#4
The quote attributed to Patton at the beginning is incorrect.
I believe it was in the original, unredacted version of Psalm 23. Cleaned up by, iirc, King David.
Who was the original Jody.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
02/28/2011 13:42 Comments ||
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#5
BP, the thing at 3:45 is a Mine Clearing Line Charge of some sort, probably the small, man portable version. I don't recall the official nomenclature off the top of my head.
#3
Note well, the basic need for upper body strength to sustain this. Remember when future arguments are presented for political ends why physical standards should be lowered to accommodate those ends.
#4
Aw heck, back in the 1980s, gun crews and bridge engineers weight rooms were open 24/7, and generally full up at 3am. Some of the "squarest" looking men I have ever seen.
If you ever need someone to bench press a Volkswagen...
#5
It's interesting that the next shell is placed on the breech tray (before firing the current shell) at the same time as the powder is loaded for the current shell.
Posted by: Pearl Gleaper1127 ||
02/28/2011 10:10 Comments ||
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#6
Have I not finished my coffee, or did the fore group outpace the background group?
#8
It rams the shell into the breech. Everything is covered with sand - the shells, powder; so the sand on the ramrod won't make much difference. Anyway, the barrel has to be replaced after a few thousand or even hundreds of rounds.
Posted by: Pearl Gleaper1127 ||
02/28/2011 13:01 Comments ||
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#9
It rams the shell into the breech.
Thanks.
I wouldn't have guessed. He makes it look too easy! I couldn't tell if they were clearing out burning debris or what.
#10
And the gun firing is just part of the hump. Maintenance, rigging the the gun for movement, getting everything set ahead of time. It takes not just upper body strength but you need legs also. Come to think of it all the combat arms need beef, even the tank crews need beef to hump heavy steel tow cables, replace tracks and other field maintenance, load ammo and etc.
#1
This is hooey, with the full complicity of the Afghan govt.
The greed is so bad that some have suggested using small, ground penetrating radar used by war crimes inspectors to prove that dozens of such graves are only 1' deep and have no body in them.
Ironically, the military does not object at all to paying the locals bribes. We did that in Germany for 35 years and made a lot of friends. What is troubling is that it is used for enemy propaganda.
NATO has said that video of Kunar operations on Feb. 17 — the main event of more than three days of fighting — showed troops targeting and killing dozens of insurgents, not civilians.
However, the Afghan team investigating the incident found that 65 civilians had been killed, including 40 children age 13 and under, said Shahzada Masoud, one of the investigators. The group presented its findings Sunday to President Hamid Karzai. Investigators said they compiled a list of names and ages of the victims, and planned to release them but were not prepared to do so Sunday. Karzai's office said he was concerned by the findings.
The team reached its conclusions after four days of interviews with local authorities, residents, hospital officials and security forces, said Masoud, who is Karzai's tribal affairs adviser.
They did not visit the scene of the attack but had people from the villages come to the provincial capital to be interviewed. The main area — called Helgal — is considered very dangerous and is rarely visited by government officials.
Masoud said the dead had already been buried, but that he had reports of 75 graves.
The team did not look into the number of militants killed or consider the NATO footage since it was only asked to identify civilian deaths, Masoud said.
[Al Arabiya] Two bomb kabooms on Sunday tore through a crowd of villagers watching a dogfight in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar, killing at least 10, officials said.
Zemarai Bashary, Afghan interior ministry front man in Kabul, told AFP the bombing in Arghandab district targeted villagers and a police vehicle, killing eight civilians and two police.
"There have been two kabooms, one at the middle of a gathering and the other on the side of the road nearby. Eight civilians have been killed, two cops have been killed," the front man said.
He said a dozen civilians and five police were maimed. He did not give details.
Shah Mohammad, the district chief of Arghandab, said the attack was aimed at villagers watching a dogfight.
"People had gathered to watch dog fighting. Two kabooms, from planted bombs, happened. Eight people, all civilians, have been killed," he told AFP.
The bombing follows a deadly Taliban-led campaign of blasts and suicide kabooms that have rocked Afghanistan in recent weeks and killed more than 100 people, mostly civilians, this month.
On February 20 nearly 40 people were killed in a gun and suicide kaboom by at least four Talibs on a bank in the eastern city of Jalalabad. That attack was the deadliest to hit the country since June last year.
Most of the recent attacks have targeted densely packed civilian areas.
Dog fighting is popular in southern Afghanistan, but the Taliban banned it as un-Islamic and Sunday's bombing was the latest attack to target people watching it.
Damn, I hate agreeing with the Taliban on anything, but if they've got to blow someone up, doing it to people who force cruelty on dogs is a good start.
First its cyborg hummingbirds and now its exploding dogs...what will the CIA ever think of next?
I thought Moslems view dogs as unclean?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/28/2011 14:58 Comments ||
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#3
Depends, Mr. Clinton.
Among the Saudis and Bedouin, the Saluki is considered 'clean', perhaps because the breed helped feed people in the desert.
Among the tribes in Afghanistan, feral and semi-feral dogs are fairly common, I'm told. Given that dogs evolved from wolves who hung around human settlements and ate waste - thereby both feeding the tamer wolves and also holding down disease etc. for the people - it's not surprising that they show up in many rural places around the world.
[Tolo News] At least one child was killed and another was maimed in a mine blast in western Herat province on Sunday, local officials said.
The incident happened in the 6th district in Herat province at 02:30 pm local time when a mine struck a police car, Noor Khan Nikzad, a front man for police chief of Herat told TOLOnews.
One child was killed and his father was maimed in the incident, he added.
Mr Nikzad said a police car has been damaged, but police has suffered no casualties in the incident.
No group including the Taliban has grabbed credit for the incident.
Insurgents use Improvised Explosive Devices to target Afghan and foreign forces in the country.
Most of the victims are civilians.
Violence has increased recently in Afghanistan and faceless myrmidons have mainly targeted civilian spots in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Three kabooms occurred in two different districts in southern Kandahar province on Sunday leaving 10 people dead, provincial officials said.
Two mines destroyed people gathering in a dog fighting ground in Arghandab district of Kandahar and the kabooms left 10 people killed wounding 17 others including five coppers, local officials said.
