WASHINGTON -- With Afghanistan's election crisis deepening, Sen. John Kerry says it would be irresponsible for the U.S. to consider sending additional troops to the region at this time.
What's irresponsible, Jahwn, is for us to leave our soldiers in the field without the means and support they need to do the job they were sent to do.
In taped remarks, Kerry said it would be misguided to have a troop buildup to achieve a mission of "good governance" when the election is not yet finished.
What would he know about 'good governance'? He's from Massachusetts for crying out loud ...
Kerry, who unfortunately chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was in Kabul on Saturday.
Kerry spoke on CNN's "State of the Union," which airs Sunday.
In a separate interview to be broadcast Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Kerry said: I don't see how President Obama can make a decision about the committing of our additional forces or even the further fulfillment of our mission that's here today without an adequate government in place or knowledge about what that government's going to be."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Aww you stupid french man. Shut up already. You know nothing. In fact far more nothing than the nothings in office now.
#2
He'd be better at it were he really French, newc. He's only semi-French on one side, and due to an unusual education. I wonder if the Kennedy cousins didn't want him around? I'm not aware that any of the real Kennedys went abroad for school. 'Course, it's not something I actually pay attention to...
#7
We must listen to Kerry. After all, he knows about combat. He won a Silver Star! And 3!!!! Purple Hearts. /sarcasm
Of course, after he was released from active duty (but NOT from the Navy), he treated with the enemy. Which in the good old days used to be called treason.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/18/2009 10:57 Comments ||
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What's irresponsible, Jahwn, is for us to leave our soldiers in the field without the means and support they need to do the job they were sent to do.
Truth shines through!
I don't see how President Obama can make a decision about the committing of our additional forces unless he reads the frigging plan! There fixed.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/18/2009 11:26 Comments ||
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If only kerry had some shame in him we would never hear from him again.
Afghanistan's government on Saturday offered the equivalent of $40,000 in return for information on Taliban militants who have infiltrated the capital Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.
Scores of people in the capital have been killed in five suicide car bomb attacks in the past two months as the Taliban intensify their insurgency amid a political crisis following presidential elections on August 20.
"People who provide information leading to the arrest of these people will be awarded two millions afghanis ($40,000) by the Interior Ministry," it said in a statement.
"It is the responsibility of every patriotic Afghan" to inform police if they suspect insurgents are living or operating in their neighbourhoods, it said.
In the most recent attack, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb at the Indian embassy, the second attack on the building in just over a year, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 60.
Taliban activity has accelerated in recent months as foreign and Afghan troops step up anti-insurgency efforts, mainly in the south.
The United States and NATO have more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, but President Barack Obama is considering a request for tens of thousands more, as troop deaths rise alarmingly -- to more than 400 so far this year.
The government's reward offer hints at the spreading presence of the insurgents inside the capital, which is heavily fortified and yet as the recent attacks show, increasingly vulnerable to attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
How much for scalps?
Posted by: ed ||
10/18/2009 1:03 Comments ||
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Taliban claimed responsibility for a massive suicide car bomb
Is this the same Taliban the filthy, lying scumbag in the WH legitimized?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/18/2009 16:57 Comments ||
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Oh, you meant in Afghanistan, ed. Sorry about that...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/18/2009 16:58 Comments ||
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Is this the same Taliban the filthy, lying scumbag in the WH legitimized?
Don't be silly, Woozle Uneter9007 dear. Those Taliban are trustworthy, honest, pious, and brush their teeth twice a day. These Taliban are vile, murdering opportunists who aim to be evil incarnate. The White House would never have dealings with such as these. ;-)
On a more serious note, Taliban is a catch-all term for a variety of different groups, as far as I can tell. Each is defined by its leader. Some want to take over Pakistan, some to take over Afghanistan, some are just bandits using religious cover for kidnapping and general criminality.
International pressure to resolve Afghanistan's disputed election intensified on Saturday when senior foreign officials talked with President Hamid Karzai. The discussions, some by telephone and some in person, took place just before the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission was to announce the findings of its investigation into allegations of fraud in the August 20 presidential vote.
The accusations have left Afghanistan in a state of political uncertainty at a time when US President Barack Obama is deciding on sending more troops to fight the Taliban. If Karzai's vote tally is reduced, he could face a run-off round against former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. "The second round is definitely on the radar screen right now," said a Western official close to the process. "This is why there are delays. There are some tense negotiations going on."
A host of high-level visitors arrived in Kabul for talks before the announcement, including US Senator John Kerry, who is chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. "This is very complicated," Kouchner told reporters. "We want to understand why it is not possible to get a consensus. But you need to work together."
