AMSTERDAM - The Dutch government decided on Friday to keep troops in the south of Afghanistan, where they are serving as part of a NATO force, until 2010. The cabinet opted to extend the troops mandate in Uruzgan province which is in the front-line of the battle between NATOs 40,000-strong peacekeeping force and Taliban insurgents. The cabinet has agreed to keep troops in Afghanistan until 2010, a government spokesman said. Parliament must now give final approval.
The Dutch government had come under conflicting pressure from NATO to extend its mission and from the Dutch public worried about increasing casualties. The Netherlands has between 1,500 to 1,700 soldiers in Afghanistan, whose mandate was due to expire in August 2008.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#3
Thank you, Nederlanders! If this keeps up, they will rank right alongside the Danes, Poles and the Australians in DOING THE RIGHT THING. May God bless the people of the Netherlands for their support to this important and under-rated mission.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/01/2007 13:18 Comments ||
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About 80 people drowned off the coast of Yemen when their boat sank while trying to cross from Somalia to the Arab country, a Yemeni official said on Friday.
About 45 others survived after the vessel, carrying an estimated 126 migrants, went down close to the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula country late on Thursday, the official said. Most of the survivors were Somalis. Rescuers and fishermen pulled 27 bodies from the sea, he told Reuters. The survivors were handed over to officials of the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. Many African migrants cross to Yemen, which they see as a gateway to other parts of the Middle East and the West. Sixty-five people, including three children, drowned in the Gulf of Aden while trying to cross from Somalia to Yemen last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
They are going from one of the poorest countries in Africa to the poorest in Arabia. Didn't anyone tell them that Arabs despise blacks?
OFFICIALS from six world powers held talks in Paris about Iran's nuclear program, a day after an 18-month EU effort to persuade Tehran to stop enriching uranium collapsed.
US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns joined representatives from the foreign ministries of Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany for the closed-door talks at the French Foreign Ministry.
The meeting, involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, was expected to focus on a new push to find common language for a third set of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.
EU envoy Javier Solana held meetings with Saeed Jalili, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, in London.
Afterward, Solana said he was disappointed and suggested no more meetings were planned.
The London meeting had been considered a last chance for Iran to give in to UN pressure and freeze its enrichment program before an European Union report on Iran's nuclear program that will be used in the discussion of new sanctions.
The United States, France and Britain are urging quick and tough new sanctions, but statements by Russia and China have suggested they are sceptical.
Jalili said Iran was not worried about the prospect of new penalties and noted advances in enrichment technology since the earlier sanctions were imposed.
Iran has set up and is running 3,000 enriching machines, or centrifuges, in the space of a year.
The Security Council imposed sanctions in December 2006 and March this year.
The current set bans Iranian arms exports and freezes the assets of 28 people and groups involved in its nuclear and missile programs.
While Iran insists it has a right to peaceful use of enrichment to generate power, Washington and others fear the activity could be misused to create the fissile core of nuclear warheads
#2
OFFICIALS from six world powers held talks in Paris about Iran's nuclear program, a day after an 18-month EU effort to persuade Tehran to stop enriching uranium collapsed.
Maybe it's just me, but what the fuck is wrong with these people?
Given the other attacks on Christian priests there, I'm putting this in WOT background for now. I'll move it if it turns out this is just mercenary rather than ROP-motivated.
Posted by: lotp ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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U.S. war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have announced they're planning to descend on Washington, DC this March to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in Iraq.
"The war in Iraq is not covered to its potential because of how dangerous it is for reporters to cover it," said Liam Madden, a former Marine and member of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War. "That's left a lot of misconceptions in the minds of the American public about what the true nature of military occupation looks like."
Iraq Veterans Against the War argues that well-publicized incidents of American brutality like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the massacre of an entire family of Iraqis in the town of Haditha are not the isolated incidents perpetrated by "a few bad apples," as many politicians and military leaders have claimed. They are part of a pattern, the group says, of "an increasingly bloody occupation."
"This is our generation getting to tell history," Madden told OneWorld, "to ensure that the actual history gets told -- that it's not a sugar-coated, diluted version of what actually happened."
Iraq Veterans Against the War is calling the gathering a "Winter Soldier," named after a similar event organized by Vietnam veterans in 1971. In 1971, over 100 members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions.
"Initially even the My Lai massacre was denied," notes Gerald Nicosia, whose book Home to War provides the most exhaustive history of the Vietnam veterans' movement. "The U.S. military has traditionally denied these accusations based on the fact that 'this is a crazy soldier' or 'this is a malcontent' -- that you can't trust this person. And that is the reason that Vietnam Veterans Against the War did this unified presentation in Detriot in 1971.
"They brought together their bonafides and wore their medals and showed it was more than one or two or three malcontents. It was medal-winning, honored soldiers -- veterans in a group verifying what each other said to try to convince people that these charges cannot be denied. That people are doing these things as a matter of policy."
Nicosia says the 1971 "Winter Soldier" was roundly ignored by the mainstream media, but that it made an indelible imprint on those who were there.
I remember WS -- a large number of the 'soldiers' testifying were phonies -- they were either never soldiers or had never been to Vietnam. They told a lot of lies. I expect WSII to be the same.
Among those in attendance was 27-year-old Navy Lieutenant John Kerry, who had served on a Swift Boat in Vietnam. Three months after the hearings, Nicosia notes, Kerry took his case to Congress and spoke before a jammed Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Television cameras lined the walls, and veterans packed the seats. "Many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia," Kerry told the Committee, describing the events of the "Winter Soldier" gathering. "It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit -- the emotions in the room, and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do."
In one of the most famous antiwar speeches of the era, Kerry concluded: "Someone has to die so that President Nixon won't be -- and these are his words -- 'the first President to lose a war'. We are asking Americans to think about that, because how do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
He was an idiot then and he's an idiot today. And an idiot every day in-between.
