Military strategists were puzzled that the enemy was being given so much detail. But the battle launched yesterday is as much for headlines as for territory. “What Marjah is really about is turning around the perception that we're losing,' said an adviser to General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Most fighters are thought to have melted away, leaving a few diehards and a lot of improvised explosive devices. Some reports were of as few as 50 Taliban in Marjah.
“Nothing in the past eight years of combat supports the notion that the Taliban are suicidal fools,' said John McCreary, a former intelligence analyst for the US joint chiefs of staff.
Many in the US intelligence community believe Marjah is about convincing Afghans that the Taliban are not invincible and impressing people back home who are sceptical of what their troops are achieving. “It's an attempt to retake the information war,' said one officer.
“This is all a war of perceptions,' said McChrystal earlier this month. “This is not a physical war in terms of how many people you kill ... This is all in the minds of the participants.'
The assault follows a series of briefings by McChrystal that Nato forces are “turning the tide' against the Taliban despite little evidence of this. The briefings have provoked concern in Whitehall. One senior official warned Gordon Brown not to be taken in as there could be bloody months ahead.
By talking up the importance of Marjah, the US commander hopes to announce a decisive victory, achieved with a display of firepower capable of convincing Taliban foot soldiers to switch sides. He also wants to use it as a showcase for a shift in focus from killing Taliban to protecting civilians and improving governance.
#3
Hanging them is better. Most Taliban can't think of themselves being attacked by their extended family, but they CAN visualize themselves hanging from the end of a rope. Hang them where they can be seen for miles. Let those that are hung stay there for at least a week. This has worked elsewhere before, even in muslim territory. IT will work again.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/14/2010 14:30 Comments ||
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The Minister for Public Security, Yitzchak Aharonovich, met his Kenyan counterpart Prof. George Saitoti in Jerusalem Thursday, and the two discussed their countries' security and criminal problems. Minister Saitoti told Aharonovich that Kenya is under threat from extremist Muslims. “The jihad is taking over Somalia and threatening to take over Kenya and all of Africa,' he said. “No one is more experienced than you in fighting internal terror. I request that you help us in this matter. In knowledge, in training.'
Aharonovich told Saitoti about the influx of unwanted immigrants from Africa, and said that the Israeli government will vote Sunday on the construction of a fence on the southern border. “We realize that this is not an ideal solution but we have to do something about the matter. You know this from the Somali border,' he told his guest. The Kenyan minister replied: “I promise that we will help you as regards the infiltrators. We have a lot of knowledge and we are successful in dealing with the phenomenon relatively well on the Somali border.'
Aharonovich and Saitoti also discussed Iran. “Not far from here, Ahmedinejad sits and threatens with extinction a nation that has already suffered a Holocaust in its lifetime. We must not bear such a situation and indeed we won't,' the Israeli said. “As a nation friendly to you, I tell you that we shall not put up with the Iranian declarations about destroying Israel,' Saitoti replied.
Kenya's population is mostly Christian and generally very friendly toward Israelis, whom they often refer to by the Biblical term “Israelites.' Unlike the western world, Kenya has no history of anti-Semitism, and the history of the Jewish people is known mostly from the stories of their greatness in the Bible, and from modern-day exploits such as the Six Day War in 1967 and the Entebbe raid in 1976, which was assisted by Kenya. The Muslim part of Kenya's population – about 10% – is concentrated in the coastal area, where Muslim ivory and slave traders settled centuries ago.
Colombia is ready to contribute troops to the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan, the Andean nation's defense minister said.
“We have negotiations underway with the Afghanistan government to guarantee the immunity of our soldiers, an immunity equivalent to that enjoyed by soldiers from other countries participating in the anti-terrorist effort in Afghanistan,' Gabriel Silva told reporters in the U.S. capital.
“That is the only obstacle still pending,' Silva said as he was leaving a meeting with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) during his week-long state visit to Washington.