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US ambassador to Afghanistan, was also in Kabul on a private visit, the US embassy said. Karzai separately spoke by phone to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Pakistani President Asif Zardari and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Karzai's office said.
Outcome: A US diplomat said Kerry's goal was to "highlight the need for a legitimate outcome in this election".
The elections are a vital element in Western plans to stabilize Afghanistan and deny sanctuary there to militants believed to have used it as a base for actions across the globe, including the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
More than 100,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan fighting Taliban insurgents but growing casualties and doubts about the Karzai government are undermining support for the effort in the United States, Britain and other countries involved.
Unveil: After several delays, the Complaints Commission would unveil its findings this weekend. Once it has approved them, the Afghan election commission will adjust the tallies and announce the final result.
Karzai won 54.6 percent of the vote, according to preliminary figures. More than 250,000 votes would have to be thrown out from his tally for it to fall below 50 percent. If enough votes were disqualified, the incumbent would face Abdullah in a second round -- barring possible legal steps to invalidate the decision or an Abdullah decision to withdraw.
While accusing Karzai's camp of fraud and calling for a second round, Abdullah has hinted he might be open to some discussions after the first round result is announced. A run-off pitting Karzai against Abdullah would be due within two weeks. Security threats stemming from the insurgency and the onset of the bitter Afghan winter, which makes much of the country impassable, could undermine the effort.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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No luxury cruise but a ticket to jihad was the prize for the winners of a team quiz organised by Somalia's insurgent Shebab group during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
"The reason the young men were rewarded with weapons is to encourage them to participate in the ongoing holy war against the enemies of Allah in Somalia," Sheikh Abdullahi Alhaq said at a ceremony late Friday.
The radio-broadcast quiz organised by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab organisation in the southern Somali city of Kismayo lasted throughout Ramadan, which ended last month.
Five neighbourhoods of the port city entered the competition, which consisted mainly of questions on science, culture and the Koran.
The winners -- a team from Farjano district -- were given a first prize consisting of one AK-47 assault rifle, two hand grenades, an anti-tank landmine and office supplies at a ceremony attended by hundreds of residents.
"The team in the first place gets the weapons and office equipment worth upward of 1,000 dollars," Sheikh Abdullahi Alhaq said, sparking cheers and applause in the crowd.
"It was a wonderful event because I have never seen students being rewarded with weapons as a result of an education competition", Mohamed Hersi, a Kismayo trader who attended the ceremony, told AFP.
The Shebab and an alliance of local Islamist factions seized control of Kismayo -- one of the country's main ports -- more than a year ago and imposed a strict form of Sharia, banning sports, DVDs and Western clothes.
The quiz show's runners-up had to settle for an AK-47 and ammunition.
Hardline Islamists in Somalia publicly flog women in Sharia crackdown A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'.
The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday. The women are then inspected to see if the firmness is natural, or if it is the result of wearing a bra. If they are found wearing a bra, they are ordered to remove it and shake their breasts, residents said.
'Al Shabaab forced us to wear their type of full veil and now they order us to shake our breasts,' a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped on Thursday.
'They are now saying that breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat.'
Officials of Al Shabaab, which Washington says is Al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, declined to comment.
Abdullahi Hussein, a student in north Mogadishu, said his elder brother was thrown behind bars when he fought back a man who humiliated their sister by asking her to remove her bra. 'My brother was jailed after he wrestled with a man that had beaten my sister and forced her to remove her bra. He could not stand it,' Hussein said.
Men were not spared the' moral cleansing'. Any man caught without a beard was been publicly whipped.
'I was beaten and my hair was cut off with a pair of scissors in the street,' Hussein said. 'My trouser was also cut up to the knee. They accused me of shaving my beard but I am only 18. They have arrested dozens of men and women. You just find yourself being whipped by a masked man as soon as leave your house.'
#1
The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday. The women are then inspected to see if the firmness is natural, or if it is the result of wearing a bra. If they are found wearing a bra, they are ordered to remove it and shake their breasts, residents said.
#2
These perverts are just trying to "cop a feel" in the name of a creepy cancerous Sharia Law. Next better count and check the goats--make certain none have been abducted or abused.
#3
Ah, yes. Back when I was young - and the girls I was watching were young - I too preferred the lack of 'deception'. But I would not have wielded a whip over it. And as years go by, gravity works, and the 'deception' becomes appreciated.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/18/2009 13:08 Comments ||
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#6
Just a bunch of insignificant men trying to pretend they really matter. I think that explains all of Islam in a single sentence. Why do we pay attention to these idiots?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/18/2009 17:01 Comments ||
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The Obama administration has formulated a new policy for Sudan that proposes working with that country's government, rather than isolating it as President Obama had pledged to do during his campaign.