The third blast occurred in Mirwais Meena area located close to downtown Kandahar.
Witnesses told TOLOnews that one child was hurt in the kaboom.
The kaboom happened while a convoy of foreign forces was passing by the area, locals said.
But the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs only confirmed two blasts that hit the dog fighting ground.
The statement said 10 people including two coppers were killed and 17 others including five police members were hurt.
Calling the attacks "inhuman and un-Islamic" the interior ministry strongly condemned them.
It said investigations have already started.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] Lunatic group al-Shabaab has warned of a "Dire Revenge™" attack against Kenya for aiding the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.
Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, the al-Shabaab front man on Sunday accused the Kenya Government of being behind "the trouble" in some Somali regions bordering its territory.
He pointed a finger at Juba and Gedo regions, south and southwest of Mogadishu, respectively.
"Previous warnings to Kenya were nothing compared to this one," said the al-Shabaab official. "We are going to retaliate against it (Kenya), harshly," he declared.
He accused Kenya of assisting the pro-government forces in their attacks against al-Shabaab positions.
About 600 Somali soldiers training in Kenya have been moved to a camp in Elwak in Mandera awaiting deployment into Somalia as war escalates between government forces and Islamic exemplars. (Read: Blast at Mandera hospital as border festivities rage)
They were relocated to the camp in two groups of 300 in Kenya military trucks over the past one week ahead of possible deployment to reinforce the TFG soldiers in Bullahawa town in Somalia, the Nation has learnt.
And in Mandera, the Kenyan military upgraded its alertness on the border to "amber" as fighting between al-Shabaab and the TFG forces, who are assisted by the African Union, continued on the fifth day.
The government has sent more personnel to the Kenya-Somalia border to stop al-Shabaab militia from crossing into the country.
The military has also cautioned parents living along the border with Somalia to watch out for al-Shabaab members who are recruiting youth to go and fight in Somalia.
"We have heightened security along the border and soldiers are on the lookout in case of any spillover from the fighting in Somalia.
"We are aware of Kenyan youth being lured by promises of large sums of money to go and fight alongside al-Shabaab in Somalia," Department of Defence Spokesman Bogita Ongeri said on Sunday.
"We cannot allow the militia nor their associates on our soil, as they are a threat to humanity," Mr Bogita added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... thousands of refugees have been fleeing from areas close to the border. (Read: Fresh wave of Somali refugees flee to Kenya)
Kenya Red Thingy Society front man Titus Mung'ou said the society has identified a camp that will accommodate 500 households of about 3,000 refugees.
Two Cabinet ministers from North Eastern Province said 35,000 residents had been displaced due to the fighting.
Mr Mohamed Elmi, the Minister for the Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands and Mr Mohammed Mohamud, the assistant minister for Energy, warned of a humanitarian crisis unless adequate security measures were put in place.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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In an interview today on the Al Arabyia news network, an informed source within the Revolutionary Guards Corps revealed that Iran has several military bases in Libya.
The source, who requested anonymity due to his sensitive position within the Guards, elaborated further that the Iranian military bases are located mostly along LibyaÂ’s borders with the African countries of Chad and Niger. From there, he said, the Guards actively smuggle arms and supply logistical assistance to rebellious groups in the African countries.
According to this source, Guards enter Libya under the guise of oil company employees. Most of these companies are under the control of the Revolutionary Guards.
The source, who is a colonel in the Guards, added that Gaddafi and his government are quite aware of these activities and have even signed joint contracts with those Iranian oil companies so that the the Guards can enter Libya without any trouble.
The colonel stated that with the current unrest in Libya, over 500 Guards have been unable to evacuate and are under orders to destroy all documents.
According to this source, the military collaborations between the Revolutionary Guards and the Gaddafi government date back to 2006.
It is important to note that Nigerian officials recently confiscated an Iranian arms shipment destined for Gambia. The weapons included mortars, rockets, and shells for anti-aircraft guns and were hidden in containers marked building materials. Nigerian officials have accused a suspected member of the Guards and a Nigerian of illegally importing arms and have set the trial for later this year.
[Iran Press TV] Thousands of imams have staged a demonstration in Egypt against what they call state security agencies' excessive interventions.
The protesters gathered in front of the offices of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Sunday, saying they have been dictated by the ruling junta about what to preach during Friday Prayers' sermons.
The demonstrators also said they would submit a list of demands to the military council, stating that the popular revolution must give them the power to speak freely.
The regime of ousted geriatric President Hosni Mubarak used to dictate Friday Prayers' sermons as well. It used mosques to dissuade citizens from taking part in anti-government protests.
Indignation has been mounting at the army since it took power after eighteen days of pro-democracy demonstrations led to the overthrow of Mubarak's three-decade despotic rule on February 11.
Egyptians, fearing their revolution will be hijacked by those who have served Mubarak's regime, have been constantly demanding that the military hand over power to a civilian government elected by the people.
In response to people's growing protests, the army was forced to form a new constitution to reform some of the basic rules that have been in place for thirty years.
The ruling military council is reportedly going to call for a referendum on constitutional changes by the end of March.
Conditions have not completely returned to normality in the country. Some public sector laborers are still on strike for poor working conditions and low salaries.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
FEAR OF PRO-MUBARAK "HIJACK"
versus
* TOPIX > EGYPT IS NOT TURKEY: IFF HISTORY IS ANY GUIDE, THERE WILL BE NO "ATATURK" IN CAIRO.
Kemalist Republic of Turkey pledged itself to the WEST + [liberal]WESTERNIZATION, while Egypt histor resisted same.
[Maghrebia] The UN Security Council (UNSC) on Saturday (February 26th) imposed sanctions on the Libyan regime. The council banned travel by Libyan leader Moamer Qadaffy and 15 of his family members and close associates.
"Stay in Libya and be killed!"
The UNSC also froze their assets. Noting that some 1,000 people have been killed since the Libya festivities began, the council recommended that the International Criminal Court investigate the regime for crimes against humanity.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ION WORLD NEWS > ANALYSIS: AL-QAEDA, RADICALS COULD EXPLOIT CHAOS THAT MIGHT FOLLOW KHADAFY OUSTER.
