[Al Ahram] 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... will travel to Pakistain this month in the hope of breathing life into moribund grinding of the peace processor with the Taliban and mending a frayed relationship between the neighbors, Afghan officials said on Monday.
The role of Pakistain is seen as critical to efforts to get the Afghan Taliban to sit down to talks about ending the 12-year war as most foreign troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of next year.
Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the capital of the Gulf State of Qatar, Doha, were announced in June only to be canceled following Karzai's anger over the Taliban displaying a banner and a flag, harking back to their repressive rule over Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
"I can confirm that President Karzai is travelling to Pakistain later this month," Afghanistan's ambassador to Islamabad, Omer Daudzai, told Rooters.
The trip will be Karzai's first visit to Pakistain since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... was elected.
Many had hoped Sharif's election would lead to a reset in the relationship. Those hopes were dashed after Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry accused Pakistain of having raised the idea of power-sharing between the Kabul government and the Taliban. Pakistain denied the accusation.
Karzai has made 19 trips to Pakistain since coming to power in 2002, and has come away with many promises, but few results.
Afghanistan has long accused Pakistain of playing a double game regarding the Taliban, with some Afghan officials saying their neighbor makes public pronouncements about peace but allows elements of its military and intelligence complex to play a spoiling role.
Karzai will visit Pakistain from August 26 - 28. The leadership of the High Peace Council, the body created by Karzai in 2010 to broker peace with the Taliban, will also attend, a front man said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[CNSNews] Twelve years after the war began, General Joseph Dunford, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), says the American people "need to know exactly what we're trying to do" in Afghanistan.
He indicated that winning the war is no longer about defeating al Qaeda.
Although U.S.-led forces have "put extraordinary pressure on al-Qaeda and its associated networks in Afghanistan" and "disrupted al-Qaeda's ability to plan and conduct operations from within the country, Dunford said "al-Qaeda in the region remains resilient and determined to attack the West."
Dunford indicated that winning the war involves nation-building.
"I have a hard time standing in front of Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen that are in harm's way and talking about anything other than winning," Dunford said later in the speech. "And I want to make it clear that winning for us means setting the conditions for the Afghans to exploit the decade of opportunity that will come in 2015 and beyond."
Dunford talked about developing the capabilities of Afghan forces so they can support "credible and transparent elections" in Afghanistan. He also spoke about Afghan forces being able to "harden" Afghanistan -- "so that it can facilitate, you know, economic development and political processes that, quite admittedly, will take many years after 2015."
It sounds dreadfully noble -- Civilized Humanity's burden and all that. But will any of it survive a decade after we've left?
#1
They will be doing good if it lasts 10 minutes. Talking in terms of ten years is pipe dreams.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/13/2013 2:42 Comments ||
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#2
"He indicated that winning the war is no longer about defeating al Qaeda."
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. "
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001
Looking at this development, why would a rational, hostile and immoral international actor come to the conclusion that a mass fatality attack on the continental US is not a winning move but a suicidal mistake?
Precipitous withdrawal and an end to any aid to Afghanistan is a bad option which will have bad consequences. However all other politically viable options are even worse.
"It sounds dreadfully noble"
I disagree. Giving aid to liberated Afghanistan is enabling an evil entity.
There might be an argument for this policy based on realpolitik but I haven't heard one yet that was convincing.
The Afghans may be SOBs but they're definitely not our SOBs.
</rant>
Sounds to me that Obastard could solve three problems at once here.
1. Draft all plumbers, electricians, carpenters etc. into the CBs and deploy them to A'stan.
2. Unemployment falls so the economy picks up.
3. Open up unlimited immigration (registering them as Demos at the border) to fill all the jobs in construction that lazy Americans won't/can't do.
#5
However all other politically viable options are even worse.
Screw nation building. The alternative would be to back a strong tribe. Should have trained them and equipped them to give hell to the tribe that is the relative main source of all the problems, to take the fight to their villages and headmen. To paraphrase - When they're up to their ass in Tajiks, its hard for the Pashtuns to remember to stick it to the Americans.
#6
"It sounds dreadfully noble"
I disagree. Giving aid to liberated Afghanistan is enabling an evil entity.
