Morocco's King Mohammed has issued pardons to several leading Islamists, signalling a less hardline approach after moderate Islamists came to power in an election last year. The prisoners covered by the pardon included leading figures in Salafia Jihadia, an Islamist group authorities say helped orchestrate a wave of suicide kabooms in Casablanca in 2003, which killed 45 people.
But that was before leading Islamist thinkers decided that the hard jihad of the sword is much too dangerous when the kaffirs bring big guns to the knife fight, and decided to go for the soft jihad of the law instead. So perhaps this will work out for the king...
International human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... groups say after those attacks, hundreds of Islamists were tossed in the clink on fabricated charges, sometimes after being tortured.
[Tripoli Post] Libya started and then swiftly postponed court proceedings on Sunday against 41 Libyans accused of helping Muammar Qadaffy ... who is now deader than a rock... crush the popular revolt that ended in his death last year, Libyan news agency LANA said on Sunday. The trial has been postponed to February 15.
The news agency said that the decision to affect the postponement of the trial at a military base in the eastern city of Benghazi was made in the wake of listening to defence panel pleadings that argued that the military court is not a competent entity and called for referring the case to the civil judiciary.
The 41 men face charges of murder and aiding prisoners to escape.
A front man for the national Transitional Council, NTC, in Benghazi said that the delay the delay is based on the requests of the 15-lawyer defence team to review the evidence, and also on the requests of some detainees who want to hire their own lawyers.
On of the defence lawyers, who is defending five of the accused, Hussein Gheniwa, said the military court was "not competent" to handle the case.
"We hope that in the next session the question of the court's competency will be addressed. We are confident that the court will decide that it is not competent," he told AFP.
But he expressed optimism over Libya's justice system, saying "the legal proceedings will not be influenced by public opinion" which at the moment is strong given the fact that it is a trial of pro-Qadaffy men.
Libya is currently also preparing to bring to trial one of the former Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy's sons, Seif al-Islam who was captured by militias in November.
The International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... , ICC, has also been seeking to hold his trial in The Hague, saying that before bringing him to trial, where he could face the death penalty, Libya will first have to answer concerns, raised by activists, that Seif was being held without access to lawyers. It is also requesting Libya to provide information about his mental and physical health.
If the war crimes court rules Libya is unwilling or unable to try Seif al-Islam, who is accused of crimes against humanity over the killing of civilian protesters, it says it will take jurisdiction.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
More time needed as the checks continue to clear.
Egypt on Monday released the names of 19 Americans who face trial over foreign funding of activities of their non-profit groups in Egypt, a case that has soured US-Egypt relations.
One of the 19 is the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Sam LaHood and five other Americans are in Egypt while the others have left, according to a statement from the Egyptian prosecutor's office. Altogether, 43 people face trials over illegally operating in Egypt and receiving funds from abroad without permission from Egyptian authorities for their human rights and pro-democracy groups. Egypt charges that they fund and support anti-government protests. The groups deny that.
Washington has reacted angrily to the case, which started with raids last month on the offices of the groups. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has warned it could jeopardise U.S. aid to Egypt, which amounts to more than $1 billion a year.
You do wonder if the generals priced that in before authorizing the warrants...
On Monday the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the US citizens involved in the dispute have been working to build a more democratic society in Egypt and "have done absolutely nothing wrong."
She told "CBS This Morning" that U.S. officials have been in close touch with the Egyptian government, including "in the last days and hours." She said the situation "has serious consequences for our bilateral relationship."
Egyptian Cabinet minister Mohammed Amr said the government cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary.
Nope, nope, never done it before, never, can't do it now. Why the very thought of the government interfering with the judiciary in Egypt is just unthinkable...
"We are doing our best to contain this but ... we cannot actually exercise any influence on the investigating judges," he reporters at a security conference in Munich, Germany on Sunday, before the announcement that charges would be filed against the foreign activists.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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I think the Egyptian government has decided to save the American taxpayers over $1B a year.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/07/2012 0:17 Comments ||
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SH, if adults were in charge, I would agree, but we have the Architect of the US Apology and Bow tour in charge. I fear that the $1B will be increased in order to show our sincere apology for this affront to their dignity. ( or some such drivel)
#5
I have the impression that much of the bureaucracy is running about unsuperpervised, making decisions beyond the control of the generals. And quite possibly the generals are willing to let this happen so that the peepul will turn to them to be rescued from the anarchy, not to mention the assaults on women by unrestrained gangs of unemployed young men.
Just change out generals with Democrats and it works fine.
Dear AlanC,
I meant there. Here the bureaucracy is closely supervised by all those czars and recess appointments to produce the effects desired by those in charge of running things. That a great many are in full agreement with both goals and tactics is a side issue, or so it seems to me.
#11
Agreed up to a point, but, the Czars and RAs are in fact bureaucrats themselves. The chaos and harm they inflict will need some "strong leader" to control, no?
Of course said "strong leader" does desire the exact same things as the bureaucrats as long as he gets more power.
#13
but, the Czars and RAs are in fact bureaucrats themselves.
I believe bureaucrats are the salaried professionals who stay on the job regardless who was elected. The Czars and RAs were hired directly by the president to act as senior department managers. They serve at his pleasure and will leave when he does.
[Yemen Post] Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi met on Monday with the United Kingdom's Deputy National Security Advisor, Oliver Robins, in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a.
During the meeting, they reviewed the latest developments on the Yemeni arena - particurlarly the GCC-brokered power transfer deal, which was signed in November in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Hadi has expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the incredible amount of support UK has showed for the country during this difficult period, as well as, its efforts in defusing tensions between the Yemeni conflicting parties.
"We are looking forward to even better relationships with England in the future," Hadi said.