The minister offered no details about how many Colombian soldiers would be sent to Afghanistan or when they would go, though he did say they would take part in tasks related “clearing minefields, humanitarian aid, training special forces and fighting drug trafficking in Afghanistan.'
Silva said that Colombia has in force more than 150 collaboration pacts in the fields of security and defense, and is also taking part in a number of international forums to do with humanitarian aid and development, as is the case with earthquake-stricken Haiti.
He said that “the responsibility of collaborating with other countries is inherent to being part of the international community,' and if Colombia “wants to receive support, solidarity and cooperation, it has to give them as well.'
The deployment of Colombian troops, he said, will be done at “the first window of opportunity that comes up' after the international judicial and logistical matters are settled.
#3
Maybe above their weight in numbers, but, I think they're trying to move up in skills.
Above their weight in participating on the other side of the world, with the big boys. And of course their trying to improve their skills -- from what I've heard, Afghanistan is where those countries whose special forces are good go to see exactly how good they are, compared to the best. Only Israel doesn't, because they wouldn't be welcome and because they've got other things to do...like track down and wipe out Iranian weapons convoys in Sudan. (Or was it Somalia?)
#4
"countries whose special forces are good go to see exactly how good they are, compared to the best. Only Israel doesn't"
No need for Israel to, tw. They already know exactly how good they are. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/14/2010 14:44 Comments ||
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#5
And so do those whose opinion matters, Barbara. Perhaps in the future countries like Columbia will send their SF teams to work alongside Israel for the same reason they now go to Afghanistan.
Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai officials will deport and not press charges against the five-member crew of a cargo plane intercepted in the Asian nation last year, carrying tons of weapons from North Korea.
The pilot from Belarus and four crew members from Kazakhstan will not be prosecuted in Thailand, because it isn't in the country's interests to do so, Kayasit Phitsawongprakarn with the Attorney General's office said Thursday.
And perhaps because the CIA managed to get from them what we needed, so we can just send them home.
"We have just acted according to Thai law. The weapons are now evidence. We are waiting for the owners to claim them," Kayasit said. "If after one year no one claims, it will belong to Thailand and the Defence Ministry will decide what to do with them."
The five crew members have been released from prison and temporarily placed in the custody of immigration authorities, said their lawyer, Somsak Saithong.
The men were arrested on December 12 when their Russian-built Ilyushin IL-76 cargo plane was on a refueling stop after flying from North Korea.
Funny twist of fate. Landing in Thailand of all places for fuel instead of, say, Burma or China. Wonder why ...
Thai authorities found the plane loaded with 35 tons of weapons including small arms and rocket propelled grenades, in violation of strict U.N. sanctions against North Korea.
Kayasit said the plane's crew is not being prosecuted, because the U.N. resolution against North Korea only calls on countries to intercept arms, not punish those transporting them. But Kayasit said he expected that the men will be prosecuted by their own governments.
Good luck with that ...
The final destination for the weapons was still not clear. A leaked report by the Thai government to the U.N. Security Council said there was evidence the plane's final destination was Iran. Thai officials have not confirmed the report.
They don't need to ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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The Nabhan decision was one of a number of similar choices the administration has faced over the past year as President Obama has escalated U.S. attacks on the leadership of al-Qaeda and its allies around the globe. The result has been dozens of targeted killings and no reports of high-value detentions.
Senior administration officials say that no policy determination has been made to emphasize kills over captures.
Republican critics, already scornful of limits placed on interrogation of the suspect in the Christmas Day bombing attempt, charge that the administration has been too reluctant to risk an international incident or a domestic lawsuit to capture senior terrorism figures alive and imprison them.
"Over a year after taking office, the administration has still failed to answer the hard questions about what to do if we have the opportunity to capture and detain a terrorist overseas, which has made our terror-fighters reluctant to capture and left our allies confused," Sen. Christopher S. Bond (Mo.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Friday. "If given a choice between killing or capturing, we would probably kill."
