A little more than a month ago, with the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaching and fears of a new al Qaeda attack rising, some U.S. intelligence and military analysts thought they had found one of the worlds two most wanted men just where they last saw them six years ago.
For three days and nights between Aug. 14 and 16 U.S. and Afghanistan forces pounded the mountain caves in Tora Bora, the same caves where Osama Bin Laden had hidden out and then fled in late 2001 after U.S. forces drove al Qaeda out of Afghanistan cities. Ultimately, however,
U.S. forces failed to find Bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, even though their attacks left dozens of al Qaeda and Taliban dead.
U.S. forces failed to find Bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, even though their attacks left dozens of al Qaeda and Taliban dead.
One of the officials interviewed by NBC News, a general officer, admitted Tuesday that it was possible Bin Laden was at Tora Bora, saying, in fact, "I still dont know if he was there."
Still, some in the special operations and intelligence community are telling NBC News that there was a lack of coordination particularly in the choice of support troops. But with intelligence limited on who was there, no one is willing to say that the lack of key units permitted Bin Laden or Zawahiri to escape.
When the operation began in early August there was no expectation that Bin Laden or Zawahiri would be there, say U.S. military and intelligence officials. Instead,
There was intelligence of a pre-Ramadan gathering of al Qaeda including "leadership" in Tora Bora.
there was intelligence of a pre-Ramadan gathering of al Qaeda including "leadership" in Tora Bora. Senior officials in the U.S. and Pakistan tell NBC News that planning for the attacks intensified around Aug. 10 once analysts suggested that either Bin Laden or Zawahiri may have be drawn to the conference at Tora Bora. (When U.S. forces attacked al Qaeda camps in August 1998, following the East Africa embassy bombings, Bin Laden was attending a pre-Ramadan conference of al Qaeda in the same general area of eastern Afghanistan).
While the intelligence did not provide positively identification that Bin Laden or Zawahiri were at the scene, there was enough other intelligence to suggest that one of the two men was there. Bin Laden and Zawahiri are not believed to have traveled together since mid-2003 for security reasons.
While the intelligence did not provide positively identification that Bin Laden or Zawahiri were at the scene, there was enough other intelligence to suggest that one of the two men was there. Bin Laden and Zawahiri are not believed to have traveled together since mid-2003 for security reasons.
Another official said that intelligence analysts believed strongly that there was a high probability that either HVT-1 or HVT-2 was there, using U.S. intelligence descriptions high value targets for Bin Laden and Zawahiri. He added that while opinion inside the agency was divided, many believed it was Bin Laden rather than Zawahiri who was present. The reason:
They thought they spotted his security detail, said the official, a large al Qaeda security detail the kind of protection that would normally surround only Bin Laden, or Zawahiri.
They thought they spotted his security detail, said the official, a large al Qaeda security detail the kind of protection that would normally surround only Bin Laden, or Zawahiri.
Also, locals reported the presence of groups known to be part of Bin Ladens security detail Chechens, Uzbeks and other Arabs, men willing to die rather than surrender top al Qaeda officials.
The military operation included "several hundred" U.S. and Afghan ground forces, say officials. Elements from the 82nd Airborne blocked off escape routes through the mountains on the Afghanistan side of the border, while helicopters inserted U.S. Navy Seals at night. The Seals pinpointed enemy positions and called in air strikes; the 82nd came in and "mopped up."
On the other side of the border, a senior Pakistani official says the U.S. military helped thousands of Pakistani forces including their elite commando units set up a blockade to sweep up any al Qaeda fleeing Afghanistan.
Any operation to take down Bin Laden or Zawahiri would have been formidable. He's surrounded by the true believers, reported Rick Francona, who worked with CIA and special ops teams in Iraq in the 1990s. And they will fight to the death to protect him, they will probably even kill him before they allow him to be captured.
"If you're going to go in that area, you have to go in there with enough force that you can accomplish this mission successfully and not lose all of your guys in the process.
So if you're going to go in that area, you have to go in there with enough force that you think you can accomplish this mission successfully and not lose all of your guys in the process.
One senior military official said Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace personally briefed the president on the specifics of the ongoing operation.
The operation closely parallels the killing of Abu Musab al Zarqawi last year. NBC News reported at the time that the U.S. military did not positively determine that Zarqawi was in the house that was bombed. Instead, they had surveillance on Zarqawi's spiritual adviser who led them to the house, and the decision was made to take the shot because they didnt want to miss the chance to get Zarqawi. One general predicts, "That's the way we'll get Bin Laden." They may not have that positive ID, but there'll be enough intelligence to prompt an air strike and they'll find Bin Laden in the rubble.
What happened this time? Military officials admit there were unidentified "planning and coordination problems" even before it got to execution, primarily between the operators and the generals who give the go-orders added an intelligence official. A company of the 82nd Airborne was brought in since a Ranger team trained in special operations was not available. But the combination of the dark side the SEALs and the conventional the 82nd Airborne didn't work. "They didn't gel," said the military official. There was "a lack of responsiveness to the intelligence and a lack of aggressiveness."
The operators normally want to go in much smaller, much more low profile in order to be able to get to the target without being identified and as those plans go up the chain of command they normally get much bigger and much more cumbersome.