Precisely my point, Elmerert Hupens2660. Sounding noble and being noble are very often not at all related. Although the problem is dumping money on the government of Afghanistan as it is presently constituted, I think. Supplying schools, digging wells, training the locals to build gobar gas facilities, solar water disinfectors, and build roads... and generally move from the eighth century to the twelfth or so, with a concomitant awareness of the world beyond the next village, these are not bad things that might survive our leaving. Not all of Afghanistan is like the Pashtun provinces, according to what I've read.
Like giving aid vs, teaching skills, nations must be built by their inhabitants. What we did in Germany and Japan was to change the direction of nations that were already fully grown. Rebuilding, if you will, rather than building. There was a time when I thought differently, but I was wrong.
#9
message to future antagonist nation-states should be:
"No more nation-building. Pull the same shit and we'll come in, kill you all and break things, then leave."
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/13/2013 12:36 Comments ||
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#10
We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them. "
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001
Pakistan?
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/13/2013 12:42 Comments ||
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#11
Is that helicopter pad on top of the embassy ready yet?
[Al Ahram] Twenty new governors will be sworn in on Tuesday in a new local-government reshuffle, Presidential media advisor Ahmed El-Musselmenani said on Monday.
Egypt's Interim President Adly Mansour is expected to replace 20 ouf of 27 governors, and to also name 11 deputy-governors.
In mid-June, days before he was ousted, then-president Mohamed Morsi appointed 17 governors, 11 of them supporters of the Brotherhood, to head local governments. These appointments triggered controversy nationwide as critics of Morsi charged that the move came as part of his attempt to 'brotherhoodise' the state apparatus.
Details on the political affiliations of the new governors are still to be announced.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Salafist Nour Party released a statement on Monday demanding that the criteria for choosing the 50-member committee entitled to finalise amendments to the 2012 constitution be revised.
On 3 July, army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi unveiled a political transition roadmap outlining a timeline for early presidential elections following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi.
The roadmap, announced in the presence of several political figures -- including a Nour Party member, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb, and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II -- includes the suspension of the Islamist-backed 2012 constitution pending amendment by a broadly-representative committee. Last week the presidency announced the criterea for selecting that committee.
The Nour Party stated its objections to the fact that political parties will make up only five of the 50 representatives in the committee, arguing that this follows "[ousted president Hosni] Mubarak's footsteps" in weakening the role of parties in political life.
Nevertheless, the statement assured that the Nour Party will participate in the 50-member committee despite its reservations regarding the committee make-up.
The statement argued that only those articles which "urgently" require amending should be addressed by the committee, including those dictating the president's and the prime minister's powers and those regarding election law. Further changes should be only carried out by elected bodies, the statement asserted.
The party also reiterated its stand against amending articles regarding Egypt's "Islamic identity."
On Thursday, Nour spokesperson Nader Bakkar said in a televised interview with CNN that his party will reconsider its support for the army-backed political roadmap if the constitutional committee changes Article 221 of the 2012 constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The ruling Islamist party Ennahda called for rallies on Tuesday to mark Tunisian women's day, deepening the crisis with the opposition which has also called for anti-government protests.
In a statement published Monday Ennahda urged its supporters to gather from 1500 GMT on Habib Bourguiba avenue, epicentre of the 2011 Arab Spring born in Tunisia.
It said the rally would be held under the slogan: "Tunisia's women, pillars of the democratic transition and national unity" in the North African country mired in crisis sparked by the murder in July of an opposition politician.
The slogan reflects the position of the Islamists who insist that "transitional institutions" be kept in place in the absence of a consensus on the country's new constitution.
Last week National Constituent Assembly chief Mustapha Ben Jaafar announced the suspension of the assembly's work drawing up a new constitution while Ennahda and the opposition work out their differences.
Critics of the government are calling for demonstrations on Tuesday night to defend women's rights followed by a march outside parliament, where the opposition has held nightly demonstrations since the July 25 liquidation of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi.
Brahmi's was the second political liquidation this year, coming after the February murder of Chokri Belaid, also in Tunis. Radical 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 been blamed for the attacks.
The opposition coalition, made up of parties from across the political spectrum, has been calling for resignation of the government and the dissolution of the assembly.
