TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan -- After several years of enduring Americans' scorn for sitting out the Iraq campaign, the French military is going toe-to-toe with the Taliban, shedding blood and proving a worthy partner in Afghanistan, U.S. officers say.
Good. Thanks for both articles, anonymous5089.
While some knock the French for not empowering junior officers more or being aggressive enough in some instances, U.S. servicemembers serving with them northeast of Kabul generally spoke well of their ally. "When they do get into battles, they fight it out," observed U.S. Army Capt. Dave Disi, who has been on more than 35 missions with the French military.
Disi and 30 other Americans recently joined a company of French marines on a three-day operation that started in Tagab Valley. It's a place the Soviets couldn't pacify in the 1980s, and the British didn't fare well a century before. Nonetheless, NATO is counting on France to stabilize this strategic valley, which links Kabul to northern Afghanistan.
On the first morning of the operation, up to 40 insurgents initiated the first of 10 separate engagements along a 10-mile stretch. It was the day after a French marine from another company was struck by lightning. The violent overnight storm hit while he and members of a strike force were up in the mountains heading out on a raid. Two other marines drowned.
They're clearly not staying where the beds are comfortable and the food is hot. May the memory of their courage bring comfort to those who mourn them.
Going into the southern Tagab Valley the following day "was pretty ballsy," said Disi, who leads a team that mentors the Afghan police. "We knew we were going to get lit up. I was proud and surprised they went ahead with this operation after they lost those three guys."
In Kapisa, the French task force is headed by France's 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, commanded by Col. Francis Chanson. "Success in Kapisa will hinge on development more than the destruction of insurgents," Chanson said. "I'm not trying to gain their heart, but their confidence."
The French focus simultaneously on security and development, believing they go hand-in-hand. From their base in Tagab village, the French troops set out to gauge insurgent strength along the valley road and give reconstruction teams time to assess the area for construction projects, such as roads and police stations.
The Romans were keen on such things, too. Once the roads are in the troops can move quickly to stop trouble.
"You don't have to wait for total security to start projects," said Capt. Antoine. (Except for senior officers, the French military permits only the use of first names.)
Early into the firefight, Antoine, the mission commander, bounced around the corner of a mud-brick building and ran 40 yards into a dusty pomegranate grove, where insurgents were firing. Several of his men were on his heels. At various points, other French troops broke for the orchard and drew fire.
In the thick of it was a lieutenant named Guilhem. "The Taliban are very good at concealing themselves, very good," he whispered.
The battle and the French approach to it was the topic of conversation among some Americans enjoying their first cup of coffee the following morning. In sum, they described the French as deliberate, thorough, heavily armed and capable. One servicemember said he liked going out with the French precisely because "they roll out heavy." The three-day mission included nearly 200 people and about 40 armored vehicles.
Another soldier suggested that the French may have been too cautious. He thought they could have pressed the Taliban even further, although at least three insurgents were killed. The NATO force suffered no casualties. "They will stick to their plan regardless of the situation out there," said Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Andrew Piekalkiewicz.
He suspects a U.S. force in the same situation would have been more aggressive. The French are competent, Piekalkiewicz said, but they can be too conventional at times, willing to sacrifice mobility for excessive might.
"I do respect them for being here," Piekalkiewicz says. "They are taking casualties."
Since it assumed responsibility for Kapisa province in July 2008, French combat deaths have spiked from 14 to 36. The greatest loss occurred Aug. 18, 2008, when 10 troops were killed in an ambush in southern Tagab Valley near Surobi.
May they rest in peace with our thanks for helping make the world a safer place.
France dispatched its first soldier to Afghanistan in December 2001, and currently has roughly 2,800 in country.
Over the years, French forces have participated in several counterinsurgency and peacekeeping missions, particularly in Africa, said Etienne de Durand, director of the Security Studies Center at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris. While the French have a ton of experience in that area, they don't have much combat experience, Durand said. Basically, the reverse is true of the United States, he maintains.
"The U.S. Army culture has evolved a lot because of Iraq and Afghanistan," Durand said. "Americans are less trigger happy, while the French are more concerned now with firepower and [force] protection."
Though differences remain, he said, "we've tilted closer to you and you have tilted closer to us."
