Clashes between Afghan and Pakistani border guards that left more than a dozen dead will further strain ties between the two neighbours, Kabul said on Tuesday. The fighting erupted on Sunday and continued into Monday, when a NATO soldier and a Pakistani trooper were killed in an ambush after a meeting on the Pakistani side of the border aimed at calming the tension. Pakistan has said the gunman was unidentified, but Afghan President Hamid Karzais senior spokesman Karim Rahimi repeated on Monday the claim that a Pakistani officer had opened fire on the group.Islamabad has denied the allegation.
Such incidents will have unpleasant effects on the relations between the two countries, Rahimi told reporters in Kabul, also accusing Pakistani guards of initiating the fighting at the weekend. The Pakistani military has said the other side triggered the clashes which involved heavy weapons and left 13 Afghans dead, about half of them policemen and the rest civilians, including children. The Afghan government has complained to the United Nations in a letter strongly opposing this flagrant interference and irresponsible action by the Pakistani army, the Foreign Ministry said. On Monday it summoned Pakistans ambassador accusing the neighbouring army of an intrusion into Afghan territory and of being provocative. Such incidents will no doubt affect our relations and are against the international norms and against agreements between the two brotherly countries to fight together against terrorism, the spokesman said. This is a very serious issue. We are trying through different diplomatic channels to assess the situation (and) to see the reason behind that, Rahimi said. The spokesman said his government was making efforts to see that similar incidents are avoided, but added that his country would be resolute. Afghanistan is ready to defend every inch of its soil. Our police are weak but they bravely defended their positions, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Afghanistan cannot afford to speak too strongly against such Pakistani activities (and certainly can't actually DO much) - it depends on us for its survival, and we depend on supply lines through Pakistan for our survival. Pakistan can cause disruption to those supply lines through bureaucratic interventions, or can allow serious harm to them through ISI/Taliban sabotage.
The UN is to investigate claims of human rights violations committed during recent fighting in the Somali capital, a senior official has said. John Holmes, the UN's emergency humanitarian co-ordinator, said Somalia had agreed to a UN inquiry into recent fighting that killed an estimated 1,400 people and led to a civilian exodus from Mogadishu. I thought he died of AIDS a few years ago?
"I raised the claims that there have been massive abuses of international law," Holmes said in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Holmes visited Mogadishu on Saturday, but cut short his trip after an explosion near a UN compound killed three people. "See whudda mean?"
The Somali government denies responsibility for alleged human rights violations, but will allow a visit by Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "Clearly, there were major problems, major abuses during that period," Holmes said.
Ethiopian forces helped Somali troops rout the Powerful Union of Islamic Courts movement from south and central Somalia, including Mogadishu, at the start of the year. Fighters opposed to the government have since then mounted an armed campaign against soldiers and Ethiopian troops, with violence peaking during March and April in Mogadishu. Two bouts of heavy clashes in March and April resulted in more than 300,000 people fleeing Mogadishu, and triggered what the UN called "the world's worst humanitarian crisis".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The spokesman of Egypt's Muslim Brotherood Essam el Ariane was stopped Tuesday by security forces as he was heading to Cairo airport to take a flight to Oslo, according to a report on the movement's website. El Ariane had been due to attend a conference in the Norwegian capital. According to the Muslim Brotherhood, officially banned but largely tolerated,, "this is the latest episode of repression by the region in the vain effort to discourage the Muslim Brotherhood from taking part in the upcoming elections."
The candidate registration process for the upcoming elections of the Shura Council (Senate) in Egypt opened on Tuesday and will be open until Sunday. Egyptian voters will be called to elect 174 members of the higher chamber of the Egyptian parliament in a climate of incresing tension between the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and the Islamist opposition, exacerbated by the arrest in recent weeks of various leading figures in the Muslim Brotherhood and the referral to a military court of 34 of its members.
"Islam is the solution" is the slogan with which the Islamist movement intends to compete in the coming polls.
Unlike other opposition movements which say they will boycott the polls, the Muslim Brotherhood has indicated it will take part, presenting 20 candidates, despite a law which prevents the creation of parties on a religious basis and the use during an electoral campaign of religious slogans. "Islam is the solution" is the slogan with which the Islamist movement, which secured 88 seats in parliament in November 2005 elections by running its candidates as independents, intends to compete in the coming polls.
The first round of the elections, to be held in 26 provinces, is scheduled for 11 June while a second round will be held on 18 June. The Shura is made up of 264 members - two thirds elected by the people and one third nominated directly by the president. The appointed members have a six year mandate while those elected have a three year term.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Islam is the solution to nothing--unless of course you like being a 7th century barbarian that doesn't care a whit about life. The message ought to be "DUMP ISLAM IMMEDIATELY--IT IS A DEAD END FOR YOU, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR CHILDREN, YOUR GOAT, YOUR DOG. FURTHERMORE THE 72 VIRGIN FABLE IS A LIE. DON'T BELIEVE THE BULLSHIT. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN FROM ISLAM."
(AKI) - Osama bin Laden directly ordered the failed attack against an oil platform in Saudi Arabia in February 2006, Saudi authorities announced on Tuesday. The revelation came from a terror suspect arrested by the police accused of having given logistic support to the suicide bomb cell that sought to attack the Abqiq site. Abdullah al-Muqrin said "an operation of this nature could not be carried out without a fatwa (religious edict) from bin Laden himself and to receive it we had to wait for eight months".
A second suspect involved in the attack, Khaled al-Kurdi, revealed that "three cities and oil installations [in Saudi Arabia] had been identified by al-Qaeda as targets - Abqiq, Khobar e al-Jubeil. Two suicide bombers tried to storm the Abqiq plant - the country's biggest oil-gathering facility - on 24 February 2006 but were thwarted. They were prevented from breaking through one of the gates when guards opened fire on them. The vehicles exploded, resulting in the deaths of the two attackers and serious injuries to two security guards, who later died of their wounds.
According to the statements by the terror suspects, the aim of the terror network was to reproduce in the kingdom the same effect that the 11 September attacks had in the United States. In addition, the cell reportedly planned to carry out attakcs in neighbouring Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Last month the Saudi authorities arrested 172 suspected members of seven terrorist cells, some of whom had reportedly been training as pilots to be used in attacks on state oil sites.
This article starring:
ABDULLAH AL MUQRIN
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
KHALED AL KURDI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Sounds like Usef/Joseph didn't want to offend his Saudi relations more than necessary. ION, KOMMERSANT > IRAN CLOSE TO INDUSTRIAL-SCALE URANIUM ENRICHMENT. Russia - once operational [ by June 2007 as per Moud]3000 centrifuges will be enuff for uranium-based nuke bomb production within one year. WORLDNEWS > TIME RUNNING OUT FOR WORLD TO STOP IRAN. We do = World do, or does NOT.
In an important move aimed at preventing militants from obtaining explosives, Saudi Arabias Council of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, approved a new law yesterday that regulates the possession, export, import, sale, exchange, transport and storage of explosives (made for nonmilitary purposes) and firecrackers.
The explosives and firecrackers law bans unauthorized persons from carrying out explosions and operating firecracker devices. Tough punishment will be imposed on persons involved in smuggling, manufacturing and assembling explosives with the intention of undermining the Kingdoms security.
The law specifies punishment for those individuals who possess explosives and train others in making and using them, the Saudi Press Agency said. The interior minister will issue an executive bylaw for the new law within 120 days after its publication in the official gazette.
The passing of the new law comes two weeks after the Cabinet took another decision curbing the sale of industrial and agricultural chemicals that could be used to make explosives. It banned the sale of various solid forms of nitrate compounds for three years. The Cabinet banned the use of ammonium, calcium, potassium and magnesium nitrates as well as their byproducts in solid/granule/powder forms for three years for agricultural purposes, SPA said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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We know what 'tough punishment' can mean in KSA, but how could it be applied to Sharia-praiseworthy activities like building bombs to kill infidels?