"We are approaching the upcoming presidential elections, which will be the start of a new era for Yemen in which a modern and civil state will be build."Hadi added.
The acting President, vowed that there will be major developments in his rein at all levels, and briefed the UK official the developments of the festivities between security forces and al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys in the southen province of Abyan.
He underlined the importance of the international community support for Yemen in this critical period for the government to be able to exit the current ugly crisis.
For his part, Robins has expressed his country's happiness for the progress made in the political scene, stressed the importance of holding the presidential elections in its scheduled time as it represents the only viable exit of the crisis, and pledged support for Yemen in the transitional period at the political, economical and security levels.
Cooperation on fighting terrorism between the two countries was also touched upon in the meeting.
Among the attendences was British ambassador, Nicholas Hilton.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Yemen Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi will launch Tuesday the electoral campaign of the early presidential elections scheduled for February 21 under the title "We build Yemen together."
Spokesman of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties Mohammad Al-Odaini said the Yemeni ruling and opposition parties met last week and agreed to launch Hadi's campaign on Tuesday.
He made clear that Saleh would deliver a speech to the Yemeni people, pointing out that leaders of the political parties, state officials and Arab and foreign ambassadors would attend the inauguration ceremony of the campaign in Sana'a.
Recently, Yemeni parties had expressed fears that some sides seek to disturb the elections, particularly as some gunnies loyal to the outgoing President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... carried out sieges of some government institutions.
News reports had said Hadi has threatened to unveil realities about Yemen's current situations after he said that nothing of the GCC-brokered power transfer's provisions was implemented.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... the Higher Coordination Commission of the Yemeni Revolutionaries affirmed that Yemeni revolutionaries will take part in the elections, indicating that vote for Hadi would put an end to Saleh's phase.
Under the GCC deal, Hadi is the consensus candidate of major parties, while Saleh remains as a figurehead president for 90 days after he was forced to sign the deal.
After the elections, as GCC deal states, Hadi will oversee national dialogue to consider proposals for constitutional reforms that include replacing the presidential system with a multi-party parliamentary system.
Hadi is additionally tasked with presiding over the military commission, which operates to negotiate the demilitarization of the capital, Sana'a, and other cities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Yemeni Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... have said they would form a political party that would take part in the political process and empower women, a high-ranking Salafi leader, Aqeel Al-Maqtari said.
In comments to the Arabic-Speaking London-based Alsharaq Al-Awsat newspaper, Almaqtari stressed that women would participate in this new party.
"Women will have rights to vote and nomination," he added. "There were inaccurate opinions spread among the Salafi groups regarding political work, as it was thought that elections contradict some Sharaia laws, but this is not correct."
"With the eruption of the Arab Spring revolution, the fall of dictatorships and the corrupt regimes, Salafisits could present their revised studies and opinions."
He said Salifists abhor dictators and that was behind their engagement in the political process.
On the other hand, Yemen's Houthi-led Shiite groups announced last month that they formed a political party, Al-Omah Party, to play a role in the country's new political arena. The party is led by a Shiite holy man, Mohammed Miftah.
Since the protests erupted in Yemen in late January 2011, Houthi rebels are trying to expand their control over the northern provinces of Saada, Amran and Hajja.
Houthis had imposed a serious food and security blockade on students and people of a hard-liner Salafi-run Islamic school, Dar-al-Hadith , and its neighboring areas in Damaj town.
They engaged an intermittent war against the government from 2004 until a truce was reached in 2010.
In lately 2010, the Yemeni government and the Shiite group signed an agreement in Doha to strengthen a fragile cease-fire to end the sporadic battles since 2004, but the rebels' festivities with local rustics and Sunni supporters are still rocking the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Given Salafists "are ostentatiously devout Moslems " exactly what are they going to empower women to do?
Wear sacks
Stay in doors
Stay pregnant
Do as they're told by any male
[Yemen Post] Yemen Prime Minister Mohammad Salem Basindwia along with other ministers of the interim government failed to persuade judges of ending their protests, well informed sources said.
The sources said that Basindiwa offered the demonstrators to end their protests in return for meeting some of their demands in the coming days, reminding them that Yemen currently witnesses difficult conditions.
They said the judges did not accept any promises, and they would escalate their protests and use all legal means that may lead to achieve their demands.
Judges began their protests last week , demanding to carry out reforms in judiciary , make it independent, give judges complete immunity and cleanse judges of all military and security members.
They also demand to elect members of the Supreme Judiciary Council from the members of the judicial authority and limit the powers of the Justice Minister to the administrative and financial affairs.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for... what has become known as the institution revolution hit many public authorities and resulted in the ouster of tens of corrupt officials in Yemen, as employees and students insisted on firing them.
Several military and security units demanded the removal of officers accused of corruption or involvement in the deadly crackdown on protesters.
Hundreds of the Air Forces soldiers have been protesting for weeks , demanding to fire their commander Mohammad Saleh Alahmar, half brother of Saleh.
Protests erupted lately of January inside a camp of the Republican Guard commanded by son of the outgoing President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh. ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... they were ended after Ahmed cautioned officers and soldiers against arranging any demonstrations, threatening to purge anyone trying to protest.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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Activist politician living on the dole found guilty of assaulting Jewish man at London supermarket protest plans to vigorously appeal conviction.
Hold on to your hats, guys -- this one's got it all!
An anti-Israel activist has this week been found guilty of assaulting a Jewish man at a London supermarket protest calling for a ban of Israeli produce.
Start with your basic anti-Zionist misbehavior...
Last August, Carole Swords, chairwoman of the Respect Party in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets,
And she's a political henchwoman of the very describable George Galloway...
attacked counter-protester Harvey Garfield after he allegedly stood in the way of her damaging Israeli goods at a Tesco supermarket in central London.
