From Strategy Page:
Casual homosexuality has long been the custom down there, and Afghans from other parts of the country (especially non-Pushtuns) have a large repertoire of humor and insults about the proclivities of those Kandaharis (one of the more printable ones is about how birds flying over Kandahar have to do so with one wing, as the other one must be used to cover the avian backside.)
#1
Always thought this was one of them main reasons for the seemingly inexhaustable supply of suicide boomers -- who'd want to live with the memories of childhood?
#2
Seem to recall the extremist insurgency had to add rule #1,341 in '08 - the boy must have facial hair before he can be taken into your tent.
Pretty much nail finds hammer there Gabby. ew I just wretched, need a drink. Bunch of sick f**cks, casual homosexual rape of children as a controlling, manipulative strategic, too much Sun, not enough water.
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi called on Thursday for jihad (holy war) against Switzerland over the ban adopted last year on the construction of minarets in the country.
"It is against unbelieving and apostate Switzerland that jihad ought to be proclaimed by all means," Kadhafi said during a speech in the Mediterranean coastal city of Bengazi to mark the birthday of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
"Jihad against Switzerland, against Zionism, against foreign aggression is not terrorism," Kadhafi said.
"Any Muslim around the world who has dealings with Switzerland is an infidel (and is) against Islam, against Mohammed, against God, against the Koran," the leader told a crowd of thousands in a speech broadcast live on television.
In a November 29 referendum, Swiss voters approved by a margin of 57.5 percent a ban on the construction in their country of minarets, the tower that are a signature part of mosques.
#1
Soft targets in Switzerland? How long before 'dhafi's jihadi's realize about 100% of the Swiss population is more heavily armed than Americans, Israelis. It's illegal not to be armed? Something ..... eh Maybe he's just calling out his saudi buds.
#3
The really ironic fact to consider here is that of all the middle eastern strongman Gaddafi probably is the most rational and deterrable.
Unfortunately the message that western powers have been sending to Gaddafi since Reagan left office is that no matter what he does we will not do harm to him, his family or his country.
It began with Bush I's absurd UN/legalistic response to the Lockerbie attack, which was an act of war.
Inaction under Clinton was followed by Bush II'2 surrender in 2003 (Gaddafi gave up nothing of consequence, not even the immediate and unconditional release of the Bulgarian hostages was part of the deal. In retrospect it was surrender.)
The final act of submission was Brown/Obama's release of the Lockerbie scapegoat.
Like it or not, the American response to 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq is signaling provocative weakness. And if the world's lone superpower appears to be weak there are truly bad consequences, globally.
#4
about 100% of the Swiss population is more heavily armed than Americans, Israelis.
The Swiss have weapons and ammunition under their beds at home, Last Breath Farm Resident. They aren't keen on concealed carry in general. So unless the jihadis attack them at home in the evening, who is going to stop them?
[Bangla Daily Star] A large number of Islami Chhatra Shibir leaders of different tiers are actively considering resigning following internal conflicts between top leaders of Shibir and its parent organisation Jamaat-e-Islami.
A Shibir leader, who resigned on Monday, told The Daily Star, "Frustrated with the internal conflicts and countrywide onslaught against Shibir, many leaders of different units are at the point of resigning from the party."
Top Jamaat leaders' inference in making decisions including that on the recent violence at Rajshahi University (RU) and autocratic attitude of some party bigwigs, including Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, among other reasons, led to the mass resignation of 26 central Shibir leaders on Monday.
Party insiders said the mass resignation took place in protest at Mojaheed's alleged backing of Shibir President Rezaul Karim against whom Shibir leaders had brought specific evidence of embezzlement and other corruption.
Insiders in the pro-Jamaat student body said they resigned from the organisation because they were kept aside during making crucial decision including the one on the RU unrest.
Besides, a section of Shibir leaders think that Jamaat should apologise for their role in the Liberation War and committing war crimes. They said Shibir should not take the blame and suffer for Jamaat leaders' role in the war.
