Afghan President Hamid Karzai is obstructing efforts to tackle his country's drugs problem, says a former US narcotics official. Ex-US state department expert Thomas Schweich said Mr Karzai had protected drug lords for political reasons.
In an article for the New York Times, he claimed "narco-corruption went to the top of the Afghan government".
President Karzai has denied the claims, saying his government was succeeding in the field of counter-narcotics. "Nobody has done as well as us in the last seven years of in the field of counter-narcotics," he told reporters. He said his government had eradicated or greatly reduced drug production in more than half of the country's provinces.
In his article, in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday, Mr Schweich also wrote that the Pentagon and the British military saw poppy eradication as a problem to be tackled later, once the Taleban had been defeated.
Afghanistan's lucrative poppy crop supplies more than 90% of the world's illicit opium, the main ingredient of heroin, and is a valuable source of funds for the Taleban.
Mr Schweich backed earlier claims that Nato and US military commanders had been reluctant to get involved in fighting drugs, fearing that destroying farmers' crops would alienate tribesmen and increase support for the insurgents.
That's a real concern and illustrates why this is a tough, not easily solved problem.
Mr Schweich also claimed the Afghan president was not prepared to move against drug lords in the country's south, where most opium and heroin is produced, because the area is his political powerbase. "Karzai had Taleban enemies who profited from drugs but he had even more supporters who did," wrote Mr Schweich, who until June was the state department's co-ordinator for counter-narcotics and justice reform in Afghanistan.
But Mr Karzai denied his supporters were involved in smuggling. "I don't blame Afghans for drugs smuggling. They may do it due to helplessness and there may be only a few of them," he told reporters. "The rest are all members of the international drug mafia - it's they who benefit from this business," he said.
Mr Schweich also accused the US defence department and military commanders from its Nato ally Britain of obstructing attempts to eradicate the opium crop. He wrote: "Some of our Nato allies have resisted the anti-opium offensive, as has our own Defense Department, which tends to see counter-narcotics as other people's business to be settled once the war-fighting is over."
Mr Schweich claimed Britain had urged Mr Karzai to reject a US state department plan to stamp out poppy cultivation. "Although Britain's foreign office strongly backed anti-narcotics efforts (with the exception of aerial eradication), the British military were even more hostile to the anti-drug mission than the US military," he wrote. "British forces - centered in Helmand - actually issued leaflets and bought radio advertisements telling the local criminals that the British military was not part of the anti-poppy effort."
The claims come as Mr Karzai prepares to run for another term in office in next year's Afghan presidential elections.
Mr Schweich wrote: "Karzai was playing us like a fiddle. The US would spend billions of dollars on infrastructure development; the US and its allies would fight the Taliban; Karzai's friends could get richer off the drug trade; he could blame the West for his problems; and in 2009 he would be elected to a new term."
The United Nations says that enough opium was produced last year in Afghanistan to make more than 880 tonnes of heroin with a street value of $4bn ($2bn).
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "Drugs pose a threat to the future of Afghanistan, and the UK is one of the leaders in international efforts to combat the narcotics trade. We are committed for the long haul in this challenging endeavour, through a two-pronged approach, to tackle both supply and demand.
"Britain and the rest of the international community will continue to do everything we can to support the Afghan government fight the narcotics trade, and promote Afghan development."
No comment was forthcoming from the state department despite a request by the BBC News website.
The vast majority of Afghan insurgents are not necessarily the Taliban, but those who feel spurred to fighting by broken promises, lack of a stable government, blood feuds and economic considerations, according to a new book 'Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare', released here by the Centre for Naval Analysis (CAN), a local defence-related research establishment.
According to Daniel Marston, who contributed the book's chapter on Afghanistan, the Pashtun insurgents have been members of a group recently displaced from a position of political power and dominance within its own society.
The main focus of the Taliban is more political and economic than ideological, Marston writes, adding all three insurgent groups in the period from 2001 to 2007 relied upon the vast Pashtun belt of the Pakistani FATA for troops, supplies and support. Pakistan played an important role in the insurgency campaign, despite its governmental stance of support for US and coalition forces, he argues and says the reality of the Pashtun belt is its long history of resistance to government control and its close relationships with Pashtun tribes on the Afghan side of the border.
The Pashtun areas of Pakistan provided safe havens for insurgent troops, and considerable scope for cross-border traffic and smuggling activities, he continues Pakistan sent thousands of troops into the region to wage a campaign against "Taliban" forces and heavy but inconclusive fighting ensued, he says, adding the campaign was a drain on the Pakistan Army's resources and was highly unpopular with the Pakistani public.
The 2006 peace deal reached by Pakistan with tribal leaders eased the political situation within Pakistan but greatly disappointed Pakistan's coalition allies as it allowed the Taliban to retain considerable advantage, with sanctuaries over the border, providing volunteers, money and intelligence, he writes.
Marston concludes that carrying out a successful counterinsurgency campaign takes a substantial amount of money, and even more importantly, a substantial amount of political will, which may include the undertaking that such a campaign could last for decades, and that casualties are inevitable in providing security and holding cleared areas.
"For all -- military participants on the ground and civilians following through news reports -- this means looking at the situation from the perspective of the local community, and remembering that a Western upbringing and perspective is not a great help, and is frequently an active detriment, to understanding the world in which the average Afghan lives.
Greater comprehension paves the way for the implementation of a true counterinsurgency strategy, one that links up all the disparate groups from within the coalition, and includes not only the Afghan government but also the community, including the community fuelling the insurgency.
It is critical to remember that today's so-called enemy is likely to be part of tomorrow's solution. This has always been true, throughout the history of counterinsurgency," Marston writes.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
As per WAFF.com > MI5 > seems many of the Talibs are RADICALIZED YOUNG GERMAN TURKS whom traveled from Germany thru TURKEY to PAKLAND??? ARTICLE - GERMANY HAS TO RETHINK ITS NATIONAL SENSE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY FROM ISLAMIST THREAT.
*TOPIX > US: IRAN MISSLE CAN HIT BRITAIN, MOST OF EUROPE.
#2
Again, the media ignores the fact that Taliban gets at least $150,000,000 per year from the Heroin industry alone. And that is in addition to millions donated from Saudis and Pakistanis. Last I heard, Taleban pays $300 per month for terrorists. No drug money = no Taleban
#3
Labelling all opposition to the current Afghan government as Taliban is counter productive to say the least. The winning strategy in Iraq was turning the tribals against AQ. It's the only one I can see working in Afghanistan. Which is not to say I think it will work. But it has a better chance than any other strategy I've heard.
