A U.S. delegation to Africa apparently had to calm a whole list of fears - and dash a hope or two - when it explained its plan for establishing a new military command there.
"With every group we met with, there were a number of misconceptions, and I think the discussion changed quite a bit as we were able to correct some of those misconceptions," Ryan Henry, the Defense Department's deputy undersecretary for policy, said Monday.
Questions included why the U.S. was setting up the new Africa Command, how many troops would come, how much aid it would bring and so on.
A weeklong trip by representatives from the Defense and State departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development ended Saturday after visits to Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal.
The group was holding consultations on the Bush administration plan to create the new command, an administrative structure to coordinate activities on the continent.
"We hopefully cleared up the misunderstanding that AFRICOM was not being stood up in response to Chinese presence on the continent, it was not being stood up solely for the effort of enhanced counterterrorism and it was not being stood up in order to secure resources - a particular sensitivity to the oil resources," Henry said.
"While some of these may be part of the formula, the reasons that AFRICOM is being stood up is Africa ... is emerging on the world scene as a strategic player and we need to deal with it as a continent," he told a Pentagon press conference.
The U.S. military has a system of regional headquarters such as the Pacific Command, Central Command and so on. Africa is now split among three commands, which have been increasing activities on the continent greatly in recent years.
Central Command, which controls the Horn of Africa, set up a task force there to try to catch al-Qaida terrorists escaping from Afghanistan after the war started in late 2001. It since has expanded to humanitarian and other missions. The European Command has sent forces to do training exercises in North African countries as well as humanitarian projects and other missions such as harbor maintenance in oil-producing nations in the Gulf of Guinea.
The operations are aimed at building partnerships and strengthening the ability of African governments and militaries to do their jobs, officials have said. They also hope the activities will make nations there less vulnerable to the recruiting efforts of terrorists and help catch terrorists already using it as a safe haven. Officials also have said that Africa is strategically more important because of its oil production and increased efforts by China to gain influence on the continent.
U.S. officials are still working out such details as the size and location of the new command, and they promised during their trip to continue consulting Africans as they work on it, Henry said.
"AFRICOM does not mean there would be additional U.S. forces put on the continent ... does not mean a dramatic increase in resources" from the Pentagon or U.S. government to Africa, he said.
"This administration has made significant investment into the improvement of the quality of life on the African continent, increasing it over threefold" and the new headquarters would be there to coordinate those investment efforts, he said.
#3
Many PRO-CHICOM Netters aren't gonna be happy, as their attitude is AFrica + Asia-Papcific + lower Americas is theirs = their backyard/sphere already.
#1
The inquiries began in Hull and spread to Leeds, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Norfolk, Peterborough, Bristol and Nottingham. The fraudsters used machinery to skim data from credit and debit cards, which was transferred to bogus cards. Card details cloned in Britain have been used to obtain funds in Thailand.
Did no one at the banks get slightly suspicious when the credit accounts of ordinary British citizens began showing a cluster of debitting traffic in Thailand?
#2
Zen, not really. It is kind of usual traffic, it is a faved vacationing spot for reasons... let's not go there, just let's say they may be compelling. ;-).
That's why it was a brilliant choice by the scammers. But eventually, every scam unravels.
#3
Point taken. I didn't realize that 750,000 Brits visit Thailand each year. That must be the plane ride from Hell. About half-way around the world. I've done a 12 time zone trip before and it was murder coming and going.
#4
Thanks a bunch for the encouraging words, Zenster. I fly New York to Sydney tomorrow.
Back on topic: folks, always take a good look at the card slot when you use an ATM, especially one in a business, ( ie not a bank) My card got cloned in Sydney a few years back, at a gas station BTW, and about a month later it went on a $5000 spending spree in London- Cartier jewellers, Harrods, etc. Meanwhile I was way out in Central Australia, and just happened to go online as the purchases were coming in. Big surprise!
#5
Grunter, be sure to get up periodically and move around. If you're on a 747, use the bottom of the stairs to do some leg stretching exercises. Drink plenty of water (it'll motivate you to get up), and be sure to bring with you a long book by a good author. Buy a stack of postcards and write to all your friends during the flight. Carry on your own supply of dried fruit and salty snacks and try to enjoy the ride. Don't forget to ask the flight attendent for some of those "captain's wings" to give the kids at your destination.
#4
I personally have no problem in taking their money. Dhimma is the other way round; taking ours in tribute.
As for Shariah compliant premium bonds, these are a kind of Government sponsored lottery, where "Premiums" - winnings between £10 & £1m are paid at random on a non expiring, refundable stake. There is about as much chance of these recieving the Sharia Compliance(TM) stamp as BaconBikiniBhuddas.com (SC)
#5
Islamic bonds are where muslims take infidel money and tell them to take a hike. Return the favor.
Posted by: ed ||
04/23/2007 6:46 Comments ||
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#6
The Islamic Republic of Minnesota (Minneapolis) has embarked on a similar path with their Alternative-Lending Program. To comply with laws that forbid religious preference in government contracts the program is offered to everyone. However, the eligibility requirements make it clear who will indeed get preference.
In the event program funds are not sufficient to meet all eligible applications, priority will be given to businesses unable to expand without the Alternative Financing
Oh and BTW, the same folks that are at the center of Flying Imams, Tee-Toatller Taxis etc. were instrumental in pushing this program through.
#7
I personally have no problem in taking their money. Dhimma is the other way round; taking ours in tribute.
Horse hockey! Doing anything that makes it easier for Muslims to do business is simply stupid. The West must make itself Islam unfriendly by banning the niqab and burqa, eliminating pro-jihad websites, halting halal food service in schools and prisons, rolling up Wahabbist mosques and a host of other simple but essential measures. Enacting conducive financial instruments does not fall into this category.
