[Maghrebia] Mauritanians spoke out strongly this week against the killing of a US citizen in the Ksar district of Nouakchott. Christopher Leggett, the 39-year-old director of a language and IT school, was shot dead on the morning of June 23rd outside his place of work. Two young Mauritanians were arrested in connection with the case on Thursday.
See -- we caught them. Please don't invade us.
The same day -- in an audio tape aired on satellite TV channel Al Jazeera -- al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting.
Citizens were shocked by the casual manner in which the act was committed: in broad daylight, at the corner of a road leading to a mosque, very close to the central market and in an old district of the capital. The press drew inevitable connections to the December 2007 slaying of four French tourists near the town of Aleg, east of the capital, by three young men with connections to al-Qaeda.
It's as if the passers-by were accustomed to such goings on.
On the day of the killing, a group of Mauritanian political party leaders issued a collective statement condemning the "appalling act" and decrying it as "foreign to the values and traditions of hospitality of our peace-loving people".
It wasn't us. Please don't invade our country.
The officials called for an immediate inquiry, "to shed light on the circumstances surrounding this unspeakable crime, arrest those responsible and bring them to justice".
We're taking care of it so you don't have to come over here.
Members of the Coordination Nationale pour la Sauvegarde de la Démocratie (CNSD, which supports General Mohamed Ould Abdul Aziz's bid to become president) stressed in a similar statement that "by no means can the Mauritanian people be held responsible for this act of barbarity which is contrary to our religious and moral values".
The Rally of Democratic Forces, leaders of the democratic opposition, offered condolences to Leggett's family and condemned the criminal act.
The National Foundation for the Defence of Democracy also pressed for an inquiry, questioning the "uncertain circumstances" of the killing. "This hateful crime, which was committed in broad daylight close to the market in Ksar, one of the busiest in Nouakchott, once again raises the issue of instability and terrorism, which is often used by the military authorities to justify all sorts of unnatural situations," the FNDD said. "It is surprising that the chief commanding officers, who are so preoccupied with security and the fight against terrorism, are on their way to the east of the country to welcome their candidate, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, while peace-loving foreign citizens are being assassinated in cold blood and in broad daylight, right in the centre of the capital," the opposition group concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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AS many as 85 fundamentalist sharia courts are now operating in the UK -- far more than was thought. It was believed there were just five of the hard-line courts in Britain, but a report out today says the number is much higher.
Experts predict the growing quantity could lead to difficulties in applying usual British legal standards to Muslims.
Dennis MacEoin, author of the report, said the only sharia courts previously known about were in London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham and Nuneaton, in Warwickshire. He said: "This is not a matter of eating halal meat or seeking God's blessing on one's marriage.
"It is a challenge to all of us to live in a society as free as possible from ethnic-religious division or communal claims to superiority and a special status that puts them in some respects above the law to which we are all bound."
In his report, published by the think-tank Civitas, he states many of the courts operate out of mosques and their rulings are closed off to non-Muslims. He includes a list of previous sharia judgments he believes give an indication of the type of ruling being handed down by the courts working in the UK.
Among the examples quoted are laws banning a Muslim woman from marrying a non-Muslim unless he converts to Islam and the removal of a wife's property rights in the event of divorce. The report states: "Among the rulings ... we find some that advise illegal actions and others that transgress human rights standards as they are applied by British courts."
Some UK sharia courts work as part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system which works with British law to deal with commercial, civil, and matrimonial matters and some instances of domestic violence and neighbourly disputes.
UK Allows Sharia. Pigs get foot rot, want to bolt to the sty.
Labour employs any fuckwit willing to give infomercials. Even if you're 2ft, ginger, and look like a cunt. There's hope yet! Thanks Labour. Thank you ever so much.
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea criticized the U.S. on Monday for positioning missile defense systems around Hawaii, calling the deployment part of a plot to attack the regime and saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in retaliation.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he ordered the deployment of a ground-based, mobile missile intercept system and radar system to Hawaii amid concerns the North may fire a long-range missile toward the islands, about 4,500 miles away.
"Through the U.S. forces' clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the U.S. attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.
The paper also accused the U.S. of deploying nuclear-powered aircraft and atomic-armed submarines in waters near the Korean peninsula, saying the moves prove "the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear war" on the North is imminent.
Nuclear-powered aircraft? Oh right, the F-222. Dang, they caught us ...