NIJRAB, Afghanistan -- It's late March, 2003, and Maj. Jean-Christophe Berry, a French marine, is looking for a table in an American dining facility in Afghanistan.
For weeks, U.S. officers had been needling him about Iraq, asking when his country would join the coalition. While the comments were generally lighthearted, Berry said his American colleagues assumed France would sign on. When the war started without France, relations turned chilly. Berry, who is now a lieutenant colonel, remembers finding a seat across from a U.S. Army captain who was well into his meal. As he settles in, the American, without saying a word, stops eating, grabs his tray and leaves the table.
When it happened a second time, Berry spoke to an American officer he was on friendly terms with. In the end, a separate block of time to eat was established for U.S. military personnel opposed to breaking bread with the French. "It was tough," Berry recalls. The funny thing, he adds, laughing, is that "fries didn't originate in France. They came from Belgium." Berry was referring to attempts by some Americans to purge the word "French" from the American lexicon, particularly with respect to food.
Another French officer said the rift over Iraq stung him hard, too. In France, one of his prized possessions is a picture of his mom as a little girl, held high in the arms of a U.S. soldier during World War II. "Without America, we wouldn't be a free country," said the officer, who would only speak on condition of anonymity. "To some extent, we still owe America for this. But this obligation was not reason enough to support the war."
Relations between the two countries have since thawed, with the French taking on a more pivotal role in Afghanistan. Today, small teams of U.S. servicemembers live and work side by side with French forces. "They are a good fighting force," said Army Capt. Dave Disi, who has been out with the French military on dozens of missions. "I've never had any problems with them. They are very deliberate."
Ironically, several Americans said when they arrived at their French base camp in Kapisa province they figured their host would serve great food but fall short on the military side.
"It's just the opposite," said Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Heiser, who heads up the U.S. provisional reconstruction team in Kapisa. "The food isn't great, but to work with them is."
#2
These American officers need a refresher course in courtesy and manners. Had I been their CO, they would have each handwritten a lovely note of apology, with just a hint of perfume, and hand delivered it to the French officer.
It doesn't matter if it is the devil himself or a North Korean, if an officer from another military is invited into your dining facility, you WILL be polite, or you will on permanent duty as the unit "customs and courtesies" officer until you can recite the entire Emily Post from memory.
In a muted victory speech last night, Mr Karzai said the Taliban, who he called "brothers", should "come home and embrace their land".
After winning a second five-year term, the president pledged an inclusive government for "all parts of the country".
"Our government will be the mirror of Afghanistan so everyone can see themselves in the mirror," he said. So the "End State" will be a passive aggressive, islamofascist Afghanistan ruled by "moderate Taliban"?
The Taliban are going to reap a net profit from 9/11, since the new Afghanistan will sport a refurbished infrastructure and will receive subsidies, both courtesy of western taxpayers?
Western soldiers will be put in harms way to protect the Taliban and to secure their rule?
I think this might be more along the line of, lay down your arms and go home to your families and your jobs, you can vote using ballots instead of bullets.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The UN and the West have congratulated Hamid Karzai on his re-election as Afghanistan's president, welcoming a decision by the country's electoral commission to call off the runoff.
Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, who is on a surprise visit to Afghanistan said on Monday that the world body will back the decision by Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC).
"I welcome today's decision by Afghanistan's IEC to forgo a runoff vote and to declare Hamid Karzai as the winner of the 2009 presidential elections," said Ban, while congratulating President Hamid Karzai on his second term in office.
The US Embassy in Kabul also congratulated Karzai on his "historic" re-election as the Afghan president in a Monday statement.
I'm sure Hamid is really happy about our congratulations. Seems like we could have done this a month ago and skipped the dramatics. As it is we've undermined the man.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also supported the IEC's decision not to hold the second round, promising support for Karzai's government.
Earlier on Monday, the IEC cancelled a run-off to the country's presidential election and declared Hamid Karzai as the country's president, after Abdullah Abdullah, the only challenger to the incumbent leader, withdrew his bid. Abdullah decided to pulled out of the second round of the Afghan presidential election on Sunday, after his demands for ensuring a fraud-free election were rejected.
As if Afghanistan has ever seen one of those before ...
He had called for the dismissal of the head of the IEC, Azizullah Lodin, accusing him of rigging the vote in favor of Karzai.