But his existence prevented her from expressing herself fully.
Garfield claimed that he was at the store to defend Israeli products from potential vandalism by protesters. "On the day, I heard about the supermarket protest and went along in order to inform the store and help identify the activists," he said.
Swords was found guilty on a public order offense and was given a conditional discharge by the City of London Magistrate's Court after she assaulted Garfield, knocking his glasses off.
She was ordered to pay £250 costs, and she offered to pay £1 a week because she is receiving state benefits.
Let her work it off in a job suitable for a person of her demonstrated abilities -- sweeping streets, perhaps, or stuffing envelopes...and withdraw the benefits.
According to the Respect Party, Swords will be "vigorously" appealing the charge.
In court, Swords accused Garfield of harassment but the court reviewed CCTV footage from the supermarket which revealed that Swords had used "threatening and abusive behavior to cause harassment."
Whoops. One hopes no one actually said, "Liar, liar, pants on fire," aloud.
The incident occurred after a protest by anti-Israel activists at an Ahava store in Covent Garden, central London.
Garfield was part of a group of counter-demonstrators targeting Israeli goods.
Garfield said that Swords had approached the staff at the grocery store and demanded to know why it stocked Israeli products. She was told to address any complaints to Tesco's head office. At that point she left the store but then returned, and after seeing Garfield, she swore at him and assaulted him.
Sensing the possibility for mayhem...
"As I turned to follow she stopped and said don't you f-- -ing follow me. Before I had a chance to answer she struck me in the face causing my glasses to fall off," Garfield said.
He said he then found a police officer who locked away her, and she spent 10 hours in jug.
He was accused of punching Swords, spitting in her face and calling her a Nazi and Paleostinian terrorist. "I was asked if I had suggested that she was a supporter of terrorism to which I said no but that I had photo of her in Gazoo standing behind Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, [leader Mahmoud] Zahar stating that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization by her majesty's government," Garfield said.
But wait, there's more!!
Swords is also an organizer of the Viva Paleostina group set up by former MP and anti- Israel activist George Galloway ... a Brit embarrassment, not particularly honest, more fond of dictators and faceless myrmidons than he is of his native countrymen except at the peak of the election cycle ... . In 2010, she took part in a convoy Gazoo where she met with Hamas leaders.
And even more:
According to the popular London-based blog Harry's Place, Swords recently linked to a video of a Holocaust denier who states in the clip that Christian support for Israel shows that there is no longer any Christianity, only "Holocaustianity." Previously Swords had written on Facebook that Zionists are "cockroaches" who "hide in the dark and try to create havoc where they lay their eggs."
She also claimed on another entry that Israel is in control of the US and, according to Harry's Place, has linked to stories by Louis Farrakhan and a David Duke supporter.
Checking off every item on the list, we continue...
The blog has also shown that Swords liked a "Free Mohammed Hamid" page on Facebook. Hamid, according to Harry's Place, is a recruiter of faceless myrmidons in the UK.
Just the kind of person one wants set free to walk the streets of London, don't you agree?
Last July she told a Jewish counter demonstrator at another anti-Israel protest at the Ahava store that he should "go back to Russia."
But she will be the Cause Célèbre for the world's idiots.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/07/2012 11:05 Comments ||
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#3
Hold on to your hats, guys -- this one's got it all!
This is not the perfect contry and western song, because it doesn't have anything about Mama, or trains, or prisons, or trucks or gettin' drunk... oops, wrong comment. sorry.
[Iran Press TV] An eight-nation bloc of Latin American and Caribbean countries has thrown its weight behind the Syrian government, condemning foreign efforts aimed at destabilizing Syria.
"The heads of state and government of the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) reiterate their condemnation of the systematic policy of interference and destabilization in the brother Arab Republic of Syria which (the policy) intends to impose by force on the Syrian people a change in rulers," the bloc's statement said.
The statement was issued during the bloc's recent meeting in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on Sunday.
The statement further lent support to the national dialogue policy of the Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... , saying that the initiative adopted by Assad is seeking a "political solution to the current crisis respectful of the Syrian people's illusory sovereignty and the territorial integrity of that Arab country."
Earlier in October 2011, the ALBA ministers called for an end to the media campaign against Syria, saying that their countries would defend the illusory sovereignty of Syria in international gatherings, particularly at the UN.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Hundreds of people, including Syrian security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.
The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters, but Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... says "outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups" are responsible for the unrest, which it says is being orchestrated from abroad.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Lest we fergit, HUGO CHAVEZ > VENEZUELA'S TROOPS WILL FIGHT WID ARGENTINA IN ANY MIL CONFLICT WID BRITAIN OER THE FALKLANDS.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The Norway gunman who killed 77 people in twin attacks in July asked an Oslo court Monday to immediately free him and demanded the country's highest military award, sparking derision from survivors.
Showing no sign of remorse, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik said the massacre was "a preventive attack against state traitors" who were guilty "ethnic cleansing" due to their support for a multi-cultural society.
"I do not accept imprisonment. I demand to be immediately released," the rightwing thug told the court before it ordered that he be held in detention until his trial opens on April 16.
He also asked to be decorated with a bravery medal, saying: "I want the Norwegian army to recommend me for a War Cross with three swords."
Hollow laughter erupted in the rows where several dozen survivors and families of the victims were seated, when Behring Breivik twice demanded his immediate release.
Wearing a dark suit and pale blue tie, Behring Breivik entered the courtroom and touched his heart with his handcuffed fists, then lifted them straight out toward those seated in the courtroom, in what his lawyer Geir Lippestad described as a "right-wing thug salute."
"He wanted to show the far right that he is one of them," Lippestad said.