Nicosia says Americans and veterans find themselves in a similar situation today. "The majority of the American people are very dissatisfied with the Iraq war now and would be happy to get out of it. But Americans are bred deep into their psyches to think of America as a good country and, I think, much harder than just the hurdle of getting troops out of Iraq, is to get Americans to realize the terrible things we do in the name of the United States."
#1
U.S. war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have announced they're planning to descend on Washington, DC this March to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in Iraq.
IIRC, Congress changed the law so that former service members can be recalled to active duty to face courts martial for violations that occurred during their time in service.
Art. 78. Accessory after the fact
Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts, or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial, or punishment shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
So, they're going to make public record that they knew but failed to report/act? You don't have to make 'lists' if people voluntarily sign up.
#3
This story is propagating and a LOT of people are really angry about it. The Republicans in congress are going to have their feet held to the fire over this: they had better stand up for America or else.
NO immunity to confession of war crimes. If someone says that have committed a war crime, they are going to a military prison.
#5
Oh, goody! So will all their Big Stars be coming out for the party? Sgt. Jimmy Massey? Jesse Macbeth? Scott Thomas Beauchamp?
Some advice to Liam. This ain't 35 years ago, bub. It won't take 5 or 10 years to figure out who's full of shit, it'll take minutes. Your "witnesses" had damn well better be bulletproof...
#6
Among those in attendance was 27-year-old Navy Lieutenant John Kerry, who had served on a Swift Boat in Vietnam. Three months after the hearings, Nicosia notes, Kerry took his case to Congress and spoke before a jammed Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Television cameras lined the walls, and veterans packed the seats.
Of course no mention that the POS now admits he was lying.
#8
I would throw them all in prison for a very long and lengthy investigation. Then, when all is found to be BS, keep them in prison for lying under oath, fraud and possibly even sedition.
#9
Took less than 24 hours to smoke out the plants in the last debate. I imagine a lot more energy will be spent by a lot more people to ensure these new Winter Soldiers are legit or else held accountable.
You don't even get free news cycles to propagate your crap in the blooger world.
#10
Oh goodie! I can hardly wait, it'll be more fun than some ancient Roman arena-sport, especially if it is broadcast. The mil-bloggers watching and google-searching each one of those pukes stepping up to "testify" will have the DD214 in living color before they even finish. Like tu3031 said, it won't take years to figure out who was full of it - it'll take minutes.
I'd hope the IVAW does go ahead with this poisonous bit of 60s nostalgia, just for the fun of watching them walk into the shredding that milbloggers would have ready for them, but on the other hand, I'd guess that the legacy media wouldn't mention that part of the narrative - the part about the debunking.
Barbara, fire up the industrial-strength popcorn poppers!
#11
I was thinking that if they are "Planning" a Winter Soldier what have then been doing up till now? The should telivise the event that way they posers can be outed before they are done testifying.
#12
Not only are these guy goin' up against the milbloggers, but what about our "active" military folks? They are professional, they are educated, they have street smarts after the combat they've seen, when they speak they are highly articulate, and they are proud of who they are and what they are doing.
And, they know their story hasn't been told. As they have come home, they've seen the respect of Americans, and still know, their story isn't being told.
Seems to me, if I was a "Winter Soldier" I would want to be very careful, that my story is true. This time, you don't have a bunch of draftees with they "just whatever" attitude. They are going up against what I have heard many say, "the best, the most professional warriors" I/we have commanded."
Can't see these guys standing aside.... being quiet.
Throw them all in jail, or brig... or whatever.
Good luck "Winter Soldiers." You will need it this time.
#13
This might be entertaining. It took, what, less then 5 minutes before the Hillary Plant in the youtube debate was exposed?
This is a last minute measure by the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and give aid and comfort to their allies. But it won't work this time. People have instant access to a vast amount of information - unlike when John Kerry lied before congress in 72. I wonder how many laptops, blackberries, and cellphones will be hitting google from the hearing room....
For more information on fraud which was Winter Soldier see:
A top Democrat who had hinted that a compromise on war funding was possible appeared to back away from the idea Friday as the Democratic congressional leadership refused to consider it. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Democrats will not try to pass additional war funding this year.
On Thursday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, said he and the White House Iraq coordinator Gen. Douglas Lute discussed a compromise in which Congress would provide additional funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan if the administration accepted readiness standards for the troops sent into battle and a ban on the use of torture. The Democrats' part of the compromise would be to extend the time period in which they would demand that troops be withdrawn from Iraq, Murtha said.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi showed no sign of accepting such a compromise and said the Democratic Congress would not pass a war funding bill other than the one that had already passed the House. "We have provided every penny that is currently necessary to fund Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world," Pelosi said. "It is President Bush and his Republican allies in the Senate who are preventing extra funds from reaching our troops."
This article starring:
Gen. Douglas Lute
John Murtha
Nancy Pelosi
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
She will remain a rude b--ch until the day she dies.
#2
This falls into 'I didn't will it so it is not happening' category. A leader lacking - she is supposed to be the leader of the House of Representatives of the USA 2007-2008. Instead she is being selfish. What's the matter, worried about St. Cindy and your district?
This tells me 2 things about the democrats:1)there is not/cannot be a leader with true conviction that they work 'for the people'. 2)according to democrats partisan politics overrides their duty.
Embarrassing. Makes this independent want to change its mind.
and said the Democratic Congress would not pass a war funding bill other than the one that had already passed the House.
Speaking for the Senate too, eh?
#3
Hey, she's doing it for the children. I don't know how it benefits the children, but I'm sure she has something in mind.
I don't see why W et al should make any sort of deal whatsoever. Let her choke on it until she caves. She must honestly think that the majority of her supporters are from the lunatic fringe because she sticks to them like glue. Maybe they are, I don't know.
