France and Germany plan to jointly carry out training of Afghan soldiers and civil servants, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said here on Monday.
"We want to work with our German friends to help in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, to help train civil servants and to bring a little peace and security to a country which really needs it," Sarkozy said after talks with Merkel at a castle near Berlin.
Merkel said: "We want to make a joint commitment to the fight against terrorism and to rebuild Afghanistan."
There are some 50 French military instructors currently training the Afghan army and the figure is expected to reach 200 by the end of the year. Of the 3,000 German soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, 186 are focusing on training Afghan soldiers, according to figures cited in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily last month. Germany is also leading a European mission training Afghan police officers.
The perfect training is if the Germans teach mechanics, the French cooking, the Italians romance and the English policing. BUT, what if it turns out that the French end up teaching policing, the English cooking, the Italians mechanics and the Germans romance?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/11/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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The Taliban said Monday it was ready for talks with the Afghan government after President Hamid Karzai offered negotiations in a bid to end the rebels nearly six-year bloody insurgency.
Karzai made the offer on Sunday, with the insurgency spiralling to its highest level this year, saying peace could not be achieved without dialogue. For the sake of national interests ... we are fully ready for talks with the government, senior Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. Whenever the government formally asks for negotiations, we are ready, he said.
The movement had a limited number of conditions for a meeting, he added without elaborating.
The movement had a limited number of conditions for a meeting, he added without elaborating.
Ahmadi said the Taliban could hold talks with the Afghan government as they had with South Korean officials over 21 hostages whom the hardliners freed last month after several meetings. As we did hold negotiations with the South Korean government, we can hold talks at an even higher level with the government, he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Seoul was criticised for negotiating with terrorists to free the aid workers captured mid-July. Two were executed when the Afghan government refused a demand to free Taliban prisoners. Ahmadi said it was not clear if Karzais offer was genuine. Our understanding is the government, which terms the Taliban as terrorists, would not ask for negotiations, he said.
Karzai has regularly offered talks with the Taliban and there have been rumours that contact has already been made. He denied Sunday that formal negotiations were under way with the militants but said he was ready to start such dialogue if he could find the address for the Taliban. Ahmadi said: If they want our address - were among the people. If theyre honest for talks, were ready for it.
Asked for a reaction to the Taliban Monday, Karzais spokesman Homayun Hamidzada said the governments doors are open to anyone who agrees to obey the constitution and other laws of the country to join peace. Karzai also said Sunday the radical Hizb-i-Islami faction of former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyarwho still can't throw a grenade, which is fighting the government and its allies separately from the Taliban, was welcome to join a peace process.
But Hekmatyars spokesman, Mohammad Haroon Zarghoon, told AFP Monday the factions position remained that it would only meet the government if the tens of thousands of international troops in Afghanistan pulled out. Karzais previous suggestions of negotiations have not included the leaders of the intensifying uprising and he and his spokesman did not say if the new offer extended to Hekmatyar or Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Both are wanted by the United States.
Karzai set up a reconciliation commission in 2005 in the hope of persuading rebels to put down their weapons. Officials say around 2,000 low-level Taliban and other militants have signed up. The Taliban has in the past two years redoubled its insurgency, which it launched after being removed from government in 2001 for not handing over its Al-Qaeda allies after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The militants carry out almost daily attacks, with 100 suicide bombings already this year that have killed 183 Afghans and 10 international soldiers, according to the United Nations. There has been a succession of major battles in the south with the international forces backing Karzais government admitting to facing some of their most intense military action in decades.
This article starring:
GULBUDIN HEKMATYAR
Hizb-i-Islami
Karzais spokesman Homayun Hamidzada
MOHAMAD HARUN ZARGHUN
Hizb-i-Islami
YUSUF AHMEDI
Taliban
Hizb-i-Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Karzai made the offer on Sunday, with the insurgency spiralling to its highest level this year, saying peace could not be achieved without dialogue.
Karzai should know better than anyone that there is no such thing as "negotiating" with a Muslim. Moreover, two Muslims negotiating with each other must rank as one of the greatest possible excercises in futility. It is unimaginable how either side can fool itselfor their respective counterpartinto believing that either of them are in ernest.
Asked for a reaction to the Taliban Monday, Karzais spokesman Homayun Hamidzada said the governments doors are open to anyone who agrees to obey the constitution and other laws of the country to join peace.
I have little doubt that the Taleban probably are obeying Afghanistan's shari'a tainted constitution. This is exactly what Karzai deserves for allowing such an abortion of justice.
But Hekmatyars spokesman, Mohammad Haroon Zarghoon, told AFP Monday the factions position remained that it would only meet the government if the tens of thousands of international troops in Afghanistan pulled out.
What! No pony? The usual ludicrous Islamic demands. There needs to be a policy put in place of simply killing on the spot anyone who makes these sort of ridiculous requests.
"Release 500 prisoners in exchange for this video ta... [blammo]"
"Withdraw all troops as a precondition for negotia... [kapowie]"
"Destroy all copies of these cartoons or face dire reve... [bangitty bang]"
#2
It's important to remember that karzai is every bit as much the lying little sh*t as the talibunnies. Thre are NO indigenous honest brokers in the middle east. Our soldiers and some of our allies (like the Poles) as the only honest men and women to be found there, and their guns speak truth to bullsh*t...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/11/2007 10:59 Comments ||
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#3
It's important to remember that karzai is every bit as much the lying little sh*t as the talibunnies.
Which was my very first point.
There are NO indigenous honest brokers in the middle east.
Save Israel. But, yes, I can only wonder how long it will take Western politicians to comprehend that there is no such thing as sincere negotiations with Muslims. This one fact should be all that is required to bias America towards strictly military solutions without any of this nation-building folderol.
Massive application of force is all that can subdue Islam. We will likely expend another several thousand of our soldiers' lives proving this to ourselves in the MME (Muslim Middle East). How many thousands of citizens here at home that will need to die as well remains open to question. At that point, one last massive application of force will finally put and end to this hideous farce for once and all time.
#4
Yes, because so many are invested in trying to maintain an artificial "balance" at any cost, the final tipping of the apple cart will be precipitous and violent...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/11/2007 16:29 Comments ||
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#5
Yes, because so many are invested in trying to maintain an artificial "balance" at any cost, the final tipping of the apple cart will be precipitous and violent...
Absolutely spot on, M. Murcek! Far too many Western and Muslim leaders alike have so much political capital invested in maintaining this complete and total farcethat coexistence with Islam is possiblewhereby the collapse of this tottering fabrication will be exceptionally catastrophic.
The IsraeliPalestinian Road Map is a perfect microcosm of the larger picture in how this world deals with Islam. Constant betrayal, deceit and mass-murder are our rewards for giving Islam even a shred of legitimacy.
#6
I remember reading a freelance reporter seeing battles between the Taliban and other forces. Someone would get killed on one side or the other and they would call a truce for a hour or so to have the body removed so it could be buried i/a/w Muslim practices. Then they would get going again.
These people are tribal. They make deals. We in the west are interested in Afghanistan because it became a fertile ground for terrorist ops and training. Taking on a social transformation project is a hell of an undertaking (pun intended). What we really want to do is to prevent terrorists like Binny and his ilk from setting up shop here. Karzai is probably the best they have, but we are still dealing with tribal values and hagglers. And we are suprized by the results?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/11/2007 19:15 Comments ||
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#7
We manage to deal with tribes all over the southwest. We can do it in the equally inhospitable Afghanistan. Maybe we can teach them how to run cas inos.
A German engineer was sentenced to three years house arrest by a South African court Tuesday after pleading guilty to involvement in a nuclear smuggling ring headed by the father of the Pakistani nuclear programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Gerhard Wisser, 68, was sentenced to three years house arrest and a suspended jail term of 18 years in the Pretoria High Court after pleading guilty to seven charges of contravening the Non- Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, the Nuclear Energy Act and to two charges of forgery.
The trial of his co-accused, Swiss engineer Daniel Geiges, who is seriously ill with cancer, was postponed to September 21.
Wisser and Geiges were accused of attempting to smuggle equipment to Libya
Wisser and Geiges were accused of attempting to smuggle equipment to Libya for use in that country's nuclear weapons programme, which Libyan leader Moammer Gaddafi publicly renounced in December 2003.
The two men were arrested after police discovered part of an uranium enrichment plant in a raid on a Johannesburg factory in September 2004.
The find blew the lid on the South African link in a nuclear smuggling network headed by the so-called father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan.
As part of a plea bargain, Wisser, the former managing director of Johannesburg-based Krisch Engineering, consented to the seizure of millions of euros in his overseas assets. Wisser has also agreed to co-operate with South African and overseas authorities in investigating other alleged members of the global nuclear smuggling ring.
A German court last year ordered a retrial in the case against another German engineer suspected of playing a key role in the network, Gotthard Lerch, after accusing the authorities of withholding documents.
Khan admitted to selling Pakistani nuclear technology and is now under house arrest in Pakistan.
Until Benazir grabs power again, when he will be openly feted as a national hero once more.