#3
ION WORLD NEWS > ANALYSIS: AL-QAEDA, RADICALS COULD EXPLOIT CHAOS THAT MIGHT FOLLOW KHADAFY OUSTER.
* SAME > AN IRANIAN SHADOW [long] IN ARAB SPRING.
There's also the argument being made that the terrorists (Al Qaeda and the Iranian gov't) are being left behind, as the current uprisings are generally popular and peaceful movements (at this time). Even in Libya, they'd rather not fight, but they will if the have to.
By that same token, I think Iran would LIKE its shadow to be long, but methinks they got shadow envy.
#4
Does this mean Libya can't sit on the UN Human Rights Council any more? That would be a pity what with the HRC just about to issue a report saying Libya is a great place to live and MoDaffy is a really swell guy. Most unfortunate timing.
[Bangla Daily Star] Rebels advanced on the Libyan capital yesterday as US President Barack B.O. Obama urged Muammar Qadaffy to step down "now" amid growing fears that his teetering four-decade rule could descend into civil war.
The UN Security Council imposed a travel and assets ban on Qadaffy's regime and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan strongman, the first time any such decision has been made unanimously.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... anti-regime forces have seized the city of Zawiya, only 50km from the capital, Tripoli yesterday.
The Libyan government took journalists to Zawiya yesterday morning.
But instead of a show of government force, news hounds saw opposition fighters manning the barricades in the city centre and flying their flag, reports BBC.
Fears of a full-scale civil war as Qadaffy loses his grip on power have prompted countries to evacuate tens of thousands of citizens and close down embassies, to escape reported gunfire, looting and food shortages. Rebels are closing in on the capital, where Qadaffy loyalists have been carrying out orders to shoot on sight, witnesses said. A resident told AFP that tanks and all-terrain vehicles driven by regime partisans were patrolling almost deserted streets.
Russia became the latest country to put pressure on the Libyan regime with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telling Libyan counterpart Musa Kusa that Moscow condemned the unacceptable use of force against civilians.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Libya's former justice minister announced he was forming a transitional government to replace Qadaffy's crumbling regime, which now controls only some western areas around the capital and a few longtime bastions in the arid south, news hounds and witnesses say.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil said the new administration would include commanders of the regular army, much of which has defected to the opposition, and would pave the way for free and fair elections in three months' time. However, The infamous However... it was not immediately clear how much support the proposed provisional leadership commands.
Qadaffy son, Saif al-Islam, once regarded as a reformist possible heir, appeared on television on Saturday to deny that much of Libya was in revolt, reports Rooters. But he also warned: "What the Libyan nation is going through has opened the door to all options, and now the signs of civil war and foreign interference have started."
In Washington, Obama said Qadaffy needs to "leave now," having lost the legitimacy to rule. It was the US president's most direct demand yet that Qadaffy step down and was coordinated in a telephone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House said. Angela Merkel urged Qadaffy to resign, saying the UN Security Council decision against his regime was a signal to all "despots".
The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society says that more than 1,000 people have been killed in the crackdown by Qadaffy loyalists. The Security Council said it was referring the bloodshed to the International Criminal Court because "the widespread and systematic attacks" in Libya against civilians "may amount to crimes against humanity".
Britain and Canada have pulled diplomatic staff out of Tripoli and closed their embassies.
More than 38,000 people have decamped through the Ras Jedir crossing on Libya's western, Tunisian border alone, an official there told AFP.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR says nearly 100,000 migrants have decamped from Libya into neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt in the past week. It warns of a growing humanitarian crisis. Many of the migrants have no way to get home and are sleeping out in the open.
The UN World Food Programme warned on Friday that the food distribution system was "at risk of collapsing" in a mainly desert nation which is heavily dependent on imports.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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Ironically enough, there's 500 Iranian IRGC goons and sleazebags stuck in their deep-Saharan cul-de-sac. We'll see how well they fare - seems like a good demonstration of just how Islamist-screwy the revolutionaries actually are, whether they put these jackals thorough a little hell or not.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/28/2011 12:54 Comments ||
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#2
George W. Bush was right, Iran was part of the axis of evil.
#4
All gadawful has left is former child soldiers from black africa, who are mercenaries for dollars. They won't die for that tyrant. He is gonzo, and I hope his mouthy son gets clipped in the process.
[Ennahar] Many cities in western Libya are "in the hands of the people" for several days and "are preparing a march to liberate Tripoli", told in Nalout, 60 kilometers from the border with Tunisia, a dignitary member of the revolutionary committee of that city.
Nalout is deserted by the police, military and other forces loyal to the Libyan leadership and is managed by a dozen dignitaries gathered in a revolutionary committee, noted journalists from AFP.
"The city was liberated since 19 February, it is managed by a revolutionary committee since February 17 designated by communities of the city," told AFP Chaban Abu Sitta, a lawyer from the city.
"We put ourselves under the authority of the interim government of Benghazi. With all the liberated cities of the mountain of Jebel Nafusa and those located on the other side of the mountain, we prepare the forces to march on Tripoli and free the capital from the yoke of Qadaffy," he further said.
The town of Nalout has 66,000 inhabitants, and is some 230 kilometers from Tripoli.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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Either this isn't translated from the original gibberish by their usual translator or their usual translator almost overdosed before he sat down to type. I'm not sure which.
[Ennahar] Security services have managed to arrest in late 2010, two gun-hung tough guys from the province of corpse-littered Boumerdes. This is a camel breeder and a welder; five others are still on the lam, belonging to the phalanx "Katibet el Moulathamine", activating in the south. Ammunition and fuel were recovered, as well as food products.
According to informed sources, security services continue the search after the discovery of a support cell to the Salafi groups with ties with the same terrorist group headed by Khaled Abul Abbas, aka Mokhtar Belmokhtar, also known by the nickname of "Laouar".
The terrorist group actives in southern Algeria where the first terrorist was nabbed; two vehicles used to transport gun-hung tough guys were also seized.
The case dates back to 2004 during an investigation into the smuggling of foreign cigarettes in the region of Tamanrasset between smugglers and terrorists, but differences emerged when the last transaction involving two trucks cigarette smuggling and terrorists. A Nigeria terrorist runaway is suspected by the group that planned to kidnap him. The latter was nabbed by the security services, and was in a penitentiary.
