BERLIN - President Hamid Karzai said training the Afghan police and army was more important than sending more foreign troops to the country, in an interview with a German newspaper on Wednesday.
More than anything else, we need help to rebuild our human capital and our institutions, our army, our police force, our administrative structure, our judiciary and so on, Karzai told Die Welt. Although the situation has finally improved, the unintentional bombing of Afghan civilians by NATO and US troops is particularly painful, although it stems from a lack of ground troops. However, I am not sure that sending more troops is the right answer.
Karzai said he had the impression that the war is not happening here, but was being exported to Afghanistan from other countries. We should concentrate on the sanctuaries and the training camps, he said. Afghanistan is not a sanctuary. It was one, but we have taken it back.
Most concern focuses on the mountainous border area with Pakistan, where Afghan and Western forces believe Taleban extremists regroup to launch attacks in southern Afghanistan.
Karzai said his recent meeting with Pakistans under-pressure President Pervez Musharraf had been very constructive. My hope is that Pakistan will take harder and clearer measures in the future and thus becomes a region where extremism is no longer used as a political instrument.
If Pakistan takes a step in this direction, we in Afghanistan will take many steps to support it.
Afghanistans army currently numbers 58,000 troops, with a target of 70,000. The fledgling force is being trained by Western troops based in Afghanistan, who number around 60,000, mostly within the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). NATO commanders say they need some 7,500 extra troops to carry out their mission as they battle a resurgent Taleban.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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BERLIN - President Hamid Karzai said training the Afghan police and army was more important than sending more foreign troops to the country, in an interview with a German newspaper on Wednesday.
Coincidence days after the comment from the Canadian PM about NATOs commitment? Of course we trust the MSM to be straight on all this right?
There's a difference between 'I would prefer..' and 'I insist...', unless you're a journalist hack with an agenda.
Afghanistans senate has endorsed a death sentence handed down by a court to a reporter and journalism student accused of blasphemy, the parliament media office said Wednesday. The senate, called the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), issued a statement Tuesday backing last weeks decision by the Balkh province primary court and criticising international pressure over the case, an official told AFP. The court sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, to death for distributing articles downloaded from the Internet that were said to question the Holy Quran and the role of women in Islam.
The Meshrano Jirga endorses the Balkh primary courts verdict on sentencing to death Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh who has been sentenced over insulting Islam and misinterpretation of Quranic verses, said the statement read to AFP. The house also strongly criticises those domestic and international organisations which are pressurising Afghanistans government and legal authorities when pursuing such people, it said.
Fine. I guess you don't need our help. Sure hope the Talibunnies stay focused on Wazoo.
The statement was signed Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, the head of the senate who was briefly Afghan president in the early 1990s and is a close ally President Hamid Karzai. The death sentence must pass through various higher courts and be approved by Karzai, who has been called on by international and Afghan media rights organisations to intervene in the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Sorry, Karzai, training doesn't help Islamos. More bombing please.
The Taliban in Afghanistan have distanced themselves from Pakistani militants led by commander Baitullah Mehsud, saying they do not support any militant activity in the neighbouring country. "We do not support any militant activity and operation in Pakistan," Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
"So, really, you guys over there in Islamabad don't have to shut down the money laundry!"
He also denied media reports that the Taliban had expelled Mehsud, the head of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. "Baitullah is a Pakistani and we as the Afghan Taliban have nothing to do with his appointment or his expulsion. We did not appoint him and we have not expelled him," Mujahid told the Dawn newspaper on phone from an undisclosed location on Monday.
A spokesman for Mehsud had earlier denied the report of his expulsion and said the militant leader continued to be the chief of the Pakistani Taliban. "He has not been expelled and he continues to be the amir of Pakistani Taliban," said Maulvi Omar, the spokesman for Mehsud.
I'm not sure if Maulvi Omar is the same as Haji Omar, who was Baitullah's predecessor as head of the Pak Talibs. I'm guessing he is.
A report last week had claimed that supreme Taliban commander Mullah Omar had removed Mehsud for fighting in Pakistan at the expense of the jehad in Afghanistan.
It's entirely possible that report was true, since Baitullah taking on the Paks jeopardizes ISI support. At the same time, the Pak tehreek is working diligently to cut the NATO supply lines into Afghanistan, and will likely end up taking Peshawar in the process of doing it. I think the coordinator of the effort is al-Qaeda, rather than Mullah Omar's branch of the Talibs.
Mujahid said: "We have no concern with anybody joining or leaving the Taliban movement in Pakistan. Ours is an Afghan movement and we, as a matter of policy, do not support militant activity in Pakistan.
"But feel free to wreak all the havoc you want on those supply lines. And send us all the cannon fodder you can spare."
"Had he been an Afghan we would have expelled him the same way we expelled Mansoor Dadullah for disobeying the orders of Mullah Omar. But Baitullah is a Pakistani Talib and whatever he does is his decision. We have nothing to do with it." Mujahid added: "We have nothing to do with anybody's appointment or expulsion in the Pakistani Taliban movement."