Seeking anonymity, two senior Jamaat leaders said a clear difference of opinion was created between the Jamaat and Shibir on some latest incidents including the involvement of Shibir in RU killing.
"Top Jamaat leaders force us in taking different decisions as they did during the RU unrest," a recently resigned top Shibir leader of Dhaka University unit told The Daily Star.
"Except the Shibir president and some Jamaat leaders, most of the Shibir leaders did not know anything prior to the killing at Rajshahi University. Moreover, the leaders of our parent organisation misunderstood us and blamed us for the aftermath of the incident," he added.
A few of the leaders, however, said such mass resignation was an attempt to avoid arrest and wrath of the Awami League-led government after the killing at RU.
Sources said different intelligence agencies are keeping an eye on the leaders resigned Monday to ascertain whether they have any plans to destabilise educational institutions.
On corruption of the Shibir president, a Shibir leader who had resigned said Rezaul embezzled organisation's money, which he spent on his marriage. This actually irked the Shibir leaders and they expressed no-confidence in Rezaul.
Jamaat Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami refused to comment on the issue when reporters sought his comment after a programme at city's Al-Falah auditorium on Tuesday.
Talking to The Daily Star on the allegation against him Mojaheed said, Chhatra Shibir is an independent organisation and there is no scope for interfering in their decision-making process.
Mass resignation of Shibir leaders is a major blow for the student organisation as well as its parent organisation in the last 30 years, commented a Jamaat leader.
Since its inception in 1977, Shibir did not fall in such crisis except the one in 1982 when several party leaders deserted the organisation over the dispute centring Iran revolution, party sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] CIA officials briefed at least 68 U.S. lawmakers between 2001 and 2007 on enhanced interrogation methods like simulated drowning that were being considered or used against captured al-Qaeda members, according to declassified documents released on Tuesday.
The once-secret CIA papers, obtained in a lawsuit by the conservative legal foundation Judicial Watch, shed new light on which lawmakers knew the details of the controversial interrogation program and when.
Human rights groups have argued the harsh interrogation methods were forms of torture and violated U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions on treatment of war prisoners. President Barack Obama banned the techniques shortly after taking office in January 2009.
The declassified memos show the program began after the capture of al-Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah, a Saudi-born Palestinian who was the group's operations director, in the city of Faisalabad in central Pakistan in March 2002.
In a statement to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence dated April 12, 2007, then-CIA director Michael Hayden said the agency decided new "techniques" were needed because "Abu Zubaydah was withholding information that could help us track down al-Qaeda leaders and prevent attacks."
The CIA briefed lawmakers as it began seeking expanded authority for the interrogation program. Current House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, then minority whip, attended a briefing on Abu Zubaydah's interrogation April 24, 2002, along with seven other members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the documents show.
The CIA did not begin using the interrogation techniques until after receiving legal guidance from the Department of Justice in August 2002.
Pelosi, who became House Democratic leader in late 2002, said at a news conference in April last year that she was never told at the time that simulated drowning, or waterboarding, and other harsh interrogation techniques were being used. She said she was only told the CIA had legal opinions that approved harsh interrogation methods.
Hayden, in his 2007 statement for the Senate Select Committee, said as the CIA began implementing the interrogation program in 2002 "the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, the speaker, and the minority leader of the House, and the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees were fully briefed on the interrogation procedures."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"Oh THOSE briefings"
"I must have been tweeting my friends during them. What, Twitter wasn't around then? It doesn't matter and don't bother me with the facts!"
abu wasn't 'boarded anyway. Attention snatched by a 5'1", 107lb, very cute, female Reservist MP from NJ. They let him clean up the feces, urine - started talking and couldn't shut up. heh
#2
"It was like listening to a teacher in health class giving a lecture about sex to a pre-teen, yet prohibited from or unwilling to use certain proper anatomical terms, or even the necessary anatomical references..."
