Venezuela said Friday it won't allow Colombian troops to hunt down leftist rebels hiding out in its territory, but pledged to boost military cooperation to curb the flow of guerillas, arms and drugs across the two nations' porous border. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez made the comments after discussing the tense situation along the 1,400-mile border with his Colombian counterpart, Carolina Barco, during a visit to Bogota. "We cannot allow them (Colombian troops) to pursue" rebels in Venezuela, Rodriguez told a news conference. He said such a move had been discussed, but that "what is needed is good military cooperation ... to carry out specific operations."
Colombian officials say a massive, U.S.-backed government offensive has forced fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to seek refuge in neighboring countries — where they are forging ties with local criminal gangs to commit crimes. "The guerrillas have no borders and they can kidnap anywhere in the world," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe told Caracol radio Friday. Colombia has long accused the leftist administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of not doing enough to crack down on FARC rebels spilling over the border. Cooperation increased, however, after Venezuelan authorities captured a FARC commander in February for allegedly abetting the kidnapping in Venezuela of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina's mother, who was freed in a police raid. The rebel leader was later extradited to Colombia.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Since they are supplying arms and support to the FARC, of course they won't want someone to come after them.
Tell you what, Hugo: let the Columbians follow in hot pursuit, or the alternative is the USMC.
North Korea told the United States that it must withdraw its description of the communist nation as an "outpost of tyranny" and treat Pyongyang as a friend if it wants nuclear talks to resume, a senior North Korean official said Friday. North Korea's director general of North American affairs, Li Gun, told reporters after a two-day conference on northeast Asian security that the next step is up to the Americans. Speaking in English, Li said, "We told them (the U.S.) to just withdraw the words `outpost of tyranny.' We demand it."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called North Korea one of the world's "outposts of tyranny" during her confirmation hearings in January. She defended the characterization last month, telling Pyongyang if it wants economic help it must give up its nuclear weapons and return to the six-party talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
...Zen diplomacy: What is the sound of the other shoe dropping?
#9
North Korea is not a friend, they never have been. They are not an equal, nor will they ever be.
They are a stinky, insignificant little shithole of a country, ruled by a swaggering narcissistic lunatic with delusions of grandeur. Also, the worst dressed dictator I have ever seen. But as I was saying: not our friend, not our equal
#11
Yo, Kimmie! Remember that food we promised you? Well, we've changed our mind. Also, we're going to start overflying your country taking pictures. Any aggressive action on your part will bring severe retaliation - we will mine your harbors, and destroy your antiaircraft missile batteries. Also, those submarines you bought? We know where every one of them is, every minute. Would you like to keep them? Remember, we have 60 times the military capability you have, and we have plenty of back-up. Either play nice, or go home and pout, but stop making idiot statements to your controlled press.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/02/2005 14:06 Comments ||
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#12
I thought that was your koan for Mike, Shipman. Whatever, it's a great one.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/02/2005 14:27 Comments ||
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#13
How about "stalking horse of Chicom agression" or "world's largest prison"?
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/02/2005 16:02 Comments ||
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#17
I like that Jackal, I'll take it to lil' Kimmie.
"OK, we withdraw the outpost of tyranny comment, but you are now at the head of the line in being a Center of tyranny, including ZimBOBwe, Cuba and Venezuela. Have a good day you lil nerd!"
#18
Has anyone in the state department discovered what the rest of america with a lick of experience has already determined, namely that ALL the NORKS ever have is bluster. One trick pony. Ignore them, but for god's sake, don't give them food aid. You are simply feeding their army, and prolonging the mess. That picture from space showing Norkland with no lights at night says everything...juche doesn't generate a single kilowatt kimmie you clown.
Posted by: Just About Enough! ||
07/02/2005 18:27 Comments ||
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#19
Raj, I do believe it's a girl. Notice her well-fed, rosy cheeks. She's been feasting on other women's babies again.
Can you say "pro forma"?