An anti-war group is hiring activists to travel to at least a dozen states this summer to galvanize opposition to what it calls the "Bush-McCain plan to escalate" the U.S. mission in Iraq.
President Bush early this year announced a "surge" of additional troops into Iraq, while Arizona Sen. John McCain -- a leading Republican 2008 presidential hopeful -- has long advocated increasing the number of troops in the conflict, criticizing the administration for not doing so earlier. Anti-war activists want U.S. troops out of Iraq altogether.
The organization Americans Against Escalation in Iraq doesn't hide its partisanship, saying it wants to "force a victorious showdown in the fall" and that the summer campaign will make participants "primed, ready and qualified to serve on '08 electoral campaigns."
A coalition of liberal and anti-war groups, the organization is advertising online for activists, offering a "generous stipend" of $400 a week. More than 100 organizers will likely be hired. The ads say they "could be assigned to targeted legislative districts anywhere in the country -- you will receive your assignment after you have been accepted."
The group won't release details on the summer campaign until a later date, said spokeswoman Moira Mack.
"We are definitely building up the capacity for the summer," Mack said. "A couple of our allies have started Iraq action summer training camps on campuses across the country."
The coalition comprises MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress -- both heavily financed by billionaire liberal activist George Soros in 2004 -- as well as the Service Employees International Union, anti-war groups Vote Vets and Win Without War, and others.
Some of these anti-war groups have regular morning conference calls with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate to discuss talking points, polling and strategy, according to press reports.
The summer campaign is a clear example of how the well-financed anti-war left is using the "Vietnam playbook to deny the troops the military victories earned on the battlefield," said Kristinn Taylor, spokesman for the group Gathering of Eagles, which says it supports American victory in the Iraq war.
"The anti-war left is much better funded. They're the squeaky wheel," Taylor said. "Most Americans don't want to lose in Iraq, they're just frustrated because they don't see results. If our side was better organized, we could get more people involved and educate more people."
When anti-war protesters marched to the Pentagon in March, the Gathering of Eagles sponsored a well-attended counter rally. The group will be holding a Memorial Day rally near the Lincoln Memorial.
On May 17, the group Move America Forward will be holding "Surrender Is Not an Option" rallies outside the San Francisco office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and outside the Carson City, Nev., office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Americans Against Escalation In Iraq will take aim at any elected officials who seem to be wavering on their backing for the mission in Iraq.
"We are targeting states that have folks we can win over to our side," Mack said. "Some have spoken out against President Bush, but then, they vote with him."
She said McCain would be an especially key target. "He said we are on the right track in Iraq ... citizens have to let him know he does not speak for them."
The group's summer campaign will run from mid-June through Labor Day. "This is the most important issue campaign facing our nation, and the results of this challenge will heavily weigh on electoral races in '08," the employment ad says.
"Americans Against Escalation in Iraq is in the process of deciding what states to target," said Eve Weismann, spokeswoman for New Jersey Citizen Action, a member group in the coalition. "It will be a dozen states or two dozen states. We will pressure and influence decision makers."
#1
The coalition comprises MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress -- both heavily financed by billionaire liberal activist George Soros in 2004 -- as well as the Service Employees International Union, anti-war groups Vote Vets and Win Without War, and others.
Some of these anti-war groups have regular morning conference calls with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate to discuss talking points, polling and strategy, according to press reports.
#2
How about Soros buy some backwater country and then go their and make it over in the way he wants. How about Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Iran, or North Korea?
#5
Soros is not a native American so his citizenship could be voided just like the Mafia don's used to be. Then he could be deported back to Hungry with a side stop in Malaysia.
#6
I saw those ads on Craigs list. They give you $400, food and board. Woo, hoo! You could make more money at McDonalds and stay with mom and dad.
It strikes me that Soros is getting desperate and is an old man with an old cause. That he has to pay a pittance and advertise on the national Craigs List borders on pathetic.
#7
The Savior of the Democratic party, George Soros. Their lord. Half of America placed their trust there.
umm... wow.
That was blogs ago, you know.
Electing the great Trojan Horse to open the gates to foreign invaders because anything is better if they can quote Marx and Lenin during a presidental campaign and da peopLe go "yup, yup". Even after it failed 38 times in the past. Yup, thats not a "new" direction.
After losing a string of embarrassing votes on the House floor because of procedural maneuvering, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to change the current House Rules to completely shut down the floor to the minority.
The Democratic Leadership is threatening to change the current House Rules regarding the Republican right to the Motion to Recommit or the test of germaneness on the motion to recommit. This would be the first change to the germaneness rule since 1822.
In protest, the House Republicans are going to call procedural motions every half hour.
#8
Pelosi is really out of control and seems downright crazy. I think that the hole that she has dug herself is so deep that she decided she might as well try to get all the way through to China.
#9
NEWSMAX > HOUSE NIXES [budget]BAR TO IRAN ATTACK; + WORLDTRIBUNE > ED KOCH > DEMOCRATS WILL GET THE BLAME FOR IRAQ SURRENDER, TIME NOW FOR HOMELAND DEFENSE. For any US surrender and failure in Iraq-ME, that is.
Iff the specific targeting = kidnapping of US troops doesn't cause Dubya to "blink", and iff Moud = Radical Islam no longer trusts or believes that a DEM POTUS after 2008 will do anything for Iran, etc. i.e. stop US entrenchment or empower US withdrawal from the ME = World World, AMERICAN HIROSHIMA(S), espec WMD TERROR ATTACKS AGZ DUBYA + USG-NPE, MAY BE RESORTED TO.
#10
JPOST Op-Ed > BUSH MAY ATTACK IRAN NEAR THE END OF HIS LAST TERM article. Good points given, but I am not convinced. Moud = Iran must trust the US DEMS for after 2008 US Elex, or he doesn't.
As they say, go read it all. This is just a select few quotes.
It is my deeply held conviction that these people are not only wrong, they are disastrously wrong and that the withdrawal they demand would be a moral and security catastrophe
_________
The fact of the matter is, you cannot claim to be tough on terrorism while demanding that our military withdraw from Iraq, because it is the terrorists particular Al Qaeda that our military is fighting in Iraq.
_________
For many Democrats, if President Bush is for it, they must be against it. If the war is going badly, it is bad for Republicans and it is good for Democrats. It is as simple as that, and it is as wrong as that.
_________
The fact is, a loss to Al Qaeda and Iran in Iraq would be devastating to our security. ... We must make them with our eye on the safety of Americas next generation, not the outcome of Americas next election.
_________
I believe that each of us should be grateful that we have a commander-in-chief who does not believe that decisions about war should be driven by poll numbers.
_________
It is a choice not just about our foreign policy and our national security and our interests in the Middle East. It is about what our political leaders in both parties are prepared to stand for. It is about our very soul as a nation.
_________
He said: Sir, I want you to know on behalf of the soldiers in my unit and myself that we believe in why we are fighting here, we want to finish this fight. And we know we can win it.
_________
Al Qaeda is on the run, thousands of Iraqis have joined the local police, and yes no less than the New York Times reports that we have turned the corner there.
_________
#4
Actually, the war against Jihad is the only thing on which he is on the right side. Even in other military and foreign policy matters, he's more like Clinton or Edwards than and Republican.
So, yeah, I'd vote for him over, oh, Ron Paul, but anyone else from the GOP (including Drain Commissioner or Dogcatcher) would get My vote otherwise.
President Bush tapped Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute yesterday to serve as a new White House "war czar" overseeing the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, choosing a low-key soldier who privately expressed skepticism about sending more troops to Iraq during last winter's strategy review.