It was Napolitano and Brennan giving the lecture- they have enough juice to use any terms they want. The only things they can't say are due to self-censorship. The fact that a Governors committee on homeland security is being talked down to like they're clueless is to be expected from this administration.
Identifying Pakistan as a frontline State along with Afghanistan and Iraq, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday asked American lawmakers to approve the Obama Administration's proposal of USD 3.2 billion civil and military aid to Islamabad for the fiscal year 2011.
"In Pakistan, our request includes USD 3.2 billion to combat extremism, promote economic development, strengthen democratic institutions, and build a long-term relationship with the Pakistani people," Clinton said in her testimony before a key Congressional panel.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/25/2010 15:58 ||
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#1
Pakistan is the bigger version of Palestine.A Welfare country that offers nothing to humanity/rest of the world!
#2
with all the money we give pakiland and the rest of the welfare countries in that part of the world we could build homes for every single person or family here and probably feed them all too.PPl bitch about welfare recupients here but I would rather see it used in the US rather than helping alot of ppl who hate us and everything about us.
Posted by: chris ||
02/25/2010 18:35 Comments ||
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#3
I paid $11,500 in taxes last year. I went through an home eviction through no fault of mine, paid for my Daughter's wedding and bought a house. And THIS is where my taxes are going? BITE ME! Not a damned penny more!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/25/2010 18:57 Comments ||
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#4
WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE CABBIE IN BANGLADESH MADAM SECRETARY!
Secretary Clinton is only asking, Deacon Blues. Until Congress approves, nothing will happen. For perspective, we've been giving giving money to Pakistan in lots with entirely too many zeros ever since we geared up to invade Afghanistan. I suspect Ms Clinton's number is in line with past amounts -- it costs a lot to get the jihadi supporters to scale it back to a level our news media won't be forced to notice.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] A top Taliban leader picked up in Pakistan as part of a recent crackdown on insurgents will be handed over to Afghanistan, an Afghan government official said on Wednesday.
"If Mulla Baradar has committed any crime inside Pakistan, he will be first tried in Pakistan."
Islamabad said, however, that it had received no formal request to turn him over and that he could be tried first in Pakistan. Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar is one of at least three Afghan Taliban commanders, who have been captured in recent weeks in Pakistan
Pakistan has agreed to transfer Baradar to Afghan custody, according to Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar, who was in Islamabad meeting with FBI and Pakistani officials. "Pakistan has agreed to hand Mulla Baradar over, but there is going to be consultations with judicial authorities," he said.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Islamabad was expecting a formal request from the Afghan government to hand over Baradar, but the ministry issued a statement saying that no transfer was imminent.
"Pakistan will make legal scrutiny and also investigate the criminal acts done by Mulla Baradar, including his illegal entry into Pakistan," the statement said. "If Mulla Baradar has committed any crime inside Pakistan, he will be first tried in Pakistan."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Bring out the gimp!
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2010 1:10 Comments ||
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[Dawn] NWFP senior minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour on Wednesday said the death of former Jamat-i-Islami MNA Inayat Begum's son while handling explosives in Gur Mandi was evidence that religious parties had links with militants.
Speaking to the media at Bana Mari, Bashir Bilour said religious parties must stop supporting militants and their activities to establish peace in the region
He said in Wednesday's mysterious rocket attack in the Bana Mari area, a family linked to the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) had suffered the casualties.
Bilour said there was still no evidence with the bomb disposal squad regarding the rocket attack and they were probing the incident.
He further said militants were still present on Peshawar's outskirts and posed a serious threat to people's security.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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The political movement of Iraq's best-known anti-American cleric has emerged as a major contender in next month's national elections, raising the possibility that the next prime minister could be openly hostile to the U.S. and friendly toward Iran.
A prime minister loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr might push the U.S. military to speed up its withdrawal timetable and pose a threat to future military and economic cooperation between the United States and Iraq.