The hilarious commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said the North will bolster its nuclear arsenal in self-defense.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 11:00 ||
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#2
the North will bolster its nuclear arsenal in self-defense.
Ten times zero is still zero. If they actually had a functional nuclear device, so would Iran and Syria, at the very least... and at least a few of them would already be in the air, with great fanfare.
#4
"Through the U.S. forces' clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the U.S. attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact,"
Uh....huh... Son, if we really wanted to do a pre-emptive strike on your ass, we would and you would never know about it until it was all over.
SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Sunday accused South Korea of trying to absorb the communist state, citing President Lee Myung-bak's recent remarks that his government will pursue reunification with the North on the basis of a market economy.
Well, now that you mention it ...
The weekly Tongil Sinbo, a government mouthpiece, was referring to a speech Lee made after a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this month, in which he said Seoul will pursue inter-Korean unification "on the principles of free democracy and a market economy." Both sides have signed on to "reunification," but it means something different to both sides. The South anticipates NKor collapsing upon itself and having to be reconstructed pretty much from the ground up, with Seoul in charge of the new Korea. The North sees SKor turning commie -- whether through the actions of the fifth column or a more successful rerun of the Korean War doesn't matter -- and being ruled by the Kim dynasty, who will proceed to "manage its economy."
Such remarks are aimed at "breaking down the North's ideology and system to achieve 'reunification through absorption,' and it is appalling that they came out of the mouth of Lee Myung-bak," the paper said in an article carried by the North's official Web site, Uriminzokkiri.
The weekly also blasted Lee's signature North Korea policy, called "Denuclearization, Openness, 3000," in which his government seeks to raise the country's per capital income to US$3,000 if it abandons its nuclear program, as the "basis and destination" of the "absorption" scheme.
Taking office last year, Lee adopted a tougher stance than his liberal predecessors over the North's nuclear weapons program. His conservative government also ended unconditional rice and fertilizer aid to the North that had continued for nearly a decade. Such support continued despite the North's 2006 nuclear test and launching of long range missiles.
Lee's hardline policy won support from conservatives at home, but liberals and non-governmental groups say his tough stance sent inter-Korean relations backwards after years of reconciliatory progress. "What we can obviously learn here is that South Korea's confrontational policy toward its fellow men will never change as long as Lee Myung-bak is in power," the paper said.
Let's assume for the moment that Kimmie soon cavorts in the ninth circle of hell with Himmler. Then let's assume that his callow third son isn't the man to run the country, even as a figurehead, and let's further assume that a war of succession takes place in Pyongyang. Let's assume finally that because of all this that North Korea thus finishes its implosion and is now a global basket case, eyesore and flashpoint for a regional war.
What to do?
The US should immediately tell the Chinese, quietly, that if China allows the South to absorb the North, the US will take no action that harms China's interests on the peninsula. We won't allow the South to keep the North's nuclear program or weapons, we'll restrain Japan from going nuclear, and, most importantly, we won't put American troops in the North. In fact, as the South gets control of the situation, we'll be happy to draw down our troops on the peninsula. But absolutely, positively, no military bases for us north of the 38th parallel.
In short: we make clear to China that it has nothing to fear from a united Korean peninsula. The Chinese don't have to underwrite aid to the Norks anymore, they won't have a militarized Korea on their border, and we won't seek to improve our military position there.
None of that guarantees that the Chinese would go along, but floating such a tentative plan certainly would give the Norks a lot more to worry about in the coming months. Solving the Nork problem means getting the Chinese to curb their dog -- or maybe, just maybe, kicking their dog to the curb.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Good plan, Steve, and exactly what I think we really would communicate to the Chinese. However, despite Lee's public comments, I think the South is really afraid of the North collapsing and having to actually absorb them. West Germany absorbing East Germany was much more of an economic burden than they expected and North Korea is a million times worse off than East Germany ever was.
#2
I agree with that assessment. However, no one else wants the job so the SKors will get it by default. You certainly won't see the Chinese man-up to help the starving Norks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 9:36 Comments ||
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#3
Now we'll see if The One and hsi Snake Department are as smart as our own Dr. Steve White.
I ain't holdin' my breath.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/29/2009 12:12 Comments ||
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Everybody talks about how much a burden absorbing North Korean people would be if the Norks collapsed. If the world and the useless POS meeting-going child m01esting UN would share the burden, it would not be an impossible task. Hell we went into Europe and Japan after the war and rebuilt.