The opposition hopes for a huge turnout on Tuesday, similar to an August 6 protest that drew tens of thousands of people demonstrating against the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Egyptian authorities on Monday postponed plans to disperse two Cairo sit-ins by supporters of the country's ousted President Mohamed Morsi, saying they wanted to "avoid bloodshed," security officials said.
Judicial officials meanwhile said that a judge ordered that the deposed president, incarcerated Please don't kill me! since his July 3 ouster, should be held for 15 more days pending investigations into charges he conspired in 2011 with Paleostinian krazed killers.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Infowars] A high-ranking Yemeni security official has told McClatchy that the B.O. regime's recently announced terror threat which supposedly targeted US embassies had "no basis in fact" and was manufactured merely to dampen opposition to drone strikes.
In other words, possibly the above statement is true. Certainly it is possible. At any rate, it reminded the entire world what is out there, and the price of pretending otherwise.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
manufactured merely to dampen opposition to drone strikes and any other issue the O wanted to deflect.
Except for the "al Queda is dead" meme.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/13/2013 12:11 Comments ||
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[Ynet] The leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot vowed in a message posted Monday to free fellow forces of Evil from prisons and urged enjugged I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! fighters to remain faithful to the terror group's ideology.
The note by Nasser al-Wahishi, a onetime aide to the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... , came after last week's closure of 19 US diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa. The shutdowns were triggered by the interception of a secret message between al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri and al-Wahishi about plans for a major attack.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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North Korea has about 200 agents who spend their time posting comments online to undermine South Korean morale, while the whole contingent of 3,000 cyber warfare experts under the Reconnaissance General Bureau wage cyber terrorism against the South, a private South Korean think tank claims.
The think tank, which studies strategies against North Korea, made the claim in a seminar at the Seoul Press Center on Monday afternoon.
It said the North's cyber warfare troops develop and distribute apps to subvert South Korean efforts to block pro-North Korean websites and conduct guerrilla-style hacking attacks by constantly changing IP addresses and connecting other sites with pro-North Korean sites.
Ryu Dong-ryul of the Police Policy Institute said, "The North has established a team of online trolls at the United Front Department and the Reconnaissance General Bureau." About 200 agents post comments on major South Korean portals and disguise their identity using personal information stolen from South Koreans, he added.
The United Front Department wages its cyber psychological warfare through some 140 sites with servers based in 19 countries. In 2011, North Korean agents posted 27,090 items of propaganda materials against the South, and in 2012 some 41,373, the seminar heard.
South Korea's cyber security capabilities are paltry in comparison. The regime teaches young computer whiz kids about basic hacking technologies at a couple of elite middle schools in Pyongyang. The best then go on to Kim Il-sung Military University, Mirim University or Kim Chaek University of Technology to train as cyber agents for about 10 years.
Lim Jong-in of Korea University said altogether some 30,000 North Koreans are engaged in cyber and psychological warfare against South Korea, and every year another 300 personnel are trained in the dark arts, compared to a mere 30 in South Korea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
...by constantly changing IP addresses and connecting other sites with pro-North Korean sites.
So, someone's still using AOL accounts? Good to know!
North Korea on Sunday unveiled a homegrown touch mobile phone dubbed "Arirang," the official KCNA news agency reported.
It said leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un offered "on-the-spot guidance" for the phone at an electronics factory.
"You must use Android operating system zero point nine. You MUST!"
"Yes, yes, your Corpulenceness!"
"The Arirang mobile phone looks nice and is light. It features various functions for learning as well as calls," Kim was quoted as saying. "It also has a high-pixel camera that people will find very convenient to use."
Just not in North Korea, where it's illegal to take pictures...
The number of mobile phone users in the North has exceeded two million. They can send text messages and make video calls but overseas calls are blocked.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"In Kim Jong-un North Korea, phone makes call on you."
[Al Ahram] Mohammedan leaders in the French city of Lyon said on Monday they feared a surge in attacks on mosques in the style of one averted last week in which a soldier was tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on suspicion of planning a shooting during an Islamic feast holiday.