Some military and intelligence officials, citing what they see as a new bias toward kills, questioned whether valuable intelligence is being lost in the process. "We wanted to take a prisoner," a senior military officer said of the Nabhan operation. "It was not a decision that we made."
Even during the Bush administration, "there was an inclination to 'just shoot the bastard,' " said a former intelligence official briefed on current operations. "But now there's an even greater proclivity for doing it that way. . . . We need to have the capability to snatch when the situation calls for it." What are the instructions to the troops on the ground? Are they in conformance with GC? Will we take prisoners in Marjah or are ANA involved in Marjah operation so that all prisoners can be turned over to them? Battlefield rendition? What personal liability does the military face if it hands prisoners over to the ANA and they are subsequently tortured, and I don't mean waterboarding? Paging Lt. Morant, Lt. Breaker Morant ...
#1
well if we to kill enough bad guys (probably way more than we are doing now) the locals would find ways to get us more info; this is consistent with the IDF experience
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/14/2010 15:34 Comments ||
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#2
I like the practice of handing out a bunch of simple devices, that when the bad guys show up, anyone can just push a button, then bury or hide the thing.
Of course, the bad guyz will try to confiscate them, but they won't know how many of them there are, nor when a button has been pushed. And threatening to kill tribesmen just for possession will get them nowhere.
Then they will try to set up an ambush, using the device as bait. But we will do aerial surveillance ahead of time to compromise their ambush.
Then they will try moving the devices around to other places, not knowing that the signal has a unique identifier.
#3
Sen. Christopher S. Bond (Mo.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Friday. "If given a choice between killing or capturing, we would probably kill."
#6
I suspect the Taliban and al-Q would love to take some Americans prisoners and have not been able to because we have prevented them. Remember the convoy in Iraq they hit where they captured the female soldier and others. They were not killed immediately. I suspect they would love to take videos showing how they can humiliate the US soldier for muzziepRon.
No matter how satisfying emotionally, or how much it helps OB1 to escape responsibility, taking prisoners is desirable for three reasons I can think of immediately: combatants are more likely to stop resisting and surrender if they believe they will be acceptably treated afterwords, corpses can't be interrogated, we will not kill all their relatives and we will be living with them after combat ends.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2010 18:50 Comments ||
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#10
I don't think we're talking about battlefield executions vs. surrenders here
Not explicitly, but there's a slippery slope. And do you think it will be a career helper to be the #1 prisoner taker when the CinC doesn't want prisoners because he doesn't know what to do with them? An then some mook will get tortured by the ANA and AI will want to know what officer authorized turning him over to known torturers, etc. And Bambi would hypovehiculate the guy in a flash.
#12
I wouldn't be surprised if the Nobama administration has done away with the idea of having a place to put new bad guys, or even interrogating them if they did have a place to put them. Or even squeezing them hard enough to make them giggle.
This would be the logical end result.
Not that I'm complaining that much.
But this administration has had ample opportunity by now to capture and interrogate someone. Anyone. Why not? They have always voted to wax them in situ with a drone or with snipers according to what I have seen.
The airport bomber does not count. He basically surrendered himself.
You'd think at least one of these bad guys would have something interesting to say, and you'd think we could hunt some of those folks down that he would have turned.
However, all their relatives will try to kill you. Blood fueds in tribal societies can go on for generations.
The Pushtuns fight for tribe/clan and money/loot. Which makes (the Bush) assasination of Taliban/AQ facilitators the right strategy. I only hope they are assasinating the right people.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney Sunday shot back directly at Vice President Joe Biden's assertion that success in Iraq will be one of the Obama administration's great achievements, calling it "a little strange."
Chuckling after he was read Biden's statement, Cheney said, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by my friend Joe Biden."
"I'm glad he now believes Iraq is a success," Cheney said on ABC's "This Week," adding that Biden and President Obama campaigned criticizing the Bush administration on Iraq and opposed the surge. "For them to try and take credit for what happened in Iraq strikes me as a little strange," Cheney said.