#9
Treasonous toad. Notice how his book gets its exposure with a Washington date-line in a Pakistani news outfit.
I suppose it's good news in a economic fashion - if we're outsourcing our phone support to India, al-Queda can outsource its propaganda production to the District of Columbia.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/24/2008 10:02 Comments ||
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#10
The war on Drugs (War on personal choice) -> High prices for drugs -> High profits for criminals.
Treat high drug users like the mentally ill, safely separate them from society for both parties benefit until they share the same reality.
#12
The other, typically unspoken, issue is that more than 25% of the Pak army is Pashtun, particularly NCO's in the combat arms. If the Pak army really tried to control the Pashtun belt in FATA and NWFP it would face a revolt from thier relatives in uniform.
*snicker* JFM, you forgot your /sarcasm thingy. Perhaps we could use those legendary suitcase nukes on them? That way we wouldn't have to let those bloody journalists natter on about their godhead Obama, whose inevitable parade to the White House would clearly ave been... interrupted.
#14
I think the drug problem needs to be divided into hardcore and softcore drugs. Softcore like Pot should be legalized. That would take a lot of the drug users out of the pool and make it easier to concentrate on the harder more addictive drugs. Even then we should have a three-strikes type rule for users. First two strikes and you get probation and/or counseling, mandatory detox and other annoyances rather than prison.
President al-Bashir of Sudan, who was charged last week with masterminding a campaign of rape and genocide in Darfur, flew into the war-ravaged region yesterday, claiming the role of peacemaker and revelling in a hero's welcome from his supporters.
Waving his cane in the air, Mr al-Bashir climbed on to a rickety desk before thousands of cheering men and wailing women who had gathered in the town of El Fasher, North Darfur, to hear him speak.
First they had to watch him dance. The President's face broke into a wide smile and he jiggled from side to side as a pop song praising his virtues boomed from speakers all around the dusty bowl. "We are for peace and the President/ Bashir is our leader," the jangling chorus went. Around him Zaghawa tribesmen on camels raised their whips in approval.
Mr al-Bashir faces ten charges brought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) relating to an alleged campaign of extermination against three Darfur tribes. His two-day tour of the region was being promoted as a peace mission, however, and he told his audience that the ICC had no right to investigate him.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Libya's state shipping company says it has halted oil shipments to Switzerland in protest at the brief arrest of leader Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son. It threatened further action if the Swiss did not apologise for the arrest. Because the spawns of oil-rich dictators are above the law, even in kufr lands; who do those infidels think they are anyway? Thanks allan, as kaddafy predicted in his tumbuctu speech, Europe soon is to become muslim, for its own good.
Geneva police held Hannibal Gaddafi for two days after he and his pregnant wife allegedly hit two of their staff. The couple face charges of bodily harm, threatening behaviour and coercion. They have denied any wrongdoing over the alleged incident on 15 July.
The stopping of oil shipments comes a day after the Swiss foreign ministry complained of Libya taking "retaliatory measures", such as forcing Swiss firms to close Libyan offices.
Libya's General National Maritime Transport Company - which has links to Hannibal Gaddafi - said in a statement that it had halted all oil shipments to Switzerland. The firm handles most of Libya's oil exports. However, the AFP news agency reported that oil carried by commercial vessels would not be affected.
In a joint statement with the national port authority, the company also said ships sailing under the Swiss flag had been banned from entering Libyan ports.
It is a row that could prove costly to both countries, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. Switzerland imports at least half its crude oil from Libya but Libya owns a large oil refinery in Switzerland.
Libya's influential people's committees have also called for Libya to withdraw its deposits from Swiss banks if an apology for the arrest is not forthcoming.
The Swiss foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Libya had "taken a number of worrying retaliatory measures" for Mr Gaddafi's arrest since he was released on bail on 17 July. It said Swiss companies ABB and Nestle had been ordered to close their Libya offices and that Swiss staff there had been arrested. Flights between Libya and Switzerland had been reduced, Libya had stopped issuing visas to Swiss citizens and Tripoli had recalled some of its diplomats from Bern, the Swiss foreign ministry said.
The ministry also said it had sent a delegation to Libya to explain Mr Gaddafi's arrest. What is there to explain? This arab dictator spoiled brat acted like the *rsehole he is, and the swiss followed THEIR law!
It has advised Swiss citizens not to travel to Libya until further notice.
It is not Hannibal Gaddafi's first brush with the law. In 2005 he was convicted by a court in France of assaulting his girlfriend.
#1
Wonder if Mo's got any Swiss bank accounts? Might be interesting to see what happens if they're frozen. Or, if the Swiss are really pissed off, have a look inside them.
#2
I suspect there is more going on behind the scenes. The Swiss are rarely direct in their foreign policy matters.
Typically, in such cases, they would send a message through diplomatic channels that his son was behaving in an inappropriate manner, and request corrective actions, to include discreet payments to the two servants. This makes sense both to Berbers and Arabs, and they usually comply. Everybody is happy.
So such a crude police action is being directed by the government for other reasons. In Switzerland, this would mean Khadaffi or his son playing hanky-panky with their banks, which really annoys them.
Arab nations have a huge banking presence in Switzerland, and obey the rules very carefully. For Libya to try a fast one there would be terribly rude.
#3
Hey, Switzerland: declare war against Kadaffy Duck, nationalize their holdings in Switzerland and confiscate any loot they have in Swiss banks. Close your embassies and any other offices that might be open in Libya. Switch doing business with Libya with doing business with Brazil, which will have plenty of crude to export in the very near future. Curtail all existing visas and refuse to allow any more, even for those visiting Geneva. Especially, close all Swiss hospitals to Libyans, and deport anyone already in the country. Let Libya cut off its nose to spite its face - they'll be the losers in the long run.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2008 16:38 Comments ||
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#4
Supreme Bullshit. Libya can't "halt Swiss shipments" because there are no Swiss tankers.
All Libyan oil is transported to the Italian harbor of Genova and distributed by middle companies without Libya even involved in the matter.
It would be very complicated for Libya to deny Switzerland the oil. If Libya insists Switzerland can just buy the oil elsewhere.
