We should have every right to discriminate according to religion. It is not something you cannot control - it is a CHOICE and should get no greater protection than one's CHOICE of which type of car to drive or which music one CHOOSES to listen to.
#4
To continue:
Or certain kinds of Muslims or non-Muslims over in Dar al Islam.
Several generations ago, Crazy Fool, the law of the land said that a business could choose to not serve people with a darker skin colour, or could make them go to the back door, or not let them sit at the counter. The principle we came up with is that if something is offered for sale to the public, it must be offered to all of the public.
So if this Texan gentleman doesn't want to sell his expertise to people whose politics or faith he doesn't like, he can share it privately among those he considers friends. And then he ought to ask himself, what if some of his friends is lying about his politics or his understanding of God...or is in the process of discovering he is changing his mind about what he thinks or feels?
The ACLU who'd you normally would expect to come charging in on this type of issue is also notorious for its zero interest/support of 2d Amendment rights. It will be interesting.
#7
P2k, that could be easily determined by testing the null hypothesis: run an ad for gun training for ONLY Muslims and Obama voters, then see which one the ACLU screams about.
Not likely to be a surprise, but confirmation never hurts.
#8
you make a good point TW - however the color of one's skin (dark, brown, pink, yellow, plaid...) is not a choice - nor is one's race or gender. However which religion one follows is a choice.
This simply smacks of the 'thou shall not question or ever criticize Islam' talk coming out of the UN lately.
#9
Thank you, Crazy Fool. I like to think I am not one of those who 'never question or criticize Islam'. In exactly that vein, as I pondered the commercial, it occurred to me that in this country there are many Muslims who have quietly fallen away from the faith of their immediate ancestors -- whether becoming non-believers, atheists, or actively converting to, generally, Christianity. Who more than they, though still carrying the label of Muslim, to need the ability to defend themselves from attack that concealed carry offers...and who more than they should the Texan gentleman want to help as an act against the Muslims and Obama-voters he so avowedly distrusts?
If there were questions about al-Qaidas role in post-Gadhafi Libya, VICE reporter Sherif Elhelwa provides some answers in a new story with eyewitness descriptions.
Al-Qaida flags, Elhelwa reports, are popping up around Benghazi. At the city courthouse, which played a prominent role in the Libyan revolution, residents are flying the late terrorists Osama bin Ladens colors.
Similarly, Elhelwa recounts a regular evening sight: Islamists driving brand-new SUVs and waving the black al Qaeda flag drive the citys streets at night.
Armed guards walk the streets, he reports, inspiring fear. Friendly civilians hurriedly warn Elhelwa that he is being watched by the Islamists. I recommend that you leave now, he is told.
Confirming his suspicion that Islamist extremists may have a larger foothold in the recovering region, one partisan near the courthouse threatens Elhelwa, warning him that if he disparages the al-Qaida flag, we will cut off [your] tongue. I recommend that you dont publish these [images]. You will bring trouble to yourself.
The war to rid the country of the Gadhafi dictatorship might have ended, Elhelwa says, but the battle for control of post-revolutionary Libya has only just begun.
#2
Unfortunately, this wasnt a Lone Ranger deal. McCain, Graham and a bunch of misguided GOP politicians supported Obama, and, in fact, practically forced his hand. All of the usual big thinkers (more and more, Im inclined to call them group thinkers) at the National Review and the Weekly Standard were egging Obama on, calling him insufficiently motivated. What the heck were they thinking? The issue is that if we intervene in a situation like this, we cant be for a generic democracy - we have to support our bastards. Because the alternative is that some other country supports their bastards, who go on to win, and the country being fought over ends up being our enemy. Havent we learned anything from the Cold War? (Not the lefts BS lessons, but the fact that we must finance and train our guys, because our enemies are financing and training their guys, and the guys with the most financing and training will win).
[An Nahar] The International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... is in "informal contact" with Seif al-Islam, the runaway son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years... , its prosecutor said on Friday.
"Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Seif," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement issued at the court's headquarters in The Hague.
"The Office of the Prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty," Moreno-Ocampo said. "The judges will decide."
In a couple decades or so, which beats the ever so slightly more expeditious judicial review Seif would get by the faceless crowds in Benghazi...
But Moreno-Ocampo said his office learned through informal channels that a group of mercenaries were offering to move Seif to an African state not party to the ICC's founding document, the Rome Statute.
