluster munitions to explode after six months, so you don't have the same problem you have with mines in Afghanistan. Tell the poppy growers you'll rinse and repeat until they plant something else instead of poppies. Tell Karzai he'll take half a 'copter ride if he raises a stink. It's either that or pull out and nuke the whole damned country, plus a large portion of Pakistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2007 13:15 Comments ||
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#2
Pappy; I'll bet that half a copter is a bitch to fly......seriously, good idea!
After departing Saudi Arabia earlier, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa arrived here Sunday to discuss developments in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and local officials. As stipulated by the recent emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers, the two-day visit to Syria aims to settle Lebanon's escalating situation, ensuring stability, and ending political assassinations. Last June 19, Amr Moussa visited Lebanon and held talks that focused on forming a national unity government, sticking to the date of presidential elections constitutionally set to take place during September 25 to November 25, as well matters relevant to Palestinian arms in Lebanon. Moussa's talks in Saudi Arabia focused on overall developments in the Arab world, especially in Lebanon, Iraq and in the Palestinian territories. Moussa's visits are part of a tour aimed at settling unrest in Arab nations.
Jerry said it. I believe it. That settles it.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Must be working on jacking up the frequent flier miles for his vacation. That's about all this is good for.
SUSPECTS linked to the foiled car bomb attacks in London allegedly planned to blow up the devices using mobile phones in Australia, the British tabloid Daily Star has reported.
"They intended to blow it up by remote control - by calling mobile phones in the car," the newspaper said. "Detectives believe the plot to set off the fuel-packed Mercedes E300 outside the capital's Tiger Tiger nightclub from Australia was intended to cause a spectacular show of global terrorism - but it failed."
Meanwhile the wife of Dr Haneef has said her husband was returning to India because she had just had a baby. The 27-year-old registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital was arrested as he tried to leave Brisbane on a one-way ticket to India. Dr Haneef's wife Firdous Arshiyu also said he booked a one-way ticket because they planned to return to Australia together. "I only gave birth to a baby last week only, and only because of that he was coming here," Ms Arshiyu told the Nine Network. "No, he wasn't a jihadi, he just made a few phone calls for his friends."
Britain's Prince Harry has joined one of the most fearsome units in the British Army the Gurkhas and is undergoing intensive training with the legendary brigade.
The prince, 22, who is currently serving as an officer in the posh cavalry regiment, the Blues and Royals, is taking part in intensive training with the legendary unit to improve his fighting skills.
He is reportedly undergoing a four-day exercise with the 3rd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.
At the end of the exercise, Harry, a 2nd lieutenant whose own unit has gone to Iraq without him because of fears for his safety, will be presented with an honorary kukri the curved knife of the Gurkhas.
"Harry will be told that when the kukri leaves its sheath it can never be returned without blood being drawn." a media report quoted an insider as saying.
The British Ministry of Defence would not comment on the princes current whereabouts but military sources suggested he was taking part in a special operation with the Gurkhas, the media reported.
The Gurkhas, renowned for their bravery and strength, have been recruited by the British Army for more than 200 years. They were first enlisted to fight against uprisings in India in the eighteenth century.
The British Army currently has around 3,400 Gurkhas serving in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, with 250 new recruits annually.
Meanwhile, ending the seven years of relentless campaign and legal battle of former Gurkhas, the British government has announced equal pension to Gurkha soldiers.
According to Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation (GAESO) official, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made the announcement during his address to the parliament.
#1
I loved the story about the Gurkhas during the Falklands war. When the Argentines definding one position heard they'd be facing Ghurkhas they all surrendered instead of fighting. The Ghurkhas got no action and the desolate Falklands made them homesick (despite the low altitude I guess).
#4
They should have done this at the beginning. Placing him with a force whose activities adn locations are super secret, such as the special forces, would mean his unit would not be easily found by the enemy and he can contribute to front line action.
#3
This reminds me about something we need to enact as soon as possible - federal laws banning sharia practices and the setting up of sharia courts across the entire U.S.
Having such a declaration in place now would send a strong message that we will resist fundamentalist Muslim designs on our country and it will save a lot of trouble later when there are attempts to set up a separate subsystem in a place like Dearborn, Michigan.
"Humiliation," Friedman explains, is "driving Muslim males, particularly edcuated ones, into these acts of extreme, expressive violence." Why do they feel humiliated? Because their faith, which Friedman says they regard as God 3.0, isn't stacking up to Christianity (God 2.0) or Judaism (God 1.0). "While they were taught that they have the most perfect and complete operating system," Friedman explains, "every day theyre confronted with the reality that people living by God 2.0., God 1.0 and God 0.0 are generally living much more prosperously, powerfully and democratically than those living under Islam." Friedman quotes a figurative Muslim exclaiming, "How could this be? Who did this to us? The Crusaders! The Jews! The West!"
"It can never be something that they failed to learn, adapt to or build," Friedman laments, arguing that "a death cult has taken root in the bosom of [Islam], feeding off it like a cancerous tumor."
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/09/2007 11:43 Comments ||
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#5
Welcome back to earth, Tom Friedman. But such talk as that will get you a cup of dishwater for coffee at the NYTs. You must be pretty job secure to write that article.
#6
"...death cult has taken root in the bosom of [Islam], ..."
Nope, he STILL doesn't get it.
It always was and always will be a death cult at root. Sometimes there is more manure to fertilize the roots, sometimes there is a drought but Islam is a death cult, this is nothing new.
#7
---#3 We already have laws, both state & federal, against Sharia. Last I checked, stoning people to death, cruel & unusual punishment, murdering someone for changing his religion, etc., are in violation of one law or the other, even if we leave out the obvious conflict between the spirit of Sharia & the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. Our problems are multi-culti BS, an elite leadership out to lunch or lost in a Marxist revery, and an uninformed electorate. Backwaters like the Quebec village of Hérouxville have exhibited more common sense than the leaders of the great nations of the West.
#8
We need to really, REALLY stomp islam hard, right in the crotch. I suggest totally destroying Mecca and Medina with CONVENTIONAL weapons, seeding the ground with toxic chemicals to it can never be rebuilt, and tell the muzzies that we're being nice the first time, but the next time will be much worse. Islam has survived for 1400 years. that's long enough for any criminal enterprise. It's time it was eliminated.
As for sovereignty over the US, there are 200 million individual weapons, plus another 30 million military weapons in this country. Every one will be pointed at muslims the first time they try this sh$$ here. Islam is incompatible with the Constitution of the United States, and it's time to tell all muzzies our Constitution takes precedence in this nation. Declaring sharia in the US would put an immediate death sentence on every muzzie living here.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2007 13:25 Comments ||
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#9
Guns aren't enough to defend sovereignty. Other factors are necessary.
#10
Islam assigns Muslims the role of vice-regency of ALL earth. Hidden behind al-taqiyah cosmetics, most Muslims oppose democracy because they believe it seizes sovereignty from "allah." That is why Islamic entities are inherently oppressive, internally, and aggressive, externally. The koran assigns Muslims the prime purpose in life of waging war against disbelievers, because "allah" wants worship. Anyone who won't prostrate in prayer 5 times a day, facing Mecca, is a mortal enemy of a Muslim. That understanding should ground our foreign and domestic policies.
#12
I forgot to mention that I bought a book, published in Brooklyn in June 2001, with the title, "Islam Will Conquer All Other Religions and American Power Will Diminish: Read How Allah's (God's) Prediction Will Soon Come to Pass." Ironically, it was produced by followers of Rashid Khalifa, who was murdered in Arizona after he added verses in his translation of the koran.
Would you want someone who believes the following, as a neighbor? "...every nation hath both its term, and will not be able to put it off when it cometh, are the predictions of Allah, and must be taken seriously, because the will of Allah will prevail in the end. The end is not far; we are living in the end of days..." Immigration of Muslims to the West, and protection of Islamic jihadism under freedom of conscience legislation, should be compared to termite feeding on a national scale.
#19
You clowns think you have sovereignty over the U.S.? This U.S.?
Try to take it, asshole. Me and my friends Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson (and hundreds of thousands of their friends) just might have something to say about that....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/09/2007 19:53 Comments ||
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#20
Move along, boyz, obviously clearly the USA-West has no enemies and is NOT at war for its very survival. No Global Islamist State = War for anti-US-Western OWG SWO = War for anti-Democracy, etc. here.
#23
Abu Saif replied: "There is something you can do to be friends. You can become Muslim."
With friends like that ...
I suppose that Muslims have never considered how there is another alternative that involves killing them in massive numbers. Their own intolerance breeds intolerance of Islam. They are bringing about their own annihilation. It is merely a matter of time.
#25
Not that Zenster is advocating that alternative...
I don't have to. Muslims are doing everything in their power to bring it about all by themselves. You couldn't get me to bet a thin dime against it. Water will sooner run uphill before Muslims ever foresake their love of committing terrorist atrocities.
British security agencies on Sunday were reported to be looking at the possible involvement of an Iraqi al-Qaeda group in the London-Glasgow terror plot after it emerged that an intelligence report warned of an al-Qaeda attack to coincide with the departure of Tony Blair as a revenge for his role in invading Iraq.
According to The Sunday Times, at least one of the alleged suspects being questioned was in recent contact with the group. Scotland Yards Counter-Terrorism Command SO15 is understood to have uncovered evidence that in the months leading up to the attacks, one or more of the suspects communicated by telephone or e-mail with terrorist leaders in Iraq, it said.
Security sources were reported as saying that this chimed in with a warning from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre of a possible attack on Britain around the time of Mr. Blairs departure last month.
The Centre, based at MI5s headquarters here, reportedly said a senior Iraqi al-Qaeda commander had set out details of such an attack. He was believed to belong to a group led by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who took over from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Britains new Security Minister, Admiral Sir Alan West, a former Navy chief, has warned that the battle against radicalisation of young British Muslims could take up to 15 years. This not a quick thing. I think it will take 10 to 15 years. But I think it can be done so long as we as a nation apply ourselves to it, and its done across the board, he told The Sunday Telegraph. He criticised the term war on terror, saying it had a wrong connotation. Its not like a war in that sense at all, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[2 views]
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#1
This not a quick thing. I think it will take 10 to 15 years. But I think it can be done so long as we as a nation apply ourselves to it, and its done across the board, he told The Sunday Telegraph. He criticised the term war on terror, saying it had a wrong connotation. Its not like a war in that sense at all, he said.
It is exactly this kind of naivete that will doom the UK and others who follow Brown and his ilk. This is a military guy who is in charge of Homeland security there. My God man, what the hell are you thinking? These people (the young radical islamists) are totally brainwashed. Much like the cults in the 60's and 70's that needed deprogramming - it can work but it takes a lot of time and the recidivist rate is extremely high. No, this is maybe a 4 to 5 generation effort that can only succeed if you reduce the numbers. Deport now. Start to understand the words you use and prepare to defend your homeland.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:09 Comments ||
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It is a photo similar to thousands taken of tourists during a visit to Sydney Aquarium.
But this holiday image confirms for the first time that Indian-born doctor Mohamed Haneef detained in Brisbane over his alleged links to the botched UK car bomb plots also spent time in Sydney.
The photo of Dr Haneef and his wife Firdous Arshiyu was taken at the popular Darling Harbour attraction, a souvenir from one of a few trips they are understood to have made to NSW. The manipulated image shows the couple in a rowboat on the Harbour about to be attacked by a shark. The photo emerged as Dr Haneef's Gold Coast home was again searched yesterday as the AFP and a British counter-terrorism chief finally prepare to interview him later today over his alleged links to the failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.