Posted by: Bill Flogum8968 ||
07/24/2008 19:52 Comments ||
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Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Pakistan denied an Al Qaeda claim that a suicide attacker who bombed the Danish embassy in Islamabad last month was a Saudi, in comments published on Wednesday. "No Saudi was involved in the terrorist attack against the Danish embassy in Pakistan," Ali Awadh Assiri said, quoted by the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat. "The attacker was not even Arab. According to documented official information, the features of the attacker were not close to Arab features," he said. A senior Al Qaeda leader, Mustafa Abu Al Yazid, said in a television interview aired on Monday that the suicide attacker came from Saudi Arabia. The June 2 embassy bombing killed six Pakistanis, one of them with dual Danish nationality.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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A British court ruled Wednesday that a radical Muslim preacher accused of helping to set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon cannot appeal against extradition to the United States to face terrorism charges. Justice Igor Judge refused Abu Hamza al-Masri's application to challenge his extradition in the House of Lords, the country's highest court of appeal.
The High Court ruled last month that al-Masri should be sent to the US, where an 11-count indictment accuses him of offenses including supporting al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Al-Masri's lawyers can still appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. His attorneys have questioned US assurances that he would not be mistreated or face the death penalty if convicted.
US officials allege al-Masri, 51, conspired to establish a training camp in Bly, Oregon, where followers received combat and weapons training for violent jihad in Afghanistan. They also say he assisted extremists who kidnapped 16 foreign tourists in Yemen in 1998. Three British tourists and one Australian visitor were killed in a shootout between Yemeni security forces and the captors.
Al-Masri also is accused of facilitating terrorist training in Afghanistan.
The former imam at London's Finsbury Park Mosque, al-Masri is one of Britain's best-known Islamist radicals. The Egyptian-born preacher is blind in one eye and has hooks in place of the hands he says he lost fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Under his leadership the Finsbury Park mosque became a magnet for extremists. Its worshipers included Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.
He was arrested in London on a US extradition warrant in 2004, but the process was put on hold while he stood trial in Britain for inciting racial hatred and encouraging followers to kill non-Muslims. He was convicted in 2006 and is serving a seven-year sentence.
#1
Take him to SoHo, inject him full of drugs, and let him die from an overdose. No problem, no expense, and his last few minutes on Earth will be whatever he makes of them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2008 18:04 Comments ||
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Pakistani and British security agencies are looking for a suspected female terrorist, traveling with children, who may enter the United Kingdom through Pakistan, sources told Daily Times on Wednesday.
The British authorities had declared "red alert" at Heathrow Airport on Monday and Tuesday, the sources said, adding that Pakistani security personnel checked a UK-bound flight at Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport following the reports.
The security forces searched passengers on-board the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-757, the sources said. On the directions of the security agencies the plane parked away from the airport's building. The security personnel especially searched women who were traveling along with children.
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official at the airport said the security agencies used sniffing dogs for the identification-and-search operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official at the airport said the security agencies used sniffing dogs for the identification-and-search operation.
North Korea on Thursday inked a nonaggression treaty with its Southeast Asian neighbors, a move that is hoped will promote peace, security and cooperation in the region.
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun signed the document formalizing North Korea's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia during the ceremony in Singapore, this year's chair of the meetings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Pak flew into Singapore to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's main security gathering, on Thursday.
On Wednesday, he took part in the informal round of six-party talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs, at which Pyongyang agreed to disable its main nuclear facilities by the end of October.
ASEAN warmly welcomed North Korea's accession, saying it will "significantly contribute" to strengthening relations between ASEAN and the North, and also help ease tensions gripping the Korean Peninsula.
"It's a good move. We welcome it very much, and we certainly hope that it will lead to other positive developments in reducing the conflicts and ease tension in the region," said Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN director general.
Northeast Asia is one of the last regions where vestiges of the Cold War still linger, making it one of the challenges confronting the region.
Aileen S.P. Baviera, dean of the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines, said North Korea's accession is a "positive sign," seeing it as a "commitment for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the region."
"It's good. It means that North Korea is opening up and wants to have a deeper integration with not just North Asia but also its Southeast Asian neighbors," Baviera told Kyodo News in an interview.
"It will not speed up the denuclearization process because ASEAN plays a minor role in the six-party talks but it will definitely contribute," she said.
ASEAN requested in February this year that Pyongyang accede to the treaty in a bid to engage the reclusive state.
The treaty, originally signed by ASEAN members in 1976, has since expanded to include other nations. North Korea would be the 15th signatory from outside Southeast Asia.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Australian police have accused a Muslim charity of channelling aid to Palestinian militants through an Islamic organisation banned by Australia and the US for its alleged terrorist links.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald daily, officers raided the office of Muslim Aid Australia on Thursday and spent several hours there. The charity, which states its main aim is to address the "persistent and recurring problems of global poverty", was recently accused of involvement with the British-based group, Interpal, banned in Australia and a labelled terrorist organisation by the US.
Interpal is a Palestinian aid organisation that has been accused of funding the Islamist movement Hamas. It was reportedly investigated and cleared by the British Charity Commission twice in the past 11 years but has remained on a banned list in Australia.
An Australian media report published earlier this month said MAA had admitted using Interpal to help funnel charity money into Gaza during Israeli border closures earlier this year. However, MAA reportedly changed its statement when questioned by the charity watchdog, the Australian Council for International Development, stating there had been no involvement with Interpal.
Interpal is a British-based humanitarian group also known as the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund. It has been cleared of terror links by the British Charity Commission but failed three years ago to have its proscribed listing revoked in Australia.
According to its website, Muslim Aid was established in 1989 by concerned humanitarians that saw a need for professional Muslim relief organisation. It says 80 percent of the worlds' refugees, facing ongoing crises and disaster, come from Muslim backgrounds. Gee! It's like... muslim countries are dysfunctional.
WASHINGTON The Bush administration plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading that countrys aging F-16 attack planes, which Pakistan prizes more for their contribution to its military rivalry with India than for fighting insurgents along its Afghan border.
Some members of Congress have greeted the proposal with dismay and anger, and may block the move. Lawmakers and their aides say that F-16s do not help the counterterrorism campaign and defy the administrations urgings that Pakistan increase pressure on fighters of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in its tribal areas.
The timing of the action caught lawmakers off guard, prompting some of them to suspect that the deal was meant to curry favor with the new Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, who will meet with President Bush in Washington next week, and to ease tensions over the 11 members of the Pakistani paramilitary forces killed in an American airstrike along the Afghan border last month.