North Korea has named a career field army commander as its new military head, Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) indicated in a story filed late Saturday. Kim Kyok-Sik, who is believed to be 67, succeeded his predecessor Kim Yong-Chun as the chief of the general staff of the communist countrys 1.1-million-strong army, it said. Yong-Chun was appointed this month as the deputy of the National Defence Commission (NDC) following 12 years in the top military post. Chaired by leader Kim Jong-Il, the NDC is the most powerful organisation in North Korea. Kyok-Siks rise to the key post remained unknown until KCNA called him the head of the general staff in a report Saturday on Kim Jong-Ils inspection of two military units.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Japans defence ministry is considering US F-22A stealth fighters and F-15FX fighters as replacements for some of its ageing fighter jets, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday quoting sources close to the matter. The ministry was unavailable for comment, but an official said last month that it was examining options as it plans to start replacing its fleet of 60 F-4 fighters as training aircraft in the next couple of years. A US Congress ban on exports of its most advanced and most expensive fighter jet, the F-22A Raptor built by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, had raised the possibility that Japan would seek other options, including European jets. But Kyodo said Japanese defence officials believe the ban will be lifted in the future. Quoting sources, Kyodo said Japan was considering buying the F-15FX first and then buying the F-22A after the export ban is lifted. Japan and the United States have agreed to step up cooperation between their armed forces in the face of rising regional tensions after North Koreas nuclear and missile tests last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I recall they gave away the technology to mill super-quiet sub propellers to the Russians back in the 80's or so. And it seems to me they have sold other stuff for pennies on the dollar a few other times, too.
#4
The Japanese have generally required co-production deals that gave US technology to them for free. I think (1) we're not parting with it for another 15 years and (2) a co-production deal is out of the question. If we're not selling it to either the Brits or the Australians, we're certainly not selling it to the Japanese.
#6
Sorry 3dc, I couldn't see that, the "Stealth Fighter" is 'All American'; I can't see any other country when gazing at it's beauty. It needs to be retired and "Hung Up In The Rafters" sort of speak, like great football or baseball jerseys. Put it in the museum with the Wright brother's plane, the SR71 and others, and tell people to just...move along!!
#8
Pro-CHINA/CPC Netters are and have been displaying PS'ed future/new world order Maps where JAPAN + PARTS OR ALL OF EAST ASIA is ascribed as PART OF CHINA = UNDER CHINA'S SPHERE OF CONTROL/INFLUENCE. Saw one just today that had all of JAPAN + SK + VIETNAM + INDIA, etal. INCLUDING HAWAII-ALASKA; plus another that had ALL OF JAPAN + SK, etc but only 1/2 of THE PHILIPPINES [Northern PI only - read SUBIC BAY, MANILA BAY, MANILA AIRPORT, former CLARK AFB, etc.].
OTOH, BILL RICHARDSON > NORTH KOREA desires to be a FUTURE NEW ALLY OF USA. As said times before, the Norkies know they have no manifest destiny except to be controlled or destroyed by China, OR to be destroyed by the USA-Allies for China. IRONY > in order to counter Chin-Chicom desired Asia-Pacific hegemony = domination, IT MAY JUST BE IN DUBYA'S-USA's-WEST'S LT INTERESTS FOR NK TO DEV ITS OWN NUKES.
#9
That is all ok but who says the United States is considering selling stealth fighters?
If wishes were horses....
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/23/2007 6:35 Comments ||
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#10
anonymous2U, amazing what adding a little protein to the diet will do for heighth, isn't it. Haven't been to Japan in a while, but in Korea, each of the last several generations has been significantly taller than their parents.
#12
We were in Hong Kong in 1992 and was watching some news program in English. I remember the newsreader saying that since WWII the Japanese grew I think it was 7". Could have been 4", it's been awhile, the brain's getting kind of hazy.
#13
"I recall they gave away the technology to mill super-quiet sub propellers to the Russians back in the 80's or so."
If I remember right, the responsible individuals were Russian agents. Angleton thought they penetration started with a group of Japanese held in POW camps after the Soviets declared war in 1945. In the camps, they were recruited or otherwise profiled for blackmail purposes.
#14
Japanese and sub secrets. According to Wikipedia:
In 1987, the company was accused of illegally selling CNC milling machines used to produce very quiet submarine propellers to the Soviet Union in violation of the CoCom agreement. The Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal involved a subsidiary of Toshiba and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. The incident put a strain on relations between the United States and Japan and resulted in the arrest and prosecution of two senior executives, as well as the imposition of sanctions on the company by both countries.
Toshiba moved into selling internal parts (harddrives, etc) and eventually nearly everyone forgot.
A Pakistani, involved in human trafficking, has been arrested along with five others Pakistanis in Thessalonica, Paris. According to French authorities, one of the arrested Pakistanis illegally smuggled people from Turkey and others countries to Greece. The authorities did not disclose their names. The border forces have also arrested 22 people, including Pakistanis and Afghans, while they were trying to enter Greece illegally.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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I didn't see us look at this when it came out Friday.
A two-month spending bill to cover the costs of the Iraq war is very likely after President Bush vetoes the current Iraq spending bill, House Defense Appropriations Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) said Friday.
House Democrats named their conferees at the beginning of this week and they are to meet Monday, though much of the work on the conference report has been done. The conference report is expected to include an advisory date for the withdrawal of troops, rather than the firm September 2008 deadline included in the House version of the bill.
