TALIBAN militants have laid down their weapons and joined Afghanistan's police force, accepting a government amnesty aimed at ending a vicious insurgency.
In a ceremony at police headquarters in the eastern city of Herat, the 80 men handed over their weapons and pledged to end their fight against the government, Herat police chief Asmatullah Alizai said.
"Negotiations have been going on with their commander Solaiman as we have been trying to absorb him into the government," he said, referring to Mula Solaiman, a former border guard commander who changed sides a number of times.
The decision by the 80 insurgents comes after President Hamid Karzai again offered an olive branch to Taliban fighters to reintegrate into Afghan society.
In a speech marking his inauguration on Thursday for a second five-year term, Mr Karzai pledged to call a "loya jirga", or inclusive national conference of political, tribal and religious leaders, to work towards peace.
The Taliban insurgency has intensified since the Islamist regime was pushed from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001, with more than 100,000 foreign troops fighting the militants under US and NATO command.
add news.com.au to iGoogle
So far 8340 Taliban have accepted the amnesty since Mr Karzai established the Independent Reconciliation Council in 2005, a council official said.
#5
Sunni tribals have been doing this kind of thing for 1-1/2 years now. I think the surge in Iraq worked because the tribes were exhausted. The reason we were able to work on protecting the population was because the population wanted to be protected - the alpha males among them who were interested in holy war had been mostly killed off, and al Qaeda was pushing on a string in trying to get the remaining zero-testosterone non-warrior types to fight Uncle Sam.
We will eventually get to that point with the Taliban. In fact, I suspect that we will get to that point (in terms of dead Taliban) relatively soon. Fighting on Afghanistan's rugged terrain is hard for our troops. It's way harder for the Taliban, since they can't get air-dropped supplies, and their supply convoys are subject to continual air attack. A huge number of A-type Afghan personalities were wiped out during the Soviet occupation. We are fighting the dregs.
I think this kind of thing is largely hard-wired. It may be why the postwar-peace with Germany, Italy and Japan was relatively calm (and why the defeated WWII nations are pacifist to a fault). Literally millions of high-testosterone fighting men had been wiped out.
#6
I think this kind of thing is largely hard-wired. It may be why the postwar-peace with Germany, Italy and Japan was relatively calm (and why the defeated WWII nations are pacifist to a fault). Literally millions of high-testosterone fighting men had been wiped out.
I have often thought there were parallels to Larry Niven's "Known Space" novels with regards to the Puppeters' strategy to create a more reasonable Kzinti species. Hard on humans though.
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is in advanced talks with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan war strategy, which U.S. officials hope will include a commitment by European allies to send several thousand additional troops.
Our allies must be feeling relief that soon they'll find out what's going on. The Brits have apparently been reduced to begging journalists heading this way to pass on what they find out.
U.S. and European estimates of the new troops they may get from NATO allies vary from 3,000 to 7,000. Those would complement the additional U.S. forces Mr. Obama is considering; those options range from 10,000 to 40,000, but U.S. officials have said a combination of combat troops and training forces totaling 35,000 has gained the most momentum.
Arrangements haven't been finalized, but coordinated announcements of new troops could come as soon as the week of Nov. 30. They are likely to include an address by the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, shortly after President Barack Obama unveils his strategy.
According to officials familiar with the talks, Mr. Rasmussen would attempt
"Attempt" is an interesting word in this context.
to send a clear signal that the U.S. isn't alone in its plans to confront the Taliban. Officials said that Mr. Obama's review of Afghan strategy and U.S. troop levels, which some had thought would be completed last month, was extended in part to solidify NATO support. Sure, blame them. Barry's really looking for a bus big enough to throw them under.
NATO foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels starting Dec. 3, and European diplomats said they expect Mr. Obama to make his announcement ahead of the meeting.
A commitment of as few as 3,000 new troops from allies is sure to strike fear in the heart of the Taliban could be a significant diplomatic coup for the White House, given the way they have trashed Karzai and dithered on following through on the recommendation of the commander on the ground largely fruitless efforts by the Bush administration to get new large-scale commitments from NATO in the waning months of its tenure. The U.S. has 68,000 troops in Afghanistan; other allies have 36,000. And if they send zip and start withdrawing, will that be a coup for Pelosi and the rest of the donks who want to lose?
#1
What war? Hasn't Bambi reclassified this war as a regional outreach disparity reduction action?
Pelosi sucks, but be careful with giving her the position of anti-Afghanistan War. This war if politicized beyond where it is today to become a D's-out, R's-in contest is a no win for conservatives considering Bambi's got the whole wide war in his hands to screw up. And screw it up he will.