In an interview on Friday, President Obama's special envoy to Sudan, Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, retired, said the policy, to be announced Monday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, would make use of a mix of "incentives and pressure" to seek an end to the human rights abuses that have left millions of people dead or displaced while burning Darfur into the American conscience.
General Gration said the administration would set strict time lines for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to fulfill the conditions of a 2005 peace agreement that his government signed with rebels in southern Sudan.
Under that agreement, independence for southern Sudan is to be put to a vote in 2011.
"To advance peace and security in Sudan, we must engage with allies and with those with whom we disagree," said a statement of the policy that was obtained by The New York Times.
General Gration said the administration's new approach was also intended to prevent Sudan, which once provided refuge to Osama bin Laden, from again serving as a terrorist haven.
During his campaign, Mr. Obama criticized the Bush administration for doing too little to stop the killing.
His new policy, the result of months of vigorous and heated debate within the administration, signals a significant shift in the president's thinking, which his aides say is a reflection of changing facts on the ground.
In recent months, analysts from both inside and outside the United States government have reported that "low-intensity" skirmishes replaced systematic slaughter by government-supported militants on one side and rebel groups on the other. Villages are no longer being burned down at the same rate, although some say that is because there are few villages left to burn.
Crime has replaced warfare as the biggest threat to civilians. And intelligence officials say Sudan has provided important cooperation in the United States' fight against terrorists.
The Obama administration continues to use the word genocide to characterize the killings in Sudan, and aides acknowledged that the word loomed large in their months of deliberations.
But Michael Abramowitz, director of the Committee on Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, wrote on the committee's Web site, "Now conditions in Sudan have changed. We believe it is most accurate to place Darfur and the rest of Sudan in our 'genocide warning' category."
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "People were wrestling with the question of how to deal with the fact that to get to the best-case scenario -- which is to change the behavior of the Khartoum government -- we are going to have to work with a government responsible for so many atrocities."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Ah, I see the Hondurans problem. They didn't kill 2 million of their dhimmis citizens. Barack Hussein Obama is really trying very hard to make Jimmy Carter History's Second Worst Monster.
Posted by: ed ||
10/18/2009 1:08 Comments ||
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#2
The BOA (big O administration) will get as much traction out of this policy as their approach to Iran. Reminds me of the Onion video of the Big O deciding to make it his policy to start a dialogue and negotiation with the southern California wildfires.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/18/2009 1:20 Comments ||
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In recent months, analysts from both inside and outside the United States government have reported that "low-intensity" skirmishes replaced systematic slaughter by government-supported militants on one side and rebel groups on the other. Villages are no longer being burned down at the same rate, although some say that is because there are few villages left to burn.
"See - if you dither long enough, the problem solves itself!"
#5
Being black, it's _OK_ for Obama to side with arabs trying to ethnically cleanse their country of darkie untermenschen without drawing any anger or criticism from the blacks here in the US.
Sooner or later, I'd like to hear an explanation from a liberal as to whether they have any _real_ reasons for disliking Hitler, other than him being an underachieving loser.
The 17-year-old winner of a holy Quran recital and general knowledge competition organised by Al Shabaab rebels in Southern Somalia got an AK-47 gun, two hand grenades, a computer and an anti-tank mine as prizes. The runner-up in the month-long competition aimed at 10-25 year olds, a 22-year-old, received an AK-47 and ammunition at the ceremony, where the rebels urged parents to allow children to learn how to handle weapons and fight against the enemy. Somalia's 18-year conflict now pits Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam rebels against the UN-backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Consolation prize: Suicide bombs for all!
Posted by: ed ||
10/18/2009 1:09 Comments ||
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And our administration's (...using only the force necessary to accomplish the mission)aka 'hearts and minds' campaign aimed at the indigenous people, how is it coming along again?
[Kyodo: Korea] The United States said Friday it has given the go-ahead to a planned visit by a senior North Korean diplomat late this month at a time when the two countries are gearing up for direct talks aimed at restarting stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks. ""The State Department has decided to authorize the issuance of visas for Ambassador Ri Gun and his delegation to attend conferences in the United States in late October,"" department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Among the North Korean people, there is great fear about food shortages this Winter. Crops this year were very had, about half what they normally would be. But communist officials try to soothe everyone with promises that, by January, the U.S. will have caved and shipped in large supplies of free food. Apparently, northerners have taken South Korea and Japan at their word, that no free food will arrive unless the nuclear weapons are dismantled. But America is seen as weak, and likely to give in and supply food to the starving North Koreans.
Not necessarily weak. More like the Obama admin is seen as fellow comrades.