With his blond hair parted on the side and a thin strip of beard along the jawline, Behring Breivik refused to plead guilty but admitted to committing the acts he said were necessary to "defend the ethnic Norwegian population."
"We, the Norwegian resistance movement, will not just stand by and watch while we are made a minority in our own country," he said, adding that he had acted "to defend his people, his culture, his religion."
He also asked to be decorated with a bravery medal, saying: "I want the Norwegian army to recommend me for a War Cross with three swords."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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What if you used a rail gun-like mechanism to propel the cross through his chin and out the back of his head?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/07/2012 0:11 Comments ||
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The leftist Norwegian government is obviously terrified of him and his ideas. With good reason. He, likely with the help of unknown others, planned and executed a military quality operation, which has likely changed the future course of Norway.
Norway has only 2.7 million people, and has long been a target of leftist internationalism. A primary goal of this is to encourage so much immigration, on the condition that the immigrants politically support the far left, so that the Norwegian people become a minority in their own country. This is a common motif in western Europe, but to which Norway is particularly sensitive.
And, more to the point, the purpose of doing this is so that the far left will have, in effect, a single party socialist state in perpetuity.
The origins of this scheme are old, as the Workers' Youth League (Norway) was founded in 1927 as a socialist-communist response to the creation of the Hitler Jugend in 1922, the purpose of both organizations to create an ideologically pure generation of fanatics to replace the party founders.
The difference being that the WYL had loyalty only to the party and the internationale, not to their nation.
The utter ruthlessness involved in this is striking, but not seen in the WYL, because they are also profound believers in "gradualism". Were Hitler to not have engaged in aggressive war, and only authorized the extermination of a few thousand Jews every year, in a quiet and methodical manner, he could have had his Holocaust and still projected an image of peaceful democracy.
And while the public sees Breivik's victims, they do not see the hundreds of Norwegian innocents who have been raped and killed by immigrants.
But Breivik has thrown a monkey wrench into this scheme. He wiped out the next generation of socialist-communist party leaders in Norway, who have spent years learning precise, ideologically pure ideas. They are irreplaceable.
As such, it almost guarantees that Norway will remain Norwegian, that the socialist-communist left in the medium term will both be handicapped and in political variance from the goals of the internationale, that is, not ideologically pure, and more willing to let reason and common sense, instead of rigid doctrine, control their actions.
And if instead of being declared insane, and put into a drug induced stupor for the rest of his life, Breivik is instead sent to prison, his victory will be complete. Even if he is murdered in prison he will be a martyr for the extreme right, and if not, he will likely still be able to get his ideas out to those of his kind.
And more importantly, to the Norwegian on the street who is only partially aware of increasing numbers of oppressive and criminal foreigners.
#4
Can't see what the problem releasing him is. Surely he has as much rights as the misunderstanders of religion of peace have, who are apologetically released on a regular basis along with a large damages payments to compensate them for the insult to their "ooman rites" they've had to endure. Doesn't Norway realize they live in a multicultural society where even the natives have as much rights as the exotic imports. They don't want to be seen as judgmental, do they? Surely all cultures are equal, as they are constantly preaching.
Why should he be held to a higher standard than the jihadi are?
Gordon Duff, a senior editor at Veterans Today journal says Obama staged the killing of the late Osama bin Laden ... who had a brief but splitting headache... in order to "prevent General Petraeus from claiming credit" for the murder.
"General Petraeus has presidential aspirations, and as long as they kept the long-dead bin Laden still pretended to be alive, Petraeus could claim credit for that," Duff told Press TV's U.S. Desk in a phone interview on Monday.
"It was a theater, nothing more than theater, which later of course as you know turned into tragedy, as theater often does," he added.
Many believe that bin Laden died in 2001 on natural causes.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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Well, it's kinda like the birth certificate,isn't it? I know we're not supposed to talk about that on this blog bug, dammit, why couldn't they just release the pictures of the dead bin Laden? Why can't this president do anything right?
Seems everyone that was anybody knew but Holder. And I've got a bridge.....
Former Tucson Drug Enforcement Administration chief Tony Coulson told The Daily Caller that Attorney General Eric Holder either knew guns were walking during Operation Fast and Furious, or should have known about the deadly practice.
"[Fast and Furious] was driven locally and it was driven from Arizona, from the ground up, I mean it was not much oversight," Coulson said in a phone interview. "And, I mean, I can only speak to the reporting, but people all the way up to the attorney general knew what was going on."
Coulson, who ran the DEA's Tucson office during Fast and Furious' implementation, told TheDC he learned that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was letting guns walk back in 2009 or 2010. He said he learned this from people who were working in the Phoenix Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. He didn't know it was called "Fast and Furious," but said it was widely known guns were walking.
"Nothing that [ATF] was doing was running into what we were doing at DEA from the Tucson level," Coulson said. "Now, Phoenix was a little bit different. They were, their targets kept running into DEA cases and I think that was reported out of the House letter last week. But in Tucson, we weren't running into them. How I became aware of it was through Immigration and Customs Enforcement."
"At the time, [ATF's] boss here, Bill Newell, was the face and the voice of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms," Coulson added. "If you go back during this time, he's the one who's on every major national news station. He's talking about weapons in Mexico. You know, he was the voice of ATF. I mean, he was driving ATF's policy. There was very little oversight at the time from anyone on what was going on. I became aware of it because ICE interceded on more than one occasion to seize weapons at the port of entry that ATF was trying to walk into Mexico."
ICE falls under the Department of Homeland Security, and with the news that Holder hasn't discussed Fast and Furious with its Secretary Janet Napolitano or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there are likely to be new questions into what, if anything, those cabinet officials were told of Fast and Furious.