Michael Sheehan, a former Army Special Operations colonel and counter terrorism ambassador, says he is not surprised. Our response is normally too big, too slow, too cumbersome and too risk adverse and those factors normally come from Washington, said Sheehan. The operators normally want to go in much smaller, much more low profile in order to be able to get to the target without being identified and as those plans go up the chain of command they normally get much bigger and much more cumbersome.
But the bigger part of the picture is the question of allocation of resources from Afghanistan to Iraq. All Delta Force and dark side Rangers were moved to Iraq, said a special operations officer involved in the Afghanistan operation. Left behind in Afghanistan were SEAL Team Six and some Rangers. But apparently in this case, not enough dark side were available. The 82nd, said a second special operations officer, is a poor substitute [it is] a blunder to use them on an op with dark side operators.
Justin Balding is a Producer for Dateline NBC. Adam Ciralsky is a producer with the NBC News investigative unit. Robert Windrem is an investigative producer for NBC News special projects.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 09:16 ||
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#9
There was intelligence of a pre-Ramadan gathering of al Qaeda including "leadership" in Tora Bora.
Is it too much to ask to have had Tora Bora bugged and rigged with explosives after we cleaned it out the last time. We dont' want to bring the roof down on his head but sealing every exit but one would simplify his containment. If we left two enterences open (one looking as if we never found it) we could simplify capture.
If that's not doable the whole place should have been destroyed so that it couldn't be reused.
#10
The locak sheiks told him he had to leave as they had "Lost too many people" due to his presence. He retorted "We have no where to go". Probably tried to head back to warzistan or Baluchistan at that time.
Osama is nothing without Mullah Omar, as you probably have heard. Zawahiri is the one with the overall power at this time. Osama is laughing material.
#12
"is a poor substitute... a blunder" > WHY IS THAT? Besides having Ranger companies formally attached to them, the Army's Airborne forces also had "near-Ranger/Para-Ranger" individual and joint mini-courses as part of their normal or routine training. *SEAL TEAM SIX > HHHHHMMMMM, at one time were charged wid anti-Terror ops including ANTI NUCLEAR-WMD TERROR. IFF OSAMA IS MOSTLY PHYSICALLY INCAPACITATED DUE TO HIS KIDNEY/HEALTH PROBS, THE DESTRUCTION OF MANY IN HIS PERSONAL SECURTY APPARATUS WILL MAKE THINGS MORE DIFFICULT FOR HIM.
An employee at the Algerian embassy in Berlin pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges of spying on fellow countrymen for his country's intelligence service. The 45-year-old is accused of collecting information about a former army colonel who turned government opponent and sought asylum in Germany, claiming political persecution. Prosecutors said the former officer feared he would face a death sentence if he was forced to return to Algeria.
The accused, who has lived in Germany since 1990 and has dual citizenship, is also charged with collecting information about Algerians linked with Islamism in the city of Bremen.
A daffy Dhimmicratic debate devoid of discern, data and diligent discussion.
HANOVER, N.H. (AP) - The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.
``I think it's hard to project four years from now,'' said Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in the opening moments of a campaign debate in the nation's first primary state.
``It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting,'' added Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
``I cannot make that commitment,'' said former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
Sensing an opening, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson provided the assurances the others would not. ``I'll get the job done,'' said Dodd, while Richardson said he would make sure the troops were home by the end of his first year in office.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
SHows (1) US is presently winning the WOT; (2) Dubya = USA is entrenching; and (3) GOP-Dem Pols are arguing over APPROPRIATED/BUDGETED US FORCE LEVELS-FLUXES, NOT THE USA GETTING OUT OF IRAQ-ME, at least until after Jan 2009 when Dubya leaves assuming no Amer Hiroshima. HILLARY > has already said she will end the war in Iraq iff Dubya doesn't.
#2
[span class=moonbat]
All three of the Dem frontrunners are adopting Chimpy W. Hitlerburton's surge-for-oil strategy? Damn those neoKKKons! How do they do it?
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
09/27/2007 7:05 Comments ||
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#3
It's obvious the Dems are receiving 'Ops' and 'Intel' from the Bush camp to soften their entrenchment with pullout ideas. Turning out to be the greatest mass flip-flop voters have ever seen, this can only add clarity for the voters at the upcoming primaries; Short, the American people will have no excuse of confusion when it's time to lay the cards out!
#4
It's obvious the Dems are receiving 'Ops' and 'Intel' from the Bush camp to soften their entrenchment with pullout ideas.
It's obvious that in the short attention span theater of Presidential elections the ability to do the two step flip flop 60 days out isn't going to hold in an environment that has you repeating for a year the same message over and over again with the new expanded campaign years season. Enough repetition of the same political drivel for the extremists of the inner party in the extended exposure starts to become something you can't bury in the general public mind.
WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday asked Congress to approve nearly $190 billion more in spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In prepared testimony to a Senate committee, Gates said the Bush administration sought the money for more training and equipment for the US military, including new armored vehicles that give extra protection to troops against bomb blasts. The funds were for the 2008 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
More money was also needed to train and equip Iraqi security forces as well as to improve US facilities in the region and consolidate our bases in Iraq, Gates said. Reuters obtained a copy of his remarks in advance of his testimony.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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"Supports operations in the Global War on Terror by providing an additional $93.4 billion in supplemental funds for 2007 and $141.7 billion for 2008, including funds to accelerate efforts to train and equip Iraqi and Afghan Security Forces"
Clever boys. Gonna give the liberals some cognitive dissonance tonight for sure! Read on!