Personally, I say burn the whole of Central Asia before you waste one drop of our blood there... and start the fire in Afghanistan. I've got matches if anyone needs them.
[Geo News] Foreign Office Spokesman denied the reports regarding the presence of Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Pakistan, Geo News reports Friday.
The FO Spokesman Abdul Basit told Geo News that the reports published in Washington Times in this connection are baseless.
It should be mentioned that the Washington Times reports alleged that Taliban leader Mullah Omar is in Karachi.
Abdul Basit said Pakistan vehemently rejects the allegation regarding the presence of Taliban leadership in Pakistan, adding Taliban or Al-Qaeda leadership is not in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"he's...um...somewhere else"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/21/2009 11:17 Comments ||
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#2
Probably hidden some where in "Britistan"
Posted by: Dave UK ||
11/21/2009 15:51 Comments ||
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The ĀappallingĀ errors that contributed to BritainĀs failure in Iraq are disclosed in the most detailed and damning set of leaks to emerge on the conflict.
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea on Friday blasted the latest U.N. passage of a resolution on its human rights situation as "a trite political plot" crafted by the United States. "The resolution is nothing but a trite political plot hatched by hostile forces against the DPRK every year," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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A national welcome-home march has taken place at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to mark the end of Australia's military operations in Iraq.
A total of 17,000 defence personnel were sent to Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion to help the post-war reconstruction of the country. The final contingent of Australians came home in July this year, with just a few remaining in Iraq to provide security and logistics support.
To a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda, more than 300 returned service personnel marched today to officially mark the end of Operation Catalyst.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Force Chief Angus Houston paid tribute to the men and women who served, praising their professionalism, courage and sacrifice. They also paid tribute to the three men who lost their lives while serving in Iraq and the 27 who were wounded.
Air Chief Marshal Houston urged all Australians to pause and consider the service of their fellow countrymen.
"In our name and under our flag they risked their lives to provide others with a brighter future," he said. "As your chief, I am immensely proud of you and thankful for your skill and commitment. You have been wonderful ambassadors for our nation. As indeed are the men and women still deployed in Iraq with the United Nations and those who are providing security for the Australian Embassy."
Air Chief Marshal Houston said the operation was a dangerous mission that came with a human cost.
"Very sadly, three Australians never came home from their military service in Iraq. Today I honour the service of Warrant Officer Class Two David Nary from the Special Air Service Regiment and Private Jacob Kovco of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment.
"I also wish to mention Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel, a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy, who was killed in Iraq whilst serving with the Royal Air Force.
"We should also remember the 27 men and women who were wounded during this operation. Some made full recoveries. Others will never fully recover."
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/21/2009 15:57 Comments ||
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#2
Wish you could have stayed longer but, well...maybe next time. Keep in touch and don't worry, we'll always have WWII..sniffle
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/21/2009 15:59 Comments ||
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#3
Once again, Thank You, Australia, for standing with us. May all who served understand how they played a vital role in freeing 25 million people from tyranny.
Keep in touch and don't worry, we'll always have WWII..sniffle
And Korea, and Vietnam, and Afghanistan, and for going it alone in East Timor and several other places. God bless Australia and its armed forces!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/21/2009 16:48 Comments ||
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#4
and I never will forget that in every rumble I was ever in overseas, if there was an Australian there, they would always have my back. God bless them and may He damn their enemies to Hell.
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/21/2009 16:55 Comments ||
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From the article
For example, during World War I, there were several groups of German intelligence operatives, including active saboteurs, who hid among the German-American population. In addition, there was popular pressure on the German-American community to "prove" their loyalty. As a result, many German language newspapers ceased publication, or switched to an English language format. This angered many German-Americans, causing resentments that took decades to subside.
During World War II, it was much the same. Except this time there were three "suspicious" nationalities (Japanese, Italian and German). All three had produced, before America entered the war, groups backing the new political movements back in the old country. The FBI knew that there were enemy spies in all three ethnic groups. And the Japanese spy networks were the most difficult to penetrate, largely for cultural reasons.
Much crucial information regarding Japanese espionage networks on the West Coast remained secret for many years because this data was obtained by cryptanalysis (the MAGIC system). What MAGIC seemed to reveal was that Japanese diplomats had established an extensive system of Japanese-Americans agents on the West Coast. As with many German-Americans and Italian-Americans, there were many Japanese-Americans who were still loyal to "the Old Country." Go to the article and read the whole thing. Enlightening history of the relocation's of the Japanese, Italians, German-Americans during WWII.
The Army has guidelines on how to deal with racist views and actions within the ranks, but none on how to deal with Islamic jihadism, a former Army vice chief of staff told Congress on Thursday.