Posted by: ed ||
10/18/2009 1:15 Comments ||
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coupled with the story immediately below, i think the 0bama admin is looking for pointers :-/
Posted by: abu do you love ||
10/18/2009 5:26 Comments ||
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Posted due to the claimed number; the rest we know. After all, they're commies.
SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is operating six prison camps where 154,000 inmates remain locked up, a South Korean lawmaker said Saturday. According to Yoon Sang-hyun from the ruling Grand National Party, the North had around 10 such places holding about 200,000 political prisoners until the late 1990s. But the communist state closed down four of the camps in the face of mounting criticism from other countries.
North Korea often denies holding any political prisoners, stressing that there are no human rights abuse.
The lawmaker claimed that political prisoners are forced to work more than 10 hours a day and receive only 200 grams of foods a day. They are also denied access to medical care, he said. People incarcerated in the political prison camps include political opponents or those who lost out in power struggles. Ordinary people are also imprisoned for making disrespectful remarks about the country's leader Kim Jong-il.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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200 grams of foods a day = less than 750 calories. I.e. the starvation rations given to Japan's prisoners of war.
Posted by: ed ||
10/18/2009 1:24 Comments ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] The Pakistani militants based in South Waziristan Agency committed the terrorism acts in the past couple of weeks or so with the help of the Afghan Taliban, The News learnt here on Saturday.
"Leaders of various militant groups active in Pakistan under the banner of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have succeeded in winning support of the Afghan Taliban for committing terror acts in Pakistan," a source in the security forces disclosed on condition of anonymity.
"They have mounted the deadly attacks in Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi and Lahore with the help of Afghan Taliban," he said.
The source said the top leaders of outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have established links with the Afghan Taliban and all its operatives who have been operating in the Punjab have reached South Waziristan or Afghanistan to evade arrests as the law-enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown on such elements in the Punjab province.
"Initially, this group was involved in sectarian violence and has been targeting people belonging to a particular religious sect but now it is targeting the security forces," the source said.
According to the source, the security forces have, however, launched the operation - codenamed Rah-e-Nijat - in South Waziristan with full determination to eliminate the terrorists from the restive tribal region. He said majority of the troops participating in the operation have an extensive experience of warfare in mountainous terrain and have earlier been fighting terrorists in Swat, Malakand and elsewhere.
"As directed by the army chief and other commanders involved in the military operation in South Waziristan, the security forces will exercise utmost care to avoid collateral damage during the operation. The commanders are very optimistic about the completion of the operation well before the end of the stipulated time and its positive outcome," the source said.
The Pakistan Army launched operation against the extremists in South Waziristan Agency on the night between Friday and Saturday. According to military sources, 1,000 to 1,500 militants are present in South Waziristan and the operation has been launched after three-month siege of the militants.
The political administration of South Waziristan has, however, said that over 4,000 to 5000 terrorists are present in the area with most of them hiding in Mahsuds-inhibited area.
South Waziristan is the nerve centre of the TTP and the main source of terrorism across Pakistan. It is from here that TTP renders support to other terrorist groups operating from the nearby Khyber, Bajaur, Orakzai and Mohmand agencies.
"The root of the terror is in South Waziristan where this group is present. It is a must to root out this terror and curse," the source said.
After the death of Baitullah Mahsud in a drone strike on August 5, TTP is being led by Hakimullah Mahsud with the assistance of Waliur Rehman and Qari Hussain, who runs a suicide training camp in Kotkai area of the region.
According to the source, in the last three months, the TTP militants intensified attacks on security forces deployed in South and North Waziristan agencies, including five suicide missions in Razmak area, kidnapping of 15 security personnel, killing three of them, over 300 rocket attacks and 78 improvised explosive device (IED) attacks.
"Given all of the recent terrorism acts in various parts of the country, a final showdown against Taliban and their al-Qaeda Uzbek allies in South Waziristan has become an absolute necessity," the source said.
The source said no doubt the country's security forces were faced with a far stronger enemy in South Waziristan than one they have confronted and overcame in Swat.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Pakistani and Afghan jehadi groups have decided to start "battle of evil and just", as the Afghan fighters assured Pakistani militants of complete support in their fight against Pak army in South Waziristan.
According to sources, it was decided in a meeting of the commanders of al-Qaeda, Hakmatyar group, Afghan Taliban and Pakistani jehadi organisations, which was held in Afghanistan.
The meeting decided that the Pakistan security forces, which have been helping the American forces, would also be targeted and the Afghan fighters, who have been fighting in Afghanistan for the last eight years, for the first time decided to send manpower to Waziristan in support of Pakistan militants.