"The Office of the Prosecutor is exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the airspace of a state party in order to make an arrest," he said.
Seif, 39, and Qadaffy's security chief and brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senoussi, 62, are the most wanted runaways from the slain despot's ousted circle.
They are wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity, committed after the start of the uprising against Qadaffy's regime in mid-February. The ICC issued arrest warrants against the three on June 27.
Seif was Tuesday poised to cross into Niger along with Senoussi, his father's ex-intelligence chief, a Tuareg official said. Senoussi has passed from Niger into Mali, security sources from both countries said Thursday, with sources claiming he was under Tuareg protection.
It was not known whether Seif was traveling with his group.
Moreno-Ocampo said his office was "galvanizing efforts to implement the arrest warrants issued by judges of the ICC against Seif al-Islam and Abdullah al-Senoussi."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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The U.S. and South Korea have pledged to "advance combat readiness capabilities" near the disputed sea border with North Korea, warning against any future aggression by Pyongyang. The warning came as defense leaders of the two military allies met for their annual security consultative meeting.
Speaking at a news conference in Seoul Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin, said provocations by North Korea similar to a pair of deadly attacks last year will not be tolerated. The two defense chiefs announced a joint commitment to "advance combat readiness capabilities" in and around the tense, disputed maritime border off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.
Panetta pledged the United States will sustain and enhance its military presence on the peninsula and in the Asian region despite the threat of deep cutbacks in the U.S. military budget.
"Together we will ensure a strong and effective alliance deterrence posture, including the United States' nuclear umbrella, so that Pyongyang never misjudges our will and our capability to respond decisively to nuclear aggression," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The Norks need to lose of few submarines unexpectedly.
#2
It appears that the US + ROK are effec saying or inferring that there will be a de facto joint mil response after the next DPRK-induced incident, which IIUC means that Kimmie had better ready to go the "full monty" agz the US-ROK.
IS THE US-ROK WILLING TO CROSS THE DMZ INTO THE DPRK PROPER + RISK INVITING A CHINA = PLA MIL INTERVENTION???
This seems to confirm earlier reports.
Below is a translation based on Google:
In order to advance the peace process in the Middle East, the (German) federal government is apparently delaying the delivery of submarines to Israel.
This is being reported by the Frankfurter Rundschau. According to these reports Merkel has already informed the representatives of all parliamentary groups. There will be no delivery before negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians resume. Taiwan builds subs. Just sayin'...
#2
Just for clarification, the delay is supposed to pressure Israel to start negotiations.
Should the subs be ready for delivery before the talks restart they won't be turned over to Israel. There's nothing in the report about even pretend technical delays.
#6
Who does this leave as alternative suppliers? The Scandahoovians, as I understand it, make nice little AIP boats, but I would lump them in with the rest of the euro anti-israel crowd. We don't have anything to sell them. India?
#7
All U-Boots delivered to Israel were highly subsidized.
The first delivered were actually a present, for the next ones Israel only paid on third of the construction price and the last in question is also heavily subsidized.
I doubt that Taiwan will be that generous.
Of course the last boat will be delivered as well. Contracts are contracts.
It's just that the paint hasn't dried yet in the wet autumn weather.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/29/2011 15:35 Comments ||
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#8
Hmm, thought Taiwan did. Thanks for the correction.
The Greeks might want to keep their subs since their neighbors to the east are getting a little flighty. But no reason they couldn't share a couple with the Israelis. You know, joint 'training'...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2011 16:03 Comments ||
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#9
So either the Frankfurter Rundschau reporter's source or the FR reporter is blowing smoke, European Conservative? Why don't they just say so?
[One Pakistan] Chairman of Pakistain Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... called upon the Pakistain army to end its cooperation in so-called US-led war against terrorism in the country. He said continuation of US drone attacks was a negation of resolution adopted by All Parties Conference.
Y'all may have agreed among yourselves, but we didn't. It's one of those belling the cat thingies, I'm afraid.
Addressing a Wazoo Grand Jirga against drone strikes in Islamabad Thursday, Khan said that the army should halt its operation in the tribal areas as people of that region are against a military action there.
He also said that Pakistain is being pressured into initiating an operation in North Waziristan. He "some elements are manipulating facts to prove that tribal people favour such operations."
It's so sad when even cutting off people's heads won't make them love you.
Khan said military operations and drone attacks were not solving anything and this was evident because each year incidents of terrorism had risen in Pakistain. "Drone attacks are not beneficial, but are harming Pakistain" Khan said.