I heard that part of the CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer where Brave Sir Murtha was backpedaling as hard as he could on his "I think the surge is working" statement. Part of it included whining about how the looming cuts were going to hurt civilian contractors etc (as if he cared). He of course blamed Republicans for all of this. In his mind it had nothing to do with the Dems obstructionism on the budget. He seems committed to the idea that the only logical response would be to bring the troops home. Good to hear he fears the idea of the civilian impact. At least he has that much right, whatever his F'ed up response to it is.
This is money that won't be circulated in the economy and taxed and retaxed. That's not going to help, either.
And what is this "ban on the use of torture" symbolism/crap? Doesn't that imply the US is torturing terrorists? So fuc&ing what? Besides, I heard the US isn't doing that anyway. I wouldn't give him any sort of rhetorical victory here either or it will just haunt the administration down the road. It's also obviously something the Trunks can toss out and claim some sort of victory even if they go for this "standards of readiness" crap - which would suggest that they are being sent over there green. I wouldn't take that bait, either, but I'd make sure they were trained sufficiently before sending them into the conflict unsupervised, which I'll bet is already being properly managed given there are no liberal-skewed statistics of how new troops are dying in obscene numbers.
I'd say that passing the funding is a given; the unknown is how much damage the Dems are willing to sustain. Considering their blind thirst for power, it can't be that much that the Republicans ought to panic about it.
Pelosi said "It is President Bush and his Republican allies in the Senate who are preventing extra funds from reaching our troops."
Details on that, Nancy? Or do liberals not need such inconveniences as details?
#4
Politics, fa@rkn politicians. Perhaps nancy is being set up as a fall. That is, "(Speaker of the House elected by the majority party) Palosi is soo far out there man, we gotta look center."
I have not heard the torture allusion, but torture to me requires an 'atmosphere'. That is an environment completely controlled by the interrigator. Anything less gets in the area of interrogation as for degrees of - waterboarding are you kidding, try snorkling in high waves or horseback riding in boxers.
#5
You can't contact Queen Nancy via E-Mail unless you live in her district. The Speaker's website (respect/salute the rank, not the person)says that us regular citizens may contact her about other things - ya know, like national interest things - at: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
Go on, you'll feel beeter if you do!
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/01/2007 6:29 Comments ||
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#6
perhaps she's trying to save media ink/space by dropping that second digit from her public approval opinion poll numbers?
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
12/01/2007 9:07 Comments ||
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#7
I think she is just stupid. This will just benefit the Republicans in the next elections. Maybe she's crazy. Not sure it makes much difference.
#12
Nancy Peeloosely is going to single-handedly destroy the demodonk party for 20 years with this sh$$. If she doesn't know it, someone with some clout should point it out to her. The American people don't like to retreat, and don't like to lose. Nancy is single-handedly trying to force both options upon the United States. She needs to be slapped upside the head with a cluebat - possibly made out of the Flatirons up near Boulder.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/01/2007 13:25 Comments ||
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#13
I'm with the above poster that says let her choke on it until she caves. This only works if W gets on the PrimeTime TeeVee and tells America that the military is running out of money.
The average America has no idea that this is going on. None.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/01/2007 13:56 Comments ||
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#14
I thinks she's scared of her own constituents. They occupied her offices and set up camp outside her home when she tried to act semi-sane.
She doesn't dare fund the troops or they'll attack her for sure.
The Dems really blew it when they made her speaker.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/01/2007 15:27 Comments ||
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#15
Above this article is another titled Democrats: Iraq fades as political issue... -Quagmire drying up
If the Donks want to bury the issue before the next election, taking this political tack will insure its right in front of the voters comes November. Brilliant. Don't stop an enemy when they're destroying themselves. Fight it Nancy, fight it. Make it as public as possible. Don't allow it to be moved out of the public spotlight.
Excerpts below. Please read the whole thing. h/t Lucianne
Now, at age 47 and living in Maryland, Duong is still grappling with the question, trying to apply bedtime lessons from Vietnam to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Duong is known as "the bomb lady" around the Pentagon and as the engineer behind America's first thermobaric, bunker-busting explosive. A 5-foot-1-inch suburban mother of four, Duong has become, according to Thomas A. Betro, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, "one of the most important weapons-developers of the modern era."
For Duong, who was honored recently as one of the federal government's top civil servants, producing tools for U.S. troops is a way of life. After years of pioneering explosives for the Navy, she now creates systems to help identify terrorists.
"I don't want My Lai in Iraq," Duong said at the Pentagon, where she works on anti-terrorism issues as a science adviser. "The biggest difficulty in the global war on terror -- just like in Vietnam -- is to know who the bad guys are. How do we make sure we don't kill innocents?"
Duong's most recent innovation, the Joint Expeditionary Forensics Facilities (JEFF) project or "lab in a box," analyzes biometrics. It will be delivered to Iraq at the beginning of 2008, the Navy said, to help distinguish insurgents from civilians.
"The best missile is worthless if you don't know who to shoot," Duong said.
"I remember clutching my little bag full of pictures of teachers, childhood friends, of my cat and dog that I had to abandon, and a few pieces of my best clothes, crying the whole time," she recalled in a speech at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Indian Head, where she worked before moving to the Pentagon.
Eventually Duong and her family were transferred to a Vietnamese boat, which pulled alongside a U.S. Navy ship. One by one, they jumped.
"Each would have to wait for the right moment, the short period when the waves would bring the boat and the ship closest," Duong said. "I was standing in line for that jump, when my cousin, who was ahead of me, made his jump at the wrong moment. Even today I can still picture him sliding down the side of the ship while everyone on the other side was trying to catch his hand . . . while my aunt was screaming."