Such a choice also could undermine efforts to reconcile Iraq's religious groups, with memories still fresh of brutal sectarian warfare between al-Sadr's Shiite militiamen and Sunni extremists.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2010 08:40 ||
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#1
Should've taken this idiot out back in 2003 when we had the chance......but noooooo we have have to be nice......nice goin'
#2
AND every out country hussein will be voting for this guy through the global iraqi vote thing - especially those in jordan. Illegals in jordan too, yeah that's right - count 'em.
Hope this guy has good coping mechanisms BECAUSE memo to major contender: We're NEVER leaving! Ever! heh
#3
In other words, Biden went back on behalf of the sunni - that fled to Jordan. Ergo, Iran shook hands with baby Assad to make sure this vote happens and so Iran can control Iraq?
A top Sunni lawmaker, who less than a week ago said he was pulling his party out of the election after he was banned from the race, reversed course on Thursday, saying that his party is back in the race. Saleh al-Mutlaq told reporters he would now allow his party to take part in the vote and called on all Iraqis to participate in the election.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2010 08:28 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The son of a Hamas founder was a key mole for Israeli intelligence inside the Islamist movement, helping thwart dozens of attacks, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.
Mosab Hassan Yousef, 32, the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef was codenamed "The Green Prince" by his handlers in the Shin Bet internal intelligence agency, according to the Haaretz daily.
The article was based on extracts of a book, "Son of Hamas", co-written by Yousef, who converted to Christianity 10 years ago and now lives in California. The book is set to be published in the U.S. next week.
The revelations, if true, are a further blow to Hamas, and its shadowy military wing. They follow accusations that an informer within the group aided the killers of a top Hamas operative in Dubai, an assassination widely blamed on Israel's Mossad but for which no evidence has been made public.
Hamas and Yousef's father denied he could have had any access to sensitive information.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday denounced Israeli "provocation" over two contested holy sites in the occupied West Bank that could unleash a "religious war."
Netanyahu sparked outrage in the Arab world on Sunday when he said he hoped to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in a national heritage plan.
"Such provocation cannot contribute positively to the progress of the peace process," Abbas said, through an interpreter, following talks with EU parliament president Jerzy Buzek in Brussels.
"This could provoke a religious war" Abbas warned earlier, in comments to the Belgian Senate.
The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, where the biblical patriarch Abraham is believed buried, is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and has long been the scene of tensions.
Netanyahu's remarks had already drawn protests from Jordan, Egypt and Syria.
Netanyahu's office late Tuesday accused Abbas of launching a "hypocritical campaign" saying that the ancestors of Israelis were buried there for more than 3,500 years and the sites deserved to be preserved.
The Islamist Hamas movement has also denounced the Israeli plan which they also see as provocation against Muslims.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
Good speach ! Abbas
I didn't know you could speek Valonish.
Religious war my foot !
We are just trying to float in the recent tsunami of islamic gihad you bigot
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/25/2010 8:18 Comments ||
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#4
Meantime, back in iraq, Ezekiel's Tomb is having concrete poured over it, foundation laid for a mosk. No hysteria, no mention of provocation ON THE PLANET!
Bebe, put mahmoud's tomb in the national heritage plan - tomorrow.
[Straits Times] MALAYSIAN authorities have arrested an Iranian businessman for allegedly carrying cocaine - the 26th person from that country held for suspected drug-smuggling at the main airport in recent weeks, police said on Wednesday.
The Iranian was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday after 4 kilograms of cocaine were found in the false bottom of a bag, said Nordin Kadir, narcotics department head in central Selangor state.
More than 40 Iranians have been arrested for alleged drug smuggling in Malaysia this year, compared to 24 Iranians arrested last year. This year's figure includes 26 who were arrested at the main airport - 25 of whom were taken into custody for alleged possession of methamphetamines.
They make up the brunt of drug-related airport arrests so far this year so that authorities have stepped up surveillance of Iranian travellers. Six others held at Selangor airports include Pakistanis and a Singaporean.