Italy told the United States to respect Italian sovereignty in the wake of an alleged CIA kidnapping of a Muslim terrorism suspect in Milan in 2003.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi summoned U.S. Ambassador Mel Sembler for a meeting after accusations that the United States seized the cleric and took him to Egypt, where prosecutors believe he was tortured.
Italy has denied prior knowledge of any kidnapping. Want us to wear that egg for you?
#3
Of course they had. The problem is that they behaved so unprofessionally that Italian law enforcement (not in the loop) found out and now it's CYA for those in the loop.
#4
Well it's the CIA, so I can't say I am suprised at the trail they left. It's almost as if it was done on purpose, which is quite lkikely. What the purpose would be, who knows?
The CIA slightly is better than the FBI. The FBI is like an old security guard that thinks all it must do is observe, never report until after the crime, if ever.
I am all for respecting Italy and every other nation sovereignty. This is one huge SNAFU.
Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, presumably revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source, and what might happen to him or her. Tonight, on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show, Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, talking outta his ass claimed to know that name--and it is, according to him, top White House mastermind Karl Rove. He is one busy dude. Does he ever sleep?
Here is the transcript of O'Donnell's remarks:
"What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's e-mails, within Time Magazine, are handed over to the grand jury, the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is.
"And I know I'm going to get punished mightily by Halliburton for this pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of...for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time magazine's going to do with the grand jury." Yes, Time Magazine just loves Karl.....totally believable, yup, yup.
Other panelists then joined in discussing whether, if true, this would suggest a book deal, and does he need a ghostwriter? perjury rap for Rove, if he told the grand jury he did not leak to Cooper.
Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller, held in contempt for refusing to name sources, tried Friday to stay out of jail by arguing for home detention instead after Time Inc. surrendered its reporter's notes to a prosecutor.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said Friday that several unidentified Senate Republicans had placed a hold on a proposed resolution declaring support for Miller and Cooper.
``Cowards!'' Lautenberg said of the Republicans. ``Under the rules, they have a right to refuse to reveal who they are. Sound familiar?''
Lautenberg's resolution is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) It says no purpose is served by imprisoning Miller and Cooper and that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press. But...but....I thought they wanted to know who leaked this info a few months ago?
TIJUANA, Mexico - The men flocked to the cafe under the sign with the cedar tree, symbol of their Mideast home. Here, in this alien border land, it was the beacon that led to an Arab "brother" who would help them complete their journey from Lebanon into America. They would come, sometimes dozens a month over a three-year period, to find Salim Boughader Mucharrafille â the cafe owner who drove a Mercedes and catered to some of Tijuana's more affluent denizens, including workers at the U.S. consulate only a short stroll away. His American customers were unaware that the savvy boss of La Libanesa cafe ran a less reputable business on the side.
Until his arrest in December 2002, Boughader smuggled about 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States, including sympathizers of Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by U.S. authorities. One client, Boughader said, worked for a Hezbollah-owned television network, which glorifies suicide bombers and is itself on an American terror watch list.
"If they had the cedar on their passport, you were going to help them. That's what my father taught me," Boughader told The Associated Press from a Mexico City prison, where he faces charges following a human-smuggling conviction in the United States. "What I did was help a lot of young people who wanted to work for a better future. What's the crime in bringing your brother so that he can get out of a war zone?"
A report released by the Sept. 11 commission staff last year examining how terrorists travel the world cited Boughader as the only "human smuggler with suspected links to terrorists" convicted to date in the United States. But he is not unique. After Boughader was locked up, other smugglers operating in Lebanon, Mexico and the United States continued to help Hezbollah-affiliated migrants in their effort to illicitly enter from Tijuana, a U.S. immigration investigator said in Mexican court documents obtained by the AP. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
07/02/2005 15:24 ||
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Something of an oxymoron, perhaps, but certain to cause mild cognitive dissonance, heh
Teaming up in a thinly veiled attack yesterday on perceived U.S. efforts to dominate the world, Russia and China issued a declaration demanding respect for the right of all countries to develop free of outside interference.
Signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the second day of a summit here, the declaration denounced "the aspiration for monopoly and domination in international affairs" and called for an end to "attempts to divide nations into leaders and those being led."
While not mentioning the United States directly, the "Declaration on World Order in the 21st Century" left no doubt that Washington was its main target.
Russian-Chinese ties have been steadily warming, boosted by the signing last year and ratification this spring of a final settlement of a long border dispute. The two countries are planning to hold their first joint military maneuvers this year in China.
Putin and Hu offered each other support in Moscow's war against separatist rebels in Chechnya and Beijing's effort to assert control of Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province.
"Any actions aimed at splitting sovereign states and kindling ethnic discord are inadmissible," the declaration said.
"The declaration reflects similar approaches by Russia and China to fundamental world policy issues," Putin said after the signing ceremony. "We understand well the importance of good-neighborly relations based on partnership between Russia and China, both for our own peoples and for the entire world."
Hu said the two sides had discussed cooperation concerning Taiwan and Chechnya, promotion of stability in Central Asia, reform of the United Nations and "the nuclear problem of the Korean peninsula."
The declaration endorsed a stronger U.N. role in global affairs and rejected attempts "to impose models of social and political development from outside."
The two sides also signed economic agreements yesterday, including one that paves the way for increased Russian oil exports to China. "Help! Help! We're being repressed eclipsed!"
#2
Ukraine. Tibet. Mongolia. North Korea. (Read a history book, see who installed the Kims).
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/02/2005 10:29 Comments ||
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#3
This will eventually prove amusing. Russians and Chinese just don't get along for any great length of time. Russians keep wanting to interject with their interpretation of Europeanism, and the Chinese with their annoying eastern philosophies. It is a NASCAR ballet troupe.
#7
...a declaration demanding respect for the right of all countries to develop free of outside interference.
Heck, I agree with that. The UN, Koyto, NATO and other alphebet soup organizations, FUCK OFF!
#8
Obviously their childhood diets were missing a few key micronutrients, which starved their brains. It isn't just about total calories, after all. Unbelievable.
A top Iranian former secret agent said Saturday that the hostage-taker in a 1979 photograph that has come under intense scrutiny is not President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but a former militant who committed suicide in jail. Saeed Hajjarian, a top adviser to outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, identified the man in the photo dating to the 1979 U.S. Embassy siege as Taqi Mohammadi.
Iran's newly elected president has been accused of being a main participant in the taking of American hostages at the embassy. Six former U.S. hostages who saw the president-elect in photos or on television said they believe Ahmadinejad was among the hostage-takers. One said he was interrogated by Ahmadinejad. The White House said it was taking their statements seriously.
President Bush said "many questions" were raised by the allegations. International media have compared photos of Ahmadinejad, who won a presidential runoff election last week, with a black-and-white picture of one of the hostage-takers, a young man with a thin, bearded face and dark hair that sweeps down across his forehead.
But Hajjarian told The Associated Press they were not the same person. "This man is Taqi Mohammadi, a militant who later turned into a dissident and committed suicide in jail," he said, pointing to the 1979 photo. He said Mohammadi was a militant who joined students in the embassy takeover. Mohammadi was later arrested on charges of involvement in the 1981 bombing in Tehran that killed the country's president and prime minister, and committed suicide in prison, Hajjarian said.
Hajjarian's comment follows statements by a number of the former Iranian students who carried out the U.S. Embassy seizure and held Americans hostage for 444 days that Ahmadinejad had no role in events. Hajjarian, considered the brains behind Khatami's democratic reforms program, is a former top official in the Intelligence Ministry, or the secret service. Both supporters and opponents describe him as the "walking memory" of Iran's recent history because of his access to classified information and secrets within Iran's ruling Islamic establishment. Hajjarian is one of many reformers who is at loggerheads with the hard-line Ahmadinejad. He was shot by a hard-line vigilante in 2000 and is paralyzed and cannot speak fluently.
