KABUL, Afghanistan — Nearly 300 foreign advisers, most of them pesky Americans who can read and write (MPRI and Dynacorp), work at Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in Kabul, the efforts of which have little to do with the rest of the country. Hundreds more work in other government departments, a reliance on foreign expertise that raises doubts about the viability of the West's exit strategy.
[Tolo News] The Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said on Friday that Afghan forces are ready to gradually take over security responsibility.
Nato chief and defence ministers of 28 countries together with their counterparts from 20 other nations participating in Isaf, met on Friday at Nato headquarters to discuss security transition in Afghanistan.
It is seen as a crucial step for Nato troops to start withdrawal from the country.
Nato has endorsed a transition plan that lists the first batch of provinces and districts to be turned over to Afghan control, the alliance's chief said on Friday.
The Nato chief declined to give details about the transition plan, which is set to be approved by the Afghan government and unveiled by the Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... on March 21.
The officials have said that six areas including Lashkargah, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan, Panjshir and Kabul except for the Suroobi district, are on the transition list.
Nato countries are eager to pull their soldiers out of Afghanistan and want to complete the transition process in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
There are around 152,000 foreign forces in the country.
The number of Afghan National Army recruits is 174,600 now which will be increased to more than 200,000 by the end of 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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"I would like to ask NATO and the US with honour and humbleness and not with arrogance to stop their operations in our land," Karzai said in Pashto as he visited the dead children's relatives in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan.
Sure, we can leave anytime you like Hamid. Just make it a formal declaration and accept the consequences, which, as Fred notes below, won't be slow in coming.
"We are very tolerant people but now our tolerance has run out." Karzai said international forces "should go and fight this war where we have showed them (it is)".
Is he hinting bluntly that we should go hunting in Pakistan?
That's precisely what he's saying, ignoring the fact that the bad guyz in Pakistain are carrying out their operations in Afghanistan. He's right that Pakistain has assumed the place Afghanistan used to have as home to al-Qaeda. Apparently he's sufficiently whacked out on drugs that he's convinced himself the enemy's not going to castrate him and hang him like they did the Najibullah brothers.
"This war is not in our land," Karzai added. Time to let him deal with the Taliban instead of Petraeus. Get. Out. Now.
#1
We can stop cooperating with Karzai without stopping operations in Afghanistan. It would be harder, but we could launch operations from bases and ships/subs that are outside of Afghanistan. But before we go, dump herbicide on all of Karzai's brother's poppy fields.
Has the US learned nothing? Don't fight a defensive war. If the locus of the fight is in Pakistan, take the war to Pakistan.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
03/13/2011 10:28 Comments ||
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#2
W. Bush had some real winning ideas, but the Afghanistan occupation was not among them. Iraq was done right and is benefiting well from our nation building there, despite the inevitable glitches.
But the US seemed utterly indifferent to setting up a real government in Afghanistan, which is virtually a tabula rasa as far as having any kind of government at all.
Even if we wrote off southern Afghanistan entirely, we should have screwed up the Pushtun's little arrangement by partitioning North and South Afghanistan and turning the South over to Pakistan for administration.
Then we could put all our efforts into much more amiable North Afghanistan, while Pakistan would be just more of the unmanageable chaos it is today.
We could have encouraged Perv to flood southern Afghanistan with Pakistanis as a "new frontier", putting them and the Pushtun against each other. The Paks would outnumber the Pushtun 7 to 1, and would overwhelm them.
#3
Put some iron bombs on Chaman and Quetta and a few other select grids in Pakistan, lift UAS flight restrictions along the border, establish a border Mobile Strike Force Command (MIKE Force) or two of shooters, resume night operations and tell NATO and the Afghan Army and Border Patrol to take a 30 day vacation or go back to sleep. (Except for the Albanian Army... More Albanians needed) Do it QUICKLY and have it coincide with the end of the poppie picking season just as Haji digs up his AK-47 for the Spring Offensive and his leadership begin their journey back into country from Pakistan.......AND GO KILL THE BASTIDS!
[Al Arabiya] The Egyptian police have nabbed two members of Hosni Mubarak's Octogenarian Egyptian politician, and prior to that air force commander. He served as the fourth President-for-Life of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. He assumed the presidency in 1981, following the liquidation of Anwar Sadat. He was dumped after 18 days of demonstrations, which at one point featured a camel charge by his supporters, during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. On 11 February, Vice President Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned as president and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Mubarak and his family left the presidential palace and moved to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, while the new regime started trying to follow the money trail. National Democratic (NDP) Party accused of organizing violence against demonstrators during the uprising that swept him from the presidency.