Also searched yesterday was the Southport unit of Dr Mohammed Asif Ali, a second Gold Coast Hospital doctor questioned by police and released. Dr Haneef's blue Honda Jazz, which had been garaged at Dr Ali's unit block, was taken away on a tow truck for tests. "They (the search warrants) were required as a result of analysis of material seized during search warrants executed last week," an AFP spokesman said last night.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, newly named to a post to promote Mideast peace, should study the idea of an international force to patrol the Palestinian territories, 10 EU foreign ministers said Monday.
The ministers from EU Mediterranean nations, who met last week in Slovenia, wrote an open letter to Blair that appeared in Le Monde newspaper. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner launched the initiative.
As I said on numerous occasions, the real enemy are not Muzzies---we can fix the Muzzles in a week. The real enemy are their Western facilitators who turned a bunch of technologically backward nutcases into a World class threat
Standard story, a few days late, get out yer hankies...
In the entire row of stores, the only one that was targeted the one that still smells of smoke is owned by a man of Pakistani descent. Shafiq Ahmed said vandals rammed a car into his "One Stop Shop" convenience store, then set a fire an assault disturbingly reminiscent of the attempted terror attack just days earlier on the airport of this gritty Scottish city.
Police are investigating the alleged attack and others as part of an apparent backlash against Glasgow's Muslims since the failed airport assault and attempted car bombings in London. At least 24 incidents are being probed, from graffiti on a mosque to firebombed businesses.
As he cleaned the soot from his charred store, Ahmed, who moved to Britain as an infant, hoped the attack on his family business wasn't racially motivated. After 30 peaceful years in Scotland, the idea that some may no longer welcome him and his Scottish-born children is highly uncomfortable. "I haven't got words to describe it. I'm hoping it's not retaliation," Ahmed, 41, said Sunday, in a thick Glasgow accent. "It's a shame to think you can't work with people and enjoy the company of people and instead have to worry."
Continued on Page 49
#2
At least 24 incidents are being probed, from graffiti on a mosque to firebombed businesses.
This is a waste of tax dollars. The police should focus on muzzie bombing jihadi scum and leave the regular citizens alone. The Scotch are correct in turning up the burner on muzzies. How else can we get muzzies to convert from the caveman religion to something more fitting for good community relations ? The police and governments just don't see the big picture yet, do they ?
#5
Of course they fear revenge attacks. That's how the muslims would react.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
07/09/2007 10:40 Comments ||
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#6
Got it, Pappy, but when your sworn enemy refuses to act in anything remotely civilized, you are stuck with losing by attrician or genocide.
I prefer winning at any cost, even genocide.
I've thrown in the towel early, but you certainly can't fit a puzzle piece like doctors blowing up thousands of nightclubbers with car bombs, into a picture of civilization. So toss out the rules and take society back by force, I say. Anything else is just rearranging the deck chairs. To date, Hamas teaches small children to become suicide bombers. It goes on and on and we, the UN, the civilized world, do nothing.
If government officials are unwilling to draw a line, then people must or we all 'accept Islam'.
#7
It's like someone else said - not all muzzies are terrorists, but the majority of terrorists are muzzies. Until that is no longer true, muzzies will be singled out for scrutiny. Until the muzzies themselves denounce terrorism, and work together with others to stop it, they will be stigmatized by what their co-religionists do. Too bad, so sad.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2007 13:47 Comments ||
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#8
there is a limit. there just has to be a limit to what we will tolerate
#11
Like Muslim communities across Britain, there is seething resentment in Glasgow at the British government's foreign policy.
Seething? Funny that's just how we feel out their desert cult and Dhimmitude. Well maybe no Pappy...
#12
Ahmed's store is on a row of shops that includes a Chinese take-out restaurant, a betting shop, a kebab restaurant, a bank, a post office and a pub, The Princess. Plywood boards now cover part of his storefront.
I think they'd better keep an eye on the kebab place too...
#13
If some muslim store owner back in Detroit was running his mouth spewing anti-American or pro-terror sentiments I wouldn't damage his property or his person. OTOH, I wouldn't go to the police if I knew beforehand someone else planned on vandalizing his property. Guess that makes me a bad person. Oh well, I can live with that.
#14
Point is, Broadhead6, you aren't under oath as a police officer to uphold the law. Much as it is applied unevenly, making such uneveness a matter of extralegal policy is wrong.
It's the same as raising one's right hand to enlist in the military. Remember that? Atrocities get committed, prisoners never make it back to the muster-point, wounded enemy die mysteriously. But it is not business as usual.
Something the KinderKriegers might want to keep in mind.
#15
Pointing to other young Muslims gathered around him, Aslam added: "If one of these guys supported any terrorism, we would all let them him know that we were ashamed."
Ashamed they didn't think of it first?
You have to ask yourself "would the country be better off without muslims in it?"
Which beggars the question that .com asked: (paraphrased)
Two years after an Israeli-operated bulldozer crushed their daughter in the Gaza Strip, Cindy and Craig Corrie were frustrated by the lack of answers in their daughter's death. They felt that they had exhausted all other avenues and that their only choice to keep the publicity coming was to file a lawsuit.
On Monday, their case, filed in 2005 against Caterpillar Inc., which made the bulldozer, will be heard in Seattle by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Oh great, the 9th Circus, the fix is in.
"It was only because of our frustrations to get some kind of accountability and find out what happened," Cindy Corrie said.
In March 2003, Rachel 'Pancake' Corrie, 23, spent part of the winter quarter of her senior year at The Evergreen State College serving with the International Solidarity Movement, members of which were acting as idiotsfoolsrubesrusticsgoofs human shields in Rafah, Gaza, between Israeli bulldozers and Palestinian arms-smuggling tunnels disguised as homes. On March 16, one of the muted-green machines loudly approached the home where Corrie was living. She stood between the bulldozer and the home, armed with a bullhorn and wearing a bright orange jacket, which were not enough to stop the 50 tons of steel.
Takes more than an orange jacket to stop 50 tons, eh?
The Israeli military police investigated and determined that her death was an accident. Caterpillar, which is based in Illinois, argued that it couldn't be held responsible for how its equipment is used by others.
U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess dismissed the family's initial lawsuit in November 2005, on the grounds that it interfered with foreign policy and that "selling products to a foreign government does not make the seller a participant in that government's alleged international law violations." The family appealed.
Of course they did.
The lawsuit claims that for 40 years Caterpillar sold bulldozers to the Israeli army to be used to destroy homes. Since at least 2001, the company knew these activities were unlawful under the Geneva Conventions and often resulted in the death of civilians, the lawsuit claims.
Which Geneva Conventions -- the ones we signed or the ones we didn't?
Like those who supplied poisonous gas for the Nazis' gas chambers, Caterpillar should be held accountable, attorney Maria LaHood said Friday. She is part of the team of lawyers from the communist Center for Constitutional Rights in New York and Seattle University who are handling the case.
"I think it will send a message to corporations," Craig Corrie said Friday. "It may change the conversations around the boardroom."
Caterpillar's lead lawyer did not return phone calls or e-mails, but the company's Web site does address the issue in a June 13 message to its shareholders and the media. "Caterpillar fully complies with all local, U.S. and international laws and policies governing sales of our products around the world, including the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program," the message says. "In addition, we clearly have neither the legal right nor the tangible ability to regulate how customers use their machines."
According to court papers, Caterpillar's lawyers responded to the Corries' lawsuit, saying, "Israel's purchase of bulldozers from Caterpillar are part of the military aid to Israel approved by the Executive and Legislative branches of government."
The State Department filed a brief in support of Caterpillar, arguing among other things that the case was rightfully dismissed because of foreign policy concerns.
#3
Seattle! Ninth Circuit! Deep pockets Catepillar! My money is on the Corries until it goes to the Supremes. Don't these people understand. Bulldozers don't kill - Joooos do.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:13 Comments ||
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#5
Rachel Corrie supported terrorists. That made her a terrorist and she deserved her fate. If her parents were sending her money to support her while she was over there, then they were also supporting terrorists and that makes THEM terrorists as well.
Therefore if they were, then they should be charged and put in prison for their crimes.
#7
"She stood between the bulldozer and the home, armed with a bullhorn and wearing a bright orange jacket, which were not enough to stop the 50 tons of steel."
Everyone knows that if you want to stop anything, you should use red, not orange.... Liberal Arts educations just don't get it done like they used to, I guess...
#12
It is true that directors of the I G Farben corporation were prosecuted for production of Zyclon-B, for use in Nazi death chambers. Culpability engaged because it was manufactured for killing innocent civilians. Bulldozers are built to move earth. I don't see an improper purpose in that.
#18
In re #9 - The old Theodore Sturgeon "Killdozer" story was pretty darn good actually. It would make a nice movie, done right, along the lines of Spielbergs "Duel" maybe. It was done very wrong once I recall.
I wasn't aware that some of the Burg's readership did not know that the Pakistani Military is a huge corporation. For those who want to learn this story in the Guardian reviewing a book about it is a good starting point
Book shines light on Pakistan military's '£10bn empire'
· Business interests range from cement to cornflakes
· Little transparency into officer-led conglomerates
The Pakistani military's private business empire could be worth as much as £10bn, according to a ground-breaking study. Retired and serving officers run secretive industrial conglomerates, manufacture everything from cement to cornflakes, and own 12m acres [4.8m hectares] of public land, says Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy.
The book tackles a previously taboo subject - the range and depth of the military's business interests - considered a major factor in the ambitions of the generals who have ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 60-year history. "It feeds directly into the military's political power; it's an expression of their personal and organisation strength," said Ms Siddiqa, a former director of research at the Pakistan navy.
Article continues
Five giant conglomerates, known as "welfare foundations", run thousands of businesses, ranging from street corner petrol pumps to sprawling industrial plants. The main street of any Pakistani town bears testament to their economic power, with military-owned bakeries, banks, insurance companies and universities, usually fronted by civilian employees. Ms Siddiqa estimates that the military controls one-third of all heavy manufacturing and up to 7% of private assets.
Profits are supposed to be pumped back into schools, hospitals and other welfare facilities - the military claims it has 9 million beneficiaries - but there is little transparency. "There is little evidence that pensioners are benefiting from these welfare facilities," she said.
Of the 96 businesses run by the four largest foundations, only nine file public accounts. The generals spurn demands by parliament to account for public monies they spend.
The military's penetration into society has accelerated under President Pervez Musharraf, who has also parachuted 1,200 officers into key positions in public organisations such as universities and training colleges. The military boasts that it can run such organisations better than incompetent and corrupt civilians.
In a 2004 speech to open a new industry owned by the Fauji ("Soldier") Foundation, General Musharraf boasted of "exceptional" military-owned banks, cement and fertiliser plants. "Why is anyone jealous if the retired military officers or the civilians with them are doing a good job contributing to the economy?" he said.
But Ms Siddiqa says the military businesses thrive, thanks to invisible state subsidies in the form of free land, the use of military assets, and loans to bail them out when they run into trouble. "There are gross inefficiencies and the military is mired in crony capitalism. The primary purpose of a trained military is war fighting. They are not designed for the corporate sector."
Her £10bn estimate of military wealth is a "rough figure", she says, split between £6bn in land and private military assets.