Brown, however, later claimed that Abdullah had withdrawn from the poll "for the sake of national unity."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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Houthi fighters in Yemen have vowed to retaliate against Saudi Arabia, should Riyadh continue to allow Sa'ana to use its soil for attacks on the fighters' strongholds.
In a statement received by AFP on Monday, the fighters said that Saudi Arabia has "allowed Yemeni army to use a Saudi base in Jabal al-Dukhan from which it launched attacks."
They also called on Riyadh not to allow "the Yemeni army to use its territories to attack us, because we would be otherwise forced to retaliate."
The fighters had earlier accused the Saudi Arabia of planning to form a militia to fight them on both sides of the Saudi-Yemeni border.
Yemen, however, dismissed the allegations as "mere fabrications that have always been repeated by the rebels."
"They are trying to bring Saudi Arabia into the problem ... Jabal al-Dukhan is a Yemeni area," said a Yemeni official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.
The fighters, led by Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, have been engaged in fierce fighting with the government since August 11, when the army launched 'Operation Scorched Earth' on the northern provinces.
The government accuses fighters of seeking to restore a religious leadership in the northern areas that was overthrown in 1962. The Houthis, however, say they only seek more autonomy, a halt in the alleged Saudi-backed efforts to cause regional insecurity and to impose Wahabism in the region as well as an end to discrimination against their people.
The fighting has so far displaced thousands of civilians, while tens of thousands of others remain at risk as winter approaches.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Police have identified those who made the bomb attack on Awami League (AL) lawmaker Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh in the capital 12 days ago, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) claimed yesterday.
"Detective branch (DB) of police has identified the attackers, and we are making all out efforts to arrest them. We will not disclose their names now," DMP Commissioner AKM Shahidul Haque told The Daily Star when contacted yesterday.
Taposh, also a prosecution counsel in Banganandhu murder case, came under bomb attack on October 21 that left 13 people injured. He was unhurt.
So far DB arrested six people in this connection. Four of them are from the families of Bangabandhu murder convicts.
The four arrestees include Kamrul Haque Swapan, younger brother of Maj (retd) Dalim, Mehnaz Rashid Khandaker, daughter of Lt Col (retd) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Nazmul Hasan Sohel and Mahbubul Hasan Emran, sons of Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed-- three convicts in the August 15 killing case.
The other two arrestees are Freedom Party leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
A good start would be to adopt Article 33 of the Mexican Constitution.
"Article 33. Foreigners are those who do not possess the qualifications set forth in Article 30. They are entitled to the guarantees granted by Chapter I, Title I, of the present Constitution; but the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action.
Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country"
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea has apparently restored its facility used to produce weapons-grade plutonium at its main nuclear complex that had been mothballed under an aid-for-denuclearization deal struck at the six-party talks, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday. ""The reprocessing factory appears to have been restored to its earlier conditions,"" a senior South Korean defense official said, citing satellite photos that also showed a continuous stream of workers in and out of the site in Yongbyon, located 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang.
At this point the only way to be sure is to bounce the rubble.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO EXPAND NUCLEAR ARSENAL + NORTH KOREA HINTS AT EXPANSION OF NUCLEAR PROGRAMMES UNLESS US NEGOTIATES.
* SAME > SOUTH KOREA: NORTH TRYING TO MAKE YONGBYON OPERATIONAL.
#2
OK Obama ready to TALK some more?
Or are you ready to finaly DO anything?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/03/2009 15:46 Comments ||
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#3
I would like to REMIND Pres Obama that Officially we're still at WAR with NORK, and there's nothing to prevent burying that reactor with iron bombs, or even sending a single missile with an Inertial device (Huge metal lump) coming from near orbit will make a hole and a bang like a nuke, and cheaper too.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/03/2009 15:53 Comments ||
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#4
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS/CNN > DAILYNEWS.PK - NORTH KOREA PRODUCES MORE WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM. Perst think NOKOR may have enuff to produce AT LEAST ONE NUCBOMB [plutonium = thermonuke?] as Pyongyang now claims to had reprocessed approxi 8000 fuel rods. + threatening to more???
[ADN Kronos] The sister of an Italian left-wing militant who hanged herself in prison at the weekend said she had warned that she would kill herself. Diana Blefari, from the radical New Red Brigades, was serving a life sentence for the murder of an Italian government advisor in 2002.