Retired Army Gen. John M. Keane said this absence of guidance fostered a politically correct reluctance to investigate the man accused in the Fort Hood shootings, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
A military pamphlet created after the 1995 racially motivated shootings at Fort Bragg is the intended guidebook on how to deal with extremist activities and prohibited conduct but is mostly focused on white supremacist behavior, Gen. Keane told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the first congressional oversight hearing on the Fort Hood shootings.
"Clearly we don't have specific guidelines in dealing with jihadist extremists," Gen. Keane told the Senate homeland security committee.
Most of the witness panel agreed with Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, when he asked: "Do you think that political correctness may have played some role in the fact" that there was no in-depth investigation of Maj. Hasan? He is charged with murder in the rampage that left 13 people dead and 29 others wounded.
"There is no doubt in my mind that was operating here," said Gen. Keane, who served as vice chief of staff from 1999 to 2003, capping a 37-year military career.
Frances Fragos Townsend, an assistant to President George W. Bush for homeland security and counterterrorism, agreed that there was a reluctance to investigate Maj. Hasan because he was a senior member of the military, as well as a psychiatrist.
"We can't allow [investigators] to be reluctant to follow the facts, just because they are afraid they will be criticized for not being politically correct," Mrs. Townsend said. Lightbulbs turning on?
Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
11/21/2009 10:51 ||
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#1
Much has already been written with regard to the discussions, causical theory, etc, surrounding the tragic attack at Fort Hood. Searching for clinical answers may however be the wrong fork in the road. If the trail does lead to some form of 'radicalization' and we can muster the courage to narrow the search beyond Amish separatists, then I would suggest a review of the writings within our very own defense community, of Anna Simmons.
Ms. Simmons, is a professior of defense analysis at the Naval Postgradute School in Monterey, California, and author of 'Making Enemies - An Anthropology of Islamist Terror.' Simmons argues that it is not wise to formulate policies based on any perceived distinction betweeen 'moderates' and 'radicals' because the line between the two is not stable. Rebuking Western commentators who attribute Islamic terrorism to pat reasons of discrimination and alienatioin, she wrote in The American Interest (Summer, 2006): "We gloss over the possibility that Islamists might want to do us grave harm out of deep spiritial conviction. It is easier and more politic to boil the problem down to inequities rather than iniquity."
It will be most interesting to see where the various investigations will lead.
We shouldn't need them. Just like we shouldn't need guidelines on how to deal with a rabid dog. How to deal with them is obvious. Our fathers were able to deal with them, as should we. But apparently it's becoming a gray area. Pathetic.
#6
Ya, gorb, same here. Just a common sense is needed. However that has been so blunted by the PCism that many people are left only with a barely noticeable rudiment and some sport not a trace.
The government intercepted at least 18 e-mails between the alleged Fort Hood gunman and a radical Muslim cleric, and a key senator says there could be more communications that might have tipped off law enforcement or military officials.
Federal investigators say they intercepted the messages between the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric. They were passed along to two Joint Terrorism Task Force cells led by the FBI, but a senior defense official said no one at the Defense Department knew about the messages until after the shootings. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence procedures.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Friday after a briefing from Pentagon and Army officials that his committee will investigate how those and other e-mails involving Hasan were handled and why the U.S. military was not made aware of them before the Nov. 5 shooting.
Levin said his committee is focused on determining whether the Defense Department's representative on the terrorism task force acted appropriately and effectively.
Levin also said he considers Hasan's shooting spree, which killed 13 and wounded more than 30, an act of terrorism. "There are some who are reluctant to call it terrorism but there is significant evidence that it is. I'm not at all uneasy saying it sure looks like that," he said.
He said his committee will also look into whether military members have the ability to report suspicious behavior evinced by colleagues.
The Washington Post, citing two anonymous sources, reported Saturday that in the months leading up to the attacks Hasan stepped up his contacts with al-Awlaki to discuss transferring money. One of the sources told the Post the two men considered how to transfer funds abroad without coming to the attention of law enforcers.
FBI and military officials have provided differing versions of why Hasan's critical e-mails to al-Awlaki and others did not reach Army investigators before the shooting.
FBI officials have said a military investigator on the task force saw the e-mails and looked up Hasan's record, but finding nothing particularly worrisome, the investigator neither sought nor got permission to pass the e-mails on to other military officials.
But the senior defense official has countered that the rules of the task force prevented that military representative from passing the records on without approval from other members of the task force.
The Pentagon may reconsider rules governing participation in extremist organizations that some lawmakers say appear outdated and too narrow in light of the shooting rampage at the Army base in Texas.
The Pentagon wrote regulations on "dissident and protest activities" in response to soldier participation in skinhead and other racially motivated hate groups. The current rules were written in 1996 and last updated in 2003.