Her cousin, dangling, his feet nearly crushed between the two hulls, was hoisted on board. "Someone shouted in my ear that I was next," Duong recalled. "Only after I made it to the ship and found my father did I break down."
Duong came to Montgomery County in 1975 by way of refugee camps in the Philippines and in Pennsylvania. The First Baptist Church of Washington sponsored her family.
"Her life story is at the heart of her commitment," Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter said in an interview. This fall, he presented Duong with the 2007 Service to America National Security Medal from the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service (PPS). Backstage, as Winter listened to Duong's account of her escape, he took a deep breath and, he said, "I'm thinking, 'Gee whiz, am I going to be able to do this without choking up?' "
PPS president Max Stier said afterward, "Americans sometimes forget the important role their public servants play. Immigrants don't.
At Indian Head, in the 1990s, Duong headed the development and transition of 10 explosives into 18 different U.S. missiles, bombs, torpedoes and gun projectiles, a record in the field, according to the PPS.
In 2001, Duong led nearly 100 scientists at Indian Head to build a thermobaric, internal-blast explosive so powerful that critics called it "thermo-barbaric." It was designed for use in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom to penetrate enemy caves. Her team compressed years of work into 67 days.
Duong's colleague, Karen Burrows, a fuse specialist, recalled how she and Pam Carpenter, the chief chemist, sat in meetings with Duong, calculating the optimum heat and pressure to billow around corners and rip through tunnels. Male colleagues called the women, all mothers of young children, "the knitting club."
#2
Good read, I'll follow the link and read the whole piece; as an aside, one bit reminds me of one of the moments right after 9/11 when I realized how full of crap the "experts" were, in that rather short time which made me lose all faith an interest in the msm : the pic of an afghan cave/bunker in some kind of a very big rock, with a taleb standing guard in front of it... and the talking head saying that "only a nuclear or chemical bombing could take it", that is that quite unimpressive cave/bunker. I'm not military-savvy, but even I could see that this was pure bull, and that this "expert" didn't actually know sh*t, or at least, nothing that mattered, like the work that lady has done for the afghan campaign.
#3
Amazing lady. I saw a discovery special on the thermobaric bomb and she was highlighted in it. She is also proof that the American dream and experiment is alive and well.
#7
Another example of an American who happened to be born somewhere else.
Author!
I don't quite see how her compact biometrics lab will help to identify terrorists. If it can perform short turn DNA sequencing to determine country of origin, that might be of some use. Otherwise the biometrics would seem to be useful only in intercepting typical catch and release returnees to combat or identifying terrorist family members. If someone else has more insight on this I'd be interested.
It is no small irony that America has received the expertise of Ms. Duong. According to my Vietnamese friends, South Vietnam was the intellectual center of that divided nation. Essentially, a bunch of communist-armed northern peasant rabble overran the south's universities and factories only to wreak their usual Socialist havoc upon a semi-functional economy.
Vietnam possesses a peculiar legacy amongst all other East Asian nations. Throughout its history, women have always been able to vote, serve in the military, inherit wealth, own property and run businesses. Quite the contrast with all other Asian cultures. Add in the fact that two of Vietnam's greatest war heroes are the Trung sisters who led a successful resistance against a Chinese invasion. It is a small wonder that a nation which, so very early on, rejected the female submissive doctrine of Confucianism has managed to produce a mind like that of Ms. Duoung. Of even less wonder is that Ms. Duoung would recognize and respect the freedom she enjoys in America.
Trend-setting radio talk show host Michael Savage has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Council on Islamic-American Relations, and has accused the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, seeks damages equal to the ongoing donations from CAIR supporters "who expect CAIR to act in this manner in exchange for continuing financial support" as well as "actual damages according to proof."
A spokesman for Savage indicated the top-rated talk show host would have no further comment, saying the text of the lawsuit itself would answer questions.
Continued on Page 49
#3
Unfortunately, CAIR is only aping Memri and other sites who use clipped material in exercise of freedom of expression. However, I have long advocating the banning of CAIR as a Muslim Brotherhood appendage. They are rear guard to the front line terrorists. They use money rather than guns, but its all jihad.
#4
There is good potential to be a new cottage industry in suing radical Muslim organizations in the US. Not just fronts like this, but really running the gamut from RICO to "hate speech" against "charities" that fund terrorism and mosques that preach hate.
A big bitch slap could come from Jewish organizations who could nail them for sermons or publications that advocate violence, which under many circumstances is a criminal act.
The bottom line is that they routinely engage in behavior that is prohibited to others and get away with it. Once the light dawns that they can be sued for it, the flood gates will open.
#8
The link doesn't work for me, doc. McZoid, MEMRI is an apolitical group that only translates things with additional analysis, they don't use clips to support requests for money. CAIR explicitly plans to use the money raised by this method to support political lobbying.
#9
Sounds like it's time to change our tactics, a flood of lawsuits could shut them down quick with only a few wins. Heaven knows they've played this game to their own ends more than a few times. Maybe this could be the thing that pulls their teeth.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
12/01/2007 14:15 Comments ||
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#11
...and of course, TW is waay ahead of me ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
12/01/2007 14:16 Comments ||
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#12
"I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not getting' on my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don't wanna hear any more about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you."
A refreshing bit of candor if ever there was. If this message is finally reaching a large American audience it can only be a really good thing.
There is good potential to be a new cottage industry in suing radical Muslim organizations in the US. Not just fronts like this, but really running the gamut from RICO to "hate speech" against "charities" that fund terrorism and mosques that preach hate.
One can only hope thatpending judicial approval of the caseHorowitz will force CAIR to undergo proctological levels of discovery. This represents a golden opportunity in that CAIR will not be able to abruptly quit the case like they did in their Anti-CAIR lawsuit. Once Hooper, Awad, Ahmad and their cronies are thrust under the legal microscope, all of them need to be pinned down and dissected like the pustulent nematodes that they are.