In the newly created position, Lute will coordinate often disjointed military and civilian operations and manage the Washington side of the same troop increase he resisted before Bush announced the plan in January. Bush hopes an empowered aide working in the White House and answering directly to him will be able to cut through bureaucracy that has hindered efforts in Iraq.
The selection capped a difficult recruitment process for the White House, as its initial candidates rejected the job. At least five retired four-star generals approached by the White House or intermediaries refused to be considered. Lute, a three-star general now serving as chief operations officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in effect will jump over many superiors as he moves to the West Wing and assumes authority to deal directly with Cabinet secretaries and top commanders.
"General Lute is a tremendously accomplished military leader who understands war and government and knows how to get things done," Bush said in a statement.
In choosing Lute, Bush picked a key internal voice of dissent during the administration review that led to the troop increase. Reflecting the views of other members of the Joint Chiefs, Lute argued that a short-term "surge" would do little good and that any sustained increase in forces had to be matched by equal emphasis on political and economic steps, according to officials informed about the deliberations.
Lute believed the situation in Iraq reflected the same mistakes as the ineffective and disorganized response to Hurricane Katrina, according to a source familiar with the debate. Like others at the Pentagon, he was also irked because civilian agencies, in his view, had not done nearly enough to help stabilize Iraq. And he was outspoken about the increasing strains on the U.S. military, officials said.
National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said Lute raised his concerns during talks before his selection. "He had the same skepticism a lot of us had," Hadley said. "That's one of the reasons we designed the strategy the way we did." By joining the White House, Hadley said, Lute can ensure that the economic and political elements of the plan are implemented. "In some sense, he's part of the cure for the problems he was concerned about."
Until Bush decided this spring to create the position, the highest-ranking White House official working exclusively on Iraq and Afghanistan was a deputy national security adviser reporting to Hadley. Lute, by contrast, will have the rank of assistant to the president, just as Hadley does, and report directly to Bush, while also holding the title of deputy national security adviser.
The new war czar will consult with generals and diplomats in the field each morning, then join Hadley in briefing Bush and spend the rest of the day talking with officials such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to resolve any issues. "The goal is same-day service -- identify the problem in the morning and fix it in the afternoon," Hadley said. Unlike an earlier version of the plan, Hadley said, Lute will oversee both policy and implementation, assisted by a staff of 11.
The position does not require congressional approval, but Lute will need Senate approval because he is an active-duty officer. Hadley said he is not concerned that a three-star officer will be directing superiors. "The issue is not the number of stars," he said.
Some Iraq experts were encouraged. "This is an unusually talented guy," said Ellen Laipson, president of the Henry L. Stimson Center, who returned from Iraq yesterday. "He's one of those intellectual soldiers who also exudes strong personal leadership qualities."
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/16/2007 06:23 ||
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Could have swore this used to called the "Commander in Chief".
Posted by: ed ||
05/16/2007 7:35 Comments ||
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#2
The Commander in Chief used to be able to help plan to fight and win wars too.
#3
George Marshall did very well. You don't need a wire diagram. You don't need fancy titles or office space. You just need a Prez who turns to the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Head of the CIA, and point to the officer and say "He's in charge. You work for him. Do what he says. And if you don't, you're fired." Clean, simple, to the point.
#5
Where did we get all these 4 star generals ?
What the hell did they ever do ?
I trust the stars are pewter, and not silver. You know, the easy-to-come-by cheap stars you can get at Walmart.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/16/2007 17:22 Comments ||
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#11
It's a Presidential attempt to form a non-Republican Federal Democracy by creating a level of Ministerial posts just below the Presidency that actually handle everything and pass information that the President "needs to know" to him "when he needs to know it".
IOW it's an attempt by a lameduck President to distance himself from the responsibilities of the office and to defer responsibility to others.
I am so ashamed of this Presidents' recent policies and decisions to not stop the Buck at his desk I cannot even believe it myself.
#13
If Bumble Boy Bush thinks anyone but him is going to shoulder the blame for the ME morass, he's badly mistaken. And he talks about how history will show him in a brighter light. Not. It's going to show him handling this worse than Lyndon Johnson handled (mismanaged)Vietnam. We know how he ended up. Drinking himself to death as he let his Cadillac go round & round in circles on his ranch. Bush has a ranch in Texas. He's a former alky. He just needs a Caddy.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two federal appeals court judges subjected a Bush administration attorney to intense questioning Tuesday as lawyers for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay pleaded for a broad court inquiry on behalf of the detainees.
Judges Judith Rogers and Douglas Ginsburg expressed skepticism about government assurances that the appeals court will receive all necessary evidence in evaluating the detainees' status as enemy combatants. ``I don't see how there can be any meaningful review if we don't know what we don't know,'' Ginsburg told a government attorney.
The latest chapter in the cases of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay is about military tribunals that designated them enemy combatants, leaving them without any of the rights accorded prisoners of war.
This is about the appeals process once a tribunal finds a Gitmo mook guilty of something, and not about the part of the new law that allows for tribunals in the first place. But you can see where the 'defense' lawyers are headed.
Justice Department lawyer Douglas Letter said an extensive record of classified and unclassified material on the tribunal proceedings will be supplied to the court. Congress intended for the court's review to be a narrow one, Letter emphasized.
Letter said the tribunals largely duplicate long-standing procedures laid out in the Army Field Manual. ``You'd better not invoke that,'' Rogers admonished the Justice Department lawyer. ``We don't have all those'' procedures here.
Rogers is a Clinton appointee; Ginsburg, the chief judge of the appeals court, is a Reagan appointee; and the third member of the panel, Karen Lecraft Henderson, is an appointee of President Bush's father.
A year ago, the Republican-controlled Congress at the urging of the Bush administration stripped the prisoners of the right to challenge their indefinite detention. The only challenge detainees can make is to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, for the limited purpose of assessing the military tribunal procedures. ``This is our only chance to go back to the government well,'' attorney Jeffrey Lang told the judges.
The two cases before the appeals court involve Haji Bismullah, an Afghan, and seven men who are Uighurs, Muslims from China who are a persecuted terrorist minority in that country. They are among the 380 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, some of them held for more than five years.
The detainees' attorneys want the appeals court to allow a broad inquiry questioning the accuracy and completeness of the evidence the tribunals gathered about the detainees, most of it classified. The Justice Department seeks a limited review, saying that the findings of the military tribunals are ``entitled to the highest level of deference.'' The appeals court should not engage in fact-finding, argues the Justice Department.
Appeals courts generally aren't supposed to engage in fact-finding; that's the job of a trial court or tribunal. Appeals courts ensure that the law was followed.
An attorney who heard the arguments, Shayana Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights, ...
... the same quasi-commie organization that received the names of all the detainees illegally, as we documented yesterday ...
... called it ``striking'' that the appeals court judges expressed interest in a broader inquiry. The center has led the effort to gain access to the U.S. court system for the detainees so that they can all be set free to kill and murder again.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Either findings of fact or findings of law can be reviewed. The government's position is that appellate review should be limited to findings of law. The Stalinists are arguing for de novo review, which includes both. The appropriate standard is usually specified either by statute or by controlling case law. I'm pretty damn sure that the Geneva Conventions, military commission procedural rules, and precedent say nothing about de novo review, because if they did, the government wouldn't be arguing about it.
#2
No its about the new judiciary aristocracy extending its powers to rule the people without consent. Like the enlighten despot, they know what's good for the serfs public better than the public knows itself. We already know the outcome, this is just the ritual needed to justify the consolidation of more power, to overthrow the outrageous actions of the peasants people. Consent, who needs any stinkin consent? LÉtat, cest moi
#3
The latest chapter in the cases of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay is about military tribunals that designated them enemy combatants, leaving them without any of the rights accorded prisoners of war.