The two NDP figures, both members of the now dissolved parliament, were nabbed on suspicion of involvement in "bloody Wednesday", the state news agency reported.
It was referring to the events of Feb. 2 when Mubarak loyalists mounted on camels and horses charged protesters, triggering a battle that was seen as a crucial moment in the 18-day uprising against the president.
The agency named the two as Abdel Nasser al-Jabari, a member of the lower house of parliament, and Youssef Khattab, a member of the upper chamber.
The camel and horse charge was part of an offensive by Mubarak supporters trying to dislodge protesters from Cairo's Tahrir Square. The protesters defended their position and public disgust at the incident galvanized more opposition to Mubarak.
The public prosecutor has also ordered the arrest of four former senior Interior Ministry officials on suspicion of conspiracy to murder by ordering the killing of protesters.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The headline is misleading- I was expecting something about credit card fraud.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Egypt will lift restrictions on forming political parties that choked political life during the rule of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak after a March 19 referendum on constitutional amendments, an army source said Saturday.
Under Mubarak, parties needed the approval of a committee chaired by the head of the upper house of parliament, who was also a leading figure in Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.
Post-Mubarak presidential and parliamentary elections are being watched for signs of how democratic political life will be after three decades of state oppression, which created a toothless opposition and stifled its activity.
The army, which took power after Mubarak was ousted on February 11 by a popular uprising, has dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and mapped a path to parliamentary and presidential elections within six months.
The Moslem Brüderbund, the biggest opposition movement, welcomed the decision and said it would revive political life in Egypt before the two crucial votes.
"This has been a national demand and making it possible is an important step and very much needed to liberate political parties," senior Brotherhood member Essam Erian said.
The Brotherhood has been waiting for the lifting of restrictions on forming political parties so that it can form its "Freedom and Justice" party.
Erian said there was likely to be a proliferation of political parties when the restrictions were lifted, but that eventually the serious ones would prevail.
Planned constitutional amendments would include a clause stating that once elected, a new president would call on parliament to draft a new constitution. The Brotherhood, long suppressed by Mubarak and his state security, plans to be part of this.
"Egypt's parties law will be amended after the referendum takes place to allow parties to form simply based on notification," the army source told Rooters.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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According to this news item from The Herald, mouthpiece of the ruling Zanu-PF Party, the African Union has decided that while the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi is 'authoritarian,' to force him from office would invite Western influence and chaos. It has also decided to back Ivory Coast President-elect Alassane Ouattara in his bid to unseat Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down after his electoral defeat last December.
#1
Sounds like good old African Influence wins again...not to mention those tried and true Islamic Values.
Heavens you wouldnt want them to be denied their colorful local customs...who are we to judge them? Besides, it isnt like they eat each other anymore, now is it? And we must remember its PC (at least in France) to be "multi-Cultural" and invite in as many of them to burn cars and clip their clitorises if they like.
The African Union, eh? Well, KaDaffy is all for Booga-booga. So no need to be surprised...hey its THEIR problem.
#2
Hey, I just thought of something...do you think that those "immigrants" in France are imported by the car dealers? Afterall that's an even quicker way to turn over stock than planned obselesence, no?
#3
...This comment from www.neptunuslex.com seems relevant:
"...It would be the profoundest irony if, after having broken our hearts and the bodies of our youth for nearly 10 years now in the Middle East we have come to the conclusion that “these people” cannot be saved at precisely the same moment when they finally became ready for salvation.
Because thatÂ’s what just happened, if you werenÂ’t paying attention: WeÂ’ve gotten tired of them. WeÂ’re tired of their ululations, their savagery and their conspiracy theories. WeÂ’re tired of their backwardness, sloth, dependency and fatalism. WeÂ’ve gotten tired of trying to accommodate a modern day, pluralistic and tolerant society to the religious dictates of a military adventurer dead some 1400 years.
We’ve seen a people bravely rise against a brutal tyrant who has been a decadal enemy our our country, who has murdered our citizens time and again and decided that there is no choosing between the two of them. We have shown other tyrants that the way to overcome civil unrest is through air strikes and mechanized assault. The “shining city on a hill” has turned its back on the weak and the oppressed: They are not our people, this is not our war.
Welcome to our Brave New World..."