If the Obama administration is going to take credit for the drawdown of troops and democratic government in Iraq, Cheney said, it should come with "a healthy dose of thank you George Bush," because those changes are "in accordance to the timetable that we initiated."
Cheney, responding to Biden's comments in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" taped Saturday, said his replacement as vice president was "dead wrong" to say another terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11 is unlikely.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 10:46 ||
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#1
Cheney said, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by my friend Joe Biden."
ANY statements by Joe Biden should come as NO surprise to people who can think on their own.
#3
They showed a clip of Biden making his ridiculous claim on Larry King. He looks like he needs a little more arugula in his diet.
Cheney, OTOH, looks healthy and happy. I wish him many more long years of speaking out against the lies the current administration is spewing to cover their asses. Can't wait to read his new book.
#4
"For them to try and take credit for what happened in Iraq strikes me as a little strange," Cheney said.
Strange, no. Dishonest, shameless, cynical and hypocritical, yes.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/14/2010 13:23 Comments ||
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#5
The article forgot the /sarcasm tag on that quote. If you watch the video Cheney says 'a little strange' with a skillfully light touch of the driest possible sarcasm.
Q: What's your assessment of the Gen. Petraeus testimony on Iraq?
A: Well, after hearing two days of testimony, let's be clear on exactly what they said. That after putting an additional 30,000 troops in, far longer & more troops than the president had initially said, we have gone from a horrendous situation of violence in Iraq to the same intolerable levels of violence that we had back in June of 2006. So, essentially, after all this we're back where we were 15 months ago. And what has not happened is any movement with respect to the sort of political accommodations among the various factions, the Shia, the Sunni, and Kurds that were the rationale for surge and that ultimately is going to be what stabilizes Iraq. So, I think it is fair to say that the president has simply tried to gain another six months to continue on the same course that he's been on for several years now. It is a course that will not succeed. It is a course that is exacting an enormous toll on the American people & our troops.
=================================
Joe Biden: Patraeus report is wrong strategy; draw down troops now
Q: Do you accept the evaluation and interpretation by Gen. Petraeus as to the situation on the ground in Iraq and leading him to conclude that he needs 160,000 troops until July 2008?
A: Absolutely not. I think it's the wrong strategy. We should be drawing down troops now. We should be in the middle of the 2008, down to 30,000 to 40,000 troops with an end date of getting out of there based upon a political settlement where you set up a federal system there.
Q: What is it Petraeus believes in that you don't?
A: I think Petraeus believes in what I believe in, that his troops will do whatever they're asked. I think Petraeus doubts whether or not militarily he can reach a political solution. He's given a military mission to try to stabilize as much of the country as he can. As a military man, he's doing what he's asked to do, but he knows it will not solve the problem. There is no military solution to Iraq that will allow us to leave without leaving chaos and a civil war behind.
Posted by: ed ||
02/14/2010 15:40 Comments ||
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#7
ION FREEREPUBLIC > RETIRED ADMIRAl-SENATOR SEES "DEATH OF THE US" [from within due to various socio-cultural + political morass].
Keith Olbermann Friday blamed 9/11 on former President George W. Bush.
"3,000 people died on September 11th, 2001 because George Bush did not prioritize," the "Countdown" host disgracefully told his small number of viewers.
It's not nice to snicker, however tempting.
"Perhaps no one says it because it is such a painful, awful truth to confront, 3,000 people dead because Bush and Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld and others simply had other agendas than fighting terrorism."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Is there a smaller minded more savagely stupid man than this on the news stations?
Mr Olberman needs his head introduced to the flat of a shovel. Hard.
#4
Bush and Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld and others simply had other agendas than fighting terrorism.
That would be at least equally true (if not more) of the Clinton Administration. They tried to kill Clinton, they bombed 2 embassies, they bombed the Cole.
#8
"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" - MSM message to the American public
#14
Bush DIDN'T treat the threat of Islamic extremism as seriously as he should, up to 9/11.
Clinton didn't treat Islamic extremism seriously, for many, many years.