Which, according to the Geneva Conventions that specifies the proper treatment of prisoners of war, they're not entitled to.
Funny how that never gets mentioned.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/16/2007 12:07 Comments ||
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The US Army, stretched thin by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has only half of the senior captains it needs and will offer money and other incentives to keep those officers, according to a memo obtained by Reuters on Monday.
The number of senior captains, or captains closest to promotion, stands at just 51 percent of the Armys requirements, according to a memo from Col George Lockwood, director of officer personnel management at the Armys Human Resources Command. Lockwood said the strains of the US-declared Global War on Terror had contributed to the shortage of officers at the rank of captain. Previous decisions to promote officers more quickly to meet targets for Army majors the rank above captain - also had hurt the number of junior officers available, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe they don't like having George "ROP" Bush as their CIC.
#2
More like everybody's been promoted and there aren't enough kids with hard skills coming out of college willing to join up.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 2:32 Comments ||
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#3
Recruitment and retention drop when the economy is strong -- better pay in the private sector. But FC has a good point. It was a factor for me, and it comes up when Mr. exJAG and I discuss whether he should git while the gittin's good.
#4
Compared to the qualifications for senior NCOs, 20 or 30 years ago, most today would have clearly been commissioned officers. What the service doesn't do, is relook fundamentals. If you expect your E6+ to have an associates degree for promotion [done often on his own time], is it any different than many 01s you had just a couple of decades back. So what the heck, you assign a shave tail O1 to run an outfit with a 15 or 16 year E7 who has a bachelors degree and practical experience. Huh? Is O1 nothing more than a probation period to socialize into the program?
Point being is that the services are locked into a pre-20th century rank and organization structure which imbues a mind set that create its own sets of problems. Personnel management hasn't been a strong suit for the military - Previous decisions to promote officers more quickly to meet targets for Army majors the rank above captain - also had hurt the number of junior officers available, he said. Like no one did a projection of requirements and needs this act would propagate? Duh.
#5
"More like everybody's been promoted and there aren't enough kids with hard skills coming out of college willing to join up."
reread your post. There isnt a shortage of 2nd lts. Its always possible to get more 2nd lts, no? The shortage is senior captains, captains ready to become majors. Problem, I guess, is all the first lts and less senior captains whove done their third tour in Iraq, got sick of it, and found a career outside the army.
Thats why A. The surge is basically our last chance - if theirs no rock solid case for progress by, oh, September, we're back to the Casey plan of gradual withdrawl, at the minimum.
#7
Good comments. I'm a senior enlisted type with 14 years. I have a MBA degree, but I'm not going to 1 year of "boot" training (OCS, TBS and MOS schools) to become a O-1 at the bottom of the food chain. Plus once you pass the paygrade of O-3E (A captain with prior enlisted service), you are maxed out with your years of service pay increases due to an antiquated payscale. You could always do more LDO (Limited Duty Officers) promtions for warrant officers into 0-3/0-4 billets.
#9
And put LDOs and warrants as CO commanders for support jobs. No need to put and officer into an electronics job, nor a trained blanket folder into an O4 staff billet.
In the same boat as O-3s. This is why expansion of the military is so hard. It is relatively easy to get new O-1s and O-2s, but good O-3s only come with experience.
The same thing happened in WWII. We expanded 26 fold in 4 years. We were pretty good from division on up and from company on down. But we had a shortage of good-mid ranking officers.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/16/2007 14:44 Comments ||
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#12
how about making the seargeants who know what they are doing the jrs'
#16
Hell, sure fire-way to the Presidency is to propose a Strategic-Major-Supply, the Nation would take upon it-self to stockpile thousands and thousands of Majors and release them as needed during times of crisis. This will also kick-start the moribund National Cosmolene Committee and stir the Kapok Reserve.
#18
Captain is the first rank when serious up-or-out comes into play. A Lt is usually promoted to Captain just before his first 4-year tour is up. When he re-ups, then he either goes to his officer advanced course, which means he is on the promotion track; or he doesn't, which means that he will stay a Captain.
In either case, he stays a Captain for another four years. But on the promotions track it means that he will be going to school after school; maybe even go for a Master's degree; the non-promotable Captain is going to get more unit experience.
In time of war, the non-promotable Captains are the ones you want at the front, because they will stay with their units and not get pulled away for TDY.
Ironically, the promotable Captains *have* to do all that TDY, instead of staying on the front, because otherwise you will start getting under-qualified Majors. And because Majors are essential to staff functions, that can get very bad in a hurry, screwing up higher headquarters.
Interestingly, in the Canadian army, the RSM is able to take over command of a Battalion and act as Commander or Executive Officer if needed in time of war, with what amounts to a field promotion to LTC.
In the US military, gaps in Major and above can be filled with Chief Warrant Officers, And W-1's and W-2's could be pulled out of maintenance technical jobs to act as Company Commanders. (Though the language involved in that transfer could probably burn off a car's paint down to the primer.)
Security collapse in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could pose far greater problems for the west than either Iraq or Afghanistan, a former US general said on Tuesday, according to the Australian Associated Press news agency.
General John Abizaid, who headed US Central Command from 2003 until retiring in 2007, said the problem was that Pakistan had nuclear weapons while Saudi Arabia had about a quarter of the worlds oil reserves.
Speaking at an Australian Defence College and Royal United Services Institute security seminar, he said the two biggest problems were not necessarily Afghanistan and Iraq. They may very well be Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, he said. The two countries are struggling with the security implications that they have to deal with in regard to their external and internal security problems and, in the case of Pakistan, with the fact that they happen to be a nuclear state.
A meltdown in the security apparatus of those two countries could have implications for us that make the current situation look easy. General Abizaid said both countries administrations were now much more resilient against the extremist threat than they were a few years ago. The challenge now is to figure out how to move the campaign against terror forward in a way that does not inadvertently embolden, enhance or empower the extremist cause, he said.
One of the reasons that the ideology of Bin Laden isnt growing in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is because it doesnt offer anybody anything. Its very dark, very narrow and very negative and people understand that.
General Abizaid said he had great respect for the valour, professionalism and competence of Australias small but highly trained defence forces. You should make sure you understand that you do matter and that we cant continue to operate without our friends, he said. We need friends like you and hope you understand that this fight we are engaged in means that in the long run you need to invest in your own security and invest in the professionalism of your security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
Very good points but all of them are a day late and a dollar short.
One of the reasons that the ideology of Bin Laden isnt growing in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is because it doesnt offer anybody anything. Its very dark, very narrow and very negative and people understand that.
Unfortunately, this changes not one whit Islam's obsession with global shari'a law, which is every bit as fatal as bin Laden's scheme. Back to square one.
Iran still remains our top priority. Both its pursuit of nuclear weapons and, of equal importance, its standing as an Islamic Theocratic regime demand immediate action. Theocratic Islam simply must be prohibited by the West. Shari'a law's direct contradiction and violent assault upon constitutional government make it a primary target. Islam must be taught that its aspiration for global shari'a law will be met at all turns with military response and physical extinction where needed.
The West has yet to learn the precise military argot which will render a successful strategy against Islam. Lack of sufficiently violent retaliation is one of several phrasings that currently elude us. Western politicians, and to a lesser extent, our military both exhibit a fatal unawareness regarding the machinations of high context cultures. This garbles our message and distorts the intended results that we obtain or convey through our our military actions.
Until our military's "dialogue" matches Islam's own understood high context vocabulary, any return we see for the continuing loss of our soldier's lives and stupendous financial drain will never match the desired results.