The financing for the F-16s would represent more than two-thirds of the $300 million that Pakistan will receive this year in American military financing for equipment and training.
Last year, Congress specified that those funds be used for law enforcement or counterterrorism. Pakistans military has rarely used its current fleet of F-16s, which were built in the 1980s, for close-air support of counterterrorism missions, largely because the risks of civilian casualties would inflame anti-government sentiments in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
State Department officials say the upgrades would greatly enhance the F-16s ability to strike insurgents accurately, while reducing the risk to civilians. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress was weighing the plan, said the timing was driven by deadlines of the American contractor, Lockheed Martin.
Having the United States pay for the upgrades instead of Pakistan would also free up cash that Pakistans government could use to help offset rising fuel and food costs, which have contributed to an economic crisis there, the State Department officials said.
Under the original plan sent to Congress in April, the administration intended to use up to $226.5 million of the aid to refurbish two of Pakistans P-3 maritime patrol planes, buy it new airfield navigation aids and overhaul its troubled fleet of Cobra attack helicopters. The State Department notified Congress last week that the administration had changed its mind and would apply the funds to the F-16s.
Lawmakers immediately bridled at the shift, questioning whether the counterterrorism money could be spent more effectively. We need to know if this is the best way to help Pakistan combat Al Qaeda and the Taliban, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who heads the appropriations subcommittee on State Department and foreign operations, said in a statement.
Representative Nita M. Lowey, a New York Democrat who heads the House appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said in a statement, It is incumbent on the State Department and Pakistan to demonstrate clearly how these F-16s would be used to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban in order to get Congressional support.
In a two-page notification to Congress, the State Department said that upgrading the avionics, targeting and radar systems of Pakistans older F-16s would increase the survivability of the aircraft in a hostile environment and make the F-16s a more valuable counterterrorism asset that operates safely during day and night operations. The notification said the modernized systems would also increase the accuracy of the F-16s support of Pakistani ground troops, lessening the risks of civilian casualties.
Many Congressional officials remain unconvinced. Using F-16s this way is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer, said one senior Senate Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the current negotiations. It remains unclear whether any lawmaker will block or postpone the financing, and risk harming relations with Pakistan any further.
Even if approved, the upgraded F-16s would not be available until 2011, said one House aide who had been briefed on the issue, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, raising the question whether the funds could be spent on counterterrorism equipment that could be employed more quickly.
Pakistan agreed to buy about 70 F-16s in the 1980s, and about 40 were delivered before Congress cut off all aid and military sales in 1990, citing Pakistans secret development of nuclear weapons.
A new deal was struck after the Sept. 11 attacks to allow Pakistan to buy newer models, in part to reward Pakistans cooperation in fighting terrorism. In 2006, Pakistan was a major recipient of American arms sales, including the $1.4 billion purchase of up to 36 new F-16C/D fighter aircraft and $640 million in missiles and bombs. The deal included a package for $891 million in upgrades for Pakistans older F-16s.
At that time, the United States agreed to use $108 million of its annual security aid to Pakistan to retrofit the older F-16s with equipment to make them comparable to the newer models that will be delivered in the next several years. But the administration promised Congress that the Pakistani government would pay for the rest of the upgrades with its own funds. With Pakistan now facing economic hardships, top Pakistani leaders appealed to senior State Department officials to help defray the costs of the ongoing upgrades.
The debate over the F-16 financing comes at a time when Congress has grown increasingly frustrated with the administrations Pakistan policy, arguing it has been weighted too heavily on security assistance. The United States has given more than $10 billion in military aid to Pakistan since the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Pervez Musharraf agreed to become an ally in the campaign against terrorism. Of that amount, $5.5 billion was specifically intended to reimburse the counterinsurgency efforts by the Pakistani Army, but Congressional auditors have said that Pakistan did not spend much of that money on counterinsurgency.
Senior administration officials, including top military officers, are also voicing increasing exasperation with Pakistans efforts to combat militants in the mountainous region along the border with Afghanistan. We need Pakistan to put more pressure on that border, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on PBS on Tuesday.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/24/2008 07:54 ||
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#1
That's our George (imagine FDR giving free war planes to Fascist Italy).
#4
I wonder what the Indians say about us in private...
It isn't very complimentary.
Posted by: Grease Dark Lord of the Algonquins9226 ||
07/24/2008 9:54 Comments ||
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#5
Mmm. This has the stink of kabuki theatre about it. The Pakistanis get the impression that State's in their corner, they *don't* get their F-16s because of Congressional "interference", and the Pakistani Army starts getting the proper impression that maybe they'd get their aerial boomsticks if they start pretending like they actually control their own territory for a change.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/24/2008 9:58 Comments ||
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#8
In a two-page notification to Congress, the State Department said that upgrading the avionics, targeting and radar systems of Pakistan's older F-16s would "increase the survivability of the aircraft in a hostile environment"
Those formidable Al-Qaeda air defenses...
Posted by: john frum ||
07/24/2008 15:11 Comments ||
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#9
John--So what exactly are we trying to do? Are we trying to bribe Pakistan, or are we trying to contain India? What's the master plan?
#10
Someone at State got the bright idea that Pakistan's insecurity with respect to India hinders their commitment to the war on terror.
So their conventional capability had to be built up. Only when they felt their conventional forces could negate an Indian attack would they be free to cooperate in the WOT.
This ignores the historical fact that whenever Pakistan's conventional forces have been strong it has actually attacked India. It also ignores Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons, which were supposedly to deter a conventional strike by India.
Pakistan's nuclear weapons in fact deter Indian raids on terror camp infrastructure. They provide the space for Pakistan to freely fund, train and arm jihadis and send them into India to kill its citizens without risk of retaliation.
Pakistan has started all the wars with India not because they thought they could win a slugfest but in the belief that war would be limited. Their strategy assumes a war of fairly short duration as the outside world attempts to restore peace by cutting off the flow of arms and possibly imposing an oil embargo. So the objectives in any Pakistan attack was to seize territory in Kashmir that they could keep after a ceasefire and to seize territory elsewhere that they could trade after a ceasefire for more territory (or even the whole of Kashmir).