"Our general can't fire somebody in another division."
Mehsud, blamed by President Pervez Musharraf for plotting the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, told Al-Jazeera in an interview that he had taken 'baya'h' or an oath of allegiance to Mullah Omar and obeyed his orders. But Mujahid said the oath did not mean that Pakistani militants were under the direct operational control of Mullah Omar. "There are mujahideen in Iraq who have taken baya'h to Mullah Omar and there are mujahideen in Saudi Arabia who have taken baya'h to him. So taking baya'h does not mean that Mullah Omar has direct operational control over them," he said.
"It only means they've licked the dust from the bottom of his curly-toed slippers."
This article starring:
Maulvi Omar
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
Baitullah Mehsud
Taliban
Mansoor Dadullah
Maulvi Omar
Zabihullah Mujahid
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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"Any and all Western soldiers getting prepared to enter Muslim nations like Afghanistan or Iraq should be legitimate targets by any and all Islamic militants either in the attacked nations or in the western nations --if there were any planned attacks against Canadian/ American soldiers by 'Muslim militants' in Canadian soil, I'd support it," he added.
"Canadian soldiers in Canadian soil who are training to go to Afghanistan or Iraq are legitimate targets to be killed. Now it is POSSIBLE AND LEGITIMATE!! ... believe me, if we could have enough of our soldiers killed, then we'd be forced to withdrawn from Afghanistan."
In addition, he singles out Jews, writing: "When do I get to shoot a few Jews down for attempting to blow up dozens of mosques in America right after 9-11 why f---ing target the Americans when the Jews are better?"
Despite being visited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and RCMP and told he was under investigation, Mr. Hossain has continued to post messages approving of attacks on Canadian troops.
Saying anti-war protests will do sh$$, he describes a mass casualty attack on the home-front as a well considered option and the best way to compel western soldiers to get out of Afghanistan/Iraq.
Ahhhhh, yes. Canada. The same folks getting on Steyn's case, right?
So what is stopping Salman from achieving his Jihadi wet dream? I hope he knows that a loud mouth and no balls can be a potentially lethal combination to the messenger...
#4
i just wish these pampered ragheads in the west actually start carrying out thier deeds...cause to bring whoop ass down and start deporting
Posted by: dan ||
01/31/2008 17:22 Comments ||
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#5
Canadian soldiers in Canadian soil who are training to go to Afghanistan or Iraq are legitimate targets to be killed.
Mr. Hossain needs to be placed in the soil somewhere.
#8
TOPIX > TOL.com - A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET. Enviros claim that ST.Petersburg, Russia is a frequent BUT UNSECURE MOTOR-RAIL-MARITIME TRANSFER STATION for [legit] movement of nucmats/radioactive mats from Europe and elsewhere, as headed for URALS and SIBERIA for treatment-disposal. CLAIM CITY = NUCMATS IS A POTEN GIFT FOR TERRORISTS. SHIPMENT CONTAINERS ARE UNSECURE, SO ARE RECORDS AND CASH FLOWS - NO GUARANTEE NUCMATS REACHED, OR WILL REACH, INTENDED RUSS FAR EAST TREATMENT-DISPOSAL FACILITIES.
RUSSIA'S ANTi-NUKE/WMD TERROR MIL DOCTRINE [RIAN] > So-o-o, DOES RUSSIA GET TO NUKE ITSELF IFF A CATASTROPHIC NUKE TERROR EVENT AGZ RUSS OCCURS???
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2008 22:17 Comments ||
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#10
IRANIAN.WS/TOPIX > IRAN VOWS TO DEFEND SECURITY OF PERSIAN GULF. Will not allow any trans-regional power to threaten Persian Gulf security and cooper.
#11
This person is calling for an act of treason against the government and the military. He needs to be treated as such by whatever appropriate means at hand. There is free speech and there is speech used to lay out and commit crimes. This is number two.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/31/2008 23:31 Comments ||
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In addition, Pakistan-born Iman Malik Mujahid, founder and president of Chicago-based Islamic teaching materials distributor Sound Vision Foundation, was named to the credentials committee, which coordinates selection of convention delegates and alternates.
Mujahid is a Muslim leader, activist, film producer and non-profit entrepreneur. An imam at three Chicago mosques, he has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago and is currently president of the Council of the Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. A producer of over 40 educational programs, his book, "Conversion to Islam: Untouchables Strategy for Protest in India," won the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year award from the American Library Association. Little Green Footballs Reports:
Mujahid (a name which means holy warrior, of course) and his operation Sound Vision will be familiar to longtime LGF readers, because about a year after the 9/11 attacks we discovered the bulletin board they used to runa center of support for terrorism, jihad ideology, suicide bombing, and snuff films.
