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Afghan Taliban threaten death to all talking peace
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Taliban demand Congressional fact-finding commission
The Taliban called on Congress to bring a "fact-finding mission" to Afghanistan to investigate what they called falsehoods spread by American military chiefs to continue the war.

The statement was addressed to "Messers American Congressmen," and signed by Qari Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi, "spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".

It advised the team to explore Afghanistan throughly to make known "ground realities" being concealed by American officials anxious to look like they are winning.

"Can a few militants stand up to armed forces of 40 countries including the strongest countries of the world," Sunday's statement said.

"In fact the current armed jihad is a country-wide resistance against you. Men and women, old and young from every tribe, ethnicity, caste and area have arisen to oppose you. Thus by your intending to wipe out the resistance, you have chosen the way of committing genocide of the whole nation," it said.

The statement went on, ". . . how about another experiment? Send a team to Afghanistan on a fact-finding mission The team should have freedom of movement and should be allowed to remain far from the clutches of your intelligence agencies," suggesting that American leaders wouldn't be likely to allow the mission to do so.

The communiqué accused Robert Gates, David Petraeus, and other "military brass" of inflating victories in battle for financial gain among other reasons.

For nine years "Afghans have been festering in the vortex of an imposed war... The apparition of mass murder, imprisonment, night house raids and plundering which has become the order of the day constantly haunts them," said the announcement in English and Pashto.

Taliban inflicted casualties have "sparked off hot discussions" among common Americans "and now it has become one of the most critical issues pending before you".

"In the last two years, your military high-ups implemented different strategies including troop surge, construction of new military bases, forming militias. All these steps have been taken without considering the ground realities. It is why they all failed. Moreover the fear that Afghanistan may turn out to be a threat to world peace must be put out of your minds as it is a mere baseless propaganda." it said.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/07/2010 08:48 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They are quite certain they're winning.
Posted by: lotp || 11/07/2010 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  disagree. They're looking for victory on other-than-the-battlefield. They can't defeat us, we can only defeat ourselves by giving up. See: Viet Nam
Posted by: Frank G || 11/07/2010 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Frank, Hinchley, Pelosi, Hoyer, Jackson Jr., Gutierrez, Waters, should all be on the fact-finding commission. They should all go to Kandahar, Peshawar and Quetta. And stay there.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/07/2010 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Frank. you got me reminiscing, thinking about the bad old days. Let's see, I've identified Bambi as an LBJ wimpout for months.

Now it's clear Howard Dean will play the self-righteous, holier-than-thou campus rabble-rouser role of Clean Gene, allowing Sheriff Joe to reprise the Hubert Horatio Hornblower Humphrey role. Patraitor Leahy has a lock on the Frank Church role. Too bad Specter and Crist are gone. They'd make great George Aiken and Wayne Morse's. And the group should be led by Ramsey Clark fill-in Erich Holder.

But who to play the Jane Fonda part? The lefty babes aren't what they used to be.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/07/2010 10:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Steve White: Since they're no longer needed to vote in congress, I think it's a smashingly good idea that they get to know the Afghan people first hand. In fact, it would be worth it for the US to set up an American colony there, just for disaffected liberals.

And let the liberals enslave any Afghan they can catch. They would go for that part.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/07/2010 11:19 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't care what the Talibs say. This war is a complete waste of blood and treasure. We can no longer afford to continue this idiocy. The smartest thing the Republicans could say would be to get our troops out now, continue the drawdown in Iraq and reduce defense spending. That would give them the opening needed to reduce Soc Sec and Medicare. Our debt is our greatest threat, not some turbans in some cesspool on the other side of the planet.
Posted by: remoteman || 11/07/2010 12:54 Comments || Top||

#7  It now looks like the Afghan portion of the 9/11 war will end in a shameful and extremely dangerous defeat for the US and NATO.

Afghanistan has been treated like a reprise of the Vietnam war by the left and the right, an opportunity to 'get it right' this time, or to repeat the past.

Vietnam was a limited war, part of a global cold war. Afghanistan is the reaction to a mass fatality attack on the American heartland, an attack which was an act of total war and a war crime.

If Afghanistan ends in defeat, if the Taliban survive, then every potential adversary will know that America's reaction to an attack on the scale of 9/11 will consist of threatening rhetoric, appeasement, and restrained and incoherent military action that is ultimately futile.

If a future President were to designate Iran as a default target for nuclear retaliation in response to WMD terrorism (in a parallel to Kennedy during the Cuba crisis) why should rational Iranians take this threat seriously when Bush's threat against the Taliban after 9/11 proves to be no more consequential than Comical Ali's ramblings?
Posted by: Omaing White7048 || 11/07/2010 13:47 Comments || Top||

#8  I hope we don't give in to Islam, we'll be hearing it until Judgement Day.
Posted by: Uleger Barnsmell4617 || 11/07/2010 19:04 Comments || Top||


Saudi halts mediation between Taliban & Afghan govt
Soddy Arabia's foreign minister says Riyadh has halted mediation efforts between the Afghan government and the Taliban because the fundamentalist movement has refused to break ties with al-Qaeda.