I don't buy this strategy (or the whole strategic depth thing in Afghanistan) but then I'm not a Pak military genius.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/24/2008 17:49 Comments ||
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#11
State hasn't been on our side in this conflict since the beginning. Tell them to go pound sand. Also, tell the pakiwakis to take a hike in Wazoo-land - all of them. Pakistan is NOT our friend, just pretending so they can stay on the international dole.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2008 18:46 Comments ||
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#12
Many foreign ministries tend to attract Arabophile and Islamophile types. Their romantic notions about the Islamic world get reinforced when they meet the elites of those cultures.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/24/2008 18:54 Comments ||
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#13
#10 john: "Someone at State got the bright idea"
Stop right there - no need for further explanation of this latest abortion.
Idiots.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/24/2008 19:02 Comments ||
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The Awami National Party (ANP) believes that there is no possibility of peace in NWFP as long as militant sanctuaries remain in the Tribal Areas, ANP NWFP President Afrasiab Khattak said on Wednesday. "For us, the serious issue is peace. For us, the serious issue is militants' sanctuaries in tribal areas. As long as they (sanctuaries) remain peace will be difficult to return," Khattak told Daily Times. ANP has pleaded for the old system where law and order in the Tribal Areas was co-ordinated by the home secretary.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistan's security forces made a rare arrest of a senior Afghan Taliban commander near Quetta on Saturday, Pakistani security officials and coalition forces in Afghanistan told Reuters.
A statement issued by British forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday said Mullah Rahim, operational commander of Taliban forces in Helmand, had surrendered to "authorities in Pakistan".
Western officials in the past have suspected the Pakistani security services of turning a blind eye to the presence of Taliban leaders in Quetta. "We've seen signs of change, yes, and arrests," said an official in Islamabad earlier this week.
Pakistan had still to confirm Rahim's capture, but Pakistani security officials, who had requested anonymity, had told Reuters on Monday that a suspect believed to have been the Taliban commander in Helmand had been caught over the weekend.
Raid: They said the man had been caught during a raid on a house in Kharotabad, Quetta. "We conducted a raid three days ago based on very credible information that some important Taliban figures were hiding with an Afghan family there," a senior intelligence official said.
Western allies suffering mounting casualties among troops in Afghanistan have put Pakistan under pressure to act against Taliban taking sanctuary on its territory.
The intensity of the pressure and more frequent US drone aircraft missile attacks on militant targets in Pakistani Tribal Areas have led to frenzied speculation in the Pakistani media that Western forces in Afghanistan could soon take unilateral action.
Deployment of more NATO troops near the Pakistan border has prompted fears they could be ordered across on "hot pursuit" or covert missions to eliminate "high value targets".
Pakistan opposes any such action that would violate its sovereignty and risk escalating the conflict in ethnic Pashtun lands straddling the frontier.
Taliban leader killed: The British statement said that hours after Rahim's arrest in Pakistan British forces killed another senior Taliban leader, the third in as many weeks. Abdul Razaq, alias Mullah Sheikh, was killed along with three fighters in a missile strike after midnight on Sunday at Musa Qala, a town in Helmand that has changed hands several times.
Similar successes have been trumpeted in the past, and Taliban sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Rahim had already been replaced by Mullah Nayeem as commander in Helmand.
Last December, the Afghan Defence Ministry said Mullah Rahim Akhond, the Taliban's governor for Helmand, and Mullah Mateen Akhond, district governor in Musa Qala, had been caught.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
So are they gonna give him up? Or did he come in for a little R&R?
#2
Meh. While I don't think Obama's actually visiting Pakistan, ISI producing another live body to make State turn sweet whenever there's an American VIP in the region is a trick which is getting pretty damned cliche.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/24/2008 10:06 Comments ||
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The intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert based on the news that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud has prepared a hit list of around 300 high-profile figures, including political leaders.
"Of course this type of information is received from time to time," said CID Chief DIG Saud Mirza, adding that the country was still under threat. "We are in coordination with all the intelligence agencies." Source close to an intelligence agency said that it was assumed that the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP), anti-Taliban Shia, Sunni clerics, personnel from the intelligence and law enforcement agencies, officials from the interior and provincial ministries and journalists could be targeted by the Pakistani Taliban. Their families were also believed to be at risk.
The MQM leadership was also informed by the LEAs when Jundullah members were arrested on charges of attacking the then corps commander of Karachi Lt Gen Ahsan Hayat. During interrogations, these men confessed that they targeted the party's leadership as its members were perceived as 'American agents'.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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The Mohmand Agency has come under the "complete control" of Umar Khalid after he eliminated another jihadi organisation operating in the area, local residents told Daily Times.
Khalid, a Safi tribesman who is commanding the Taliban in a very strategic tribal district, took "greater control" of Mohmand following a bloody campaign against the Shah Sahib militant group, whose chief and deputy chief were among eight killed on Friday. "He (Umar Khalid) is the strongest and most influential Taliban leader after Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi Faqir," residents told Daily Times by phone from Ghalanai.
A member of the militant group, following a meeting with Umar Khalid, said that there was now less likelihood that a fact-finding team sent from Baitullah Mehsud would penalise Khalid for his July 18 actions against the Shah Sahib group.
People from the banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyaba had originally led the group. "Any group not showing allegiance to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan will not be tolerated in the Mohmand Agency," Khalid had told reporters in his first press conference after taking over the headquarters of the rival jihadi outfit.
According to his close associates, Umar Khalid is a "born jihadi" who has glorified the fight against 'infidels' through his poetry. "His poetry is all about jihad," they added. Formerly a journalist, Khalid worked for pro-jihad publications Zarb-e-Momin and the daily Islam in the 1990s before he joined the "freedom struggle" of the Kashmiri people against Indian rule of occupied Kashmir. His affiliation with the two publications also earned him membership of the Ghalanai Press Club, local journalists said, adding that this membership was revoked after he became involved in militant activities.
Umar Khalid, who is currently in his early 40s, was the Harkatul Mujahideen chief in the Mohmand Agency before becoming a Taliban commander. According to his associates, his journey towards extremism began with a journey to Azad Jammu and Kashmir. "He was in Muzaffarabad on personal business when Azad Jammu and Kashmir jihadis contacted him. Since then Khalid's sole concern has been jihad," they told Daily Times by phone.
Against the US: According to Ghalanai administration officials, the Khalid-led group usually engages American forces in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar. They said that he closely co-ordinates with Maulvi Faqir, the Taliban chief of the neighbouring Bajaur tribal region. However, they added, Khalid "does not host foreign militants" in Mohmand like Faqir. Khalid claims that some 26,000 trained militants operate under his command. However, the figures are difficult to verify and people say they might be 'exaggerated'. Sources say that local elders believe that Khalid is getting too strong and someone has to keep him "under control".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Around 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen are poised to launch a military assault in Diyala province, a bastion of al-Qaeda fighters, from August 1, army and police officers say. "The operation is aimed at cleansing the region of insurgents, al-Qaeda and militias who are still there," a senior Iraqi military officer told AFP.