Heres our post about a thread at Sound Vision where one of the Muslim members posted a poem called: Yes, I am a Terrorist.
Heres our post about a thread where they were defending the posting of beheading videos: Support for ClearGuidance.
And heres our post about a Sound Vision thread where the Muslim members were jubilant over a mass murder attack in Jerusalem that killed a number of children: US Muslim Teens Celebrate Murder.
Eventually they noticed our attention, warned each other to watch out what they were posting, and then the next day closed the forum to outsiders.
And theres more, in a post about one of the mosques with which Mujahid is affiliated: Investigating the Mosque Foundation.
Miss Kelly has more on Mujahid, in a post appropriately titled: Islamists making Inroads with DNC.
#5
I can understand why Murtha didn't respond. After all, the soldier was supposed to ask a question (Like "what can we do to get our poor soldiers out of Iraq so they don't have to murder and rape innocent Iraqis?"). Instead, he just attacked the congressman. Congress critters aren't used to that and don't know how to handle it.
As Pakistan continues to wallow in instability, India's assessment about the internal situation in Pakistan is looking more and more grim. Despite all the protestations from Pakistan's leadership, India has concluded that the al-Qaida is now in virtual control of Pakistan's tribal areas, and Islamabad and the Pakistan army are making little headway.
To be fair, Pak has stood by paralyzed with fear as the turbans extended their sway. They've only just started -- since the initiation of the Swat operation -- fighting against being hezbollahed in their own country. I don't think much of the capabilities of the Pak military, but neither do I think much of the actual fighting capabilities of the Talibs. We see them manage to kill themselves in droves on the other side of the border, and they spend more time waving guns and uttering blood-curdling threats as they do shooting it out with real soldiers. I don't count the local levies and the paramilitaries in that number, by the way.
So it comes down to a matter of two mediocre forces fighting it out. Likely, given a smidgeon of political will on the part of Perv and whichever government is actually elected, the army will prevail, just not as easily as in Swat and with the caveat that the prevailing will be followed by an attempt to turn the tribal areas into Zarqawi-era Iraq.
And given the Pak establishment's love of holy men, there's always the chance that, having won the war agains them, they'll just go ahead and surrender anyway.
The proliferation of militants and terrorists is having an exponential increase on India's threat perception from across the border, said high level sources in the government, citing their most recent assessment. The real fear is that the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and those controlled by the Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI, may undertake "maverick missions" which is spook-speak for assassination attempts on high-profile targets.
The recent threats to Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, BJP president Rajnath Singh and even the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, Satyabrata Pal, have been identified with specific intelligence. The government estimates that more such threats to high-profile personalities in India may be on the rise. It was also the reason for the unusually high security measures before Republic day, which has been a traditional hunting day for terrorists.
Waziristan, Swat and adjoining areas, says the government's assessment, are virtually in the hands of the al-Qaida which in Indian reckoning, includes the Pakistan Taliban and other allied groups. "The reports are very negative," said sources.
The Pakistan army and al-Qaida (the loose term encompassing all these groups) are involved in a "hot war", said Ajai Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management, "where the divisions between the two sides are not very clear. The very fact that Mullah Omar has supposedly dismissed Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud for working against the Pakistan army shows that there is some degree of collaboration/cooperation/control of these outfits by the ISI."
The ISI, said security sources, continues to maintain its policy of "death by a thousand cuts" against India, and the availability of hardcore militants, terrorists and killers has now increased hugely inside Pakistan. The old policy of deflecting the attention on the internal situation by "heating up" Kashmir could well be activated. India is gearing up for not only a vicious "spring offensive" in the Pakistan-Afghanistan area, but also inside India, with more terror infiltration from Pakistan. There has also been some concern about reports that the ISI has resurrected Dawood Ibrahim to launch high-profile attacks against Indian personalities.
This article starring:
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Tehrik-e-Nifaz-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
Baitullah Mehsud
Taliban
Maulana Fazlullah
Tehrik-e-Nifaz-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If there was ever a country worth nuking it would be Pakistan followed closely by Saudi
At least Iranian people are in comparison modern/Pro west!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
01/31/2008 10:53 Comments ||
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A womens separatist group in the Indian-held Kashmir on Wednesday told people not to celebrate Valentines Day, saying it promoted immorality.
We appeal to Kashmiri Muslims to avoid celebrating such events which have been prohibited by Islam, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Faith) said in a statement issued in Srinagar. Valentines Day, feted on February 14, spreads immorality and we appeal to Kashmiris, the younger generation in particular, to avoid it, the group said.
They're talking about St. Valentine's Day. In our end of the world it promotes love and affection. I'd say I see their problem, but we already knew what their problem is.
The group, which has campaigned for a decade to eradicate social evils from society besides supporting the Kashmiri terrorists freedom fighters, has branded Valentines Day a deep-rooted conspiracy of the West to involve Muslims in their vulgar culture. The outfit also asked shopkeepers not to sell Valentine cards and other gifts related to this un-Islamic event.