#3
I can only hope good ol' Danny got the cancer from handling the radioactive stuff. I ordinarily would not wish it on anybody, but in this case i can make an exception.
The way America has got involved in conflicts in regions like the Middle East has made some people very angry, including a group called al-Qaeda - who are widely thought to have been behind the attacks.
In the past, al-Qaeda leaders have declared a holy war - called a jihad - against the US. As part of this jihad, al-Qaeda members believe attacking US targets is something they should do.
When the attacks happened in 2001, there were a number of US troops in a country called Saudi Arabia, and the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, said he wanted them to leave.
Rantburg explains the Beeb for children Many, many years ago the British Broadcasting Corporation was the best broadcasting service in the world. They came to be relied upon by millions of people. People who hated tyranny listened for their distinctive "V for Victory" theme.
But then that changed. Auntie Beeb got really old and entered her dotage. She forgot the values she stood for. As her corporate mind went, so did her love for the staunch qualities that made the British respected, even loved throughout the world. She came to prefer the simpler approach of the tyrants she had hated in the past: the gaudy uniforms, the simplistic approaches, the slogans and the mass marches.
That's what happens when people and institutions get really old and their minds go. Eventually the BBC will fall in the tub and break its corporate hip. Then it'll be off for a brief stay in the the corporate nursing home, followed by a funeral that's sparsely attended because most of the people and organizations she grew up with are dead.
#2
All that BBC bedtime story needs in a moving GIF of Farfur and a smiley face wearing a turban to be complete.
The BBC is populated by traitors to Western Civilization. And if England was still a country which we could admire, the heads of whoever put this crap together would roll.
#1
No we are not close, this is just anti-Howard hysteria from the howler monkeys in the press gallery.
There will be a general election in December, as usual every third year.
#2
Specifically targetting Vlaams Belang, the Flemish Nationalist party, that is single-handely trying to save Belgium from its-self. This is a parody of "cutting off one's nose to save itself". But then at least Iraq has a government, a PM, a FM etc. Belgium, which is the heart of the European Union and always the mother-hen of anti- American morality still can't form a government but it can sic the Nazi styled police goons on its citizens because they want to alert in some way the crisis at hand. When the media, the politicians, the police all start to colloborate in Islamization, you don't have much of a chance. It reminds me of those old SciFi series where we get invaded by a "nice and helpful" alien race but that is a facade and only a handful of "patriots" can offer any resistance. Hopefully, this is all a made-for-TV drama also. God forbid it isn't.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/11/2007 14:25 Comments ||
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A child attending kindergarten in a poor city in Germany uncovered a previously unknown strand in the September 11, 2001 plot, a German broadcaster said Monday. The boy, aged 5 at the time, overheard Arabic-speaking men gloating about the attack in advance and told his kindergarten teacher on September 10, a day before the terrorist attacks, WDR said in a radio special.
Three Arab students attending university in the German city of Hamburg had been recruited by the al-Qaeda terrorist network as suicide pilots for the attacks on New York and Washington. Investigators claim five other Hamburg students were in the know.
WDR said the new disclosure showed young men in another city were also aware in advance of the attack.
Authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia dismissed the radio report, saying police had thoroughly reviewed the evidence in the year after the attack and did not consider it important. "We don't think the history of September 11 has to be completely rewritten because of this," state interior ministry spokesman Ludger Harmeier told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The broadcaster said the evidence came from Duisburg, the tough German city which was in the headlines in August when six people were shot dead in an Italian gang feud. Giving the child the cover name Mustafa, WDR said he was attending Koran school when he heard the men in another room at the mosque speak of an aeroplane crashing into a building and killing many people.
Brilliant. Why don't you just paint a bullseye on the kid?
The boy told the kindergarten teacher, who thought it was childish babbling. She did not tell police till the next day, after the attack. WDR said men at the mosque, including the boy's father, knew the Hamburg plotters.
In an "internal report," police had identified some of the men overheard by the boy. WDR linked the men to Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian who was currently prisoner number 760 at the US detention camp at Guantanamo on Cuba.
The broadcaster said student Ould Slahid had registered a company in Germany in 1998 as a front to transfer al-Qaeda funds, was involved in other plots at the time and recruited two of the hijack pilots in 1999 in Duisburg. It said he had returned to Mauritania in mid-2001, before the conversation was overheard, and was later arrested there and extradited to US custody.
#1
Brilliant. Why don't you just paint a bullseye on the kid?
Your comments seem to fall on uncaring ears. I don't know why journalists do this, but they all seem to do it. Maybe they think the information lends credibility or something. AFAIAC, it only endangers people's lives while adding little value to the information.
#4
How many Canadians deployed in WWI? How about WWII? How many are deployed today? I bet it's not even 1% in absolute terms, never mind per capita. And they're one of the BIG hitters! Lord help us - 'cuz we sure aren't helping ourselves much.
#7
On the contrary. The vast majority of western leadership and public opinion (not even sure about the US) does not believe there is a GWOT. The American belief in a western alliance was always a myth. It was an alliance only on the condition hundreds of thousands of young American men would go and die for Europe and pick up much of the cost while waiting to do so. It's been 18 years since the threat went away and 6 years to the day that myth died a horrible death.
"The west" does not believe in the threat and does not support any action that may bring muslim wrath upon them. They believe that by acquiescing and deflecting muslim anger upon Americans that they will be somehow spared from islam's (or Soviet's before them) goal of conquest and weaken America as a bonus. Once you realize this, it does give the US a wedge to exacerbate and speed up the inevitable Europe-muslim war before the Euros are too few to resist.
The world is not a two sided checkers game, one side white, one black, but a 200 sided chess match. We don't have the resources to sacrifice for everyone else's well being. We have to use the resources we have to maximize our own benefit. So let's bury that corpse known as "the west", get smart, tough and mean, choose our friends and allies very carefully, and use our military and economic policy for the benefit of ourselves.
Posted by: ed ||
09/11/2007 20:11 Comments ||
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#8
They believe that by acquiescing and deflecting muslim anger upon Americans that they will be somehow spared from islam's (or Soviet's before them) goal of conquest and weaken America as a bonus.
Or: weaken the US and deflect Muslim anger as a bonus.
There's more than one capitol besides Paris where that would be the correct order.
#9
"The vast majority of western leadership and public opinion (not even sure about the US) does not believe there is a GWOT."
The fact that they don't believe it does not mean it is not true. It IS their war, whether they realize it yet or not.
Three choices:
Fight them now.
Fight them later.
Surrender.
Posted by: ed ||
09/11/2007 21:28 Comments ||
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#11
Canadian Forces trivia
Regular Force (2005) approx. 65,000
Primary Reserve (including Rangers) (2005) approx. 36,500
(these figures tepresent total personnel, not just troops--the second is about 1/3 of the total).
Military expenditures Dollar figures
(FY07/08) CAN$16.9 billion
Percent of GDP
(FY03/04) 1.1% (2003)
Additional CAN$5.3 billion will be allocated over five years. With this money, the Conservative government intends to add 13,000 new full-time troops and 10,000 new reserve troops to the Forces.
If you cannot handle remembering the shocking, awful, gut-wrenching truth and reality of 9/11, please don't watch this video.
It is posted here, again, in profound love, respect, and admiration for those brave souls who decided for themselves how they would perish on 9/11. They took their destiny, as much of it as they could at least, into their own hands for those last few desperate seconds.
They would not let Islamic terrorists decide this final moment for them. For at least a brief few seconds, they were free. Rest in peace dear departed ones. You are NOT forgotten. We will never forgive, and we will never forget.
The next time a liberal decries the deaths of muslim "innocents" in the war on terror, show them this video.
It won't make any difference. I have long given up on trying to argue or convert the left. It ain't worth it. I am more committed now to the safety and security of my family and neighbors by continuing to make sure *they* don't forget. Its when the true patriots and their supporters begin to forget that we are all in trouble.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/11/2007 14:35 Comments ||
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#2
Frakking "truthers" videos right alongside this one.
Makes me want to spit in their faces (especially some of those from the idiot over at prison-somethinger-other.com (I won't deign to give that as$hole a plus on this day).
#3
That people were forced to select between roasting to death and plummeting a quarter mile straight down to concrete is something that continues to interfere with any sense of sympathy or pity I might muster for even the tiniest Muslim infants.
For those of you who cannot picture such a fall, imagine diving off the top of Half Dome in Yosemite. It is the same basic drop.
I cannot but foresee the time when a massive nuclear launch is directed against the MME (Muslim Middle East). When it happens, I can only hope that whoever is Commander in Chief of our great nation makes specific reference to this being a direct payback for the 9-11 atrocity.
#4
Zen, most days I find you a bit harsh for my taste. But not today. On 9-11 I vary from extreme anger at what was done to us to extreme depression at how we - the WHOLE people - have responded. I tend to not be very productive.
If someone were to show me my current positions six years ago, even I'd probably think they were a bit harsh. Six years of endless Muslim atrocities has changed all that.
More than anything, it was Beslan that polarized my views. Children being shot in the back as they flee has that effect upon me. After Beslan, it was all downhill.