"Military Inc." comes at a sensitive time for Gen Musharraf, who is struggling to rebuild his popularity after the botched dismissal of the chief justice, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, in March. The move sparked nationwide demonstrations that have snowballed into a powerful protest movement. The furore has offered an insight into the raw power wielded by the generals. This week, Justice Chaudhry told the supreme court how military intelligence chiefs spent hours trying to pressure him to quit on March 9, before placing him under effective house arrest.
Ms Siddiqa fears her book, which names names and pours cold water on boastful claims, may step on some powerful toes. "Over the past three years a lot of my friends have advised me not to publish this book. They think I have suicidal tendencies."
But Talat Hussain, a retired general and political analyst, said Ms Siddiqa was a "courageous" researcher. "This area has always been considered a sacred cow in our society," he said.
The book will be launched in Islamabad today. The main military spokesman, Major General Waheed Arshad, said he had not yet obtained a copy. "Let me read it and then I'll get back to you," he said.
Backstory
The 650,000-strong military has been at the heart of power since Pakistan was carved from northern India in 1947. Generals seized power in 1958 and have ruled intermittently since. The main intelligence service, the ISI, has consistently meddled in politics. Three-quarters of all army recruits come from Punjab, reflecting a similar imbalance in the country's power structures. The army's reputation for professionalism stretches back to colonial days, but has been eroded by business-related corruption allegations and three wars with India, including the loss of its eastern half, with the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
LUCKNOW: Baquiyar Rizvi is as articulate or assertive as any student from Lucknows prestigious convent schools. The 17-year-old would like to "crack the IIT-JEE, take her own decisions and bring home a six figure pay packet one day," like all her compatriots.
The only factor that sets Baquiyar apart from the rest is a triangular green scarf secured in front with a safety pin, which covers both her shoulders. Part of her uniform in the Unity Mission School in old Lucknow, the scarf doubles up as a head gear during recitation of Koran or on special religious ceremonies held on campus from time to time.
Baquiyar has no complaints about this sartorial restriction. A devout Muslim, she respects the ulema "as seniors and more experienced holy men".
And bigger, and stronger, and armed, with numerous cousins ...
And that is where she would like to draw the line. The latest Deoband edict banning co-education makes the girl bristle. "I am not going to allow anyone else to run my life," she says. "Let them rule my parents... they cant rule me..." she adds as an afterthought.
Baquiyar, you'd make a good American, but I think your prospects as a live Pakistani are a tad uncertain ...
"Why should we be in hijab or shy away from co-ed," questions Shgufta, her junior who incidentally aspires to be a space scientist. "Kya Sunita Williams space mein gayin thi female crew ke saath (Did Sunita Williams go to space with all female crew)," Shagufta asks.
It is the second time in last three years that Muslim women in UP are set to defy the Darul Uloom Deoband. Lucknow alone has more than half a dozen schools managed by the minority community including Career Convent, Eram Convent, Dabbles College, Brains College. None has shown any signs of cowering before the mullahs edicts, so far.
Saturday, therefore, was yet another day for 5,000-odd students, both girls and boys, in the Unity Missionary School. Set up in 1988 by Twheedul Muslimeen Trust its founder, noted Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, faced stiff resistance from fundamentalists then. Situation is not much different even 25 years down the line. "There are pressures from a lobby of parents and ulema who still frown upon co-ed in Unity," said vice-principal T Z Naqvi. But Maulana Sadiq has refused to give in to the demand.
The school has mixed sections and also separate sections for boys and girls. Significantly, students from mixed section, says Naqvi, perform best. Girls from these sections are also more confident and sure of themselves, she said.
And it certainly shows. Aliza, student of class Xth, advises ulema to first purge the Aligarh Muslim University of the evil practice and also points out that Sir Syed Ahmad was totally against purdah. Why all this drama now, she asked.
The principal of Aligarh Public School, a co-educational institute, Zakia Athar Siddiqui says the fatwa is aimed at taking Muslim girls back to 8th 18th century. This must not be allowed. "Let parents decide if they want to send their daughter to a co-ed institute.," she asked.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/09/2007 11:37 ||
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#1
Did Sunita Williams go to space with all female crew)," Shagufta asks.
Decrepit Deobandi men can't compete with a female astronaut
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/09/2007 12:05 Comments ||
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#2
"but I think your prospects as a live Pakistani are a tad uncertain ..."
BANNU: Tribal elders at a grand jirga in Baka Khel Mandi vowed to fight against extremism and terrorism, and said that no one would be allowed to use the tribal belt for anti-state activities. Muhammad Khel tribe chief Malik Mir Shammad condemned the recent suicide attacks and bank employees kidnappings in the area and asked for a joint action against the local Taliban allegedly behind these incidents. Ayub Khan, Maulana Saeed, Malik Gul Baz and Malik Khandan in their addresses said a tribal force would search for anti-state elements and that it would give them exemplary punishments.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, take that shit back to Afghanistan where it belongs...
Al Qaeda is still active in Pakistan and recruiting madrassa students to carry out terrorist activities around the world, a CNN special report, Pakistan-The threat lies within, said.
The report referred to the 7/7 London bombings suspect Shahzad Tanveers suicide message in which Al Qaeda deputy chief Aiman Al Zwahri had said that Tanveer was a madrassa student in Pakistan and that he was trained for the attack in an Al Qaeda training camp.
Besides supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda ideology, madrassas are spreading sectarian and religious violence, said Harvard University fellow Hassan Abbas, a former police officer.
The report also showed Lal Masjid deputy cleric Abdul Rasheed Ghazi saying that his ideology was similar to Osama Bin Ladens.
Jihad is an integral part of Islam and we cannot deny it because we cannot amend Islam, Ghazi said. Although Musharraf claimed that Pakistan came first, but in reality he held US interests dear, he said.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Aitzaz Ahsan said Musharrafs actions against the seminaries were half-hearted, as they had not shown any results. When Musharraf goes to America he convinces the Americans that mullahs will take over if he doesnt remain in power, but on his return he tries to convince mullahs that the US will come if he quits, Ahsan added. NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai said the war on terror was damaging Pakistans interests, and pressed for the need to review Pakistans strategy saying, We should weigh our gains and losses in the war on terror. The US and Britain consider Pakistan a key ally in the war on terror, but at the same time Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters still call it their home, CNN reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Jihad is an integral part of Islam and we cannot deny it because we cannot amend Islam, Ghazi said.
There you have it right from the horse's mouth - the reason why Islam should be banned in any part of the world where it does not have a native foothold.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Qari Gul Rehman on Sunday said the MMA was waiting for the arrival of their leaders and their instructions on how to save the lives of people besieged in Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. Rehman, a Member of the National Assembly (MNA), along with MNAs Dr Farid Piracha, Shah Abdul Aziz and others was addressing a press conference at the Parliament Lodges. We are waiting for the return of MMA leaders Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rehman from London, where they are attending the All Parties Conference, and their directions to save the lives of those besieged in Lal Masjid, said Rehman. Earlier, Piracha said the MMA demanded the government immediately stop the operation against Lal Masjid. He also demanded a judicial commission to investigate the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa issue. He said MMA parliamentarians had convened a meeting on the Lal Masjid situation. He said the MMA leaders had directed the MNAs to ensure their availability in the capital so that they could play their role in avoiding the causalities resulting from security forces and Lal Masjid students gun battles.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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A man accused of involvement in the Nishtar Park and Sheraton hotel attack cases has reportedly confessed to the police during interrogations that he made the mixture used for the bombs on the roof of a Karachi madrassa in 2001. Alleged bomb maker Imamuddin was sent to jail custody on Friday. He was unafraid of death, said Soldier Bazaar Police Station Investigation Officer Sarfraz Aliana, who was the complainant in two FIRs lodged against Imamuddin. These chaps often take cyanide and I was afraid that Id be done for if he killed himself under my watch.
The two cases - FIR No. 81/07 under Section 4/5 (Explosives Act) and FIR No. 82/07 under Section 13/D - were registered against Imamuddin and six of his accomplices after the arrest on July 4. Imamuddins six accomplices include Raheemullah (alias Ali Hassan), Ismail, Wali Hasan, Qari Zafar, Afzal (alias Commander Noor) and Commander Shair Khan.
SIO Aliana was right to fear a suicide attempt in the lockup by Imamuddin whose statement to the police revealed details of his training in poison making as well. It doesnt matter how big the bomb is, Imamuddin said in his statement SIO Aliana told Daily Times. All I need is enough material to make it.
The unmarried thirty-seven-year-old Imamuddin, the youngest of four brothers, also goes by aliases Omer, Usman and Muawiya. He completed primary school, is a follower of the Deobandi school of thought and hails from Bangladesh where his entire family lives. In 1995, he came to Karachi via India and took up various jobs in garment factories.
In Karachi, Imamuddin lived in a slum near the Society Office in Sultanabad with another man of Bengali origin. I had worked for the Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HJI) from 1997 to 2000, Imamuddin said in his statement. In 1997, I went to Kandahar, Afghanistan then to Herat and then to Khost where I was trained for jihad. Over there, he learned how to use Kalashnikovs, TT pistols, China rifles, 3-nut-3 rifles, LMGs and Russian armed PKs.
In 1997, through the HJI, he said he met the Taliban and went to Quetta with them along with four other people. From Quetta, he went to Kandahar where he went through 40 days of arms training. After he returned to Karachi, he was commissioned by the HJI to go to Kabul for more training.
In 2000, he again went to Kandahar where he met Abdul Aziz of the HJT. Then through Abdul Aziz, he went to Kabul where he learnt how to make poisons which he tried for the first time on rabbits. This was followed by bomb making training by a man he identified as Hamza, a Baloch from Iran. He also met Shuja (alias Asif Zahir) who was also from Karachi during this training.
When Imamuddin came back to Karachi in 2000, he again met Asif Zahir in a madrassa in Nazimabad that was run by a Mufti Rasheed, who has since passed away. After this he kept in touch with Asif.
At that time, he was living in Ayesha Manzil, Block H but then he moved to Surjani. At the time, when the Taliban were being attacked in Afghanistan, Asif asked him to make a bomb to which he replied that he didnt have the time or place to make one.
Asif told him to use the Islamia madrassa of Mufti Zakir in Mujahid Colony and take out time in the night to make a mixture so that it would dry by morning. On that night, I went to the madrassa. I sat with Mufti Zakir and two of the madrassa students Shahid and Abdullah - on the roof of the madrassa and taught them how to make the bomb mixtures, he said in his statement. The bomb I made that night was taken away by Asif.
After a few days, Asif came to meet me and told me that some of the mixture I had made for him was used at the Sheraton hotel, he said. After that, I never met Asif again. He later found out that Asif had been arrested in connection with the Sheraton bomb blast after which he kept a low profile, worked at various factories, and went outside the house much less. The rest of the bomb mixture was given back to Imamuddin to make use of later.
Some of the bomb mixture was given to Mufti Zakir and to one Rehmatullah, who were both involved in the Nishtar Park bombing, according to Imamuddins statement. These two were arrested by the Soldier Bazaar Police on June 15 and FIR No. 175/07 under Section 4/5 (Explosives Act) was lodged against them and Imamuddin.