#4
Both countries are connected by the same ideology-Global islamic dominated world funded by the Saudi Government!!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/16/2007 5:05 Comments ||
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#5
No support for al-Qaeda in the Saud entity? One post 911 poll found 95% admiration for Osama bin Laden. That terrorist has massive support there and in Pakistan. In Karachi he is despised on Sindhi nationalist grounds. In Peshawar he is a saint.
Stay the course does seem to be piecemeal. Maybe support for counter-terrorism would be restored if we started to think wholesale. Flatten Qom and the Ayatollahs will be hanged by their own people. Flatten "Sadr Slum" and Baghdad belligerents would consolidate at a status quo. If we think of 9-11 as "Pearl Harbor" then we might look for some variant of "Hiroshima."
#7
"One of the reasons that the ideology of Bin Laden isnt growing in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is because it doesnt offer anybody anything. Its very dark, very narrow and very negative and people understand that."
It's hard to expand a business when you already dominate the market.
#8
Pakistan, S Arabia may pose bigger problems than Iraq, Afghanistan
Of course they do -- now. But that's because the rather more immediate problems that Iraq and Afghanistan posed a few years ago have been removed. We're now in the mopping up stage with both, and in both a large part of the remaining problems are caused by .... (drum roll, please!) Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. With a great deal of help from Iran, Russia, quite probably China in the deep background, etc. The problems are being attacked in order of priority, which is as it should be when key resources (troops, funding) are limited.
#9
One of the reasons that the ideology of Bin Laden isnt growing in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is because it doesnt offer anybody anything. Its very dark, very narrow and very negative and people understand that.
I love that quote too. I believe that the reason these countries and others who are muslim but not terrorists, is that these people don't believe the bullshit dogma of Islam. They just go through the ceremonies to appear to be religious, but in fact, they are into power, money, golf, or something. They tolerate Islam to keep the masses from focusing on their extreme wealth in the midst of poverty. It's a verbal shell game to hide a better life from the common folk. But as long as the common folk are kept stupid, it works. Much like the MSM and the donks.
#10
What Zen said. You have to smack these people hard every time they make a move until they understand that they better sit still. So far we have failed to do so in places like Kosovo, Thailand and the Phillipines. Hell, we had an ally in Serbia and we bombed him instead of the enemy. This is plain and simple a failure to understand the enemy. And it's going to be far more complicated trying to secure the Pak nukes if we don't deal with Iran first.
#11
Stay the course does seem to be piecemeal. Maybe support for counter-terrorism would be restored if we started to think wholesale. Flatten Qom and the Ayatollahs will be hanged by their own people. Flatten "Sadr Slum" and Baghdad belligerents would consolidate at a status quo. If we think of 9-11 as "Pearl Harbor" then we might look for some variant of "Hiroshima."
Gosh, Sneaze, wouldn't that be mass murder or genocide? Yesterday, I mentioned how a series of limited nuclear attacks on Cairo, Damascus, Tehran, Riyadh and Islamabad would reducde global terrorism by a huge margin and was accused of the same thing. Of course, my stated preference that we instead pursue a campaign of targeted killings against Islam's top tier leadership was simultaneously ignored. You are absolutely right that we need to implement measures which make ordinary Muslims seek to slit the throats of jihadist imams and ayatollahs.
I'm glad you appreciated what I meant to convey by mentioning how we need to make it so that "our military's "dialogue" matches Islam's own understood high context vocabulary". As yet, we are not tailoring our responses to Islam's narrow scope of comprehension. Our refusal or inability to do so only increases the likelihood of being forced to use less desirable options like a series of nuclear attacks upon Middle East terrorist centers.
I still oppose first use of nuclear weapons by America. We have sufficient conventional firepower to achieve many of the required goals that confront us. While Islam's "vocabulary" is one of almost unmitigated bloodshed and mayhem, all of our replies need not consist of the same ilk. However, it is crucial for us to abandon the "hearts and minds" approach that clearly is not working". While some portions of Iraq may have benign regard for America's liberating presence, far too many continue to embrace the clannish, tribal high context mentality that still regards us as Crusading occupiers. This will not be overcome with any benevolent policies.
In the short time we have left before escalating nuclear proliferation finally enables terrorist nuclear attacks upon American soil, we need to establish a firm track record of making life incredibly miserable for those who seek to do us harm. We have other ways of doing this than solely with military invasions. Selective disruption of economic infrastructure is one of them.
Iran could be toppled with several very minor stand-off attacks upon its limited gasoline refining capacity and petroleum off-loading facilities. This, combined with pinpoint destruction of their known nuclear facilities could easily destabilize their mullahcracy and bring down the Iranian house of cards.
The more we resist using such leveraged methods, the more likely it becomes that gruesome wholesale slaughter will arise as our sole option. To hell with being loved, to hell with spreading democracy in nations whose soil is so parched by theocratic tyranny that such fragile seeds will never take root in our lifetimes. To hell with anything that does not inspire fear and dread of America's wrath.
(AKI/DAWN) - The 34th annual session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) opens in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss the multiple challenges faced by the Ummah (the global Islamic community) and to find a way forward. The three-day conference in Islamabad will bring together over 600 delegates from 57 member States of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). It will also be attended by delegates from observer states, the organisation itself and other subsidiary and specialist bodies of the OIC.
Pakistan's president Gen Pervez Musharraf was expected to inaugurate the opening session on Tuesday morning. The conference, being billed as the Session of Peace, Progress and Harmony, will be chaired by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri. Taking place at a time when the Muslim Ummah is under attack and being targeted under the garb of war on terror it is likely to call for bridging the sharp divisions within the Muslim world. One word: Peshawar.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Unidentified gunmen yesterday shot dead a Supreme Court official, regarded as a key witness by the legal team representing Pakistans suspended chief justice in his fight against a move by President Pervez Musharraf to sack him.
Syed Hammad Raza, an additional registrar of the top court, was shot at point-blank range by two or three gunmen just before dawn at his home in the capital, Islamabad, police and relatives said. He was an important person in our case, Munir Ahmed Malik, a lawyer on suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhrys legal team, said.
Chaudhry has been at the center of a judicial and political crisis since Musharraf moved to sack him two months ago over undisclosed allegations of misconduct. Acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas and Chaudhry separately visited Razas family and expressed their condolences.
Raza was stationed in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Chaudhry was raised and served as a judge, before being reassigned to the Supreme Court. You called him to Islamabad. You should have protected him, and now my children need protection as well, Shadana, Razas grief-stricken widow, told Chaudhry. Shadana said that she was convinced it was a targeted killing as there was no attempt at robbery. They just came and shot him. He opened the door and they shot him and ran away.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
It's pretty difficult to appeal a .45 caliber ruling.
A recently discovered document shows that Saddam Hussein authorized monthly payments of 50,000 Euro (about $68,000) to Al-Jazeera TV from the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and Information. The ever-reliable Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has reproduced the document here.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/16/2007 12:34 ||
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(AKI/APP) - President General Pervez Musharraf, urging an end to "outside interference" in Iraq, suggested on Tuesday that a Muslim peacekeeping force could be sent to Iraq under the United Nations provided it was acceptable to all the stakeholders. He was addressing the inaugural session of the 34th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference here. "We have to stop all outside interference in Iraq, the mass killings ... the carnage that is taking place there has to stop" Musharraf told delegates from the 57 member countries.
He said if outside interference stopped, it will be possible to control the internal situation in the country. "If all the warring factions ... different factions, if they accept, than may be a Muslim peacekeeping force under the United Nations umbrella could be looked at, if that leads to peace and resolution of the crisis," the President said. The President said Pakistan stands for the integrity of Iraq and for peaceful resolution of the issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If Pakistan could field trustworthy forces in Iraq I think they should be kept and used in Pakistan itself, where the need is greater.