Savage's efforts amount to nothing less than a community service.
#13
I am not a big fan of Mike Savge but I do find him imformative. He has been attacked RELENTLESSLY by the moonbats in San Fran and yet he still is on the air and making money. CAIR would do well to settle quick and quietly.
President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that if after the January 8 elections, a situation develops that is absolutely unacceptable to me, I have a choice of leaving.
Like, for Gay Paree, in fact...
The exclusive interview broadcast on the ABC morning show, Good Morning America, took place in Islamabad. The president declared, when asked if he was in a power-sharing deal with former premier Benazir Bhutto, I am not in any deal with anyone. We are in a stage where we have to have fair elections. We have to see after the elections how things develop. If the situation develops in a manner which is absolutely unacceptable to me, I have a choice of leaving.
I think Perv probably started out with a power-sharing deal with Morticia. This being Pakistain, that deal had a pretty short half-life.
West shares blame: He said the West must share blame for Pakistans current political crisis.
I confess. It wuz me. I dunnit. Sorry. I just wasn't thinking.
If theres a failure, its not Pakistans failure.
If theres a failure, its not Pakistans failure, recalling that after 10 years of being together in the Afghan jihad, the US had left Pakistan alone to deal with the aftermath.
At which point they busied themselves creating "strategic depth." Simply brilliant.
Osamas fate: On Pakistans search for Osama Bin Laden, Musharraf refused to say what he would do with the Al Qaeda leader in case he was captured. He would not say if Pakistan would hand over Bin Laden to the US. I think the people who need to know, know it, he said. And I dont think the media is the one who needs to know. Musharraf blamed the US for its inconsistent support over the past 30 years, saying that the US turned a blind eye to terrorism until the 9/11 attacks. We handled the situation alone for 12 years, he said.
Nobody suffers like Pakistain. Nobody.
He said, Come hell or high water, elections would be held on January 8. Musharraf insisted his political moves had been in reaction to the oppositions tactics, AFP reported. The opposition, they have all along these five years tried to destabilise me and the government. You have to understand, we dont want agitation here... Agitation means breaking down everything, burning things. That cannot be allowed. So, therefore, if anyone is trying to do that, we will stop it. That is the way it is in Pakistan, he told the interviewer.
Or at least in Perv's imagined Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
...I dunno, guys. Sounds to me like Perv's laying the rhetorical groundwork to bail out because something's coming down the road and he knows it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/01/2007 16:30 Comments ||
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Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has once again refused to follow the APDM decision to boycott elections. APDM is a political grouping, formed to fight for the restoration of democracy in the country, and not an electoral alliance, so how could it decide about election boycott. It has no right or authority to make such a decision, Fazl told a news conference here on Friday evening.
He alleged that some APDM parties, which had no public following, had held Nawaz Sharif hostage, therefore the PML-N leader voted for election boycott. He said that only those parties, which are unable to find candidates to field in elections advocated poll boycott. Fazl said that theres no rationale for boycotting polls after the president had hang up uniform and announced to lift emergency rule and withdraw the PCO. He said that the APDM wouldnt be able to gather public support for poll boycott in current circumstances so it should review the decision. Fazl said that APDM had yet to contact him to press for election boycott. They (APDM leaders) should come to us either to convince us or get convinced (by us), he said.
JUI-F chief said that his party would take part in elections from the MMA platform even if Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chose to stay away from electoral process. He said that he and his party candidates had applied for MMAs election symbol, book. He said that top MMA leaders would meet at Qazi Hussain Ahmeds house on Saturday to solve differences on different issues thus save the MMA from breakup. He said that he would try to convince MMA leaders not to boycott elections.
Fazl said that the deposed judges had taken oath under the PCO and they should be disliked like the incumbent PCO judges. If a judge fights Musharraf, it doesnt mean that we should embrace him. We should have one guiding principle on the judges issue, he said. He said that his party wanted judiciary to be free and the incumbent was not free.
Contact with Bhutto: Fazl said that he was in contact with PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto over telephone but had no immediate plans to see her. He said that he would allow JUI-F-PPP seat adjustments at local level but was opposed to an electoral alliance between the two.
Civilian president: JUI-F leader said that he had opposed Musharraf in the past and still had some constitutional reservations over his becoming a civilian president.
This article starring:
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Nawaz Sharif
Qazi Hussain Ahmed
Jamaat-e-Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
#1
Expensive solar-grey glasses, did Mohammed wear glasses?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2007 14:00 Comments ||
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Congressional Democrats are reporting a striking change in districts across the country: Voters are shifting their attention away from the Iraq war.
Rep. Jim Cooper, a moderate Democrat from Tennessee, said not a single constituent has asked about the war during his nearly two-week long Thanksgiving recess. Rep. Michael E. Capuano, an anti-war Democrat from Massachusetts, said only three of 64 callers on a town hall teleconference asked about Iraq, a reflection that the war may be losing power as a hot-button issue in his strongly Democratic district.
First-term Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) echoing a view shared by many of her colleagues said illegal immigration and economic unease have trumped the Iraq war as the top-ranking concerns of her constituents.
In an interview with Politico, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) attributed the change to a recent reduction of violence and media coverage of the conflict, saying there is scant evidence that more fundamental problems with the Bush administrations policy are improving. Even so, he agreed voters are certainly talking less about the war. People are not as engaged daily with the reality of Iraq, Hoyer said.
The change in mood perceived by Democratic lawmakers comes as one of Congress most vocal war critics, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), returned from a trip to Iraq and told reporters Thursday that the surge is working to improve security, even though the central government in Baghdad remains dysfunctional.
On Friday, Murtha, chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, clarified his remarks. The surge, he said, has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government, which he added has failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.
The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable, Murtha said.