Police recovered the following from his possession: 250 grams of sodium A-Z (a highly deadly poison), 672 grams of what they referred to as land nitrate, 60 grams of potassium ferose, 996 grams of ammonium nitrate (NH4-NO3), 1.118 kg of mercury HG and 72 grams of sulfur. They also recovered two copies of the formula used to mix the ingredients to make a bomb and a single TT pistol with four bullets.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
> The unmarried thirty-seven-year-old Imamuddin, the youngest of four brothers,
Each older brother increases the chance of homosexuality.
Maybe sexual guilt is what is driving these terrorists? Everyone has noticed
1/ they Hate women
2/ they are a bit too "brotherly".
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday once again asked the Lal Masjid administration to immediately release any children, women and other hostages and surrender themselves before the law enforcement agencies.
Talking to reporters here at the Relief and Facilitation Centre set up at Sports Complex after handing over the first batch of 34 students of Lal Masjid, he said the government wanted to resolve the Lal Masjid issue by giving maximum time to the people inside the mosque to come out and surrender, therefore saving precious lives.
The prime minister demanded the immediate release of women and children from Jamia Hafsa and said the detention of innocent people had restrained the government from taking stringent action against the madrassa.
Shaukat Aziz said several people whose children and relatives are inside the Lal Masjid are worried. He said, We want to protect the lives of women and children who have been made hostage by the extremists in Jamia Hafsa and are very concerned about their plight and the condition of their parents, who have come to Islamabad from different parts of the country to collect their children.
He urged the people inside the Lal Masjid to release all the hostages and surrender to the law enforcement agencies. He assured them that would be dealt with according to the law. He said all women who had come out of the Lal Masjid and were in the custody of the administration had been sent home with their parents or relatives.
Replying to a question, the PM said the government wanted to resolve the Lal Masjid issue without any delay and there is no intention to prolong it. He said the reports that the government wanted to get political mileage out of the issue were baseless and ridiculous, adding that no government could afford the loss of innocent lives.
The prime minister said the government would ensure the continuity of religious and formal education of the students who have been released from the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa.
Answering a question, the PM said there were probably trained militants inside the mosque, keeping in view the level of resistance being faced. He said once the militants had been arrested, it could be ascertained whether any country had arrest warrants for these militants or not.
To another question on efforts of ulema to resolve the issue amicably, the PM said the government is serious and wants to resolve it through reconciliation, but there is no positive response from the Lal Masjid administration. He said the government wants to restore normalcy in the federal capital as soon as possible.
Concerning the problems of the residents of the areas under curfew, the PM said there would be increased relaxation from Monday (today) and special passes would be issued to government employees and bank officials to open their offices in the area.
He said Utility Stores have been directed to make special arrangements for the supply of essential food items to the residents of the area.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani, Minister for Religious Affairs Ejazul Haq, Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqam and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Senator Tariq Azeem Khan accompanied the prime minister.
The prime minister also met with the children and their parents and distributed a Holy Quran to each student, along with Rs 2,000 cash to each student and Rs 5,000 to each parent, so that they could reach home without any difficulty.
In all 34 students were handed over to their parents while the administration would hand over 152 children from the centre after necessary arrangements.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Wafaqul Madaris, a body of madrassas countrywide, on Sunday warned the government of a backlash from madrassa students and clerics if security forces continued their siege of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. Wafaq clerics, headed by Maulana Salimullah Khan, conveyed the warning to Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in Islamabad on Sunday. The clerics asked the PML chief to tell President General Pervez Musharraf that the Lal Masjid operation should be immediately halted, Qari Hanif Jalhandri of the Wafaq told Daily Times after meeting with Chaudhry Shujaat.
He would not elaborate on how madrassas would react if the Lal Masjid operation were not halted. He said that the Wafaq would call a Supreme Council meeting shortly to consider the Lal Masjid operation and the situation arising out of it.
Qari Hanif said that the Wafaq demanded amnesty for Lal Masjid deputy chief cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi and militant madrassa students who have been holed up in the mosque for the last six days. We feel the general amnesty for those inside the mosque and Jamia Hafsa will prevent further loss of lives, Hanif said. He condemned the takeover of Jamia Faridia, Lal Masjids madrassa for boys in E-7, by law enforcement agencies. He said Chaudhry Shujaat had assured the Wafaq delegates that he would communicate their sentiments to the president.
Meanwhile, twin city clerics led by Qari Saeedur Rehman and MNA Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz also demanded amnesty for Ghazi Abdul Rashid and his diehard supporters holed up in the mosque.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
"Madrassa Backlash", every bit as bad as Palestinian Dire Revenge.
#2
Very few madrassas are as well organized as the red mosque den of vipers. Preachers are fond of rabble rousing as long as they think themselves safe, but if Perv squishes the red mosque, and hard, their objections will suddenly become muted, because they will realize that it is their butt on the line, and not just their followers'.
The government is massacring humanity by using indiscriminate firepower against Lal Masjid, said the administrator of Binoria University International, Mufti Muhammad Naeem, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Central Joint Secretary General Qari Sher Afzal in a joint statement issued Sunday. Attacking the mosque with mortar shells for the past six days and indiscriminate killing are blatant violations of human rights, they said. The West is aware that present rulers are using Lal Masjid as an issue, which will lead to nothing. They regretted the loss of human life on both sides, and were saddened by the death of Lt. Col. Haroon Islam in particular. Sensitive national institutions should not be used against their own people. They demanded that action taken against Lal Masjid be stopped to avoid killing innocent people.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
The government is massacring humanity
That is patently untrue... the humanity part that is.
SAIMA KHAN wants to die a martyr. Life is transient, she told her father in a telephone call last week, and the real glory is to sacrifice it for Allah. Her statement would be alarming at any age, but Saima is only 10.
As she spoke, rifle shots rang out, the acrid smell of tear gas drifted over Islamabad and hundreds of troops surrounded the pro-Taliban Red Mosque, a religious school complex in the heart of Pakistans capital where Saima was among hundreds of children being held as virtual hostages in a stand-off between militants and the government.
Saima and her 14-year-old sister, Asma, were embroiled in a struggle for the soul of Pakistan in which up to 70 militants died last week and more than 100 were injured, according to mosque officials.
Holed up inside the complex behind the lines of troops and razor wire, the children many of them girls whose families had sent them to the mosque to receive a strict Islamic education repeatedly rejected relatives entreaties to leave before a threatened army onslaught.
There was evidence that many had been brainwashed into a cult of martyrdom, and the authorities feared last night that some were being prepared to be suicide bombers. In barely eight weeks, Saima had been transformed from a religious but fun-loving girl to a jihadi, grimly craving martyrdom.
State Information Minister Tariq Azim denied media reports that President Musharraf had approved a final operation against Lal Masjid, reported Geo news. Briefing the media on Sunday, Azim said that the government would not compromise with Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi and the time for negotiations had passed. He said that Ghazi would have to decide his own fate. It depends on Ghazi whether he prefers to surrender or gets killed, Azim said. ISPR Director General Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said he had no information regarding a final offensive against Lal Masjid, though he did not deny it either. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz discussed the Lal Masjid operation via telephone. Aziz discussed the strategy against the Lal Masjid administration. Musharraf reiterated the government wanted minimum loss of life.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Washington - With little fanfare, at least so far, the stage is being set for a post-"surge" Iraq strategy that reduces US ambitions for the Iraq project, even while keeping some US forces there for years to come.
No decisions have yet been made, and administration officials insist the current strategy that has pumped an additional 30,000 troops into Iraq still must be given time to work. But the contours of a new approach floating around Washington suggest a drawing down of the 160,000 US forces there beginning as early as the end of this year. The thousands that remain would be refocused on training Iraqi security forces and on a long fight against Al Qaeda.
Just how much momentum the new Iraq-strategy snowball has behind it will start to become clearer this week as Congress is to receive an interim report on the performance of the force buildup and as Democrats try to use another funding vote on Iraq to press for faster change.
The new strategy is still in its formative stages in White House discussions, on Pentagon drawing boards, and on congressional desks. It is a source of division in the White House, although President Bush continues to warn against the dangers of any US withdrawal. But it is reflective of political realities in both the US and Iraq.
Time is running short for achieving political consensus in the US on Iraq policy before the 2008 campaign kicks off in earnest, political leaders and experts say. On the other hand, more time is needed to achieve political consensus in Iraq. That leaves an ironic situation where the political clocks of the two countries are not just running at different speeds, as has been said for months, but in different directions.
"What we're seeing is preparation for the post-'surge' period, particularly as it coincides with a critical political cycle culminating in the 2008 elections," says Nikolas Gvosdev, a foreign-policy expert and editor of The National Interest, a foreign-affairs magazine. "The hallmark will be fewer troops, but it will also signal the moving away from the idea of any grandiose transformation of Iraq. Instead, it becomes, 'We're there to fight Al Qaeda.' "
Signs of the growing consensus for a new approach that includes a major reduction in the US footprint in Iraq are visible on several fronts:
Several prominent Republican senators have recently turned against the White House and are now calling for a change in Iraq strategy. Last week Sen. Pete Domeneci of New Mexico joined Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected US foreign-policy specialist, who a week earlier used a Senate speech to call for a new strategy reducing the US presence in Iraq. George Voinovich of Ohio followed Senator Lugar, while John Warner of Virginia is known to be pressuring the White House to change course.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is pressing for a post-"surge" Iraq strategy that would rest on a foundation of broad political consensus around the idea of impeding Iraq from becoming a haven of Islamic extremism. Such a strategy would also keep thousands of US troops in Iraq for a long-term battle with Al Qaeda.
White House officials acknowledge that the administration is already looking beyond the current approach. Mr. Bush hinted at the priority he is likely to give the fight against Al Qaeda in a July 4 speech where he said the US has no choice but to "win" the Iraq fight "for our own sake, for the security of our citizens."
Democrats are hoping to use a Senate defense authorization bill to be taken up this week to press for troop withdrawals to begin as early as the fall.
Congress is also to receive by July 15 an interim report on the force buildup, ahead of a full assessment by commanders in Iraq in September. Significantly, it was Senator Warner who insisted on the July 15 review, upon the passage of funding for the Iraq war in May, saying that waiting for September was "too long."
Most observers expect efforts to force quick troop withdrawals to fail, as did Democratic efforts to force a timeline for withdrawals earlier this year. But the Democrats are also armed this time around with fresh evidence that Americans want a new Iraq direction and that they expect a Democratic Congress to do something about it.
A survey by the Rasmussen Reports polling group, conducted last week, found that 53 percent of Americans fault the Democrats for not doing "enough to change President Bush's policies on Iraq." At the same time, 56 percent said they would like to see most combat troops out of Iraq by early next year.
Many observers expect the efforts before Congress recesses in August to merely "put the writing on the wall" in anticipation of testimony in September from Gen. David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador in Baghdad. The two are to give an assessment of the force buildup, but some analysts expect it will be more like a final report card.
"When Petraeus comes in September, he'll say the tactics of the 'surge' are the right ones and they would work, but there's no consensus behind the time and number of people needed to make it work," says Mr. Gvosdev. "And that will be particularly true in the absence of any real progress from the Iraqi government."
What seems to worry some congressional leaders like Lugar and even some administration officials is that sticking too long to a doomed strategy could create the political conditions for a full and precipitous withdrawal from Iraq something they believe would be disastrous for US interests in the Middle East.
"Basically what you have are the grown-ups in the administration like Gates saying, 'We have to come up with something for the long term, something that achieves broad-based support, because if we don't, the people who say we have to get out now will prevail, and we don't want that,' " says Lawrence Korb, a former Defense Department official now at the Center for American Progress in Washington.