#2
Perhaps he's looking to get some troublesome or unreliable officers & their cadres out of the country ahead of the impending civil war he seems to be jogging just in front of?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/16/2007 8:10 Comments ||
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#3
Isn't that the main purpose behind the ubiquitous Fijian peacekeepers and mercenaries? Troublesome troops kept (and paid!) somewhere which ain't home?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/16/2007 8:11 Comments ||
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When was the last time a Pak military operation was successful?
The Knesset plenum passed two controversial bills in their preliminary readings Wednesday; the first bill concerns the requirement of a referendum in the case of the transfer of sovereign land to a foreign government and the second may change the vows incoming Knesset members must take.
MK Avigdor Yitzhaki (Kadima) proposed the bill several weeks ago, despite the government's opposition. If passed, the bill could make it virtually impossible to give away the Golan Heights. Yitzhaki stepped down as coalition chairman after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert failed to give in to his demands to resign. He insisted that the prime minister leave his post after the release of the Winograd Committee's interim report into the Second Lebanon War two weeks ago.
Another bill would force incoming members of the Knesset to pledge allegiance to Israel. The bill calls for new MK to swear they will remain loyal to the "state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and remain true to its values." Better late than never
The bills, proposed by MKs David Rotem (Israel Beitenu) and Zevulun Orlev (NU-NRP), are intended to prevent MKs from acting against the state and its institutions, and come shortly after the publicized case against former MK Azmi Bishara, who is accused of aiding the enemy during a time of war, among other allegations.
#1
Please, Israelis, pass these bills. Those of us who support you from afar could really use a bit of convincing that you're as dedicated to the idea of your survival as we are.
Posted by: Mac ||
05/16/2007 18:24 Comments ||
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The absurdity of it all is mindboggling (although not in the least unexpected). What's even more absurd is that a lot of Europe and all of the Arab world agree with them (except Arab leaders who simply use the palis as pawns and Israel as a convenient scapegoat).
The international community, Israel and Arab countries are to blame for the current inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip for failing to life an economic siege on the Palestinians, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday.
The remarks by Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, came as fighting renewed between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza early Wednesday when Hamas gunmen stormed the home of a top Fatah official in Gaza City, killing five bodyguards inside, Palestinian security officials said. The attack comes after a brutal day of factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah rivals in Gaza that killed 15 people. Four days of intense Palestinian infighting in Gaza have killed 41 people.
"The international community and Arab countries shoulder part of the responsibility for the current events due to their attitudes toward the national unity government," Abu Marzouk told The Associated Press by telephone in Damascus. "The continued financial and political siege has pushed matters to this simmering tension."
He also blamed Israel and Arab apathy toward the economic sanctions for the fighting. "The Israelis are behind all these events," Abu Marzouk said. "It's illogical that the Arabs stand idle watching the Palestinian arena while it's on the verge of explosion under the siege. ... This is a constant pressure that has led to a real explosion."
Abu Marzouk singled out Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, for criticism. "He was one of the main instigator for these events because he is continuing his siege of the Palestinian people and had boycotted Palestinian elections," the Hamas official said. Western culture's made great strides in art, medicine, music, technology, basic science, literature, etc. Arabs have mastered the art of blaming.
After talks in Brussels Tuesday with Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr, Solana rejected criticism that the inter-Palestinian fighting was due to the international aid embargo the EU and other key donors including the US and the UN have imposed on the Palestinian government because it includes the militant Hamas group. "Those people are crazy!"
The major donors have demanded that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce violence and commit to past agreements before aid is restored. Hamas has rejected the demand. Abu Marzouk ruled out the possibility of a Palestinian civil war. "This is absolutely rejected by all Palestinian parties," he said. "What's going on now is... ummm... something else."
#6
Once again Palestinian awareness and that eternally mysterious enigmatic riddle known as Cause & Effect pass each other like two speedboats in the night.
#8
Listen up, little two-bit a$$hole - NOBODY "owes" you anything. If we choose to help you out, that's OUR decision. IF we choose NOT to help you out, that is ALSO our decision. If you're too dumb to understand that, you're too dumb to have a state of your own, and deserve to become third-class citizens in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/16/2007 21:01 Comments ||
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#9
you're too dumb to have a state of your own, and deserve to become third-class citizens in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas reiterated on Tuesday that he intended to implement a US security plan, which could set the stage for a new confrontation with coalition partner Hamas. We say here that we remain committed to the American security plan, rejected by the Israeli side, that we are determined to implement it, he said in a speech marking the 59th anniversary of what the Palestinians see as the catastrophe of Israels creation in 1948.
Israel has voiced reservations about the initiative, which is part of increased efforts by its main ally Washington in recent months to jumpstart peace talks that have been stalled for six years.
Abbas earlier this month urged Israel to respond favourably to the plan, which could set the stage for a possible new confrontation with Hamas after a resumption of inter-Palestinians clashes that have killed 17 people in three days. The presidents statement was directly at odds with the position of the Islamic movement Hamas, which has firmly rejected the plan calling for an end to rocket fire in exchange for eased restrictions on Palestinian movement. But Abbas also called for a total lifting of the international aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority as a means to halt the security chaos and the deadly factional fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel has voiced reservations about the initiative, which is part of increased efforts by its main ally Washington in recent months to jumpstart peace talks that have been stalled for six years.
Thank you kindly Ms Rice, and would you please fuck off go away.
#2
See also YNETNEWS > THE LIES OF THE LEFT [Israel]. Apparently, the post-Cold War, post-9-11 "critical mass" of Over-correctness + intolerance + feel-good/popular? surrender = Perfectionism is not manifest only in the politicos of the USA and its Two-Party NPE. THE ISRAELI LEFT'S PENCHANT FOR NEVER ADMITTING TO ANY ERROR, vz THE ISRAELI RIGHT'S INABILITY TO CALL THE LEFT ON SAME.
(AKI) - As nine people were killed Tuesday in new violence in the Gaza Strip, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, described the security situation there as "very grave" and urged the Palestinian Authority to do all it could to bring it under control. "And what would you suggest we do, Xavier?"
He was speaking during a meeting in Brussels with the Palestinian foreign minister, Zyad Abu Amr. "Well, I'd recommend you do something."
Gunmen linked to Hamas reportedly attacked militants from the rival Fatah faction near the Gaza-Israel border early Tuesday, in what pro-Fatah security officials said was an ambush on a training camp of the Presidential Guard. "You said yourself that shooting back at them merely makes them madder. So we shouldn't do that. Except that they keep killing people."
Seven guard trainees were killed and two other gunmen were shot dead by Israeli forces, according to Israeli daily Haaretz. "How about a ceasefire?"
Solana noted that "it will be very difficult moving forward with the peace process, at least until the internal Palestinian situation is not better than it currently is." "This is the ceasefire. Last week there was no ceasefire."
"Much must still be done" said Solana, repeating the urgent need for new efforts by the PA. "This week looks exactly like last week! Only with more corpses!"
He also urged Abu Amr to make "all efforts to secure the liberation" of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, abducted by Hamas linked militants last june and the BBC Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston, who was seized seven weeks ago. "And make sure they're fed. I dunno if either of 'em's been fed since they were kidnapped."
In the worst factional violence in the Palestinian territories for several months sixteen people have died in Gaza since Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why does he care? They are only a small percentage of the dispossessed of this planet. Big deal.
#3
The same EU that wants to resume funding of these homicidal cretins. Go ahead, throw more money at the problem and see if it ever goes away. It just gives them something more to fight over.
With the caveat that the source is MindaNews, essentially "the Voice of the Jihad" in the Philippines:
Somsri Hananuntasuk of Thailand, the executive director of the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) has had several encounters with armed men in her monitoring of human rights violations and in the conduct of elections in various places, including Afghanistan. But seeing so many heavily-armed men on election day in Matanog, Shariff Kabunsuan, the muzzle of the their long firearms not pointed down, some people acting like a warlord and the feeling there might be war there, was worse than Afghanistan, she said.