"Or we'll kill them."
We warn restaurant owners not to organise any functions on Valentines Day, the group added, without specifying what action it might take.
I think we can guess.
Dukhtaran activists in the past have raided shops, confiscating Valentines Day cards and making a bonfire out of them. It has also smeared acid paint on women not wearing head-to-toe veils and harassed dating couples.
Kashmirs 10 million population is socially conservative, but over the past few years couples in the region have been seen dating more openly in parks and restaurants. Moderate and hardline separatists have rallied around the group, saying it is doing a good job fighting immorality.
This article starring:
Dukhtaran-e-Millat
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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A womens separatist group in the Indian-held Kashmir on Wednesday told people not to celebrate Valentines Day, saying it promoted immorality.
Certainly explains why they're "Separtists", no love, no nookie, no presents, in other words, not really women.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/31/2008 13:44 Comments ||
Top||
I haven't read it in a while, either. My personal favorite snippet of news:
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. program for granting Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to Iraqi translators has fallen short of demand. The program initially covered 50 individuals in 2006, 500 annually for 2007 and 2008, and is scheduled to drop back to 50 in FY 2009. As of September 2007, 429 Iraqi translators (and their families) have been admitted to the U.S. under the SIV program. About 7,000 Iraqi interpreters have worked for U.S. forces since 2003. An amendment proposed by Senator Kennedy to the 2008 defense authorization bill would raise the SIV cap to 5,000 over the next five years.
Inflation is way down, oil production is up, electrical supply pretty steady, but demand continues to climb.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/31/2008 12:11 ||
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#1
Thanks, I've been missing this.
My personal favorites:
Growth rate for 2008 expected to be 7.0%
Inflation rate 4.7%
Electricity demand up 21% in 2007
Electricity supply up 18%
Oil production consistently over target in 2007 (2.4 million barrels per day vs target of 2.1)
/quagmire off
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/31/2008 12:54 Comments ||
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#2
Well,
According to the Goracle if we don't do new taxes penance, we will all die anyway.
Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Wednesday that the Winograd report had commended the prime minister since it asserted that the decision to embark on the final ground offensive was "vital and reasonable." Ramon also called on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to "show national responsibility and stay in the government." He said that holding elections now would be the "highest level of irresponsibility" and that Barak needed to favor national concerns "over his primary promises."
"Want some of this cherry? It's really good! I just picked it!"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Israel and Egypt are in advanced talks over possible deployment of additional Egyptian troops in Sinai in an effort to seal the border with Gaza that was breached last week, defense officials said Wednesday.
The officials said that while Defense Minister Ehud Barak had yet to formulate his position on the issue, Israel was seriously considering an Egyptian proposal to allow the deployment of additional forces along the Egyptian-Gaza border. Following disengagement from Gaza in 2005, Israel allowed the deployment of 750 Egyptian soldiers along the border, but has since refused requests from Cairo to increase the number. Egypt claims that to effectively combat the weapons-smuggling industry in Rafah, it requires additional forces along the border.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Olmert is a symptom of the malaise of Israel. Nothing will happen on the positive side of the sheet until Olmert is booted out. Rockets are still come into Sderot. Coping just does not cut it. Israel's enemies smell indecision and weakness, they are working on a war of attrition, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, and they are slowly but steadily getting into position around 3 sides of Israel to put on some real hurt. Israel cannot survive attrition in the long run, IMHO.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/31/2008 23:42 Comments ||
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A crucial report into Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon published on Wednesday listed a series of major failings. "Overall, we regard the second Lebanon war as a serious missed opportunity," said the head of a government-appointed commission into the war, judge Eliyahu Winograd, according to an official English translation of his remarks. "We found serious failings and shortcomings in the decision-making processes and staff-work in the political and the military echelons," said Winograd, who gave the final findings of his inquiry at a press conference. "We found severe failings and flaws in the lack of strategic thinking and planning, in both the political and the military echelons."
Hebollah wasn't destroyed. Nasrallah's not dead. The kidnapped troops weren't either retrieved or confirmed dead. I'd call that Olmert's three strikes and toss him, but I'm not Israeli. Peretz and Haalutz had the grace to bow out, to their credit.
"The way the original decision to go to war had been made; the fact Israel went to war before it decided which option to select and without an exit strategy -- all these constituted serious failures, which affected the whole war."
"Exit strategies" are pretty much bullshit. If you're going to war, you go to destroy the enemy. Hezbollah's not destroyed. Olmert's a failure. Trade him in on a dog and shoot the dog.
"Responsibility for these failures lay, as we had stressed in the interim report, on both the political and the military echelons." According to AFP, the panel slammed the Israeli military's performance, saying Israel's armed forces "failed, especially because of the conduct of the high command and the ground forces, to provide an effective military response to the challenge posed to it by the war."