Concur.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/13/2011 13:12 Comments ||
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#4
Mike, exactly what evidence do you have that says "these people" are now ready for salvation?
How do you know this is not a reprise of any one of dozens of cases where one tyrant is overthrown only to be rapidly replaced by another?
EG How's Egypt doing now that they've replaced Mubarak with a junta? How about Somalia, Iran, Lebanon, etc.
If we wanted to off 'daffy for mudering Americans then RR should have followed it up. I forgive him as there was this minor Cold War thingee going on at the time that had to be taken into account.
We have no skin in this game and I for one am tired of, as you quote, trying to accommodate a modern day, pluralistic and tolerant society to the religious dictates of a military adventurer dead some 1400 years.
After all, one of the main leaders of the oppo is an ex-'daffy big turban. Not the most fertile of grounds for the next Switzerland.
[Arab News] It was a normal Friday yesterday across the Kingdom despite worries that the calls on Internet social sites for a "Day of Rage" might be heeded.
"There was nothing of the sort," security front man of the Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki told Arab News four hours after the Friday prayers. There were no demonstrations anywhere in the Kingdom, he said.
People were wary after reports of the incidents that marred protests in Qatif on Thursday, leaving three people injured.
But Riyadh, Jeddah and other cities were quiet for a Friday that saw pleasant weather, although there was a strong police presence. In both Riyadh and Jeddah, police helicopters were briefly in evidence.
Al-Turki refuted agency reports that demonstrators had been fired at in Qatif on Thursday. "It is totally untrue. What actually happened was that the police had to fire shots in the air to control an emerging situation by a very small number of protesters who snatched a video camera being used by a policeman to document a shooting incident. This was believed to have come from the center of the small crowd," he said. Al-Turki was not certain if the protesters returned the camera.
In Allegiance Square (Al-Baia), downtown Jeddah near the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which had been one of the sites specified by the "propagators of sedition" as a location for the protests, the "Day of Rage" was nowhere to be seen before and after Friday prayer. There was no intensified security presence either.
Later in the day, during Arab News' tour of the city, it found the Al-Baia in Balad district closed and a sizable number of police present in nearby streets. But they all disappeared by dusk. A police officer said the square had re-opened after Maghreb prayers.
Young Saudis could be seen driving their cars carrying messages of support and loyalty to King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and pictures of him.
"I plastered photos of the king all over my car. It cost me SR650. I just wanted to send a message to those who called for demonstrations," said 30-year-old schoolteacher Abdullah Al-Baqami. "We love our country and our king. You will not make us alter our love for our country and our king by what you say," he wrote on his vehicle. Al-Baqami said he intended to park his car the next day in front of the school where he is teaching so that the students could read the message.
The king's photo was posted in the window of a shop in Jeddah selling car accessories by Faisal Al-Marashi, a 22-year-old student at King Abdul Aziz University. "Our love for our country and our government isn't new. We inherited that from our forefathers who vowed allegiance to King Abdul Aziz," he told Arab News.
Social networking site Facebook also carried postings of Saudis who were opposed to the protest plans. Their number took up more than 30 pages and they exchanged congratulations on Friday's protest turning out to be a non-event.
The unprecedented rallying of the Saudis behind their king took the world by surprise, a Facebook post said. One blogger praised citizens of Jeddah for not making even the slightest move to protest.
Meanwhile, ...back at the scene of the crime... towns and cities across the Eastern Province were also quiet and activity somewhat subdued as many people chose to stay home. In Qatif, where there was a small protest Thursday night, town elders urged people to stay off the streets and most appeared to heed that advice. One Qatif activist said he heard there was a protest in Hofuf some 130 km south, but Arab News could not get any independent confirmation of this.
On Friday, mosques were full for noon payers. Two hours later, at around 1:30 p.m. Arab News visited the city and found streets and alleyways empty. Restaurants and gas stations were open, but there were few customers. There were not many vehicles on the streets. At least one helicopter flew overhead, though there were far fewer men in uniform. Qatif was quiet, which is generally not the case on a typical Friday afternoon.
When Arab News spoke to one resident about not seeing many people on the streets, he was not surprised.
"What do you expect to see on a Friday afternoon at 2? People are resting at home after saying their prayers," he said. "Everything is fine - no protests, nothing."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Dribble, enough with salivating over the thought of torture.