I swear, leaders spend 10x the effort in avoiding the right thing and doing the wrong thing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/29/2009 13:21 Comments ||
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#5
Norks claim South is scheming to absorb communist state
the norks want to be part of the history of the widely acclaimed tv series This old house.
The South wants to produce the show to show its efficiency, and good taste.
So the crying out continues, while negotiations proceed in fits and starts. Norks want to deny access to the basement, Southies want to fix the holistic house. who knows how long these negotiations will take.
Meanwhile bobo chavez is threatening to invade Honduras, just like he threatened to invade Columbia.....these misadventures are attempts to convince the world over that he really is a great general....really, not like saddam, but a really great warrior, who dont need no stinkin proxies to fight the rhetorical fight.
#6
ION WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC "CENTRAL DAILY NEWS" SURVEY: APPROXI 60.5% OF SOUTH KOREANS BELIEVE THE SOUTH SHOULD HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR SELF-DEFENSE.
* SAME > "KOREAN DAILY NEWS": SOUTH KOREA IS MAKING MILITARY CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR THE COLLAPSE OF NORTH KOREA, INCLUDING POSSIB TAKEOVER FROM PYONGYANG. NEW MASSIVE SOUTH KOREAN ARMS PROCUREMENT AND MODERNIZATION PLANS. SOUTH KOREAN MILITARY INTERVENTION OPTIONS.
#7
SAME > Seems CHINA is repor planning to deploy "LARGE NUMBERS" of H-7 ATTACK BOMBER AIRCRAFT on its HAINAN ISLAND PLA MILBASE in faceoff agz VIETNAM over SINO-VIETNAM CHINA SEAS SOVEREIGNTY CLAIMS
* SAME > "MUMBAI DAILY": MAY 5th SINO-INDIAN NAVAL CONFRONTATION. INDIAN NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER TASK GROUP GAVE WARNING AND THREATENED TO SINK PLAN TYPE 092 SUBMARINE TRACKING SAME [ Indian Navy ASW "weapons lock" agz PLAN Sub]. FEAR OF SINO-INDIAN NAVAL CLASH INSIDE MUMBAI HARBOR [Regional War].
#8
* SAME > KONG KONG "SING TAO DAILY": THE PLA "CHINA/HAINAN-GUAM" CONCEPT FOR THE MILITARY, GEOPOL DEFENSE OF CHINA [ "First Island" Chain" + periphery]. PLA STRENGTHENING OF MILFORCES ON HAINAN ISLAND. HAINAN ISLAND AS CHINA'S MIL "STRATEGIC SPRINGBOARD" FOR OTH PROJECTION BEYOND THE CHINA SEAS AND PHILIPPINES INTO THE WEST/CENT PACIFIC REGIONS.
Also, AT CURENT TRENDS CHINA'S PLAN WILL BECOME THE WORLD'S LARGEST BY 2020 OR SHORTLY AFTER. PLAN IS GIVING SERIOUS CONSIDERATION FOR THE DEV OF BATTLECRUISER AND SUBMARINE-LED, ASBM-ARMED, "ARSENAL/FIRE SHIP" LR TASK FORCES TO CHALLENGE, DETER OR DEFEAT USN CARRIERS IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC>
#9
"Proposed PLAN "ARSENAL SHIP" DESIGNS > may have as many as 100-PLUS VLS/VLMS = ASBM? Tubes + multi-AAM + multi-Naval BMD + VTOL Helo-Air Platforms.
The U.S. is stepping up pressure on North Korea by launching a taskforce to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1874. The interagency taskforce to enforce sanctions against North Korea was launched Friday to coordinate actions with other nations in implementing the UN resolution, including searches of outbound North Korean ships and aircraft and international financial sanctions.
U.S. President Barack Obama appointed former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg to lead the team, sending him to China in the near future to discuss sanctions on the North. That brings to three the Obama administration's envoys of some description on North Korean affairs.
Brilliant, simply brilliant ...
In the early days of his presidency, Obama had two, with Stephen Bosworth named special representative for North Korean policy, in addition to U.S. special envoy on North Korean affairs Sung Kim. Bosworth was apparently to look after general issues and Kim as chief U.S. nuclear negotiator for the six-party talks.
Goldberg will take part in the making of North Korea policies alongside Bosworth, Kim, and Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, who was recently approved by the Senate. Whether the responsibilities of the four will overlap and lead to confusion remains to be seen.