Prince Saud al-Faisal spoke Saturday after a meeting with his Italian counterpart.

Last February, Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai sent a small delegation of former Taliban members to Soddy Arabia to seek help in kick-starting talks with the Taliban. But the Saudis said the kingdom would not help unless the Taliban severed all ties with Osama bin Laden -- a Saudi -- and his al-Qaeda terror network. That is also a key demand of both the U.S. and Afghanistan.

The Taliban is unwilling to hold formal peace talks until the U.S. agrees to a timetable to withdraw all foreign troops. Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
al-Faisal also condemned this week's bombings in Iraq and the attack on a Christian church there, calling the latter "against all principles and human morals."

He expressed "strong condemnation of the attacks launched recently in Iraq, resulting in the death of many innocent souls and injuries to many more, together with the desecration of a house of worship which is not accepted by our religion and is against all principles, human morals and international norms."

The Saudi condemnation came after a spate of car boomings in Storied Baghdad on Tuesday killed 64 people in mainly Shiite areas, and the takeover of the church last Sunday resulted in the deaths of 46 Christian worshippers.

Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq grabbed credit for both attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Children fighting Somalia's wars
Sixty per cent of soldiers involved in Somalia's conflict are children, a UN official has said.

The secretary-general's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Dr Radhika Coomaraswamy, told the Sunday Nation that a majority of the children had been enlisted in militia groups fighting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

However,
The infamous However...
Dr Coomaraswamy could not establish the exact number of children involved.

Dr Coomaraswamy, who had earlier met with Somalia's new Prime Minister, Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed in Mogadishu, said the TFG had pledged to put an end to the recruitment of children. She hoped that the militia groups, including the al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, would follow suit.

"Unfortunately my office has no access to the Islamic myrmidon groups, but we hope that they will abide by international humanitarian law and release all children within their ranks," she said.

She urged states who have influence over the groups to press for the protection of children by asking the cut-throats to release child soldiers.

During the meeting, the new PM also announced his government's commitment to eradicate the recruitment of child soldiers. Mr Mohammed agreed to form a task force that will work with the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society to help put an end to the practice and secure the release of serving child soldiers.

Persistent violator
The TFG and militias allied to it, have been on the secretary-general's "shame" list for recruitment and use of children in war for five consecutive years, earning the tag "persistent violator".

And in a meeting with the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), Dr Coomaraswamy raised concerns over the killing and maiming of civilians, including children, through indiscriminate shelling.

However,
Another infamous However...
she was assured that rules of engagement were in place and every measure will be taken to prevent any further civilian deaths.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
Amisom has announced plans to train more than 800 Somali coppers as it seeks to extend its control of Mogadishu.

The programme is also aimed at providing the transitional government with a professional police force in line with international standards.

For a country that has been in political turmoil for nearly two decades, the entire peace keeping process will have to get a new face in dealing with armed opposition groups.

Through Amisom's training programme, the officers will be mentored on community policing, human rights
... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you...
, logistics and management.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Somali pirates pocket big cash for 2 floaters
$12.3m for a SoRK tanker and another ship flagged in Singapore. Cash delivered directly to them onboard, which they counted while gloating to Rooters.
Posted by: lotp || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In a war zone, shouldn't ships be flying their national flags? That should let ships which aren't interested in playing the pirates' game steam through unmolested, and leave the likes of the SoRKs and Singaporeans to play hide the ransom.
Posted by: Bulldog || 11/07/2010 2:52 Comments || Top||

#2  In a war zone, shouldn't ships be flying their national flags?

Read up on the maritime industry. It's a rough and often shades-of-gray business.

As for 'ransom', the shipping companies view it as part of doing business. The shipping company incorporates each vessel as a separate business entity; the company is essentially a holder of the shares and charges each 'ship corporation' a fee for managing it. The less profitable/ethical shippers will set up the 'ship corporation' to have the bare minimum for insurance on the vessel, but will make sure there's a 'hostage' clause.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/07/2010 9:34 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Inside Yemen's 'triangle of evil'
Posted by: ryuge || 11/07/2010 00:46 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Interpol issues details of cargo bombs
(KUNA) -- Interpol, the largest police organisation in the world, issued a global security alert to its 188 member countries Saturday after explosives were found on two US-bound planes last week, it was reported here.

The memo, known as an Orange Notice, provides details of the home-made bomb found hidden in a printer cartridge on board a plane from Yemen destined for Chicago at East Midlands Airport, England, last week, the BBC said.

It also includes information about a similar package seized at the FedEx cargo hold in Dubai from another plane heading to Chicago from Yemen.

Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said: "The information contained in this Orange Notice will allow police services and other law enforcement agencies to take all appropriate measures to identify potentially lethal devices, and we particularly thank the Interpol National Central Bureau in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Police for their close co-operation in this regard." Speaking ahead of the Interpol General Assembly in Qatar this Monday, Noble added: "Given that these devices were hidden inside what appeared to be normal packages, an unrestricted version of the Orange Notice has also been published by Interpol.

"We have seen on many occasions that vigilance by members of the public can be crucial in alerting law enforcement to potential threats, as evidenced by the arrest of the Times Square bomb suspect in May this year in New York.

"What is clear is that vigilance and information-sharing are essential, and, as the world's largest police organisation, it is our primary mission to ensure that the information needed to help protect citizens and secure borders is where it needs to be.

"The decision to share information via Interpol means that each of our 188 member countries can benefit from the thorough investigations being carried out by all of the affected countries, which may prove vital in assisting global law enforcement prevent future attacks." The Orange Notice includes photographs and technical details of the devices as well as key features of a suspicious package.

Interpol said common indicators included packages which felt unbalanced, used an excessive amount of wrapping tape or had a "strange odour".

It also said suspect letters or packages might have an invalid return address or a badly typed label.

The box seized in Dubai, shown in photographs on the Orange Notice, was heavily sealed with FedEx and Falcon Aviation Services tape and had anomalies in the address.

The package found in the UK contained a mobile phone battery and a detonator fixed to a motherboard as well as the explosive powder pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN).

Interpol described it as a "functional device" which was "powerful enough to bring down the aircraft. Parts of East Midlands Airport were sealed off after the device was found on October 29.

Direct flights from Yemen to the UK were suspended by Home Secretary Teresa May and a ban on toner cartridges was imposed for at least a month.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Britain
Top UK charities give £200,000 to al-Awlaki supporters
Cageprisoners, a self-styled human rights organisation, has a long association with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was last week accused of being one of the figures behind the terrorist plot to blow up cargo planes which saw a powerful device defused at East Midlands Airport.

The Islamic preacher, based in Yemen, was invited to address two Cageprisoners' fundraising dinners via video link, one last year and one in 2008.

The group has now told its backers that it no longer supports the cleric and that it "disagreed" with him over "the killing of civilians". But an examination of the Cageprisoners website last week suggested that its support for the cleric was as strong as ever.

Cageprisoners was set up to lobby on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and those monitored under control orders in the UK.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that it is being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago, and The Roddick Foundation, a charity set up by the family of Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder, after her death three years ago.
Fire the executive teams of the charities, and look closely into the members of the boards of directors.
In its website, recently re-branded with some of the charities' cash, Cageprisoners carries more than 20 articles about al-Awlaki, describing him as an 'inspiration' and casting doubt on the evidence he is involved in terrorism.

Yet despite the heads of both MI5 and MI6 saying Awlaki uses the internet to foment terrorism, the Cageprisoners website also contains video messages from the American-born radical.

Cageprisoners - a not for profit company - is headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, and also employs Feroz Ali Abbasi, another detainee freed from the controversial US base.
A pity Gantanamo won't take them back, but this means England can lock 'em up instead.
As recently as last month its website highlighted claims by Yemeni politicians that they had "never been given evidence against [Awlaki]".
Posted by: lotp || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago...

The Quakers should not be so naive. Giving money to supporters (Cageprisoners) of al-Awlaki will only promote war, murder and violence, and terrorism.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/07/2010 9:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Not much different than all the old charitable trusts set up by the industrial barons, that have bankrolled leftist causes.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/07/2010 9:37 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Obama, Calderon talk in wake of fatal raid on drug cartel
(KUNA) -- President Barack B.O. Obama spoke with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Saturday to reaffirm US support for Mexico's efforts "to end the impunity of organized criminal groups" following the operation in Matamoros against Gulf Cartel leader Antonio Cardenas Guillen, in which the drug baron died.

The President offered his condolences to Calderon on the death of Mexican officials involved in the operation on Friday, as well as the death of Matamoros journalist Carlos Guajardo, the White House announcement said.

"He thanked President Calderon for Mexico's close coordination with US officials to help assure the safety of US citizens in Matamoros," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  Calderon is in the Mideast?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/07/2010 10:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Terror training for Florida deputies
Posted by: ryuge || 11/07/2010 00:54 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION WAFF > FORGOTTEN FIRST RESPONDERS: STATE DEFENSE FORCES PROVIDE [outstanding = par]PROFESSIONALISM ON THE CHEAP. NOT-THE-FED-CONTROLLED-ARMY-OR-AIR-GUARD "State Militias".

Mighty Midgets.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/07/2010 22:57 Comments || Top||


Judge ruled unindicted co-conspirators list shouldn't have been released
U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis has found that one of the most widely circulated documents from the Holy Land Foundation financing case should not have been released publicly, according to a ruling recently ordered unsealed by an appeals court.