And, contrary to the picture Holder has tried to paint during his congressional hearing appearances, Coulson said that "yeah, absolutely" law enforcement officials were widely aware the ATF was using gun-walking tactics in Arizona. Coulson went so far as to say he suspects Holder himself was aware of the tactic, or was willfully unaware -- meaning he didn't want to know and made sure he wasn't informed of gun-walking.
"If someone brings something to your attention and not really all the facts are brought to your attention, yeah we're sending guns into Mexico, if he [Holder] chooses not to ask the next question, and then makes a statement 'I didn't know about that then' but did find out about it when it became a hot topic issue when he decided well, 'I should ask that next question now: Are you really walking guns into Mexico?'" Coulson said. "That leads to the next question, which is: 'Are the Mexicans seizing, recovering those weapons before they're used in a crime?' The answer is no."
[Dawn] The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Inspector General of Police Sindh to take all necessary steps in tracing out and arresting the culprits who had been involved in murder of wife and daughter of Mir Bakhtiar Domki, a member of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... provincial assembly.
The court also ordered Advocate General of Sindh and Inspector General of Police Sindh to appear in-person on next date of hearing.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez issued directive on a constitutional petition moved by Shakeel Hadi, former president Balochistan High Court Bar Association, over law and order situation in Balochistan and a suo motu notice taken on murder of wife and daughter of Mir Bakhtiar Domki in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on January 30.
The bench in its order pointed out that it was one of the most sensitive incidents, having its repercussions on the situation prevailing in Balochistan.
At the outset of proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistain Molvi Anwarul Haq appeared and in response to a query said that in pursuance of Court's earlier order, he could not procure reports from the Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) regarding situation prevailing in Balochistan and requested for further time.
Advocate General Balochistan Abdul Fatah Malik also submitted a daily situation report and did not claim any confidentiality over it.
IGP Sindh Mushtaq Ahmed Shah apprised the bench that they were making efforts to trace out the culprits in Domki family's murder case but could not give assurance over time frame.
To bench's query, he replied that the case was not of simple robbery as the circumstances in which the females had been killed showed a deep vengeance.
He said the surviving maid in the incident could not record the statement.
He said that they could not take any help from the CCTV footage, yet they were hopeful to trace out the real culprits.
The chief justice told him that they had already passed a supportive order on Bloody Karachi unrest situation and empowered the law enforcement agencies to maintain peace but prima facie, the IGP was not showing results.
He observed that the judgment was endorsed by all segments of society.
"The Court has no guns and bullets to go after criminals, we can support you with our verdicts," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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Israeli and Cypriot officials are planning to discuss allowing the Israeli Air Force to station jets in the neighboring island, Chinese news agency Xinua reported Tuesday.
"In your face, Erdogan!"
The issue will be raised during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled visit to Cyprus later this month, Xinua quoted Israeli officials as saying.
According to the report, an Israeli embassy official told the Cyprus Mail in January that Netanyahu "will come to Cyprus to emphasize the good relations between the two countries and to strengthen the bilateral relations, which are already good."
Xinua said the Cypriot OnlyCy.com website reported that in September 2011 Israel asked Cyprus to permit stationing its aircraft at the Andreas Papandreou airbase in Paphos.
However, an Israeli official told the Chinese news agency this week that the prospect of stationing planes in Cyprus "is at the exploratory stage - it's not clear if it will or won't happen."
The official was quoted as saying that a potential offshore airbase "is an existing option, and we're investigating the possibility," but cautioned that such an agreement "isn't totally sewn up."
In January, Israel and Cyprus signed two defense agreements which Cypriot Minister of Defense Demetris Eliades said "set the basis for the further development of relations in the area of defense cooperation."
#3
There are easier ways to do that. Moving a squadron to Cyprus is no small matter. It's similar to us having an airbase overseas.
I don't see the strategic usefulness. Israel isn't going to attack Turkey (I think), and if it wanted to do so it has plenty of reach already. It doesn't help with Iran or Syria, and doesn't really help with Egypt. Plus the Cypriots, I assume, would have some sort of veto power over Israel using the base for an attack elsewhere.
So I don't get it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/07/2012 17:01 Comments ||
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#4
First thing that occurred to me was dispersal of assets to offset possible losses in the event of a nuclear exchange. Israel is a small dense target. Cyprus is close enough but not splash close. Iran is unlikely to nuke Cyprus, allowing a safe haven and another ratchet. I don't think that this is a counter against Turkey. But it does put a stick in Erd's eye. And maybe Greece is eye-ing the cash influx possibilities and the not so bitter thought of an annoyed Erd. win win for them.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/07/2012 17:10 Comments ||
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#5
Turkey has been drilling off Cyprus (with military escort) while threatening Greek Cypriot/Israeli/US companies from drilling. The Israelis are matching Turkey's escalation of force.
A squadron of jets dispersed to Cyprus won't make any difference in a Mideast war and leaves them more vulnerable to terrorist/commando attack. But it does cement closer Israeli-Greek Cypriot relations and any force escalation Turkey may try to prevent energy extraction can be met from Cyprus.
#10
Cyprus is only about 200 miles further from Tehran than Israel is, so it's gotta be a thorn in a nuclear Iran's side.
It would give Israel two angles on Lebanon and Syria, which would both be a more serious thorn in Iran's side if they are considering a conventional attack on Israel, and Israel considers Iran to be a non-nuclear power.
[Iran Press TV] Paleostine's resistance movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has agreed to a Qatari proposal that recommends acting Paleostinian Authority chief the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... as the prime minister of a future Paleostinian unity government, officials say.
According to Paleostinian officials, Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani made the proposal during a meeting with the leaders of the two major Paleostinian factions of Hamas and Fatah in Qatar's capital, Doha, on Sunday.
Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Meshaal and Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, discussed the formation of a Paleostinian unity government during the Sunday meeting.
Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior Fatah official, said that the meeting was "positive" and the two Paleostinian leaders are scheduled to meet again on Monday.
On May 4, 2011, Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal to form a joint caretaker Paleostinian government and hold presidential and parliamentary elections by May 2012.
During the planned Monday meeting, Meshaal and Abbas will discuss delaying the elections to the "end of the year" because there may not be enough time to prepare for the May elections, the Paleostinian officials said.
The officials also said that the two major factions have agreed to hold a meeting with "all other Paleostinian political factions" in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on February 18, to "set the date for the parliamentary and presidential elections."
The leaders of Hamas and Fatah also met in Cairo in November and December 2011 and urged cooperation with the aim of achieving Paleostinian unity.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
Just over a month after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops from Iraq, the United States plans to sharply cut the number of U.S. diplomatic personnel and contractors in the country. The move comes as Yahoo News has learned that the recently withdrawn U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, is being considered to succeed Jim Jeffrey as the next U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.
American officials described plans to cut the 16,000 US personnel and contractors in Iraq by half as a normal cost-saving measure. Hillary, Bill was, and still is, a much better liar. Flexing Muscle, Baghdad Detains U.S. Contractors
(The U.S. currently has about 2,000 diplomats in Iraq and 16,000 personnel including contractors posted to the country, the Times said.) But regional diplomats tell Yahoo News the United States is also under pressure from Iraqi Shiite leaders to reduce the American presence in the country.
"This is what's happening," one regional diplomat told Yahoo News Tuesday on condition of anonymity. "First the U.S. gets the troops out. Then [the Iraqi Shiite] Sadrists say publicly, 'what kind of withdrawal is this, the Americans still have 16,000 diplomats in the country.' So first they force the military out. Now the anti-American elements force the diplomats out. This is what it is."
The IDF also believes Hezbullies has obtained SA-8 Russian-made advanced surface-to-air missile systems from Syria.
Hezbullies and Iran are preparing for the "day after" Syria's downfall with plans for how to continue supporting the Leb-based guerrilla group in the event that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's regime is toppled.
In recent years, a significant portion of Hezbullies's weaponry has come directly from Syria.
Last week, for example, The Jerusalem Post revealed that Syria had recently transferred dozens of additional M600 long-range missiles to Hezbullies as well as additional 302 mm rockets.
The IDF also believes Hezbullies has obtained SA-8 Russian-made advanced surface-to-air missile systems from Syria.
"The assessment that Hezbullies will be severely impacted by Syria's downfall is unlikely since it will be able to fill the vacuum with assistance directly from Iran," a senior Israeli defense official explained.
According to Military Intelligence, Hezbullies is currently providing assistance to Assad in the form of weapons, instructors and actual fighters who are assisting the Syrian military in its efforts to quell the resistance.
Iran is already believed to be working on establishing new routes to smuggle weapons to Leb. In recent years, for example, Iran has tried transporting weaponry to Leb via aircraft that lands in Beirut International Airport, ships that dock in Syria and then transfer their cargo by land to Leb and even by train via Turkey.
The IDF believes Assad will fall within the coming year. In recent weeks, the number of defections in the military has risen to approximately 1,300 soldiers and officers and draft numbers are down. As a result, the Syrian military is refusing to discharge soldiers who have completed their compulsory military service.
The prediction that Assad will fall is based on a combination of three factors -- Syria's failing economy, its refusal to insert fresh blood into the ranks of the leadership and the military's failure to stop the opposition.
On Sunday, Al-Arabiya reported Hezbullies forces were deployed in Syria to protect a military base where Iranian soldiers were deployed after it was attacked by anti-government protesters.
Rebel groups have had some success fighting against Assad-loyalist troops and are reported to have taken control of several towns near Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... . Assad's crackdown on protesters has resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000 people, according to UN estimates.
#1
Syria is 74% Sunni and 13% Shia. It is difficult to see where Iran and Hezbollah would make large inroads into Syria. But maybe...anything is possible in this screwed up region of the world.
#2
I understand the differing sects. but I don't understand why this is sufficient to cause a cessation of aid to the Hezzies.
Sunni & Shia seem to agree on a lot of things with antipathy to Israel probably at the top of the list. I've heard this same thing about Hezzies and Hamasses but they seem to get along in their Jew-hate.
#3
As a result, the Syrian military is refusing to discharge soldiers who have completed their compulsory military service.
That... can't be helping the desertion rate.
I understand the differing sects. but I don't understand why this is sufficient to cause a cessation of aid to the Hezzies.
That, not so much. The fact (or widespread rumor, which is as good as a fact on the Sunni street) that Hezbollah gunmen have been imported into Syria cities to do the slaughter that Syrian draftees wouldn't is sufficient reason for a hypothetical post-Assad regime to cut Hezbollah dead.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/07/2012 13:08 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Monday described the rare double veto used by Russia and China to block a resolution condemning Syria as a "slap in the face of the Syrian people," urging the Lebanese state to "aid the Syrian refugees" instead of staging "airborne military parades in the northern border areas."
In his weekly column in al-Anbaa newspaper, his party's mouthpiece, Jumblat said the vetos "destroyed what's left of the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... 's initiative which tried to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria."
The Arab solution would put an end to autocracy and help Syria transit to "pluralism, democracy and diversity, away from the fake promises of reform which have not and will not be fulfilled," Jumblat added.
"The policy of disassociation is maybe useful at the Arab and international forums due to the sensitivity of Leb's stance towards the Syrian crisis, but it is not appropriate in dealing with the Syrian refugees," the Druze leader noted.
He stressed that "it is past time for the (Lebanese) state authorities to acknowledge their existence, as they are afflicted people who need help and all kinds of medical, social and humanitarian aid."