Munira Khan of Bangladesh wont ever return to the Philippines should she be invited to monitor another election. Yesterday, I had the scare of my life, she told a press conference at the Lorenzos Lounge at Estosan Hotel.
Khan was with the team to monitor the 7 a.m. opening of the precincts in Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat on Monday when they heard an explosion. Then another. The Philippine National Police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) reported no one was injured.
Asked why she thought it was worse than Afghanistan, Somsri told MindaNews, I exaggerate a bit, but acknowledged the presence of the tanks and so many heavily-armed men in uniform, intimidated her. Somsri presented photographs of samples of electoral fraud such as a poll watcher filling up the ballots in Matanog town. The observers also witnessed money changing hands from candidates to voters in some of the areas they went to.
Yunus Ali of Malaysia, a lecturer on Human Development, said Mondays election was neither peaceful nor free but a very expensive election.
#2
This is a typical Moro election in other words, guns, goons and money, with lots of soldiers to keep the goons of one side from fighting those of the other - other than the money part, that is true of Philippine elections in general.
Iran should be attacked before it develops nuclear weapons, America's former ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday.
John Bolton, who still has close links to the Bush administration, told The Daily Telegraph that the European Union had to "get more serious" about Iran and recognise that its diplomatic attempts to halt Iran's enrichment programme had failed.
Iran has "clearly mastered the enrichment technology now...they're not stopping, they're making progress and our time is limited", he said. Economic sanctions "with pain" had to be the next step, followed by attempting to overthrow the theocratic regime and, ultimately, military action to destroy nuclear sites.
Mr Bolton's stark warning appeared to be borne out yesterday by leaks about an inspection by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of Iran's main nuclear installation at Natanz on Sunday.
The experts found that Iran's scientists were operating 1,312 centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium. If Iran can install 3,000, it will need about one year to produce enough weapons grade uranium for one nuclear bomb.
Experts had judged that Iran would need perhaps two years to master the technical feat of enriching uranium using centrifuges - and then another two years to produce enough material to build a weapon.
But the IAEA found that Iran has already managed to enrich uranium to the four per cent purity needed for power stations. Weapons-grade uranium must reach a threshold of 84 per cent purity.
Mohammed ElBaradei, the IAEA's head, said the West's goal of halting the enrichment programme had been "overtaken by events". Iran had probably mastered this process and "the focus now should be to stop them from going to industrial scale production".
Mr Bolton said: "It's been conclusively proven Iran is not going to be talked out of its nuclear programme. So to stop them from doing it, we have to massively increase the pressure.
"If we can't get enough other countries to come along with us to do that, then we've got to go with regime change by bolstering opposition groups and the like, because that's the circumstance most likely for an Iranian government to decide that it's safer not to pursue nuclear weapons than to continue to do so. And if all else fails, if the choice is between a nuclear-capable Iran and the use of force, then I think we need to look at the use of force."
President George W Bush privately refers to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has pledged to wipe Israel "off the map", as a 21st Century Adolf Hitler and Mr Bolton, who remains a close ally of Vice President Dick Cheney, said the Iranian leader presented a similar threat.
"If the choice is them continuing [towards a nuclear bomb] or the use of force, I think you're at a Hitler marching into the Rhineland point. If you don't stop it then, the future is in his hands, not in your hands, just as the future decisions on their nuclear programme would be in Iran's hands, not ours."
But Mr Bolton conceded that military action had many disadvantages and might not succeed. "It's very risky for the price of oil, risky because you could, let's say, take out their enrichment capabilities at Natanz, and they may have enrichment capabilities elsewhere you don't know about."
Such a strike would only be a "last option" after economic sanctions and attempts to foment a popular revolution had failed but the risks of using military force, he indicated, would be less than those of tolerating a nuclear Iran. "Imagine what it would be like with a nuclear Iran. Imagine the influence Iran could have over the entire region. It's already pushing its influence in Iraq through the financing of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizbollah."
Although he praised Tony Blair for his support of America over the Iraq war, he criticised the Prime Minister, who is due to visit Washington today to bid farewell to Mr Bush, for persisting with supporting EU attempts to negotiate with Iran that were "doomed to fail".
"Blair just didn't focus on it as much as [Jack] Straw [former Foreign Secretary] did, and it was very much a Foreign Office thing because they wanted to show their European credentials, wanted to work with the Germans and the French to show 'we'll solve Iran in a way differently than those cowboy Americans solved Iraq'."
Mr Bolton, a leading advocate of the Iraq war, insisted that it had been right to overthrow Saddam Hussein and that the later failures did not mean that military action against rogue states should not be contemplated again.
"The regime itself was the threat and we dealt with the threat. Now, what we did after that didn't work out so well. That doesn't say to me, therefore you don't take out regimes that are problematic.
"It says, in the case of Iraq, and a lot of this I have to say we've learned through the benefit of hindsight, was that we should've given responsibility back to Iraqis more quickly."
The Bush administration has moved some distance away from the hawkish views of Mr Bolton and Mr Cheney, which were dominant in the president's first term, towards the more traditional diplomatic approach favoured by the State Department.
But his is still a highly influential voice and Mr Bush remains adamant that he will not allow Iran to become armed with nuclear weapons.
The Pentagon has drawn up contingency plans for military action and some senior White House officials share Mr Bolton's thinking.
#3
The Bolton for Secretary of State, I think. Imagine the frisson of fear felt by all current and former denizens of the U.N. should their former nemesis become the big boss of their next nemesis... not to mention the writing up of resumes at the State Department. Especially if it's Mr. Giuliani or Mr. Fred Thompson sitting in the Oval Office.
#5
Let's face it, after Iraq the U.S. and the EUnicks are going to screw around until Iran has a working bomb. We are being a bunch of pussies and we're going to get burned for it.
#6
Unfortunately, I agree with #5. Bush has decided to kick this can down the road.
Posted by: Infidel Bob ||
05/16/2007 10:19 Comments ||
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#7
Economic sanctions "with pain" had to be the next step, followed by attempting to overthrow the theocratic regime and, ultimately, military action to destroy nuclear sites.
Have to shake my head at The Bolton's comment on handing over responsibility to the Iraqis more quickly, however. This idea makes no sense whatsoever in light of our actual experience. It's precisely the rapid return to sovereignty followed after the Jan 05 elections with the fantasy of a quick handover to the Iraqi security forces that got us where we are today.
Bolton & Co. are exactly right in their strategic calls, and fantastically courageous in trying to do what they know is the percentage move - but this bizarre idea persists that we can intervene without really intervening or taking responsibility.
TW, your scenario is as uplifting as the current reality and what seems the likely near future are crushingly bleak (we're talking US leadership class and their performance).
#11
Bomb the bastards now! Do not wait. We gave diplomacy a chance and it failed. The Mad Mullahs only use diplomacy as a means to stall for time. Do not talk to the UN. Do not talk. They hate us anyway so just bomb. That way maybe at least they'll respect us. Carpet bomb the hell out of Qom in the middle of the night. Bomb the oil refineries. Bomb the bridges. Bomb the harbors. Bomb the mosques. Bomb Natantz. Do it now.
#12
I agree entirely with Mr.Bolton, but a attack on Iran is going to play hell with fuel prices in the States and elsewhere.
This in itself is a greater reason for having more domestic oil reserves and refinery production. Unfortunately, Green Peace and Sierra Club is going to continue to make it difficult.
BTW, anyone know if any of the U.S. presidential candidates have a position on lesser reliance on foreign oil and wants to build refineries? I haven't seen much about it in the news.