Remember Annie Jacobson? Her site is now a valuable place to track the various dry runs aimed at airlines. Here's a recent one:
Over the weekend, Douglas Hagmann, Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, reported on an incident, Delta Airlines Flight 1824, involving a large group of Middle Eastern passengers, male and female, who were flying from Orlando, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. Sources told Hagmann the passengers' bags tested positive for SEMTEX explosives at a TSA security checkpoint and were taken away by the FBI. Over the weekend, I spoke to Hagmann, as well as with one of his sources.
Just now, I had a lengthy conversation with TSA Spokesman Christopher White who confirmed the incident....
#1
Why in the name of all that is holy would these people have been allowed to board once their bags tested for Semtex? As opposed to, say, being sent to Guantanamo?
#4
Why in the name of all that is holy would these people have been allowed to board once their bags tested for Semtex?
Because TSA is a bureaucratic disaster staffed, not completely, but primarily, with incompetents who follow the rules and do what they are told in an effort not to offend any constituency.
#5
At the end of July I was coming back from London, went to the head in the back.
A middle eastern man was in there for a while. He came out, walked to the forward head and stood there. After a while, another middle eastern man came out of that one. Without looking at each other, they each walked down the two aisles, in parallel, at the same slow pace.
#7
Amen Nimble. Many stuies have concluded that the TSA does a worse job than the much maligned private security screeners they replaced. Just another example of Federal beaurocracies making matters worse instead of better. A good article on it here.
#8
This might be urban myth or it might not, but it makes good sense - Not to long after 9/11 there was an airline captain who began to speak to his passengers before the takeoff roll. He proceeded to explain to them where the emergency exits and, more specifically, where the emergency fireaxes were located onboard. He explained that these fireaxes were weapons and could and should be used in the case of a hijack attempt. He proceeded to explain that the fireaxes should be used to kill any potential hijacker, stating that one could not trust in makeshift measures to keep a hijacker subdued or that the hijacker might not have a bomb strapped to him that he could somehow set off if he awoke during the flight to a landing site.
The captain's solution was elegant - if you can subdue a hijacker or potential hijacker, kill him. Leave no doubt about his potential fo further harm to the aircraft or the passengers.
Important as was yesterday's appearance before Congress by General David Petraeus, the events leading up to his testimony may have been more significant. Members of the Democratic leadership and their supporters have now normalized the practice of accusing their opponents of lying. If other members of the Democratic Party don't move quickly to repudiate this turn, the ability of the U.S. political system to function will be impaired in a way no one would wish for.
Well, with one exception. MoveOn.org, the Democratic activist group, bought space in the New York Times yesterday to accuse General Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House." The ad transmutes the general's name into "General Betray Us."
"Betrayal," as every military officer knows, is a word that through the history of their profession bears the stain of acts that are both dishonorable and unforgivable. That is to say, MoveOn.org didn't stumble upon this word; it was chosen with specific intent, to convey the most serious accusation possible against General Petraeus, that his word is false, that he is a liar and that he is willing to betray his country. The next and obvious word to which this equation with betrayal leads is treason. That it is merely insinuated makes it worse. . . .
So far, only two Democrats that we are aware of have repudiated this political turn. Joe Lieberman, already ostracized from the party for dissent, (and for being a Jew)
called the MoveOn ad an "act of slander that every member of the Congress--Democrat and Republican--has a solemn responsibility to condemn." And Joe Biden, after the MoveOn ad was read to him on "Meet the Press" Sunday, replied: "I don't buy into that. This is an honorable guy. He's telling the truth."
These are the exceptions. Another of the party's activist groups, Democracy for America, released a statement about the time General Petraeus began to speak: "It is offensive that our commander-in-chief has ordered a four-star general to mislead Congress."
As General Petraeus finished his statement yesterday, Senator Chris Dodd's Presidential campaign spammed an email about "the accuracy" of the report: "The fact that there are questions about General Petraeus's report is not surprising given that it was brought to you by this White House." Thus in Mr. Dodd's view, General Petraeus, returned from the Iraq battlefield, is a complicit ventriloquist's dummy.
Can this really be the new standard of political rhetoric across the Democratic Party? There was a time when the party's institutional elites, such as the Times, would have pulled it back from reducing politics to all or nothing. They would have blown the whistle on such accusations. Now they are leading the charge.
Under these new terms, public policy is no longer subject to debate, discussion and disagreement over competing views and interpretations. Instead, the opposition is reduced to the status of liar. Now the opposition is not merely wrong, but lacks legitimacy and political standing. The goal here is not to debate, but to destroy.
Today General Petraeus testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Its Democratic Members include Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer and Jim Webb. This would be the appropriate setting to apologize to General Petraeus for the MoveOn.org ad. Or let it stand.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/11/2007 06:21 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
Why do they act so surprised? Does it take an act this overt for them to finally realize that the Dem party is bought and paid for by those who do not have America's interests at heart. Good Grief. HEELLLOOOOO!
Where have you been WSJ? Clearly not paying attention for the last 15 years.
#5
Never politicize the military. Hammer anyone who tries. Because you never want to give the people a choice between their military and their pandering corrupt pols. Nope. Never. Nada.
#7
Petraues said in his statement, his fact were put together WITHOUT anyone from the White House, Pentagon, or Congress. Dodd is an ass.
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 ||
09/11/2007 11:27 Comments ||
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#8
Re #2-#5: I just finished reading Imperium by Robert Harris. It's a fictionalized biography of Cicero and (therefore) is set in the late Roman Republic. At one point Cicero is counseling Gnaeus Pompey, the 'great' general, who is planning some slick manuever that will bring him more power at the expense of his rivals. It isn't working very well, and Cicero needs to save Pompey's bacon.
I'm quoting from memory here, but Cicero makes note of the fact that great generals are revered precisely because they remain above politics, and the instant they involve themselves in political intrigue, they're no longer great.
There's a lesson for us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/11/2007 11:42 Comments ||
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#9
It's a lesson well understood by the US military, for whom staying apolitical is a key doctrine.
If anything, many Army leaders disagreed with the approach to the war for several years. The suggestion that a man like David Petraeus is the stoodge of the White House is contemptible.
#11
I haven't had any respect for the demonrats in a long time. I firmly believe they are the party of racists, murderers, rapists, criminals and traitors. More and more they prove that they have given up their humanity as well. When the day comes that they spark the end of tolerance for them and their lies, they should remember that it was they who removed any chance for mercy and compassion for themselves. I do not hate them, they are not worthy of such emotion. Instead I seem them as I would a rabid animal, but without the pity.
#12
#9 It's a lesson well understood by the US military, for whom staying apolitical is a key doctrine.
Until you teach the military that anything they achieve at the price of blood and body on any battlefield or any campaign is for nothing other than to give two bit losers a posturing position to get "a couple more Senate seats". What's the purpose of fighting if you're only sold out in the end? That's why the pols are playing a very very dangerous game. Human behavior is consistent through the centuries. The results are there for anyone with an awareness greater than the length of their nose.
#16
Why do I keep having the recurring thought that it's time for another revolution?
If we allow people to live among us who essentially want our destruction, the day will come when as a simple matter of self preservation, we must decide to do something about it.
Either that or we fall as surely as the towers did.
#17
Remember folks, this is the same left-wing media and enablers who just a few weeks ago on HuffPo was asking the military to overthrow Bush and declare martial law ala Mushie in Pak land. They can't seem to make their minds up about the military which is scarier than if they were just point-blank anti-military. They would actually use the military for a super-poliltical reason.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/11/2007 14:48 Comments ||
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#18
Which is why they imagine the White House interfering with Petraeus' report - they'd do so in a heartbeat.
#20
Let US get something straight right now. Their 40 years of governance has produced the conditions that they now "Run Against"
I told Saddam "like" 9 times to stop firing at our choppers - of the numerous engagements we had just had. I knew that MF was crazy. The reasons were in Babylon are very VERY numerous.
We protected two sides then, and the third now - in the latter, you have three significant tribes that believe that you do not take sides. This significance resonates throughout the middle east. They watch with great eyeballs as you defame the whole mission. And you do not understand the whole mission because Washington and that damned media is all about giving up secrets.
I would have sent Petraeus back home yesterday. After all, he actually has a job to do. All of those AFU "representatives wanted to test speech writing skills or read news reports from the BBC.
I heard a few good questions but that was only if I could sort through the BS politics to get one.
In either case, this democratica"" congress has corrupted the argument because what I want to see here testifying before you is a WAR GENERAL testifying before the American people without CORRUPT THOUGHT. When you lecture him, it is very hard to hear from him. I think you, congress, are in default, and the senate also.
If I call a leader to the step of that building, I expect a representative view with respect.
Democrats do not respect anything American, and so shall I view them. Foreign law by foreign interest as well as unconstitutional.
Yeah, there IS a plan. A very big one in fact.
If lawmakers "" do not recognize evidence, they have in NO WAY my confidence to run a law firm. And if Soldiers are by no way allowed to have an even investment on the field you invest in, It is time to find a new investment America, because when you drop this ball that was so firmly handed to you, to run to the opposite goal line is not only "un-American" but plain stupid. If you forgot what quarter this is, you need to understand that time already ran out and I expect honesty over politics every day.