Confusion? Almost certainly. Political infighting and scheming? Absolutely.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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South Korean intelligence authorities believe that a photo of purportedly showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on an inspection of the command of the 7th Infantry Division on June 14 was really taken during a visit to the 851st Unit on April 25. Intelligence forces are on alert in case that means that Kim's health has deteriorated again.
North Korea released a group photo of Kim accompanied by Kim Yong-chun, minister of the People's Armed Forces, and Kim Jong-gak, first vice-director of the General Political Department of the KPA, to illustrate a story that the visited the 851st Unit on the 77th anniversary of the army on April 25.
The photo was released on June 14 by the official KCNA news agency to accompany a story on the visit, but it mentions no date. The positions of people in the two photos except five or six soldiers at both ends of the front row are identical to the earlier picture, as are the ceiling lamps and the words in the placard in the backdrop. Kim Yong-chun, who is standing on Kim's right, was apparently in China around June 13. A Cheong Wa Dae official said it was "very strange" that Kim is wearing winter clothes in the photo allegedly taken on June 14.
Both the 7th Infantry Division, which Kim allegedly visited in June, and the 851st Unit, which he allegedly inspected in April, are near Anbyon-gun in Wonsan, an intelligence officer said. "It's possible that North Korea put different dates to visits to the two military units at similar times."
Prof. Nam Joo-hong of Kyonggi University said, "If North Korea reused the same photo again to make it look as if Kim were in good health, it shows that the regime is unstable."
Thank goodness for expert analysis to get that astounding insight ...
A North Korea expert said the manipulations could add credence to speculation that North Korea's current international grandstanding is part of efforts to tighten the regime's hold at home as Kim Jong-il's health deteriorates.
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06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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South Korea is acquiring 40 US-made missiles for an Aegis destroyer this month to boost its defences amid reports North Korea may soon test-fire missiles, Yonhap news agency on Sunday quoted a military source as saying. The surface-to-air missiles for the Aegis destroyer, designed to track and shoot down objects including missiles, can hit targets up to 160 km away, Yonhap quoted the source as saying. North Korea has warned ships to stay away from waters off its east coast city of Wonsan, Japan's Coast Guard said last week, in a possible indication of a missile test.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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Of particular interest to those of you who dabble -- or work -- in financial investing. For the rest of us, it's good to understand one of the major weapons employed by those who choose to be our enemies. Click on the title to go read the whole thing.
When a pro-terrorist organization announces its intention to launch a financial jihad against the West, it is well worth learning their methods. More significant than the promotion of a religious pseudo-financial scheme is the possibility their largely unregulated practices could release a new wave of toxic assets into the wider economy and trigger a series of small-scale Enrons.
The Muslim organization Hizb Ut Tahrir capitalizes on Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna's 20th century derivative, encouraging followers to build a parallel financial structure. Al-Banna envisioned the resultant Shari'a-compliant finance as a back door into Western financial markets and institutions through which to supplant liberty and prosperity with Islam. Muslim clerics including MB spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi promote Shari'a finance as generally safer than Western investments, a diversification method to steady personal assets -- and a stable economic system that should replace capitalism. Call it financial replacement theology, if you wish.
In July, Hizb Ut Tahrir plans to launch its U.S. arm with a huge Chicago Khalifah conference heralding the coming Caliphate and global Islamic supremacism. After 9/11, Germany and Sweden outlawed Hizb Ut Tahrir. In July 2005, Pakistan's then-president Pervez Musharaf warned Britain not to tolerate its continued U.K. presence. But in the U.S., Hizb Ut Tahrir has proudly announced intentions to replace capitalism with Islam.
Major banks from Citigroup, HSBC, Chase, Bank of America and Lloyds TSB -- probably unaware of the etymology of Islamic finance -- established subsidiaries offering Shari'a-compliant products. Mutual funds at Principal Financial Group, UBS, Amana Funds and SEI Investments, among others, followed suit. Especially late last year as the devastating toll of sub-prime mortgage lending mounted, clients were assured that Islamic banking -- in many respects a dangerous financial fad -- was much safer than other banks and investment houses.
Yet bad economic news has not escaped the supposedly secure Islamic investing sector. Islamic securities can also (like all other asset classes) go into default, moreover. Holders of East Cameron Partners LP's safe, asset-backed Islamic bonds (sukuk) now line up before a Louisiana bankruptcy judge with all the other hapless creditors of the Texas-based Easter Cameron Oil and Gas Co. that filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last October.