But, unlike Olbermann, I don't think we should be about point-scoring, but how our administrations did afterward. I'm giving Obama low marks for keeping me, my family, and other Americans safe after the Christmas bomber.
#17
He's trying to do like Peter Finch in that movie Network. Only one question: Is he doing it on purpose or has he really gone off the rails? Either way, I don't think he has what it takes to pull it off.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/14/2010 14:07 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called upon the European Union (EU) to treat Pakistan at par with India and accord it the same access in civil nuclear technology as given to India.
When Pakistan acts like India, it will be treated like India. So long as Pakistan in a world center of jihadi terror, the difference in treatment will be like a gem-encrusted elephant goad.
Gilani was addressing the troika of EU Ambassadors comprising the Ambassadors of Sweden, Spain and EU who called on him at the Prime Minister's House today.
The ambassadors briefed the PM on EU's action plan on Pakistan as approved by the EU's External Relation Council at the end of October 2009.
The Prime Minister emphasised that the European Union must realise that its relations with Pakistan are to be developed on a stand-alone basis and not for the reasons of Pakistan's contiguity with Afghanistan.
The EU ambassadors assured that it would help Pakistan build the capacity of its law enforcement agencies and in the establishment of technical and vocational training institutions apart from assisting in reforms of various socio-economic sectors.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
GDP
Pakistan 178.8 billion per year (US dollars per year) (2008 estimate)
India $1.254 trillion per year (US dollars per year) (2008 estimate)
Posted by: john frum ||
02/14/2010 9:58 Comments ||
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#2
You mean like a responsible member of the world community?
One that pays real money for stuff.
One that doesn't export terrorists?
Sort of a respectable country?
#3
Pakistan is a begger nation, demanding cash from more successful nations. India is a nation that stands on its own feet. Pakistan asks for forgiveness of its obligations, India pays them.
Can't treat Pakistan and India as equals until Pakistan BECOMES India's equal. That will never happen.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/14/2010 14:41 Comments ||
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#4
surely there's a low-enough caste in India we can compare them too?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2010 15:09 Comments ||
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#5
In India, Muslims and "Untouchables" have been Presidents, Defence Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, Army Generals etc.
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (which would be the world's fifth most populous country if it were an independent state) is an untouchable, and a woman.
The same cannot be said of Pakistan. No non-Muslim has occupied any position of real power in Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/14/2010 17:18 Comments ||
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#7
perhaps I shouldn't have used the semi-official "caste".
I was thinking more along the lines of:
"beggar, thief, back-knifer, loser, extortionist, pompous asshole, Islamic Supremacist..."
/need I continue?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2010 18:04 Comments ||
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#8
Ah..
with 18% of the world's population, there are millions of undesirables to compare them to.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/14/2010 19:28 Comments ||
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#9
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > YOUTUBE - NAXALITES CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE INDIA | INDIA AT CIVIL WAR: NAXALITE ATTACKS [+ Movement] ARE GETTING STRONGER AS SALWA JUDWA KILLS CIVILIANS.
* SAME > CHINA BUILDS/ ESTABLISHES A PEARL IN SRI LANKA + CHINA GROWS MORE IMPORATNT TO SRI LANKA.
On that note, INDJUH'S GOVT wants to base ADVANC SU-30'S WARPLANES on new air bases in the ANDAMAN ISLANDS.
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi officials announced Saturday that 145 candidates will be barred from participating in parliamentary elections next month after an appellate court ruled that their alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party make them ineligible. The court reinstated 26 candidates who had been labeled Baathists by a vetting commission run by Shiites participating in the March 7 elections.
Barred candidates denounced the process that led to their expulsion as arbitrary, legally dubious and masterminded by proxies of Tehran.
"It is not possible to raise the white flag," the most prominent among them, Sunni lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlak, said Saturday on state-run television. "The entire country and its people shall be threatened."