Imran said that drone attacks usually kill innocent people.
When they insist on standing right next to seriously guilty ones, but do go on...
Everything, he said, that has so far been said about drone attacks by the government is a lie.
Khan added that there was a drone strike within 24 hours of a resolution against drone attacks in parliament, which illustrated that this government was working on the behest of the US.
Khan said Pakistain was capable of bringing down the drones but the government was following the secret agreements made with the United States.
"Drones are flagrant violation of human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... and more importantly, a breach of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty, which has been allowed by the rulers," the PTI chairman maintained.
Earlier, a resolution passed at the Jirga against drone attacks asks the Supreme Court to take action against such strikes. There have been over 270 drone strikes inside Pakistain to date.
Jemima Khan ...first gained notice in the United Kingdom as a young heiress, the daughter of Lady Annabel and Sir James Goldsmith. She was married to the retired Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan between 1995 and their divorce in 2004. For the next three years, from 2004 to 2007, Khan gained worldwide media attention by sharing the baloney with British film star Hugh Grant. She has nothing to do with pancakes... and a large number of relatives of rustics killed or injured in about 300 drone attacks took part in the jirga.
Reprieve, an NGO, hosted the event.
He asked government to resign for being ineffective saying the government has failed to solve the problems of the people. He said that the government has failed to protect the lives, property and honour of the people. If the government cannot serve the people, it should resign, he added.
Later Imran Khan led anti-US drone attacks rally from China Chowk to D-Chowk parliament House, in which a large number of people mostly from PTI. A few dozen rustics from Waziristan, where most of the drone strikes are concentrated, also attended the peaceful demonstration.
Protesters demand an end to US drone strikes, claiming they kill more innocent civilians than Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders.
The protesters also set fire to a wooden model of a drone, dancing around and shouting "No more drone attacks", "No to drones, no to USA", carrying big signs saying "Stop drone attacks in Pakistain".
"Anyone wearing a turban, bearded men, and offering Namaz is considered to be a terrorist by US", said a protester belonged to North Waziristan. He said those who are called Death Eaters are actually hero for us because they are serving Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
He said those who are called terrorists are actually hero for us because they are serving Islam
Thats the mindset we need to deal with when dealing with Pakistan and Afghanistan!
1
Posted by: Paul D ||
10/29/2011 10:30 Comments ||
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Around 2,000 Paks demonstrated outside the country's parliament Friday to demand an end to US drone strikes, claiming they kill more innocent civilians than Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders.
Cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... led the Islamabad rally, attended mostly by members of his Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party, which is gearing up to contest its first general election.
A few dozen rustics from Wazoo, where most of the drone strikes are concentrated, also attended the peaceful demonstration.
Some young people in the crowd set fire to a wooden model of a drone, dancing around and shouting "No more drone attacks", "No to drones, no to USA", carrying big signs saying "Stop drone attacks in Pakistain".
But not elsewhere? Have they no compassion for their brother jihadis in other lands?
On Thursday, Pak officials said two US drone strikes killed at least 10 gunnies in Waziristan, including the brother of a local Taliban capo who sends fighters across the border to fight Americans in Afghanistan.
Under President Barack The Cambridge police acted stupidly Obama, the United States has drastically stepped up drone strikes, which it refuses to discuss publicly, killing footsoldiers as well as Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders active in Afghanistan.
"The USA says Pakistain is a terrorist country, but they come and kill in Pakistain: who is the true terrorist then?" said Nawad Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... , 28, a Khan activist and businessmen in the capital's twin city of Rawalpindi.
"We came here to support the Waziri people: 90 or 95 percent of the drone victims are innocent civilians. Our government is just a puppet directed by America, they just polish American shoes," he added.
There is widespread anti-Americanism in Pakistain despite the government's alliance with the US-led war on terror, and opposition to the drone strikes, although the attacks have never mobilised a widespread public movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Wouldn't it been fun if US drones were sent to reply?
[Dawn] Chairman Pakistain Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan, ... who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... condemned the "criminal silence" of non-governmental organizations, over the killings of civilians in drone attacks and has said that the government should quit if it could not take action in this regard.
He said this while addressing a protest rally in front of Parliament House here on Friday. He said civilian casualties were increasing in such strikes with each passing day.
He said the judiciary is independent but some people were a major hurdle in implementing the Supreme Court's decisions. "When court verdicts were not followed and implemented, then how could one expect betterment," he questioned.