They can't even agree on how to cut and run.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he expects the bill will be sent to Bush by late next week or the following Monday. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) has begun to whip on the conference report, sending a questionnaire to members about whether theyll support it. But leadership has not given members specifics about what will be in the conference report.
Nor will they; the Dhimmis need to be as vague as possible.
House Defense appropriator Jim Moran (D-Va.) said a two-month bill is intended to keep troops funded without giving the president too much latitude. Six months is probably too long, Moran said. One month it takes longer than that to pass the thing.
Moran said the legislation could not be treated like a continuing resolution, keeping funding at existing levels. The amount of money flowing to the military has to increase, he said, to cover additional spending on re-tooling the National Guard and military healthcare. Moran nodded with an expression of resignation when asked if the two-month bill, as currently envisioned, would fund the ongoing surge of U.S. combat troops in Iraq.
He was not as clear about whether the non-military spending, such as money for peanut storage, reimbursement for spinach farmers whose crops were recalled and asbestos removal in the Capitol, would be included. Moran simply said he didnt like it. I wish wed take that s--t out, Moran said. It was all put in by leadership after we wrote the bill, and it didnt get us a single vote.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) a founding member of the House Out of Iraq Caucus, said she expects there will be even more pressure to withdraw troops in two months if events in Iraq continue on their current violent course. In two months it might be really clear how bad it is, Woolsey said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
One month it takes longer than that to pass the thing.
#4
It [the porkfor everyone]was all put in by leadership after we wrote the bill, and it didnt get us a single vote.
Bwahahahahaha! Losers.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/23/2007 5:53 Comments ||
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#5
The more time they spend debating defense spending, the less time they have for other spending.
Posted by: ed ||
04/23/2007 6:48 Comments ||
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#6
God help us all if these friggin' idiots win the White House AND Congress next year...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/23/2007 7:46 Comments ||
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#7
Well Dave, if you're given the choice between Corrupt and Corrupter, and chose to seat it out like so many did last November, you will. How many voters who sat out the last one in a self righteous tiff feel like Colonel Nicholson: What have I done? [Bridge on the River Kwai]
Defying a fresh veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass legislation within days requiring the start of a troop withdrawal from Iraq by Oct. 1, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday. The legislation also sets a goal of a complete pullout by April 1, he said. In remarks prepared for delivery, Reid said that under the legislation the troops that remain after next April 1 could only train Iraqi security units, protect U.S forces and conduct "targeted counter- terror operations."
Reid spoke a few hours after Bush said he will reject any legislation along the lines of what Democrats will pass. "I will strongly reject an artificial timetable (for) withdrawal and/or Washington politicians trying to tell those who wear the uniform how to do their job," the president said. Bush made his comments to reporters in the Oval Office as he met with senior military leaders, including his top general in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.
Taken together, Reid's speech and Bush's comments inaugurated a week of extraordinary confrontation between the president and the new Democratic-controlled Congress over a war that has taken the lives of more than 3,200 U.S. troops. Negotiators for the House and Senate arranged a late-afternoon meeting to ratify the timetable that Reid laid out. The demand for a change in course will be attached to a funding bill that is needed to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/23/2007 12:38 ||
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#4
I'm not so sure about the constitutional issues. From the Iraqi resolution, power to conduct the war was transferred to the President. That part is constitutional.
But Congress retains the authority to fund the war through appropriate appropriations legislation. That part is constitutional.
What I'm genuinely not sure of is whether Congress can attach conditions to the funding: this money can be spent only for these actions on the war.
It's idiotic for the Congress to think they can manage the war, particularly since what is driving the Democrats is NOT any concern over the war, or the Iraqi people, BUT politics, and especially 2008. But is it constitutional? I'm no legal scholar. But I'm plenty worried.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/23/2007 13:35 Comments ||
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#5
Reid's ploy here is very very visible and concrete. That is not the usual dem playbook, which is mostly be vauge and say crap like "its for the children". But this is specific action that can have a direct causal trail for people to follow back.
If the dems succeed in doing this and it all goes to shit in Iraq with millions killed then the evidence will be as clear as day. They are laying their cards on the table betting for a no-cost surrender. That ain't likely to happen.
#9
hey harry? how's your various family members' beltway bandit business doing? Have they dropped your name enough to scrounge away a few mill this year?
#10
FOX > BARNES/KRAUTHAMMER > The Dems want the WH in 2008 at any price/costs. O'REILLY Radio SHow > THE FAR LEFT + SECULAR PROGRESSIVES IN THIS COUNTRY ARE DELIBERATELY FOSTERING ANARCHY [CHAOS] IN ORDER TO BEGET REGULATION + SOCIALISM, WHILE DENYING THAT THEY ARE. For the Dems and anti-Dubya-ists to argue for pullout, withdrawal, + redeployment, etc. when Dubya is actually winning and entrenching IS SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH SYNON WID COVERT SUPPORT FOR MASSIVE GOVT. SPENDING, REGULATION, + GOVT INTERVENTION-CONTROL EVERYWHERE IN AMERICA. As said or inferred times before, DUBYA ENTRENCHING > the day is looming for MOUD-MULLAHS IN IRAN THAT HAVING A DEMOCRATIC POTUS IN THE WH AFTER 2008 IS NOT GONNA HELP THE RADICAL ISLAMIST AGENDA. Presuming that Dubya doesn't stop entrenching, which IMO is likely despite any DEM-Congressional obstructionism, and the Dems win in 2008, essens means MOUD-MULLAHS MAY NOT SEE ANY TYPE OF PER SE US WITHDRAWAL UNTIL YEAR 2010-2012, IOW, after the middle of apost-Dubya Dem FIRST TERM = towards the second term of a post-Dubya Dem POTUS.MOUD-MULLAHS > DUBYA OR POST-DUBYA, THE USA HAS A LOT OF TIME BTWN 2007-2012 TO DO ANYTHING FROM ITS POSITION OF STRENGTH IN THE ME, WHILE RADICAL ISLAM FROM 2007-BEYOND GETS STEADILY WEAKER. The longer Dubya entrenches, the harder it will be for Iran = Radical Islam to challenge and remove the USA from the ME-Muslim World. Dubya is still POTUS for 21 more months, until after January 2009. THE THREAT BY AL QAEDA AGZ BRITAIN vv SEEMING NUCLEAR TERROR ON PAR WID HIROSHIMA-NAGASAKI TELLS ME RADICAL ISLAM IS AWARE THEY'RE LOSING ERGO UP THE ANTE, TO ESCALATE UNTO GLOBAL ANARCHY + SELF/MULTILATERAL, MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION.