#2
...Well, consider this for a moment: the Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan protests all started small and quiet, then quickly grew while the leadership decided what to do next and they quickly grew out of control. The Saudis, on the other hand, offered up a whiff of grapeshot on Thursday night when the first 'Day Of Rage' demos seemed to be starting up. They have no intention of allowing themselves to be steamrollered.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/13/2011 13:17 Comments ||
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#3
Mike well said. Every nation now knows how to handle rebellion. The tea party people did it right. The media goons and politicians were our attack dogs. The Union stink is what needs controlled as well as many Universities. Breading grounds of political parasitic infection.
[Arab News] Sheikh Osama Khayyat, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, described calls for protests in the Kingdom as "devilish temptations" and urged people of faith to be aware of such calls.
"With false promises the devil strives to trap believers and drive them to acts of sedition, disagreement and dispute," said the sheikh in his Friday sermon to pilgrims and locals.
"Countless media channels, information networks and websites are there to tempt people to participate in protest marches and sit-ins," he said, adding that all of these channels are gateways to evil. "They are employed by the forces of darkness to awaken the sleeping sedition and lead people to chaos that will tamper with the security and ruin the welfare of people," he said.
During his sermon at the Holy Mosque in Madinah, Sheikh Salah Al-Budair lamented the turmoil in the Mohammedan world. "Our hearts pain on seeing festivities in many parts of the Mohammedan world," he said.
He said it was against Islam to rise against rulers who rule according to Shariah. Referring to calls on websites for protests on Friday, Al-Budair said it is the duty of Mohammedans to defend and protect the Kingdom, which is home to the two holy mosques. He reminded people of faith that those who call for rebellions against the ruler of Soddy Arabia, the land of monotheism, are serving the interests of the enemies of Islam. He appealed to Mohammedans to preserve the Kingdom's security, stability and integrity, and asked them to look at and learn from the suffering of neighboring countries.
"In the Qur'an and Sunnah it is totally haram to rise against the ruler. You should advise him and if he refuses to listen, just be patient and supplicate against him," said the imam of JamJoum Mosque.
The Imam, in his late 20s, read out the statement issued by the Supreme Council of Saudi Scholars in which the council also warned against demonstrations and described uprisings as haram.
The Imam, however, did not offer his usual supplication against Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... an Arab institution for 42 years ... this Friday.
No point making Allah look weak, should the little colonel resume power despite the imam's efforts to date.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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In yet another sign of a growing climate of intolerance and fear in Pakistan, the most popular Westerner in the country has decided to call it quits.
His was easily the most familiar Western face in the country. "George ka Pakistan", George's Pakistan, was the name of the reality TV show which first made the British journalist famous. And after George Fulton had travelled all over the country for it, ploughing fields with Punjabi farmers and building Kalashnikovs with the Pashtuns, he was voted a real Pakistani by the audience and obtained a Pakistani passport.
He married Kiran, a Pakistani journalist, and stayed on in the country for nine years. Kiran and George hosted a morning show on television, and he began writing newspaper columns. But the more he identified with his new country, the more he started criticizing its shortcomings.
Time for a divorce
In January, it all became too much. When Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was murdered for opposing Pakistan's blasphemy law, and his assassin was widely celebrated, Fulton decided it was time to leave. He decided to "divorce" his old love Pakistan.
"The job that I do and work that I can do is becoming increasingly difficult in terms of safety," he explained in an interview with Deutsche Welle. "If you question a law, you can get shot in Pakistan. If you want to criticize somebody, you never know what is going to happen to you.
"I would love to resume my relationship with Pakistan but it needs to change before I can do that. Because it is a society that is increasingly intolerable to live in."
For Fulton, Pakistan is very close to becoming a failed state. He doesn't think democracy will last much longer.
Lacking vision
He argues that the roots of Pakistan's crisis lie deep: Pakistanis are divided by caste, ethnicity and religion and have little to unite them.
"The only thing that has traditionally united them, and that the army has used to great effect, is the hatred of India, which has been propagated quite effectively in the press - and cricket. And that's not enough to sustain a country."
Pakistan's liberals, and he includes himself among them, have today become intimidated by the extremists, he says. However, he thinks the problems started decades ago, when liberals did nothing to oppose the wave of Islamization that started to engulf the country when Pakistan lost its eastern half, today's Bangladesh.
"After 1971 when the idea of Pakistan as a country for the Muslims of the subcontinent failed, there was no alternative vision for the country created by the intelligentsia. It has been allowed to flounder, and there has been no concept of what Pakistan stands for, where it's going in the near future," he said.