The North American Islamic Trust, the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America have for years said that their inclusion among Holy Land's unindicted co-conspirators amounts to guilt by association.

Despite the violation, Solis denied NAIT's request to have its name removed from the government's list, finding "ample evidence" linking it to Holy Land. He also ordered the list sealed but untold copies have already circulated on the Internet.
As we well know.
Solis had sealed his 2009 ruling on the matter to shield NAIT. NAIT asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to unseal the order, and sought to overturn his ruling that kept the group on the list. ISNA and CAIR did not join in that appeal. On Oct. 20, an appeals panel ordered that Solis' ruling be made public, but upheld his finding that NAIT remain on the government's list.
This article starring:
Council on American Islamic Relations
Islamic Society of North America
The North American Islamic Trust
Posted by: ryuge || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It was of course OK to release the unindicted co-conspirators list in Iran-Contra wasn't it? /rhet question

One set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/07/2010 9:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Those Iran-Contra unindicted co conspirators included Ltc Oliver North and Fawn Hall.

Good times
Posted by: Lord Garth || 11/07/2010 16:05 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Obama regrets distortion of Islam to justify violence
U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday regretted that the "great religion" of Islam has been distorted by a few extremists to justify violence towards innocent people and called for isolating these elements.
Dear Lord. Did the man bow to anyone?
Mr. Obama also said that people will have to fundamentally reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate differences among them.

"I think all of us have to fundamentally reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate our differences," he added.
Unless the fellow opposing you refuses to renounce violence. And is pointing a gun at you.
The US president expressed these views when a Muslim student A. Ansari lobbed a question asking for his views on 'jihad" during his interaction with students of St Xavier's college here.

"I think all of us recognise that this great religion (Islam) in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified," he said.

"So, one of the challenges the world faces is how to "isolate" those who have these distorted notions of religious war...and reaffirm those who see faces of all sorts whether you are a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian and a Jew or any other religion that we can all treat each other with respect and mutual dignity," he added.
Does Muslim student A. Ansari see equal human beings whether they are Hindu or Muslim, etc.? Does he treat them with respect and mutual dignity?
Mr. Obama said the phrase 'Jihad' has different interpretations. Islam is one of the great religions and majority of its one billion practices believe in peace, justice and tolerance, he added.
That majority could help itself considerably by telling the 'minority' brethren to sit down and shut the hell up ...
Which will never happen. There are some who would like to be left alone and leave alone. But there's enough who, while they would never strap on a bomb or fire a weapon at an ifidel, believe it's their duty to support those that do.
The President also said the existence of diverse religious beliefs was a "major challenge" not only in India but also around the world.

He said the youth of the world can make a huge impact in re-affirming that one can be a strong observer of one's faith without putting somebody else down or visiting violence on somebody else.
That means you, Mr. Muslim student A. Ansari.
Religious tolerance is necessary in a world that is getting smaller and smaller where more and more people of different backgrounds, different races, and different ethnicities are interacting and working and learning from each other, Mr. Obama added.
Religious tolerance is a great idea; the 'peaceful majority' in Islam should try it ...
I don't know if President Obama meant to, but he directly challenged all Muslims to grow up.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/07/2010 10:18 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

"I think all of us recognise that this great religion (Islam) in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to justify violence towards innocent people that is never justified,"

Speak for yourself, A-hole. I studied up on islam. Maybe you should too.
Posted by: Parabellum || 11/07/2010 10:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Humbly bow before the majesty of others.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/07/2010 11:14 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sure that went over big in Mumbai...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/07/2010 12:07 Comments || Top||

#4  He said the youth of the world can make a huge impact in re-affirming that one can be a strong observer of one's faith without putting somebody else down or visiting violence on somebody else.

Unless of course one's faith demands otherwise.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/07/2010 13:04 Comments || Top||

#5  regrets? regrets?
I have regrets that it's raining today.
Posted by: Sue Nahmi || 11/07/2010 14:30 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm sure that went over big in Mumbai...

What's the reverse of Coals to Newcastle?
Posted by: Gabby || 11/07/2010 17:51 Comments || Top||

#7  Obama regrets distortion that all you have to do is read past the first half of the book of Islam to justify violence

FIFY.
Posted by: gorb || 11/07/2010 20:11 Comments || Top||


Terrorists planning to attack jails, Maulana Abdul Wahab
[Pak Daily Times] Intelligence reports have revealed that the Qari Imran Group, previously operating under the name of Qari Ubaidullah Group, are planning to carry out attacks on jails in order to release their accomplices, while the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) plans to attack Maulana Abdul Wahab, Ameer of the Tableeghi Jamaat, sources told Daily Times on Friday.

According to intelligence reports, the Qari Imran Group is planning to attack prisons to release their accomplices. The reports said those prisons which house those directly or indirectly affiliated with the group, will be attacked on the eve of holidays such as Eidul Azha. The report advises prison authorities and other law enforcement agencies to immediately increase security of prisons, especially the ones mentioned in the report.