The meeting also decided to intensify the 'jehad' against US and allied forces and codenamed the new battle as "battle of evil and just". The militants under new war strategy would avoid targeting public places.
The Pakistani militants briefed the meeting about Pakistani forces actions against fighters, sources said and added that all Pakistani jehadi organisations accepted Hakimullah Mahsud as their amir and vowed to continue "jehad" under his leadership.
The meeting was also informed about details of killing of families of three commanders in drone attacks in South and North Waziristan agencies.
The meeting also devised guerrilla war strategy.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
One big happy family.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/18/2009 9:30 Comments ||
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Pakistani and Afghan jehadi groups have decided to start "battle of evil and just"
Well, I most certainly am impressed. For once they aren't claiming the imminence of the Caliphate. It sounds like the meeting had quite an ambitious agenda, nonetheless. Were any squirrels or horse flies spotted in the vicinity? One can't be too careful, you know.
#4
OTOH the TALIBAN are repor willing to DITCH/DUMP their AL QAEDA partners-allies iff the US-ALLIES + ISLAMABAD give them a GOOD DEAL on participation in ruling the country.
DRAWBACK > may mean the US, PAKIS GOVTs will have to formally remove outstanding legal bounties/penalties, + allow Taliban, etc. WARLORDS TO ESCAPE IMPRISONMENT + GOVERN regardless of any past crimes???
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani reportedly felt fairly miffed when informed at the eleventh hour that the until recently extremely healthy Mian Nawaz Sharif would be missing out on the COAS security briefing 'due to bad health'. It may be recalled that the Chief of the Army Staff, General Parvez Kayani had been invited by the prime minister on Friday to give a detailed in-camera briefing to the entire parliamentary political leadership on the overall security situation and the pending Waziristan operation in particular.
The rather implausible 'bad health condition' excuse was said to have found no takers because only a day before this critical security briefing by top military bosses to the top political leadership of the country, a smiling and cheerful Nawaz Sharif had come all the way from Lahore to address a press conference at the Punjab House Islamabad to convey his "serious reservations" over the Kerry-Lugar Bill. However, the PML-N Quaid went back to Lahore the same evening even though he had been invited to attend the extremely important briefing.
One source said that PM Gilani who has always taken pride in bringing together both politicians and khakis on critical national issues was extremely disappointed by the inexplicable absence of Nawaz Sharif.
Knowledgeable sources claimed that Nawaz Sharif probably did not want to be viewed as having personally and directly endorsed full military action against the Taliban in a particular operation such as the Waziristan operation and particularly so at a time when the Taliban had already started vengeful strikes in different parts of the country.
The sources said JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was also found missing from the briefing almost on the same grounds, as he had taken a flight to Turkey a day before this meeting, so as he too was not seen on television cameras listening to the briefing by the chief of army staff getting approval to launch attacks on Taliban in Waziristan.
The sources said the absence of Nawaz was felt acutely because in the past at least on two similar occasions when the top military leadership was invited to give briefing to the politicians, PML-N leader had ensured his presence in the Prime Minister House to interact with the military command. Though Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Nisar Ali Khan were present in the meeting, their top leader's absence was viewed by relevant circles in a different light.
Talking to this correspondent Imran Gardezi, the press secretary to prime minister, confirmed that Nawaz Sharif had been invited to the briefing but he did not come. "We were told that Nawaz Sharif was not well", Imran said. However, he refused to give replies to some other questions.
Meanwhile, giving the background information forcing Nawaz to go "under ground" for a few months, the sources said, these days Nawaz was passing through difficult times and was trying to avoid many important issues and situations for obvious reasons. The illness of Shahbaz Sharif was also a cause of serious worry for Nawaz as he was once again summoned by his doctors in London to get serious about his medication and treatment for a long time. Earlier, scarred by the embarrassing fact of him accepting funds from ISI, he was then reportedly told by the Saudi King Abdullah to not to participate in the bye elections in Pakistan, as a part of his deal with Musharraf and not to take part in politics for ten years.
In his absence, Shahbaz Sharif-led Punjab government hurriedly moved a petition in the court to get the elections delayed to give a valid excuse to Nawaz for not contesting the elections. The court stay order saved Sharif from embarrassment. However, this move further gave currency to the reports that Nawaz was put under pressure by his mighty Saudi benefactors not to contest the elections. Nawaz then had to come all the way from Lahore to address the media speculations over his long silence over Kerry-Lugar Bill.