He said around 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen from various parts of the country would take part in the crackdown in the central Iraq province starting on August 1.
Senior Iraqi police officials in Baquba, the capital of Diyala, confirmed the assault would start on August 1. "It will be an operation led by the Iraqi army. The US army will probably only watch ... If they need help, we'll help them. If not, we will not do anything," a US military officer said.
Iraq's interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf announced on July 13 that the Iraqi military would launch an assault in Diyala but did not specify the date.
He said troops expected tough fighting during the assault.
Diyala and its capital Baquba are Iraq's most dangerous regions with insurgents regularly carrying out attacks, including by female suicide bombers.
The assault in Diyala follows similar Iraqi military operations in the southern provinces of Basra and Maysan, and the northern province of Nineveh.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The magic number of 30,000 means that this is not just a lark, it is a Corps-level operation. Nobody else in the ME, except Israel, can mount even Division-level operations. The best they can do are Brigade-level ops.
Even though other nations organize by Divisions, they are paper Divisions. Four Brigades under Divisional command can usually whip twice their number of separate Brigades. Division ops are that powerful. And organizing two Division commands under Corps operations would make them almost unbeatable against separate Brigades.
That is, the eight Brigades with Division and Corps command, could probably whip 12 or 15 equally armed separate Brigades.
Iran can muster about 12 Divisions in its army, and maybe 20 untrained IRGC infantry Divisions, that are pretty worthless except for human wave attacks.
If Iraq has its complement of 13 Divisions, of which it has three or four competent Corps commands, it will be able to kick seven bells out of the Iranian military and IRGC.
And if we have given their pilots good training in the US, as I expect we have, maybe equipped with some good fighter aircraft, no contest.
#2
Iran can muster about 12 Divisions in its army, and maybe 20 untrained IRGC infantry Divisions, that are pretty worthless except for human wave attacks.
You're referring to the Baseej* (volunteers). The IRGC at this point probably has better training, funding and equipment than the regular Iranian military. They're also a lot more corrupt than the regular forces (something to keep in mind).
* the Baseej also have at least two trained heavy-weapons units staioned in the north, reportedly battalion sized and trained for urban combat.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama visited the rocket-battered southern town of Sderot on Wednesday, where he said that the entire world must act to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. "A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama stated.
The Illinois senator also warned that a situation in which Iran had achieved this capability would be "game-changing."
"Not just in the Middle East, but around the world," he added. "Whatever remains of our Non-Proliferation Treaty would begin to disintegrate."
Obama vowed that as president he would not force Israel into making concessions that would put the country in danger for the sake of the peace process. "I don't think that Ms. Livni or Mr. Barak or Bibi [Opposition leader Benjamin] Netanyahu or the others, President Peres, when they spoke to me today got any sense that I would be pressuring them to accept any kinds of concession that would put their security at stake," he said in answer to a question from a journalist.
Later in the day he meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for dinner, at which point he told reporters that he had found among the Palestinians "a strong sense that progress is being made and honest conversations are taking place" in the peace talks. "Indeed, that's right," answered Olmert, who has pursued several diplomatic initiatives even as a corruption probe threatens to force him from office.
At the Sderot press conference, Obama said that Israel had every right to defend itself against attacks on its civilians, referring to the Qassam rockets that plagued the southern town and neighboring communities until a recent cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers. "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do everything in power to stop that, and would expect Israelis to do the same thing," he said.
In Gaza, Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum called Obama's remarks part of the American policy of bias toward Israel and giving legitimacy to Israeli crimes against our people.
The presidential hopeful was accompanied on his Sderot stop by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
FREEREPUBLIC > ISRAELNN - ISRAEL AT GREATEST THREAT/RISK TO NATIONAL SURVIVAL SINCE 1948; + IRAN-DAILY > RUSSIA TO DEPLOY NUKES IN CUBA. Unclear iff LR Bombers only, versus LR Bombers + NucWeaps; + IRGC, BASILJ READY FOR ANY EVENTUALITIES.
#3
TOPIX > AHMADINEJAD: IRAN HAS THE CAPABILITY TO BECOME A SUPERPOWER; + KAGAN: ONLY WAY TO STOP IRAN ENRICHMENT IS TO ATTACK; + BREZINZKI: US ATTACK ON IRAN MEANS DISASTER WITH FOUR FRONTS, TWENTY MORE YEARS OF WAR AGZ MILITANTS.
OTOH, RIAN > Pert versus Pert > Russian MilBases in Venezuela is UNLIKELY due to lack of resources by Russ to support them, versus Russ should open a "SPY FACILITY"? in Cuba to keep track of US GMD.
#9
Obama is a master of semantics. By the World, he means the UN. Half-bright is even one of his advisors. In the Bin Ladens of Kosovo article yesterday, they touted their tolerance of Muslims and Catholics as a workable model, explaining why new mosques were dotting the landscape yet western dress and smut prevailed. An excerpt: After the war many humanitarian organizations came here, in general from the Gulf Kuwait, Qatar, others. We havent had rules, we havent had a government. All things have been under the U.N., so they opened the door to these kind of organizations. They operated legally. We couldnt have control. Why? Because they have the money.
Any worldly UN solution will be the demise of the whole world.
#11
Trailing wife, the world will accomplish this by doing nothing (or selling equipment through the Iranian back door) until the US acts, and then berating us for our militarism. That is there plan, I'm curious how long it takes Obama to figure it out.
#12
I don't know how anybody can trust this guy with anything let alone Iran. I watched his interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC news last night. In fairness, it looked to me anyway like Gibson was trying to ask tough questions and had Obama tripping up a bit. The guy is nowhere near being ready for prime time. My problem is that I still don't trust McCain either. It sucks.
#13
Choose the lesser of two evils, dear Ebbang Uluque6305. That's all that our 'first past the post' political system ever results in.
Jon Stewart of the Daily Show thoroughly mocked Candidate Obama's Tour of Duty last night, and the worshipping press trailing behind, so this is not going unnoticed where it counts.