After receiving the said reports, the Punjab Home Department has directed the inspector general of Punjab police, all regional coppers, city coppers, district coppers, IG Prisons and all other concerned to immediately take all necessary and preventive security measures to avert such an attack.

Another report revealed that the TTP has planned to carry out attacks on Maulana Abdul Wahab Ameer of the Tableeghi Jamaat. After receiving the threat alert, the Punjab CM has directed the inspector general of Punjab police to immediately increase the security provided to prominent religious personalities.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Pakistan refutes report on terrorist training camps in AJK
(KUNA) -- Pakistain Saturday refuted an international media report alleging that it was running terrorist training camps in Azad Jammu and Kashmire.
Not running, exactly. Merely providing the land, the improvements, the funding, and perhaps a few instructors. But not actually running the places.
Foreign Office front man in a statement termed the BBC report as baseless and malicious. Such groundless reports are aimed at undermining the legitimate struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination, he said.

The front man added that Pakistain was committed to continue extending full diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris in their struggle against Indian occupation.

Kashmire is a disputed territory between India and Pakistain since independence in 1947. The two neighboring nuclear rivals have fought three wars on the issue and initiated peace dialogue as well but it remains unresolved.
Pakistain has in fact gobbled up a considerable part of Kashmire, hence "Azad Jammu & Kashmire," or "free" (in the Pakistaini sense of the word) Jammu & Kashmire. The area is "disputed" because they want the rest.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pakistan hands over dossier on Mumbai attacks to India on Obamas visit
(KUNA) -- In a co-incidence to President B.O.s visit to New Delhi, Pakistain Saturday handed over thirteenth dossiers on Mumbai terror attacks to India.

Dossier No 13 pertaining to Mumbai Terror Attacks Case and the detailed formal information on Pakistains proposal to send a Commission to India was handed over to the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Islamabad, Rahul Kulshreshth by the Foreign Office Director General (South Asia), Afrasiab.

According to a Foreign Office press statement, the Government of India was requested to facilitate the visit of the proposed Commission. Further information has been sought from the Government of India to facilitate the ongoing Mumbai Trial in Pakistain, it added.

The handing over of 13th dossier came as President Barack B.O. Obama commenced his visit to India.

Pakistain has been helping India investigate 2008 Mumbai terror attack that killed at least 173 people and maimed about 308 others.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Obama arrives in India for 4-day state visit
(KUNA) -- US President Barack Hussein Obama arrived in India on Saturday for a four-day state visit. His official plane "Air Force One" landed in the countrys financial capital Mumbai, it was officially reported.

Here, the US President is scheduled to visit Hotel Taj, targeted in the 26/11 terror attack two years ago, and meet terror attack survivors and the memorial for terror victims. Later, he is also slated to celebrate Diwali with school children.

This is Obamas first India visit, in reciprocation to Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singhs visit to the US in November 2009. The visit assumes significance even as it would be longest Obamas visit to any country in past two years since he assumed Presidency.

In the evening, Obama would address a business meet to be attended by captains of the Indian industry.

The main thrust of US Presidents visit would be to explore the growing Indian market for US exports. Before flying to India, Obama made it clear in Washington that his plan was to double US exports in next five years, and that the purpose of his India visit was to increase business.

According to his official itinerary, tomorrow afternoon Obama would fly to New Delhi for the second and key leg of his India visit.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Drones push Taliban from NWA
[Pak Daily Times] A US campaign of drone strikes in Pakistain is driving some beturbanned goons from their key haven of North Wazoo into other tribal districts, where they are aggressively laying the groundwork for a new base of operations, The Wall Street Journal reported Pak officials as saying, on Friday.

The beturbanned goons are fleeing into regions where the Pakistain Army is already deployed in large numbers and is in a position to fight. North Wazoo has become a nerve centre of al Qaeda, Taliban and allies in the Haqqani network, from where they stage attacks on troops in Afghanistan. The CIA's drone campaign in the Tribal Areas has begun to push beturbanned goons north out of North Wazoo into other semiautonomous tribal regions, Kurram and Orakzai, the newspaper quoted Pak political and military officials and local tribal leaders.

"They've dispersed from the south (of the tribal regions) all over," said an ISI official. The Taliban don't appear to be abandoning their North Wazoo base, and it is unclear how many forces they intend to shift -- or if they are simply making contingency plans, the newspaper said. An earlier Pak offensive into South Wazoo in 2009 pushed many beturbanned goons north to North Wazoo. US officials say that beturbanned goons have been known to move among Tribal Areas, but that they were unaware of any large-scale movements out of North Wazoo in response to the recent drone strikes.