Forging a consensus around a long-term strategy for the global fight against Islamist terrorism would give Gates not the closest administration insider a sense of having contributed a significant accomplishment, some Washington insiders say. But they also suggest he could leave the administration if he concluded the wrong road were being followed for too long.
Lugar said in a television interview earlier this month that as president, Bush would probably be able to stick to the "surge" strategy through the end of his term if he chose to. But he added that he thought Bush would grasp the political realities and begin charting a new course.
Indeed, on the prosaic political level, the pressures of the 2008 election extend beyond the White House race to congressional contests. Analysts note that the terms are up in 2008 for some of the Republicans pressuring Bush, including Senator Domeneci and Warner. "They are beginning to look beyond the president to the horizon after Bush, and they may see that the political cost of sticking with his policy is too high," says Gvosdev.
But beyond the political considerations, the juxtaposition of the "three worst months of the war for American casualties" with the failure of the Iraqi government to move the country toward reconciliation has already spelled the current strategy's failure in the eyes of too many Americans, Mr. Korb says.
The impending interim strategy review and funding votes, Korb says, "are simply the beginning of the end."
#1
My source, which is among the top Senate GOP leadership, was saying "the fix is in" as far back as last winter. At the time I was shaking my head in disbelief, but it seems to be unfolding according to his prediction.
Posted by: moody blues ||
07/09/2007 12:30 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I have never voted for a donk in my life. I am so pissed off at the trunks, I will almost certainly start throwing my vote away on Libertarian/Independent candidates.
#4
My source, which is among the top Senate GOP leadership, was saying "the fix is in" as far back as last winter.
If what you're saying is true, that would mean that our entire government/political system is nothing more than Bad Theater™. And, if so, then nothing we do at the ballot box is ever going to fix it.
The whole swamp that is DC and the government needs to be drained, from elected officials on down. Everything. Tear it down and start over.
Posted by: Natural Law ||
07/09/2007 13:12 Comments ||
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#5
When General Petraeus testifies in September, he is NOT going to say that the surge is working and that it just needs more time, as they expect him to say.
Instead, he is going to upset their apple cart by saying that the surge worked, the Iraqis are doing well enough to generally maintain the situation, and that large numbers of combat troops are packing up to head home.
This will cause huge distress, because as a sound bite it will be all over the news. But the devil is in the details. And he won't be lying in any way, because this has been the situation on the ground for a long time.
There will be a large number of ground troops who *will* be ready to return to the US, because they are no longer needed there. However, a lot of other forces will be staying.
They will have much less to do with combat operations, though. They will mostly stay on the US bases, and be out of the limelight. They will provide essential services to the Iraqi military, like air support, and considerable logistical and administrative support.
The remaining combat soldiers will be performing training and readiness functions in the background, and SOCOM will still be there for any active combat and intelligence missions needed.
Hopefully, it will knock the wind out of the anti-war sails like it did when Nixon ended the draft.
#7
It's a grand plan, but nobody'd believe him. The NYT would label Petreaus insane, and ... and ...
What? Say bring all the troops home now? The Dems - if and when they believed it 0- would declare victory for themselves, if they could choke it down. Intriguing possibilities....
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/09/2007 17:41 Comments ||
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#8
Wid Dubya entrenching + IRAN wilfully escalating tensions and insurgent-terror support in the ME, the only issue for the USA is whether Democracy will be imposed on Iran voluntarily due to Iran-specific implosion and revolution; or forcibly by US-Iranian conflict. MANY NETTERS ARE STILL SPECUL THAT THE BEST TIME FOR IRAN TO ENGAGE IN WAR AGZ USA WILL BE POST-DUBYA, i.e. BEFORE 2010. FEW BELIEVE THAT AMER ENTRENCHMENT WILL STOP EVEN IFF A DEMOLEFTY POL WINS THE WH IN 2008. Moud, like Cindy Sheehan's comments = disappointment on the Dems, can no longer rely on either the US DemoLeft or the MSM. IMO the only pragmatic/
realistic "strategy shift" the USA can do is towards a de facto conflict agz Iran btwn now and before 2010.
Followers of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of attacking them in order to appease his US allies Sunday and warned him his days in office might be numbered.
On Saturday, Maliki issued a bluntly worded statement calling on Sadr's Mahdi Army to put aside its weapons and alleged the movement had been infiltrated by terrorist supporters of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime. Sadr's aides reacted with fury, and some suggested the statement had been designed to pave the way for a crackdown on their populist Shiite movement, which fields one of Iraq's largest armed militias. "Maliki's statement is just like a green light to occupation troops to strike and annihilate the Sadr movement," said Salah al-Ubaidi, Sadr's spokesman at his headquarters in the holy city of Najaf. US commanders blame Sadr's army for much of Iraq's sectarian violence and say they have evidence some of his commanders work for secret cells controlled by officers from neighbouring Iran's covert Qods Force.
In recent weeks and months there have been several raids by Iraqi and US forces on Mahdi Army strongholds in Baghdad, while in the south of the country the militia has fought street battles with Iraqi and British forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Just who do we think is in charge here?
The elected government, backed by the Army and 160,000 'crusaders', or the murderous holy man with the bad teeth?
Time will tell....
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/09/2007 8:22 Comments ||
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#2
My money's on the guy with national dental health.
An audiotape said to be of Saddam Hussein's deputy said his group will keep fighting until the last foreign soldier withdraws from Iraq, saying the Americans are being defeated. The audiotape purportedly from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was obtained by The Associated Press in Baghdad on Sunday. It was impossible to determine its authenticity, but several Iraqis familiar with Douri's voice said they believed it from his.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Likely correct, given the state of support of the American people and Congress.
Most unfortunately, such defeat also means defeat for Iraq and its people. AQI won't 'win', nor will al-Douri and the Baathists. The Iranians may - after tanker-loads of bloodshed, if they can survive their own internal dissent. Mainly this is all a two-year-old's tantrum: if he can't have it, he'll smash it so nobody can.
Gaza Ma'an Palestinians youths in the West Bank and Gaza Strip can listen to a one-and-a-half minute song on their mobile phones slamming both Fatah and Hamas. The producer of the song refused to reveal his identity for fear of both movements.
The new song uses rap music, it demands Palestinian leaders to either solve their problems or leave the Palestinian people alone.
"Either you solve it or leave us Government and presidency have aroused the fire of dispute Oh Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian people are suffering from the civil war."
The song derides the Palestinian rival parties and says that their dispute revolved around power rather than Palestinian interests.
Dixie Chicks, Rosie, John Cougar Mellencamp, Kurt Vonneghut, Mother Sheehan, Alec Baldwin, Nancy Pelosi, Kasey ("American Top Forty Twenty") Kasem et al., pay attention! This is an example of "courageous."
None of you faced any risk (other than the risk of not being taken seriously and perhaps losing some sales of your product) for your "courageous" critique of Bushitler McHaliburton, The Most Evil Man Who Ever Lived. While you are patting yourselves on the back for the "courage" of agreeing with all the other rich people around you, this Palestinian rap guy, whoever he is, runs a non-trivial risk of actually being killed because he has dared to be a critic of the local goon squads. None of you have ever faced that, and I daresay that if you ever did find yourself living in a Palestinian goon-ocracy or a genuine police state, you'd probably fall into line and be good little lackeys.
[/rant]
Those of you who are prayerfully inclined should consider putting in a word for the Palestinian rap guy. He could probably use the help.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/09/2007 09:24 ||
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#1
Still waiting for the American entertainer who says out loud "All politicians of both parties are hacks and crooks, and you shouldn't bet on any of them, I sure don't" Ain't gonna happen anytime soon, though...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2007 10:04 Comments ||
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#2
#1 - I think it's already been done:
Well, you say that I'm an outlaw,
You say that I'm a thief.
Here's a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
#5
Hamas and Fatah remind me of this Woody Guthrie song we used to sing in public school. Suitably changed, that is:
This land is my land,
It isn't your land.
If you don't get off,
I'll shoot your head off.
I have a pistol,
And it is loaded.
This land is
private property.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
07/09/2007 22:18 Comments ||
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Senior Palestinian sources reported on Sunday that Israel will officially decide to allow the secretary-general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and three Fateh leaders, members of the Central Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) back into the Palesine. The sources stated that Israel will issue an official decision in the coming days allowing into the Palestinian territories, Nayef Hawatma, Secretary-general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine DFLP, who opposed the Oslo agreement and the peace agreements which followed it, but participated in the second elections.
Israel also agreed that Farouq Qaddoumi, member of the Central Committee of Fateh movement, head of the political bureau of the PLO, and two other members of Fatehs central committee will be allowed into the country. The two members are Abu Maher Ghneim, and Mohammad Jihad.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Hamas claimed on Thursday it had played an integral part in the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston and blamed Israel for the reporter's 114-day ordeal and the international community for Gaza's plight.
In an article in the Guardian, Hamas leader in Syria Khaled Mashaal said: "From the outset, we committed ourselves to securing his release. I entered into discussions with British officials, shared information and gave assurances of our concerted efforts to secure Alan's release."
The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, said the group's statement showed that Hamas was "responsible and powerful." In an article entitled "Hamas hopeful after Alan's release," Bowen speculates that Hamas hopes it has sent several messages following Johnston's release. "The first is to any potential rivals in Gaza about who is boss. The second, and most important of all for Palestinians, is that [Hamas] is dedicated to ending the appalling lawlessness of the last few years," Bowen recounted. "The third message, aimed at the outside world, is that the release of Alan Johnston shows that Hamas is responsible, and powerful. It hopes to make itself impossible to ignore - and vital to engage."
Mashaal's Guardian article, entitled "We cheer the hard-won release of Alan Johnston, who was captured in a chaos imposed from afar," blames Israel for Johnston's ordeal. "The kidnapping and 114-day-long captivity of Alan Johnston took place within a dysfunctional environment imposed from beyond Palestinian borders," he said.
Saluting the BBC journalist's release, Mashaal said that "Together with all freedom-loving peoples, we in the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, shared the moment of sheer joy yesterday when Alan Johnston stepped out of the darkness of captivity into the light of freedom."
The Hamas leader attacked Israel and appealed to the British people to remember Palestinians in Israeli prisons: "We hope that the British... reflect on the fact that more than 12,000 Palestinians are languishing in Israeli jails... They include ministers of a democratically elected government, parliamentarians, women and even children."
Mashaal also appealed to Britain's new prime minister. "Palestinians will continue to make every sacrifice until we gain our freedom. In that endeavor, we are ready to work with all who wish to pursue our people's just aims. We look to Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, to begin a constructive new chapter in our relationship."
Mashaal condemned recent foiled terror attacks in Britain and stressed where Hamas's battleground lay. "We could not be clearer: Hamas will not accept nor tolerate anyone exploiting the sacred cause of the Palestinian people to commit acts of murder and carnage around the world," he declared. "Our strategy has always been and remains firmly based on the principle that the resistance should be fought only within Palestine."
On Thursday, Johnston met Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah to thank Abbas for helping free him. Meanwhile a group British members of parliament have called to engage Hamas. Some 20 MPs, from all parties, signed a motion in the House of Commons calling for a "new relationship" with the group following its part in securing Johnston's release.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Some 20 MPs, from all parties, signed a motion in the House of Commons calling for a "new relationship" with the group following its part in securing Johnston's release.