[Geo News]Five people including two children and a woman were dead from gastro disease while dozens of people were admitted to hospital. According to hospital sources, 40 people including children and women were admitted in various wards of the People's Medical college here on Sunday. All these people belonging to the areas of Goth Pannu Jamali, Allah Warayu Jamali and Ali Akbar Jamali were suffering from gastro. As per the relatives of the affected people, five people including two children and a woman were passed away just in the village. Meanwhile, EDO Health Jaji Shah Kazmi said that a doctors' team has been sent to the affected village.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Fred, it doesn't have to be cholera to be deadly. All kinds of bacteria and parasites infest bad water; could also be from pollution if there's a low-grade factory or mine in the area.
Second Daughter contracted a dozen different gastrointestinal bugs while studying in West Africa. It was rough having final exams and parasite problems at the same time.
[Geo News] Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Syed Munir Hassan Sunday demanded of the government to have same attitude for NWFP province which its has adopted for Balochistan and to resolve issues through dialogue. Addressing a grand rally called Â'Go America Go' in Karachi, the JI Amir called for announcement of a timeframe for completion of the Malakand operation and questioned: Â"Who is the real enemy we are fighting against.Â" The march started from Mazar-e-Quaid and culminated at Tibet Centre. Syed Munawar Hassan alleged that the ongoing military operation in Malakand division and Buner was started on the dictates of the US which displaced 3.8 million people. He demanded of the government to announce a date by which the operation will be successfully completed and to allow media access to the affected areas for reporting.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Pakistan, split in the middle with terrorist attacks and facing an economic crisis, remains among the top 10 failed states, says an index prepared by the renowned Foreign Policy journal. Pakistan, placed ninth among all countries last year in terms of its overall achievement, has improved its position only by a notch - it is placed 10th in the index for 2009 published in the July-August issue of the journal. The ranking is done on the basis of the following factors: demographic pressure, refugees/internally displaced persons (IDPs), group grievance, uneven development, economic decline, delegitimisation of the state, public service, human rights, factionalised elites and external intervention. The top 10 failed states in the latest list are: Somalia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Guinea and Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
At this point I'd be inclined to bump Iraq (just) off the list and replace it with Venezuela.
[Geo News] Governor NWFP, Owais Ahmed Ghani has said that Afghanistan has turned into a narco-state.
Gosh, when did that happen?
Speaking in Geo News popular program 'Jawab Deh' hosted by Iftikhar Ahmed, Owais Ghani said some elements want disintegration of Pakistan but 'they will not succeed in their nefarious designs.' When asked who these elements are, the NWFP Governor said: "I would have exposed them if I were not the Governor of NWFP." "Personally, I support FCR because it is in conformity with tribal traditions," he said, adding: "although the government failed in Swat, it managed to restore its writ within two months."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said no compromise will be made on the sovereignty of Pakistan, Geo News reported Sunday. Talking to media after offering condolences to the Jama'at Islami leaders at Mansoorah on the sad demise of former JI Amir Mian Tufail, he said the services rendered by Mian Tufail are invaluable. He said those who disrupt the peace of Pakistan include Chechen and Uzbek militants. Commenting on the drone attacks, the PM said the drone attacks are definitely an attack on the integrity of Pakistan, as they force the local tribesmen to join the extremist elements.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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TENS of thousands of Iraqis partied amid massive security in Baghdad overnight to mark the imminent pullout of US troops from urban areas and celebrate the restive nation's reclaimed sovereignty.
The American pullback, agreed under a security accord signed last year, will be completed today, which has been declared a national holiday, but soldiers and police were out in force as festivities began.
"Since 2003, I have never been to a party," Ahmed Ali, 20, said as a large celebration got under way in Zawra Park, the largest in the capital, "but today I am coming to hear the singers I love."
Popular Iraqi singers including Salah Hassan, Kassem Sultan and Abed Falek, who all live abroad, had travelled to Baghdad for the occasion.
Revellers had to undergo three security checks to enter the park but no one seemed to complain amid a jubilant atmosphere, where an onstage banner declared Baghdad's sovereignty and independence had been recovered.
Even policemen joined in the fun, dancing with the party-goers.
"Today is the day that we got back our country," said Salim Mohammed, from the sprawling Shi'ite working-class district of Sadr City.