You Bare false witness, Democrats.
It would have better for you to have asked one of your employees productive questions. Especially you "Presidential hopefuls". I would imagine an honest A&Q session would be much appreciated from the public.
Your politics rot the entire earth.
If you ever waste one of my Military Commanders time like that again, I will smite you with all my might.
You are whores, you have no business dictating to the military your corruption. I told you more than 10 years ago you needed a standing army. I told you I did not like clinton. I told you that the Moslems were on the move even before we went to Bosnia. Now I tell you this, Congress. It is a good idea to win this war.
I held a stopwatch to FDR also. He was not dinner conversation, moreover fistfight conversation and rude testaments. Precepts for failure.
#21
The problem with the military staying apolitical is that the Democrats hate the Military and have hated the military since the 1960's.
It is very hard to be apolitical when one side is actively trying to get you killed.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/11/2007 18:04 Comments ||
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#22
"Why do I keep having the recurring thought that it's time for another revolution?"
Probably because it is.
But I don't think it has a snowball's chance in Hell of happening.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/11/2007 18:18 Comments ||
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#23
Many who get off the plane have a positive view of their accomplishments. I wanted General Petareus off that plane fresh and new to testify on what he has learned. You turned it into a circus. I will not forgive you for this. I wanted really good questions and you Damned foold made me sit through hours of shit to get to anything that YOU SHOULD ASK. I have had it. I told you I already hear what you say on your soap box every day. So much so, that you are a depressing part of my day, always. Not always as in always this year, but always as in all of the time this body has seen you. You are the worst military and intel people of all time Democrats"". your communist take over got in the way of protecting people.
I AM writing lists right now, and I told you to chose sides far long ago.
#24
You treat me like an imbecile. This is not a job position I take lightly.
There are lies both way but that does not prevent the necessity of being serious about our aspirations, nor does it grant you forgiveness for your screw ups to preach to the only man in Washington I wanted to hear from. Your Stalinist purges are not forgivable, what you have done to these men is not forgivable, and you asking a full bull from the hilton of intense these BS questions that are five minutes long are also unforgivable. What you cannot see is I AM not the only to see through my eyes, and Americans may watch this also. I prayed that you would understand the importance of this and found naught.
You wasted two days of my time.
If you want to be romans, go for it, I predict not 30 years for your time.
BANGALORE, India -- The world's richest Muslim entrepreneur defies conventional wisdom about Islamic tycoons: He doesn't hail from the Persian Gulf, he didn't make his money in petroleum, and he definitely doesn't wear his faith on his sleeve.
A native of Mumbai, Azim Premji has tapped India's abundant engineering talent to transform a family vegetable-oil firm, Wipro Ltd., into a technology and outsourcing giant. By serving Western manufacturers, airlines and utilities, the company has brought Mr. Premji a fortune of some $17 billion -- believed to be greater than that of any other Muslim outside of Persian Gulf royalty.
Such success, Mr. Premji says in an interview, shows that globalization -- a force Islamist activists decry as Western neocolonialism -- is turning into "two-way traffic" that can bring tangible benefits to developing countries.
Mr. Premji's rise is already inspiring some Indian Muslims to embrace the modern, globalized world. "He's an icon. He shows that excellence has no caste and no creed, and that if one has excellence, one can make it to the top," says Mohamed Javeed, principal of Bangalore's predominantly Muslim Al-Ameen College. One of the students, Mohammed Nasseer, enthuses, "I'd love to become like Premji one day."
A role model like Mr. Premji might seem to be what India's Muslims need. Though the country's economy is growing at 9% a year, the vast majority of India's estimated 150 million Muslims -- the largest Islamic population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan -- remain socially marginalized, badly educated and mired in deep poverty. By and large, they're left out of the social transformation that is propelling millions of their Hindu compatriots into prosperity, as barriers of caste disappear and India's new corporate giants provide opportunities that never existed before.
Yet, to many in India's Muslim community, Mr. Premji's enormous wealth, far from being inspiring, shows that success comes at a price the truly faithful cannot accept. They resent that Mr. Premji plays down his religious roots and declines to embrace Muslim causes -- in a nation where people are pegged by their religion and where Hindus freely flaunt theirs. "If you are a Muslim and want to be rich in India, you have to show you are very secular," says Zafarul Islam Khan, secretary-general of the All-India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat, an umbrella group.
A Muslim school a half-hour's drive from Mr. Premji's Bangalore home reveals the chasm between this globalist success story and the country's Muslim masses. Students sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Masjid e Takwa madrassa spend their days memorizing the Quran in Arabic -- a language that neither they nor their teacher understand.
The classes are taught in Urdu, a tongue that's largely confined to Muslims and uses the Arabic script. There is no science in the curriculum. Neither is there English, the language in which Wipro conducts business and interviews job applicants, as it looks for Westernized staff who can deal with international customers.
The madrassa's imam, Munir Ahmed, says that for his students, a future as self-employed shopkeepers or peddlers is preferable to seeking formal work at a large company. "A job is like being a slave," Mr. Ahmed chuckles, adding that his graduates are in great demand as teachers in other madrassas. Schoolboys in the streets nearby, asked about Wipro, say they've never heard of it or of Mr. Premji.
The condition of India's Muslims is rooted in the partition of the subcontinent along religious lines in 1947. Amid horrendous massacres, millions of Muslims fled to the newly formed Muslim-majority state of Pakistan, just as most of Pakistan's Hindus and Sikhs escaped to India.
The Muslims who abandoned India included large numbers of the most educated and successful. Those remaining after partition have become "economically, socially, educationally...India's most backward community," says Mahmood Madani, a Parliament member who is secretary-general of India's leading Muslim religious organization, Jamiat Ulema e Hind. By some economic and social measures, Muslims are even losing out to Dalits, the erstwhile "untouchables" who are at the very bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy.
Illiteracy is higher among Muslims than among Dalits in the key 6-to-17 age group. Although Muslims account for more than 13% of India's population, they make up only 1.7% of undergraduates in India's version of the Ivy League, the seven Indian Institutes of Technology. The underrepresentation is just as severe in the nation's bureaucratic elite: Muslims make up 3% of staff in the Indian Administrative Service and 1.8% of the diplomatic corps.
Only a few of the Muslims who stayed behind in India after partition have managed to prosper, including some Bollywood stars and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who until recently held the largely ceremonial post of Indian president. "The Muslims we have in India are mostly the poor and the laborers, and a few very rich people like Premji," says Ramachandra Guha, a prominent historian.
With the country regularly rocked by bombings carried out by radicalized Muslim groups, such as the twin attacks that killed 42 people in the technology hub of Hyderabad in late August, even many Hindu politicians and academics see an urgent need to bridge the economic divide between the Muslim minority and the Hindu majority. The Indian government is considering measures to extend to most Muslims the affirmative-action benefits that have long reserved a large share of government jobs and university places for Dalits and other underprivileged groups.
Unlike those observers and Muslim community leaders, Mr. Premji bristles impatiently when the plight of the broader Muslim populace is cited. "This whole issue of Hindu-Muslim in India is completely overhyped," the 62-year-old executive says.
Mr. Premji has mentioned his Muslim background so rarely in public that many Indian Muslims don't even know he shares their heritage. None of Wipro's senior managers aside from Mr. Premji himself are Muslims. The company maintains normal working hours on Islamic high holidays. Among its 70,000 employees, there's only a "sprinkling" of Muslims, according to Sudip Banerjee, president of a division that accounts for a third of revenue.
Mr. Premji's private philanthropy is dispensed through a foundation that's managed by a Hindu former Wipro executive and cuts across religious lines. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. officials asked the Aziz Premji Foundation to help start an education program that would instill moderate values in Islamic schools. The foundation declined the religion-focused project, according to its chief executive, because "we are working for all."
In an interview at Wipro's sleek Bangalore campus, which had just been visited by a group of Israeli businessmen, Mr. Premji scoffed at the idea he should display his Muslim identity or champion the cause of Muslim advancement in India. "We've always seen ourselves as Indian. We've never seen ourselves as Hindus, or Muslims, or Christians or Buddhists," he said.
These secularist values came to him naturally. There was no madrassa in Mr. Premji's own education. He attended a Mumbai Catholic school, St. Mary's, and then studied electrical engineering at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
As a prominent Muslim businessman in the 1940s, Mr. Premji's late father, M.H. Premji, faced repeated requests for support from Pakistan's fiery founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who offered the father a cabinet-minister job in the new Muslim country. But the Premji family didn't believe in a religious state, and refused to move. "We did not think in these terms," Mr. Premji says. "There were roots in India, there were roots in Bombay. Why should one in any way dislodge these roots?"
While India's Muslim groups complain about facing daily discrimination, Mr. Premji says the only time he has been singled out because of his Muslim heritage wasn't in India but at a U.S. airport shortly after 9/11. In doing business in India, he maintains, "I don't think being a Muslim or being a non-Muslim has been an advantage or disadvantage. It's just been based on the merits of the opportunities."