The rules prohibit membership or participation in "organizations that espouse supremacist causes," seek to discriminate based on race, religion or other factors or advocate force or violence. Commanders can investigate and can discipline or fire people who "actively participate in such groups." The rules also cover the distribution and possession of "printed materials," and gatherings held outside military posts.
The language appears to loosely cover some of the activity law enforcement sources have ascribed to Hasan.
But it is geared toward racially motivated groups and toward preventing public espousal of hateful ideology, such as attendance at a rally or the recruitment of new members. The language also applies most directly to materials and communication in the pre-Internet age.
Posted by: ed ||
11/21/2009 10:03 ||
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#1
Certainly hope none of these investigations result in restrictions placed on Combined Federal Campaign Code 17934 - (Islamic-American Zakat Foundation), or RAND 80389.
Only with your help can we truly have an impact on society. Your gift makes a considerable difference to RAND-initiated research projects such as
ĀReform of the U.S. Health Care System
ĀThe Effect of the Growth of China and India on the Global Political, Economic, and Social Order
ĀPromoting Reform in the Islamic World and Decreasing Support for Terrorism
ĀImproving International Economic Development
ĀCreating an Effective Policy of Reconstruction and Redevelopment of the U.S. Gulf States Region
The army psychiatrist accused of a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base in Texas will have his first pre-trial court hearing on Saturday (local time) in his hospital room, his lawyer's office said.
Major Nidal Hasan, who has been charged with 13 counts of pre-meditated murder, will have a confinement hearing at the Brook Army Medical Centre near San Antonio, Texas, said a representative for attorney John Galligan, who asked not to be named. Why shouldn't he be named? Is it a state secret?
The defence team will argue for more time in determining where to hold Hasan and other procedural issues because of his medical condition, the source said.
Hasan is paralysed below the waist from being shot several times after he allegedly opened fire on a crowd of his fellow soldiers.
The November 5 rampage in the troops readiness centre also left 42 people wounded.
"His medical condition is still extremely serious," Mr Galligan said last week, adding Hasan was confused and his speech is a "little garbled."
Hasan, who has already been read the charges against him, is being investigated for links to militant Islam and will be tried in a military court for the fatal shootings of 12 soldiers and one civilian.
[Dawn] India on Friday said an alleged militant held in the United States and under investigation here over possible links to last year's attacks in Mumbai had travelled to Pakistan a number of times. They all seem to do that, don't they?
'There is a Pakistani link,' Home Minister P. Chidambaram said of alleged suspect David Coleman Headley who is being held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Chicago.
'David Headley had visited Pakistan a number of times and on the advice of the FBI two or perhaps more have been arrested in Pakistan... There is a Pakistan link,' the home minister told reporters in New Delhi.
India claims Headley was also associated with Lashkar-i-Taiba, blamed for the deadly attacks in India's financial capital last year.
New Delhi has blamed 'official agencies' in Pakistan for abetting the strikes in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 which left 166 people killed and around 300 people injured -- an allegation denied by Pakistan.
Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna separately said India will act only if its investigations established Headley's suspected links to the carnage.
'An investigation is on and we are awaiting its report and based on the report we will pursue the next course of action,' Krishna told reporters in New Delhi
'Only after that can we examine various options,' he said, replying to questions by reporters on whether India planned to seek Headley's extradition.
Chidambaram last week said the suspect had also travelled to India several times before the attacks in Mumbai.
According to the home minister, Headley and his associate, whom he identified as Tahawwur Hussain Rana, were currently in detention in the US.
Indian media, citing officials, recently said Headley intended to strike two elite boarding schools and a military academy in India and that he had befriended prominent people from Bollywood.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A Pakistan native who was trained as a scientist in the US and suspected of being an al-Qaida operative has promised to boycott her January trial in New York. Tried to turn being picked up into a shootout...
Aafia Siddiqui interrupted lawyers to announce in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday that she did not plan to participate in her trial. "I don't want to" is not a legal argument.
Then, during a break, she told US marshals she did not want to return to the courtroom when they led her out as she continued talking.
Siddiqui faces charges after US authorities said she grabbed a gun and fired it at a police station in Afghanistan in July 2008. She was wounded in the struggle with American soldiers.
Siddiqui studied at MIT and Brandeis University before fleeing to her native Pakistan in 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Prolly plans on boycotting her gurney ride, to...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/21/2009 13:10 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON: The United States has come perilously close to calling Pakistan a terrorist state by alleging that the countryĀs spy agency ISI recently spirited Taliban leader Mullah Omar to Karachi to save him from American drone attacks in Quetta.