#14
...where he said that the entire world must act to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. "A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,"
Sure hope the voters come to their senses and get over the "love in" with BO. This guy is not ready for prime time (or for that matter late, late night). Obama, the world is not going to do anything about a nuclear Iran other than wring their hands. Should you, God forbid get to be President, it will be up to you to figure out something. No time for naivite, conflict resolution, community organization, and timidity. Iran says they will use a nuclear capability when they get it. You will be in the catbird seat and actually have to do something. How are you going to prevent Iran from obtaining nukes? So far Iran has lied and been duplicitous while buying for time. Sanctions against Iran are working about as well as they did against Iraq under Saddam. Negotiations are going nowhere. What makes you think you are so much smarter than everyone else? What makes you think you can bring about change? As the saying goes: "Spit in one hand and hope in the other and see which fills up more quickly."
#15
This statement now from the guy who said that Iran poses no significant threat to us and he'd sit down to talk directly with Achmedinajad...Oh right - that was during the primary!
(Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday refused to comment on a initiative proposed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to exchange prisoners with Israel.
"There is a decision in the movement not to speak about anything related to the negotiations over the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who is held in Gaza Strip, in order to achieve the swap under the Egyptian sponsorship," said Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman.
Radwan added that the negotiations to exchange Shalit for a number of Palestinian prisoners are halted despite the Arab and international mediation efforts.
Hamas demands Israel to free 1,000 prisoners, including 450 who serve life sentences in exchange for Shalit's return. Hamas also wants Israel to release all women, children and old detainees.
Radwan revealed that Israel has earlier accepted to free about 70 prisoners out of the 450 and latest reports said that Israel has agreed to release 300.
He also ruled out the option of holding direct talks with Israel on the swap as Carter's initiative suggested.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday refused to comment on a initiative proposed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to exchange prisoners with Israel.
Oh my aching balls. Will this senile old coot hurry up and die.
U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama carried out a whirlwind tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visiting a rocket-battered town in southern Israel. VOA's Jim Teeple has the details from our Jerusalem bureau.
Barack Obama's visit attracted intense scrutiny and interest from both Israelis and Palestinians. The Illinois senator began his day meeting with senior Israeli cabinet members, and then met with Israel's ceremonial head of state President Shimon Peres.
The two men spoke to reporters and Obama, the presumptive nominee of the U.S. Democratic Party, pledged strong support for Israel. "I am here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States and my abiding commitment to Israel's security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner, whether as a U.S. senator or as president in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region," Obama said.
Obama took that message of commitment to the Middle East peace process to the West Bank city of Ramallah where he met with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. "Whoever wins the election in the United States we hope they will stay the course - the course of the two-state solution - the course of ending the Israeli occupation - the course of standing shoulder to shoulder with Palestinians and Israelis in order to reach the objective specified in the 'road map' peace plan to create a two-state solution of Palestine and Israel living side-by-side in peace and security," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Since he is such a polyglot, he probably was able to say one thing in Arabic, another in Hebrew, and a third in English, and a fourth in Farsi.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/24/2008 0:58 Comments ||
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#5
Both ways Obama. I haven't decided if he is a mindless puppet of his advisors or a diabolically brilliant master of semantics. He also says no to healthcare for illegal immigrants yet spouts the number of 47 million uninsured to be covered, which includes about 10 million illegals!
If Israel is a true friend of Israel, they'd quit doing to stupid sh*t they're doing. Of course if the 57 variety states elect this bumbler then well..
Posted by: bruce ||
07/24/2008 11:51 Comments ||
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#8
He also said that this fall he pledges support to both Michigan and Ohio State, the Yankees and Red Sox, Georgia and Florida, the Patriots and Colts...
Looking up in Iraq is still a dangerous proposition. Mortar blasts continue to penetratewith rare deadly forcethe Green Zone and other protected areas because militias can find them, like rockets and other indirect-fire weapons, on the cheap, and fire them from shoot-and-hide platforms.
In an attempt to shore up its safe havens in the war zone, the Pentagon asked Boeing a year ago to develop a preliminary design for a system that could control a laser beambut not just any laser beam. This one would come mounted on a truck that could defeat a persistent surprise threat from above. And this week the defense contractor delivered, bringing the Army one step closer to getting what can only be described as a laser truckone capable of disabling incoming rounds. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2008 13:47 ||
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Posted by: Dr. Evil ||
07/24/2008 14:03 Comments ||
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#4
It's about time, I wonder how many rounds it can handle at once? Now all they need is a targeting system that computes the parabolic trajectory of the round and automatically dispatches return fire to within a few feet of the origin.
#5
They are probably using pulsed solid-state lasers which have a very rapid turn around. A bunch of lasers that fire in order through lenses, Gatling gun style, giving the others time to cool down.
Interestingly, this use of laser goes against the rule for lasers. That is, usually you want a narrow beam, but in this case, you want a wide beam.
If you were using a narrow beam, it could take as much as 100kW of energy to burn into a flying 60mm mortar round. However, if instead you use a wide beam to *heat* the round, you only need about 20kW to heat it up so much it bursts.
#6
bj-k, they've had counterbattery radar for decades. I suspect that the launch sites are in inhabited areas and the return fire is not so accurate you can guarantee no innocents will be killed (no eyes on the ground for smart munitions). The launch teams bail before troops or drones can get "eyes on" (they hope).
#7
Moose, since the photo shows the system fits on one truck, it sounds like a laser diode pumped Nd:YAG disk laser. The semiconductor laser diodes are all switched on at the same time to get maximum power per volume. Add a large bank of NiMH or high power Lithium batteries and the system won't even have to run it's generators most of the time.
Posted by: ed ||
07/24/2008 21:22 Comments ||
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Iran's Supreme Cultural Revolution Council headed by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared 5 August an annual international Islamic human rights day.
The conservative-dominated council also nominated 12 July as an annual 'National Virtue Day for the Veil'.
The Islamic dress code requires Muslim women to cover their bodies from head to toe.
Iran's hardline authorities last year launched a crackdown on young men and women deemed to be wearing 'immoral' western-style dress, such as short coats and sleeves, jeans or sporting 'western' haircuts.
The Islamic moralisation campaign has also targeted satellite dish owners and alcohol consumption,as well as boutiques selling western food, western music, and dog-walking.
Dogs are banned from public places, as Islam considers them impure.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/24/2008 10:03 Comments ||
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#4
July 12, 1191 - Saladin's garrison surrenders, ending the two-year siege of Acre. Conrad of Montferrat, who has negotiated the surrender, raises the banners of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and of the Third Crusade leaders Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Leopold V of Austria on the city's walls and towers.