Anti-Mohammedan incidents have risen steadily in recent years in La Belle France, home to Europe's largest Islamic minority, according to the Committee against Islamophobia ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... in La Belle France (CCIF), which blames anti-Mohammedan rhetoric by far-right politicians.
A far-right activist said such violence had been provoked by government efforts to suppress "nationalist movements" that provided a legitimate outlet for discontent.
Kamel Kabtane, rector of the Grand Mosque of Lyon, called on local Mohammedans to gather for a show of solidarity at the suburban Minguettes Mosque, which police said the soldier arrested on Saturday planned to shoot at on the Mohammedan Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The 23-year-old, from an air force base near Lyon, was placed under formal investigation on Monday, accused of "possessing category 4 ammunitions in relation to a terrorist undertaking". Described by the interior ministry as holding extreme right-wing views, he was also accused of lobbing a Molotov cocktail at a mosque near Bordeaux last year.
"There is a clear will today to hurt the Mohammedan community," Kabtane said, adding that two minor acts had been carried out against mosques in southeastern La Belle France over the weekend.
"These are no longer isolated acts. It feels like there is a whole organization being put in place," he said.
RISING ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE
French media say such incidents have increased by 50 percent in the first half of 2013. The presence of far-right bully boyz at anti-gay marriage protests highlighted half a dozen shadowy bad boy groups the government has since shut down.
Alexandre Gabriac, the young founder of a now banned far-right group called the Revolutionary Youths, blamed the rise in anti-Mohammedan attacks on the clampdown and said the government should take some responsibility.
"Dissolving nationalist movements drives people to carry out isolated, reckless acts," he said. "Our groups enabled the anger that is rising to be channelled and transformed into a political foundation. These isolated acts will be more and more frequent."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
These is, of course despicable, and I would like an opportunity to condemn such attacks in strongest terms possible---lots of opportunity!
#2
"There is a clear will today to hurt the Mohammedan community,"
Makes you want to go right out and rub something despicable on a Mooselimb doesn't it? Nothing like a dump truck full of slaughterhouse pig parts driven by the front steps and dumped on the Mosque front door curb.
No loss of life, easy to do. Just takes a minute.
Threater, you're getting really obnoxious again. Why don't you step away from the computer for a while?
#3
I think a truckload of thoroughly rotten pig intestines dumped on a mosque doorstep would be a good idea, Mince them first.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2013 10:16 Comments ||
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#4
I notice they aren't handwringing about "why do they hate us?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2013 12:49 Comments ||
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#5
Not to change the subject exactly, but how is anti-Jew violence doing in France these days? Mostof the time, if you look at the numbers rather than just the headlines, there a lot more attacks on Jews than there are on Muslims. (I don't count thinking nasty thoughts about Muslims as attacks.)
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/13/2013 14:04 Comments ||
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#6
"Muslim Leaders Fear Backlash in Wake of Tomorrow's Terrorist Attack"
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/13/2013 14:35 Comments ||
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#7
how is anti-Jew violence doing in France these days?
I've mostly given up posting those stories, Rambler. They make me sad. And anyway, most attacks still aren't reported because that's just the way things are in the Old World, as far as I can tell. Many French Jews (where many is an undefined number) have moved to England -- though that may be as much for tax purposes -- and some have moved to Israel and elsewhere, or sent their children away to school, or whatever. Perhaps someone else can look into it,
Look, when we lived in Germany in the first half of the '90s it was unquestioned that the Jewish day school in Frankfurt needed a police guard provided by the city. And when we visited in 2010 my grandmother's home village had one Jewess, and she was a convert, while the leader of the Jewish community in my mother's home town spoke of his being the last generation despite the influx of Russian Jews over the previous two decades, for which a beautiful little Jewish community center/school/synagogue had been built.
#2
Could any of this be responsible for the recent chill between Vlad and the Champ? Was a "stand down" given as a result of a 'wave off' from the Russians? Do the Russians now have the MANPADS ?
examiner.com excerpt:
Did this American meddling in Syria unhinge Russia’s patience? And is it possible that Russians or their surrogates assisted al-Qaeda in the Benghazi consulate attack?
#3
I'm gonna call "caution" on "U.S. missiles". Sounds morelike journalistic laziness and amateurism.
Not saying there weren't MANPADS involved. To me "U.S. missiles" are Stingers and such.