LAHORE: Following directions by the district government and Wagah Town administration, a large contingent of Lahore police bulldozed the boundary wall of a 6-acre piece of land legally procured by the Ahamdiyya Community to extend its graveyard.
Policemen arrived at Handu Gujjar in five buses at about 5am on Sunday morning and supervised the demolishing of the boundary wall in less than 20 minutes. District and town officials said the construction was illegal because the town authorities did not approve the plan.
Local Ahmadis believe the operation was a result of a campaign started by extremist clerics and religious organisations that had said the fencing of the graveyard was an attempt to create a mini Rabwah.
Several religious organisations had put up provocative banners and clerics were giving hate speeches in mosques urging to Muslims to wage a jihad against Ahamdis. The city police did not take action on the hate campaign.
Wagah Town officials had served a notice on the Ahamdiyya community several days ago, saying the construction of the boundary wall was illegal. Another notice was served on Saturday (April 21), asking the community to respond within three days. Town officials disregarded the deadline however and told police to bulldoze the boundary wall. Town nazim Khalid Ghurki said the notices were served on his directives. He did not rule out pressure from clerics as one of the reasons for stopping the construction. We would have faced this pressure, but the construction of the wall was illegal, he said, adding, The issue was discussed with the district government, which made the final decision. Town municipal officer Muhammad Rizwan said he did not know anything about the issue or the notices. A senior official, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, told Daily Times that the government had decided to raze the wall under pressure from certain elements for the fear that the issue may ignite into a major problem for the government.
He also said that the construction of the wall was illegal. The area of the land was more than 14 acres, he said, and the statement that it was meant for a graveyard did not make sense.
The affected community had the right to submit a construction plan to the town government, he said, and the matter could then be resolved under the law. We will also have to see if the law allow the Ahmadiyya community to construct the boundary wall. The issue surfaced several days ago when some extremists began to provoke people against the extension of an Ahmadi graveyard in Handu Gujjar, seven miles from Shalimar Gardens off the Grand Trunk Road going towards Wagah.
The community had bought six acres to extend an existing cemetery, but local clerics allegedly from Sunni Tehrik and Tehrik-e-Tahafaz-e-Naomoos-e-Risalat began to provoke the residents of the locality to oppose the construction of a boundary wall. The community had bought the land from an Ahmadi landlord because no local authority or housing society is prepared to offer them space for a cemetery in Lahore.
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Ahmadi Jamaat was one of the groups that pushed strongly for the creation of Pakistan - "the land of the pure".
Looks like they were not pure enough to live, or even die, there...
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/23/2007 6:53 Comments ||
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#2
Professor Abdus Salam, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 was an Ahmadi.
His gravestone read Abdus Salam the first muslim Nobel Laureate
But Pakistan changed its constitution to declare Ahmadis as non Muslim and ban them from Haj pilgrimage.
Pakistani police were sent to his grave where they erased from his headstone the word Muslim.
Now the defaced headstone just reads Abdus Salam the first (blank) Nobel Laureate
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/23/2007 6:59 Comments ||
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#3
And Pak schoolchildren are not taught about Professor Salam. Instead they learn about the great hero of Pakistan, Dr AQ Khan.
Ironically Abdus Salam, when he visted India was honored by all. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was so in awe of him that she refused to sit on a chair next to him during a meeting.
She sat on the ground, at his feet.
Posted by: John Frum ||
04/23/2007 7:02 Comments ||
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#5
"...Local Ahmadis believe the operation was a result of a campaign started by extremist clerics and religious organisations that had said the fencing of the graveyard was an attempt to create a mini Rabwah....
Rabwah is the burial site of Abdus Salam and other important Ahmadis. It is also the HQ of Ahmadi administration.
#6
Looks like they were not pure enough to live, or even die, there...
The usual "more Islamic than thou" psychopathology crapulence at work. With its "land of the pure" battle cry, Pakistan has infected itself with a limitless succession of evermore fatal purges that make Hollywood starlets look like absolute slackers.
While it is regretful that peaceful Muslims like the Ahmadis must suffer, Islam's curse upon this world of ours obliges me to say: Keep up the good work! Either substantial internecine strife ensues or slow elimination of those who follow the Koran. As to which, I do not have the time to worry about it. Perhaps the Ahmadis should.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met with Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and other high-ranking officials on Sunday to review the Jamia Hafsa situation and discuss the possible relocation of the institution.
The government has made a final decision on the issue, said sources, adding, that the administration of the madrassa would soon be taken into confidence on the issue.