From July 1, Iraq's army and police will take sole charge of security in the country's cities, towns and villages.
Baghdad civil defence spokesman Tahsin al-Sheikhli said: "All Iraqis are happy today because it's the first day that they're going to protect themselves.
"We know that Iraq's enemies will attempt to disrupt security but our forces are ready to take them on."
The United States' top military officer says he believes Iraqi forces are ready to take full control of their country's cities on Tuesday, as called for in the U.S.-Iraq security agreement. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen spoke to reporters traveling with him in Europe.
In a conversation with a small group of reporters, Admiral Mike Mullen was asked whether he is confident the Iraqi forces can handle the duties they are about to take on. "I am, and I take that from not only my own interaction there, which is infrequent, but really the reports I get back routinely and the leaders I talk to, not just General Odierno but others that have that confidence as well," Mullen said. "They're going to need some support. They're going to need some enablers. But the United States military leadership in Iraq is confident that they can do that."
U.S. and other international forces will continue to provide air support to the Iraqi forces, as well as help with logistics, reconnaissance and other functions that enable combat troops and local police to do their jobs.
Al-Qaida and other insurgent groups have already begun an expected surge in attacks to challenge the new arrangement. Admiral Mullen says he is concerned, but his commander in Iraq, and the former commander who now heads all U.S. military operations in the region, tell him the Iraqi forces are ready. "All the engagement I've had with General (Ray) Odierno and General (David) Petraeus is (that) the Iraqi security forces are ready to do this," Mullen said. "We've been out of many of the cities for, I think, well over a year. Baghdad and Mosul are the two biggest challenges that we have right now. We're in a tough fight in Mosul, but the leaders have a plan to get through that. And I think we will."
Admiral Mullen accepted some harsh comments by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who referred to the coming handover of the cities as a victory over occupiers.
Necessary posturing for local consumption.
But the admiral was more focused on the prime minister's comments after the recent attacks, in which he did his best to prevent al-Qaida from sparking another outbreak of sectarian violence. "I was happy to see the prime minister respond so strongly because I think that leadership is critical, and the leadership of the Iraqi security forces," Mullen said. "And if we're going to get this right in the future, it's clearly going to be up to them."
Admiral Mullen notes that, overall, violence in Iraq is down substantially from recent years, but he acknowledges more violence is possible. "I'm optimistic, not naïve, about the challenges," Mullen said. "There are lots of them. And we need to not lose focus on Iraq in any way, shape or form."
Good luck, Iraq. Our thoughts and prayers go with you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Let the festivities (Soody-Iran proxy war) begin!
#2
Grom, I hope you're wrong. So far I have not seen a strong Iranian presence in Iraqi government, nor an overwhelming militant posture among the Sunni. The violence looks like more of the same thing as several years ago, with fringe groups committing atrocities to try and generate a civil war and chaos from which they hope to weaken the government enough for their own weakened entities to regain competitiveness.
#1
Oh gee... "The children of Gaza are suffering post-tramatic stress from the violence."
From their own Orc kind? They are more brutal than the evil JOOOOOS. What about the Jewish children? Are they not traumatized from the rocket and suicide bomber attacks?
No, of course not. They are only decedents of pigs and apes after all.
Fucking anti-Semite liberals need killed as much as the terrorists do.
Hours before Defense Minister Ehud Barak leaves for the US, the Defense Ministry on Monday notified the High Court that it has approved a master plan calling for the construction of an additional 1,450 housing units in a new neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Adam, Army Radio reported. Der Juden are revolting, mein Leader
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Hamas and Fatah negotiators were summoned to Cairo over the weekend for another round of "reconciliation" talks aimed at ending the differences between the two rival parties.
Representatives of the two sides said that the Egyptian authorities were exerting immense pressure on them to reach an agreement by the end of the month. Some claimed that the Egyptians had issued an ultimatum to Hamas and Fatah to end their power struggle and sign a unity government accord by July 7. However, spokesmen of the two sides expressed pessimism regarding the prospects of reaching any deal in the foreseeable future, pointing out that the gap between Hamas and Fatah on many issues remained very wide.
This is the sixth time in recent months that Hamas and Fatah officials have met in Cairo for talks aimed at resolving their dispute.
Hamas legislator and negotiator Salah Bardaweel said his movement would not sign any agreement with Fatah as long as security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continued to detain Hamas supporters in the West Bank.