Dhimmidiots! God Bless the UK, please?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:19 Comments ||
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Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said Sunday that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad's meetings with Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were "a betrayal of the Palestinian people and their armed struggle," Israel Radio reported. According to Obaida, there was no comparison between these meetings and the meetings between envoy Ofer Dekel and the Hamas prisoners in the Hadarim prison. "The purpose of these meetings was honorable: the release of prisoners," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The 22-country Arab League will send envoys on a historic first mission to Israel this week to discuss a sweeping Arab peace initiative and how it might prop up embattled Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli and Arab diplomats said Sunday.
The announcement came the same day Israel's Cabinet approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners in a bid to bolster Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas. An official League visit would be a diplomatic coup for Israel. The League historically has been hostile toward the Jewish state, but has grown increasingly conciliatory given the expanding influence of Islamic extremists in the region - a concern underscored by Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The cabinet approved the release of 250 Fatah security prisoners on Sunday, but the actual list of names is being revised and will be brought to the ministers for approval at a later date. Those released will be members of Fatah who do not have "blood on their hands," i.e. prisoners who had not personally participated in lethal terrorist attacks.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers the goodwill gesture would strengthen Palestinian moderates, including Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, encouraging them to go in the right direction, toward genuine peace talks with Israel.
The prime minister said he was "convinced beyond doubt" that the release would not hurt the chances of freeing kidnapped IDF soldiers Gilad Schalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. "Maybe it will even create an atmosphere that will facilitate the process of their release," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad in Jerusalem on Sunday.
The meeting was the first between the two since the new PA emergency government was established. The leaders discussed the state of the Palestinian Authority, and ways to improve the lives of Palestinians while preserving Israel's security interests. The two also discussed getting the support of Arab countries for the political processes in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The 22-country Arab League will send envoys on a historic first mission to Israel this week to discuss a sweeping Arab peace initiative and how it might prop up embattled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli and Arab diplomats said Sunday.
The announcement came the same day Israel's Cabinet approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners, hoping to bolster Abbas in his power struggle with the Islamic militant Hamas.
An official League visit would be a diplomatic coup for Israel. The League historically has been hostile toward the Jewish state, but has grown increasingly conciliatory in response to the expanding influence of Islamic extremists in the region a concern underscored by Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.
Jordan's foreign ministry said the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers would arrive in Jerusalem on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the foreign ministers would lead an Arab League mission to Israel to discuss the Arab peace plan, which would trade full Arab recognition of Israel for an Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
"This is the first time the Arab League is coming to Israel," Regev said. "From its inception the Arab League has been hostile to Israel. It will be the first time we'll be flying the Arab League flag."
The two foreign ministers, Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib of Jordan and Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt, whose countries have peace agreements with Israel, have been designated as the League's official point men for the Arab peace initiative.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met them in Cairo in May for the first official, public talks between the two sides, and the Arab peace initiative was the focus.
In another gesture of support for the moderate Palestinian leadership, Livni met late Sunday in Jerusalem with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Israeli media reported. Several days ago Fayyad met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Israel rejected the plan outright when Saudi Arabia first proposed it in 2002, at the height of the Palestinian uprising. But it softened its resistance after moderate Arab states endorsed the plan again in March, sharing their concerns about Iran's growing influence.
Israel has welcomed aspects of the plan, while rejecting its call for a return of all of the West Bank and an implied demand to resettle within Israeli borders the Palestinian families who became refugees from the 1948 war that followed Israel's creation.
Moderate Arab countries and the West have been pushing for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking since Gaza fell to Hamas, a group that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has killed more than 250 Israelis in suicide bombings. Abbas ejected Hamas from government after the Gaza takeover and set up an emergency Cabinet of loyalists that has Western and moderate Arab backing.
Regev said renewed relations with the Palestinian government following the shake-up and the linkage to a broader Middle East settlement would be at the heart of discussions with the Arab League envoys.
"They will be talking about how the Arab peace proposal can help energize the rapprochement between Israel and the Palestinians," he said.
Last month, Egypt hosted a summit of the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to show support for Abbas and to discuss the resumption of peace talks.
At that meeting Olmert pledged to free 250 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in a goodwill gesture meant to bolster Abbas.
On Sunday the Cabinet formally approved the prisoner release. But the timing remained unclear, reflecting a dispute between security officials, who want to free only prisoners whose terms are almost up, and Olmert, who wants a more significant gesture.
"We want to use every means that can strengthen the moderates within the Palestinian Authority, to encourage them to take the path that we believe can create conditions for the start of meaningful discussions," Olmert said in a televised statement at the opening of the Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Palestinians criticized Israel for not consulting with them on who should be freed, and said the matter should be referred to a joint committee on prisoners the two sides set up two years ago.
"The prisoners issue must be dealt with through this committee and should not happen in unilateral steps," said Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Abbas.
In the West Bank late Sunday, Israeli forces ambushed and killed a Palestinian militant from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the town of Jenin, Palestinian security and hospital officials said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Ministers in Abbas' government, meanwhile, visited Palestinians who have been stranded in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula because the Egypt-Gaza border crossing has been closed for nearly month, promising to work to get them home.
Frustrated Palestinians shouted at the delegation: "We don't want Fatah or Hamas, we just want to get out of here."
Posted by: lotp ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course what Israel really wants, in return for considering what is really a Saudi plan, is direct contact with the Govt of KSA. Which the Saudis are too nervous to do, so theyre offering the Arab League as a sop.
AMMAN - Jordans King Abdullah II conferred Sunday with the Speaker of the Arab Parliament, Mohammad Al Saqr, and voiced support for a move by Arab lawmakers to bring about reconciliation between the feuding Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, according to an official statement.
Al Saqr briefed the monarch on efforts and contacts being made by an Arab parliamentary delegation with a view to bringing about reconciliation and starting a dialogue between Fatah and Hamas, the statement from the royal court said. Jordan backs all moves aimed at consolidating the Palestinian unity and cohesion at this stage which makes it imperative for Palestinians to unite in order to be able to regain their rights, including the setting up of their independent state, the statement quoted the king as saying.
Working well, isn't it.
King Abdullah also underscored the importance of patching up the Palestinian rift and emphasised that the continuation of the Palestinian split will only impede any progress in the peace process and provide (Isael) with a pretext regarding the absence of a Palestinian partner capable of resuming the peace talks.
Palestinian 'rift'? Man's got a gift for words.
The monarchs remarks reflected Jordans first unequivocal backing for starting dialogue between Hamas and Fatah, a move that was launched two weeks ago by the Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak at the Sharm el-Shaikh four-way summit.
Al Saqr, who doubles as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee at the Kuwaiti National Assembly, is leading an effort by the Arab parliament to reconcile Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah movement and the rival Hamas group following the takeover of the Gaza Strip by the radical faction.
Al Saqr has as many jobs as a Teamsters union official.
The Arab parliament chief and other Arab lawmakers met with Abbas in Amman Saturday and told reporters later that both sides agreed to form a committee to follow up the reconciliation bid. Al Saqr also announced that he met in Damascus last week with Hamas Politburo chief Khalid Mishaal, who expressed readiness for reconciliation with Fatah.
Under his terms, of course.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
1. Palestinian unity is a mantra in the Arab world, and esp among Palestinians. Anyone who says in public - "the split is a good thing" has lost the hearts and minds.
2. Jordan knows that a split increases the likelihood their having to get involved in the WB. Which they really dont want to do. Its worth it to them to have a Pal unity govt, even one that cant make peace with Israel, rather than have the WB dumped in their laps.
3. Of course theres the outside chance a Unity govt could be established on Abbas' terms rather than HAmas' terms, though its hard to see that in the wake of Hamas winning in Gaza.
Deep in the heart of a Malaysian jungle, a preacher holds a meeting under the scorching midday sun, urging followers not to lose faith after their church was demolished by the government. The razing of their simple brick church, among a spate of demolitions of non-Muslim places of worship in Malaysia, has heightened fears that the rights of minority faiths are being eroded despite provisions in Malaysian law guaranteeing every person the freedom to profess his own religion.
"Why did the government tear down our church when they say we are free to choose our religion?" asked preacher Sazali Pengsang. "This incident will not stop me from practising my faith," Sazali said, as he watched children in ragged clothes playing catch in a poor village populated by indigenous tribespeople who recently converted to Christianity from their tribal faith.
The church in northeastern Kelantan state bordering Thailand is one of several non-Muslim places of worship recently pulled down by the authorities, a trend that's fuelling concern about a rise in hardline Islam in this moderate Muslim country. State governments have charge over matters relating to Islam in Malaysia and in Kampung Jias, the authorities contend that the building was erected without their approval. But the natives say the land on which the church was erected is theirs and no approval is required under Malaysian law to build a church on their own property.
In a country where race and religion are inextricably linked, rising religious tension also throws the spotlight on the privileges of the majority ethnic Malays, who are Muslims by birth. Mosques are found in every nook and cranny in Malaysia but religious minorities say it is difficult to obtain approval to build their own places of worship.
Non-Muslims have also complained, mainly in Internet chatrooms, about city hall officials permitting construction of huge mosques in areas with small Muslim populations. State television routinely broadcasts Islamic programmes but forbids other religions to be preached.
Muslims make up about 60 percent of Malaysia's population of 26 million, Buddhists about 20 percent, Christians 10 percent and Hindus about 6 percent. The smouldering discontent is a worry for this multi-ethnic country which has tried hard to maintain racial harmony after bloody racial riots in 1969 in which 200 people were killed.
"If the authorities do not intervene it would indirectly encourage extreme Islamists to show their muscle and their aggression towards other religious practices," said Wong Kim Kong, of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia. "That would threaten the religious harmony, national unity and national integration of the nation."
Simmering religious tensions could undermine support for the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, an Islamic scholar who champions a moderate brand of the religion. "Many people of other faiths in Malaysia view the gradual erosion of their rights," said Reverend Hermen Shastri, an official at Malaysia's Council of Churches. "The government, which asserts to be a coalition that looks to the interests of all Malaysians, is not firm enough with authorities who ... take actions arbitrarily," he added. continued at link
Posted by: ryuge ||
07/09/2007 08:20 ||
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[9 views]
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#1
Any of us with any brains knew this was coming in Malaysia. Time to add them to the ARCLIGHT list.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2007 16:38 Comments ||
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#2
From the Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia:
Malaysia by virtue of being a member of the United Nations has subscribed to the philosophy, concepts and norms provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which sets out the minimum and common standard of human rights for all peoples and all nations. Apart from the UDHR, subject to the provisions of the Malaysian Constitution and the applicable laws and policies, Malaysia also adheres to the principles laid down in varius international human rights instruments, which include:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD);
Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT);
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC);
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
[emphasis added above]
When do we stop going along with this farce of a charade? Harsh economic sanctions should await every single country that pays lip service to the UDHR but sets about violating it on a daily basis. This bullshit has got to stop.
#3
Madrassas > this whole region near Australia will remain a prime recruiting ground for the Islamists, to include post-Dubya agz Israel + US influence in the core ME. The Muslim armed response to the Crusades took generations, and so will this. THIS IS WAR IN THE NAME OF GOD, AND WAR FOR THE WORLD.