In the most direct charge of its kind, current and former US intelligence officers are saying on background that the one-eyed leader and illiterate leader of the Afghan Taliban, ''has fled a Pakistani city on the border with Afghanistan and found refuge from potential US attacks in Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan's intelligence service.''
Washington believes that Omar was in and around Quetta, Balochistan, where he presided over the so-called Quetta shura under the protection of the Pakistani military and the ISI, which considers him an asset ready to be deployed in Afghanistan once the US (inevitably, Pakistan believes) leaves the country. Pakistan denies the charge, but in the last three months the US has relentlessly repeated the charges, unsubtly hinting that it might expand its drone attacks to Balochistan to target Omar.
On Friday, the Obama administration pretty much went public with the charges, with two senior intelligence officials telling the Washington Times that at the end of Ramzan last month, ISI helped Omar travel to Karachi, where they said he inaugurated a new senior leadership council.
''The development reinforces suspicions that the ISI, which helped create the Taliban in the 1990s to expand Pakistani influence in Afghanistan, is working against U.S. interests in Afghanistan as the Obama administration prepares to send more US troops to fight there,'' the paper said.
The disclosure was backed by one former CIA analyst, Bruce Riedel, who said Mullah Omar had been spotted in Karachi recently and that the ISI decided to move him further from the battlefield to keep him safe from US drone attacks. There are huge madrassas in Karachi where Mullah Omar could easily be kept, Riedel said.
One such school is the Jamia Binoria, which is believed to be the alma mater of many extremists. According to a 2005 Pakistani estimate, Karachi has more than 800 madrasses.
The latest US charges recalled one of the biggest scandals of the Bush administrationĀs War on Terror, when Washington allowed a secret airlift by Pakistan of hundreds of its military and intelligence personnel trapped in Kunduz, Afghanistan, where they were helping the Taliban against US.
In his book, Descent into Chaos, Pakistani journalist historian Ahmed Rashid says the request for a minor airlift to extricate cornered Pakistani personnel was made by Pervez Musharraf to President Bush, but it was approved by vice-president Cheney, who kept it secret from other departments.
''Musharraf said Pakistan needed to save its dignity and its valued people. Two planes were involved, which made several sorties a night over several nights. They took off from air bases in Chitral and Gilgit in Pakistan's northern areas, and landed in Kunduz, where the evacuees were waiting on the tarmac,'' Rashid writes.
According to Rashid, hundreds, perhaps as many as one thousand ISI officers, Taliban commanders, and foot soldiers belonging to the IMU and al-Qaida personnel boarded the planes. What was sold as a minor extraction turned into a major air bridge. Frustrated US Special Ops Forces who watched it from the surrounding high ground dubbed it "Operation Evil Airlift."
It was later revealed that IndiaĀs then National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra remonstrated to Washington about the operation but the protest was ignored.
Rashid quotes a senior US diplomat as admitting that "Musharraf fooled us because after we gave approval, the ISI may have run a much bigger operation and got out more people. We just don't know. At the time nobody wanted to hurt Musharraf, and his prestige with the army was at stake. Clearly the ISI was running its own war against the Americans and did not want to leave Afghanistan until the last moment."
The Obama administration looks less inclined to allow Pakistan to continue playing its double game and pressure is increasing on Islamabad almost every day to give up its support to terrorists. CIA chief Leon Panetta is in the region this week, the latest in the unending line-up of US officials who have been travelling to Pakistan to persuade it to stop backing terrorists.
#1
According to Rashid, hundreds, perhaps as many as one thousand ISI officers, Taliban commanders, and foot soldiers belonging to the IMU and al-Qaida personnel boarded the planes.
Heads should have rolled for permitting the Konduz airlift, probably even a greater chance to decaptiate al-Qaeda than the Tora Bora offiensive was.
#3
The inter-service intelligence agency view the mullah as an asset, when the "Pakistan in depth" policy was operational. Hell, it IS operational. We are kidding ourselves.
Posted by: Uneaper Scourge of the Leprechauns4763 ||
11/21/2009 15:11 Comments ||
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#4
"Pakistan in depth" policy was operational. Hell, it IS operational
Indeed, it always amused me to watch the Paks deploy a defense in depth the wrong way
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/21/2009 16:16 Comments ||
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#5
minor airlift to extricate cornered Pakistani personnel was made by Pervez Musharraf to President Bush, but it was approved by vice-president Cheney, who kept it secret from other departments
Thanks Cheney!
Posted by: Paul ||
11/21/2009 18:05 Comments ||
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#6
That was the price for being able to operate from Pakistan. Though the US should have diverted those flights to Bagram and filtered out and kept the non Pak military.