Posted by: ed ||
07/02/2005 15:19 ||
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...Oh, well - if you can't trust an Iranian secret agent, who can you trust?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/02/2005 16:03 Comments ||
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I saw a series of 4 photos: 2 of the hostage taker, 1 of Ahmadinejad circa 1980, and 1 recent Ahmadinejad photo. I don't think the hostage taker was Ahmadinejad. His hairline was straight, while Ahmadinejad's hairline dipped down in front and had a slight widow's peak.
That said, I believe that Ahmadinejad murdered many Iranian dissidents/opponents when he was an executioner in Evin prison, and directed aasassinations outside Iran. Treat him as a mass murderer in a position of power. I won't mourn for him if he were to die in a massive explosion.
Posted by: ed ||
07/02/2005 16:14 Comments ||
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#3
The White House said it was taking their statements seriously. President Bush said "many questions" were raised by the allegations.
Whether the guy was involved in '79 or not, our leaders need to keep their eyes on the ball - regime change in Iran. There will be plenty of time afterward to deal with any hostage takers that are still alive.
Austrian authorities have classified documents suggesting that
Iran's president-elect may have played a key role in the 1989 execution-style slayings of an Iranian Kurdish leader and two associates in Vienna, a newspaper reported Saturday. Austria's Interior Ministry and the public prosecutor's office are investigating alleged evidence pointing to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's possible involvement in the attack, the daily Der Standard reported. Officials were not immediately available to comment on the report Saturday.
The allegations against Ahmadinejad come as some of the Americans who were taken captive in Iran in 1979 implicate the newly elected leader in the hostage crisis. Radical Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
In Austria, Green Party leader Peter Pilz told the newspaper he wants a warrant issued for the arrest of Ahmadinejad, who he alleged "stands under strong suspicion of having been involved." Pilz accused the hard-liner of planning the murders of Kurdish resistance leader Abdul-Rahman Ghassemlou and two of his colleagues, all of whom were shot in the head at a Vienna apartment by Iranian commandos on July 13, 1989. A fourth victim survived the attack and was able to crawl out of the apartment and alert Austrian authorities.
Pilz told Der Standard his source was an unidentified Iranian journalist living in France, who he said also claimed to have evidence that former Iranian President Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani gave the order to have Ghassemlou killed. He did not elaborate. He said Ahmadinejad, then a high-ranking member of Iran's elite revolutionary guard, allegedly traveled to the Austrian capital a few days before the slayings to deliver the murder weapons to the commandos who carried out the attack. Austrian authorities have said the gunmen apparently entered the alpine country with Iranian diplomatic passports. Pilz said the journalist was contacted in 2001 by one of the alleged gunmen, described as a former revolutionary guard who has since died in a drowning accident.
"The descriptions of the informant contained details of the scene (of the slayings) which could only have come from someone who was there," Pilz said. He said the gunman's account, which included "very convincing" evidence implicating Ahmadinejad, was turned over at the time to Austria's federal counterterrorism agency.
Prague's Pravo newspaper reported similar allegations on Friday, quoting Hossein Jazdan Panah, an exiled Kurdish opposition member, as saying Ahmadinejad "was in charge of hit operations abroad" at the time of the Vienna killings.
Ghassemlou, the gunmen's principle target, was secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. His delegation had been in Vienna for secret talks with envoys from the Tehran regime. The gunmen managed to slip out of Austria after the attack and were never arrested.
Pilz's Green Party pressed unsuccessfully in 1997 for the creation of a special parliamentary inquiry to look into a possible cover-up by Austrian officials, who it believes bowed to pressure from Iran's government and allowed the commandos to leave Austria, allegedly providing them a police escort to Vienna's international airport. Those allegations have never been proven.