Syrian official threatens 'Resistance' by September, warns Damascus preparing for large-scale conflict
By Aaron Klein
GOLAN HEIGHTS If Israel doesn't vacate the strategic Golan Heights before September, Syrian guerrillas will immediately launch "Resistance operations" against the Golan's Jewish communities, a top official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told WND.
The Baath official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld, said Damascus is preparing for anticipated Israeli retaliation following Syrian guerrilla attacks and for a larger war with the Jewish state in August or September. He said in the opening salvo of any conflict, Syria has the capabilities of firing "hundreds" of missiles at Tel Aviv.
"Syria passed repeated messages to the U.S. that we demand the return of the Golan either through negotiations or through war. If the Golan is not in our hands by August or September, we will be poised to launch Resistance, including raids and attacks against Jewish positions (in the Golan Heights)," the Baath official said.
The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers captured by Israel after Syria twice used the territory to attack the Jewish state.
The Baath official said a new purported guerrilla group called the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights has been training and is ready to attacks against Jewish communities in the Golan in August or September.
He said Syria is preparing for a war.
"More and more of our units have undergone intensive trainings starting at 6 a.m. and finishing late into the evening. If the need arises, we are ready for a war," said the official.
The official said Syria "learned from the Hezbollah experience last summer and we can have hundreds of missiles hitting Tel Aviv that will overwhelm Israel's anti-missile batteries."
He claimed Syria has "proof" Israel is also readying for a war.
"We hear about special Israeli trainings to take Damascus. We see that Israel is re-establishing bases of the Israeli army in the Golan that are unusual and not needed except for war. We believe the Israeli government has an interest in confronting Syria to rehabilitate its image of losing to Hezbollah," he said.
He also claimed newly installed Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a former prime minister, "wants to prove he is a military expert."
Israel: Syrian war preparations serious
Israeli security officials confirmed the stepped-up military presence of Syrian troops deployed along the Syrian side of the Golan Heights with strengthened forces after carrying out increased training the last few months. The security officials noted the movement of Syrian Scud missiles near the border with Israel and said Syria recently increased production of rockets and acquired missiles capable of hitting central Israeli population centers.
The Syrian army has improved its fortifications, according to the Israeli security officials, and has received modern, Russian-made anti-tank missiles similar to the missiles that devastated Israeli tanks during the last Lebanon war, causing the highest number of Israeli troop casualties during the 34-days of military confrontations. Syria also received from Russia advanced anti-aircraft missiles.
The security officials said any conflict with Syria could degenerate into a larger war involving Hezbollah along Israel's northern border and Palestinian terror groups launching attacks from Gaza in the south and the West Bank toward the center of Israel.
The officials noted Syria stepped up the pace of weapons, including rockets, being shipped from the Syrian border to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
The security officials said the greatest threat Syria poses to the Jewish state are the country's missiles and rockets. They noted Syria recently test-fired two Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had.
In addition to longer-range Scuds, Syria is in possession of shorter-range missiles such as 220 millimeter and 305 millimeter rockets, some of which have been passed on to Hezbollah.
Israel also has information Syria recently acquired and deployed Chinese-made C-802 missiles, which were successfully used against the Israeli navy during Israel's war against Hezbollah last July and August. The missiles were passed to Syria by Iran, Israeli security officials told WND.
Israeli security officials said Syria is indeed preparing for a summer war. But they said there was an argument within the Israeli intelligence community whether the military buildup is for an attack or is meant by Syria to pressure Israel into vacating the Golan Heights. Some officials said Syria estimates the U.S. or Israel will attack Iran, and Syria will be drawn into a larger military confrontation by opening up a front against northern Israel. Also, the officials said, Syria may believe Israel will attack first and its preparations are defensive in nature.
The Israeli army is not taking any chances. The Israel Defense Forces last month reportedly carried out a mock attack on a "Syrian" village during a major exercise in the Negev. The Israeli soldiers besieged and occupied the village, designed to be similar to towns on the Syrian side of the Golan. Similar war exercises were carried out in Israel the past few months, including a mock attack on Damascus.
According to security officials, recent U.S. intelligence estimates also predict a strong possibility of war between Israel and Syria in the coming months.
Dennis Ross, the American Middle East envoy under the Clinton administration, said this weekend in an interview with Ynetnews, a leading Israeli news website, he thinks "there is a risk of war" between Israel and Syria this summer.
"Nobody has made any decision (about going to war), but the Syrians are positioning themselves for war," said Ross.
The reports of war also come amid a flurry of articles in the Arab media the past few days claiming Syria has warned its citizens residing in Lebanon to leave the country ahead of a civil war there. Israeli security officials noted the possibility of a civil war in Lebanon, and said there were strong concerns violence there could be used as an excuse for Hezbollah or Palestinian groups to attack Israel.
Syria formed new terror group?
The Baath official speaking to WND said Syria learned the advantages of using guerrilla tactics to achieve political ends from Hezbollah's war against the Jewish state last summer. He said the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan is modeling itself after Hezbollah.
The Baath official's statements follow a series of WND interviews in which Baath officials said a purported new Syrian guerrilla organization recently was formed and is ready for attacks if Israel doesn't withdraw from the Golan. According to the officials, the Syrian Committees for the Liberation of the Golan was formed last year.
In a WND interview, one Baath party official said Syria learned from Hezbollah's military campaign against Israel last summer that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory."
Hezbollah claims its goal is to liberate the Shebaa Farms, a small, 12-square-mile bloc situated between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The cease-fire resolution accepted by Israel to end its military campaign in Lebanon last July and August called for negotiations leading to Israel's relinquishing of the Shebaa Farms.
The Baath official told WND Syria's new Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Committees last June.
The official said attacks by the Committees may include the infiltration of Jewish communities in the Golan, rocket attacks against Israeli positions or raids of Golan-based Israeli military installations. He said all attacks would be launched from the Syrian side of the border.
WND first reported last June on the alleged formation of the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan.
#1
If Syria doesn't vacate the historical Kurdish areas before September, Kurdish guerrillas with Israeli air support, should immediately launch "Resistance operations" against the Syrian government. Furthermore if Syria and Syrian allies don't vacate Lebanon before September, Israeli armored divisions will launch operations against the Syrian government, a low level official from Rantburgia spokesman announced.
#4
The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers captured by Israel after Syria twice used the territory to attack the Jewish state.
Syria's crapulent track record in Lebanon fairly guarantee's that there's no way Israel would even consider handing back such a strategic piece of high ground.
Israeli spooks should just cap the leadership...
A near-ideal solution and one that needs to be applied to both political and clerical leadership throughout the MME (Muslim Middle East).
#6
Israel needs to nuke Damascus at the onset, and put an end to the entire mess once and for all. Follow up by nuking the only road to the Golan, and any other targets in the Middle East that raise their ugly head. Let the arabs know that any attack against Israel will be immediate suicide. Israel needs to quit playing games and start totally destroying its enemies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2007 16:46 Comments ||
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#7
Israel needs to quit playing games and start totally destroying its enemies.
#8
All sides have already said or inferred that the next war will be a missle war and will likely involve WMDS, be it by Terror or as misle warheads. IRAN will prob want SYRIA to have the role of pro forma "aggressor/defender" since Iran is still busy proclaiming to act in national self-defense agz the USA-Israel. IN ANY CASE. IMO MEANS IRAN-SYRIA = RADICAL ISLAM ARE WILLING TO ESCALATE AND RISK CONVENTIONAL-NUCLEAR MIL CONFRONTATION AMONGST THE WORLD'S MAJOR POWERS.
The number of Saudis in the Al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam group battling the Lebanese army has been exaggerated by some Lebanese, a Saudi official was reported as saying on Sunday. Lebanese troops have been fighting the militant group at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon since May 20. More than 200 people have been killed.
Lebanese officials have said dozens of Fatah al-Islam's members are from the kingdom, after hundreds of Saudis are thought to have gone to Iraq to fight with Al Qaeda militants against US forces and the US-backed government there. But Riyadh's consul in Beruit, Abdel-Hadi al Shafei, said few of the dead fighters had been identified as Saudi and there was no evidence that many more were fighting at the camp. "Lebanese parties are exploiting the Saudi presence among Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared camp," Shafei told London- based daily al-Hayat, which is owned by a senior Saudi prince. "There is a desire to embarrass Saudi Arabia by announcing 'large numbers' of Saudis among the dead, although bodies are charred and disfigured and no documents have affirmed they are Saudi."
"Besides, fighting is too much like work. Us Saudi's prefer to talk about fighting rather than getting our hands dirty."
Shafei said only six to eight bodies in a Tripoli morgue were those of Saudi nationals and one body had been delivered to its Saudi family.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Six or eight" is six or eight too many. Saudis have no right to be in Lebanon, fighting against the legitimate government of that nation, at all. Saudi should pay a healthy penalty for this crap. I suggest giving up all the territory 100 miles north of Medina to the Jordanian border. Force Hamass and Hezbollah to relocate to the Yemen-Saudi border, and STAY there, along with 99% of those in the paleo "hostagerefugee" camps (the rest need to be repatriated to their home nations by air express - in small pine boxes).
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2007 16:49 Comments ||
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Syria has stepped up its widespread censorship of the Internet, blocking access to a string of websites critical of the regime, including some run by leading dailies, a human rights group said. Political and pornographic censorship is commonplace in most Arab countries, where ignorance is the perceived bliss.
Many Syrians hoped that Bashar al-Asad, who succeeded his father as president in July 2000, would bring a new era of openness to Syria and to the Syrian Internet. In his inauguration speech, he spoke of the need for creative thinking, the desperate need for constructive criticism, transparency, and democracy."
Today, the Syrian government relies on a host of repressive laws and extralegal measures to suppress Syrians right to access and disseminate information freely online. It censors the Internetas it does all mediawith a free hand. It monitors and censors written and electronic correspondence. The government has detained people for expressing their opinions or reporting information online, and even for forwarding political jokes by email. Syrian bloggers and human rights activists told Human Rights Watch that plainclothes security officers maintain a close watch over Internet cafés.
The Internet is the only way for intellectuals to meet and share ideas in Syria today. - Aktham Na`issa, president of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria
In December 2000, not long after the Syrian government first allowed email, the wife of a prominent Syrian businessman received an email containing a cartoon showing a donkey with President Bashar al-Asads head mounting another donkey with Lebanese Prime Minister Emile Lahouds head. The woman, a resident of Damascus, forwarded the message to her friends. After one of the recipients informed on her, Syrian authorities arrested and detained her without charge for nine months in what one writer described as deliberately humiliating conditions.
Sites blocked by firewalls within Syria include the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat (The Middle East) and the Beirut newspaper Al-Mustaqbal (The Future) run by the family of slain Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, the National organization for Human Rights in Syria said.
E-mail provider Hotmail has also been blocked since July 17 last year, the watchdog added. "Freedom of the Internet is regressing in Syria after the authorities blocked access to a string of independent websites," the group complained.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Intra-Maronite squabbling have dominated the political theater in Lebanon recently, reflecting a competition on who represents Lebanon's Christians and defends their interests.
The row, pitting mainly Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, followed a statement by Maronite Bishops accusing Premier Fouad Siniora's government of violating the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of belief, selling the nation's lands to foreigners and recruiting security officers by contracts without going through the series of required tests.
The Bishops, in a statement released after their monthly meeting Wednesday, were critical of a government decision to join a treaty on Children's rights in Islam. The decree, which formalized Lebanon's membership in the treaty, stated clearly that it should not contradict the rights of non-Muslim Lebanese children and other civic laws related to freedom of belief for Lebanon's population that belongs to 18 different sects.