The aim of the terrorist kidnapping was to ask for a ransom of 240 million centimes from the brother of the latter for not paying two truckloads of cigarettes.
The terrorist was taken to the desert of Nigeria where he spent four months and the amount of the ransom was raised to 7 billion centimes. The kidnappers have threatened the family of the hostage to kill him in case of non payment of goods.
According to other sources, the nabbedgun-hung tough guys are linked to terrorist attacks that occurred at the airport in Djanet.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Cleaning agents of the French Civil Aviation, discovered the day before yesterday, the sum of 87,000 euros inside the toilet of a "Boeing 767 of Air Algeria. Ummm... That's mine.
According to official reports received at Ennahar, after landing the plane from Algiers, after a stopover at Essania airport in Oran, agents of the French Civil Aviation, responsible for cleaning, have discovered inside the toilet of the plane, the sum of 87,000 euros in denominations of 200 and 500 euros, well concealed. I was wondering what happened to it.
According to our sources, the parties involved in the case would be a crew member since the money was discovered after the passengers had deplaned. Musta fallen out of my pocket while I was reading this month's Playboy...
This is not the first time a sum of money was discovered in an airplane since customs officers have foiled two occasions, the diversion of 595,000 euros and 300 euros, in which was involved a pilot of Air Algeria "A. L." who is still under investigation along with a mechanic.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Several Libyan diplomats and politicians have resigned their posts or voiced their opposition to the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in their country. Here are some more details:
* Denotes new or updated entry:
ARAB LEAGUE: The Libyan delegation to the vaporous Arab League in Cairo on Friday abandoned Qadaffy, condemning "the heinous crimes against unarmed citizens."
AUSTRALIA: Omran Zwed, the Libyan mission's cultural counselor, speaking in front of the embassy, told a small band of emotionally charged Libyan protesters: "We represent the Libyan people and no longer the Libyan regime."
AUSTRIA: The Libyan embassy in Austria, in an unsigned statement on Wednesday, "confirms that it represents the Libyan people and wishes to express its deepest condolences to the families of the victims. The embassy condemns the use of excessive violence against peaceful demonstrators and calls on the global community to adhere to its obligation to protect the civilian population and put into place concrete measures to avoid further victims."
It was not clear if ambassador Ahmed Menesi had resigned.
BANGLADESH: Ahmed A.H. Elimam, Libya's ambassador in Dhaka has resigned, Bangladeshi media reports said, quoting Foreign Ministry officials.
CHINA: A senior Libyan diplomat in Beijing, Hussein Sadiq al Musrati, resigned during an interview with al Jazeera and later called on Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy to step down and leave the country.
EGYPT: Staff at the Libyan consulate in the Egyptian city of Alexandria lowered the Libyan flag and joined protesters nearby urging those inside to renounce their allegiance to Qadaffy. "Resign and join the honorable diplomats who have turned against the killer Qadaffy or else the Libyan youth will break into the consulate and stage a sit-in," a protester shouted.
FRANCE: Tripoli's ambassador to La Belle France, Mohamed Salaheddine Zarem, and its ambassador to UNESCO, Abdoulsalam El Qallali, resigned on February 25 in response to the revolt against Qadaffy, a Libyan official said.
Both had offered a statement on February 22 saying: "We announce to the people of Libya, the Arab world and the international community our support for the people in its revolt against the machine of oppression and aggression."
INDIA: The entire staff of Libya's embassy in New Delhi renounced ties with Qadaffy's government on February 25, al Jazeera reported. "We at the Libyan embassy represent the Libyan people and do not represent the former regime. We're fully aligned to the people's revolution," a statement from the embassy was quoted as saying.
Ali al-Essawi, Libya's ambassador to India resigned his post last weekend in protest at the violent crackdown.
INDONESIA: Salaheddin El Bishari, Libya's ambassador in Indonesia, resigned on February 22, media reports said Wednesday.
JORDAN: Mohammed Al-Barghathi, Libya's ambassador to Jordan said on February 24 he left his post and called for the overthrow of Qadaffy.
* LIBYA: In Libya, prosecutor-general Abdul-Rahman al-Abbar became the latest bigwig to resign and told al Arabiya television on February 25 he was joining the opposition
Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi has resigned in protest and Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil resigned on February 21 over "the excessive use of violence against protesters," Libya's privately owned Quryna newspaper reported.
-- Ajleil has led the formation of an interim government based in the eastern city of Benghazi, Quryna reported on February 26.
-- Youssef Sawani, a senior aide to Saif al-Islam Qadaffy, a son of the Libyan leader, resigned on February 20.
-- On February 21, Nuri al-Mismari -- who has been at Qadaffy's side for almost 40 years although he left Libya in late 2010 to undergo heart surgery in La Belle France -- resigned from his post as chief of state protocol in Libya. Al-Mismari was jugged in La Belle FranceLibya, which wants to try him for embezzlement, but he said he had not been removed from his post and has remained in contact with the Qadaffy administration. in November 2010 at the request of
MALAYSIA: Libya's embassy in Malaysia called Qadaffy's crackdown on protesters "barbaric and criminal" after the mission in Kuala Lumpur was briefly occupied by around 200 protesters. Protesters smashed a portrait of Qadaffy and hauled down the country's flag to replace it with what they said was a pre-Qadaffy flag. Osama Ahmed, a counselor at the embassy, told Rooters that the ambassador would remain in place to help around 5,000 Libyans living in Malaysia.
* UNITED NATIONS: Libyan Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi and most other diplomats at Libya's U.N. mission announced on February 21 they were no longer working for the Qadaffy government and represented the country's people. They called for Qadaffy's overthrow.
On Saturday Dabbashi, said that his delegation supported "in principle" Abud Ajleil's caretaker government in Libya.
-- "In principle we support this government," Dabbashi told Rooters. "We are seeking more information about it, but yes, I think we support it."
-- A day earlier, on February 25, Libyan U.N. Ambassador Abdurrahman Shalgham, Libya's U.N. ambassador, a former Libyan foreign minister who did not associate himself with a statement denouncing Qadaffy earlier this week, joined Dabbashi in condemning him in an impassioned speech to the council. -- Adel Shaltut, a diplomat at Libya's delegation to the U.N. in Geneva, also said on Friday that his entire delegation now represented the "free will" of the Libyan people.