Jumblat said that such a step "would be better than the airborne military parades in the northern border areas," wondering "have we forgotten that the Syrian people had hosted tens of thousands of Lebanese refugees during the (2006) Israeli aggression against Leb?"
The Lebanese army deployed on Saturday in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled after media outlets reported that members of the rebel Free Syrian Army were present in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Wally always jumps to the winning side. Sounds like Pencilneck is going down
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/07/2012 10:10 Comments ||
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#2
He's always on the winning side because he's on all sides, Frank.
[Iran Press TV] The United States provided an anti-Iran terrorist group with the bomb used to assassinate Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan last month, a report has revealed.
Two bombs were handed over to the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) in the Iraqi city of Arbil by the Americans, the Resalat daily reported on Monday.
The first bomb killed Ahmadi Roshan, but the second one was discovered by intelligence and security personnel around Resalat Square in the capital Tehran, the report said.
On January 11, Ahmadi Roshan was killed after a motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to his car in Tehran. Ahmadi Roshan was a chemical engineer and served as the deputy director of marketing at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.
The slain scientist was not the first Iranian nuclear expert targeted by a terrorist attack.
In November 2010, Majid Shahriari, was killed in a terrorist attack and Fereydoun Abbasi, the current head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, sustained injuries in another attack.
Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, a scholar at Tehran University, was also assassinated by a booby-trapped cycle of violence in the Iranian capital in January 2010.
The US and its allies have resorted to various terrorist tactics to stop Iran's peaceful nuclear program, which is under full observation of the inspectors of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
If it was an American bomb, the US wasn't involved. We would have used one of their own. I'm sure that we have disabled enough of them.
It is possible that our old policy of not using our own munitions for that type of work may be out the window. I'm not sure how Fast and Furious got an OK from the lawyers.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/07/2012 0:09 Comments ||
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#2
The big bad Americans "killed" a "director of marketing" and a "professor". Oh really? Could it be these guys talked to U.N.officials about Iran's nuclear program?
#6
Fast and Furious got the ok from DOJ lawyers. Holders' lackeys. Civilians. CYA up and down the chain, backed up by arguments that have increasing traction in federal courts. Especially certain judges who share the same mindset - like journalists who aren't much into investigating details or reporting on their comrades misdeeds. A "post-rule-of-law" climate in which they were pretty sure they could get away with it, is how F&F got the ok. Issa is the only unknown quantity.
[Dawn] President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... said the US has a "very good estimate" of when Iran could complete work on a nuclear weapon, but cautioned Monday that there are still many unanswered questions about Tehran's inner workings.
"Do we know all of the dynamics inside of Iran? Absolutely not," Obama said. "Iran itself is a lot more divided now than it was. Knowing who is making decisions at any given time inside of Iran is tough."
Obama said that while he believes the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program can still be resolved through diplomacy, the US has done extensive planning on a range of options.
"We are prepared to exercise these options should they arise," Obama said during an interview with NBC that aired on the "Today" show.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
You bet - like previously on Iraq and Afghanistan...
[Iran Press TV] Informed sources have uncovered a US plot entailing a Turkish incursion and a full-scale Israeli strike to overthrow the government of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... The sources said aspects of the plan such as rejecting calls by Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... for an Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... meeting over the crisis in the country, recognizing of the Syrian opposition as the "legitimate" government of the country and granting them offices in Turkey to work against the Syrian government, have already been carried out.
As part of the plan, Syrian embassies and consulates would be attacked in several countries and the diplomatic offices would be used as bases to inflict heavy blows on the Syrian government.
According to the sources, the other parts of the US plot which are in process or expected to happen in the near future include:
Firstly the Syrian government will be demonized as a war criminal and its case will be taken to The Hague and international human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... bodies.
Washington will then task Turkey with sending troops across the border into Syria to incite internal friction and civil war within the country by arming Syrian civilians and the opposition against the government.
In the next step, Washington will arm Wahhabi fighters and members of the Fath al-Islam in Tripoli, supported by the Qatari army and Libyan fighters, and order them to attack Syrian border villages.
Israel will jump into the fray by expressing readiness to carry out military operations against Syria. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman recently announced he would be visiting the US next week. He is expected to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Henry Kissinger ... , US senators and other bigwigs.
Officials close to Lieberman were quoted by Israel sources as saying that the he will ask the US government to increase international pressure against Syria, urging Washington to go beyond sanctions in line with efforts to overthrow the Syrian government.
Jordan, another Syrian neighbor, will also announce its readiness for military intervention in Syria upon receiving the US green light order.
Al-Qaeda snuffies stationed near the Iraqi-Syrian borders will also start operations inside Syria after receiving a US-Qatari order.
Syrian Television channels will then be removed from Nilesat and Arabsat satellites to prevent the Syrian government form airing its side of the developments.
New Syrian passports will be issued and Syrians who do not obtain the new document will not be allowed into Western and Arab countries.
One necessary condition for the success of the plot to topple the Syrian regime, according to the informed sources, will be the defection of Syrian armed forces and the prime factor in the conspiracy will be the liquidation of the Syrian president.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
What a glorious suggestion! Now we know how the Iranians would take down the Syrians if they were in our shoes.
If al-Qaeda, Qatar, the US, the Israelis, the Jordanians, and the Turks could all agree to attack Syria at the same time, the Ba'ath would *deserve* to be overthrown. Good God, that plot sounds like a transcript of a particularly wild round of Illuminati.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/07/2012 9:02 Comments ||
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#3
See also TOPIX > SYRIA RAISES PROSPECTS OF PROXY CONFLICT FOR US, RUSSIA.