Posted by: ed ||
11/21/2009 18:40 Comments ||
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India's plans to launch a major offensive against Maoist rebels in the country's heartlands could jeopardise much-needed humanitarian operations in the impoverished area, the European Commission has warned.
Government officials have signalled that an assault against insurgents is imminent in the central state of Chhattisgarh -- the epicentre of violence between Maoist fighters, security forces and pro-government militias since 2005.
The Maoist violence -- estimated to have caused 600 to 700 deaths annually and the displacement 100,000 civilians -- has spread to 182 of India's 602 districts and has been declared as the country's single biggest internal security threat.
But the European Commission humanitarian aid department (ECHO), which has been funding relief assistance for thousands of villagers caught up in the violence since 2007, said it was concerned that its work would be at risk if fighting intensified.
"It can become too dangerous because of on-going fighting for our partners to access and reach out to the villages," Maria Joao Ralha, ECHO's desk officer for India, told Reuters by phone from Brussels.
"It can also limit access as parties involved in the conflict may become too nervous and may not want humanitarians working there so villagers would not be able to receive the healthcare that our partners are providing them," she said late on Thursday.
Over the last two years, the ECHO has provided 1.5 million euros (1.35 million pounds) to foreign aid agencies to carry out primary healthcare activities in the under-developed, mineral rich state.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
could jeopardise much-needed humanitarian operations in the impoverished area, the European Commission has warned.
Spare the rod, and spoil the child---IMO, EUrope is way overdue a serious spanking.
#4
That's why the UK has Scots thar 746... altho, Ima hear cattle raids purdy rare these days.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/21/2009 12:47 Comments ||
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#5
If I recall correctly, India has recently been one of the two fastest growing economies in the world, the other being China. It's time for India to finance fixing its own problems, rather than begging the West for help as if it were a pathetic little Fourth World African entity.
#6
India has indeed been growing rapidly but overall is not nearly so wealthy as China. There is considerable illiteracy and deep poverty in the Imdian countryside, made worse by a climate/disease vector that most of China does not have to contend with.
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Afghan Taliban, has fled a Pakistani city on the border with Afghanistan and found refuge from potential U.S. attacks in the teeming Pakistani port city of Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan's intelligence service, three current and former U.S. intelligence officials said.
Mullah Omar, who hosted Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders when they plotted the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had been residing in Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban shura -- or council -- had moved from Kandahar after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Two senior U.S. intelligence officials and one former senior CIA officer told The Washington Times that Mullah Omar traveled to Karachi last month after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He inaugurated a new senior leadership council in Karachi, a city that so far has escaped U.S. and Pakistani counterterrorism campaigns, the officials said.
The officials, two of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, the ISI, helped the Taliban leaders move from Quetta, where they were exposed to attacks by unmanned U.S. drones.
Bruce Riedel, a CIA veteran and analyst on al Qaeda and the Taliban, confirmed that Mullah Omar had been spotted in Karachi recently. "Some sources claim the ISI decided to move him further from the battlefield to keep him safe" from U.S. drone attacks, said Mr. Riedel, who headed the Obama administration's review of policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan last spring. "There are huge madrassas in Karachi where Mullah Omar could easily be kept."
Mr. Riedel also noted that there had been few suicide bombings in Karachi, which he attributed to the Taliban and al Qaeda not wanting to "foul their own nest."
A U.S. counterterrorism official said, "There are indications of some kind of bleed-out of Taliban types from Quetta to Karachi, but no one should assume at this point that the entire Afghan Taliban leadership has packed up its bags and headed for another Pakistani city."
A second senior intelligence officer who specializes in monitoring al Qaeda said U.S. intelligence had confirmed Mullah Omar's move through both electronic and human sources as well as intelligence from an unnamed allied service.
The official said that neither Osama bin Laden nor al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri has been spotted in Karachi. The official said the top two al Qaeda figures are still thought to be in the tribal region of Pakistan on Afghanistan's border.
But, the official said, other midlevel al Qaeda operatives who facilitate the travel and training of foreign fighters have moved to the Karachi metropolitan area, which with 18 million people is Pakistan's most populous city. "One reason, [al Qaeda] and Taliban leaders are relocating to Karachi is because they believe U.S. drones do not strike there," the official said. "It is a densely populated urban area."
Mary Habeck, a professor and analyst on radical Islam at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, said the reported move "suggests the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban are one and the same thing."
She said that it also "shows the Taliban are not the marginalized group we have been saying they are. They can move into a major city in Pakistan and believe they are safe there."