LONDON (AP) - The chief U.S. missile defense negotiator defended plans to place anti-missile sites in Eastern Europe, saying Wednesday that the system could prevent a war with Iran by building an effective deterrent.
"Our intent is to address emerging threats in the Middle East," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Rood said in an interview with The Associated Press during a visit to London to attend a conference on defense trade. "Countries like Iran are developing long-range missile systems. And we're concerned not only about the emerging capability but of the hostile intent from countries in the region."
"All we are saying is give peace a chance, can you dig it?"
Washington plans to place a radar facility in the Czech Republic and a battery of up to 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. The European sites would be added to two other interceptor sitesin California and Alaskathat are primarily in place to counter a threat from North Korea.
Moscow objects to the plans, saying the system is meant for spying on Russia. Everything is about Russia, isn't it?
"Spies! All spies!"
Rood, a veteran arms control expert who has led a team of negotiators in two rounds of talks with Russia since July, said a European system would make it less tempting for Iran to launch a first strike, and it could also dissuade the U.S. from believing it had no alternative to a pre-emptive strike of its own.
"We think (missile defense) helps create disincentives for development of missiles," he said in regard to Iran.
The U.S. system relies on interceptor missiles with refrigerator-sized "kill vehicles" designed to destroy an incoming warhead at high speed. Rood said the sites in the western United States helped avert a crisis in the summer of 2006, when North Korea test-fired a series of missiles, including its latest long-range model, known abroad as the Taepodong-2, which experts believe could reach Alaska, Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. West Coast.
Some U.S. officials had argued for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea, but the administration did not seriously consider it, Rood said, in part because the anti-missile system provided a potential defense. "We didn't have to escalate the crisis by moving forces to the region, placing people on alert, " Rood said.
In Europe, Rood said, it is crucial to have batteries in place before a similar threat emerges from the Middle East. The Pentagon fears Iran could develop a missile capable of reaching the U.S. by 2015. Russia believes Iran is decades away from that point.
In June, Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, called the U.S. anti-missile plan "the joke of the year."
Next year they'll publish a pic of a Standard-3 missile in the Tehran Times and tell everyone they invented it.
The new anti-missile system has become one of the most difficult issues in Washington's increasingly strained relations with Moscow. Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Friday that the United States' true intention was to spy on Russia. A U.S. invitation for Russia to join in its missile defense plans has so far failed to win Moscow's blessing. Nevertheless, talks with the Czech Republic and Poland continue, and Washington wants to have the system in place by 2013, Rood said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the AP in an interview in New York on Monday, that Iran has always maintained a defensive policy and has "never sought to expand its territory." "Iran will not attack any country," Ahmadinejad said, when asked if Iran would ever strike first against Israel.
Moscow's concern with the program, Rood said, is that it could expand beyond its current scope and weaken the capability of Russia's strategic forces.
Russia has suggested that the United States share the use of a Russian-leased radar installation in Azerbaijan and a radar in southern Russia. U.S. officials have said the radar's technology is outdated and emphasized that even if they were to use the Russian radar, it would not replace the other elements.
But the two sides have exchanged intelligence assessments on Middle East threats and U.S. experts have briefed Moscow on the system's capabilities, which Rood said fall short of being able to shoot down a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile. OK liberals, think about this:
If you want peace, prepare for war.
Attack your enemy when he is weakest.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Posted by: gorb ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the AP in an interview in New York on Monday, that Iran has always maintained a defensive policy and has "never sought to expand its territory."
Where to begin in commenting on this - how about at the beginning - in 490 BC Darius I was defeated at Marathon, and they've been at it sporadically since.
#2
Cyrus the Great was a Persian who conquered his Medean overlords, then went on to conquer the Neo-Babylonian empire to the west, and a couple of other things to the east. Darius I tried to continue the pattern, then the Persians and the Romans/Byzantines fought sporadically until the Muslims came roaring through. The armed forces of the Medes and the Persians never got flabby.
#4
Rood, a veteran arms control expert who has led a team of negotiators in two rounds of talks with Russia since July, said a European system would make it less tempting for Iran to launch a first strike, and it could also dissuade the U.S. from believing it had no alternative to a pre-emptive strike of its own.
A little bit of home-grown reverse taqiyya. Even an effective missile defense shield in no way counters the overall threat of a nuclear armed Iran. The mullahs would not even blink at handing off a nuclear device to one of their proxy terror groups.
Washington, Sep 26 : Ninety percent of the current US assistance of two billion dollars a year to Pakistan goes to the military, a report has said. The report titled 'Pakistan: A perilous course', was unveiled at a meeting on Pakistan held at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The panel of speakers was made up of Teresita Schaffer of the CSIS, Robert Oakley and Wendy Chamberlain, former US Ambassadors to Pakistan. Rick Barton, a former senior official of the Geneva-based UN High Commission, conducted the meeting for Refugees.
Barton, introducing the report said that Washington had an "over-dependence" on President Pervez Musharraf who is viewed as a "key partner".
Because there are all sorts of choices in Pakistan; all sorts of people who can lead there. Obvious, huh ...
Chamberlain said that the US aid should be focused on the people of Pakistan, rather than go to the military. This leads some to conclude that US aid is working against the people, not for them. "The stability of Pakistan is too important for the US and the region in which Pakistan is located," she said.