Mutlak's slate, the Iraqi National Movement, which is run by Shiite former prime minister Ayad Allawi, decided to delay the start of its electoral campaign by at least three days, even though the campaign season kicked off Friday. "This situation puts a major question mark on the feasibility of the next election," the slate said in a statement calling for parliament and the judiciary to review the matter urgently.
Many Western observers and Iraqi leaders, though, see the ruling as a done deal. U.S. officials, in particular, have expressed concern, saying that it sets the stage for Sunnis to feel disenfranchised after the elections and has dampened hopes of easing tension between Sunnis and Shiites. This could spark a fresh wave of violence as U.S. troops pull out.
"I believe after this decision there will be no hope for any kind of reconciliation," said Nabil Khalil Saied, one of the disqualified candidates.
No prominent Sunnis have called for a boycott, as many did ahead of the 2005 elections. But Sunni leaders say the de-Baathification process has taken on the air of a witch hunt and hardened sectarian lines just as friction had been easing. It has dominated the political debate at the expense of more pedestrian issues such as restoring security, improving basic services and resolving complex national disputes.
The saga began last month when the Justice and Accountability Commission announced that more than 500 candidates would be banned from the elections for alleged allegiance to the Baath Party. Under Iraqi law, Baath Party loyalists cannot hold top government jobs. However, the legal criterion for establishing who is a Baathist is vague and widely disputed.
Shiite politicians Ahmed Chalabi and Ali Lami run the commission. Although the original list included roughly an equal number of Sunnis and Shiites, it disproportionately targeted mixed, secular blocs. The disqualification of alleged Baathists is widely expected to benefit the largest Shiite bloc, which includes Chalabi and Lami.
Wotta coincidence. Chabbers always does seem to turn up in any seedy undertaking in Iraq ...
The appellate court responsible for reviewing the cases decided to delay the rulings until after the election. That would have allowed all candidates to run. But the court buckled under pressure from Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other politicians and agreed to rule on all cases within a few days. Many of those on the original list opted to drop out or were replaced by their parties.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, threatened in an audio recording late on Friday to stop Iraqi parliamentary elections by "military means," the SITE monitoring service said.
SITE, which monitors Islamist websites, said Baghdadi condemned the March 7 elections as a political crime plotted by Shiites.
"(We) have decided to prevent the elections by all legitimate means possible, primarily by military means," the service quoted him as saying.
Except that military means are not legitimate. Clearly Mr. Abu Omar hasn't noticed Iraqis like voting in elections, and after the last few years they aren't likely to give it up for the likes of him and his little henchmen.
The speech, which runs 34 minutes and 22 seconds and was produced by the group's media arm, al-Furqan, was posted on jihadist websites on Friday, SITE said.
The election is seen by Washington as a crucial precursor to a complete U.S. military withdrawal by the end of 2011.
In other words, Mr. Abu Omar, get too violent and the American troops will stay. Lay low, and they'll leave. Of course, that means you'll have lost face, but surely you can bring the people round with a few well placed bombs in bazaars... or not -- y'all don't seem as scary as the ibn Saddam Hussein al Tikriti brothers, somehow.
There are currently 107,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, but the number is scheduled to fall to 50,000 by August when all American combat soldiers are due to pull out.
Around 19 million people have the right to vote, including 1.4 million Iraqi citizens now living abroad in 16 countries, according to election organizers.
This article starring:
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > AL QAEDA IN IRAQ THREATENS NEW JIHAD [renewed insurgency]IFF SHARIA NOT IMPOSED.
[Ma'an] Five Palestinian factions called on Hamas to sign the Egyptian reconciliation document during a meeting at the Popular Struggle Front's Gaza headquarters on Saturday.
The factions in attendance included the Palestinian Liberation Front, Fida, the Arab Liberation Front, the Palestinian-Arab Front and the Popular Struggle Front.
Members of the various factions demanded that Hamas sign the proposal as it represents "a lifeline" for the Palestinian people.
Additionally the Palestinian factions discussed the latest political developments including what affiliates termed the radicalization of the Israeli-right wing government, working to Judaize Jerusalem through settlement expansion.
President Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to return to negotiations until a full settlement standstill is enforced and the terms of reference are clearly identified was applauded.
Efforts to guarantee the success of local elections, to be held across the occupied Palestinian territories, should be intensified by implementing measures to assure of the electoral process' transparency, attendees added.
The ratification of the Egyptian document, poised to bring an end to Fatah-Hamas rivalry has been stonewalled. Following a visit to Russia, senior-most Hamas leader Khaled Mash'al the Islamist movement "wants reconciliation with Fatah as soon as possible," but noted obstacles to unity included several American conditions placed on going back to peace talks.
He further explained that Hamas was ready to sign the initial Egyptian unity document, but noted the current version signed by Fatah officials had been amended without consulting Hamas. He said that without American intervention the re-negotiation of the unity document would be straightforward.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Palestinian Authority Preventative Security Services in Hebron confiscated 1 million pills advertised as sexual stimulants, worth an estimated 20 million Shekels, from a warehouse in the city. According to the Ministry of Health, the pills originated from China and entered the West Bank without a required permit from the ministry.
The warehouse raid followed a tip-off and was carried out in the presence of prosecutor Ashraf Al-Qawasmi, the general manager of tax and customs, Fawzi Abu Dayyah, and representatives of the Ministry of Health.
Khaled Seder, Ministry of Health manager in Hebron, said the pills confiscated were unusual, a variety he has not encountered before during his 28-year career as a doctor, he said. "These are not sexual stimulants; they are poisons. Samples will be sent to the laboratory for examination, to discover the chemical composition of these pill and to ascertain if they comply with Palestinian health standards."
"We estimate the real value of these stimulants, of which 15 varieties were discovered, if sold on the black market could obtain about 20 million shekels" he added.
Seder added that the Palestinian market would not be able to absorb the large quantity of pills discovered, and speculated that they were intended for export to neighboring countries like Jordan.
Seder called on Palestinians to consult with their doctor before purchasing pills claiming to assist in sexual-related problems and to obtain a prescription. "Do not let shame kill you; a doctor can help you more than any tonic."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Has China found another use for (compressed) tainted powdered baby milk?
#4
This should be proof of God for all you agnostics out there. In 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines of Ashdod/Gath captured the ark of the covenant and profaned God by putting it in the pagan god Dagon's temple. As punishment, God cursed them with tumors, or hemorroids, depending upon the Bible translation. Archaeological excavation at the site yielded some unusual artifacts that looked like foreskins along with the idols. Scholars have looked at the original Hebrew texts again and concluded the scribes thought the word translated as 'plagued with hemorrhoids' was too profane for the holy book, and actually means erectile dysfunction! I LOVE it--the Paleos have been cursed again with ED and now need (hopefully poisonous)Chinese Viagra.
#5
yes grom, from what we know of the Arab culture, once the blue Viagra pills were found to have therapeutic effects word spread quickly and amplified
I would bet that a lot of suger pills with blue coloring are sold
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/14/2010 16:39 Comments ||
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#6
I would bet that a lot of suger pills with blue coloring from lead paint are sold
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2010 17:56 Comments ||
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#7
They'll just have to be happy with little lead pills with no sugar coating.
Burmese authorities have freed the deputy chairman of the country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy. Tin Oo, who is in his early 80's, was released Saturday, after nearly seven years in detention.
Tin Oo told VOA Saturday that his party will not participate in this year's election unless its conditions are met. He said one of the conditions is the release of the party's top leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, so she can participate in the election. She is under house arrest which expires November.
The military government has announced general elections for this year, without naming the date.
Tin Oo said he would resume his political activities with the opposition and work for democracy in Burma.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Tin Oo's release. He said he hoped the move will lead to a more credible and inclusive political process in Burma. The Secretary General also called on Burma's government to release all remaining political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Monday, the United Nations' top human rights envoy for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, starts a five-day visit to the country. He is expected to urge the military government to permit the opposition and ethnic parties to participate in the upcoming elections.