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), who traveled to Iraq with Murtha over the Thanksgiving break, also agrees the surge is working, adding another high-profile Democrat to the list of lawmakers who believe there has been improvement. Like Murtha, though, Dicks still favors troop withdrawal and points out that political reconciliation in Iraq has been a failure.
There is a sense of normalcy you didnt see before. In that sense, the surge is being successful, Dicks said in an interview with the Seattle Times. But there is no success on political reconciliation. From that standpoint, its not working.
The apparent shift in voter intensity about Iraq, also captured in some polls, shows how dramatically the political context of the war debate has changed from last summer.
Democrats believed then that mounting public pressure would soon force Republicans to take flight from President Bush, allowing Congress to impose a more rapid end to the war on an unwilling administration. It has not happened yet, and if anything it shows Democrats are facing a stiffer challenge at years end than they had at the beginning to frame the public debate on their terms.
Hoyer said the public clearly backs the Democratic view of the war: that it was a major foreign policy blunder that must be ended quickly. That is true, based on dozens of public polls over the past year. The diminished attention to Iraq, moreover, could end in an instant with a new burst of violence or other unfavorable turn of events.
For now, however, Democratic leaders are reckoning with a more complex, if fragile, reality both in Iraq and their congressional districts. The military surge ordered by Bush over Democratic opposition is helping pacify pockets of Iraq, according to many official and journalistic accounts, with 175,000 U.S. troops showing at least temporary success in reducing violence and death.
Cooper, who represents a moderate Nashville-area district, said Democrats "shouldn't be against good news" in Iraq. At the same time, even military planners fear the situation could quickly worsen once U.S. troop levels are reduced, or if delicately crafted ceasefires collapse.
#1
The ongoing collapse of the housing bubble & the associated economic distress will most likely be the big issue of the 2008 election. It's one thing to oppose a war & quite another to be out of a job & your house foreclosed on.
#2
The donks still can't accept that we might actually SUCCEED in Iraq, and are doing everything they can to make sure we don't. The American people are a bit more reasonable and optimistic. This will eventually hurt the donks across the board - maybe as early as 2008.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/01/2007 13:59 Comments ||
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#3
The Quagmire is drying up on account of the drought and global warming.
This could be considered a War Crime - contaminating Iraqi law with American law school practices - sort of like smallpox blankets to the Indians.
COB SPEICHER, Iraq Task Force Iron Multi-National Division North, The University of Tikrit Law School and the University of Baltimore Law School began an official affiliation via a video teleconference held at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq, Nov. 27. The program will culminate in six Iraqi students attending the Master of Laws program in Baltimore, Md.
The programs overriding goal is to develop international relations, expand the international studies program at UBLS, and to further develop the graduates of the UTLS, according to the official statement issued by the Provincial Reconstruction Team hosting the signing.
The schools formalized the association by simultaneously signing Memorandums of Understanding during the conference. The documents state that schools will engage in the exchange of faculty, students and academic programs for mutual benefit.
Additionally, the document notes that the schools will collaborate with one another to establish, support and continue the development of the Rule of Law and Civil Society.
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Defense will fund six qualified individuals who are representative of Iraqi society, according to the MOU. These students will then return to Iraq to help in reconstruction with regards to the rule of law.
Iraq has been exposed to continuous wars, embargo, violations to human rights and occupation, and we hope from this agreement to improve all these conditions, said Amir Ayaash, Dean of Tikrit University School of Law. I hope this agreement will be the first step toward building and rebuilding an inclusive and full system in order to improve rightful relationship between Iraqi and American people. Universities play (a) fundamental role in all (of) this; thanks to (the) American people and Government to take this great step.
He added that when America built its country two centuries ago, it was based on true and sound laws, respecting human rights and that within these two centuries, America become a super power because of its sound and rightful laws.
#2
The Iraqis will bring a strong whiff of reality to the Baltimore proceedings, not a bad thing at all. Not to mention a strong whiff of reality to discussions about America and Americans when they get back.
BAGHDAD - The US military will carefully manage the growth of neighbourhood police units credited with helping to curb violence in Iraq, aiming ultimately to move many into public work roles, a spokesman said on Thursday.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said about 60,000 Iraqis had been trained and were manning concerned local citizens checkpoints in their own communities and being paid by the US military. Smith said the programme would be allowed to grow by another 10-15 percent, although there was no absolute cap on the number. Its a general guidance, not a final ceiling, he said. We have been looking at making certain that we have a measured approach as we move into 2008, Smith said in a telephone interview.
The 60,000 at work are drawn from about 77,000 who have registered with the US military for the security initiative. The predominantly Sunni Arab units, known by the military as CLCs, emerged from a model which developed in western Anbar last year and has since spread to Baghdad and beyond.
Iraqs Shia-led government has at times appeared lukewarm about the rapid growth of the movements, with many Shias fearing that they would become unaccountable militias operating under the pretext of fighting Al Qaeda.
A US general in Iraq said on Monday that the Iraqi government wanted to start paying the security units in a move that would indicate growing support for the units. The military pays each patrol member between $250-$300 a month. The New York Times on Thursday quoted Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh as saying it was Iraqs responsibility to pay them and that the loyalty of these people should be to Iraq.
That's a smart move and an indication that the central government is getting on board. It also makes the transition of the CLCs to other projects easier in the future.
Some neighbourhood patrol members once belonged to Sunni Arab insurgent groups but US commanders say all are screened through extensive security databases and those who have attacked US or Iraqi forces or committed crimes are weeded out.
And we keep the database handy in case there's any backsliding in the future.
Smith said about 200 of the groups had been set up so far, a rise of about 20 on previously available figures. The government of Iraq in 2008 is to transition this into their programme, Smith said. Smith said pilot retraining programmes would be set up soon.