* UNITED STATES: Libya's ambassador to the United States called on Washington to speak up strongly in defense of the Libyan people, saying it is time to get rid of Qadaffy's government. Ambassador Ali Aujali told ABC's "Good Morning America" on February 22 that he no longer represented his country's government and called on Qadaffy to step aside to avoid further bloodshed.
-- On Saturday, Aujali threw his weight behind a caretaker government formed by former Libyan justice minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Ajleil.
OTHER DEFECTIONS:
-- Two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots defected on Monday and flew their jets to Malta where they told authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said. They said the two pilots, both colonels, took off from a base near Tripoli. One of them has requested political asylum.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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Isn't there a airdrome windsock graphic around here someplace?
[Ennahar] Armed men opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy were in control of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, on Sunday and their red, green and black flag flew above the town.
"This is our revolution," a crowd of several hundred people chanted in the center of the town where charred buildings stood pockmarked with bullet holes and burned-out vehicles lay abandoned in the streets.
One man in the center of Zawiyah, who gave his name as Mustafa, said seven people were killed in the latest festivities with pro-Qadaffy security forces and many more were maimed.
"But Zawiyah is free like Misrata and Benghazi. Qadaffy is crazy. His people shot at us using rocket-propelled grenades," he said, referring to towns in the east of the country freed a week ago by a disparate coalition that combined people power with defecting military units.
Another man in Zawiyah, called Chawki, said: "We need justice. People are being killed. Qadaffy's people shot my nephew.
"We need help from outside. We will never use force or harm anyone. We just want our civil rights ... He (Qadaffy) has to go. There is no other way."
GOVERNMENT PUSH REPULSED
The scene in Zawiyah was another indication that Qadaffy's grip on power appears to be shrinking by the day.
Rooters correspondents have found residents in some neighborhoods of the capital Tripoli proclaiming open defiance after security forces melted away.
"Qadaffy is the enemy of God!" a crowd chanted on Saturday in Tajoura, a poor neighborhood of Tripoli, at the funeral of a man they said was shot down by Qadaffy loyalists the day before.
Now, residents said, those security forces had disappeared.
Locals had erected barricades of rocks and palm trees across rubbish-strewn streets, and graffiti covered many walls. Bullet holes in the walls of the houses bore testimony to the violence.
The residents, still unwilling to be identified for fear of reprisals, said troops fired on demonstrators who tried to march from Tajoura to central Green Square overnight, killing at least five people. The number could not be independently confirmed.
Libyan state television again showed a crowd chanting their loyalty to Qadaffy in Green Square on Saturday. But journalists there estimated their number at scarcely 200.
From Misrata, a major city 200 km (120 miles) east of Tripoli, residents said by telephone that a thrust by forces loyal to Qadaffy, operating from the local airport, had been rebuffed with bloodshed by the opposition.
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[Al Jazeera] As more cities fall into the hands of the pro-democracy protesters, Muammar Qadaffy, the Libyan leader, is hanging on to the capital where security forces loyal to him seem to have a firm hold, even amid reports of sporadic gunfire.
On Sunday, protesters had taken control of the city of Zawiyah, 50km from Tripoli, further shrinking the control of Qadaffy's government after the opposition took over most of the eastern part of the country.
However, The infamous However... tanks were surrounding Zawiyahand locals feared an imminent raid by pro-Qadaffy forces.
An AFP news hound arriving in Nalut, 24km west of Tripoli, found that Qadaffy's security forces had entirely disappeared from the streets.
"The towns of Rhibat, Kabaw, Jado, Rogban, Zentan, Yefren, Kekla, Gherien and Hawamed have also been free for days. In all these towns, Qadaffy's forces have gone and a revolutionary committee put in place," Shaban Abu Sitta, a lawyer and member of a local committee, said.
"We have placed ourselves under the authority of the interim government in Benghazi," he explained, referring to the opposition council formed by former justice minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil in the east of the country.
Blaming al-Qaeda
In an interview with Serbian television, a defiant Qadaffy repeated his message that he will stay in Libya and blamed foreigners and al-Qaeda for the unrest that is threatening his 41-year rule.
The interview with TV Pink in Belgrade was carried out over the phone while Qadaffy was in his office in Tripoli.
The Libyan leader also condemned the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Security Council for imposing sanctions on him and launching a war crimes inquiry.
Qadaffy said the UN council could not see that the capital, Tripoli, was secure.
Residents said banks were open but bread and petrol remained tightly rationed as the opposition grip on large swathes of the nation disrupted the distribution of basic goods.
People gathered at banks trying to register for a handout sum of approximately $400 per family unit, promised by the government on Friday.
Earlier, Qadaffy's son denied in a US television interview that turmoil was sweeping the country and said the military did not use force against the people, despite reports to the contrary.
"This Week" television programme. "The whole south is calm. The west is calm. The middle is calm. Even part of the east."
His assessment came as much of the oil-producing regions, including the second city of Benghazi, was in protesters' hands.
Saif Qadaffy also denied allegations that the military was targeting Libyan citizens.
"Show me a single attack, show me a single bomb," he said in the interview. "The Libyan air force destroyed just the
ammunition sites. That's it."
The corpse count from the violent crackdown on protesters is estimated by some diplomats to be about 2,000.
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#1
"Zu dem Fuhrer Bunker, meine Freude!...Meine Freunde?"
#5
ION FREE INTERNET PRESS >REBELS IN LIBYA'S EAST SAY THEY ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE TRIPOLI, from Khaddafy as the latter's forces are too strong at present = highly trained + well-trained, etc. for the rebel "LIBYAN PEOPLES ARMY".
* PR NEWSWIRE > US TO POSITION AIRCRAFT CARRIER OFF LIBYA AS COUNTER TO GHADDAFY [US MilOptions on the table]
* SAME > [UK] PRIME MINSTER:BRITAIN CONSIDERING IMPOSING NO-FLY ZONE, SUPPLYING ARMS TO LIBYAN REBELS.
* SAME > HOSNI MUBARAK, FAMILY BARRED FROM LEAVING EGYPT.