Imran categorically rebutted the US opinion that no civilian casualties are taking place as a result of targeted strikes against high profile Death Eaters in Pak administrated Tribal Areas.
He demanded implementation of the resolution adopted in recently held All Parties Conference.
After coming into power, the PTI would introduce such an economic system which would protect the rights of consumers and investors and would convince foreigners to invest in Pakistain, he said.
Human rights campaigner and Director of REPRIVE, a non- profit organization, Clive Stafford Smith also addressed the protest rally.
Clive Stafford Smith said, "We are interested solely in transparency, with an open and honest dialogue. The CIA cannot conduct what is patently an illegal war in Wazoo while simultaneously covering up any evidence of the death of children and other innocent civilians who are being killed on a regular basis."
"If they really believe what they are doing is right, then they should not fear the truth. If they do fear the truth, then it is certain that what that what they are doing is wrong," Smith added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So he's demanding that NGO's support his point of view? Interesting...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/29/2011 19:47 Comments ||
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More than 30,000 supporters of Pakistain's main opposition party erupted into the streets in a protest rally Friday, burning an effigy of President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... and demanding that he quit.
The Pakistain Mohammedan League-N (PML-N) called the rally in Lahore to exploit talk of early elections in its political heartland, where it controls the Punjab provincial government despite being in opposition at national level. What makes it hee-hee-larious is that Nawaz is just as corrupt as Zardari -- Tweedledee and Tweedledum...
Party faithful aka "The Rubes"
denounced corruption and widespread power cuts, calling on the 56-year-old president, to step down before the government's five-year mandate expires in 2013.
Smaller rallies converged into a sea of people, packed left and right for up to two kilometres (one mile), which massed at one of the entrances to the old city of Lahore, witnesses said.
"Go Zardari, go corruption, go scheduled power outages," they chanted, in reference to the crippling power cuts that blight homes and businesses in much of Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Liberatress of Libya and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Al Haig ... told a congressional panel on Thursday that any Afghan-led grinding of the peace processor would have to include the Quetta Shura and its leader Mullah Omar. ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... Her statement before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs also emphasised several other key points reflecting a major change in US approach towards seeking a peaceful end to the Afghan conflict. "There is no solution in the region without Pakistain and no stable future in the region without a partnership."
The US needs to negotiate with the Haqqani network while continuing to work with Pakistain to destroy the safe havens it has inside Fata.
The US aid to Pakistain should not be conditioned to disbanding Lashkar-i-Taiba. And the "real game-changer in the region" would be a stronger relationship between Pakistain and India.
Her statement indicated that the new US approach had evolved further after Secretary Clinton's visit to Afghanistan and Pakistain last week where she discussed this strategy with the leaders of those two countries as well.
After the visit, she told the US media that the United States and Pakistain had reached 90-95 per cent agreement on the issues that at one stage appeared close to breaking up their relationship.
The politicians, who still seem upset with Pakistain over its alleged links to the jihad boys, created several opportunities for the secretary to browbeat Pakistain but she refrained from doing so.
Congressman Steve Chabot, a Republican, asked Secretary Clinton if the US was prepared to negotiate with Mulla Omar. "And if so, under what circumstances and what would our conditions be?" he asked.
"Well, Congressman, the negotiations that would be part of any Afghan-led grinding of the peace processor would have to include the Quetta Shura and would have to include some recognition by the Quetta Shura which, based on everything we know, is still led by Mulla Omar, that they wish to participate in such a process," she responded. "We are pursuing every thread of any kind of interest expressed."
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the panel's chairperson, questioned the wisdom of engaging the Haqqani network while it continued to attack US soldiers in Afghanistan. "What's the US strategy, crackdown or negotiate with the Haqqani network or a little bit of both," she asked.
"It's both," said Secretary Clinton.
Later, while responding to Congressman Chabot, she said the US agreed to meet the Haqqani network because that the ISI had asked them to do so.
"This was done in part because I think the Paks hope to be able to move the Haqqani network towards some kind of peace negotiation and the answer was an attack on our embassy" in Kabul.
The US still wanted to stay engaged with the Haqqani network to test whether these organizations had any willingness to negotiate in good faith, she told Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen.
"There is evidence going both ways, to be clear. Sometimes we hear that they will, that there are elements within each that wish to pursue that, and then other times that it's off the table." she added.