Lieutenant-General James Dubik, the US officer in charge of training Iraqi security forces, told Reuters on Sunday that talks had begun between the military, US embassy officials and the Iraqi government on the future role of the groups. The talks would look at jobs for neighbourhood patrol members in other areas like public works, transportation and agriculture once the need for added security subsided.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The Iraqi-born head of the Chaldean Christian church Emmanuel Delly III says security is improving for Christians and others in his war-torn country.
Emmanuel Delly III became the first Iraqi cardinal in Rome last Saturday. He was among 23 senior church leaders named cardinals in a special ceremony at the Vatican. "The security situation in Iraq is improving for everyone, including us Christians," he said in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "Christians in Iraq are not separated from other members of society so if the security situation improves, everyone will benefit."
The patriarch stressed the importance of unity in Iraq and cohesion between diverse groups in the country. Around 70 percent of Iraqi Christians belong to the Chaldean community. An autonomous church aligned with eastern rite churches, the Chaldean church has its own liturgy and leadership but recognises the authority of the Pope.
Regarding inter-religious dialogue, the new cardinal said: "I hope that the Vatican continues to speak to other religions. "Our objective is not to proselytise but to collaborate and live together with others."
The new cardinal said the Chaldean church was not only found in Iraq but also in other countries of the world. "We have churches in the US, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt and also one in Australia."
There are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 Christians in Iraq - 3 percent of the population. Many Chaldeans and other Christians fled the country after the Allied invasion in March 2003, in fear of sectarian violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Any Christian living in Dar-al-Islam lives under a sword, unless & until Islam fundamentally changes. You will know that has happened when a Pope of Iraqi origin celebrates Mass in Medina or Mecca.
The Iraqi government has asked US President George W. Bush to order the handover of Saddam Husseins cousin, known as Chemical Ali, and two other former officials convicted of genocide, so that they can be executed. Saddams cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, former Defence Minister Sultan Hashem and former army commander Hussein Rashid Muhammad are being held in US military custody while officials argue over who has the authority to transfer them for execution. They were convicted of genocide for their roles in a campaign against Iraqs Kurds in 1988, but the US military has said it will not hand them over until it receives what it calls an authoritative government of Iraq request.
What constitutes such a request is at the centre of a row between Prime Minister Nuri al-Malikis Shiite-led government and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters on Friday Maliki had sent a letter to Bush last week in which he demanded the three convicts be handed over.
The US forces do not have the right to interfere in a judicial case and decide whether it was legal or not, Dabbagh said. Only Iraqi authorities have the right to do so.
The US embassy in Baghdad had no comment on the letter. Maliki has said the US embassy in Baghdad has played an unfortunate role in preventing the handover of the three. Talabani and Hashemi say Iraqs constitution stipulates that the three-man presidency council - made up of the president and two vice presidents - should sign the order.
This article starring:
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Iraqi Baath Party
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh
Hussein Rashid Muhammad
Iraqi Baath Party
Jalal Talabani
Nuri al-Maliki
Sultan Hashem
Iraqi Baath Party
Tareq al-Hashemi
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
#2
Oh comeon now, you should know a Hangman's noose has thirteen windings, not ten.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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#3
I don't get this one - the procedures for requesting transfer of custody were clear enough for the transfer of No. 1 last year. And while I thought apparent US foot-dragging for that case was unwise (though understandable, if only to keep Saddam around for the full Anfal trial), I can't see the angle here. Chemical Ali's big case was Anfal - his second big case would be the 1991 intifada case, but if the Shi'a govt. wants him to swing now, that shows they're not determined to have him around for that trial.
We have physical custody of the prisoners, but the Iraqis (the tribunal, until they have finished with appeals of sentences) have judicial control.
(Xinhua) -- The Palestinians aim to create an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital through the resumed peace talks with the Israelis, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday. Abbas, who arrived here Thursday after attending the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference, told a rally that the newly resumed negotiations will be a very complicated and arduous process.
The peace conference, held in Annapolis, Maryland, was aimed at relaunching negotiations over a "two-state solution" that could lead to an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem. Abbas expressed the hope that the two sides will conclude all final-status negotiations on the issues of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders, water resources and security, and reach a solution that can be put into practice at once by the end of 2008.
He noted that the Annapolis peace conference announced the resumption of the stalled peace talks and laid out the groundwork for the upcoming negotiations, namely "land for peace" principle, the roadmap peace plan and the Arab Peace Initiative. The international community needs to make unremitting efforts to put the goals set at the conference into reality, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A spectacularly fine reason why Israel must not yield up a square centimeter of turf. Whatever financial burden East Jerusalem represents, few greater propaganda coups could be granted their foes than the establishment of an ostensible capitol in that ancient city. It would give FATAH a whiff of credibility it neither deserves nor has done the least thing to merit. Someone needs to crush Olmert's writing hand so he cannot ink any such agreement.
The United States on Thursday presented the UN Security Council with a draft resolution backing the US-sponsored Annapolis conference decision to relaunch the Mideast peace process. Distributed to reporters, the draft says the Council endorses the programme of action for negotiations and implementation of outstanding obligations, agreed upon by the Israeli and Palestinian leadership at Annapolis, Maryland on November 27, 2007.
Under US President George W Bushs aegis, Israeli and Palestinian leaders met at the Maryland state capital to revive the stagnant Middle East peace process and set the goal of a peace agreement and a new Palestinian state by the end of 2008.
After consultations on the draft text, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the 15-member council had a good discussion ... there was enormous support.
Everyone recognises that we collectively and individually have to do what we can to be supportive, to sustain the momentum and to help the parties as they make the difficult decisions that they have to make to achieve peace, he added. French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the international community must support the process and the dynamics of Annapolis.