OTOH AYMAN ZAWAHIRI VIDEO = claimed that EL BARADEI, despite being anti-Mubarak, will likely NOT FREE MUSLIM EGYPT FROM THE GRIP OF THE IMPERIALIST CRUSADER-ZIONIST US + ISRAEL, + that POST-MUBARAK EGYPT will hence remain a Base for the US-Israel-West agz Muslims???
#6
US QUANDRY > E.g. ANTI-QADDAFY + OTHER ANTI-DESPOT, PRO-DEMOCRACY "REGIME CHANGE" IN ME = may result in the allegedly "WEAK/DECLINING" USA all but hand the Middle East = Arab-Muslim World to the FUTURE, IRAN-CENTRIC, ANTI-US-WEST, ANTI-DEMOCRAT OWG ISLAMIST NUCLEAR CALIPHATE.
By default.
Again, iff ME Democracy + Region is usurped or otherwise succumbs to Radical Islam, THE US WILL HAD LOST THE GWOT IRREGARDLESS OF ANY MIL = MILPOL SUCCESS IN AFPAK [or elsewhere].
By extension, the US will had also LOST THE WAR FOR PRO-US + WESTERN DEMOCRATIC CAPITALIST, ETC. OWG-NWO. THE US WON THE COLD WAR BUT LOST THE WORLD, + ITS OWN US, WORLD FREEDOMS + SOVEREIGNTY.
-------------
* PR NEWSWIRE > UNSTABLE MOMENTUM IN MIDDLE EAST CRISES CAUSE MORE NEED [not less] FOR US MISSLE DEFENSE.
ARTIC NUTSHELL = "OVER THERE" is still much preferred than "OVER HERE".
US Navy AEGIS, OTHER US BMD SYS in Bahrain + Qatar, which the US is at real risk of poten losing iff its not careful in how it responds to the on-going "Jasmine" mass protests in + around the Persian Gulf.
#7
Qaddafy still has potent Military, Police, + Paramilitary-Security forces on his side, + indeed IMO he may obstinately choose to hold on to political power AMAP ALAP even iff the Rebels succeed in dividing Libya into de facto separate sovereign new countries.
ALSO, EVEN IFF MUAMMAR CHOSE TO UNILATER RESIGN FROM FORMAL POWER ALA MUBARAK + BEN ALI, IMO HE WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO STAY EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL [Semi-"retired", We-Need-His-Advice-N-Approval-To-Win Elder Statesman] IN POST-JASMINE LIBYAN + REGIONAL POLITICS.
I will be very surprised iff Uncle Muammar chooses to resign in quiet/silent pol retirement, as opposed to fighting + being killed in Office.
[Al Jazeera] Opposition protesters in eastern Libya have formed a national council, pledging to help free areas of the country still under Muammar Qadaffy's rule.
Hafiz Ghoga, front man for the new National Libyan Council that was launched in the city of Benghazi on Sunday, said the council was not an interim government.
"The main aim of the national council is to have a political face ... for the revolution," Ghoga told a news conference after the gathering to announce the council's formation.
"We will help liberate other Libyan cities, in particular Tripoli through our national army, our armed forces, of which part have announced their support for the people," Ghoga said.
On Saturday, former justice minister Mustafa Mohamed Abdel Jalil - who resigned from Qadaffy's cabinet on Monday in protest at the killing of protesters - told Al Jizz he had led the formation of a body which would lead the country for three months to prepare for elections.
Both Libya's ambassador to the US and its deputy UN ambassador said they supported the initiative.
Ex-minister taking lead Al Jizz's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Benghazi, said there was an understanding that the uprisings in different cities that have fallen into the hands of the opposition need to be concentrated under one umbrella to counter the regime.
"The ex-justice minister is taking the lead in this movement," she said.
"They have five representatives of each city or town and each time a new one falls, they immediately establish contact to have that city or town join this national council.
"There is a feeling here in the east that if they stay separated from the rest of the country, then it will soon look like a secessionist movement rather than an uprising."
Ghoga said the newly formed council was not contacting foreign governments and did not want them to intervene.
His comments came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Cordell Hull ... said Washington was "reaching out" to opposition groups in the east.and was prepared to offer "any kind of assistance" to Libyans seeking to overthrow the regime.
"We are reaching out to many different Libyans in the east as the revolution moves westward there as well," she said.
In places such as Benghazi that have ejected Qadaffy's loyalists, citizens have set up committees to act as a local authority and run services.
Qadaffy and his supporters still control Tripoli, but their grip beyond the capital has been shrinking, with protesters taking over Zawiyah and Misurata in the western part of the country.
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[Iran Press TV] Lawmakers from the largest parliamentary bloc in Bahrain have protested at the government-ordered bloodshed of pro-democracy protesters by staging a mass departure.
On Sunday, 18 members of the Shia opposition faction of al-Wefaq officially resigned from the parliament, saying, "We are no longer affiliated with this council (Parliament), which did not lift a finger in front of these massacres," AFP reported.
At least seven demonstrators have been killed during festivities with security forces since the beginning of the popular protests on February 14.
King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa had tasked Crown Prince of Bahrain Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to hold talks with the opposition.
The protesters, however, rejected the offer with Sheikh Muhammad Ali Mahfouz, head of the opposition Islamic Action Society telling Press TV that "if dialogue is to happen, then it should include all opposition parties in addition to other factions on the ground."
He said such talks had to include "the popular youth movement, which are out there in Pearl Square," referring respectively to the protesters and the epicenter for the uprising in the capital, Manama, which some have started to call 'Martyrs Roundabout' in commemoration of the victims.
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Yemeni President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... has charged that an esclating protest movement against his three-decade rule is a ploy to split the nation after deadly festivities in the formerly independent south.
"There is a conspiracy against Yemen's unity and territorial integrity and we, in the armed forces, have served to preserve the republican regime with every drop of blood we have," Saleh was quoted as saying by the state-run Saba news agency in a report on Sunday.
"Our nation has been passing through difficult times for four years," he added.
"We are trying in every way possible to deal with and overcome these difficulties democratically, through dialogue with all politicians, but in vain."
Despite massive protests demanding he step down, Saleh has repeatedly refused to resign. His one concession has been to pledge not to seek re-election in 2013.