#3
As I've said over and over, the time has come for ending the "Pakistan" experiment. Bomb them back to the Stone Age, take over the western half of the country and give it to Afghanistan, and allow India to take over the eastern half (including Kashmir). Build a four-lane superhighway from Karachi to Kabul, with a parallel rail line. If things don't get better, exile all the Sunnis to Iran and all the Shi'ites to Saudi Arabia. Let the Christians, animists, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and others to do what they wish in the enlarged Afghanistan. The US should administer the territory the rail/road lines are on, and hang anyone trying to damage them along the sides of the route. The US should also keep enough territory to safely station a bomb wing, a fighter wing, and a US Army division (with training grounds). It's time the rest of the world learns that if you kick us in the teeth, we're going to bite your leg off at the knee. It's also time the US acknowledges that, without a show of force, the world will consider us weak and unable to respond to their machinations.
A Tomahawk missile through a window at the "Int'l Criminal Court" and the "International Court of Justice" would also signal that WE will decide if our actions are criminal in nature, not a bunch of effete politicians in Europe.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/21/2009 17:05 Comments ||
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#2
Buried deep, deep within the article: Radio logs of the shooting indicate the guards were fired on.
The incident resulted in Blackwater's contract being cancelled. The goal was met. What's the purpose in continuing to expose the fact that the guards fired back after being fired upon?
[Ma'an] Public Investigation and Intelligence services in Hebron arrested two citizens on charges of fraud and the possession of counterfeit banknotes with the value of 9,900 US dollars, police reported Friday.
The information office of the Palestinian police said agents "lured the suspects" into an area of As-Salam Street in Hebron city and once they determined the men were in possession of the currency, which all had the same serial number, officers detained the two for questioning.
During the investigation one of the two men admitted to purchasing special ink for their computer printer, which was used to manufacture teh forged notes. A second had previous infractions relating to forgery and fraud, police said.
Colonel Ramadan Awwad said the two were transferred to the general prosecution for processing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January will be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote.
Abbas, speaking to BBC Arabic, said the Palestinian leadership would take measures to avoid a constitutional vacuum -- although he did not spell these out -- when the term of the current legislature and his term as president expire on Jan. 25.
Abbas also said he would not seek a second term as president. He had previously said he had no desire to run in the elections which had been scheduled for Jan. 24.
Settlements
"It is better for us that Hamas accepts the holding of elections. But if that doesn't happen, then the Palestinian leadership must take measures"
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
His announcement reflected frustration with the stalled peace process and what the Palestinians see as the failure of the United States to put pressure on Israel to halt settlement activity on land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
Abbas reiterated his demand for a halt to Israeli settlement before any resumption of talks. "I said that the Israeli government does not want peace. The American government has not done enough for the sake of peace," he added.
The interview was broadcast on Thursday.
The Central Election Commission announced last week it had advised Abbas to put off the election because Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip where some 1.5 million Palestinians live, had warned it would not allow them to vote.
Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. The Islamist group disputes Abbas's legitimacy.
"Now for a realistic reason, due to certain conditions -- because of the rejection of Hamas and its threat to prevent (voting) by force, naturally they will be delayed, or the time of the elections will come later," Abbas said.
"It is better for us that Hamas accepts the holding of elections. But if that doesn't happen, then the Palestinian leadership must take measures," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#4
Fear? No. Once the Marines return from deployment, they get measured/scanned again. Part of it is medical research, part of it is to establish a baseline so that if a Marine does exhibit PTSD, there is have something to work off of. Right now a PTSD claim can be made without much verification aside from some psychological tests.
There's a smaller program that's being done by the Army that essentially measures the soldier/marine/sailor's cognitive skills. Upon their return, they get tested again - especially if they had head wounds.
#4
Obama will not permit spying on his own people..
Yup, odds are great they'd be arrested, and Obamagod can't have that.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/21/2009 15:50 Comments ||
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#5
hey steve, it sounds like you and 746 are agreeing...what did I miss? I know if we could use satellite technology to thwart roadside bombers we need to use it in the most obvious place (rhymes with I'vegotnoplan) sort of
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/21/2009 16:15 Comments ||
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#6
steve, I think the islamist insurgents in southern thailand are fucked cowardly assholes and a problem in the region that is growing,it seems. If the Phils actually succeed in getting us out of their country militarily then the problem will just grow that much faster. The rulers(Thaksin is another story) of Thailand seem to have proven themselves historically as well and (again) seem to be more trustworthy than other nations in the area.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/21/2009 18:44 Comments ||
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#12
The representatives of the Filipino people (aka the democratically elected government) just have to give the word and the troops will be gone and on Stateside R&R in days. That the supporters of the Communist NPA terrorists want the US gone and replaced by a Communist dictatorship is no secret.
Posted by: ed ||
11/21/2009 18:50 Comments ||
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#13
It doesn't help that the current president of the Philippines has a rep of catering to the NPA.