#15
"If the choice is them continuing [towards a nuclear bomb] or the use of force, I think you're at a Hitler marching into the Rhineland point. If you don't stop it then, the future is in his hands, not in your hands, just as the future decisions on their nuclear programme would be in Iran's hands, not ours."
End of story. I have always found Bolton's plainspeak utterly refreshing.
#19
Economic sanctions would have to be severe enough to cause the collapse of the Iranian regime, but they might work. Bolton is definitely right that we need to be prepared to do whatever is necessary.
#20
A Winter attack would have been better; Iranians would have turned on the Ayatollahs. It should have been done last November. Without local support the task of taking out large numbers of mobile missile launchers, over a huge area, would be difficult, unless a counter missile campaign followed escalation scenarios.
Future generations, who would suffer extreme strategic consequences should the death-to-America chorus be in a position to target America with ICBMs, will look back on the generation that could have prevented it with deserved contempt. Damn any current consequences, and damn the UN; load, lock and launch, ASAP.
#21
Future generations, who would suffer extreme strategic consequences should the death-to-America chorus be in a position to target America with ICBMs, will look back on the generation that could have prevented it with deserved contempt. Damn any current consequences, and damn the UN; load, lock and launch, ASAP.
Word, Sneaze. Perhaps not nukes, but a shitload of Tomahawks, fer sure.
#22
Lest we fergit, was it not TED KENNEDY himself whom loudly orally argued before his peers + TV crews a few years ago that a NUCLEAR-ARMED IRAN or RADICAL ISLAM-TERRORISTS was absolutely undeniably categorically unequivocally, .........
...................@etal., you-betcha-boy, intolerable unimaginable incomprehensible un-reasonable and un-acceptable in the wake of 9-11 = Terror attack on a major US city, and ditto for any and all such possible FUTURE TERROR ATTACKS ON AMER CITY(S)???
(AKI) - The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold a new meeting with Iran's top nuclear affairs negotiator Ali Larijani on 31 May in a followup to their meeting on Wednesday. The announcement was made by the Iranian newsagency FARS which cited Iran's Supreme Security Council which Larijani heads.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
tennis, anyone?
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/16/2007 15:36 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Haleh Esfandiari, 67, one of the leading US authorities on Iran, has been formally charged with "threatening national security" by Iranian authorities who ordered her arrest last week. Esfandiari, whose husband is Shaul Bakhash, a well known journalist also of Iranian descent, is detained at Tehran's Evin prison. She is the third woman with double Iranian-American citizenship to be detained in Iran after journalist Parinaz Azima and an as yet unidentified woman.
The Washington-based think tank Woodrow Wilson Centre for which Esfandiari works has said that the academic had been repeatedly questioned by intelligence officials. Esfandiari was visiting Tehran to see her 93-year-old mother.
Many analysts in Iran believe the three women - who were all reportedly visiting Iran for family reasons - are being held in retaliation against the arrest last December by US forces in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, in Kurdistan, of five Iranians whom Tehran claims are diplomats. The five are reportedly detained in Baghded on charges they were in Iraq to support Shiite insurgents.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A 67 year old female certainly sounds threatening. Maybe she was personally plotting the over throw of the mullochracy.
#2
ION, looks like KOMMERSANT wasn't far off the mark - RIAN>RU > MOUD:IRAN HAS INDUSTRIAL-SCALE ENRICHMENT. Moud's affirmed it - Radical Iran has possession of MARVIN MARTIAN'S EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATOR, NOT BUGS BUNNY. 3000 centrifuges now, another 8000 desired by EOY 2007 - enuff for Iran to produce one uranium-based bomb at a Perts-perceived nominal rate of one per yarn, exclusive of any centrifuges Iran may choose to buy, legally andor illegally.
#3
ION, looks like KOMMERSANT wasn't far off the mark - RIAN.RU > MOUD:IRAN HAS INDUSTRIAL-SCALE ENRICHMENT. Moud's affirmed it - Radical Iran has possession of MARVIN MARTIAN'S EXPLOSIVE SPACE MODULATOR, NOT BUGS BUNNY. 3000 centrifuges now, another 8000 desired by EOY 2007 - enuff for Iran to produce one uranium-based bomb at a Perts-perceived nominal rate of one per yarn, exclusive of any centrifuges Iran may choose to buy, legally andor illegally.
#4
The whole world should be united in being a threat to Iran's national security. If we are not, Iran will be a threat to the rest of the world as soon as they get a nuke capability which they are running as fast as they can to obtain. The mad mullahs are part a the culture of death that has to go. Iran's ruling power is like Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany in its desire to dominate--even at the risk of destroying the country. This repressive theocracy cares nothing about the people of Iran. They believe world domination and subjugation of infidels is the manifest destiny prophesized in the Koran.
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Clashes between Afghan and Pakistani border guards that left more than a dozen dead will further strain ties between the two neighbours, Kabul said on Tuesday. The fighting erupted on Sunday and continued into Monday, when a NATO soldier and a Pakistani trooper were killed in an ambush after a meeting on the Pakistani side of the border aimed at calming the tension. Pakistan has said the gunman was unidentified, but Afghan President Hamid Karzais senior spokesman Karim Rahimi repeated on Monday the claim that a Pakistani officer had opened fire on the group.Islamabad has denied the allegation. 
(AKI) - The spokesman of Egypt's Muslim Brotherood Essam el Ariane was stopped Tuesday by security forces as he was heading to Cairo airport to take a flight to Oslo, according to a report on the movement's website. El Ariane had been due to attend a conference in the Norwegian capital. According to the Muslim Brotherhood, officially banned but largely tolerated,, "this is the latest episode of repression by the region in the vain effort to discourage the Muslim Brotherhood from taking part in the upcoming elections."
(AKI) - Osama bin Laden directly ordered the failed attack against an oil platform in Saudi Arabia in February 2006, Saudi authorities announced on Tuesday. The revelation came from a terror suspect arrested by the police accused of having given logistic support to the suicide bomb cell that sought to attack the Abqiq site. 
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two federal appeals court judges subjected a Bush administration attorney to intense questioning Tuesday as lawyers for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay pleaded for a broad court inquiry on behalf of the detainees.
(AKI/DAWN) - The 34th annual session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) opens in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss the multiple challenges faced by the Ummah (the global Islamic community) and to find a way forward. The three-day conference in Islamabad will bring together over 600 delegates from 57 member States of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). It will also be attended by delegates from observer states, the organisation itself and other subsidiary and specialist bodies of the OIC.
Unidentified gunmen yesterday shot dead a Supreme Court official, regarded as a key witness by the legal team representing Pakistans suspended chief justice in his fight against a move by President Pervez Musharraf to sack him.
(AKI/APP) - President General Pervez Musharraf, urging an end to "outside interference" in Iraq, suggested on Tuesday that a Muslim peacekeeping force could be sent to Iraq under the United Nations provided it was acceptable to all the stakeholders. He was addressing the inaugural session of the 34th Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference here. "We have to stop all outside interference in Iraq, the mass killings ... the carnage that is taking place there has to stop" Musharraf told delegates from the 57 member countries.
The international community, Israel and Arab countries are to blame for the current inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip for failing to life an economic siege on the Palestinians, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday. 
(AKI) - As nine people were killed Tuesday in new violence in the Gaza Strip, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, described the security situation there as "very grave" and urged the Palestinian Authority to do all it could to bring it under control.
Iran should be attacked before it develops nuclear weapons, America's former ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday.
(AKI) - The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold a new meeting with Iran's top nuclear affairs negotiator Ali Larijani on 31 May in a followup to their meeting on Wednesday. The announcement was made by the Iranian newsagency FARS which cited Iran's Supreme Security Council which Larijani heads.