He's been adroit at seizing those. After the death of his father in 1966, he took the helm at Wipro at the age of 21, against the wishes of board members who wanted seasoned management. Long publicly traded -- although controlled by the Premji family with 81% of the stock -- the company then had annual sales of only $2 million. It was known as Western India Vegetable Product Ltd. and mostly produced a kind of sunflower oil called vanaspati, a staple of Indian cuisine.
Mr. Premji set out to diversify, and a break came in 1977, when a coalition of Hindu nationalists, Socialists and others displaced the ruling Congress party. The new government clamped down on multinationals, prompting the exodus of corporate giants like International Business Machines Corp. and Coca-Cola Co. Mr. Premji stepped in, beginning to manufacture computers and other electronics.
"The space was opened because imports were banned into India, or imports were very expensive because of duty tariffs," he recalls. He set up shop in Bangalore, a southern city whose dry highland air is well suited for assembling electronics. He hired managers and engineers from India's large military industry. Wipro became a major manufacturer of technology hardware.
The bonanza ended in the early 1990s as a different Indian government, seeing capitalism rise in former Eastern-bloc nations, abandoned socialism and eased import restrictions. This created something of a crisis for Wipro and other electronics manufacturers. "The goods and services that we produced were no longer needed because customers could buy what's best and available on the global market," says Wipro's Mr. Banerjee.
While many of Wipro's peers didn't survive the change, Mr. Premji spotted another opportunity in the upheaval. Wipro went to the foreign companies with which it did business when it was a manufacturer, such as General Electric Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc., and offered a new relationship. At relatively low cost, its high-quality engineers could take on outsourced work such as design, research and testing.
Wipro's outsourcing business now spans the gamut. It has simple call-center management, but it also designs mobile phones for leading international brands. It runs the computer systems of European utilities and does full-service business consulting. In the fiscal year ended March 31, Wipro's profit surged 44% to $677 million, as sales climbed 41% to $3.47 billion. The shares, which are also traded on the New York Stock Exchange, have tripled in value over the past five years, giving the company a market value of some $20 billion.
As Wipro becomes a global powerhouse, company officials say they seek to hire the best regardless of creed. They say that among the reasons few Indian Muslims meet Wipro's stringent standards is that they often study in Urdu rather than English, and rarely pursue engineering degrees. Urdu, which is also the official language of Pakistan, is intertwined with Islamic identity on the subcontinent. In southern India, where most of the country's technology industry is based, Hindus speak a number of regional languages and are more likely to study English.
"All our hiring staff are trained to interview in English," Mr. Premji says. "They're trained to look for Westernized segments because we deal with global customers." Out of every 100 résumés received, only one or two usually come from Muslim applicants, according to a former manager in Wipro's human-resources department.
Yet, as outsourcing giants like Wipro and Infosys Technologies Ltd. have grown and hired, the attitudes of some Muslims toward education are slowly beginning to change. Bangalore's Al-Ameen college is run by a movement that seeks to modernize the Muslim community. About 360 graduate and undergraduate students, both men and women, are currently studying for computer-science degrees. Most are Muslims, including pious young men with long beards and women with an Islamic hejab that covers their hair, though not their faces.
Many graduates have already gotten jobs at companies like Wipro and Infosys, says the college's principal, Mr. Javeed, and have started to earn salaries well above those offered outside the booming technology industry. "This has brought awareness to the Muslim community about the need to pursue higher education," he says. "People are beginning to realize that education is power, that education is money, that education is an opportunity."
Posted by: john frum ||
09/11/2007 15:59 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Sooooo, lessee. The muslims self-marginalize by choosing non-educational educations and it is somehow everyone else's fault that they can't achieve prosperity. They are addicted to their ignorance, and they live the lives of addicts as a result...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/11/2007 16:20 Comments ||
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#2
BANGALORE: Wipro will launch a supercomputer that can perform billions of operations in a second later this week. This is the first time that an Indian private company will be introducing such a machine.
Targeted at various uses such as weather forecast, satellite launch, clinical trials, drug development, nano-research, defence, avionics and other high-end R&D, the supercomputer is designed and developed in association with C-DAC in Pune.
According to a source, Wipro has deployed these computer giants for several clients including defence and aviation. "Wipro has been exploring the possibility of introducing a product like this for sometime now as it has seen huge market opportunity among multiple business verticals," said the source.
These teraflop computer clusters will have a different look and feel, compared to Wipro's regular PCs, and will be the last-mile access points for high-speed, super-memory, mission-critical computing.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/11/2007 18:34 Comments ||
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#3
Bangalore's Al-Ameen college is run by a movement that seeks to modernize the Muslim community.
Standing by for RB reports of beatings, bombings at Bangalore's Al-Ameen college...
NEW YORK (AP) - If some people thought traveling to Iraq and Syria was a ratings stunt for Katie Couric, it didn't work out that way.
The "CBS Evening News" tied a record low with just under 5.5 million viewers last week, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Last week and Memorial Day week are the two least-watched CBS evening newscasts since at least 1987, and probably far earlier.
CBS said it wasn't surprising, and argued that last week's numbers were artificially deflated because of U.S. Open coverage.
The trip's journalism outweighed commercial considerations, said CBS News President Sean McManus.
"We never expected it to do well in the ratings and it didn't," McManus said. "We knew that this was a long-term commitment to Katie and the show and we really felt it was important to establish our reporting there."
Take Friday's broadcast out of the mix and the evening news would have averaged just under 5.9 million last week, which is about where it's been the past few months. U.S. Open coverage pre-empted local news on Friday and many viewers clearly assumed Couric's broadcast would be, too.
War coverage took between 80 and 90 percent of the "CBS Evening News" broadcasts while Couric was there. Harry Smith gave a brief rundown of other headlines from CBS' New York studio.
Couric tried to bite into big-picture stories about whether the surge was working and how Iraqis feel about the U.S. presence. She visited a Baghdad marketplace and treacherous roadway, contrasting how they are now with footage of bombs exploding in the same spots months earlier.
The sharper-focused stories were among the most effective: Couric interviewing a family about what it's like to live in fear, Lara Logan's report on hand grenades posing a new threat to U.S. soldiers and Mark Strassman's piece on an independent TV network that preaches peace between religious sectsmaking its employees targets for violence.
Marvin Kalb, a CBS News reporter for 24 years and the Edward R. Murrow Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, described Couric's broadcasts as a combination of the best of Walter Cronkite and "Nightline."
"She's done excellent work," Kalb said. "She deserves an honest reappraisal. Whether that will be given to her, who knows. But it's deserved."
Some critics derided the trip as a ratings stunt. "The whole effort seems to be unnecessary," wrote critic Adam Buckman of the New York Post, in a piece headlined "The bore war."
Critic Susan Young of the Oakland Tribune wrote before Tuesday's broadcast that the trip had little news value, and was all about boosting ratings and proving Couric was tough.
But watching two nights "changed my view," Young said in an interview. She said Couric helped draw attention to an important story and had done some strong reporting.
Couric had the good timing to be in Iraq on Labor Day for President Bush's surprise visit, and she was given an interview. (ABC's Martha Raddatz also interviewed Bush.)
NBC's "Nightly News," which did not have the same intense focus on Iraq during the week before U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus' progress report, may have benefited from the decision. NBC's 7.78 million viewers inched close to ratings leader ABC, which averaged 7.81 million viewers last week, Nielsen said.
CBS' McManus said the trip accomplished everything he wanted journalistically.
"I'm pleased that people took notice of the job she did over there, but it didn't surprise anyone at CBS News," he said. "We all thought she would go over there and do a good job and she did."
#8
Plus the trip with good news does not play well with CBS's audience.
Imagine you're a CBS news viewer. Years of watching CBS News tell you it's a quagmire, that it's all going to hell in a handbasket, that it's 'Lost'. Years of watching Uncle Walter, Dan, Bob, and now that young lady who came over from NBC. All that comfortable stuff to reinforce your lifetime of Democrat, liberal leanings.
Now that perky young thing goes off and pulls this stunt. It's enough to make a geriatric Democrat's heart stop. Far better to watch something else less... disturbing.
#9
"It's enough to make a geriatric Democrat's heart stop."
Not enough of them, unfortunately....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/11/2007 22:12 Comments ||
Top||
#10
up til now, she's apparently combined skill with "sleeping her way" to the top. Trouble is, when you reach a national audience, and your skills haven't improved appreciably, that's a LOT of people to f*ck for ratings....
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/11/2007 23:20 Comments ||
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U.S. officials say the battle to clean up Iraq's government has suffered a "serious blow" with the resignation of the nation's top corruption fighter. The former watchdog, Judge Radhi Al Radhi, tells NBC News that Iraq's current government, headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is riddled with so much corruption that the U.S. must stop supporting it. Rahdi is now in the United States, and his departure from the Iraqi government comes just as the U.S. prepares for a key report from Gen. David Petraeus about the military "surge" in Iraq.