He is even more pessimistic about the future: "In the next 20 years, it is estimated that the population of Pakistan will grow by 80 million. Already, three fourths of the population are under the age of 30, half of the population is under the age of 21. So you are going to have a growing uneducated, unemployed, dissatisfied, angry youth. And that is the perfect climate and they are the perfect prey for extremists, so they can brainwash more and more people within the country."
#1
After 1971 when the idea of Pakistan as a country for the Muslims of the subcontinent failed,
That failed long before, in 1947, at the very creation of Pakistan when more Muslims choose India over Pakistan.Take away the hatred of the Hindu and the obsession with Islam and Pakistan ceases to exist.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/13/2011 16:17 Comments ||
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#2
And what's left is a nation of 177 million people, half the population of the United States, turning into an Israel-less Gaza Strip.
It is as it has always been. Either civilization wins, or the brutalitarian barbarians win. In each case, a bloodbath results. But if civilization wins, nobody but foolish naives mourn the loss of the barbarians.
[Geo News] Sources at Pakistain Foreign office termed as complicated legal case the issue of Raymond Davis, the US national and murderer of two Paks in Lahore who is presently in the custody of law enforcing authorities in Pakistain, Geo News reported Saturday. What part of "diplomatic immunity" can't they grasp? The part that requires them to let him go...
According to Blue Book, only the diplomatic card issued by Pakistain's Foreign Office confirms whether someone is a diplomat.
According to the rest of the world, a statement by the government making the claim makes it so. The only objection the receiving country may make is to PNG the individual they dislike. But Pakistan thinks they're special... which they are, but not in the good way.
Sources said that the case of Raymond Davis is a complicated one because in this case not only laws of the land are significant but the international and US laws also have importance. The definition of immunity is not the same in different countries, the source added.
A total of four cases relating to diplomatic issues are in progress in a Lahore's court. Para-wise replies are in the process of being made for these cases which will be sent to Law Division.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So, how do you say "Aw, *bleep*! Our power play failed and we've backed ourselves into a corner" in Punjabi?
[Geo News] Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif Friday warned against point scoring on terrorism and stressed the need for devising a joint counter terrorism strategy by sitting together, Geo News reported.
He said this during his meeting with members of Punjab Assembly from various districts.
Shahbaz Sharif said Pakistain is fighting a war of survival against terrorism.
"The country today needs much more harmony and unity than it did in the past," he said, instructing the MPAs to stay in close contact with the people and pay their undivided attention towards solution of their problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] The commander of Iraq's rapid response force was nabbed after a set-up in which he was filmed taking a $50,000 bribe from a contractor, a member of Iraq's integrity panel said on Saturday.
Brigadier General Numan Dakhil was caught taking the bribe near Storied Baghdad International airport on Thursday but beat feet anti-corruption watchdog Sherlocks after his guards beat them, Sabah al-Saedi, a member of the Integrity Committee, said.
Dakhil was later nabbed on Friday.
"Eight of the Integrity Commission Sherlocks seized him while he was receiving a sum from the contractor. The incident has been recorded with legal evidence," Saedi told Rooters.
"Brigadier General Numan Dakhil was nabbed yesterday, he is under investigation now."
Corruption has been a major problem for Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the country is ranked as one of the world's most corrupt nations in Transparency International's annual corruption perceptions index.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
It is long, hard work to change a culture of corruption, but if you are successful it is so much better. If you fail, you end up like Chicago.
#2
Having your bodyguards beat up the guys trying to arrest you almost sounds worse than the bribe that prompted the arrest. Imagine if Congressman William Jefferson had a private security force beat up the people who discovered the cash in his freezer...
Posted by: American Delight ||
03/13/2011 13:34 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya] Paleostinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned on Saturday the murder of a Jewish settler family in the West Bank by presumed Paleostinian attackers.
"We clearly and firmly condemn all forms of violence, and I condemn what happened last night in (the settlement of) Itamar, just as I condemn the crimes against Paleostinians," Fayyad said in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
A settler couple and three of their children were stabbed to death in their beds.
Two children were spared and a third, a girl of 10, discovered the massacre when she arrived home and alerted neighbors.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Al Arabiya is an Arabic-language television news channel out of the United Arab Emirates. This carries more weight since average Palestinians would have heard it.
Interesting.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
03/13/2011 11:25 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah right.
They condemmed it so much that they gave out candy to children to celebrate it.