Chamberlain noted that in the wake of the October 2005 earthquake, America's approval rating in Pakistan shot up from 23 per cent to 45 per cent, but by January 2006, it had fallen to 15 per cent because of a US attack in the tribal area.
The US should support the democratic process in Pakistan, and not an individual, the Daily Times quoted Chamberlain, as saying.
Commenting on the current situation in Pakistan, Robert Oakley said that Musharraf threw open a Pandora's box, which he couldn't now close the lid on. He said Musharraf had put the army in deadly confrontation with the extremists in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and it had lost many lives.
Oakley expressed satisfaction over the "quiet cooperation" between the two countries in the nuclear area in Pakistan, which remains military-controlled, and "we should see that it continues." He also suggested that Washington should reconsider its opposition to the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.
Teresita Schaffer said that the US should work "visibly" with "competing" leaders, and added that it must work for democracy, instead of latching on to one person. Turning to the possibility of an alliance between Musharraf and Bhutto, Schaffer said, "We are watching the last act of this drama."
Posted by: john frum ||
09/27/2007 06:43 ||
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#1
I understand the part about the stability of Wakiland being crucial and all, but what we are doing there now doesn't seem sustainable.
#2
And the majority of the aid isn't being put into counterinsurgency... instead the Pak military is getting weapons only useful for fighting India.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/27/2007 9:06 Comments ||
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#3
90 per cent of US aid to Pakistan goes to army
Yeah, so? I'd say 90 percent of money goes to various congressional reelection funds in this country. You put your money where it'll have the most influence on people having the real power. In Pakland, that would be the Army.
#7
And the majority of the aid isn't being put into counterinsurgency... instead the Pak military is getting weapons only useful for fighting India.
And we all know what'll happen to those weapons if they ever try to use them. This is not a good investment. Here's an idea: Tell the Paks if they want the gravy train to continue they need to hand over the nukes before they burn their little fingies.
#9
I suspect we want the Pak military so strong that it can act like the Turkish military--allowing Democracy only when it isn't Islamist, overthrowing the government if needed.
It basically opens up the possibility of a more secular government between the two sides.
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Wednesday announced that the legislators of the religious alliance would resign en bloc from the National Assembly on September 29.
The announcement came after a meeting of the MMA parliamentary party held at Al Markaz-e-Islami. MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed chaired the meeting attended by a large number of MNAs and MPAs.
NWFP Assembly dissolution: The MMA also announced that the alliance would take a decision on resignations from the provincial assemblies and dissolution of the NWFP Assembly in the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) meeting today (Thursday).
Briefing the media, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Deputy Secretary General Fareed Paracha said that President Gen Pervez Musharrafs re-election was an insult to the Constitution and democracy. He said the MMA would use all options to block Gen Musharrafs re-election and the religious alliances decisions were in line with the decisions taken by the APDM. He added that the parliamentary party meeting was aimed at taking all MMA MNAs and MPAs into confidence. Well resign from the NA on September 29 and if anyone tries to obstruct us we will move court, he said. MMA leader Maulana Shujaul Mulk said the decision to quit the assemblies was final. However, the decision to dissolve the NWFP Assembly will be taken today (Thursday) in the APDM meeting, he added.
He said the MMA would give full support to Justice (r) Wajeehuddin Ahmed in the presidential election against Gen Musharraf. He said the Pakistan Peoples Party had made a wrong decision to field Makhdoom Amin Fahim as presidential candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistan on Wednesday condemned ex-premier Benazir Bhutto for saying she would let the UN question Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced father of Pakistans nuclear programme.
Bhutto reportedly said on Tuesday that if she returned to office she would give the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Khan a contentious remark stirring controversy in the run-up to the elections.
Foreign Office spokeswoman Taslim Aslam said on Wednesday Pakistans position is that it had fully investigated the matter and, in case there is new information ...we will conduct investigations and provide information to the IAEA.
Other countries have failed to match Pakistans efforts to prevent proliferation, for instance by clamping down on Western companies involved in smuggling, she added.
Asked after a speech in Washington on Tuesday whether she would let Western officials interview Khan, Bhutto reportedly responded: We do believe that the IAEA... would have the right to question AQ Khan. She also reportedly said a parliamentary committee should investigate the matter. Many Pakistanis are cynical about whether AQ Khan could have done this without any official sanction, she added.
Bhuttos party, PPP, scrambled to play down her remarks on Wednesday, saying they were not very different from what the current government says or any other responsible government in Pakistan would say.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What has Perv and Co got to hide?????
Posted by: Paul ||
09/27/2007 5:44 Comments ||
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Former premier Benazir Bhutto reiterated her willingness here on Wednesday to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Dr AQ Khan because she does not believe in a cover up. Curiously, a clarification issued by her party secretariat in Islamabad on Tuesday had denied that the Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson had made any such offer and in fact accused the media of distorting her words. At her news conference at the Middle East Institute, she not only repeated what her party secretariat had earlier denied but elaborated on her reasons for permitting access to the nuclear watchdog agency to question Dr Khan. She said she does not want Pakistan to be known as a rogue nation, nor did she believe in Pakistan exporting nuclear technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi said on Wednesday that National Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was supporting the government because he was hoping to become the next prime minister. Speaking in Geo televisions program Capital Talk, Afgan said that the PPP and Maulana Fazlur Rehman were showing a soft spot for the government, adding that Rehman had showed that he had no connection with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM).