Blefari, 43, was found hanged in her cell in Rebibbia prison in Rome on Saturday. Her suicide has provoked a fierce political debate about prison security and justice minister Angelino Alfano ordered an investigation into her death, which occurred soon after Italy's highest court upheld her sentence.
Alessandra Blefari, said her sister Diana had repeatedly told her she would kill herself.
"Every time I would go see her in jail, Diana told me she wanted to kill herself," said Alessandra Blefari.
And now she has. Thanks for sparing us the housekeeping charges for the future, Diana ...
Blefari's lawyer said her client had serious psychiatric problems and had petitioned the courts for years to have her transferred to hospital.
As Alfano ordered an investigation into her death, prison unions raised concern about the state of Italian jails, which are said to be seriously understaffed.
Blefari killed herself by hanging herself with her bedsheet soon after she found out about her confirmed sentence.
"Diana Blefari's death was forewarned. A suicide that showed all the warning signs," said Diana's lawyer Caterina Calia, quoted by Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"We petitioned the courts many times about Diana's inability to be on trial...We said they had to be careful, because although she can have her moments of lucidity, she is sick," said Calia.
Diana was serving a life sentence for the murder of government consultant Marco Biagi in the northern city of Bologna.
Who died long before Diana did, it should be noted ...
Responsibility for Biagi's death was claimed by the Red Brigades-Combatant Communist Party - considered a reincarnation of the radical group that carried out a number of attacks in Italy in the 70's and 80's, including the kidnapping of Italy's former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978.
Four other militants apart from Diana were also sentenced to life terms in 2005 in relation to the murder of the economics professor.
Biagi had been one of the authors of new legislation under the 2002 Berlusconi government aimed at making it easier for employers to hire and dismiss staff.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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An openly suicidal inmate? Why was she not in a padded cell wearing a paper suit?
[Dawn] The security forces have found substantial evidence of Indian involvement for assisting terrorists in South Waziristan Agency, Director General ISPR Major General Athar Abbas said.
'Indian literature and weapons under the use of terrorists have been recovered from South Waziristan and more evidence is being gathered,' he said addressing a joint media briefing on Operation Rah-e-Nijat here Monday.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Secretary Information Suhail Mansoor and Principal Information Officer Ch Rashid Ahmed were also present.
'We have sent all the proofs of Indian involvement to the Foreign Office for their onward presentation at the appropriate forum,' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > [Indian Army]PAKISTAN TERROR VIOLENCE MAY SPILL OVER INTO INDIA + US MOVES AGZ DOMESTIC JIHADIS; + [TORY MP GALLOWAY' NATO MAKING UK ATTACK MORE LIKELY [NATO's strategy in Afganistan]???
Somebody forgot to hide the Chinese markings on the round to the left.
The Indian OFB (Ordance Factory Board) doesn't even make 82mm mortars!
Posted by: john frum ||
11/03/2009 6:16 Comments ||
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Heh, heh. Appears to say åé«ç² before being cut off. "Single high armor" literally, probably means single round of armor-piercing ammo. Looks like a HEAT round?
Do Indians put notches in their sevens? AFAIK only Europeans do it (to distinguish it from their "1" which is two strokes instead of one) and dumbass Americans who want to bask in Europe's reflected cool.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has urged the United Nations to put an end to what it called the intervention of neighboring countries in Iraq's internal affairs.
"It is time for the UN to act to stop the bloodshed," Maliki said during a meeting with UN special envoy Oscar Fernandez-Taranco on Monday.
"We believe that a UN statement warning neighboring countries and requesting them not to interfere in our internal affairs would be the best way to mediate," AFP quoted him as saying.
The Prime minister had earlier charged that 90 percent of foreign fighters who enter Iraq come through Syria, including the terrorists accused of carrying out the August attacks.
Maliki repeated the accusations over Syria's intervention in Iraq's recent bombings, saying that three of the people behind the twin bombings in central Baghdad last week confessed to receiving help from the country.
"Three members of the Baath Party were responsible for the recent terrorist operation," he said. "They were receiving support from the Syrian Baath Party and confessed to this."
Maliki had formerly accused Damascus of sheltering militants he believes masterminded a string of bomb attacks inside Iraq.