The PM expressed satisfaction about the progress of the issue and discussed his tour to China with the meetings participants. The meeting also discussed the ongoing chief justice controversy and the overall socio-political scenario of the country. The participants refuted any notion of a deal with the Pakistan Peoples Party and urged that the present allies of the PML should be kept for the coming general elections. Important factors regarding the presidential reference against the chief justice were also discussed in the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Many women at Jamia Hafsa are from poor families from Kashmir who have been either kidnapped or bought, according to a report released by a Mutahida Qaumi Movement investigation committee on Sunday. These women are indoctrinated and trained for suicide attacks, says the report, which details the history of the mosque and its Jamia Hafsa madrassa for girls and Jamia Fareedia madrassa for boys. The report claims the Lal Masjid administration plans to use women as human shields, in case of police action, and use their deaths as a propaganda tool to justify suicide attacks.
According to the report, Lal Masjid was initially built legally as a non-denominational mosque, but a few years ago, the mosque was illegally occupied by armed force by the sons of the late Maulana Abdullah, i.e., Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Ghazi Abdul Rashid. The brothers were high-grade government employees but were sacked for possessing illegal arms, says the report.
Similarly, Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia were built legally on one kanal each, but the two madrassas had expanded their settlements through encroachments to now cover 13 kanals and 22 kanals respectively. The report claims that the mosque administration had instructed Jamia Fareedia students to attack video, television and camera shops in Islamabad. The students attack vehicles driven by women and beat them up, stop vehicles and take the cassette and CD players out, and beat up men and women wearing Western dress, says the report.
Jamia Hafsa, says the report, is like a colony where residential houses also exist beside the madrassas. Ten to 15 women live in a single room with inadequate toilet facilities. Burqa-clad women told the MQM committee that the administration of Jamia Hafsa is totally run by the Maulana Abdul Azizs wife.
The report says many students living in the Lal Masjid compound are engaged in Afghan jihad. They were trained for suicide attacks and encouraged to seek martyrdom. There were some 4,000 to 5,000 of these men. The madrassas also stockpile brand new Kalashnikovs, AK-47s and rocket launchers, says the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Some parting shots by author P. David Hornick provide telling insight into the cruel dilemma facing Israel. Muslim hypocrisy lies at the root of it and the author deftly exposes this fundamental fact.
As the surviving member of the Haran family, Smadar Haran-Kaiser, said in recent interviews, Nasrallah achieves sadistic pleasure in setting the families of terror victims against each other; he has been waging psychological warfare against Israel by cynically and cruelly manipulating the tragedies of Israelis. Not surprisingly, she opposes the release of Kantar on any terms.
In whose name does Nasrallah act?
He is, after all, the head of a terror organization that claims to act in the name of God (Hizbullah means Party of God). He is hosted by the Lebanese government and directly supported by the Syrian and Iranian governments. As an Arab and a Muslim, he is directly connected to the twenty-one Arab countries that share his culture and language and to the much larger number of Muslim countries in the name of whose God he speaks. Is there shame in the Arab and Muslim world over the spectacle of sadism, of inversion of all moral principles, that Nasrallah is conducting? Is there soul-searchinga sense of confronting moral dilemmas? These are rhetorical questions in the purest sense, since the answer could not be clearer.
When Israelis, by contrast, were accused of moral irresponsibility in the case of the 1982 Sabra and Shatilla massacres in Lebanon, not only Israelis but Jews all over the world were affected, anxious to know what had really happened and whether Israel was really culpable. Even when Israeli criminals like Baruch Goldstein or the Jewish underground of the 1980s, acting entirely on their own, carried out acts of ideological murder against Arabs, Israelis as well as Diaspora Jews reacted with shame and horror.
Nothing similar, unfortunately, can be said about the Arab and Muslim worlds in this case. Hizbullah, under Nasrallah, has: kidnapped a civilian and subjected him to brutal tortures; kidnapped three soldiers after Israel hadas certified even by the UNwithdrawn from all Lebanese territory and murdered them in cold blood; and has now announced that Tannenbaum will die in captivity, the bodies of the three soldiers will be kept from their families, and 420 fellow Arabs and Muslims will remain (at least for a while) in Israeli jails if Samir Kantarguilty of the murder of a 28-year-old man, a four-year-old girl, and a two-year girlis not freed.
Whether the Kantar snag is somehow finessed and the deal goes through, or remains intractable and the deal collapses, Israel will continue to face the overarching dilemma of how to behave both prudently and morally in the face of enemies who have no moral principles and enjoy twisting moral concerns into sadistic perversions. Considering that a wide Israeli consensus now regards the Jibril deal as having been unwise and harmful, it is likely that if the current deal goes through, Israel will come to regret it for similar reasons, despite the differences in dimensions and nuances. If Israel were to gain anything from this ordeal, it would be a recognition by the outside world of the radical moral asymmetry of the conflict it is engaged in. Anyone who believes in the most basic human rightsnot to be kidnapped, tortured, and murdered, the right of parents to bury their sons, the right to life of a two-year-old girlmust ask not only why Israels direct foe in this case, Hizbullah, is allowed to flout these rights openly and cynically on the world stage, but also why the entire Arab and Muslim world that it represents does not raise a peep of protest.
#1
When will the Israelis learn that they have no choice but to kill these murderers quickly? Kantar should be turned over to the relatives of the people he murdered; I suspect they would treat him as he so richly deserves.
I see no reason why the Israelis should not start operating from a position of strength, e.g, telling the Palestinians that they will execute a Paleo murderer every day until they either empty their jails or the three soldiers are returned. They would either get the three soldiers back or do themselves a great favor in clearing up a lot of Paleo trash too villainous to ever be let loose again.