Also, there are a few other theories or rather, allegations in the mix. I don't strongly subscribe to any of them at this point. And the list of possible suspects hasn't changed. I'm still working on a couple more articles on these.
Problem is that information is now flowing fast and furious (no pun intended.)
The way I'm seeing it is that it could fall out one of several ways.
1. The USG is covering-up or performing damage control for an operation or series of operations by an agency or combination of agencies with a possible range of legal... complications.
2. The actor(s) involved in the attack are ones that the USG doesn't (or didn't at the time) want to confront for various reasons.
3. The USG botched a response to the attack due to agency compartmentalization, intel failure, risk-management failure, response-asset failure, 'amateur hour' at the command level(s), or political expediency.
Even when the Soviets where in full force in Afghanistan, my estimate is far lower than that provided the resistance and the Syrian air capability is much less to be addressed than what the Soviets had in theater.
If we're dealing with 400, at best those are Libyan procured Russian SA-7s that were warehoused locally.
#9
Maybe they needed a figure to account for all the rockets they wasted, (Or never existed, except on paper)It's a nice round figure.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2013 21:54 Comments ||
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#10
That too is possible. Then again it could have been more than that and the stocks were being destroyed and 400 were left when the attack came.
There is no publicly available data on the Qadaffi government's missile stocks. It could also be that stocks came from the black-market with the weapons sourced from places like the Balkans or Albania, or former Soviet Republics such as Ukraine, Bulgaria, and any of the 'stans.
[Dawn] Although the "war against terror" was imposed on the country after the attacks in the United States in Sept 2001, it had now turned into "a battle for survival of Pakistain", the interior minister said in Quetta on Sunday.
"The entire nation should be on the same page in the `war against terror' as it has now become a battle for survival of Pakistain even though it was imposed on us," Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said at a presser after chairing a meeting on law and order.
He said the fight against bully boyz would continue under a "comprehensive national security policy" to be unveiled soon.
The army would provide 5,000 sub-machine guns (SMGs) to 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... and start a training programme for police on an emergency basis, the minister added.He said that despite recent terrorist attacks, the morale of security forces was high and they were ready to take the fight to terrorists.
The meeting reviewed the law and order situation in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in the province.
Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch, Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, Home Secretary Akbar Durrani, IG Police Mushtaq Sukhera, IG Frontier Corps Obaidullah Khattak and other senior coppers attended the meeting.
The chief secretary and the home secretary briefed the interior minister about the law and order situation in the province and steps taken by the provincial government.
Chaudhry Nisar expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over last week's attack in Police Lines, the killing of 13 passengers in Bolan district and the shooting near a mosque on Eid day, terming them an attempt to demoralise the security forces and police.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... is heading to Pakistain to attend Independence Day celebrations and promote education and disaster management as the monsoon season begins.
UN deputy front man Eduardo del Buey said Monday that Ban will meet President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and get an update on disaster risk reduction efforts.
In a follow-up to UN events last month featuring Pak teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls, Ban will discuss efforts to expand education for all.
He will also highlight Pakistain's role as one of the largest troop and police contributing countries to UN peacekeeping at the inauguration of the Center for International Peace and Stability, del Buey said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... in an interview given to Pak journalists prior to his two-day visit, Moon offered to play role of an arbitrator between India and Pakistain.
The offer from the UN chief came amid tensions have flared again in the heavily militarised Kashmire valley with the nuclear-armed neighbours both pointing the finger at each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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[Israel] Sources say 26 prisoners will be released at night to minimize Paleostinian celebrations, but date not finalized yet. Paleostinians still to be notified
Buying with murdered blood the possibility that the PA will sit down at the table to talk about maybe making peace. Hamas, et al are completely uninterested, though they will get back some of the murders nonetheless.
[Al Ahram] Gazoo Strip rulers Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Monday said peace talks with Israel were "futile," repeating its rejection of negotiations that are due to resume between Paleostinians and Israelis this week.
"We renew our rejection of these futile talks, and consider them purely a means for the occupation (Israel) to look good to the international community," senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar told a news conference in Gazoo.
West Bank-based Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... and his negotiating team "have no legitimacy" to represent the Paleostinian people in talks, Zahar said.