He claimed that President Pervez Musharraf would be re-elected from the sitting assemblies with 60 percent of the votes. He said the nomination of candidates by the PPP and the lawyers had legitimised the electoral college. Nomination of presidential candidates by the PPP and lawyers has verified that the National Assembly can elect a president twice, he added. Afgan also said that a situation similar to 2002 had emerged, where the presidential candidate backed by the ruling coalition would win comfortably, APP adds.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Baghdad, 27 Sept. (AKI) - Iraqi vice-president and Sunni leader Tariq al-Hashemi had a rare meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the nation's most senior Shiite cleric in Baghdad on Thursday.
The meeting came a day after Hashemi released detailed proposals designed to achieve reconciliation and end sectarianism in Iraq.
The Sunni alliance - which includes al-Hashemi - recently withdrew from the Shiite-led government in protest at the lack of progress, but Ayatollah Sistani has no formal role in the Iraqi government.
Meanwhile in Rome, an Iraqi government official said the creation of a united government in Iraq would depend on the ability of the country's squabbling leaders to bury their differences and work for the common good.
"What unites us is the hope of achieving this type of government, which would rescue the country from its current state, also because it would help boost the delivery of services", Ali al-Dabbagh told Adnkronos International (AKI) in Rome. Dabbagh was in the Italian capital to attend a conference on the role of federalism in decentralised democracies.
"Technocratic cabinet ministers would be more active and dynamic, because they would not have the political protection of any group and what they accomplish will be open to scrutiny", al-Dabbagh told AKI.
As a new wave of violence swept Iraq this week, the government spokesman was also asked about reports that weapons smuggled in from Iran had been seized in Iraq. He replied that the US-led multinational force in Iraq was the source of these reports and that the government "does not have the information".
"We believe that our cooperation with Iran can contribute to reduce such risks and remove the need for such concerns", he said, adding however that "we have to always remind our brothers in Iran of the promises they made not to pass on weapons to the militant groups in Iraq".
It's a sad day when a government has to prove they're more oppressive than the competition to win the loyalty of their people.
They're Paleos; they wouldn't understand a lack of oppression.
New "morality police" has begun detaining Palestinians who eat or drink in public during the fasting month of Ramadan, a first in the West Bank where Muslim custom was always widely observed, but never before imposed.
The 12-member squad with special red badges appears to be an attempt by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank government to challenge the claim of rival Hamas, the ruler of Gaza, to a monopoly on religious righteousness.
Islamic custom demands that believers fast and refrain from self-indulgence between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan, which this year began Sept. 13. Across the Muslim world, the fast is largely observed, though in some countries compliance is voluntary and in others, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, it's strictly enforced. *sigh* this is some religion.
#2
But of course in Islam there is no compulsion in religion. They clearly didn't get the memo.
Reminds me of an old Toyota commercial:
You asked for it,
You got it
Sharia!
Enjoy.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/27/2007 17:13 Comments ||
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#3
Many MME (Muslim Middle East) nations divert so much domestic fresh water supply for drinking purposes that they're increasingly dependent upon the West for grain imports that they themselves do not have the irrigation resources to grow.
Imagine a time whenin response to yet another Islamic terrorist atrocitythose grain shipments are cut off so that widespread famine begins a few months before Ramadan.
Now, picture the wondrous spectacle of "morality police" arresting people who will surely starve to death and die over the course of a single day's imposed Ramadan fasting.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister described as "encouraging" his talks with US officials about a proposed Mideast peace meeting, but stressed Wednesday that success will be determined by commitments to tackle key final status issues, not whether Arab countries agree to attend.
The Bush administration, trying to revive long-stalled talks between Israel and the Palestinians, has proposed a November meeting to bring the two sides to the table, joined by other key players. It is eager to secure the participation of regional powerhouses like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which has yet to sign a peace deal with the Jewish state.
Arab nations, however, fear that without a commitment to discuss thorny topics such as the status of Jerusalem and right of return of Palestinians, the meeting will develop into a photo opportunity that could do more harm than good. The meeting's agenda has yet to be set. "It is not Saudi Arabia that puts conditions, or Saudi Arabia that is going to negotiate," Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "Its presence there, or non-presence, is not the most significant issue."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Saudis are graciously consenting to being saved from Iran by USA. And they're asking for a very modest, one might say a purely symbolic---a few million barrels of Jewish blood, price for their cooperation.
Jordan and Egypt urged the Palestinians on Wednesday to cast aside their differences to make way for peace and statehood.
The joint call by Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak came in a closed-door meeting in the Jordanian capital and hours after Israeli forces killed at least eight Palestinians in an air strike and a ground operation in Gaza Strip.
In Jordan, Abdullah and Mubarak - both key US allies whose countries have signed peace treaties with Israel - implicitly referred to the power struggle between bitter enemies, Fatah and Hamas. Both factions have been at loggerheads since heavily armed Hamas militiamen seized Gaza in mid-June after thrashing pro-Fatah security forces.
Abdullah and Mubarak said in a joint statement that they urged the Palestinians to "adopt unified stances that would conform with the current challenges and enable them to establish their independent state and restore their national legitimate rights."
The statement said the two leaders also reiterated that a US-sponsored international peace conference, slated to be held in the United States in November, was an "important opportunity for achieving tangible results" in Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking.