The Paleos like death; I see no reason for Israel not to give it to them until they are more than sated. It's not as if Israeli restraint has made Paleos either more tractable or less dangerous. If Paleos ever get the upper hand they will gleefully finish what Hitler started. Give them credit for one thing; they have never failed to say exactly that. Nothing Israel can do will persuade Paleos to stop their murderous aggression other than killing them, so they might as well get started.
Posted by: Mac ||
04/23/2007 19:13 Comments ||
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[Israeli] Supporters of the deal claim that this time, the blood on their hands principle will be honored and the detainees were all slated to be released in a few years anyway. Turning to the experts doesnt necessarily help in resolving the dilemma: at the Sunday-night cabinet meeting, Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Shin Bet GSS chief Avi Dichter came out squarely against the deal, warning that it will give Nasrallah a big boost and lead to further kidnappings; but Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon and head of intelligence Aharon Zeevi came out in favor, arguing precisely the oppositethat keeping all the terrorists in Israeli prisons is what will encourage further hostage-taking ventures whereas freeing them will deprive Nasrallah of his main cards.
The 420 prisoners that Israel holds were caught 'in flagrante delicto' and legally apprehended, tried and then sentenced as criminals.
Hizbullah OTOH has purposefully kidnapped civilians and soldiers so they can HAVE bodies to exchange for their terrorists held by Israel. [Hizbullah's lust for torture can't be ruled out either]
assuming the article is accurate...
Moshe Yaalon and Aharon Zeevi think that after the *SWAP* Hizbullah are less apt to kidnap Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Huh?
They *MUST* be smoking some illegal combo;
pcp + crack + drano? what ever it is, it's making them way confused.
Israel snatched these two skidmarks in Lebanon a few years ago. Sheik Obeid and Mustafa Dirani
#3
Fuck almighty, the forehead callouses are patently visible on those two! TALK ABOUT A MARK OF THE DEVIL!
Your comments are spot on, RD!
Israel goes to great lengths when it comes to grabbing those complicit with terrorist activities.
Hezbollah could care less whom they grab for their sordid ransom demands. Nasrallah and his command chain really need swift extermination more than anything else.
#4
Tikkun Olam (literally: fixing the world; for the good order of the world; as a precaution for the general good). RD, thank you so much for posting this article. I have always understood Tikkun Olam as repairing the world. There is slight difference as I see it. If there is anything that propels Tikkun Olam, it is the battle against Islamic terrorism.
I had much to cite from your excellent link, RD. Instead, all I shall post is a summation from the worthy passages you linked to.
In other words, the public takes precedence over the individual, even if this endangers the individual. Exchanging hundreds or thousands of terrorists for one Israeli encourages kidnapping of Israelis, and frees hundreds or thousands of terrorists who will pick up their weapons and attack Israel. In other words, it endangers the public and should not be done.
Thank you so much for posting the above photo. Never could I have believed that there was so clearly a mark of the Devil. Now I know that there is one. Bless you, RD.
Racism cite below
JERUSALEM - Israeli Arab lawmaker Azmi Bishara announced his resignation from parliament Sunday, weeks after leaving the country amid a police investigation. Bisharas office said he tendered his resignation at the Israel Embassy in Egypt. Police said last week they had launched an investigation into Bishara, but were barred by a court order from giving details. Israeli media have speculated the probe could lead to charges ranging from treason to corruption.
The corruption part is easy, every Israeli pol is corrupt ...
Bishara, 50, leads the National Democratic Assembly, an Arab party which has three members in the 120-seat Israeli parliament. Israels Arab citizens make up about 20 percent and growing of the countrys population. Interviewed by Al Jazeera satellite TV on Sunday, Bishara did not indicate when, or even if, he intended to return to Israel, where he says his opponents would make political capital of the police inquiry. 'Now I have become an ordinary citizen, he said. Now there are new rules for the game in which I define the limits, rules where the investigation does not touch my ideological and political position nor my social standing within the Palestinian people.
"I'm in Cairo. Nyeh, nyeh!"
He once summed up the situation of Arabs who found themselves part of Israel when it was formed in 1948 out of part of what had been British-ruled Palestine. We didnt come to Israel, he said. Israel came to us. Bisharas frequent visits to Syria and Lebanon have angered Jewish lawmakers, who have accused him of treason for calling on Arabs around the world to support the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel. He outraged many Israelis when, on one of his trips to Syria, he sat next to the leader of Lebanons Hezbollah militia at a memorial service for Syrias late President Hafez Assad. Update:
AN ARAB MP said to be Israel's most controversial politician yesterday resigned from parliament and announced he would stay abroad for a time because of a "racist" climate in the country. He handed in his resignation at the Israeli embassy in Cairo yesterday, which removes his immunity from prosecution as an MP, saying he had commitments in other countries. Mr Bishara said that if he stayed in Israel, legal proceedings could continue for many years and he would not be able to leave the country. "There is no point now to clinging to parliamentary status and immunity within this racist orchestra," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
AMF. Stay in Egypt; you're not welcome in Israel. The Israelis should strip him of his citizenship, confiscate all his assets, and deport his extended family to Gaza.
Posted by: Mac ||
04/23/2007 19:17 Comments ||
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Israel made errors during the Second War in Lebanon, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni bore some responsibility for them, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a series of radio interviews Sunday morning. "We will draw conclusions from all the events that took place, we will make sure to fix the errors, we will make sure to better manage all things connected to security preparedness," Olmert told Israel Radio, but he emphasized that Israel "totally neutralized the activities of Hizbullah in the North."