Several of the Iranians have already been charged with drug trafficking, which carries the mandatory death penalty. Mr Nordin said the cocaine, worth 800,000 ringgit (S$331,220), was likely destined for Thailand or Australia.
Police have said it's hard to say whether more Iranians were allegedly coming in with drugs or more are getting caught because of the added vigilance. But they are all suspected of belonging to an Iran-based international syndicate that mostly caters to the high demand for methamphetamines in Malaysia and the rest of the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Where are Iranians getting cocaine? Precursor chemicals for the manufacture of meth are also only available from about five labs, I have been told, with China one of the leaders. And from the 'Iran to get body scanners' article:
Ahmadi-Moqaddam said that the security measure is aimed at tackling drug problems.
He said that psychedelic drugs are imported to Iran from Europe, adding, "The United States is making efforts to export such drugs to Iran in an attempt to promote insecurity in the country."
Explains the little guy in the well but sure makes you nervous when he has a nuclear trigger.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Head of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam says by next year all Iranian airports will be equipped with body scanners.
"International Iranian airports all have been equipped with sniffer dogs, body scanners and etc.," General Ahmadi-Moqaddam said in a meeting with Indonesia's National Narcotics Agency chief, Brigadier General Gories Mere, on Wednesday.
Ahmadi-Moqaddam said that the security measure is aimed at tackling drug problems.
He said that psychedelic drugs are imported to Iran from Europe, adding, "The United States is making efforts to export such drugs to Iran in an attempt to promote insecurity in the country."
The Iranian official further pointed to the poppy cultivation in neighboring Afghanistan and said, "Over the past few years, poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reached nearly 9,000 tons a year."
"Unfortunately, the price of drugs in Iran has reduced because it is the neighbor of Afghanistan and located between the Persian Gulf and Europe," he further explained.
According to General Ahmadi-Moqaddam, 3,600 Iranians have lost their lives in the war on drugs.
General Gories Mere, for his part, said that Indonesia was determined to combat drug smuggling.
Iran, the world's leading drug fighter, makes 85 percent of the world's total opium seizures.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I truely think that Ahmadi should do his thingi as fast as he can, as IMHO there would be no functional airport in Iran within six months.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/25/2010 8:22 Comments ||
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From your keyboard to God's ears, Elder of Zion.
A senior Iranian lawmaker insists that Iran's missile program is not within the jurisdiction of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"Iran's missile capability is none of the agency's business," said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Chairman of the parliamentary (Majlis) Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy on Wednesday.
"Where were the agency and other international organizations when, during the eight-year (Iraqi-imposed) war, Iranian cities were attacked by Iraqi missiles," he added.
The lawmaker, from the western City of Borujerd, was referring to the IAEA's latest report that accuses Iran of trying to develop "nuclear payload for a missile."
"These alleged activities consist of a number of projects and sub-projects, covering nuclear- and missile-related aspects, run by the military-related organizations," AIEA Director General Yukiya Amano's report alleged on Thursday.
Amano, who has reportedly claimed that at his new position he wants to focus on "the facts" and pursue a more technical approach than his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, also complained about the level of Iran's cooperation with the agency.
This is while the UN nuclear watchdog has carried out the highest number of inspections in Iran compared to any other country throughout its history and has found nothing to indicate that the program has diverted toward weaponization.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Pakistan played a role in helping Iran arrest its most wanted Jundallah chief Abdolmalek Rigi who was seized onboard a flight from Dubai, Islamabad's ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Abbasi said on Wednesday.
"I must tell you that such action cannot be carried out without the cooperation of Pakistan. I am happy that he has been arrested," Abbasi told a media conference at Islamabad's mission in Tehran.
Without elaborating, Abbasi said details of Pakistan's help to Iran in arresting Rigi would be revealed in "two or three days time."
Rigi, the head of shadowy rebel group Jundallah (Soldiers of God), was captured on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.
An airport official from Bishkek told AFP on condition of anonymity on Tuesday that the passenger plane Rigi was travelling in was forced to land on Iranian territory by two Iranian jet bombers.