Mourners in Syria buried dozens of guerillas killed fighting Israel over the years after their remains were returned Wednesday as part of a deal between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel.
Relatives waiting at Syria's border with Lebanon showered the coffins with rice and rose petals. Black-clad Muslim women among the thousands of Syrians and Palestinians in the crowd uttered cries of joy as they watched the convoy snake toward the Syrian capital, Damascus, for a burial ceremony.
Israel returned the remains of nearly 200 Arab fighters to Lebanon last week in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Israel also released five Lebanese prisoners. In return, Hezbollah returned the remains of two Israeli soldiers the group captured in a cross-border raid that triggered the 2006 war.
On Wednesday, 114 of the slain fighters were returned to Syria. Most of the dead were Palestinians and Syrians. There were also eight Tunisians, three Libyans, an Iraqi and a Nigerian. The were transported from Lebanon to Syria after Hezbollah identified the remains.
By also seeking the return of non-Lebanese fighters in the deal, Hezbollah sought to broaden its support among all Arabs, not just Lebanese Shiite Muslims.
A young Libyan man who came to collect the remains of his father, killed 19 years ago while carrying out an attack in Israel, said he was thankful for Hezbollah's effort in the negotiations. "I feel proud. We have waited a long time for this moment," said the 20-year-old, Ibrahim Ali Nonsah.
The coffins, covered with wreaths and Palestinian and Syrian flags, were trucked across the border to a ceremony attended by representatives of the Syrian government and radical Palestinian factions based in Damascus.
Some of the slain fighters were buried later at a cemetery in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus. Tens of thousands of mourners waved Palestinian flags and shouted for the killings to be avenged.
Others will be buried elsewhere in Syria. The remains of the other Arab fighters will be handed over to their governments.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Al Qaeda allies running terror camps for tots on the Afghan-Pakistan border are using video of a boy martyred in combat to recruit jihadis. The apparently lifeless body of the child, an Uzbek boy younger than 11, is the focus of the grisly half-hour video by the Islamic Jihad Union - a radical Uzbek group practically indistinguishable from Osama Bin Ladens network, according to U.S. officials.
"In a fierce battle in Waziristan between the soldiers of Allah and the friends of Satan, Abd al-Rahim was wounded by an arrow," says an Uzbek narrator, referring to a bullet or shrapnel. "They couldn't find doctors, and under these conditions it wasn't possible to treat his wound. So, our young mujahid, Abd al-Rahim, reached martyrdom," the narrator says as the camera pans over the dead boy's face shrouded in a white cloth.
The video was obtained from the terrorism research service SITE Intelligence Group. The ghastly film follows Abd al-Rahim and a dozen young boys in camouflage shirts and black headbands reading "There is no God but Allah" as they train with rocket-propelled grenades, pistols and Kalashnikov rifles.
The dead boy was "a translator between the native fighters and the mujahideen," the video says. Al Qaeda is littered with Uzbeks who marry into local Pashtun clans for protection. Many were slaughtered last year by their Pashtun hosts for abusing women, sources have said.
NATO and U.S. military officers told the Daily News its rare to find juveniles on the battlefield. Last week, a boy in a suicide vest killed himself and two Afghan soldiers in Helmand province. In early June, NATO troops "caught two IED trigger persons who were later released due to their age, ten and under," said Army 1st Lt. Nathan Perry. In May, Pakistani troops raided a compound they claimed was used to train kids as young as nine for suicide bombings in Afghanistan. But a U.S. special operations document referred to the army raid as a "ruse."
#3
This culture is unfit to continue.
What would the moral relativistic consequences of dropping Tsar Bomba on Waziristan be? It's a wash, die their way, or die our way.
(Xinhua) -- Osama bin Laden's former driver has heard the al-Qaida leader express satisfaction with the death toll of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the U.S. which was more than his expectation, according to a news report on Wednesday.
Citing a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, the Washington Post report said that the arrested driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, told U.S. interrogators at the Guantanamo detention center bin Laden was "happy about the results" of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000, while his expectation on the death toll was "only" 1,000 to 1,500.
The agent, Ali Soufan, also told Hamdan's military trial that during an interrogation in 2002, the driver said he had directly witnessed a meeting on Sept. 11, 2001, in Kabul, Afghanistan, between bin Laden and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, self-claimed mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when the al-Qaida leader praised the 19 suicide hijackers-to-be for "their courage."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > GORDON BROWN:UK TO BEGIN WITHDRAWING TROOPS FROM IRAQ IN EARLY 2009; + SEVEN YEARS LATER AND STILL NOT PROTECTED? USA vv DHS still NOT safe from yet from any MAJOR NUCLEAR-WMD ACT9S) OF TERRORISM. US national borders are so porous, open andor unprotected that its "impossible"? for the US TO PREVENT ANY COVERT SMUGGLING OF NUCLEAR DEVICES OR WMDS FROM ENTERING INTO THE COUNTRY AND BEING USED FOR CATASTROPHIC = DESTRUCTIVE TERROR PURPOSES???
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.
Libya's state shipping company says it has halted oil shipments to Switzerland in protest at the brief arrest of leader Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son. It threatened further action if the Swiss did not apologise for the arrest. 
A British court ruled Wednesday that a radical Muslim preacher accused of helping to set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon cannot appeal against extradition to the United States to face terrorism charges. Justice Igor Judge refused Abu Hamza al-Masri's application to challenge his extradition in the House of Lords, the country's highest court of appeal. 
North Korea on Thursday inked a nonaggression treaty with its Southeast Asian neighbors, a move that is hoped will promote peace, security and cooperation in the region. 
Australian police have accused a Muslim charity of channelling aid to Palestinian militants through an Islamic organisation banned by Australia and the US for its alleged terrorist links.
U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama carried out a whirlwind tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visiting a rocket-battered town in southern Israel. VOA's Jim Teeple has the details from our Jerusalem bureau. 
Iran's Supreme Cultural Revolution Council headed by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared 5 August an annual international Islamic human rights day.
Al Qaeda allies running terror camps for tots on the Afghan-Pakistan border are using video of a boy martyred in combat to recruit jihadis. The apparently lifeless body of the child, an Uzbek boy younger than 11, is the focus of the grisly half-hour video by the Islamic Jihad Union - a radical Uzbek group practically indistinguishable from Osama Bin Ladens network, according to U.S. officials.