On Friday, the United States said it would not be surprised if Ahmadinejad turns out to have been a main participant in the holding of American hostages in Tehran a quarter-century ago, although the Bush administration cautioned that it was still trying to determine the facts. Five former U.S. hostages who saw Ahmadinejad in photographs or on television said they believe he was among the hostage-takers. One said he was interrogated by Ahmadinejad. "I don't think it should be surprising to anyone if it turns out to be true," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in Washington. "This is a regime run by an unelected few that only allowed its hand-picked candidates to run in an election that was well short of free and fair."
Posted by: ed ||
07/02/2005 12:03 ||
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#1
So, what's Austria going to do about it? threaten Iran with unpleasant letters? support the US military when toppling the Iranian theocrats?
#3
This guy's got more skeletons in his closet than the average Iranian mooselimb. We need to get a move on before Israel does (or is that the plan that evil genius Rove has?).
Posted by: BA ||
07/02/2005 16:18 Comments ||
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#4
Austrians, Germans and Canadians, etc...
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/02/2005 19:53 Comments ||
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Anybody starting to wonder if this is an experiment?
Least you got your Daily Times fix.
LAHORE: The ongoing countrywide Internet blackout has dealt a severe blow to the cityâs IT economy, with major broadband operators, Internet service providers (ISPs) and net cafes in Lahore, which has some 300,000 Internet users, losing millions of rupees. Major banking and aviation houses, especially those whose servers are abroad, are struggling to manage customer services. âFor the last few days we have only been able to manage emergency services like card blockades, but since our system is not working properly our international communication operations have been hit,â said Imran Ahmed, a supervisor at Standard Chartered Bank. âBut our IT staff has managed to create a back-up from Dubai and Singapore and now the situation has improved.â
Nauman Ahmed works with Microsoft in Dubai. âIt was essential for me to get in touch with my office through the net, but when I tried today (Friday) it took 42 minutes to open the portal,â said a frustrated Nauman. The economic and credibility losses are also hitting airlines. âSince we have introduced an e-ticketing network where a customer can book and confirm seats online and our server is based in the US, we were the most affected from the aviation industry,â said Tariq Ejaz, traffic officer at the private airline AirBlue. âThe whole staff stays till late at night to switch ticketing operations to manual and the next day we dish out manual tickets to our customers. Itâs a pathetic situation to say the least and though it is gradually improving because PTCL is giving priority to airlines in its back-up systems, it is still a big mess,â said Ejaz.
Broadband operators like World Call and WOL, who buy bandwidth from PTCL, have been particularly badly hit. âThe crisis has hit us terribly. We are working on less than 50 percent of the bandwidth that we paid PTCL for and our consumers are suffering,â said Amir Gulzar, WorldCall chief technology officer. The local multimedia giant has around 15,000 domestic consumers. âOur losses will not be less than US$30,000 for these five days alone,â said Gulzar. There are at least five other major bandwidth players in the city like WOL, NetSol and PakNet. âOur ISP operations have also been badly hit. We will review the losses once this crisis ends and normal service resumes,â said Gulzar. Industry experts called on PTCL to cover their losses. âWe hope PTCL will refund the money for bandwidth which could not be used,â said Murad Saleem, an IT expert and former vice-president of WoL.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, has joined forces with Socialists and liberals to press for political freedoms in Egypt. The opposition National Alliance for Reform and Change agreed at its first meeting late on Thursday to hold a protest in support of an independent judiciary in mid-July, deputy Brotherhood leader Mohamed Habib told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
talk about damned if you do, damned if you don't.
#2
Thus clarifying how false the choice presented by the current rulers throughout the region of corrupt "secular" strongman vs. radical islamists. Granted, the islamists don't intend to let the secular opposition survive long after the Coalition comes to power, but that doesn't mean they will achieve that particular goal.
Embattled Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed yesterday arrived in Bossaso in the northeastern Puntland region, where he was the warlord before becoming head of state last year, officials said. Yusuf arrived in Bossaso from Yemen, where talks with Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden aimed at unblocking a standoff in the relocation of the transitional federal government from exile in Kenya collapsed. The president had left Kenya on June 13, ostensibly for Jowhar, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, but instead went neighboring Djibouti and then Qatar.