Pakistain has up till now resisted US pressure to launch a new major offensive in North Wazoo, arguing its army is stretched thin and doesn't yet have control of neighbouring tribal agencies. It says a large-scale operation in North Wazoo will just push beturbanned goons into other areas and prompt retaliatory strikes in Pak cities. The CIA, meanwhile, has ramped up dronezaps. The US has not targeted Kurram with a large number of strikes, according to the New America Foundation think tank, which counts only three attacks there in the past two years. The Mighty Pak Army has been on the offensive in Kurram and Orakzai, but gains there have looked fragile. The army has said it is moving to reassert control in the two tribal agencies, but that it will take time.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  The beturbanned goons are fleeing into regions where the Pakistain Army is already deployed in large numbers and is in a position to fight

Says it all how they feel safe with the Pak army!
Posted by: Paul D || 11/07/2010 17:41 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PA detains Islamic Jihad leader
Islamic Jihad said that Palestinian Authority security forces took one of their senior leaders from his home in Ramallah to a detention center. Abdul-Hakim Masalma, 50, has been wanted by Israeli forces for five years.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/07/2010 08:44 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad


Warty: Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine
The Jews will soon be expelled from Palestine that same way they were kicked out by France, Britain, Belgium, Russia and Germany, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said over the weekend.

“The only nation that received the Jews after they were expelled was the Islamic nation, which protected them and looked after them,” Zahar said in a speech in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend.

“But they have no place here amongst us because of their crimes. They will soon be expelled from here and we will pray at the Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem].”

Zahar claimed that Jews were expelled in the past “because they betrayed, stole and corrupted these countries.”
This article starring:
Mahmoud Zahar
Posted by: ryuge || 11/07/2010 01:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar speaking for the international community.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/07/2010 1:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Exactly how soon? By Iran, perhaps?

One way or another any shred of hope that the "Palestinians" would settle for peace evaporated as soon as Obean took the reigns and folks in the region realized who the willing horse was in the nuclear showdown was.
Posted by: gorb || 11/07/2010 4:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Good luck with that. Methinks the Jews would kick your ass back across the Sinai.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/07/2010 8:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Probably, for now. But I worry that morale and sacrifice in Israel are being ground down.
Posted by: lotp || 11/07/2010 8:12 Comments || Top||

#5  The Israelis do need to counter such statements to the Paleos by sending their own message to the Paleos:

"No, Israel will NOT be expelled from the nation of Israel.

"We are far more powerful than you could ever be.

"We are smarter than you, because we educate our children to become wise, not to murder and die.

"We are far wealthier than you, because we invest in prosperity and abundance, not hate.

"Our leaders are not corrupt, like Palestinian leaders, so do not steal the wealth of the land for their own use and make war on other people.

"Even God smiles on us for our righteousness, and curses you for your stubborn and stupid viciousness. The proof is all around you, yet you ignore it. Which proves you ignore God.

"Change your ways and God will again smile on you, and you shall have happiness and prosperity, good government and liberty. Your children will lead better and healthier lives with joy and love, instead of mindless hate.

"As things are, your people degenerate to living like the beasts of the field, and it is solely your fault, and the fault of those you choose as your leaders.

"Change your ways. Start by choosing the path of peace, then choosing leaders who will take you there, and keep choosing leaders who will take you there.

"The Lord smiles on those who raise themselves up from barbarism to civility. Who choose life rather than worship death. Who join the future rather than remain savages living in an imaginary past, their heads filled with hate and nonsense."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/07/2010 8:40 Comments || Top||

#6  The Paleos bought a whole bunch of snake-oil and unfortunately still believe in it as a cure-all.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/07/2010 8:46 Comments || Top||

#7  "Got a visual lock on that nose wart, Avi? Fire at will"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/07/2010 8:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Come on, finish the headline: Jews will soon be expelled from their barracks and ordered to wipe out the scum in Gaza.
Posted by: jack salami || 11/07/2010 9:59 Comments || Top||

#9  The jooos will be gone about the same time that Warty is no longer ugly.
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/07/2010 9:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Looks like you lost the article.
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/07/2010 12:09 Comments || Top||

#11  I got it back. The link was there, but nothing else.
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/07/2010 12:15 Comments || Top||


'New Gaza war will riddle occupied lands'
[Iran Press TV] Paleostinian Islamic Jihad has warned against any Israeli aggression on the Gazoo Strip, saying that any attack would permeate through all the occupied territories.

Speaking on the martyrdom anniversary of the movement's founder, Fathi Shaqaqi, the group's Secretary General Ramadan Shallah said on Friday that a fresh Israeli onslaught on the impoverished coastal sliver will spread through all the "cities and villages where Zionist dwellers reside," IRNA reported.

Shaqaqi, who was assassinated in 1995 by Israel's spy agency, Mossad, in Malta, established the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad in 1987.

General Shallah also lauded the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran for its 'moral support' for Paleostinians and said, "The US and Israel are opposing Iran due to its rightful position about Paleostinians."