Arabs-N-West, versus Iran-N-Russia [other?]???
versus
* SAME > [Nasrallah] HEZBOLLAH: IRAN WILL NOT ASK IT TO ATTACK ISRAEL | HEZBOLLAH SAYS THEY GET SUPPORT, NOT ORDERS, FROM IRAN.
Israel repor wants to base IDAF jets on CYPRUS, ostensib to help protect its new Energy contracts there but IMO to also give better protection to its Missle-Armed Submarines.
In his first full-length newspaper interview, General Mustafa al-Sheikh, who has taken refuge in Turkey, gave an apocalyptic insider's view of the state of the regime despite its attempt to reassert control this weekend.
He said only a third of the army was at combat readiness due to defections or absenteeism, while remaining troops were demoralised, most of its Sunni officers had fled, been arrested, or sidelined, and its equipment was degraded.
"The situation is now very dangerous and threatens to explode across the whole region, like a nuclear reaction," he said.
The failure of President Assad to keep a tight grip even on the towns and suburbs around Damascus, some of which have driven out the army for periods in recent weeks, has led to a reassessment of his forces' unity.
When Gen Sheikh fled over the border from his town in the north of the country in the second half of November, he thought the army could hold out against a vastly outnumbered opposition for a year or more. Now, he said, attacks by the rebels' Free Syrian Army were escalating as the rank and file withered away due to lack of belief in the cause.
The Assads' increasing reliance on loyalists from their own Alawite minority meant Sunni officers had fled, were under house arrest or at best marginalised and distrusted.
"The army will collapse during February," he said. "The reasons are the shortage of Syrian army personnel, which even before March 15 last year did not exceed 65 per cent. The proportion of equipment that was combat ready did not exceed that, due to a shortage of spare parts.
"The Syrian army combat readiness I would put at 40 per cent for hardware and 32 per cent for personnel. They are sending in elements from the Shabiha (militia) and the Alawite sect to compensate, but this army is unable to continue more than a month. Some elements of the army are reaching out to the FSA to help them to defect."
Gen Sheikh is not an impartial observer. He is negotiating with the Syrian National Council and the FSA over his future role in the offensive against President Assad.
Even now, few analysts or diplomats would agree with his view, believing that the regime, though weakened, has the resilience to cling on to power for months, if not years.
"That the government's days are numbered can no longer be in serious doubt, but just how many it has left remains an open question," Yezid Sayigh, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, wrote this week . "The regime cannot win, but it certainly can resist and prolong the conflict."
Gen Sheikh said he had battled with his conscience before fleeing, mindful of his 37 years' service and of possible retribution against his extended family. He said the final straw had been a sexual assault by soldiers who took turns to attack a young bride at a village near the town of Hama. He believes the army has become a 'crazy killing machine', and that without a solution within a fortnight, "the whole region will flare up".
"The region is strained to the limits because of the role of Iran," he said. "The Syrian regime has helped transform it into a base for Iranian conspiracies."
He said that some of the possible solutions buffer zones, humanitarian corridors were no longer relevant, even in the unlikely event of United Nations security council backing.
"There is no time," he said. "There is a serious acceleration under way due to the collapse of the army and the security system.
"We want very urgent intervention, outside of the security council due to the Russian veto. We want a coalition similar to what happened in Kosovo and the Ivory Coast."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/07/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"We want very urgent intervention, outside of the security council due to the Russian veto. We want a coalition similar to what happened in Kosovo and the Ivory Coast."
On the one hand, Assad's army won't last through the end of February. On the other, foreign intervention is an absolute necessity. Sounds like the Sunnis are simultaneously panicking and hoping that they can scare the Alawites into handing them the keys to the kingdom, given the lack of foreign appetite for a direct intervention. That could be difficult, given the sectarian atrocities perpetrated against Alawites, something that Sunnis around the world have proven both willing and able to orchestrate against non-Sunnis on a large scale.
#3
It should be interesting to see if Turkey jumps in and what happens if Russia intervenes. Under Bush, NATO backed off over the Russian invasion of Georgia. Would Obama square off with Russia over Syria? The Turks have been using a lot of aggressive rhetoric lately. Are those words a substitute for deeds or a prelude to them?
Real information on the Syrian unrest - as opposed to partisan propaganda - is almost impossible to get these days (if it ever was available prior to the unrest). But based on this general's pronouncements, Assad should last out the month. Baghdad Bob General Mustafa al-Sheikh will have months, if not years, to repeat his assertion about the impending fall of the Alawite regime. And one of these days, assuming he lives that long, he'll be right.
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.
International Criminal Court
Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi met on Monday with the United Kingdom's Deputy National Security Advisor, Oliver Robins, in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a.
[Yemen Post] Yemen Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi will launch Tuesday the electoral campaign of the early presidential elections scheduled for February 21 under the title "We build Yemen together."
Yemeni 
[Yemen Post] Yemen Prime Minister Mohammad Salem Basindwia along with other ministers of the interim government failed to persuade judges of ending their protests, well informed sources said.
George Galloway
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The Norway gunman who killed 77 people in twin attacks in July asked an Oslo court Monday to immediately free him and demanded the country's highest military award, sparking derision from survivors.
[Iran Press TV] Paleostine's resistance movement 
Just over a month after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops from Iraq, the United States plans to sharply cut the number of U.S. diplomatic personnel and contractors in the country. The move comes as Yahoo News has learned that the recently withdrawn U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, is being considered to succeed Jim Jeffrey as the next U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.
Walid 
On January 11, Ahmadi Roshan was killed after a motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to his car in Tehran. Ahmadi Roshan was a chemical engineer and served as the deputy director of marketing at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. 
President 
Informed sources have uncovered a US plot entailing a Turkish incursion and a full-scale Israeli strike to overthrow the government of Syrian 