Until last week, Rahdi headed the Iraqi government department responsible for rooting out graft and fraud in Iraq's young government. It is called the Commission on Public Integrity, or CPI. It refers its investigations into corrupt officials to Iraqi courts for prosecution.
But Rahdi recently resigned, and he says that was because of numerous threats on his life by corrupt Iraqi officials. "They have militias," he says, "and they attacked my neighborhood with missiles and these missiles fell very close to my house." If he returns to Iraq under current circumstances he believes he'll be killed.
Rahdi says there is corruption at the highest levels in various ministries. Prime Minister al-Maliki is not corrupt himself, he alleges, but protects corrupt ministers and allies and has repeatedly obstructed investigations.
"He is protecting all the accused people who belong to his political bloc," he says. "He has interfered a lot in many ways. At first, he had issued orders for us not to try or even bring any cases to court with any previous or current ministers."
Rahdi complains pervasive corruption has crippled Iraq and added to the suffering of the Iraqi people. "The reconstruction of Iraq has almost stopped," he says. "[There's] no water, no electricity, no gas, no oil."
He explains corruption is a key factor: "This corruption has made our economy stale. It's frozen our economy; freezing our economy led to a lot of unemployment. Therefore crime and terrorism is occurring everywhere in Iraq. The militias are smuggling the oil and using that money to buy weapons."
His investigations have revealed graft and fraud throughout the Iraqi government, including cases against high-ranking officials in the Oil Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Transportation Ministry. "There have been millions of dollars spent rebuilding the Ministry of Defense, but the security day after day is getting worse," he says. "Also, many millions have been spent on the Ministry of Interior, and still there is no security. The same thing happened in the Ministry of Health: The militias stole medicine, and they took medical and health equipment. I don't even want to tell you about the Ministry of Trade, where they're giving food to people that is not edible for any human being."
The al-Maliki government says corruption is a problem but denies blocking criminal investigations. And it has counterattacked accusing Rahdi himself of being corrupt, charges U.S. officials dismiss. An al-Maliki spokesman says al-Maliki cooperated with Rahdi.
One critic of Rahdi is Sheikh Sabah Al-Saady, a minister of parliament who oversees corruption issues. American officials are skeptical of him. He told NBC that there are 50 charges against Rahdi and that Rahdi fled from Iraq. Radhi dismisses the charges, as do American officials. Some speak anonymously because they are not permitted to talk to the press.
But Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, has worked with Judge Radhi and says he thinks highly of him. "Judge Radhi by my judgment was an honorable man and an effective crime fighter in Iraq, and its a loss for Iraq that he is no longer there," Bowen told NBC in an interview.
"This is a very serious blow to the corruption-fighting effort in Iraq," Bowen said. Bowen's office monitors how U.S. funds are spent in Iraq and investigates crimes involving U.S. projects in Iraq.
Rahdi clearly despairs for his country and says there is no longer any hope of progress under the current Iraqi government. He says of America, "When they realize that that they're paying money and lives without results, they will stop the support." Asked if the U.S. should drop support of the al-Maliki administration because of corruption, he answers "yes."
U.S. officials say they expect Rahdi to seek political asylum here, escaping threats from the very government America is supporting.
The al-Maliki government already has named his replacement at the Commission on Public Integrity, a man U.S. officials say was previously accused of corruption.
#1
Iraq's current government, headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is riddled with so much corruption that the U.S. must stop supporting it.
I'll let that statement speak for itself.
But Rahdi recently resigned, and he says that was because of numerous threats on his life by corrupt Iraqi officials. "They have militias," he says
The only reason that they have militias is because we have allowed these wannabe warlords to play-act at participating in a real democracy.
Prime Minister al-Maliki is not corrupt himself, he alleges, but protects corrupt ministers and allies and has repeatedly obstructed investigations.
"He is protecting all the accused people who belong to his political bloc," he says. "He has interfered a lot in many ways. At first, he had issued orders for us not to try or even bring any cases to court with any previous or current ministers."
One does not swim in a cesspool and come out clean. Maliki obviously receives some benefit from suborning corruption. This makes him corrupt as well. Even if the only benefit Maliki receives is better cooperation within his shitpot of a government, he is still operating against the better interests of the Iraqi people. His actions promote both warlordism and corruption, thereby tainting all other efforts.
He explains corruption is a key factor: "This corruption has made our economy stale. It's frozen our economy; freezing our economy led to a lot of unemployment. Therefore crime and terrorism is occurring everywhere in Iraq. The militias are smuggling the oil and using that money to buy weapons."
As with all Islamic economies, corruption is both rife and paralytic in nature. Of far more importance is the connection that Radhi draws between corruption and terrorism. It is merely further proof of how important it is for America to remove the entire Iraqi government and either install a military dictatorship led by us or have another set of elections with careful vetting of all candidates by our military.
Rahdi clearly despairs for his country and says there is no longer any hope of progress under the current Iraqi government.
I rest my case.
The al-Maliki government already has named his replacement at the Commission on Public Integrity, a man U.S. officials say was previously accused of corruption.
#3
P2K has it about right. One of our major problems with Iraq is that people expect them to be more perfect than we are.
Yes corruption is bad and probably gets in the way of a whole lot of stuff. And yes we have to crack down on all the militias. BUT, if we start getting rid of governments that are corrupt we will have to start here with DC, then LA, then NJ, then ILL, then MASS, etc. etc.
I've asked this before but I'll try again....from where these govt's / societies started (Afghan & Iraq) wouldn't it be an icredible improvement to get them to the level of the US circa 1890? Now, how satisfied would people be with that?
#4
I've asked this before but I'll try again....from where these govt's / societies started (Afghan & Iraq) wouldn't it be an incredible improvement to get them to the level of the US circa 1890?
Like any theory, it looks better on paper than it really is. The bottom line is that we do not have the luxury of letting these Islamic countries drag their heels as they are forcibly hauled kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Allowing them to make less than significant progress gives them every opportunity to engage in their usual Islamic terrorist bullshit and accompanying shari'a law evilness. Nuclear weapons proliferation prohibits the former and a growing refusal to countenance any continuation of Abject Gender Apartheid constrains the latter.
Any hiatus granted these Islamic hellholes WILL BE USED AGAINST US. Do not fool yourself, there is no reward for demonstrating the least kindness or mercy to Islamic cultures. Their reply is as universal as it is murderous.
Either these tyrannous cesspits rework their social structure over to something remotely resembling modern civilization or we subjugate them with merciless military dictatorships. No shari'a law, no theocracy, no royalty, no ayatollahs at the helm. Political Islam must die, even if it requires the total death of Islam itself. From all appearances both will perish in the process.
#1
I watched about half of it. The only reason I lasted that long was the hot chick doing the interview.
What a demented little retard he must be in real life...
#5
You know, its the idiots in Cleveland, Ohio that we should all be pissed at. They are the ones who have wrapped this little dick-head up in pretty ribbons and given him to us. Anyone know anyone in Lakewood, Parma, Westlake, North Olmstead or Garfield Heights? See if you can get them to send nasty letters or faxes. Until then, they get what they deserve.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/11/2007 14:54 Comments ||
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#6
Congress 334, Rep. Kucinich 1
Presidential candidate, no stranger to contrarian views, sole lawmaker to vote against 9/11 commemoration resolution
#8
LUCIANNE > Chomsky > BUSH IS THE "BEST ALLY" OF OSAMA article. Ya'd think Osama was related by blood and bizness to Dubya, the Clintons, Cheney, Condi, Paris, Kerry, ....................etal.
From Gateway Pundit. Video of a Fatah middling-high leader being tossed from an 18 story roof when Hamas took over Gaza back in June. Hamas said at the time they didn't do it, but someone had a cell phone videocam working.
Hamas officials said Monday they plan to appoint new judges in Gaza to replace those refusing to cooperate with the group. The appointments would be another step by Hamas to consolidate control over Gaza, following its violent takeover of the coastal strip in June. In the West Bank, a senior legal official appointed by Hamas' political rival, moderate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said such appointments are illegal. After Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Abbas ordered the police and prosecutors not to cooperate with Hamas, bringing the court system to a halt.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Hamas officials said Monday they plan to appoint new judges in Gaza to replace those refusing to cooperate with the group.
This is a good thing. The entire world needs to see Hamas' vision for a brave new Palestine. Moreover, the Palestinians need a stark physical reminder of exactly how insanely stupid they were to elect Hamas. Little else could possibly do this so well as having some strict shari'a law crammed up their terrorist-loving asses.
Sadly, we are talking about people so dedicated to terrorism that they rejoiced over having Qassam missiles landing on their own homes. This makes it highly unlikely that even strictly enforced shari'a will cause the Gazans to be more careful about what they wish for. While not at all worth the price of admission, there remains the entertainment value of watching some of this world's most evil people being hoisted by their own petard.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict and appointed negotiating teams ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference.
♫ Together at last!
Together for ever! ♫
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also promised Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to release prisoners as a gesture of goodwill for the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, after earlier refusing to agree to the Palestinian demand.