"We call on the Paleostinian people to unite in confronting the crime that is the peace talks," he added.
The Islamist movement last month rejected a return to Israeli-Paleostinian peace talks, after US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... announced a resumption of negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Somebody get Kerry by his LEFT ear and have a camel spit in it.
#2
Kerry and Biden are but titular heads, or useful idiots. Their purpose and role is little more than convenient diversion, medial filler. All real decision making comes from the central committee of the shadow government.
In a few days he'll say something else. Whatevs, dood.
[Ynet] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said on Monday that Israel's announcement of new settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem "were to some degree expected," and urged Israelis and Paleostinians to move head with peace talks due to resume this week.
"What this underscores is the importance of getting to the table, getting to the table quickly" and resolving disputes over settlements and other issues, said Kerry. He added that he had spoken on Monday with Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni and had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is recovering from surgery.
#3
Settlements WORK. That is WHY they are DOing settlements. Keep it up and there won't BE anyplace for the Palestinians to go or to live. THAT is why they are afraid of the settlements.
Winning = Settlements. Keep it up and the war is over. You do want Peace don't you?
Peace= somebody WINS and somebody loses.
An official with the Russian state company "Rosatom" declared that talks about building new units in the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant will begin after completion of the first unit, IRNA reported.
More targets for the Fly Ash Liberation Brigade...
The official told Ria-novosti on Monday "We are ready to talk with Iran about cooperation on peaceful nuclear energy". He added that the first priority now is delivering the first unit of the Bushehr Power Plant to the Iranian side.
The official reminded that primary consultations on construction of new units in the power plant have started by the Iranian side, but the real negotiation will be held after delivering the first unit. He underlined that the cooperation should not be against international law and it should be upon economic principles.
Head of Rosatom company Sergey Kiriyenko, contractor of Bushehr Power Plant, said last Thursday that delivering stages of the first nuclear power plant to Iranian side is on its final phase. He reminded that the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has recently reached its 100 percent nominal capacity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Its on the coast. What would it take to make a Chernobyl on the Iranian coast? How big an area in diameter is contaminated by Chernobyl today?. And what is the radioactivity of the bird traffic in and around Chernobyl?
What would it take....is it an engineering problem? Sabotage? What would it take?
Don't tell me we can't do it. We CAN reach it can't we? What we lack is the will, not the capability.
Are we afraid Iran will declare War on us? What if they did?
#3
Didn't Iraq have a nuke, way back when? Osirak, maybe? Maybe they could talk the Chinese into rebuilding that! Or the Saudis. If Iran gets one, everybody's gonna want one!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/13/2013 12:14 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... on Monday called for supporting the army so that it can become the only force that possesses arms in Leb, stressing that the state must oversee the so-called army-people-resistance equation.
"Commitment to the Baabda Declaration is what can protect Leb's unity and stability, as well as to the defense strategy that we proposed in the wake of the Baabda Decalaration," Suleiman said in a speech on the occasion of moving to the summer presidential headquarters in Beiteddine.
"Commitment to the defense strategy would protect Leb from Israel and I stress that it would protect Leb and Leb's land exclusively," the president added.
He noted that the so-called army-people-resistance equation is capable of protecting Leb "on the condition that it is overseen by the Lebanese state."
"The resistance cannot act unilaterally concerning the domestic or foreign affairs. For the sake of the resistance and in order to immunize it, we must abide by the proper administration of this equation," Suleiman added.
"Let us all return to the interior, to our homeland, and let us devote our capabilities, strength and assets to defend our country," the president went on to say, referring to Hizbullah's military intervention in Syria.
Suleiman called for "supporting the army instead of stabbing it in the back, launching accusations against it and making its mission more difficult."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] The head of Syria's rebel Free Syrian Army visited the coastal province of Latakia, as opposition fighters battled regime forces in Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's heartland, an activist told Agence La Belle France Presse on Monday.
Assad's family hails from the coastal region of Latakia, which is also home to many members of the Alawite community he hails from, and has seen intense fighting in recent months.
General Selim Idriss "was in the Kafr Dalba area of Jabal al-Akrad" in the province on Sunday, Latakia-based activist Omar al-Jeblawi told AFP via the Internet.