Iran's official Press TV, quoting an unidentified source speaking on condition of anonymity, added on its English-language website that Rigi was seized along with one of his deputies.
It said they "were captured after their plane was brought down by security forces in an airport in the Iranian Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbas."
Declaring Rigi's arrest on Tuesday, Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi told reporters that the militant had been at a US military base in Afghanistan just 24 hours before he was nabbed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made comments that hint at further delays in the delivery of the S-300 missile defense system to Iran.
"The fact is that there is a contract, there are questions that need to be settled before the contract can be executed," said Lavrov, when asked when Russia would deliver the S-300 system to Iran.
"There are fundamental principles linked to the sale that we never, in accordance with our legislation, and according to our international obligations, take any actions that will lead to the destabilization of certain regions," Reuters quoted Lavrov as saying on Wednesday.
Russia's top diplomat said his comments did not refer only to the S-300 sale and hinted at the export by other countries of offensive weapons to Georgia by third countries.
"I never mentioned any political issues in the Middle East. I said there are certain principles we need to abide by when selling arms everywhere - Latin America, Middle East, the Caucasus region. We cannot sell weapons if that can lead to the destabilization of the regions in question," said Lavrov.
The S-300 system, which can fire at aircraft 120 kilometers (75 miles) away, features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A senior Russian diplomat says his country will not support what he called crippling sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
"We are not going to work on sanctions, on measures which should lead to political, economic or financial isolation of that country," Oleg Rozhkov, a deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's security and disarmament department said.
"Russia isn't working or participating in actions which should lead to overthrowing the existing regime," The Washington Post quoted Rozhkov as saying on Wednesday.
"We are working with the US and others ... only to solve those concerns we have regarding Iranian nuclear efforts," he added.
Moscow has repeatedly declared that it favors a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] UN Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expects the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions against Iran in the "next 30 to 60 days."
Clinton claimed that the US administration's overtures to Tehran have helped Washington gain greater international support for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
"Our very clear commitment to engagement has created space for a lot of these countries to now consider supporting sanctions that they might not have otherwise," Clinton told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
"We have demonstrated the strategic patience to exhaust the international efforts of convincing Iran to do the right thing without sanctions," she said.
"We hope that the next 30 to 60 days will see a sanctions resolution emerge," AFP quoted Clinton as saying.
"And we also made clear with others of our allies and partners that whatever comes out of New York we may pursue bilateral or multilateral sanctions on top of whatever can be the result of the Security Council deliberation," she said.
"This is the highest priority for the Obama administration," she concluded.
Clinton's remarks come as Russia and China -- both veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council-- have voiced opposition to new Iran sanctions.
Tehran has repeatedly declared that the Western-backed sanctions will not force it to give up the Iranian nation's legitimate nuclear rights.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
IOW: 30-60 days to decide on the sanctions, then another few months to see if they can get Iran to comply. Iran feels it can rest comfortably for another six months at least.
[Al Arabiya Latest] On the eve of a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Damascus, the Obama administration said Wednesday it is pressing Syria to move away from ally Iran and stop arming Hezbollah.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it is also urging Syria to stop interfering in Lebanon, cooperate in Iraq and resume peace talks with Israel when she disclosed the administration's price for deeper engagement with Syria.
Testifying in the Senate, Clinton was blunter than ever about Washington's bid to drive a wedge between Damascus and Tehran -- the target of a U.S.-led drive for U.N. sanctions designed to halt Iran's contested nuclear program.
Syria earlier announced that Ahmadinejad will visit Damascus on Thursday for talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, whose government says it wants to help Iran and the West engage in a "constructive" dialogue over the program.
During a budget hearing, the chief U.S. diplomat said she agreed with a senator that "there is a slight opening (with Syria) to build on...but there are a lot of issues between our government and the Syrian government."
She said William Burns, the undersecretary for political affairs and third-ranking U.S. diplomat, "had very intense, substantive talks in Damascus" when he visited there last week.