♫ We're tying a knot,
That no one can sever! ♫
The two emphasised their commitment to a two-state solution living side by side in peace and security and have therefore decided to appoint teams on both sides in order to promote this goal, said a joint statement released by the Prime Minister Ehud Olmerts office. A senior Israeli government official told reporters that the teams would work very intensively in the coming weeks to try to reach an understanding, preferably before the summit.
♫ We don't need sunshine now,
To turn grey skies to blue... ♫
A Palestinian official told AFP that the meeting - the third in five weeks between the two leaders - was positive and successful.
♫ I don't need anything but you! ♫
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
The "Two State Solution" needs to be discarded. Palestinians have no intention of existing along side a Jewish nation. Every single promise ever made by the Palestinians was broken at the earliest possible moment. This vile charade must end.
The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, proposed Monday that he meet with his political rival, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in Saudi Arabia, Haniyeh's office said. Since Hamas's forcible takeover of Gaza in June, Abbas has rebuffed repeated offers by the Islamic militants to resume contacts. Abbas has said Hamas must first apologize and withdraw its forces from Palestinian security posts in Gaza. It appeared unlikely Abbas would change his position now.
Haniyeh, who was deposed as prime minister by Abbas in June, proposed the meeting in a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdel Aziz, Haniyeh's office said. In February, the Saudis had brokered a power-sharing agreement between Hamas and Abbas in the holy city of Mecca.
Abbas is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. But on Sunday a Fatah official blamed Hamas of committing "war crimes against the Palestinian people" and promised that "in time, those responsible will be held accountable for their actions."
Hamas's proposal late Monday evening comes on the heels of another meeting between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, during which the two said they would set up teams to discuss core issues. A Channel Two commentator that Abbas was did not even mention Gaza Strip and seemed to see his constituency as West Bank Palestinians only. A poll published earlier Monday revealed that 73 percent of Palestinians were disappointed with Hamas since its takeover of Gaza, and if Palestinian elections were held today Abbas would win by a landslide.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Link to long pdf. As Iraq becomes duller due to success of the surge, more attention will be directed to this problem.
The previous chapters document some of the evidence tying Iran to al-Qaeda. But the consensus inside America today remains that the two have had little or nothing to do with each other. As a result, six years after the September 11 attacks, America still lacks a clear understanding of her terrorist enemies.
What follows are five recommendations to help America defeat al-Qaeda and its Iranian ally.
Be honest with ourselves about Tehrans war on America.
The mullahs of Iran have exported anti-American terror¬ism around the world for decades. (See the Appendix to this essay.) Yet, America has chosen to look the other way. It is long past time America changed her approach. No matter what solution to the Iranian problem Americas leaders choose, it cannot be grounded in the delusions of the past.
Open a public, Congressional investigation into Irans and Hezbollahs ties to 9/11 and other al-Qaeda attacks.
Only late in the 9/11 Commissions investigation did the potential scope of Irans involvement become clear. As a result, the com¬missioners called for further investigation into Irans and Hezbollahs potential involvement in the September 11 attacks. To date, however, the U.S. government has not begun such an investigation. Given Imad Mugniyahs long history of pioneering anti-American terrorism and clear evidence of his prior relationship with al-Qaeda, particular attention should be paid to the evidence of his role in the attack.
Declassify The Evidence.
It is time, therefore, for much of the evidence to be declassified and released to the American public. The American people themselves are capable of weighing and considering the evidence of Irans complicity in al-Qaedas terror. In particular, the documents uncovered by the 9/11 Commission in the final days of its investigation should be declassified.
Demand Iran turn over the al-Qaeda fugitives living on Iranian soil.
Iran has reportedly offered to turn over the al-Qaeda leaders in exchange for members of the MEK . The Iranian offer is, most likely, a ruse. But as long as the Bush Administration rejects the offer out-of-hand, the mullahs can claim that it is America who is refusing to deal. The President should call their bluff.
Devise a realistic strategy for confronting Iran.
If Americas intelligence services were to have specific intelligence pinpointing the location of senior al-Qaeda leaders, then airstrikes should certainly not be off-limits. Most importantly, if another major terrorist attack on the U.S. is executed and evidence of Irans hand once again surfaces, then all bets should be off. America simply cannot afford to make any more excuses for Iran.
At the end of the day, military strikes are not nearly as powerful as the potential of the Iranian people. Much like the former captives of the Eastern bloc, there is copious evidence that the Iranian populace yearns for freedom. America should not hesitate to throw her full supportfinancial or otherwisebehind them. And America should not hide her support; it should be clearly communicated policy. A full Cold War-style plan for Iranian containment should also be enacted. Rolling back Irans influence throughout the Middle East and the world should be a prime objective.
Six years after 9/11, the identity of our terrorist enemies and their allies remains clouded by erroneous assumptions made by counterterrorism analysts who continually misdiagnose their threat. America has long had a blind spot when it comes to her terrorist enemies. But the victims of their terror deserve better. Americas best, who have fallen in defense of her freedom, deserve better. It is long past the day when America should have dealt with Irans role in their murder.
BEIRUT - International donors pledged about $20 million on Monday to help Palestinian refugees made homeless by a 15-week battle between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants holed up inside their refugee camp. The Nahr Al Bared camp was home to about 40,000 before fighting erupted on May 20 but is now largely destroyed. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called a donors conference to seek funds to reconstruct the camp in north Lebanon.
I'll provide the salt, and Deacon Blues will provide a horse that will pull the plow.
The amount pledged fell well short of estimates of what was needed to cover the costs of adequate relief for the refugees, the reconstruction of the camp and help for nearby municipalities. The government estimated the total required at $382.5 million.
How about this: they're not 'refugees' any more! Their grandparents might (maybe) have been, their parents definitely not, and there's no way these people are refugees. They don't get a camp. They don't get a tent. They get a bus ticket to somewhere else. They can scratch out a living in some other gawdforsaken place without the UNRWA. And preferably without guns.
But if you have to rebuild the camp, put it in Mauritania. The Lebanese have suffered enough.
The United States led pledges with $10 million.
What? My tax dollars are going into this?
Germany offered 4 million euros ($5.52 million), Norway 10 million crowns ($1.81 million) and Italy about 2 million euros. Most other countries refrained from setting specific amounts. Saudi Arabia had pledged $12 million during the fighting and the United Arab Emirates pledged $5 million.
But that's ammo money for the widows.
UNRWA, the UN agency which cares for Palestinian refugees, said it needed $55 million to fund the first year of rehabilitation and emergency assistance to refugees from the Nahr Al Bared refugee camp.
I'm tellin' ya, salt is cheaper.
Hoda Elturk, UNRWA spokeswoman, said: We are very happy with the response of the donors and we are expecting more pledges to come.
"These pledges will keep the bureauocracy fully funded!" she added.
The governments estimate includes UNRWAs $55 million request, $249 million for rebuilding the camp and $78.5 million for the nearby municipalities and compensation for those affected in the surrounding areas. Most of the refugees fled to the nearby Beddawi camp in the early days of the fighting and are not expected to return to Nahr Al Bared soon. Most of its buildings are in ruins and the camp is littered with landmines.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
C'mon now, boys. These lovely people spread joy wherever they go...
Make sure the UNRWA puts some of it in escrow for after the next time the Lebs have to go in and clean it out again, which will be soon enough.
Also, do the neighbors of Nahr Al Bared know about this, cuz I'm sure they'll be thrilled...
#3
As long as Pestinains can continue living without working there will be no peace in the zone. Palestinians ever allege not having money for basic neeeds but they ever have money for weapons and terrorism.
In other wortds we are fundoing their terrorism. Let them fund it, not us. From their work not ours.
And spend the money on people who really suffer (for instance the victims of ARab/Muslim atrocities in Sudan and elsewhere) not on people, who like the Palestinians whose children are fat.
#6
For $20 million I can own all those Paleostinians? Can I bring them to Mississippi to pick cotton? At something like $10 each they'd even be cheaper than Mexicans.
#7
You don't wan'em Glenmore, they're bad house guests - break greenhouses, have wild gunsex parties and self-detonate at the slightest provocation.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
09/11/2007 10:27 Comments ||
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#8
*shrug* Public pledges and actual deliveries tend to be mostly disconnected when it comes to little UN projects like this. Then too, UNRWA claims in this article to need $382.5 million, whereas the pledges listed total under $40 million, if I didn't miss any numbers.
I imagine the U.S. will pay her pledge eventually, but $10 million isn't going to buy many bullets, given how tight stocks are.
"We cannot wait for them [Iran] to obtain nuclear weapons; we must prevent it now. This has to be the focus of all responsible countries," opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday. "The military option must stay on the table, but countries like the US and some in Europe must squeeze Iran with sanctions, voluntary sanctions - not through the UN," Netanyahu said at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's Seventh Annual Conference at IDC Herzliya. "The UN is paralyzed from launching effective sanctions. They can do a lot to bring economic pressure on the Iranian regime," he added.
Netanyahu suggested to "focus on the 20 to 30 European countries that prop up the Iranian oil and gas sector."
"We are involved in trying to get American state pensions to divest from these European companies," he said. "About eight states are in the process of divestment. Florida just passed a divestment bill. [California] Governor Schwarzenegger told me that he's going to get such a bill to his table. Withdrawing funds [from these companies] will give a crippling blow to the regime and its nuclear program."
Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, participating in the panel discussion entitled "Terrorism, Narcotics and International Crime," said drugs and the war on terrorism were connected.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah militant group could stage an attack on the United States if it believed the U.S. poses a direct threat to the group or to its alleged backer Iran, chief U.S. spy Michael McConnell warned on Monday. "We assess Lebanese Hezbollah, which has conducted anti-U.S. attacks outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to consider attacking the homeland over the next three years if it perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the group or Iran," he said in written testimony to Congress.
The Lebanese Shiite militant and political organization is considered a "terrorist" group by the United States. Iran, which is at loggerheads with the United States over its nuclear ambitions, is a vocal supporter of the Lebanese militant group and rejoiced over its resistance to the Israeli army last year. Tehran, however, denies Western charges that it provides arms to Hezbollah.
The armed conflict led to the reinforcement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the deployment of the Lebanese army along the tense border zone with Israel for the first time in decades, but Hezbollah was not disarmed.
McConnell, the director of national intelligence, also warned that the United States would "face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years." He expressed concern that international cooperation that had constrained the ability of Al-Qaida to attack the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks could fizzle out. "We are concerned however that this level of international cooperation may wane as 9/11 becomes a more distant memory and perceptions of the threat diverge," he told a Senate hearing on confronting the terrorism threat ahead of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 mayhem in the United States.
In a video tape last week, Al-Qaida leader Osama bin laden called for an escalation of the insurgency in Iraq. U.S. President George Bush said Saturday that the new video showed how dangerous the world remains and how the United States must show resolve in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
CHERTOFF > USA will be hit again; + WND > Offshore [Iranian?] SCUD launched from ship could cause $771Bilyuhn damage to NYC, etal. [major US centres] and US economy iff said SCUD detonates a nuclearized, high/medium altitude EMP Pulse over the city(s).
#2
joseph, if Iran did that i think the US would end their nuclear ambitions for good and any other ambition along with it.But i say hit them before they can try
There's some Marines that would dearly love a butt-stompin' load of payback you idiots. Just keep up with your rhetoric and if you dare stage a single attack on the USA or US assets, those Marines are ready and willing to lay your whole country waste, pillage your homes, and listen to the lamentations of your women.
The United States has pledged to ship additional weapons to Lebanon. Officials said the Bush administration has sent a series of messages that the Lebanese Army would receive additional U.S.-origin weapons and platforms. They said the administration was encouraged by the army's victory over Fatah Al-Islam in northern Lebanon. "Our partnership includes the commitment of the United States to provide the LAF with the supplies they need to battle and conquer the armed extremists in the North," U.S. ambassador to Beirut, Jeffrey Feltman, said.
The administration has allocated more than $270 million for Lebanon in fiscal 2007, which ends in October. So far, the United States has delivered 130 Humvee combat vehicles, and was preparing to send another 165 to Lebanon over the next few months, Middle East Newsline reported.
U.S. Central Command chief, Adm. William Fallon, said Lebanon would soon receive additional military equipment. In late August, Fallon held talks with Lebanese military and political leaders to discuss Beirut's requirements. "As for the future, I would like to offer my services and the services of my command to work with you to complete issues that you consider beneficial to build the Lebanese Army to become an institution that could even be more beneficial than now for this country," Fallon said.
Lebanon has complained of the slow pace of U.S. deliveries as well as the type of weapons sent. Lebanese Army Chief of Staff Gen. Michel Suleiman and Defense Minister Michel Murr said Beirut requires new platforms rather than munitions. "Arming and equipping the LAF is of great importance for the defense of Lebanon's sovereignty and for the continuation of the war on terrorism that does not only threaten Lebanon, but the countries of the region and the world," Murr said. "It is in the best interest of friendly nations to cooperate with and support the LAF to combat this dangerous phenomenon."
But U.S. officials cited the war in Iraq as well as force protection issues for the delay in weapons deliveries to Lebanon. They said both Washington as well as European allies have refrained from supplying the Lebanese Army with major weapons platforms, particularly combat helicopters, out of concern that they would come under the control of the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/11/2007 00:00 ||
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It's a shame they are being so poorly led. And I don't mean Bush, I mean the generation of boomers who control the media, academia, divines and politicians who shape the debate and run the country.
DoD Announces Recruiting and Retention Numbers for August 2007
The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the Active and Reserve components for the month of August.
Active Duty Enlisted Recruiting.
August 2007 All four services met or exceeded recruiting goals for August.
Army 106%
Navy 100%
Marine Corps 105%
Air Force 100%
Posted by: Nimble Spemble ||
09/11/2007 08:01 ||
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#1
Screw the boomers. Most self-important infantile generation of Americans ever. Glad theya re starting to die off.
#5
The left is not worthy of them. We're not worthy of them either, unless we earnestly contend for the truth, and defeat the left's mental disorder at every opportunity.
#6
Interesting: Navy and AF least vulnerable 100% but Army and Marines most vulnerable 105 and 106%. Booming economy, easy entrance to university (compared to my days), lots of employment opportunity (at least where I live) and we still can get these kids (I recognize some are older) to commit. Plus they will get something solid, unyielding and memorable out it also - self-discipline, honor and integrity plus the ability to put a No. 12 size hole right between the eyes of a muzzie from 150 yards.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/11/2007 14:32 Comments ||
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#7
The combat arms assignments get over-subscribed every year now at West Point. Some take on extra service length to get them. Includes females who want attack helo pilot assignments.
#8
Well, Old Spook, screw me. I guess I do deserve it - never did serve my country (though I certainly never refused to.) But I would do it today, except for being 50-something, with bad valves & kidneys (let's hope we don't get so desperate that I'm needed, but my eyes are ok and I don't shake, and my gun safe is stocked.)
But don't dismiss those of us who served during the cold war years, whose marriages went to hell while one member sat in missile silos with the codes ready or flew interdiction over Iraq while the Euros drilled holes in the sanctions and got fat off the oil monies that flowed out. Or who served in Bosnia and Desert Storm.
Or (as I know you don't) those who served in low profile jobs in unmarked places.
Or their spouses who supported them and raise the familiy often without them. They served too, in a small way.
I don't think the boomers you're talking about are the same ones OS and I are referring to. If they were, we wouldn't be in this mess. And frankly, the last 40 years wouldn't have been nearly as miserable. But this generation looks to be of better stuff. Let's hope so. Our future depends on it.
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.
The Taliban said Monday it was ready for talks with the Afghan government after President Hamid Karzai offered negotiations in a bid to end the rebels nearly six-year bloody insurgency.
Many, many years ago the British Broadcasting Corporation was the best broadcasting service in the world. They came to be relied upon by millions of people. People who hated tyranny listened for their distinctive "V for Victory" theme.
NEW YORK (AP) - If some people thought traveling to Iraq and Syria was a ratings stunt for Katie Couric, it didn't work out that way. 
U.S. officials say the battle to clean up Iraq's government has suffered a "serious blow" with the resignation of the nation's top corruption fighter. The former watchdog, Judge Radhi Al Radhi, tells NBC News that Iraq's current government, headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is riddled with so much corruption that the U.S. must stop supporting it. Rahdi is now in the United States, and his departure from the Iraqi government comes just as the U.S. prepares for a key report from Gen. David Petraeus about the military "surge" in Iraq.
Congress 334, Rep. Kucinich 1
Hamas officials said Monday they plan to appoint new judges in Gaza to replace those refusing to cooperate with the group. The appointments would be another step by Hamas to consolidate control over Gaza, following its violent takeover of the coastal strip in June. In the West Bank, a senior legal official appointed by Hamas' political rival, moderate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said such appointments are illegal. After Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Abbas ordered the police and prosecutors not to cooperate with Hamas, bringing the court system to a halt.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict and appointed negotiating teams ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference.
The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, proposed Monday that he meet with his political rival, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in Saudi Arabia, Haniyeh's office said. Since Hamas's forcible takeover of Gaza in June, Abbas has rebuffed repeated offers by the Islamic militants to resume contacts. Abbas has said Hamas must first apologize and withdraw its forces from Palestinian security posts in Gaza. It appeared unlikely Abbas would change his position now. 
"We cannot wait for them [Iran] to obtain nuclear weapons; we must prevent it now. This has to be the focus of all responsible countries," opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday. "The military option must stay on the table, but countries like the US and some in Europe must squeeze Iran with sanctions, voluntary sanctions - not through the UN," Netanyahu said at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's Seventh Annual Conference at IDC Herzliya. "The UN is paralyzed from launching effective sanctions. They can do a lot to bring economic pressure on the Iranian regime," he added. 
Hezbollah militant group could stage an attack on the United States if it believed the U.S. poses a direct threat to the group or to its alleged backer Iran, chief U.S. spy Michael McConnell warned on Monday. "We assess Lebanese Hezbollah, which has conducted anti-U.S. attacks outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to consider attacking the homeland over the next three years if it perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the group or Iran," he said in written testimony to Congress.