Lesson One: Don't put an air force officer in charge of a ground war. Lesson Two: Toss Olmert.
Winograd said that commission members "stand behind everything we said in the interim report" released last April which roasted the Israeli premier Ehud Olmert for "serious failure" during the conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ruled out talks with Hamas on Wednesday unless it meets conditions including previous Gaza Strip border arrangements. Abbas was in Egypt and met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, discussing the crisis on Egypt's border where Palestinians blew holes in the frontier unleashing a flood of Gazans into Rafah. "There will be no talks with Hamas unless they comply with the conditions we have put forward to back off their coup, to recognize international legitimacy and to accept new early elections,'' the Palestinian leader said after the meeting, according to the AP.
Yesterday he was on his way to Cairo for talks with Hamas. But that was on the border, not on reconciliation. Really. Honest.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
They're Paleos - they'll scheme and rant, and scheme some more. Then do nothing.
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal is discussing the possible renewal of talks between his movement and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah faction in Saudi Arabia, an aide said. Meshaal held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh on Monday which touched on "the issue of resuming an inter-Palestinian dialogue," the aide told AFP. Prince Saud and Meshaal also discussed the situation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which has been under a punishing Israeli blockade imposed in a bid to halt militant rocket fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal to block Israel from further reducing supplies of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government had argued that the more limited amount of fuel it intends to allow through met the basic humanitarian needs of Gazas population while exacting a widely felt price among ordinary Gazans for the continual firing of rockets and mortars into Israel by Palestinian militants. Israel hopes such a policy will create popular pressure to force the Hamas rulers of Gaza and other militant groups to stop the rocket fire.
A group of 10 human rights groups had together petitioned the court to prevent the fuel cuts, arguing that Israel had a legal obligation under international law to supply the citizens of Gaza. They contended that the cuts deliberately violate the rights of civilians in Gaza and constitute collective punishment in violation of international law by deliberately targeting civilians. But the court president, Dorit Beinisch, said in a ruling that the Gaza Strip is controlled by a murderous terror group that operates incessantly to strike the state of Israel and its citizens, and violates every precept of international law with its violent actions.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Conservative Pat Buchanan during an on-air interview said that a war with Iran would be in the near future should Republican candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) be elected president in 2008. The comment came during an interview with MSNBC's Joe Scarborough about a recent comment McCain made saying more wars were inevitable.
"You get John McCain in the White House, and I do believe we will be at war with Iran," Buchanan said.
The comment was based on McCain's statements made Sunday to a crowd of supporters. "There's going to be other wars," the Huffington Post quoted McCain. "I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars."
"That's one of the things that makes me very nervous about him," Buchanan said. "There's no doubt John McCain going to be a war president... his whole career is wrapped up in the military, national security."
"He's in Putin's face, he's threatening the Iranians, we're going to be in Iraq a hundred years," Buchanan added.
Elaborating that McCain's statements only meant that he was expecting more wars and not starting them, Buchanan described McCain as "talking sraight" and, based on his foreign policy, "he's in everybody's face." Buchanan says that like it's a bad thing. But then again, Pat is probably still unhappy that the US involved itself in that silly war in '41. "Isolationism would have been so much better."
I'm sure Pat could get 0.2% of the vote (20% in West Palm Beach and Broward Counties) if he were to run again.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
01/31/2008 11:05 ||
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#1
The WOT is the only thing I think McCain is right about. He's pretty much wrong everywhere else. This is not because Pat Buchanan hates him, but because he was right about more boots on the ground in Iraq. (I just don't think he has the political balls to have actually put them there that Bush has. I think someone said here that he has physical courage, but no political courage.)
I intend to vote for Romney before McCain but I will vote for McCain in the face of the Democratic nominee, who will be, regardless of race or gender, wrong on EVERYTHING. Nevertheless, there will be a narrow window in which we will be able to save the Republic after a McCain Presidency.
#2
Buchanan would probably encourage Iran to go ahead and wipe Israel off the map.
That being said, this is another reason why Bush should deal with Iran before leaving office. Hillary would sit and do nothing while Iran goes nuclear. But I wouldn't trust McCain to handle it either. I wouldn't trust McCain with much of anything.
#3
Pat Buchanan came out against The Maverick? My comfort level with McCain just went up half a notch.
Buchana is anti-Israel, pro-surrender, and all in favor of populist economics over the free market. If he could just bring himself to say that while he's "personally opposed to abortion", he nevertheless "supports a woman's legal right to choose" he'd be Democrat enough to wrangle a sub-cabinet spot in the Hilbama administration.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/31/2008 13:13 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The WOT is the only thing I trust McCain would do very well.
Everything else would be as good as a spunksicle pop.