He said that Hamas was also demanding that Abbas release some 700 Hamas supporters who are being held without trial in jails in the West Bank. "How can we sign an agreement [with Fatah] when the Palestinian security forces are continuing to kidnap hundreds of Palestinians?" Bardaweel asked. "This issue will be at the top of the agenda of the meetings in Cairo."
The PA said that it released 85 Hamas supporters from its prisons over the weekend as a "goodwill gesture" on the eve of the resumption of the talks with the Islamic movement. Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior Fatah official closely associated with Abbas, expressed hope that the release of the Hamas supporters would prompt Hamas to reciprocate by freeing Fatah detainees. He said that Hamas was holding in its prisons in the Gaza Strip over 200 Fatah supporters, some of whom are reported to be in poor health condition.
Fatah officials in Ramallah said that Hamas's security forces have summoned for questioning more than 1,000 Fatah supporters in the past few weeks. Many of those interrogated by Hamas have been severely tortured, they added, charging that they had been beaten with clubs and plastic rods.
According to the officials, Hamas has also banned some 200 Fatah supporters from leaving the Gaza Strip for "security reasons." Fahmi Za'areer, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, said that besides the issue of the detainees, the two sides still had to agree on holding new elections, reconstructing the Palestinian security forces and the political agenda of the proposed Hamas-Fatah unity government.
Za'areer also voiced skepticism, saying he did not expect progress as long as Hamas continued to cling on to its "coup mentality" in the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
As long as it doesn't interfere with Obama's "Peace Plan"...
Iran's election oversight body on Monday declared the hotly disputed presidential vote to be valid after a partial recount, rejecting opposition allegations of fraud and further silencing calls for a new vote. State television reported that the Guardian Council presented the conclusion in a letter to the Interior Minister following a recount of a what was described as a randomly selected 10 percent of the almost 40 million ballots cast June 12.
The "meticulous and comprehensive examination" revealed only "slight irregularities that are common to any election and needless of attention," Guardian Council head Ahmed Jannati said in a letter, according to the state TV channel IRIB.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi claims he, not incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was the rightful winner and has called for a new election, something the government has repeatedly said it will not do. "From today on, the file on the presidential election has been closed," Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said on state-run Press TV.
Mousavi supporters have taken to the streets in protest after the election, outraged by official results that gave Ahmadinejad the victory by a roughly 2-1 margin. Police and the feared Basij militia have taken increasingly harsh measures against the demonstrators, prompting widespread international criticism.
The recount conducted Monday had appeared to be an attempt to cultivate the image that Iran was seriously addressing fraud claims, while giving no ground in the clampdown on opposition. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Council already had pronounced the results free of major fraud and insisted that Ahmadinejad won by a landslide. And even if errors were found in nearly every one of the votes in the recount Ahmadinejad, according to the government's count, still would have tallied more votes than Mousavi.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday questioned the recount's utility. "They have a huge credibility gap with their own people as to the election process. And I don't think that's going to disappear by any finding of a limited review of a relatively small number of ballots," she told reporters in Washington. Asked if the United States would recognize Ahmadinejad as Iran's legitimate president, she said "We're going to take this a day at a time."
Hillary would know all about credibility gaps. The US is looking more and more like an enabler to the Mad Mullahs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 16:20 ||
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#1
Democrats take note, next contested election have a "Recount" but include only the precincts you won overwhelmingly, and declare victory.
Hell why not, you're no less thieves than the Iranians.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/29/2009 21:54 Comments ||
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#2
Isn't that what Gore wanted in 2000 - a recount but only in selected known pro-democrat precents.
Top Obama administration officials say the door remains open for nuclear talks with Iran. They are discounting the latest anti-American rhetoric from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Since there are plenty of Bambi advisors who've spouted similar words in their time ...
Appearing on the CBS television program Face the Nation, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice indicated the Iranian nuclear program remains a matter of high concern for the White House.
As it should be, but direct talks aren't the answer ...
"We have an interest in any case in trying to ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapons capability," said Rice. "We have pursued that through multi-lateral diplomacy. We have left the door open to bilateral diplomacy."
On NBC's Meet the Press, President Obama's top advisor, David Axelrod, said the administration remains open to attending talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany. He was asked if the tough talk over the weekend by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might be enough to put diplomacy on hold.
"Understand that he is not the decision maker when it comes to foreign policy and defense policy in Iran," he said. "His comments are meant for domestic political content."