The sources said Nawaz was also unhappy when he faced a hostile question during his press conference at Punjab House that on the one hand he had been championing the cause of the Charter of Democracy and on the other his brother Shabaz and opposition leader Nisar Ali Khan had been holding late night secret meetings with the Chief of Army Staff General Kayani. However, a smart politician in Nawaz instantly gave a new spin to this troubling question by making a comment that "if the meeting with COAS was held to discuss the security issues, then it should have been held in day light."
His reply to the media persons gave an idea to the listener as both Shahbaz and Nisar had held the secret meeting with COAS without his knowledge and consent and Nawaz Sharif like all of us too came to know about this late night meeting through the media. But, a PML-N source said this was not true as Nawaz Sharif was properly consulted before the meeting with COAS even about the timing of the meeting and only after his nod, Shahbaz and Nisar had gone all the way to GHQ to hold a late night meeting with the chief of army staff.
Talking to The News, Senator Pervez Rashid said that PML-N leader was not feeling well because of shoulder pain so he stayed away from this briefing. He said Nawaz Sharif wanted to attend the briefing but the pain forced him to send his regrets. Pervez Rashid further clarified that we needed to understand that there was no major difference in the policies and approaches of top PML-N leaders Shahbaz Sharif, Ch Nisar Ali Khan and Nawaz Sharif, so if they attended the meeting, it meant that the whole party leadership was represented there.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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There are no terrorist camps in south Punjab, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer told reporters at Governor's House on Saturday.
The governor said only a few extremists in Dera Ghazi Khan and its surrounding areas had links with terrorists in Waziristan. Taseer said the entire nation was standing behind security forces for undertaking operation in South Waziristan. The governor praised the president and the premier for taking a unanimous decision on Waziristan operation. He said the Pakistan People's Party had always taken decisions in line with the country's sovereignty, adding that the party had taken all democratic forces into confidence. The governor said, "We should leave behind our personal liking and disliking for the betterment of our new generation."
He said the Pakistan Army would "throw these terrorists out of Waziristan the way they expelled them from Swat".
Taseer said, "The people of Waziristan are our brothers and Punjab will provide them shelter if they migrate in the wake of the ongoing military offensive." He said the government had found evidence on Thursday's terror attacks in Lahore, adding that the nation would get rid of "these enemies of humanity soon".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Uh, uh, D *** NG IT STOP TEASING ME OR I'LL TASER YA TASEER???
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a lengthy diplomatic battle to "delegitimise" United Nations charges that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip, an official said on Saturday.
The UN Human Rights Council singled out the Jewish state for censure in a resolution on Friday, while endorsing a report by South African jurist Richard Goldstone which condemned both Israeli and Hamas actions in a war in last December and January.
Netanyahu, who has said the Goldstone report could undermine US-sponsored Middle East peace moves, was quoted as saying Israel would wage a protracted struggle against the criticism.
Delegitimisation: "Israel must delegitimise the delegitimisation," Netanyahu said, according to an Israeli official. He said the campaign "would not take just a week or two but possibly years".
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Friday that "Israel totally and completely" rejected the UN council's vote condemning Israel but not the Palestinian faction. However, Ayalon added that he thought Israel would not ultimately suffer any significant consequences.
Twenty-five states including China and Russia endorsed the resolution passed by the council meeting in Geneva, while six including the United States voted against, charging that the resolution was one-sided. Eleven states abstained. Four, including France and Britain, did not vote at all.
The resolution endorsed Goldstone's recommendation that the war crimes issue be referred to the UN Security Council if the sides failed to conduct credible domestic investigations within six months, and possibly then to the International Criminal Court.
It did not mention Hamas, which Goldstone also criticised for its actions in the Gaza war. Palestinians say that as many as 1,387 Palestinians died, among them many civilians, while 13 Israelis were killed.
Israel had said it launched the war in response to Hamas rocket attacks that had terrorised residents of Israeli towns bordering on the Gaza Strip for several years, though they caused few casualties.
Palestinians called for further UN inquiries into Israel's actions. "The international community should make sure that the decision will become a precedent that will ensure the protection of the Palestinian people from any aggression," said Nabil Abu Rdaineh, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A chance for Obama to show that he can be tough in "support of international law".
#2
Plenty of rape, pillage, and plunder in South Africa for Goldstone to be concerned about. Oh wait, it's crime against evil white Boers farmers and land owners and the occasional western tourist or exchange student? Never mind.
Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned on Sunday Pakistani charge d'affairs to Tehran over the deadly suicide bomb attack in the country.
Following the terrorist incident in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan- Baluchestan, Iran summoned Pakistani charge d'affairs in the absence of its ambassador to Tehran. In the meeting, Iran's Foreign Ministry official expressed his country's strong regret over the news that the terrorist elements have entered Iran using Pakistan territory, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Ask the Indians about how they feel in that regard ...