Huh. First good reason I've heard to vote for McCain (other than to prevent Commissar Billary from leading our nation down the drain).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2008 19:09 Comments ||
Top||
#7
MILITARY.com > REPORT: [US] MILITARY UNPREPARED FOR MAJOR ATTACK [On AMERICA = CONUS]. Be it a Chemical, Biological, or Nuke-Radioactive
"incident". In particular, US NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES DO NOT HAVE THE MANPOWER OR EQUIPMENT LEVELS FOR EFFECTIVE RESPONSE.
See also HAARETZ > LEBANON: WINOGRAD REPORT SETS SCENE FOR FUTURE WAR, + WND > Pals. Islamists response to Winograd Report - argue WINOGRAD shows ISRAEL/ZIONIST CAN BE DEFEATED OR DESTROYED, plus Paleos do not need outside help to kill Israel iff have the will and dedic of the Hizzies = Hezzies.
#10
The psychology behind McCain--if he holds a war, no one will EVER look into his betrayal of men in Vietnam. He's played the POW thing to the hilt, so this is all that's left. Then he can finally feel safe. Personally, I'd rather have the Mormie guy.
Initial testimony about Sunday's deadly riots in Beirut showed that the Lebanese army officer who was in charge of the Mar Mikhael post where protests originally broke out was a Shiite Muslim and that the building where the shooting occurred lies in the Chiah district. The name of the Shiite officer was not released but he is from Jubail ( Byblos).
The report carried by the daily An Nahar on Wednesday said there was no need for additional military back up at the beginning when the protest was still restricted to a small activity by a group of young men who blocked the road opposite the army post with burning tires. It said troops manning the position informed the protesters that they were going to remove the tires and reopen the road. But the protesters responded by tossing stones and sticks at soldiers, wounding one of them, according to the report. It said other rioters, meanwhile, tried to disarm a trooper and attempted to climb on top of an armored vehicle. The army then fired warning shots in the air to disperse the protesters, the report added.
It said it was at that point that shooting came from the neighboring Chiah district where army vehicles received several bullet riddles, prompting troops to fire back. Several people were wounded in the shooting, the report said. It said the building where the shooting occurred is located in Chiah and not at Ein el-Rummaneh where it was originally thought.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that the occupiers have been defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. Addressing a large group of local residents of this southern provincial capital city, he said, "Despite the big powers' attempts to create discord between Iran and the regional nations, friendship and brotherhood have been further deepened and the enemies have been defeated."
Those whose arsenals are filled with bombs and have always supported the Zionists' crimes in the occupied Palestine, are accusing Iran of being war-monger, the Iranian leader said, adding, "They have asked Iran to cancel all its peaceful nuclear activities even those of its scientific centers."
Denouncing silence of certain countries and international circles on the "Zionist regime's brutality" in the occupied territories, Ahmadinejad voiced the hope that the regional developments would benefit the Palestinian nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Hope Iran will soon throw the yoke of her Arab occupiers and that includes those who are Iranians by blood and Arab puppy dogs by mind.
BTW: An article written by an Iranian exilee noted that in every town and even village there is a "Palestine" street but that there no such thing as an Iran street in Paletine and that when he asked Palestians about how they felt about Iran he found they hated and despised her.
Oh and while Israel proposed aid last time tehre was a major earthquake in Iran my guess is that the Arabs proposed zero, zilch, nada.
Just goes to show what Hezbollah knows. Olmert. Credibility. Heh heh.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
"Sure, they killed a quarter of our on-hand gunnies and made gravel out of our headquarters, but they didn't succeed! - at whatever it was they were trying to do."
#1
Repeat until the light turns on...correlation does not equal causation...correlation does not equal causation...correlation does not equal causation...
They cannot cope with the cognitive dissonance. Engineers have a low tolerance for cognitive dissonance (hence they don't tend to vote left). However if your whole life is dedicated to sacrificing yourself for allah yet your education helps you discover that the koran is a load of cr4p, then some will decide to remove the real world to preserve their faith. i.e attack the west.
#6
These reports make me seethe! I'm gonna whack some sociologists today!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2008 7:25 Comments ||
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#7
Frank! Don't we need some sort of a group, with a manifesto, or something? Where do I sign up? Do I have to get off the couch for my training?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/31/2008 7:31 Comments ||
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#8
JFM, the difference is between being a cheerleader and a player. Both are from the same team, just different functions. The dilettante wanabe intellectuals cheerleaders wouldn't last a single engagement on real field of play, but like to be close enough to savor the fight and smell the unattainable testosterone that envelopes the proceedings.
#12
These are just guys who went into engineering for the wrong reasons. Probably pushed into it by their folks. Happens in the US too, but here you have the choice to transfer into law or real estate. For the jihadi, it's engineering or being the busboy at the family coffee shop.
#13
Pebbles. I'm surrounded by engineers -- and they're all lefties. Actually, the more impressive they are in their careers, the more left they are. I'm one of 3 conservatives out of dozens -- and I'm the design guy!