The Islamic Jihad secretary general, who is also a notable academic, further criticized the Paleostinian Authority (PA) for engaging in direct talks with Israel and noted that Paleostine belongs to all Paleostinians.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad


Hamas vows to reconcile with Fatah
(KUNA) -- The Paleostinian Islamic movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, will seek to ensure success of the upcoming national Paleostinian conciliation talks, the head of the group politburo said.

Speaking at a ceremony held, late on Friday, marking anniversary of the group founding, Khaled Meshaal said Hamas would seek, during a prospected meeting with the other mainstream Paleostinian movement, Fatah, due in Damascus, to ensure success of the reconciliation talks and thrash out pending issues of dissension to pave way for tackling the rifts between the two sides.

Elaborating, Meshaal called for seizing the moment to accomplish the national Paleostinian conciliation, on the basis of the 2006 national charter, restoring the resistance option and adhering to the rights of the Paleostinian people.

"The resistance is the right option that has been adopted by the Paleostinian people for it has become clear that the choice of negotiations with the Israeli occupation will be fruitless," he said. "The movement does not reject diplomacy but politics can be valueless unless backed by the resistance as a paper of power," Meshaal added.

Meshaal said the Paleostinians should not depend on the Israelis or the Americans to attain their rights.

Identical rhetoric was uttered by Ramdan Shalah, the chief of Islamic Jihad, a Paleostinian faction that adopts a political doctrine similar to that of Hamas.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Hamas has a funny way of spelling 'subsume'.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/07/2010 15:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon army chief ‘worried’ ahead of UN indictment
Lebanon’s top army chief admitted that he is concerned about tensions in the country ahead of an indictment from a UN-backed court on the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

‘I am worried but I am not afraid,’ General Jean Kahwaji, who rarely makes public statements, told the daily An-Nahar. ‘We have deployed sufficient troops in Beirut and have studied all other areas at risk,’ he said.

‘The army will be firm... in all areas and particularly Christian areas,’ he said without elaborating.

Lebanon’s diminishing Christian community, estimated at less than 30 percent of the four-million population, divides its loyalty between rival camps headed respectively by Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain former premier, and Shia Hezbollah.

Powerful and armed during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, Christian leaders have since turned in their weapons, relying instead on alliances with Saudi-backed Hariri and Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Lindsey Graham wants war on Iran
[Iran Press TV] After the Republicans gained control of the House, GOP Senator Lindsey Endangered South Carolina RINO Graham has urged Washington to "destroy" the Islamic Theocratic Republic through military action.

"Not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime," Graham said on Saturday

Amid a standoff over Iran's nuclear program, both Tel Aviv and Washington have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike, based on the allegation that Iran's nuclear work may consist of a covert military agenda.

The latest threat of a military action was invoked by US Admiral Mike Mullen, who claimed he was ready to start a war if he was convinced it would keep Iran from making a "bomb."

Graham repeated Mullen's threats and said, "The last thing America wants is another military conflict, but the last thing the world needs is a nuclear-armed Iran... Containment is off the table."

This is while President Barack B.O. Obama said in September that a military attack by Israel or the US against Iran would not be an "ideal way" to solve the issue of Tehran's nuclear program.

Obama, however, added that the US would keep all options on the table.

In August, Iran complained to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the General Assembly about US threats of a military attack against the country over its nuclear program and based on "totally false" grounds, vowing a response to any such strikes.

Iran says its nuclear program is completely peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

Iranian officials have warned that any act of aggression by the US and Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities would be firmly responded to and could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Groovy.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/07/2010 2:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Any other time before 'Jimmy', the seizure of one's embassy would have been a casus belli. Iran has been at war with the US whether we want to acknowledge it or not since that event.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/07/2010 9:15 Comments || Top||

#3  The only thing Lindsey Graham is getting is a primary opponent when he is up again.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/07/2010 10:03 Comments || Top||

#4  [Iran Press TV] is not the best source of accurate information. Graham being the Rino that he is would hardly be the person to make such a uncompromising move. Now if it was a Republican suggesting something like this Graham and McCain would be all over them. He would say it however in the hopes of rallying his base but never deliver.
Posted by: Dale || 11/07/2010 10:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, he did say it.

Asked about Graham's tough proposal, MacKay told a later panel: "No question there would be a negative reaction to that course of action. Although I know that has perhaps provoked some of the hottest discussions in the hallways."

In other news:

"Don’t take the American senator’s remark too seriously. He wanted to joke," Mottaki told reporters in Tehran when asked to react to Graham’s remarks made in Halifax, Canada on Saturday.

Mottaki said the United States had "not achieved" anything through such "threats."