A Friday demonstration, dubbed "the beginning of the end" of his regime which swept to power in 1978, saw 100,000 Yemenis turn out across the country, organisers said.
Protests have been strongest in the south, which united with the Saleh-ruled north only in 1990.
According to an AFP tally based on reports by medics and witnesses, at least 16 people have been killed in almost daily festivities in the south since February 16.
The south attempted to secede in 1994, sparking a short-lived civil war that ended with the region being overrun by northern troops.
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[Ennahar] The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamed Ben Khalifa, succeeded in defeating the end of last week and attempted coup, which occurred after the deposition of some thirty senior Qatari army, some are under house arrest.
The news of the attempted coup coincided with a declaration of some people from families close to the emir of Qatar and opponents of the current regime, in which they announced the non-recognition of the legitimacy of the Emir Hamed Ben Khalifa, and seek to replace him by his brother Abdelaziz Ben Khalifa ben Hamed refugee to La Belle France.
The statement of the Qatari opposition, signed by 66 political opponents as well as Qatari personalities and ruling families, including 16 figures from the ruling family, contained serious accusations against the current Emir of Qatar, among others, relations with Israel and the United States of America. He is accused of working for the United States and creating discord among Arab countries in addition to his involvement with the family of his wife in corruption and social injustice against thousands of Qatari citizens.
The signatories of the statement have mentioned the wife of the Emir, known as "Sheikha Mouza Bint Nacer El Mesned ", whose appearances in various media, clothed contrary to the customs of Qatar which they considered "indecent". His children, they add, have monopolized power and property of Qatari through use of power.
The signatories of the declaration encourage initiative on the social networking site Facebook, calling for bringing down the Qatari regime.
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02/28/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The signatories of the statement have mentioned the wife of the Emir, known as "Sheikha Mouza Bint Nacer El Mesned ", whose appearances in various media, clothed contrary to the customs of Qatar which they considered "indecent". His children, they add, have monopolized power and property of Qatari through use of power.
A link to a pic of the Sheikha.
Apparently, the hussy didn't cover her face....
#2
What's the surprise here. This is the Arab way,
"have monopolized power and property of Qatari through use of power". Saddam fell because he had done the same thing. Payoffs are the norm. If you want to do business in the Arab world this is all I have known how things get done. Look at Zimbabwe what has happened. They were the bread basket of Africa. They stole the farms and now they must import food. Land was given to the enablers.
[Iran Press TV] Following festivities between Omani security forces and anti-government protesters, a cop shoppe and a government building have been set on fire.
The confrontation erupted on Sunday in the northern industrial city of Sohar, where more than 2,000 demonstrators had taken to the streets, Rooters reported.
Two people have been killed and around five others injured. Omani forces say rubber bullets caused the deaths.
The protest came one day after Omani ruler Sultan Qaboos changed six ministers in his cabinet and raised stipends for university students in an attempt to prevent further protests in the tiny Persian Gulf country.
On Saturday, hundreds of protesters also held a rally in Oman's largest industrial city Sohar, demanding democracy and better living condition.
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#1
PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > {Brigades of Abdullah Azzam] AL QAEDA GROUP URGES OUSTER OF SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY.
* SAME > EXPERTS SUGGEST [NATO] MIL PRESENCE IN LIBYA, + Euro, International freeze/seizure of Gaddafi's assets.
* FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > YEMEN, A KEY US ALLY MAY FALL AS AL-QAEDA URGES REVOLT.
OH THE IRONY = Pro-Democracy "Jasmine" Revols-Protests results in SUDDEN IRANIAN DOMINATION OF THE PERSIAN GULF, "BY DEFAULT" + AT A TIME WHEN IRAN DEVS NUCWEAPS???
* TOPIX > EXPERT: NEW WAVE OF REVOLUTIONS THREATENS ONLY THE ARAB WORLD, as relative to many Non-Muslim Countries with simil probs as the Arab World yet are not suffering any
"Jasmine"-styled domestic mass protests???
* SAME > [Azerbaijan]US AMBASSADOR: US SEES ONLY ONE [significant]CONFLICT IN CAUCASUS/SOUTH CAUCASUS. Nagorno-Karabakh; + WIKILEAKS: AZERBAIJAN UNABLE TO CONQUER NAGORNO-KARABAKH FROM ARMENIA, + AZERBAIJAN FOOLISH TO TEST WORLD SUPERPOWERS. ARTIC read, RUSSIA asper threats of war agz Armenia for Nagorno-Karabakh.
#2
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > POLICE REFUSE TO STOP ["Jasmine" mass]PROTESTERS, OMAN MAY LOSE ITS US B-1B BOMBER BASE [+ Other US Airbases/Milfacs] AFTER ALL.
"American Dunkirk" in Iran, Oliver Stone's "PLATOON", + US-BASE-TOO-FAR-QATAR.
Oh yeah.
* XINHUA > ISRAEL WORRIED ABOUT NEW ARAB SYSTEM.
ARTIC > Scholar-Pert GALIA LEDENSTRAUSS of Tel Aviv University = Any decline of US Influence in Muslim States, Region will likely increase Security Threats to Israel + force Israel unto MORE NATIONAL SELF-RELIANCE + [proactive?] ISOLATIONISM, in addition to FORCING WASHINGTON TO RECOGNIZE ISLAMIST IRAN AS A MAJOR REGIONAL MILPOL + NUCLEAR POWER???
[Pak Daily Times] Some unidentified Orcs and similar vermin blew up as many as five government school buildings, including two primary, one middle and one high school, in Darra Adam Khel, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. According to sources, the Orcs and similar vermin had planted explosives at the schools' premises and were opposed to them since they believed these institutions imparted foreign education to the students contrary to the Islamic teachings. No causalities were reported in the attacks. "Political authorities have launched a probe into the incident," the channel said.
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[Emirates 24/7] Indian security forces killed six suspected Maoist guerrillas in a shootout in the eastern state of Bihar during a search of forests used as a rebel hide-out, police said on Sunday.
The clash marked the latest violence in an escalating fight between security forces and the Maoists, who are active across a swathe of northern and eastern India.