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
01/31/2008 9:23 Comments ||
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#14
I find most engineers are rather focused on their field but usually clueless in other areas, making them seem inflexible or even indoctrinated when conceptualizing the arts or spirituality. Jihadis are clearly anal retentive. I bet their mommies didn't let them fingerpaint and make a mess when they were little. The sociologist are probably left standing in the outfield, too.
#17
"We find that graduates from subjects such as science, engineering, and medicine are strongly overrepresented among Islamist movements in the Muslim world"
Right... Ya think they might just be commited to learning better ways to kill us....?
#18
Written in their office on computers built by architects and engineers.
Hey sociologists, what say you: would you rather build the bombs or detonate them?
#19
Commodore Frank, yer the leader. Us engin-ears will follow you to any venue and seethe, or worse. Just give us the sign. Besides regulatory work is boring.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/31/2008 11:41 Comments ||
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#20
As an engineer, my "terrorist mindset" tells me to produce more mundane and obscure diagrammatic details to be plotted out on on 'Size-E' drawings in order to decimate our worlds forests without paying for any additional 'carbon credits'.
Long Live the Revolution!
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/31/2008 12:23 Comments ||
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#21
The most impressive thing about this study is that we have not just one, but two sociologists who actually acquired jobs in their field...
#22
Pebbles. I'm surrounded by engineers -- and they're all lefties. Actually, the more impressive they are in their careers, the more left they are. I'm one of 3 conservatives out of dozens -- and I'm the design guy!
Are they REALLY lefties? Or are they trying to be popular?
#23
The problem with Engineering and Islam is that it forces you to confront the inherent contradictions of Islam.
You spend the working day acting like the scientific method is supreme. Then you go home and realize you're going to Hell because you've contradicted some part of the Koran or Haddiths (e.g. the world is round).
Doing this day after day will cause an Muslim to have a nervous breakdown or become a fanatic as a way of atonement.
I have noted giving a Muslim a technical education causes Muslims a great deal of angst. This is probably why they have such a hard time coping with any post-Medieval technology.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/31/2008 13:06 Comments ||
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#24
Motive, opportunity, means. The highly educated muslim is more visible to Americans because he has the money and opprotunity to travel to infidel lands. What prevents more jihad attacks by muslim among us is the certainty they have no place to run and will be caught. The less educated and poorer muslims have to jihad closer to home where the international press is not interested.
Posted by: ed ||
01/31/2008 13:49 Comments ||
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#25
I'm joining Frank G and Alaska Paul. I'm already making faces.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2008 13:59 Comments ||
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#26
There is a cultural bias. You don't generally find mideastern islamists in fields such as psychology or sociology, i.e. the soft, mushy sciences. They generally are attracted to the harder applied sciences such as engineering.
#28
See WND > G2 BULLETIN - Britain is taking the lead in Europe in the search of NUCMATS missing from poorly secured RUSSIAN/FORMER RUSSIAN STOCKPILES, Facilities, etc. Also see FREEREPUBLIC on the recent Kazakh intercept of radioactive mats believed intended for IRAN as caught along the Uzbek-Kaz border.
IMO, a dedicated PRO-RADIC ISLAMISM, US/WEST-TRAINED EDUC "ENIGINEER", ETC. OPERATIVE COULD'VE AND WOULD'VE HAD NUKED THE TWIN TOWERS IFF NOT NYC + WASHINGTON DC [targets] ON 9-11.
It remains my opinion that my Afghan War comrade Osama andor aligned Radical Islamist groups CHOSE TO CONDUCT INTERACTIVE POLITIX ON 9-11, NOT DE FACTO WAR. IMO, THEN AS NOW, OSAMA etal. DID THIS DELIBER IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE ISLAMIST GLOBAL AGENDA = OWG ISLAMIST-JIHADIST STATE AGENDA vv manipulating the world's "great powers/nations" [predomin JudeoXtian] agz one another as need be. IFF ONE BELIEVES THAT RADICAL ISLAMISM-TERR = ISLAMOFASCISM, THEN BY THIS SCOPE ONE MUST BELIEVE THAT THE ISLAMISTS BELIEVE THAT MUSLIMS MUST PROVE THEIR WORTH BY PHYSICALLY COMMITTING THEIR BODIES MINDS + SOULS FOR GLOBAL ISLAM + JIHAD/ISLAMISM, AS ADOLF HITLER DEMANDED OF GERMANS = GERMANIC ETHNIC GROUPS BEFORE AND DURING WW2.
Iff OSAMA, etal. = HITLER > again, MUSLIMS-ISLAMISTS MUST GIVE ALL, SACRIFICE ALL FOR VICTORY; OR ELSE DIE IN THE FLAMES.
OSAMA BELIEVES THE ISLAMIC = ISLAMIST FINAL APOCALYPSE MUST BE WON OR LOST BY ISLAM IN IRAN/PERSIA. NO US-WESTERN INVASION-OCCUP OF IRAN = NO APOCALYPSE = ISLAMIST WAR AGZ US-WEST GOES ON INDEFINITELY.