Tin Oo was arrested together with Aung San Suu Kyi in May of 2003 on charges of disturbing public order, after their convoy was attacked in a northern village (of Depayin) by a government-sponsored mob.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Iran's opposition protesters were reeling Friday a day after a ferocious security clampdown foiled their attempt to hold mass demonstrations, describing how government militiamen seemed to be everywhere on Tehran's streets, swooping in to break up their gatherings.
Some in the movement are reassessing their strategy, considering moving away from street protests in the face of the crackdown. But they are struggling to find an alternative way to harness anger at Iran's government.
"I don't think we always have to pour into the streets to demand our rights," said Mohammad Taqi Karroubi, son of a senior opposition leader, Mahdi Karroubi. Given the fierceness of the crackdown, "it's natural that we don't want people to pay a high price anymore."
The opposition had called for mass protests to coincide with government-run celebrations Thursday for he 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution that created Iran's clerical rule. But an array of riot police, undercover security agents and hard-line militiamen -- some on motorcycles -- had fanned out across Tehran in one of the largest deployments since Iran's political turmoil began following June's disputed presidential elections.
Protesters were unable to muster a significant presence. Mahdi Karroubi's car was attacked by militiamen who smashed his windows. Another of his sons, Ali, was arrested, and was so severely beaten in custody that his family took him to a hospital after his release, Mohammad Taqi Karroubi said.
Several young opposition supporters who participated in Thursday's scattered protests expressed dismay, speaking of a temporary defeat and saying the movement needed to strengthen and deepen its organization. Some criticized its loose leadership.
"If we had a strong charismatic leader we wouldn't have marched in the streets dazed and confused yesterday," one female university student told The Associated Press from Tehran. "I see the opposite side as the winner today. A temporary winner. ...We don't have a central command. We were like a broken chain, thrown all over."
Another protester said, "We need a movement that will grow roots. Demonstrations are not going to take us anywhere. We need to make people aware, educate them culturally and socially."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2010 00:00 ||
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The bearded men in plainclothes who grabbed Ali from a crowd of anti-regime protesters and hauled him to a nearby mosque had no idea who they had arrested.
It wasn't until the regime thugs had finished beating him and the 50 or so other young men they had rounded up that they checked his identity papers.
Then, when they realised that Ali Karroubi, 36, was the son of Mehdi Karroubi, a leader of Iran's opposition Green Movement, they started beating him again - this time with sticks and batons.
"When they recognised who my brother was, the militia tried to punish him so badly," said Mohammed Taghi Karroubi, the reformist politician's eldest son.
"His wrist was fractured, he received so many lashes on his back and legs and his internal bleeding was so bad he was vomiting up blood. He was tortured by the basij and the police for five or six hours before they released him."
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
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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.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney Sunday shot back directly at Vice President Joe Biden's assertion that success in Iraq will be one of the Obama administration's great achievements, calling it "a little strange."
Keith Olbermann Friday blamed 9/11 on former President George W. Bush.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, threatened in an audio recording late on Friday to stop Iraqi parliamentary elections by "military means," the SITE monitoring service said.
[Ma'an] Five Palestinian factions called on Hamas to sign the Egyptian reconciliation document during a meeting at the Popular Struggle Front's Gaza headquarters on Saturday.
[Ma'an] Palestinian Authority Preventative Security Services in Hebron confiscated 1 million pills advertised as sexual stimulants, worth an estimated 20 million Shekels, from a warehouse in the city. According to the Ministry of Health, the pills originated from China and entered the West Bank without a required permit from the ministry. 
[Asharq al-Aswat] Iran's opposition protesters were reeling Friday a day after a ferocious security clampdown foiled their attempt to hold mass demonstrations, describing how government militiamen seemed to be everywhere on Tehran's streets, swooping in to break up their gatherings.
The bearded men in plainclothes who grabbed Ali from a crowd of anti-regime protesters and hauled him to a nearby mosque had no idea who they had arrested.