Nevertheless, the Bishops said in their statement it is "not acceptable that prejudiced (sides) act to wreck this partnership" between the various Lebanese communities. The statement also said the various Lebanese governments have legalized the sale of seven million square meters of Lebanese property in 14 years to non-Lebanese owners. Such a trend, they warned, could lead to selling out most of Lebanon and Lebanese citizens would "one day find out that they are strangers in their country."
Christian opposition leaders invested the Bishops statement to hammer the Siniora government as acting against the interests of Lebanon's Christians and the nation as a whole. The campaign aimed at cornering Christian members of the March 14 majority alliance that backs the Saniora government.
However, Geagea, an outspoken leader of the March 14 majority alliance, denied charges that the cabinet is acting against the interests of Lebanon's Christians. The Christians, Geagea said, were divided along two basic attitudes to deal with domestic politics. "One (attitude) intimidates the Christians and implies to them that the world is being knocked down on their heads," Geagea told the daily An Nahar Friday. The other attitude, according to Geagea, concentrates on the fact that "the stand of the Christians has been weakened over the past 15 years. This does not mean that the Christians cannot rise again," Geagea added. "The Syrians broke the Christians' back, not premier Siniora," he declared.
Commenting on the Muslim Child's treaty, Geagea asked: "What does it have to do with us if Muslims want their children to follow the Muslim rights charter?"
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Ali-Reza Asghari, the Iranian general who went missing in Turkey nearly half a year ago, is currently being held in a secure US intelligence facility, it was reported on Sunday.
During his interrogation, Asghari gave over information on the running of the Iranian government and on the country's nuclear program, Yediot Aharonot reported.
Since Asghari's disappearance while on vacation in Istanbul in February, reports have circulated that the missing general had defected to a Western country, most likely the US. However, there has as yet been no confirmation of these reports.
According to Sunday's report, CIA agents contacted Asghari, who met them in Istanbul. Asghari even managed to get some of his family out of Iran and bring them with him to the US.
Asghari has since revealed new and relevant information about Iran's nuclear progress, saying that in addition to reactors and uranium enrichment facility centrifuges being built in the country, Iran has also developed the technology to enrich uranium with lasers.
Laser enrichment is a relatively old technique, but Iran has evidently added chemical enhancements that make the technology more advanced, the report said.
Asghari apparently acquired his knowledge during his time as a senior officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who were often responsible for guarding the country's nuclear facilities. He was also a member of the Iranian security council.
If true, Asghari's information would lend credence to Western concerns regarding the increasing danger of Iran's nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If this story is true, the CIA has more leaks than the boat Sean Penn used after Katrina.
#2
Laser enrichment is a relatively old technique, but Iran has evidently added chemical enhancements that make the technology more advanced, the report said.
I thought that only worked for baseball players and cyclists?
#3
Strategic leaking, Doc. CIA and administration sending signal to Iran. We know what you don't want us to know and you don't know what we can do about it or when.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:24 Comments ||
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#4
Whatever happened to that Syrian Intelligence bigwig that defect a while back?
TEHERAN - Irans government has warned of a creeping coup in the press, newspapers reported Sunday, raising concerns about a tougher line in future with media critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
There are many signs showing there is a creeping coup in the press, Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi said in comments published in several reformist newspapers. When we talk about a creeping coup it means someones movement is in an overthrowing framework. We do not see a coup as a group gathering in a military base and seeking to attack, he said.
Let's certainly hope a coup is in the near future.
Harandis comments come after the reformist daily Ham Mihan was banned less than two months after it returned to news stands following a seven-year ban and Irans labour news agency, ILNA, stopped its activities following the resignation of its director.
Ahmadinejads communications officer has vowed that lies and ill-intentions (against the government) will not remain unanswered. The black, unclean propaganda and the daily plots against the government plans and actions have turned into direct insults and mockery of the president, Mohammad Jafar Behdad said, as quoted by Shargh newspaper. Tolerating this trend means ignoring the votes and the confidence of those who voted for Ahmadinejad ... we know our opponents and will continue to defend the government against crafting lies, Behdad said.
Ahmadinejads press advisor has charged that some publications have not reached political maturity, which forces the National Security Council to issue warnings. As long as some publications serve the agenda of parties and power-seeking groups, relevant authorities should intervene and warn to protect national interests, Ali Akbar Javanfekr told Shargh.
Wanna bet that western progressives will rise up about press censorhip in Iran? Nah, me neither.
Ham Mihan was published by former Teheran mayor Gholam Hosein Karbaschi, who is close to both reformist former president Mohammad Khatami and his more conservative predecessor Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
ILNA, which halted work on Tuesday night, regularly reported on workers protests over unpaid wages, rights activists arrests and human rights issues. In a letter carried on ILNAs website director Masoud Heydari said he had resigned to protect the agency from damages. ILNA has reflected the news of civil institutions, it knows about their problems, pains and demands, wrote Heydari, hinting the agencys reporting could not be tolerated by those who oppose and want to restrain transparent reporting.
The conservative media have not been immune either. In April, popular news website Baztab was banned for the second time in three months. Baztab had been especially critical of the economic policies of Ahmadinejads government and its decision to hold a conference questioning the veracity of the Holocaust. But it also had a record of being equally critical of Irans reformist leaders, blasting the previous government of Khatami for being too soft in Irans nuclear standoff with the West.
There are currently around 40 national dailies published in Iran, half of which are close to moderate and reformist camps.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
First they start eying the Press, then they start eying each other...
#2
Fred, between this news, Syria taking on Israel, Turkey massing on the border and Harry Reid pulling us out, you are going to need the 747 of popcorn machines, around here.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:25 Comments ||
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Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini rejecting PGCC communique on the Iranian Persian Gulf Islands said that the Islands are and will remain inseparable and integral parts of Iranian territory, IRNA reported. Hosseini also made it clear that the repeated claims in the communique on Iran's triple islands are legally baseless. He said that repetition of the baseless stance by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) on the issue is surprising give that fact that Iran and the UAE enjoy enhanced contacts and relations.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the regional countries are expected to choose the path of strengthening the element of integrity and constructive cooperation in different fields in the region.
"Or else."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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At least 13 people were killed in a road accident after four fuel-smuggling lorries crashed into each other in south-eastern Iran. The report on state television yesterday said the accident happened when the lorries, which were carrying 17 people, were travelling with their headlights off to avoid detection by police.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This brings to mind a new History Channel series:
"Sand Box Truckers," where Abdul and Mohammed vie for the affections of the camels and goats by showing who can bring the most gasoline to this fuel-starved nation.....
#2
Or a made for TV movie, "Mullah Omar and the Ali Babas," as CB-using Revolutionary-Guard-dodging outlaw truckers run the backroads of Iran after dark looking for their Holy Grail: Night Vision Goggles. Starring Burt Reynolds & something in a burqa.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said here Sunday no change has been made in the policies and performance of the US officials. Hosseini made the remark while addressing domestic and foreign reporters at his weekly press conference. He rejected any link between UN Security Council decision to postpone Iran's peaceful nuclear case and the second round of talks between Iran and US on Iraq.
"These are two separate matters," the spokesman said.
Asked whether the US has expressed its readiness to hold the second round of negotiations with Iran on Iraq, he added, "They have not clarified the issue yet." Hosseini stressed, "The idea of timeout is not on agenda of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"Timeout is an old idea raised by different states but it cannot help settle the dispute over Iran's nuclear case." He added, "Tehran stresses on talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."
In response to a question on a consular visit on Saturday between Iranian embassy officials and the five Iranian diplomats detained by the US forces in Iraq in January and its impact on the second round of Tehran-Washington talks, the spokesman said, "These are also two separate issues."
Posted by: Pappy ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Sunday called for national solidarity to foil enemies' plots.
"What kind of plots, effendi?"
"Y'know ... plots, Hugo. Deep-laid plots."
"Ah, plots. Yes, yes, of course."
He said in his address to a congress to commemorate Martyr Mohammad-Mehdi Rabbani Amlashi that the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran have repeatedly been defeated in their attempt to deal a blow to the nation and have acknowledged their failure vis-a-vis Iranians' power.
"At this critical juncture when the foes speak about economic sanctions, we should preserve unity," he said.
Hashemi Rafsanjani honored the devotions of martyrs both before and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution and said, "We should continue the way of religious figure Rabbani Amlashi through safeguarding values of the Islamic system."
Elsewhere in his remarks, he called on people of northern Iran to upgrade tea industry of the country to compete with the African and Sri Lankan tea producers.
Posted by: Pappy ||
07/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
There are 5 major ethnic minority groups, as well as monarchists, communists, neo-cons, Ayatollah haters, Arab haters, the unemployed, etc, all united in their hatred for Iran's parasitic ruling class. Ahmadinejad ain't playing with a full deck.
#2
If we don't get the GOP straightened out and toss the donks, it'll be the USS Cindy Sheehan. Think about it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/09/2007 10:13 Comments ||
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#3
One of the great ironies of Heinlein was that he was both vilified by the left, for 'Starship Troopers', and by some on the right, for 'Stranger in a Strange Land', some of whose themes were popular with the counterculture left in the 1960s.
#4
Cindy is going to run against Pelosi in San Francisco. This is like an amatuer golfer going head to head with Tiger at Augusta. San Francisco is hallowed ground to moonbats and loonies. Vegas odds would be in the thousands but I'll bet the layoffs would equal the payout. Who can tell what the dhimmis in San Francisco would do.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/09/2007 11:17 Comments ||
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#5
I'm gonna say this is a bad idea, solely because it comes from Kalifornia.
#6
Kinda concerned about the USSR.A.H.; having lived through the ZUmwalt years as an active duty type, i can only hope the namesake doesn't instill the same mess on the ships of that class.....
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.
Afghanistan's counternarcotics minister has resigned only weeks after Afghan laborers finished cultivating an opium poppy crop that could exceed last year's record haul. 
It is a photo similar to thousands taken of tourists during a visit to Sydney Aquarium.
Washington - With little fanfare, at least so far, the stage is being set for a post-"surge" Iraq strategy that reduces US ambitions for the Iraq project, even while keeping some US forces there for years to come. 
Followers of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of attacking them in order to appease his US allies Sunday and warned him his days in office might be numbered. 
An audiotape said to be of Saddam Hussein's deputy said his group will keep fighting until the last foreign soldier withdraws from Iraq, saying the Americans are being defeated. The audiotape purportedly from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was obtained by The Associated Press in Baghdad on Sunday. It was impossible to determine its authenticity, but several Iraqis familiar with Douri's voice said they believed it from his.
Hamas claimed on Thursday it had played an integral part in the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston and blamed Israel for the reporter's 114-day ordeal and the international community for Gaza's plight. 
AMMAN - Jordans King Abdullah II conferred Sunday with the Speaker of the Arab Parliament, Mohammad Al Saqr, and voiced support for a move by Arab lawmakers to bring about reconciliation between the feuding Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, according to an official statement.
By Aaron Klein
Intra-Maronite squabbling have dominated the political theater in Lebanon recently, reflecting a competition on who represents Lebanon's Christians and defends their interests.
TEHERAN - Irans government has warned of a creeping coup in the press, newspapers reported Sunday, raising concerns about a tougher line in future with media critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Sunday called for national solidarity to foil enemies' plots. 