In an interview with Army Radio, Olmert said that Livni had been fully involved in the debates that took place before and during the war, and that the foreign minister had also voted in favor of the cease-fire. The prime minister also reiterated that the war had opened a window of political opportunities that had not been possible before.
Moving to the topic of Iran, Olmert told Army Radio that the topic was being well taken care of by the international community. "The danger of Teheran is of greatest significance," the prime minister said, but added that he "refuses to get into apocalyptic predictions that try to create panic and hysteria."
In his interview with Israel Radio, Olmert further expanded on the Iran issue. "The security council has passed two resolutions, which impose unprecedented sanctions," he said. "I think there is a possibility, even without a military operation, to stop Iran from going nuclear."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel made errors during the Second War in Lebanon ... Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
Ehud, I hate to tell you this, but you can't buck responsibility up any higher than the Prime Minister. The buck stops there.
UN-mediated negotiations to secure a prisoner swap between Hizbullah and Israel are going on in a "serious" manner, but so far there have been no results, Hizbullah's deputy leader said Sunday. Sheik Naim Kassem also stressed that IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose capture by Hizbullah last summer triggered the 34-day Second Lebanon War, would be freed only in exchange for freedom of all Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. "The negotiations are serious and when they reach any result, it will be announced, because we have agreed not to announce details of the negotiations to secure their success and to keep them away from political and media blackmail," Kassem said.
On the same day the two Israelis were captured, Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told a news conference that the two soldiers would be released only through a prisoner exchange with Israel.
Israel had initially rejected calls for a prisoner swap to secure the soldiers' freedom, calling instead for their unconditional release. It later accepted a UN mediation in the case. A special UN envoy dispatched last September by then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been mediating between Hizbullah and Israel on a possible prisoner swap. Hizbullah has not released any details on the conditions of Goldwasser and Regev or provided any sign they are still alive since their capture.
Kassem hoped that the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah would end "quickly and in a better way," stressing that all Lebanese prisoners must be freed in any deal. "We are committed to this slogan regardless of the patience and sacrifices we endure. We are confident that the Israelis will eventually comply," he said.
Kassem was speaking at a Hizbullah rally in a mosque in Beirut's war-devastated southern suburbs to mark the 28th anniversary of Samir Kantar's captivity in Israel. Kantar is serving a 542-year prison sentence in Israel for killing three Israelis during an attack in 1979 and is one of four men who Hizbullah demands be released by Israel. "There can be no solution to the prisoners' issue except through an equal exchange that will release our prisoners, on top of them is Samir Kantar," Kassem said, drawing cheers from the crowd that included Kantar's mother and family members.
Israel says it will not release Kantar until it receives information about Ron Arad, an air force navigator who went missing after his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. His fate is unknown.
Israel and Hizbullah have had prisoner swaps in the past. During his visit to Lebanon last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment that there had been no progress toward the release of the two Israeli soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose capture by Hizbullah last summer triggered the 34-day Second Lebanon War, would be freed only in exchange for freedom of all Lebanese prisoners held in Israel.
How is the Muslim mind so shameless that even broaches such blatantly ridiculous proposals? Negotiators who have the gall to utter such patent absurdities aloud should be shot on the spot, a la Korbin Dallas School of Negotiation.
Kassem was speaking at a Hizbullah rally in a mosque in Beirut's war-devastated southern suburbs to mark the 28th anniversary of Samir Kantar's captivity in Israel. Kantar is serving a 542-year prison sentence in Israel for killing three Israelis during an attack in 1979 and is one of four men who Hizbullah demands be released by Israel.
Israel says it will not release Kantar until it receives information about Ron Arad, an air force navigator who went missing after his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. His fate is unknown.
Samir Kantar remains jailed for smashing in the head of four year-old Einat Haran with his rifle butt after making her watch him kill her father in cold blood. This brutal Neanderthal must never be allowed to see the light of day. Aviator Arad is most likely in Iran, if he is alive at all. There remains no proof that any of Israel's captive soldiers are even alive at this time. This entire proposition is a travesty of monstrous proportions and will only encourage further predation upon Israeli citizens by these vicious thugs.
From Front Page Magazine:
This time Israel is supposed to trade 420 convicted terrorists, including 20 Lebanese and 400 Palestinians, to the Hizbullah terror organization for one kidnapped Israeli civilian and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. The civilian, Elchanan Tannenbaum, was kidnapped by Hizbullah in October 2000 apparently while on a business trip in an Arab country and, according to reports, has been severely tortured. The soldiers, St.-Sgts. Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan, and Omar Sawayid, were also kidnapped by Hizbullah that same month while on patrol on the Israeli side of Israel's border with Lebanon, and are presumed to have been killed. The 20 Lebanese Israel is supposed to hand over include Sheik Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, Shiite militia leaders whom Israel claimed it was holding as bargaining chips for Ron Arad, the captured Israeli airman who is still believed to be held in Iran and will not be part of the exchange
After months of agonizing debate, including appeals and demonstrations by relatives (and their supporters) of the four dead or imprisoned Israelis and of Arad, Israel has decided to pay the heavy price despite dire warnings by opponents of the deal that it means rewarding, and further encouraging, anti-Israeli terror.
But now theres a wrench in the worksSamir Kuntar. Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah terror master, says that unless this 421st terrorist is also released, theres no deal. Israel says, no way.