"And we've laid out for the Syrians the need for greater cooperation with respect to Iraq, the end to interference in Lebanon and the... provision of weapons to Hezbollah, a resumption of the Israeli-Syrian track...," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A top Iranian official said on Wednesday that seized Sunni militant Abdolmalek Rigi will be put on public trial, and urged his associates to give themselves up to the Islamic republic's authorities.
"Rigi will be put on an open trial in Sistan-Baluchestan," Fars news agency quoted Mohammad Marzieh, prosecutor of Zahedan, capital of the southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, as saying..
He urged other members of Rigi's shadowy rebel group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) to surrender and seek "Islamic compassion since they have seen the might of the Islamic republic" in capturing their leader.
Rigi was seized on Tuesday after Iranian warplanes forced a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan to land in Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Yup, "A fair trial, followed by a hanging."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/25/2010 18:18 Comments ||
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We can mock the headline, but isn't this exactly what the current administration has promised KSM?
Over the past two months, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency has captured four senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban, including Mullah Omar's deputy who served as the head of the top shura, the leader of a regional shura, and two shadow governors. These captures, combined with the US-led offensive in Helmand which will expand into Kandahar and the Afghan East later this year, have given rise to reports of the potential collapse of the group.
Collapse is a lovely idea.
The Afghan Taliban's leadership council and its regional shuras and committees have weathered the capture and death of senior leaders in the past. The Taliban have a deep bench of leaders with experience ranging back to the rise of the Taliban movement in the early 1990s. On prior occasions, younger commanders are known to have stepped into the place of killed or captured leaders. It remains to be seen if the sustained US offensive and possible future detentions in Pakistan will grind down the Taliban's leadership cadre.
It worked beautifully in Iraq...
This report looks at the Afghan Taliban's top leadership council, the Quetta shura; its four regional military councils; the 10 committees; and existing as well as killed or captured members of the shura. Because the Taliban is a deliberately opaque movement, it is difficult to gain real-time intelligence on the structure of the Taliban command. The following information on the structure of the Taliban and its key leaders has been gathered from press reports and studies on the Taliban, and from discussions with US intelligence officials.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2010 12:21 ||
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[Maghrebia] The newspaper Asharq Alawsat published a series of articles between January 25th and February 2nd, which were a condensed version of a new book by Dr. Sayyid Imam Abdul Aziz Al-Sharif, better known as Dr. Fadl, a prominent Jihadi theoretician. His books were used by al-Qaeda to train and educate its members in matters of Islamic jurisprudence and religious principles.
In his book, titled "The Future of the Conflict between the Taliban and America in Afghanistan", Dr. Fadl pursued his attack against the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. He accused both of them of being fully responsible for the "catastrophes" that have befallen the Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The new book by Dr. Fadl, imprisoned in Egypt since 2002 after being handed over to Egyptian authorities by Yemen, is consistent with his previous series of books which he published in the last few years, starting with "A Guidance for Jihad Activity in Egypt and the World" (2007), in which he provided Islamic legal arguments which, in his view, strip the actions of al-Qaeda of its "jihadi" aspect.
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Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
Oh dear, controversial ideas! Should we be exposing our innocent university students to such things? It could lead to dangerous behaviors like thinking or abandonment of The Narrative. Some of them might even get fed up with the nonsense they are being spoon fed and turn to science and engineering.
#4
"Horowitz asked if Akhtar would denounce Hamas, to which Akhtar responded he would, and retorted by asking Horowitz if he would denounce Ann Coulters Islamophobic remarks" I would denounce Ann Coulter if she was launching rockets into a city or if her remarks had resulted in one death. Bad example Akhtar.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The son of a Hamas founder was a key mole for Israeli intelligence inside the Islamist movement, helping thwart dozens of attacks, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.
[Al Arabiya Latest] On the eve of a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Damascus, the Obama administration said Wednesday it is pressing Syria to move away from ally Iran and stop arming Hezbollah.