The Iranian official urged the Pakistani authorities to "strongly deal with the movement of the terrorist elements in the soil of Pakistan," the report said.
For his part, the Pakistani charge d'affairs condemned the Sunday terrorist attack in Iran and expressed his country's deep sympathy with Iranians over the terrorist attack.
Just as he did for the Indians ...
Stating that Pakistan itself is the victim of terrorism, he claimed his country's readiness to cooperate with the Islamic Republic to identify the terrorists and to fight them.
Early on Sunday, a deadly bomb attack occurred in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan near Iran's border with Pakistan, killing some 30 people, including a number of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders, and wounded 30 others, according to the official IRNA news agency. The Sunni rebel group Jundallah (God's soldiers) has claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide attack.
#1
The Iranian official urged the Pakistani authorities to "strongly deal with the movement of the terrorist elements in the soil of Pakistan," the report said.
and I thought irony was dead
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/18/2009 16:20 Comments ||
Top||
#2
No way, it's living in sin with Anamonapia on deh isles of longerhorn - which I hear is near Galveston.
#4
VARIOUS > seems AHMADINEJAD has formally accused PAKISTAN not only being a US PUPPET/PROXY in the attack, but espec in HARBORING OR SHELTERING ALLEGED US TRAINED/SUPPOR, ANTI-IRAN GOVT. JUNDALLAH MILITANTS. MOUD = TEHRAN is demanding PAKIS stop suppor for The Jundallah + similar US-trained Group, stop obeying US Orders, + work to isolate and defeat the US-trained Groups???
BRITAIN > on its part is BLAMING AL QAEDA for the attack, claiming that AL QAEDA NOW HAS ACHIEVED CAPABILITIES FOR ISRAEL-MOSSAD STYLE
"PREEMPTIVE ATTACKS".
IOW, BRIT SCOPE = indir infers that AL QAEDA = RADICAL ISLAM is GETTING STRONGER, NOT WEAKER.
* WAFF > US AND UK ACCUSED OF INVOLVEMENT IN IRAN SUICIDE ATTACK ["Great Satan" USA + "Ally"/ former? "Little Satan" Britain].
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > [2008 Artic] SEYMOUR HERSCH: US TRAINING JUNDALLAH AND MEK GROUPS IN BOMBING PREPARATION FOR IRAN.
Syria has transferred nearly a quarter of its long- and medium-range missile arsenal to Hizbullah, the Kuwaiti al Jarida reported on Thursday. According to the report, security sources in Jerusalem told the paper that the missiles, now held by Hizbullah, could hit every part of Israel.
How many of those storage sites has Israel observed and programmed for accidental explosion, I wonder...
Iranian and Syrian officers were reportedly training the Hizbullah operatives in using the new missiles and in operating early warning systems intended to alert the group of Israeli jets.
The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report.
The Kuwaiti article comes days after Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev called on UN peacekeepers to investigate Monday night's apparent weapons cache blast in the home of a Hizbullah operative in Tayr Filsay, southern Lebanon. In a letter of complaint sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the Security Council, Le Luong Minh of Vietnam, Shalev said Israel has "considerable" reason to believe the house where the explosion took place served as an arms storage facility for Hizbullah.
Shalev also said that in the aftermath of the explosion, Hizbullah operatives sealed off the area and attempted to remove evidence.
Following the blast in Tyre, President Shimon Peres said that Hizbullah was turning Lebanon into a "powder keg," and the IDF released footage showing apparent arms transfer activity at the home.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, arrested after the disputed presidential election in June, has been freed on bail, Iran's judiciary said on Saturday.
"Maziar Bahari was freed from Evin prison on Saturday evening after paying bail worth three billion rials ($300,000)," the semi-official news agency ILNA reported, citing Tehran's prosecution office.
Bahari, who has been working for Newsweek magazine since 1998, was arrested on June 21 in Tehran while covering the election and post-election unrest. He was charged later with espionage, and could face execution if convicted.
Previously, a lawyer acting for Bahari said in July his client was accused of having acted against Iran's national security.
Canada has repeatedly asked for his immediate release.
Opposition leaders say the election was rigged to secure the re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian authorities have denied the allegation.
The opposition says more than 70 people were killed in the unrest, more than double the official estimate.
Rights groups say thousands of people were detained after the vote. More than 100 people, including former senior officials, remain in jail.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's embattled opposition leaders promised to press on with their campaign against the country's rulers, saying the use of force to crush the post-election protests will not silence their demands for democratic change.