But they both repeated their call for "adequate preparations" to precede the meeting, which they said must tackle crucial issues that have tormented Middle East negotiators, such as the status of refugees, east Jerusalem and the borders of a future Palestinian state.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
Jordan and Egypt urged the Palestinians on Wednesday to cast aside their differences to make way for peace and statehood.
Totally irrelevant, seeing as how they simply will not abandon their quest for genocide, thereby irreversibly obstructing all chances of statehood. The end of hostilities between Hamas and Fatah means jack shit to real peace in the region. They can "cast aside their differences" until the sun explodes and still never merit statehood.
#1
Damn that looks awkward. I wonder how many troops have sheared the camera off going in through a low doorway and forgetting about the helmet mount.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
09/27/2007 14:58 Comments ||
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#2
Even I could come up with a form for the camera that would put it flat on the helmet & include an attachemnt for the monocle. However I suspect that in this configuration he can see around a corner without exposing himself. The worst the bad guy could do would be shoot the camera off.
Under fire amid a rash of civil war human rights abuses, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has turned the tables on the United Nations, questioning its efficiency, and ability to help tackle terrorism.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York overnight Rajapaksa, whose administration has vilified UN envoys for criticism, said solutions to armed conflicts must be homegrown and rights should not be used as a tool to victimise countries. The UN has a mixed record of achievements. As resources received by the UN are limited, it has been only possible to deliver limited results, Rajapaksa told the assembly on Tuesday in his native Sinhala.
We need to focus on these as they have often been characterized by countless, poorly coordinated, ineffectively designed, ineptly staffed and overlapping programmes, with unnecessary inter-agency rivalry. Rajapaksa called on the UN to wind up negotiations on a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, saying the body was locked in endless discussion, adding Sri Lanka supports strengthening UN mechanisms for countering fund raising for illegal activities.
State sovereignty, civil society and the rule of law are increasingly being threatened by terrorism and other illegal and illicit activities in many countries, Rajapaksa said. Although the UN system has set up mechanisms to deal with many of these problems, the capacity of the UN to address these challenges effectively has been brought into question.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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A top reform politician said Wednesday that US demonizing of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad only strengthens hard-liners by rallying Iranians around their otherwise unpopular leader. Even worse would be a military strike against Iran, which he warned would set back democracy a decade or more.
Mohsen Mirdamadi is the leader of the largest pro-reform party in Iran, which has been working to make a comeback after being forced out of power by hardliners like Ahmadinejad, close to the country's Islamic clerical leadership.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Nut-t-t, Moud has already said Iran will ignore the UNO = any and all UNO sanctions imposed agz it. IOW, MOUD HAS JUST [pre-UN/UNSC Resolution]TECHNICALLY "JUSTIFIED" UNSC MIL ACTION AGZ IRAN, as SADDAM did. Might had worked pre-9-11 during Clinton 1990's, but NOT post 9-11 and NOT wid Dubya. Where pro-democracy Iranian reformers are concerned, means a longer wait wid a subjective outcome.
#2
Pure taqiyya bullshit spewed exclusively for Western consumption. Democracy is totally dead in Iran and not forthcoming anytime soon. The exceptionally dim prospect of a nascent democratic movement taking root in Iran is comprehensively outweighed by the need to neutralize their nuclear weapons program yesterday. End of story.
#3
Iranian moderate leader Rafsanjani:
"the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it will only damage the world of Islam."
I'm sure we all have a lot to gain by empowering Iranian moderates
#4
Even worse would be a military strike against Iran, which he warned would set back democracy a decade or more.
Then he and his buddies better get their ass in gear. Reform in "Iran" would be nice but it is by no means necessary. A desert of radioactive black glass suits my purposes just as well.
#7
Set back democracy? The goal of an attack is to set back Iranian civilization itself. No one in the 18th century had nukes! Yes, the ideal situation would be for Iran to evolve and become a participating member of the modern, globalized world, but I fear we will need to get their attention first.
#8
Pure taqiyya bullshit spewed exclusively for Western consumption.
You are correct Zen, an Associated Press writer--the 4th estate embedded in a 5th column effort.
An attack might enhance democracy in Iran; after all nuclear strikes enhanced democracy in Japan. Iran has arrogantly been rattling sabres for too long.
#9
The goal of an attack is to set back Iranian civilization itself.
Wrong. We do not need to go there, yet. Any attack upon Iran should center on neutralizing their atomic weapons program and whatever segments of the military are required to defend them or retaliate against Israel, Iraq and Gulf shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz.
If we managed to decapitate the mullacracy, the first wave of such an action might well assist the emergence of democracy. The West has nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving Iran its long awaited and richly deserved smackdown. If Iranonce liberated from the Mullahscontinues to pursue nuclear weapons or attempts to reinstall shari'a law, then we have every right to go all Mediaeval on them.
#10
An attack might enhance democracy in Iran; after all nuclear strikes enhanced democracy in Japan.
Good summation, JohnQC. Here's hoping that conventional strikes will be all that is required in Iran. It would be the very least that they deserve. As this world's pre-emminent Islamic theocracy, Iran's mullahs require immediate and catastrophic disassembly. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia follow it on the Christmas list.