"You (US) did not achieve anything by carrying out your threats in Afghanistan and Iraq. US statesmen must learn from the past and analyse their policies and move towards correcting them," Mottaki said.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/senator+joked+when+talking+with+Iran+Iranian+Foreign+Minister/3791154/story.html#ixzz14cnEDDdJ
Posted by: KBK || 11/07/2010 14:08 Comments || Top||

#6  GRAHAM is gener correct = A LIMITED-SCOPE/SCALE AIR +/or COMMANDO CAMPAIGN WILL DELAY, BUT NOT STOP IRAN OR ANY OTHER AMBITIOUS ["Rogue"]STATE FROM ACQUIRING = DEV NUCWEAPS.

The US-Allies can hope for internal "Regime Change" in the aftermath of a limited strike on Iran, but Iran is countering that by officially denying that it desires Nucweaps [Energy -only] while proliferat Nuke-WMD Techs to their various Militant Proxies + Aligned.

Again, RADICAL MULLAHS = IFF ISLAM/ISLAMISM DOESN'T RULE THE LAND + WORLD, NO ONE WILL, via

* Wilful inducement, overt or covert, of "Great Power(s)" mil conforntationism.
* "VICTORY, or MUTUAL DESTRUCTION/ANNIHILATION".
* Stated desire to DETONATE NUKES = NUKES-WMDS ON THEIR OWN SOIL + AGZ THEIR OPEN PEOPLE TO DEFEAT A US, US-ISRAELI, or FOREIGN INVASION.

AKA [defensive] "NUCLEARIZED PEOPLE'S WAR".

IOW, "WORLD PEACE" = US-UNO-WORLD tolerating + allowing Iran, etc. to dev NUCWEAPS + become a POTENT GREAT POWER, which OOOOOOOOPPSIES inversely means NO "WORLD PEACE" DUE TO REGIONAL, INTERNAT MILITANT GROUPS ALSO POSSESS NUCWEAPS = NUKES-WMDS [ NUclear Militancy-Terrorism].

OOOOOOOOPPPPPPSIES.....
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/07/2010 18:32 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm not digging that, Lindsey. We have over 100,000 boots on the ground in Iraq with another 20k contractors and civilians. That would be an operational planners nightmare.
Posted by: anymouse || 11/07/2010 22:59 Comments || Top||


Bush 'considered' bombing Syria
[Al Jazeera] George Bush contemplated ordering a US military strike against a suspected Syrian nuclear facility at Israel's request in 2007, the former US president has reminisced in his memor to be published soon.

Israel eventually destroyed the facility, which Syria denied was for developing a nuclear weapons.

In his memoir, "Decision Points", to hit bookstores on Tuesday, Bush says that he received an intelligence report about a "suspicious, well-hidden facility in the eastern desert of Syria" that looked similar to a nuclear facility at Yongbyon, North Korea.

Shortly afterward, he spoke by phone with Ehud Olmert, then the Israeli prime minister.

"George, I'm asking you to bomb the compound," Olmert told Bush, according to the book, a copy of which was obtained by the Rooters news agency.

Bush said he discussed options with his national security team. A bombing mission was considered "but bombing a sovereign country with no warning or announced justification would create severe blowback," he writes.

A covert raid was discussed, but it was considered too risky to slip a team in and out of Syria undetected.

Bush received an intelligence assessment from then-CIA Director Mike Hayden, who reported that analysts had high confidence the plant housed a nuclear reactor but low confidence of a Syrian nuclear weapons programme.

Bush said he told Olmert, "I cannot justify an attack on a sovereign nation unless my intelligence agencies stand up and say it's a weapons programme."
Posted by: Fred || 11/07/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Did George W. say anything in his book about Iran's nuclear program?
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/07/2010 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  So is this just new news to Al Jizz or is it another Bush red herring on behalf of the One?
Posted by: Bobby || 11/07/2010 10:37 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2010-11-07
  Afghan Taliban threaten death to all talking peace
Sat 2010-11-06
  Al-Qaeda claims parcel bomb plot
Fri 2010-11-05
  Suicide Bomb Kills at least 50 in Mosque in NW and burns lots of Korans
Thu 2010-11-04
  Radical website publishes MP 'death list'
Wed 2010-11-03
  Tight Security around Police HQ in Anticipation of Hezbollah Attack
Tue 2010-11-02
  Iraq: Eleven car bombs kill 63
Mon 2010-11-01
  7 58 killed, 20 75 Wounded in Baghdad Church Hostage Drama
Sun 2010-10-31
  Yemen makes bomb-plot arrests
Sat 2010-10-30
  Yemen parcel bombmaker believed to be al Qaeda terrorist Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri
Fri 2010-10-29
  Police Surround UPS Planes Over Suspicious Packages
Thu 2010-10-28
  Nigeria intercepts 13 Iran missile containers possibly destined for Gaza
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  VA Man Arrested for Plotting DC Attacks
Tue 2010-10-26
  Baby Face Khadr pleads guilty to all charges
Mon 2010-10-25
  22 die in battle for Mogadishu
Sun 2010-10-24
  Iran 'handing cash to Karzai's chief of staff for influence in Afghanistan'


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