[Dawn] Sri Lanka has released more than half of the thousands of displaced civilians held in government camps after the end of the country's ethnic conflict earlier this year, a minister said Friday. Goes easier without cyanide pills, doesn't it?
'We feel the security situation has eased considerably now to allow people to return to their homes,' Human Rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters here. Of course they have to keep the occasional Tamil Tiger out of their towns...
He said 136,328 men, women and children still remained inside camps across the island's north, down from some 280,000 at the end of the fighting in May with the defeat of Tamil Tiger guerrillas. Not stopping the killing when the mealy mouthed were demanding it stopped the killing today. Had they stopped it then it'd be going on now and for the indefinite future.
A batch of 41,000 people were allowed to leave the camps in October, making it the biggest single release of war displaced people held in camps, according to official figures.
Samarasinghe said the government will make a formal announcement on Saturday about giving free access to displaced people to leave the camps which were tightly guarded by security forces.
'While I am fully aware of the undesirability of keeping civilians in camps unnecessarily for long periods, the government is not convinced that it is good policy to rush them into areas that have not been fully cleared,' he said.
He said over 1.5 million mines need to be cleared and basic infrastructure needs to be in place to allow returnees to resume their normal lives.
'Be patient, we will get most of the people home by end January next year,' he said.
On Thursday, UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes stepped up pressure on Colombo to free civilians held in internment camps and urged the government to improve their living conditions.
'Months after the conflict ended, our main concerns haven't changed. People are still not given free access to leave these camps on their own free will,' Holmes told AFP after a visit to the camps on Thursday.
In May, Sri Lankan troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels who had been fighting for a separate homeland since 1972.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Hassan Nasrallah was re-elected head of Hezbollah late on Thursday following a congress that also adopted a new manifesto, which is to be revealed in coming days, the armed Shiite party announced.
Nasrallah, 49, has been heading Hezbollah since 1992 when his predecessor, Abbas Moussaoui, was killed in an Israeli helicopter raid.
A statement by the party, created in 1982, said Nasrallah would explain the contents of the manifesto at a press conference to be announced soon.
The Hezbollah leader has lived in hiding since the 2006 war between his group and Israel and rarely appears in public. His last press conference was held via video link.
The group, considered a terrorist organization by Washington, has two ministers in the new government formed earlier this month.
Hezbollah's first manifesto in 1985 called for the establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon, but the party leadership has toned down its rhetoric in recent years as it gained political clout.
The Thursday statement said the new political document adopted at the party congress endorsed modifications in line with changes that have taken place within the party in recent years.
Hezbollah's leadership elections are usually held every three years but they were last held in 2004. A Hezbollah official said the two-year delay was caused by internal Lebanese differences and the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Senior officials from six world powers said on Friday they were disappointed Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential to make nuclear bombs, and urged Tehran to reconsider.
But the officials, from Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia and China, stopped short of specific discussion of further sanctions that could be imposed on Iran, a senior EU official said after the talks in Brussels.
"We are disappointed by the lack of follow-up on the three understandings reached (in the proposed deal)," the powers said in a joint statement, which said Iran had not agreed to a meeting before the end of October to discuss the nuclear issue.
Urging Iran to reconsider
" We urge Iran to reconsider the opportunity offered by this agreement... and to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations "
Statement by six powers
"We urge Iran to reconsider the opportunity offered by this agreement... and to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations," said the statement read out by Robert Cooper, the EU official who chaired the meeting.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had brokered a plan under which Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, but Tehran on Wednesday rejected the proposal.
Under the initiative, Iran was given the option of shipping some 75 percent of its low-enriched uranium out of the country for it to be converted into fuel plates for a Tehran reactor that makes isotopes for cancer treatments.
The six powers met after U.S. President Barack Obama warned there could be a package of sanctions against Iran within weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Oopsies, did they forget the "or die" suffix on that offer?
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.
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea on Friday blasted the latest U.N. passage of a resolution on its human rights situation as "a trite political plot" crafted by the United States. "The resolution is nothing but a trite political plot hatched by hostile forces against the DPRK every year," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
A national welcome-home march has taken place at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to mark the end of Australia's military operations in Iraq.
India's plans to launch a major offensive against Maoist rebels in the country's heartlands could jeopardise much-needed humanitarian operations in the impoverished area, the European Commission has warned.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hassan Nasrallah was re-elected head of Hezbollah late on Thursday following a congress that also adopted a new manifesto, which is to be revealed in coming days, the armed Shiite party announced.
Senior officials from six world powers said on Friday they were disappointed Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential to make nuclear bombs, and urged Tehran to reconsider.