Baghdad witnessed its deadliest bomb attacks in two years, after a two-ton van and a minibus exploded simultaneously outside the Justice Ministry and city government offices last week. The bombings left at least 155 people dead and over 600 others injured.
An al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for the blasts, describing it "the second phase in the fight against infidels."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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Seems a good thread to put TOPIX > TURKISH ANALYST: TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN ARE ONE NATION AND TWO STATES, BUT NOT ONE STATE; + RUSSIA CONTINUES TO PULL ALL OF ARMENIA'S STRINGS, + TURKEY DECLARES COLD WAR AGZ ISRAEL.
* SAME > MILIBAND: EUROPEAN UNION WIDOUT TURKEY IS UNCONSCIONABLE; + TURKEY IS 99% MUSLIM, MOSLTLY SUNNIS; + ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN CASPIAN STATES [Former Soviet SSRS], EATERN EUROPE BECOMING MORE VIOLENT.
[Ma'an] Ma'an -- The Hamas-run de facto government in Gaza must take effective steps to protect workers in the territory's tunnel trade, the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights said on Monday
Hard hats and steel-toed shoes are the first step, according to my father, when he talked about what he instituted in Israel back in the day. Not shooting people in the feet is good, too.
The call comes following the death of two Palestinians in tunnel collapses in unrelated accidents on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 120.
Abjuring the Inshallah philosophy would probably help, too.
In a statement released following the deaths of Mohammed Baraka, 23, and Ahmed Salah Abdeen, 35, The Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights stated that it "calls on the Gaza Government to take immediate steps to act upon the obligations it owes to Palestinian citizens in Gaza. The tunnel catastrophe must end."
According to field investigations conducted by the centre, Baraka and Abdeen, both from Khan Younis, were admitted to Abu Yousef An-Najar Hospital but were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Baraka had suffered a fatal electric shock inside a tunnel on the border between Rafah and Egypt, while Abdeen died from suffocation after a tunnel collapsed under the As-Salam neighborhood in southern Rafah. The centre added that sources at the hospital had treated another person who sustained serious injuries and two other persons who sustained moderate injuries when a chemical leaked inside another tunnel.
In response to the escalating number deaths and injuries resulting from tunnel-related incidents, the human rights group stated that "the authorities [...] are responsible for taking all the necessary measures to protect its workers and the entire population from the consequences of the lack of its regulation ... as tunnels represent an inevitable alternative for society to attempt to deal with the Israeli siege."
The siege imposed upon the Gaza Strip by Israel in 2007 has prevented circulation of commodities and humanitarian supplies, driving the tunnel industry to prosper in response to the lack of essential goods in Gaza.
According to Al-Mezan, of 120 casualties, 59 were killed in the tunnels during the first ten months of 2009. The figure excludes deaths caused by Israeli aerial attacks, which have killed seven Palestinians inside tunnels, raising the total death toll to 127. A further 250 people have been injured in tunnel incidents since the siege began.
The Al-Mezan Centre added that despite its concerns with the Hamas-backed government over the safety of tunnel workers, the smuggling tunnels remain illegal.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I understand Boston could offer some consulting services reagrding tunnel safety features. bounceable concrete is one service they offer.
#2
Reminds me of the "Humanitarian Aid" groups which infest the deserts south of Tucson. Their water tanks, medical aide, and legal support for illegal crossers may sound innocuous - HOWEVER - these actions highly encourage the coyote lead scourge that plagues the southwest. Not to mention the environmental disaster for the desert in areas where crossings are frequent: tons of diapers, plastic bags, backpacks, soda and beer cans litter the once pristine borderlands.
#3
So the tunnels are between Egypt and Gaza and the siege is Israeli...
Posted by: Large Snerong7311 ||
11/03/2009 6:55 Comments ||
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#4
Gaza was part of Egypt according to the 1948 Egypt-Israel war settlement, but I guess it's like a tar baby - Israel took it and now they're stuck with it.
[Jakarta Post] Iranian authorities have closed down a business newspaper known for being critical of the government. The Iranian state news agency on Monday said the Culture Ministry ordered the newspaper closed because its content strayed from the business field.
The Sarmayeh newspaper was known for articles critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies, which they say have impoverished the country.
A number of reformist newspapers and magazines have been closed down following the June's disputed presidential elections in which Ahmadinejad was reelected. Many journalists were also sent to jail on the charge of fomenting post-election unrests.