And who would know more about using words for domestic political content than David Axelrod?
Iran's president has accused the United States of meddling in his country's affairs. Axelrod said he is merely trying to change the subject. "It is a long used technique in Iran to try to make the United States the foil for their own problems," said Axelrod. "His problems are with the Iranian people, not with us!"
And you guys are looking to let them off the hook ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
I could ask why _you_ hate Iranians so much, Plays4Keeps, that you want the US to engage with the people who treat the entire country as their property?
#5
The phrase Ive heard repeated is more even-handed in our mid-East dealings. Right. If we were just more fair and didnt always side with Isreal. I posted (elsewhere) recently that Israel had a right to defend itself. An extreme liberal told me I believed the FALSEHOOD that Palestine was a threat to Israel. I responded simply that if my neighbor shoots at me, they are a threat. At least I havent seen any Obama signs that read Long Live the King. My prayers go out to this man. I may not have voted for him, but hes my President and to say he has a tough road ahead is the understatement of the year.
#10
You lads are missing the boat on Barry. He's dumb like a fox, a one man Freedom Bureau if you will. The pursuit of a "level playing" field, the full enactment of liberation theology and reparations continues at a record pace.
Change is coming! Don't be alarmed at future initiatives such as full amnesty and voting integration of illegal aliens, an executive order banning capital punishment, laws against assembly aka tea parties, cross-border divisions of the south and west into federal military "civil defense" districts, 2nd Amendment restrictions, licensing, extended waiting periods, etc, Federal integration of California and New York employees, Obama banking holidays, the emptying of the oppressed from Federal prisons, the renaming of an aircraft carrier or two, a redesigning of the flag, an executive order approving duel citizenship.
#11
They are discounting the latest anti-American rhetoric from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad isn't the decision-maker on foreign policy and defense, but he has the backing of those who do. His comments might be for "domestic content", but what if the Obama administration is projecting? The question then becomes, "at what point do you stop discounting the rhetoric?" After 2-3 years in fruitless pursuit of 'talks'?
#12
2-3 years of "talks" while they grind down freedom, and build weapons, and continue to call for the destruction of other nations...
Yes, Obama is a fucking idiot to believe the leopard will change its spots. Its his unbounded (and unwarranted) narcissism and arrogance that are leading him to disaster.
#15
Its helpful to start with the premise that nearly everything Obama has accomplished has come through misdirection. Even as narcissistic as he is its doubtful that he even believes Tehran will be persuaded by his charm. But that was never the goal! His objective is to persuade Europe/UN for tougher sanctions.
#16
Folks, I've come to the realization that Zero doesn't really care about foreign policy at all. Oh sure, he will take easy victories and make lots of "third way" noise about dialogue and relationships, but really, all foreign policy is to him is a toll to divert the focus and energy of the conservative forces in America from his primary focus, the domestic agenda. Cap and trade is looming because we all got sucked into Iran watching and he got Pelosi to slep on the gas and jam the bill through. Wehn momentum faltered, he worked the Hill personally. That he twisted a number of arms fatally for the mide-term elections isn't important to him. His agenda is exactly what Besoeker said: "The pursuit of a "level playing" field, the full enactment of liberation theology and reparations continues at a record pace".
What is is very good at is misdirection, triangulation, and deceit. He says things that sound ok, and acts differently,, more radically, and then says simple falsehoods about what he did and why.
This man is on pace to do more damage to America than anyone ever imagined. At his core, he and his hate this nation, and want to change it forever, and punish many of us in the process.
A lifetime of resentments has taught him how to play majority America, even as he conspires to destroy it's prosperity.
#18
I've come to the realization that Zero doesn't really care about foreign policy at all.
Might be true, and it would make him the anti-Nixon: Nixon never cared about domestic policy at all, seeing the job of President exclusively as managing foreign policy. Nixon would give the Congress whatever it wanted on the domestic side as long as it left him alone to pursue his foreign affairs agenda.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2009 16:28 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Both sides have signed on to "reunification," but it means something different to both sides. The South anticipates NKor collapsing upon itself and having to be reconstructed pretty much from the ground up, with Seoul in charge of the new Korea. The North sees SKor turning commie -- whether through the actions of the fifth column or a more successful rerun of the Korean War doesn't matter -- and being ruled by the Kim dynasty, who will proceed to "manage its economy."