Secretary Clinton noted that only last week the US had launched a major military operation in Afghanistan that rounded up and eliminated more than 100 Haqqani network operatives. "And we are taking action to target the Haqqani leadership on both sides of the border," she said. "We are already working with the Paks to target those who are behind a lot of the attacks against Afghans and Americans."
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen asked Secretary Clinton to comment on a recent statement by 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... that if there was war between Pakistain and America, he would side with Pakistain.
Secretary Clinton said that as soon as she heard this statement, she asked the US ambassador in Kabul to figure out what the hell Mr Karzai meant and the ambassador reported back that Mr Karzai was on drugs again talking about the long history of cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistain, in particular the refuge that Pakistain provided to millions of Afghans during the Soviet occupation.
"This was not at all about a war that anybody was predicting," she said. Responding to a question about recent remarks by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... and former military chief Admiral Mike Mullen, who blamed Pakistain for continuing to support the jihad boys, Secretary Clinton said that neither Mr Panetta nor Admiral Mullen ever questioned the need to stay engaged with Pakistain.
She said that everyone in the US administration believed that the Haqqanis had safe havens inside Pakistain and used these hideouts for attacking US and Afghan soldiers.
"And we also agree, however, ... that there is no solution in the region without Pakistain and no stable future in the region without a partnership."
Congressman Ed Royce, another Republican, reminded her that another congressional panel had asked the B.O. regime to condition US assistance to Pakistain to shutting down the LeT and asked her if she was willing to do so.
"We have had intensive discussions with our Indian counterparts" on the LeT and on the attacks it allegedly carried out in India. But "I do not want to commit at this time to taking such a path because I think it's important that there be further consideration of all of the implications," Secretary Clinton said.
"Certainly, every time we meet with the Paks, we press them on the LeT about the continuing failure, in our view, to fulfil all of the requirements necessary for prosecution related to the Mumbai attacks and we will continue to do so," she said.
Secretary Clinton said that like the congressman, she too worried about the possibility that LeT attacks inside India could trigger yet another war between India and Pakistain. "And we discuss it in great depth with our Indian counterparts, because it is, first and foremost, a concern of theirs. It is obviously also concerning to us."
Congressman Joe Wilson, also a Republican, noted that Pakistain was developing a most-favoured nation trade status with India and asked what the US could do to promote a level of trade and positive contact between India and Pakistain.
"Well, Congressman, I agree with you that the real game-changer in the region is not so much our bilateral relationship as the relationship between Pakistain and India. And the more that there can be progress, the more likely there can be even more progress," the secretary said.
"So we have in Pakistain today a leadership, both civilian and military, that wants to see progress with India, and we have the same on the Indian side."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
IMO, its kinda moot without AYAMAN + others that I remember.
#5
We have already seen the consequences of a political solution/grand bargain in Libya.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
Even if a 'Peace Process' that included the Taliban could bring peace, stability and some prosperity to Afghanistan, there's still the matter of 9/11.
The Taliban and Mullah Omar would end up with a big reward. Success in Afghanistan as defined by the Obama administration is actually a humiliating and dangerous defeat for the US.
Right now, precipitous withdrawal would do far less damage to vital western interests.
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Security sources reported that the curfew imposed today on Mosul city was lifted.
Earlier, security sources told Aswat al-Iraq that the curfew was made in anticipation of terrorist and suicide belts attacks. mCitizens were planning to make peaceful demonstrations in protest for the arrest campaigns made by the security organs against ex-Baathist and military officers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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Three prisoner swaps in one month? Bedouin Israeli Ouda Tarabin, who has been imprisoned in Egypt for 11 years now, will be returning to Israel next month as part of a prisoner swap with Israel, Kuwaiti daily al-Jarida reported Saturday.
According to a senior Egyptian official, Tarabin will be released after the Feast of Sacrifice, a Muslim holiday that will be celebrated in mid-November this year.
The swap, which is expected to resemble the recent Ilan Grapel deal, will see Tarabin released from prison in exchange for Egyptian inmates held in Israel. According to the same source, this time the Jewish state will release "political prisoners" rather than detainees held for drug or weapon smuggling offences.
The Egyptian official did not say how many prisoners will be freed by Israel in the framework of the swap, but stressed that Cairo is engaging in negotiations in order to "gain the greatest profits." He hinted that "additional spies" may be discovered in Egyptian jails and prompt further negotiations.
"Awright, which one of you is Brian?"
"I'm Brian!"
"I'M Brian!"