"Six Maoists were killed on Saturday in the Banka district by security forces, and one Maoist has been nabbed," senior police officer Rajyavardhan Sharma told AFP.
Violence by Maoist rebels in India rose in 2010, leaving a record 1,169 people dead, federal government figures show.
Last week, Maoist rebels in the state of Orissa freed two government officials after striking a controversial deal with state authorities to release five Maoists.
The Commie movement, which began in 1967, feeds off land disputes, police brutality and corruption, and is strongest in the poorest and most deprived areas of India, many of which are rich in natural resources.
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[Geo News] Six people including three coppers have been killed and four others injured in Bloody Karachi since last night, Geo News reported on Sunday.
According to details, two coppers were killed in cross firing between two groups in Quaid-e- Azam Colony near Mobina cop shoppe on Saturday night.
Killing took place in Quaid-e-Azam Colony of Gulshan-e-Iqbalarea after firing between two groups. Police rushed to the spot and its mobile came under cross firing. As a result Head Constable Zahir Shah and constable Maqsood received bullet injuries and died in the hospital.
Another police constable identified as Muzafar was rubbed out in Gulistan-e-Johar last night.
Two bullet-riddled bodies of faceless myrmidons were also found from Korangi area.
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[Ma'an] Three Paleostinians were maimed Sunday when a smuggling tunnel collapsed near Rafah in the southern Gazoo Strip, medics said. Gazoo medical front man Adham Abu Salmiya said the injured were transferred to Yousef An-Najjar Hospital.
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[Asharq al-Aswat] A Facebook page has called for mass protests in Syria and in several Western countries against the rule of President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad ... hereditary dictator of Syria ....
The organisers of the page, which had 25,000 fans early on Saturday, said the date for demonstrations to be held "in all Syrian cities" was being carefully studied and "will be determined in a few days."
It urged "peaceful demonstrations in all Syrian cities, in Canada, in the United States, Great Britain, La Belle France, Germany and Australia" to demand Assad's ouster.
Assad became president in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, and was returned for a second seven-year term in a referendum in 2007 in which he was the only candidate.
The organisers say on the page that they do not belong to any party, but are "defenders of human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... , Syrian Death Eaters inside Syria and in Europe."
Other similar Facebook pages have cropped up recently, particularly in support of Tal al-Mallouhi, a 19-year-old Syrian blogger who was sentenced last week to five years in prison after she was accused of working for the CIA.
The US State Department has described the accusation as "preposterous."
Another, unidentified, group recently used Facebook to call for a "day of rage" on February 4, but despite attracting thousands of members on the site, the demonstrations did not take place.
Syria was 173rd of 178 countries in a 2010 ranking of press freedom around the world by Reporters Without Borders, eight rungs lower than in 2009 because of its stepped up controls over the Internet.
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#1
Muslim Brotherhood ticked off Daddy Pencilneck in Hama.... wonder if Junior learned anything.
#2
"Another, unidentified, group recently used Facebook to call for a "day of rage" on February 4, but despite attracting thousands of members on the site, the demonstrations did not take place."
It might surprise most Americans to learn that nobody in Syria is looking at Facebook except maybe Americans in Syria.
[An Nahar] As expected, the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... forces on Sunday officially announced their refusal to take part in the country's new government.
The March 14 forces "reject to legitimize the coup ... and reject to turn into observers who cannot prevent violations," the coalition said in a statement recited by ex-PM Fouad Saniora after an extraordinary meeting for its 60 MPs at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut.
Outgoing premier Saad Hariri, Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... and Phalange Party The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology. leader Amin Gemayel also took part in the meeting.
On January 12, Hizbullah and its allies toppled Saad Hariri's cabinet in a long-running feud over the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb.
Hizbullah-backed Najib Miqati was then appointed to form a new government, which Hariri's alliance has refused to join and has labeled "Hizbullah's government".
Hariri had refused to join Miqati's government without guarantees that his cabinet will see the tribunal through.
Hizbullah meanwhile is demanding Leb end all cooperation with the court, which it says is a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy.
While Hariri and his allies won Leb's last parliamentary election in 2009, shifting alliances today have positioned the Hizbullah-led camp as the majority after Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... moved closer to the Shiite party.
"The way the national unity cabinet was toppled and the atmospheres of intimidation ... created by the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... during the process of parliamentary consultations and designation (of Miqati) have confirmed our doubts that the March 8 forces is pressing on with its coup," March 14 said in its statement.
The coalition accused the Hizbullah-led camp of "undermining all attempts to form a balanced government through crippling the mechanism of cabinet formation by impossible conditions."
The March 14 forces also accused the rival camp of "infringing on the powers of the president and the premier-designate, which threatens the role of constitutional authorities and the powers, image and efficiency of state institutions."
The alliance stressed that "it considers what happened during the designation process, and what is happening during the formation process, as a coup against the Constitution and the democratic system which is taking place under the influence of (Hizbullah's) arms."
The March 14 camp vowed to confront the alleged "coup" through "all means available in the framework of its commitment to the practice of democracy."
"Out of their insistence on confronting and thwarting the coup, and in light of the PM-designate's inability to provide clear answers, the gathered MPs have decided to announce their refusal to take part in the upcoming government and to launch a peaceful, democratic opposition movement in order to defend the republic and protect the Constitution," March 14's statement went on to say.
On Saturday, Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported that another meeting for the March 14 forces will be held in order to outline the components of the new opposition, which will be comprised of parties, movements, and individuals.
March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid told As Safir newspaper in remarks published Saturday that the March 14 leadership will hold a meeting on March 6 at the Bristol Hotel to announce a political document and roadmap that the forces will adopt.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... a March 14 source told An-Nahar that the camp did not sense any new position in Miqati's recent statements in Tripoli, "but he repeated the same wooden statements on justice and the truth while the March 8 forces is preparing a ministerial statement devoid of any reference to the Special Tribunal for Leb and the arms possession outside the state."
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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.
[Ennahar] Several Libyan diplomats and politicians have resigned their posts or voiced their opposition to the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in their country. Here are some more details:
[Al Jazeera] Opposition protesters in eastern Libya have formed a national council, pledging to help free areas of the country still under Muammar Qadaffy's rule.
Hillary Clinton
President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad
Samir Geagea
Walid 