He said France deems important that the Security Council, as the US initiative aims at, supports this dynamic triggered in Annapolis, which must bring about, before the end of 2008, a viable and democratic Palestinian state living in peace with Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel should expand its stocks of nuclear & biological weapons---a lot.
(Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said here on Friday that it was "unacceptable" for Iran to give up its right for nuclear enrichment. "Iran is a member of the NPT (Nonproliferation Treaty), which means it has the right to enrich uranium," Jalili told reporter after five hours of talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in London. "It is unacceptable for Iran to abandon its right to enrichment when it is carrying out its obligations," he said.
Jalili said the discussions with Solana were "positive" and there would be further talks next month. "We had positive negotiations with Mr Solana and negotiations will continue next month," Jalili said.
Iran's chief negotiator said that Iran would continue its atomic program even if the United Nations Security Council were to impose new sanctions on Iran. "Iran has removed concerns and cooperated with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). But if some countries want to use the U.N. Security Council and its resolutions to stop Iran's atomic work, surely they will not be successful," Jalili said. "They have adopted three resolutions and haven't achieved anything, and Iran has in the meantime enjoyed significant technological success," Saeed Jalili told reporters after talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "They have not succeeded in preventing Iran from mastering uranium enrichment. If they want to continue on the same path, they will not succeed," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Nobody is asking Iran to "abandon" enrichment. They are only being asked to do so with full inspections to ensure the stuff is being used only for fuel.
A British court ordered one of Irans most powerful opposition groups removed from the governments list of terrorist organizations Friday.
The Peoples Mujahedeen of Iran and its affiliates had appealed to authorities to be taken off the list, which includes the likes of Al Qaeda and the Kurdish PKK. Britains Home Office had fought to keep them on the list. The decision by the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission was an important victory for the group, which is still considered a terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union, and has been engaged in long-running legal battles in both places to clear its name of the terrorist tag.
Lawyers for Britains Home Office said it would appeal. Last year, the group successfully challenged an European Union decision to freeze its assets, although it was unsuccessful in removing its name from the EU list of terrorist groups. While officially banned in most Western countries, the groups standing is complicated by the looming confrontation between the United States, Germany, France and Britain and Iran over Tehrans disputed nuclear programme.
The groups ambition of overthrowing Irans theocratic regime has won the praise of US lawmakers worried by allegations that the country is attempting to build a nuclear weapon. Originally Marxist-Islamist, the group was set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the US-backed dictatorship of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the countrys Islamic Revolution but soon fell out with the clerical government and launched a campaign of assassinations and bombings in an attempt to topple it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
But in other news, the EPA will keep MEK on the hazardous chemicals list and require full MSDS listings in all locations...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
12/01/2007 22:52 Comments ||
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Speaker Nabih Berri postponed a session to elect Lebanon's next president for the sixth time in a row on Thursday, announcing that Friday's scheduled vote would be delayed until December 7.
At the same time, politicians from various groups expressed their willingness to elect the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman. "In order to permit further consultations toward reaching a consensus on the election of a new president, the speaker decided to postpone the session scheduled for tomorrow until Friday December 7 at 1:00 p.m.," said a statement issued by Berri's office late Thursday.
This article starring:
Michel Suleiman
Nabih Berri
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Democratic gathering leader MP Walid Jumblatt, who is known for his total objection to a president of military background, hailed army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman for his role in protecting the resistance and democracy. "We should overcome the issue of amending the constitution," Jumblatt told the daily An Nahar in remarks published Friday. " What is important now is Lebanon's stability through a person who has had a key role in uniting the army, keeping it away from politics and protecting both civilians and institutions under the worst of conditions," Jumblatt said, in reference to Suleiman.
"This decision (to back Suleiman) was purely Lebanese Gen. Suleiman's nomination deserves (support) to overcome all sensitivities," since the army commander, Jumblatt went on, is known for his "clean record in protecting the resistance and safeguarding (both) democracy and (public) institutions."
The constitution bans senior public servants from seeking the presidency until two years after they have left their posts. Any amendment would have to be drafted by the government and then presented to parliament for ratification.
This article starring:
Michel Suleiman
Walid Jumblatt
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
About 80 people drowned off the coast of Yemen when their boat sank while trying to cross from Somalia to the Arab country, a Yemeni official said on Friday.
A top Democrat who had hinted that a compromise on war funding was possible appeared to back away from the idea Friday as the Democratic congressional leadership refused to consider it. Speaker 
President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that if after the January 8 elections, a situation develops that is absolutely unacceptable to me, I have a choice of leaving. 
(AKI) - The Iraqi-born head of the Chaldean Christian church Emmanuel Delly III says security is improving for Christians and others in his war-torn country. 
The Iraqi government has asked US President George W. Bush to order the handover of Saddam Husseins cousin, known as Chemical Ali, and two other former officials convicted of genocide, so that they can be executed. Saddams cousin 
(Xinhua) -- The Palestinians aim to create an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital through the resumed peace talks with the Israelis, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday. Abbas, who arrived here Thursday after attending the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference, told a rally that the newly resumed negotiations will be a very complicated and arduous process. 
The United States on Thursday presented the UN Security Council with a draft resolution backing the US-sponsored Annapolis conference decision to relaunch the Mideast peace process. Distributed to reporters, the draft says the Council endorses the programme of action for negotiations and implementation of outstanding obligations, agreed upon by the Israeli and Palestinian leadership at Annapolis, Maryland on November 27, 2007.
(Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said here on Friday that it was "unacceptable" for Iran to give up its right for nuclear enrichment. "Iran is a member of the NPT (Nonproliferation Treaty), which means it has the right to enrich uranium," Jalili told reporter after five hours of talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in London. "It is unacceptable for Iran to abandon its right to enrichment when it is carrying out its obligations," he said. 
Speaker 
Democratic gathering leader MP 