Since 2000 more than 100 newspapers and periodicals were banned in Iran, mostly on security charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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The US military has finished erecting an advanced radar system in Iraq to monitor the border with Iran, Syria and Turkey, a report says. The radar system will monitor aircraft and anti-air targets approaching from the borders, several Arabic language news websites reported on Monday, citing comments by unnamed Isareli sources.
Thus freeing up the spy satellites to look in other places.
The report posted on the Palestinian Maannews website said that the system would transmit information to the Iraqi air force and some of its radar would be connected to the control tower at the Baghdad International Airport.
According to the sources, the radar is a preparatory measure aimed at providing the United States and its allies advanced control capabilities in event of a US military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
The Israeli sources claimed that the system would allow US forces to monitor Iranian military activities that may be targeting Tel Aviv or Turkey.
The idea of Iran attacking its northerly neighbor, Turkey, seems absurd as the two countries enjoy close ties, especially as Ankara has recently been showing increasing aversion toward Tel Aviv. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Iran last week was described by analysts as the start of a new chapter of strong relations between the two states.
When it comes to Israel however, Iran has repeatedly clarified that it would not be the initiator of a new military venture in the region. It has, however, vowed to give crushing response to any form of foreign aggression.
Meanwhile, hawkish Israel politicians and their counterparts in Washington have kept up their war rhetoric against Iran with repeated threats to bomb the country's nuclear installations.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
It has, however, vowed to give crushing response to any form of foreign aggression.
#2
Radar is so 20th Century. Likely the US has NSA and half a dozen other intelligence agencies long since setting up listening posts all along both the Iraq and Afghan borders.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards warned the moderate opposition on Monday not to stage any rallies on Nov. 4, when the Islamic Republic marks the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, who says the June election that he lost to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged, appeared to urge his supporters two days ago to take part in rallies on that day.
Referring to the Iranian date of the capturing of the U.S. embassy three decades ago, Mousavi said: "The 13th of Aban is a... rendezvous so we would remember anew that among us it is the people who are the leaders."
Several reformist websites are urging opposition supporters to gather on Wednesday and protest "peacefully" and not to resort to "violence even if they are attacked."
In mid-September, reformist supporters clashed with police and government backers at annual demonstrations in support of the Palestinians. Some reformist websites have called for renewed demonstrations on Wednesday.
The Guards, who helped to quell huge street protests after the election, called on the Iranian people to "exercise vigilance in regard to the likelihood of mischief and plots by the enemy's agents and some unaware and misguided (people) on Nov. 4", the official IRNA news agency reported.
"The Iranian nation will not allow any (political) group to impose itself and use diversionary and false slogans on Wednesday," it quoted a Guards statement as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION IRAN TOPIX > IRAN TO MOVE CAPITAL FROM TEHRAN [to new locale widin QOM QUAKE-FREE ZONE].
Burqa Boyz worried becuz TEHRAN'S POPULATION continues to grow along wid corresponding risk of destruction vee CATASTROPHIC EARTHQUAKE.
* SAME > DATA CENTER PROS MUST PREPARE FOR INCREASED SPACE WEATHER [affecting Earth]; + HUGE EXPLOSION [Indonesia event]WAS LARGEST SPACE ROCK TO HIT EARTH SINCE 1994.
Ala AMER SAMOA'S QUAKE + TSUNAMI > GUAM'S KAMALEN will be BIGGER, albeit the gross event itself, despite any casualties, will be "minor" on the disaster grade scale iff the future OWG-NWO = SPACE DEFENSE MISCALCULATES + CAUSES COMET APOPHIS TO SLAM INTO THE MOON.
D *** NG IT,MORIARITY, BEHIND EVERY GREAT OWG MALE SCIENTISTS' MIND, IS A WOMAN WITH A GOOD CALCULATOR + BATTERIES!
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.
In a muted victory speech last night, Mr Karzai said the Taliban, who he called "brothers", should "come home and embrace their land".
[Iran Press TV Latest] The UN and the West have congratulated Hamid Karzai on his re-election as Afghanistan's president, welcoming a decision by the country's electoral commission to call off the runoff. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards warned the moderate opposition on Monday not to stage any rallies on Nov. 4, when the Islamic Republic marks the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