#11
The ideal outcome in Iran is to somehow help the revolution to overthrow the theocrats. How I'm not sure, possibly a series of very well aimed bombs to take out the leadership the next time the Students are being supressed.
Leadership that has not so wholly bought into the notion of political elitism whereby they cannot bring themselves to assail the office of another fellow ruler. Also much needed are those who no longer accept the big lie that Islam is a Religion of Peace [spit].
#15
JPOST/YNET > Iranian Resistance group claims Iran is building another underground nuclear dev facility - says new nucdev facity may be ready in six months.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Wednesday expressed concerns about what he said was a "confrontation in the making" between Iran and the West, saying it was the last thing the troubled region needs.
Saber-rattling on the part of the United States and other Western nations in the face of Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment has further unnerved the Shiite country's predominantly Sunni neighbors. Arab countries are already concerned that Iran's growing influence in the Shiite-led Iraqi government will embolden their own Shiite communities, causing even more instability in a region where peace has been the stuff of dreams for decades. Based on his conversations with US officials and others, al-Faisal said that "what we are seeing is a confrontation in the making."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Again, Moud has publicly said Iran will ignore the UNO regardless of sanctions, in effect pre-justifying any UNSC mil action agz Iran. *IRAQ > IMO Radical Islam will wage one last final campaign for control of Iraq before shifting its focii + resources to the de facto defense of Iran.
Syria is willing to transfer the Shebaa Farms to the custody of the United Nations as part of an effort to resolve the sovereignty dispute over the area, which is currently under Israeli occupation.
So they're willing to give away land that they say they never owned and belongs to Lebanon?
The new Syrian position was outlined in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, who visited Damascus last month.
Israeli political sources said Tuesday that Syria's offer is meant to put pressure on Jerusalem, which opposes any withdrawal from Shebaa at this stage.
Moratinos sent the letter to the UN secretary general two weeks ago, after discussing the matter with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus. In it, Moratinos, who was the European Union's special envoy to the Middle East before becoming Spain's foreign minister, wrote that Syria is willing to transfer the area to UN custody even before the international border between it and Lebanon has been fully demarcated. The UN has been engaged in marking the border for the past year.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said last year that he would also like to see Shebaa transferred to UN custody, but Syria back then opposed the idea.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
ISRAEL > will NOT pull out nor allow UN auspice until after Israeli-Syrian border issues including milfor levels are formally resolved in treaty.
#5
SYRIA > Israeli news > HIZBULLAH, PFLP groups will back and suppor Syria with arms + Terror in case of war wid Israel. *No doubt IRAN is in there somewhere.
The leaders of Zimbabwe and Iran are looking to form a self-styled coalition for peace after receiving a joint tongue-lashing from US President George W. Bush, officials said Wednesday. The government in Harare confirmed President Robert Mugabe and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed the formation of such a coalition on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Bush delivered a harsh assessment of their regimes on Tuesday.
The United States and its allies are so bloodthirsty they dont want to see peace anywhere in the world, deputy information minister Bright Matonga told AFP. Our leaders are saying there is need for like-minded countries to come together and form a coalition that will discuss constructive developmental issues. The state-controlled Herald newspaper quoted Zimbabwes ambassador to the United Nations, Boniface Chidyausiku, as saying Mugabe and Ahmadinejad discussed areas of mutual interest in New York. Isolated by his former allies in the West after being accused of rigging his re-election in 2002, Mugabe has forged new alliances with countries in Asia as well as buttressed ties with traditional US foes such as Cuba and Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iran has all the best friends-Noth Korea,Syria,Zimbabwe,Venzauela!!!!A whos who of nasty dictatorships.
Whos next Burma?????
Posted by: Paul ||
09/27/2007 5:43 Comments ||
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#2
Irony is entirely lost upon such insufferable idiots.
#3
Friendship with Zimbabwe is a cost with absolutely no benefit. If I was driving a car of drunks named Iran, Zimbabwe, North Korea and Syria, I would drop off Zimbabwe first even if it took me way out of the way. I would consider Zimbabwe the most candidate to explosively vomit at an unannounced time and in an impolite direction.
I might consider "mistakenly" dropping them off at a random house on the way.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/27/2007 7:37 Comments ||
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday that he was canceling a scheduled meeting with his Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem because he was "shocked" by last week's assassination of a Lebanese anti-Syrian MP.
I'm starting to like the new, non-nuanced La Belle France.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
I'd be very interested to see what the French media have to say about their new "cowboy" gov't. JFM? ya still out there, mon vieux?
The United Nations has circulated a draft statement that restates support for free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon. The daily An Nahar on Wednesday quoted a French diplomatic source as saying that the statement, under examination, is expected to be finalized within the coming days. It said the statement also reiterates adherence to implementation of all U.N. Security Council resolutions on Lebanon, particularly 1559, 1680 and 1701.
Members of the Security Council call for timely, free and fair presidential election in accordance with constitutional norms and away form any external interference," the draft statement said. It said members of the Security Council "encourage all efforts" in this regard, and stress the need for the cessation of violence and intimidation against Lebanese MPs and institutions. An Nahar said the statement also reiterates its backing to Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and safety of its territories with its internationally recognized borders.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have faced ridicule in the United States by suggesting there were no homosexuals in Iran, but he won praise at home on Wednesday for taking his country's case to "the Lion's Den". Right on cue!