[An Nahar] Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. criticized on Friday the possession of arms outside the Lebanese state, saying that it's true that those possessing weapons have the power to launch an assault, but those who are just are more powerful than all violence and arms.
He said during a speech at Qoreitem: "From now on, the possession of weapons, decision of war and peace, and defending the country should only be under the state's control."
"There is no need to remind the silent majority of the criminal incidents these arms have committed in Leb," he added.
"The Lebanese' decision is only in their hands. The decision of their weapons, is not in their hands, but in the hands of the external forces that provide them with arms, finance and press on them to make the weapons dominate our lives, and control our country, its resources and future," he noted
Hariri stressed: "Justice does not need arms. All it needs is your minds, hearts, and voices. Only fear of the truth needs weapons and only the oppressors will falter without the power of the arms."
Addressing 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 ... he asked: "Why do you fear the truth?" in the liquidation of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
"Those fearing the people finding out the truth fear the people as much as they do the truth," the prime minister said.
"The Lebanese want to live and work in freedom. They share the dreams of all martyrs to achieve freedom without violence and the use of arms," he added.
"The arms will fail before those who broke the wall of fear in 2005 and destroyed what they have been dreaming of for 30 years," he noted.
Addressing the March 13 rally, he said: "You, the Lebanese, will announce to the whole world on Sunday that your dignity and the dignity of your country and your state, your dreams and ambitions, your revolution and your principles that you have defended and paid for with the blood of the martyrs are not available for any deal or trade-off."
Furthermore, Hariri said: "The days of blackmailing us with the Taif Accord are over as we were the first who demanded its implementation and they should remember that it is based on the state having the exclusivity of possessing arms."
Addressing the Shiites in Leb, he stated: "We are not just partners in the same country because we have been and always will be partners in blood. We have sought reconciliation because no one among us is working against the Shiites."
"The Shiites in Leb were the first who rose up against the use of weapons. Didn't Imam Shamseddine forbid the Lebanese from resorting to weapons against their fellow citizens?" he asked.
"We commit to Imam Shamseddine's declaration and Imam Sadr's rejection of arms. Don't get carried away with claims and rest assured that no statelet can take the place of the Lebanese state and our democratic system," he continued.
Hariri concluded: "Our future is the hostage of the arms and we will declare this on Sunday and continue on saying it until Leb is victorious."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Iran's President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has spoken strongly against the warmongering nations of the world, calling them devoid of care for humanity.
"Rulers, who have launched the wars, their hearts are devoid of affection for mankind," President Ahmadinejad said on Saturday, IRIB reported.
"The emptier their hearts are of affection, the more [there are] crime and war," the Iranian chief executive said.
"Warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan is an example, which has affected the economy and security of the whole world and everyone has suffered damage from it," the president said, referring to the United States-led offensives on the violence-scarred countries.
Violence resulting from the military presence has killed over one million Iraqis ever since the Washington-led invasion of the country in 2003, says the Caliphornia-based investigative organization Project Censored.
The 2001-present armed interference in Afghanistan has also claimed the lives of thousands of Afghan civilians.
Referring to Israel, President Ahmadinejad said, "We see that [they] occupy a land. Attach no rights to its people and bury its children and women, using bulldozers, use biological and chemical weapons against people and fill the prisons with people who have risen up for the honor and pride of their homeland."
In the face of Israeli aggression, thousands of Paleostinians have so far bit the dust, trying to recover their lands, which Tel Aviv started to occupy in 1948.
Tel Aviv used white phosphorous in its war on the Gazoo Strip at the turn of 2009, which left more than 1,400 Paleostinians dead.
Israeli forces have also been reported using banned and deadly tear gas canisters on the demonstrators, who hold anti-Israeli rallies in the occupied West Bank.
There are around 9,000 Paleostinians in Israeli detention, many of whom have been incarcerated without charge, trial and sentence.
The Iranian president questioned "See who, and with what characteristics and for what reason, have waged the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the wars of the twentieth century?"
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
What's Short Round got against warm mongers?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/13/2011 13:25 Comments ||
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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.
Hamid 
serving the interests of the enemies of Islam. He appealed to 
Punjab
[Al Arabiya] The commander of Iraq's rapid response force was 
[An Nahar] Caretaker Prime Minister 
He said during a speech at Qoreitem: "From now on, the possession of weapons, decision of war and peace, and defending the country should only be under the state's control."
Mahmoud 