Yusuf has only visited Somalia once before since he was elected by the exiled Parliament in the Kenyan capital in October 2004. In February he came on a fact-finding mission to review the state of security in the shattered African nation. He is expected eventually in Jowhar, where Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi and some government officials have settled. Yusuf's plan to divide the government between the towns of Baidoa and Jowhar because the capital is too dangerous is strongly opposed by the Parliament speaker and the warlords running Mogadishu. The dispute is seen as threatening any hope of peace for Somalia, which has been in a state of violent anarchy for 14 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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Puntland? Is that inside the 10 yard line?
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/02/2005 1:05 Comments ||
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#2
If it was Pintland, we'd be talking about Ireland.
Does it? That's funny. It doesn't bother me a bit.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
It bothers me than India is stuck with Mig-21 widow makers when they could have high quality Super Hornets. It's not right. I'm haveing trouble sleeping at night. You guys set for General Purpose frigates? We gottem several low hour OHP Class for the right country.
#4
Don't we have a carrier we plan to decommission? I think it would make a great addition to the Indian navy. Of course, we'll give Japan and Taiwan first offers, but I doubt they'll wish to make that kind of purchase - at least, not right now. Yep, India has cash, and the US has some obsolescent weapons systems that would be first-line in India. Sounds good to me!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/02/2005 14:00 Comments ||
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#5
They would have had the LCA to replace the Mig-21's, if Clinton hadn't decided to cut off their supply of engines.
My suggestion: they buy a parts stockpile for whatever they get, to ride out the next change-of-administration.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/02/2005 14:07 Comments ||
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#6
Or license the engines and other essentials for local manufacture.
#8
OP-
Agree with you wholeheartedly that at CV might be a good idea, but the operating cost is a real problem. Let's go with Ship's suggestion and expand on it a bit: some OHP frigates and as many of the VLS Spruances we can rustle up. With the SLCM capability the Sprucans can provide, ol' Perv ought to have a lot of sleepless nights.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/02/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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#9
lol, Jackal! "Uh, yes, this is India calling, can you patch me through to GE?"
"Yes, sir. We here at GE are here to help. How are you all enjoying your new boats?"
Posted by: BA ||
07/02/2005 16:14 Comments ||
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#10
No Minutemen III, we don't know you that well. You may however leave a card, and call on Sunday aftertnoon.
Shipman -- too funny! Were you planning on serving English tea or chai when they come to call?
#11
Perv, since you can't find Osama, coming soon to a city near you...
Posted by: john ||
07/02/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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#12
:> TW. Good manners is important. One of my Great Aunts kept all her calling cards from gentlemen friends until she shuffled off (in style), a fine collection.
#13
Pakiwakiland understands why we did this. The Indians & ChiComs are in bed together, so it is only logical to jump in bed with them.
Alliances are not always for alliance but a simbiotic use and exploitation of each other on a gentleman's level. Makes for great PR too.
We only sucked up to the Pakis during the cold war to help build an electronic surveillance fence around the USSR.
We sucked up to the Pakis while the USSR was bogged down in Afghanistan to help get stingers and other assistance to the mujidhadeen fighting the Soviets. Payback for Vietnam? Who cares.
We only sucked up to Pakiwakiland after 9-11 to help squash the ape-like Taliban being used by Pakiwakiland to keep the Northwest Frontier Province and other areas somewhat stable.
Pakiwakiland knows this and should stop sobbing... hell didn't we just sell them some more fighter aircraft?
Object of some in the US Gov't is to provide Pak with enough weaponry that they begin to feel secure wrt India. Thinking seems to be that a secure Pak will be more amenable to making peace in Kashmir and finally tackling the Islamists.
Needless to say, this strategy of arming Pak is fraught with danger.