Who is Samir Kuntar? On April 22, 1979, he led a group of four terrorists who infiltrated Israeli waters from Lebanon and beached their rubber dinghy in the coastal town of Nahariya. Breaking into the apartment of the Haran family, they took 28-year-old Danny Haran hostage along with his four-year-old daughter Einat. Smadar Haran, hiding in the attic with her two-year-old daughter Yael, tried desperately to keep the girl quiet and ended up suffocating her. During a resultant shootout with Israeli policemen and soldiers, the terrorists killed the father and the four-year-old girl in cold blood, a policeman and two of the terrorists were killed, and Kuntar and the other terrorist were captured. The latter, Ahmed Abarrass, has long been a free man: along with 1100 other terrorists, he was freed by Israel in the 1986 Ahmed Jibril prisoner deal in return for three Israeli soldiers.
What makes Kuntar different from all the other prisoners Israel is supposed to release this time? The difference is that hes the only one whos defined as having blood on his handsof having murdered Israeli civilians. This time, Israel says, thats where it draws the line. The other detainees include Obeid and Dirani, the Lebanese Shiite militia leaders, one of whom, Dirani, is charged with having held and tortured Ron Arad in the first period of his captivity and then selling him to Iran; other Lebanese who took part in killing Israeli soldiers in that country; and 400 Palestinians who played various accessory roles in terrorism but did not directly kill anyone themselves. But as Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom stated: Prime Minister Sharon said that Kuntars release is out of the question. The murder of a family in Israel is unforgivable. . . . We have stated in the clearest possible terms throughout the negotiations that Kuntar is not on the list. Says Nasrallah: Any swap that excludes any of the Lebanese detainees will not be acceptable. . . . I say to the enemy [Israeli] government . . . that the first name on the list must be Samir Kantar.
#2
This is another reason why a death penalty should have been carried out for a man like Samir Kantar, to prevent a feckless future government from releasing him to satisfy the demands of a terrorist group.
Israel may have a reputation for being tough in combatting terrorism but they are in actuality far too gentle.
#4
OK, Israel needs to nuke all of Lebanon south of Beirut. Forget warnings, forget anything else. The UNIFIL is really UNIFAIL, the Lebanese Army control of southern Lebanon is a joke. Take out Hezbollah and all its Iranian-supplied fancy weapons. Take out Nastyrailalot and his henchmen. Take out half of Lebanon, and tell the other half (plus Gaza, Ramallah, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt) they'd better get their sh$$ straight, or they're next. It's the only way Israel can guarantee a "buffer zone" on their northern border. It's past time to do it. They're never going to get anything from Hezbollah but trouble.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/23/2007 21:06 Comments ||
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#5
In the good olde days⢠Israel did not negotiate with terrorists---they went all the way to Uganda to free Israeli citizens taken by terrorists. And killed the perps. They did not put up with this sh*t. Now, by negotiating with Hizb'Allah, they are in effect recognizing them as a viable entity. This is an extremely grave and detrimental thing for the state of Israel.
Hizb'Allah and their friends should be giving over the two Israeli soldiers, while begging for mercy. The latest half-a$$ed attack on Hizb'Allah in Lebanon, though hurting Hizb'Allah, was an unmitigated disaster for Israel, because they did not destroy Hizb'Allah and their leadership.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/23/2007 21:26 Comments ||
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Mayor Gavin Newsom vowed Sunday to maintain San Francisco as a sanctuary for immigrants and do everything he can to discourage federal authorities from conducting immigration raids.
The mayor cannot stop federal authorities from making arrests, Newsom told about 300 mostly Latino members of St. Peter's Church and other religious groups supporting immigrants. But no San Francisco employee will help with immigration enforcement.
"I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids," Newsom declared. "We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it.".... This is about 90% symbolic partly because SF is so expensive that middle class families can't find housing never mind illegal immigrants. However, it is indicative of where the left is on this.
#1
I note that the states are getting ready for the next census, scheduled for 2010. My guess is this announcement in early '07 will give a good head start for a population influx by late '08; after the primaries and not really on the radar yet for the general 'lection.
#4
Accessory to the fact. Conspiracy. Obstructing federal officers in the performance of their duties.
or
Sic the torte lawyers on them, for every case where a citizen is robbed, raped, assaulted or murdered by an illegal within their jurisdiction for creating the environment which made the crime possible.
#5
SF is self-insured. It would warm the cockles to see some heavy weight Law Center or Law School pick it as a target and sue the living crap out of San Francisco and it's mayor Gavin 'work-for-me-and-I'll-pork-your-wife' Newsom.
#7
It occurs to me the reason for all the symbolic gestures by the Liberal Left and the Democrats, but then I repeat myself, is because they don't actually have to do anything. Take the recent vote in Vermont to impeach the Predident. They can't actually do anything so they "Symbolically" impeached him. Look at all the recent symbolic displays getting play in the media. Symbols can be very powerful in eliciting emotions but they need to be visual. We communicate with symbols every day without uttering actual words but these symbols are visual. Certain street signs, bathroom signs, the symbols for applications on your computer are some examples but they are visual. It seems when someone does something like San Francisco and calls it "Symbolic" it elicits derision and ridicule. Karl Jung had some interesting things to say about symbology in "Man and his Symbols".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/23/2007 13:02 Comments ||
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#8
Every year the city of San Franciso through the City Attorney's Office officially certifies that they will enforce all federal laws as a condition of the receipt of federal grant funds. Every year they certify, then enforce a policy directly, and knowingly contrary to what they certify. Since this certification has the power of a contractual or sworn statement, the city is knowingly liable to breach of contract and possible perjury charges. The Pacific Legal Foundation or some other group needs to sue for an injunction to this practice. It is just plain illegal.
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.
House Defense appropriator Jim Moran (D-Va.) said a two-month bill is intended to keep troops funded without giving the president too much latitude. Six months is probably too long, Moran said. One month it takes longer than that to pass the thing.