#29
OSAMA and aligned have no qualms about waging a "LONG WAR", including but not limited to a "WAR OF [MANY]GENERATIONS".
Can America + USG-NPE as we know it, i.e. as a CONSTITUTIONAL- and REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC/
DEMOCRACY, FEDERALIST, UNION OF SOVEREIGN/AUTONOM
STATES, ETC. - SURVIVE FOR AS LONG???
Lest we fergit, "FASCISM" > PC = PDeniably reborn as LIMITED/DEREGULATED COMMUNISM, LIMITED TOTALITARIANISM, LIMITED GOVTISM-SOCIALISM, etc???
Dare PAULA ABDUL remember "NEW LIBERALISM"?
"COMMUNIST CAPITALISM = COMMPITALISM?
"CAPITALIST/DEMO PROGRESSIVISM"?
IMAGES of deadly and mysterious insurgents including Baghdad sniper "Juba" - are replacing notorious terrorists as the spearheads of online jihadi recruitment drives. The move comes as Allied forces kill top al-Qaeda commanders and force the terror groups to create anonymous personas to spread their message of hate. And according to one of the worlds foremost internet terror experts the mythic status of these underground figures is becoming even more effective than videos from Osama bin Laden. Washington-based researcher Evan Kohlmann, a consultant to the US and British Governments, told NEWS.com.au that under this system anyone could become a star.
(Jihadi groups) are trying to create this idea of mystique of these shadowy, mysterious, almost anonymous, figures, Mr Kohlmann said. I think that fits into their recruitment strategy - that anyone can become the next (al-Qaeda in Iraqs figurehead) Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
Whoa! Sign me up to become a figment of somebody's imagination!
Mr Kohlmann said after the death of top US target Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who led al-Qaedas operations in Iraq, the terror group could not afford to publicise real insurgents. When these guys pop up for these kind of visibility sessions (the videos), most of which are disseminated across the internet, theyre putting themselves at risk, he said. I dont think it necessarily helped al-Zarqawi, that everyone knew everything about his life and his face was such a marketable thing. After a while it became a liability for him.
While purported terror chiefs like al-Baghdadi and al-Qaeda general Abu Hamza al-Muhajir keep a lower profile, arguably the most powerful figure used in jihadi propaganda - Baghdad sniper Juba - has resurfaced with another graphic video.
The first Juba video, featuring what appear to be the marksmans attacks on US troops, appeared in 2005 and quickly became a cult classic among jihadis. US authorities claimed they captured the feared sniper in June 2005 but the following year the anonymous assassin was back. The latest video, created by al-Qaeda rivals the Islamic Army in Iraq, and released last month can be downloaded in nine languages in a variety of formats.
Mr Kolhmann said: Juba the Baghdad Sniper has become a classic for supporters of jihad everywhere. There was a guy in Spain who was last year arrested for using the internet to allegedly spread al-Qaeda propaganda in his spare he was designing his own logos for Juba Sniper and propaganda posters of Juba Sniper.
Mr Kolhmann said other popular jihadi propaganda included al-Qaedas video The Winds of Victory released in 2004 which shows a suicide bomber preparing for martyrdom.
This article starring:
Islamic Army in Iraq
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
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.
BERLIN - President Hamid Karzai said training the Afghan police and army was more important than sending more foreign troops to the country, in an interview with a German newspaper on Wednesday.
The Taliban in Afghanistan have distanced themselves from Pakistani militants led by commander 
"Any and all Western soldiers getting prepared to enter Muslim nations like Afghanistan or Iraq should be legitimate targets by any and all Islamic militants either in the attacked nations or in the western nations --if there were any planned attacks against Canadian/ American soldiers by 'Muslim militants' in Canadian soil, I'd support it," he added.
To be fair, Pak has stood by paralyzed with fear as the turbans extended their sway. They've only just started -- since the initiation of the Swat operation -- fighting against being hezbollahed in their own country. I don't think much of the capabilities of the Pak military, but neither do I think much of the actual fighting capabilities of the Talibs. We see them manage to kill themselves in droves on the other side of the border, and they spend more time waving guns and uttering blood-curdling threats as they do shooting it out with real soldiers. I don't count the local levies and the paramilitaries in that number, by the way. 
A womens separatist group in the Indian-held Kashmir on Wednesday told people not to celebrate Valentines Day, saying it promoted immorality. 
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal is discussing the possible renewal of talks between his movement and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah faction in Saudi Arabia, an aide said. Meshaal held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh on Monday which touched on "the issue of resuming an inter-Palestinian dialogue," the aide told AFP. Prince Saud and Meshaal also discussed the situation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which has been under a punishing Israeli blockade imposed in a bid to halt militant rocket fire.
The Israeli Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal to block Israel from further reducing supplies of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip. 