Posted by: john ||
07/02/2005 22:47 Comments ||
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#18
fraught with danger
I call it feeding the hyenas
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/02/2005 23:39 Comments ||
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An Arab party has asked an Israeli court to stop right-wing Jews using orange in protests against withdrawing from Gaza settlements, saying the color was already theirs. "If we appear now in a march in the streets with orange, people will think we are settlers," said parliament member Azmi Bishara of the Arab Balad party, which is fundamentally opposed to settlements on Israeli-occupied land.
Orange, displayed on ribbons, flags and shirts, has emerged as a powerful pro-settler symbol in the run-up to the pullout. It is the municipal color of the main Gush Katif Jewish settlement bloc in Gaza. Bishara said his party has used an orange flag and logo since 1999, and launched the lawsuit after being flooded with calls from constituents. The Balad party was concerned that use of the same color by ultra-nationalist Jews would damage its image and confuse its anti-occupation message, he said.
#5
Morons. Not a real hydraulick man amongst the whole slimey lot.
Posted by: William the Silent ||
07/02/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#6
Perhaps Mohardhead (SUHH)invented the color orange, No it was the Persians,at least they are creditied with the word,well they are arabs arent they?/sar off
#7
Just another check in the Paleo "thought process." We OWN orange! It was a Muslim invention, I tell ya! Give me a freakin' break...these guys truly think the world is flat and revolves around them!
Posted by: BA ||
07/02/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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#8
The Tennessee Volunteers own orange. I'll fight anyone who says different.
#9
Not forgetting the Clemson Tigers are you John Q.? Personally, I cant stand the color cause of that school, everyting is painted orange around these parts:)
#10
Clearly the Intifada is winding down if the Palestinians are suing over colours in an Israeli court, instead of sending a few orange-clad suicide boomers. Although I can't blame them for avoiding their own courts, where people tend to be dragged out by a mob, tortured in the street, and then shot.
Leading Islamic civil rights and advocacy groups in North America is to distribute a brochure designed to educate US Muslim leaders on the right of Muslim women to equal access to mosques and participation in community activities. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the new publication states that "it's time to make mosques more open to women and to return to an equality that marked the origins of the faith," according to the civil rights' group Web site Thursday, June 30. The 28- page publication, called "Women Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage", was published through a collaborative effort of the Islamic Social Services Associations (ISSA) and Women in Islam (WII), it added.
"There are confirmed reports that many mosques relegate women to small, dingy, secluded, airless and segregated quarters with their children," Reuters reported Thursday, citing the booklet that was published online and is being distributed to mosques. "Some mosques in the United States and Canada actually prevent women from entering," the booklet added. It suggests women should be allowed to pray with men in the main hall of a mosque in a designated area that is not partitioned off and be given a safe and appropriate entrance to the buildings. It also suggests that at least two women be on every mosque governing board.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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"There are confirmed reports that many mosques relegate women to small, dingy, secluded, airless and segregated quarters with their children,"
#2
Somehow, I don't think CAIR advocating menstruators in mosques is going to sit very well with the hard-liners. Might get quite amusing.
So rather than looking for right-wingers or "racists" the next time a mosque burns down in the U.S., it might be appropriate to consider the possibility of green-on-green action.
U.S. Embassy officials refuse to negotiate with insurgents or mediate between militants and the Iraqi government, despite overtures by Sunni Arabs claiming to represent armed groups, a U.S. official said Friday. "We do not talk to people who have killed or who provided material assistance," said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because of U.S. government rules. The official said the embassy is often approached by Sunni Arabs who claim to have been sent by insurgents to present demands.
"We have never negotiated through these people with insurgents. We deliver a very simple message: 'Stop the violence. If you don't stop the violence, eventually our forces will take you out,'" the official said. He said those who approach the embassy are usually academics, businessmen or midlevel officials of the former ruling Baath Party.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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'Stop the violence. If you don't stop the violence, eventually our forces will take you out,'
The Palestinian leader has invited the rival Hamas group, listed by the West as a terrorist organization, into his Cabinet to ensure a smooth transition in the Gaza Strip after the planned Israeli withdrawal, a Hamas spokesman said Friday. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the presence of Hamas in a Palestinian government was unacceptable and would hurt efforts to reach a peace deal.