Generally, politicians and media in the Islamic Republic — even some who have previously criticised the president — described Ahmadinejad's visit to New York as a triumph and denounced the university president who called him "a petty and cruel dictator". Gee, didn't see that coming.
But one pro-reform newspaper said that, although the president told his U.S. audience he respected academics, that was not always how it seemed at home. Especially when he disagrees with the subject.
Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, travelled to the United States at a time of escalating tension between the two foes over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and the war in Iraq.
The president spoke at Columbia University on Monday and on Tuesday addressed the U.N. General Assembly, where he told world leaders the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions was "closed" and that military threats and sanctions had failed.
"By fearlessly and courageously riding in an armored car with heavy US and Iranian security walking into the 'Lion's Den' ... he is sure to become even more of a hero in the Arab-Muslim street than before," the daily Iran News wrote.
Iran denies U.S. accusations it is seeking atomic bombs, saying it wants to generate electricity. It also rejects accusations it is violating human rights and muzzling critics.
Around 200 lawmakers hailed Ahmadinejad's "historical and memorable" stay in New York, saying in a statement his "courageous" speech on Monday had made Muslims happy while angering Iran's enemies like Israel, the Mehr News Agency said.
Others condemned the way Ahmadinejad was treated at Columbia University, where he criticised Israel and the United States and provoked laughter and jeers by saying Iran had no homosexuals. They're either dead or hiding or being ignored.
Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Iran. See?
Introducing Ahmadinejad, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said he acted like a dictator and his Holocaust denials showed he was "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated".
One Iranian MP described Bollinger's remarks as insulting. Don't confuse insulting with the pain that can come along with the truth.
The head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi- Shahroudi, who has in the past criticised Ahmadinejad, said he had defied hostile "plotters" to deliver his speech.
But the reformist newspaper, Aftab-e Yazd, contrasted his comments in New York on how Iran respects its academics with the way some of them were being treated in the country. Like the American academics you respectfully arrested for no reason recently?
The daily referred to a harshly worded response by some officials to an open letter in June signed by 57 economists criticising the government's economic and foreign policies.
"No doubt, Ahmadinejad's logic and composure in the face of the Columbia University head's disgracing remarks is a cause of pride for all Iranians," it wrote. "However, history will remember this behaviour only if ... he can prove that he trusts all academics and in all affairs." Logic? Must mean something different if Farsi. And "composure" can come when you don't have your armed support mechanism around you.
Posted by: gorb ||
09/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
All the more reason why Ahmadinejad should have been frog-marched by an American military convoy from the airport to the UN and back. No stopoffs, no speeches, not even a pit stop for this genocidal bastard. We have allowed him a tremendous propaganda coup on a par with him gloating over Ground Zero. Bush was well within his rights to have issued an executive order prohibiting any excursions by Ahmadinejad while on American soil and was a total idiot not to have done so.
#5
Not a particularly brave act for A-jad considering that the United States actually respects diplomatic immunity and embassies, unlike certain other countries.
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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
A little more than a month ago, with the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaching and fears of a new al Qaeda attack rising, some U.S. intelligence and military analysts thought they had found one of the worlds two most wanted men just where they last saw them six years ago.
Still, some in the special operations and intelligence community are telling NBC News that there was a lack of coordination particularly in the choice of support troops. But with intelligence limited on who was there, no one is willing to say that the lack of key units permitted Bin Laden or Zawahiri to escape. 
On the other side of the border, a senior Pakistani official says the U.S. military helped thousands of Pakistani forces including their elite commando units set up a blockade to sweep up any al Qaeda fleeing Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday asked Congress to approve nearly $190 billion more in spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In prepared testimony to a Senate committee, Gates said the Bush administration sought the money for more training and equipment for the US military, including new armored vehicles that give extra protection to troops against bomb blasts. The funds were for the 2008 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Pakistan on Wednesday condemned ex-premier Benazir Bhutto for saying she would let the UN question Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced father of Pakistans nuclear programme.
Former premier Benazir Bhutto reiterated her willingness here on Wednesday to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Dr AQ Khan because she does not believe in a cover up. Curiously, a clarification issued by her party secretariat in Islamabad on Tuesday had denied that the Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson had made any such offer and in fact accused the media of distorting her words. At her news conference at the Middle East Institute, she not only repeated what her party secretariat had earlier denied but elaborated on her reasons for permitting access to the nuclear watchdog agency to question Dr Khan. She said she does not want Pakistan to be known as a rogue nation, nor did she believe in Pakistan exporting nuclear technology.
Federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi said on Wednesday that National Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was supporting the government because he was hoping to become the next prime minister. Speaking in Geo televisions program Capital Talk, Afgan said that the PPP and Maulana Fazlur Rehman were showing a soft spot for the government, adding that Rehman had showed that he had no connection with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM). 
The leaders of Zimbabwe and Iran are looking to form a self-styled coalition for peace after receiving a joint tongue-lashing from US President George W. Bush, officials said Wednesday. The government in Harare confirmed President Robert Mugabe and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed the formation of such a coalition on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Bush delivered a harsh assessment of their regimes on Tuesday. 
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday that he was canceling a scheduled meeting with his Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem because he was "shocked" by last week's assassination of a Lebanese anti-Syrian MP.
TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have faced ridicule in the United States by suggesting there were no homosexuals in Iran, but he won praise at home on Wednesday for taking his country's case to "the Lion's Den".