"I'm Brian, and so's my wife!"
Tarabin was detained in Egypt some 11 years ago and imprisoned after being convicted of espionage. In the wake of the Grapel swap, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel's government will do everything in order to secure Tarabin's release as well.
The ceremony began with lively music and dancing by young men and women from the Focolare movement, performing choreographies to symbolise their search for peace, while the Pope and the other religious leaders sat watching on the stage or filling the square below the lower basilica.
One by one, Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Sikh, Baptist, Muslim, Taoist, Buddhist, Shinto, Jewish, Reformed and non-believers stepped up to the microphone. They spoke of their hopes and dreams for peace and justice, for security and freedom, for solidarity and dialogue as the only way to resolve tensions and conflicts between peoples and nations.
Finally, Pope Benedict brought together that multi-faith, pluri-ethnic pledge with the words spoken from the heart by so many different Popes over the past century, Violence never again, War never again Terrorism never again.
Young volunteers then moved slowly through the crowd distributing small glass oil lamps with lighted wicks that participants struggled to keep alight, a powerful symbol of the struggle that so many of them face in their own countries to keep the voice of peace and justice alive and audible above the noise of oppression and conflict...
Posted by: American Delight ||
10/29/2011 19:35 ||
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The Arab League issued its strongest denunciation yet of Syria's deadly suppression of demonstrations. After security forces killed at least 40 civilians during Friday protests and continued shelling on Saturday, the Arab League sent an urgent message ... to the Syrian government expressing its severe discontent for the continued killing of Syrian civilians. Meanwhile, the U.S. company Blue Coat acknowledged that Syria has been using its internet-blocking technology despite strict U.S. trade embargoes. The company said it shipped its devices to Dubai late last year, believing they were for the Iraqi government, and don't know how they fell into the hands of President Bashar al-Assad.
[An Nahar] Syria slammed United Nations ...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least... Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon's ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... recent report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, saying that it has not meddled in Lebanese affairs or infiltrated Lebanese territory, reported the daily An Nahar on Friday. "No, no! Certainly not!"
Syria's permanent ambassador to the U.N. Bashar al-Jaafari informed Ban in a letter: "The majority of the information on Syria mentioned in the report is based on misleading and fabricated media sources." "Tut tut, sir! Pish and bosh!"
"Dragging Syria's name into Lebanese internal affairs is part of a campaign against Syria," he added. "Syria is always keen on Leb's illusory sovereignty and independence, which is a matter the secretary general chose to overlook," he continued.
"He is fully aware, as he claims, that weapons are being smuggled from Leb to Syria and the authorities from both countries have thwarted these operations," Jaafari stated.
He also accused Ban of targeting Syria and forging facts by citing matters that have not been reported by the media, including "allegations that Syrian troops had infiltrated Lebanese territory, which were proven to be false."
"Filing false reports to the United Nations on Leb and Syria is a violation of resolution 1559 and the Security Council should hold those responsible for them accountable," the Syrian ambassador stressed.
He repeated Syria's rejection of Ban's report, including the articles on the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border, saying that this is an issue that only concerns the two countries.
"The real obstacle that is obstructing the demarcation is Israel and its occupation of the Golan Heights and Shabaa Farms," he noted.
Meanwhile, ...back at the desert island, Bert was realizing to his horror that he'd had only one bottle for one message, and he'd forgotten to include a return address... EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule voiced his concern over the reports in Syrian incursions into Leb.
The visiting official held talks on Thursday with President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... , and Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.
Jaafari's letter came in light of Syrian troops planting mines along a region bordering the northern Lebanese area of Wadi Khaled, reported Agence La Belle France Presse on Thursday.
"Lebanese officials told us that the Syrians undertook the measure to prevent weapons smuggling," a Lebanese official told AFP.
"A number of Syrian soldiers were also seen deploying on their side of the border, near the Syrian villages of Heet and Buwayt," he added.
Sources told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published on Friday that the Syrian army planted the mines in light of reports that defectors had decamped Syria towards Leb.
"A considerable number of defectors had abandoned their weapons and decamped to Leb after refusing to take part in the crackdown against anti-regime protestors in Homs," they added.
The Syrian regime has been waging a bloody crackdown against anti-regime demonstrators since March.
Army defections have been on the rise recently as the crackdown has not relented.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
The 
Wazoo
Cricket hero turned politician 
Asif Ali 
Hillary Clinton
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon's
Najib Miqati