Hamas is considering the offer, a senior Hamas official said on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made. The Islamic group's leadership in Gaza and abroad will have the final say on whether to join the Palestinian government, he said. Hamas is sworn to the destruction of Israel and responsible for most suicide bombings during the last four years. Both Israel and the United States have demanded that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas disarm the militants, including Hamas. But Abbas, a weak leader, cannot ignore Hamas' strong grass-roots presence in Gaza or the group's demand to help rule the area after Israel's pullout in August. He has chosen to try to co-opt his militant rivals rather than confront them.
"Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization responsible for countless acts of senseless violence against innocent civilians," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told The Associated Press. "Hamas is no partner for us in any sort of political process. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution." Abbas made his offer this week after Hamas demanded a special committee be formed to oversee the transfer of powers in Gaza after Israel withdraws. Abbas rejected that demand, inviting Hamas to join his Cabinet instead, the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/02/2005 00:00 ||
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Time to flush the pees plan.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/02/2005 1:13 Comments ||
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#2
Apparently, it still hasn't occurred to Mazen that Hamas and their kind are part of the reason why the peace process isn't moving forward. But if he wants to get into bed with them, well, that's his business.....
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
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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
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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.
Venezuela said Friday it won't allow Colombian troops to hunt down leftist rebels hiding out in its territory, but pledged to boost military cooperation to curb the flow of guerillas, arms and drugs across the two nations' porous border. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez made the comments after discussing the tense situation along the 1,400-mile border with his Colombian counterpart, Carolina Barco, during a visit to Bogota. "We cannot allow them (Colombian troops) to pursue" rebels in Venezuela, Rodriguez told a news conference. He said such a move had been discussed, but that "what is needed is good military cooperation ... to carry out specific operations."
North Korea told the United States that it must withdraw its description of the communist nation as an "outpost of tyranny" and treat Pyongyang as a friend if it wants nuclear talks to resume, a senior North Korean official said Friday. North Korea's director general of North American affairs, Li Gun, told reporters after a two-day conference on northeast Asian security that the next step is up to the Americans. Speaking in English, Li said, "We told them (the U.S.) to just withdraw the words `outpost of tyranny.' We demand it."
Embattled Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed yesterday arrived in Bossaso in the northeastern Puntland region, where he was the warlord before becoming head of state last year, officials said. Yusuf arrived in Bossaso from Yemen, where talks with Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden aimed at unblocking a standoff in the relocation of the transitional federal government from exile in Kenya collapsed. The president had left Kenya on June 13, ostensibly for Jowhar, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, but instead went neighboring Djibouti and then Qatar.
Leading Islamic civil rights and advocacy groups in North America is to distribute a brochure designed to educate US Muslim leaders on the right of Muslim women to equal access to mosques and participation in community activities. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the new publication states that "it's time to make mosques more open to women and to return to an equality that marked the origins of the faith," according to the civil rights' group Web site Thursday, June 30. The 28- page publication, called "Women Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage", was published through a collaborative effort of the Islamic Social Services Associations (ISSA) and Women in Islam (WII), it added.
U.S. Embassy officials refuse to negotiate with insurgents or mediate between militants and the Iraqi government, despite overtures by Sunni Arabs claiming to represent armed groups, a U.S. official said Friday. "We do not talk to people who have killed or who provided material assistance," said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because of U.S. government rules. The official said the embassy is often approached by Sunni Arabs who claim to have been sent by insurgents to present demands.
The Palestinian leader has invited the rival Hamas group, listed by the West as a terrorist organization, into his Cabinet to ensure a smooth transition in the Gaza Strip after the planned Israeli withdrawal, a Hamas spokesman said Friday. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the presence of Hamas in a Palestinian government was unacceptable and would hurt efforts to reach a peace deal.