The powerful statement of defiance on Friday from opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and former president Muhammad Khatami also sent a message to their supporters that the protest campaign triggered by the disputed June 12 presidential election still had energy and leadership though street demonstrations fizzled out months ago.A bloody crackdown and a mass trial of pro-reform figures that has so far produced three death sentences quelled the weeks of street protests that followed the vote. Since then, the opposition has been struggling to reinvigorate itself as Iran's government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cements its control.
Mousavi, who claims the election was stolen from him through massive vote fraud, met on Friday with Khatami, who began the drive for greater political and social freedoms in Iran during his 1997-2005 presidency. They discussed obstacles facing the reformists.
"The use of force and pressure won't force the Iranian nation to deviate one iota from the path it has chosen," said a statement posted after the meeting on Khatami's website. "And those loyal to ... Iran won't give up their ... patriotic responsibilities despite all problems and threats."
Security climate: The two leaders said a "security climate" imposed by hard-liners to try to silence the opposition has instead undermined people's trust in the ruling system and paved the way for those who want to change the regime. On Friday, a hard-line cleric sought to head off an attempt to reinvigorate the anti-government movement by warning against a planned opposition rally on November 4 that would coincide with annual state-sponsored demonstrations against the United States. The cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, also had an unusual warning for the security forces, telling them any soft treatment of those activists already in detention would be considered treason.
More than 100 people, including many prominent reformist political figures, have stood trial since August on charges of supporting the post-poll unrest and seeking to topple the ruling system through a "velvet revolution".
Some of the defendants, including a former vice president, confessed to fomenting the unrest, but the opposition condemned the trial as a "ridiculous show" and said the admissions were obtained under duress.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's Martyr Foundation said on Saturday it would declare Neda Agha-Soltan a martyr if it is proven that an enemy of the state caused the young woman's death during a protest rally after the June election.
What if the enemy of the state .. are the leaders of the state?
"The pictures seem to show that Neda Agha-Soltan's death was the result of a plot by opponents and the enemy," ILNA news agency quoted Masoud Zaribafan, head of the state-run foundation, as saying.
"If this is confirmed by the Intelligence Ministry ... her family must be somehow covered by the foundation," Zaribafan said.
The Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans' Affairs provides facilities and financial help to families of those killed or wounded during the Iran-Iraq war of the 80s or who died for the cause of the Islamic republic. Neda emerged as an emblem of the political uprising in Iran after she was shot to death during a protest in Tehran against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Amateur videos of her bleeding to death posted on the Internet and broadcast across the world triggered an outcry over Iranian authorities' clampdown on the anti-Ahmadinejad protests.
Iranian police have claimed her death was staged.
Ahmadinejad has called for a probe into her death, accusing opposition groups and "enemies of misusing the situation politically and tarnishing the clean image of the Islamic republic".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2009 00:00 ||
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#6
Anyone who has seen the Nazi propaganda film, Jud Suss (Suess the Jew), can see how true stories can be altered to fit current ideological needs. Suess was persecuted out of office in the Middle Ages, because his honest approach to governance threatened the corrupt oligarchy. In the Nazi film, supervised by Goebbels, Suess was portrayed as a puppet of Temple' elements who sought profit from social strife. Suess was hanged for sedition. The true story was the exact opposite.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Afghanistan's government on Saturday offered the equivalent of $40,000 in return for information on Taliban militants who have infiltrated the capital Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.
A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'. 
'Al Shabaab forced us to wear their type of full veil and now they order us to shake our breasts,' a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped on Thursday.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani reportedly felt fairly miffed when informed at the eleventh hour that the until recently extremely healthy Mian Nawaz Sharif would be missing out on the COAS security briefing 'due to bad health'. It may be recalled that the Chief of the Army Staff, General Parvez Kayani had been invited by the prime minister on Friday to give a detailed in-camera briefing to the entire parliamentary political leadership on the overall security situation and the pending Waziristan operation in particular.
The sources said JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was also found missing from the briefing almost on the same grounds, as he had taken a flight to Turkey a day before this meeting, so as he too was not seen on television cameras listening to the briefing by the chief of army staff getting approval to launch attacks on Taliban in Waziristan. 
Syria has transferred nearly a quarter of its long- and medium-range missile arsenal to Hizbullah, the Kuwaiti al Jarida reported on Thursday. According to the report, security sources in Jerusalem told the paper that the missiles, now held by Hizbullah, could hit every part of Israel.
Iran's embattled opposition leaders promised to press on with their campaign against the country's rulers, saying the use of force to crush the post-election protests will not silence their demands for democratic change.
Iran's Martyr Foundation said on Saturday it would declare Neda Agha-Soltan a martyr if it is proven that an enemy of the state caused the young woman's death during a protest rally after the June election.