Amateur video showed Idriss dressed in civilian clothing as he addressed a group of rebel fighters in the countryside.
In the video, Idriss said he was in Latakia to "look into the reality of the important successes and victories that our revolutionary brothers have achieved on the coastal front".
"We are here today to reassure everybody that the... (FSA) General Command is coordinating completely and continuously with the leaders of the coastal front," said Idriss.
"We will continue to work intensively on the coastal front," he added.
Jeblawi said the FSA's Turkey-based leadership supplied rebels fighting in Latakia with "some ammunition, but not enough".
Idriss' visit comes a week after rebels launched a "battle to liberate the coast". They have since progressed and taken control of 11 majority Alawite villages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog.
The area is particularly sensitive because it is home to a mixed population of Sunni Musselmens, who make up the majority of Syria's population, and members of the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The rebels have made limited progress in Latakia as the regime is firmly in control of the majority of the coastal province barring pockets of the Jabal al-Akrad and Jabal Turkman areas in the northeast.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Ynet] The US is providing $15 million to an international fund to help Syria's opposition govern territory under its control.
The B.O. regime says the money will finance reconstruction and provide civilians with water, energy, food and health care. The administration informed Congress of its intentions Aug. 6. The News Agency that Dare Not be Named obtained the notification Monday. Germany and the United Arab Emirates have pledged support; the U.S. expects the total fund to surpass $130 million.
We won't mention that money is fungible. Economics isn't them, after all.
#3
"...water, energy, food and health care." Sure. Like I tell my wife, everything that comes out O's mouth are lies, obfusication, or total bull shit.
[An Nahar] The families of the Aazaz hostages on Monday threatened to kidnap "any Turkish national on Beirut's streets," after the Internal Security Forces' Intelligence Bureau failed to release Mohammed Saleh, a relative of one of the abductees who has been tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! over alleged ties to the kidnappers of two Turkish pilots.
The warning comes after the families held a meeting with caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel at his office over the arrest of Saleh and the ongoing negotiations in the case of the kidnapped pilgrims.
"Charbel said Mohammed Saleh is innocent and that he was held on suspicions but he has not been released until the moment and any Turkish national on Beirut's streets will be kidnapped," Hayat Awali, a spokeswoman for the families, said in an interview with al-Jadeed television.
"Any Turkish national on Beirut's streets is a target for us," she added.
Earlier on Monday, Charbel briefed the families on the latest developments related to the ongoing negotiations, state-run National News Agency reported.
"We will let the security agencies do their routine procedures but Mohammed Saleh will be released because the phone call he made was for congratulations," Daniel Shoaib, a front man for the families, said after the meeting.
Saleh was arrested on Sunday by the ISF Intelligence Bureau on charges of having links to the kidnappers of two Turkish pilots who were kidnapped on Friday near the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport.
For his part, Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the kidnapped pilgrims, said the delegation discussed the "latest developments" with Charbel.
"He briefed us on the latest developments pertaining to the nine hostages and the atmosphere was positive," he added.
"The Turkish state is responsible for the return of the nine abductees to Leb," said Zgheib.
In an interview with LBCI television, the holy man said: "Charbel informed us that Mohammed Saleh has nothing to do with the kidnapping operation and that he is being interrogated over the congratulations phone call he had received."
But he warned: "If Mohammed Saleh is not released today, we will consider him to be kidnapped by the Intelligence Bureau and we'll act accordingly."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Nawaz Sharif
North Korea has about 200 agents who spend their time posting comments online to undermine South Korean morale, while the whole contingent of 3,000 cyber warfare experts under the Reconnaissance General Bureau wage cyber terrorism against the South, a private South Korean think tank claims.
North Korea on Sunday unveiled a homegrown touch mobile phone dubbed "Arirang," the official KCNA news agency reported. 
[Dawn] Although the "war against terror" was imposed on the country after the attacks in the United States in Sept 2001, it had now turned into "a battle for survival of Pakistain", the interior minister said in Quetta on Sunday.
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
An official with the Russian state company "Rosatom" declared that talks about building new units in the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant will begin after completion of the first unit, IRNA reported.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
