By Syed Saleem Shahzad With the destruction of a bridge on the Indus Highway in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) region of Darra Adamkhel last weekend, the Taliban have taken another step towards choking the supplies that flood through Pakistan to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Afghanistan.
At the same time, the Taliban believe an agreement Russia concluded with NATO at its summit last week will not alleviate the situation. Moscow agreed to the transit of food and non-military cargo and "some types of non-lethal military equipment" across Russia to Afghanistan. NATO is acutely aware that the 70% of its supplies that enter Afghanistan through Pakistan are in jeopardy with the Taliban's new focus on cutting transit routes.
#2
I wonder if the Moscow agreement includes fuel as 'non-military cargo'? Good chance it does. Fuel is a huge chunk of the tonnage of supplies, and also the most vulnerable. And unlike most supplies, it can actually be purchased in Russia instead of being shipped all the way from the US.
#3
We don't need Russian help. They don't share a border w/ Afghanistan. Their advantage is that railroads from Europe are convenient. An air or land/sea corridor requires the permission of only Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. In addition Turkmenistan is bursting with fuel and the other FSU Stans are more than happy to make money selling anything they can.
Posted by: ed ||
04/11/2008 11:55 Comments ||
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A large number of militants arrested by Saudi security forces were on drugs, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef says. The Saudi official said the ministry has seized tons of drugs and millions of tranquilizer pills in operations in which more than 400 members of the kingdom's narcotics squads have been killed, AP reported. Many of those who have been arrested in terror-related (incidents) were drug users,'' said Nayef.
Hundreds of suspected militants have been arrested since Saudi Arabi launched a crackdown on terrorist cells following attacks on residential compounds in Riyadh in May 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This is your brain. This is your brain on Koran.
#2
I was at a Mardi Gras parade once when some hopped-up guy went bonkers, running down the street pushing over ladders. Police tackled him right by me & my kids. He was flopping around on the concrete like a fresh-caught fish, trying to kick, punch & bite the two cops. One ended up sitting on his chest and whacking his shins with the billy club every time he tried to kick while the other held his arms down until the wagon and more cops arrived. Some little lawyer-type came up demanding the cop's name and ID and threatening to see him prosecuted for brutality. Cop handed his club towards the guy and said 'Ok, you hold him until the wagon comes.' Once they got him in the van he started bouncing from side to side - rocked the van so much it looked like it was going to flip (but not really close). I gave the cop my card & told him to call me as a witness if the lawyer ever did anything - he took it, & chuckled. Nothing happened. The drugs had that guy feeling no pain that day, but I sure wouldn't have wanted his pain the next day. It was a good object lesson for the kids on the dangers of drugs. Guess the Saudi kids need to attend more Mardi Gras parades.
#3
From the Hashshashin (also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin or Assassins) -
"Other parts of the cult's indoctrination claim that the future assassins were brought to Alamut at a young age and, while they matured, inhabited the aforementioned paradisaic gardens and were kept drugged with hashish; as in the previous version, Hassan-i-Sabah occupied this garden as a divine emissary. At a certain point (when their initiation could be said to have begun), the drug was withdrawn from them and they were removed from the gardens and flung into a dungeon. There they were informed that if they wished to return to the paradise they had so recently enjoyed, it would be at Sabbah's discretion. Therefore, they must follow his directions exactly up to and including murder and self-sacrifice."
#4
Drugs may be the least of the militants problems. Islam is a bigger problem. Hey, I thought drugs were verboten in islamic culture? You don't get your 72 virgins if you use drugs.
The Defence Secretary, Des Browne, may appeal a High Court ruling that sending troops on patrol or into battle in Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate equipment could breach their human rights. The decision could open the way for the families of dead soldiers to sue the Ministry of Defence.
Last thing the Brits need is this nonsense. Of course the troops needs proper kit, but this isn't how you go about it.
The decision was a landmark legal defeat for the MoD, which has previously argued that the Human Rights Act does not apply to soldiers on active service outside their bases.
But Mr Justice Collins, sitting at the High Court in London, said that British servicemen and women were entitled to a measure of legal protection of their human rights "wherever they may be". He said: "There is a degree of artificiality in saying that a soldier is protected in a base or in a military hospital but is not protected if he steps outside that base.
"It is difficult to see the rationale behind that so far as his protection is concerned."
In a further blow to Mr Browne the judge also rejected his attempt to gag coroners in military inquests. Mr Browne wanted to ban coroners from using phrases such as "serious failure" when recording verdicts on soldiers who have died on active service.
Lawyers for the Defence Secretary had claimed the phrase was tantamount to blaming the Government for the deaths of the servicemen and could be seen as deciding civil liability if the soldiers' families sued for compensation.
The judge also said that soldiers' families should be entitled to legal aid and as full access as possible to military documents that were put before inquest hearings. He made his comments at the end of a test case involving the death of Private Jason Smith, 32, who died of heatstroke in Iraq.
Pte Smith, from Roxburghshire, became ill in temperatures of 60C (140F) in August 2003 at the Al Amara stadium, southern Iraq.
The Territorial Army recruit was attached to the 1st Battalion the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB). The Ministry of Defence was granted permission to appeal against the ruling.
Solicitor Jocelyn Cockburn, who represents Pte Smith's mother Catherine Smith, said: "This judgment means that British soldiers sent abroad have the same human rights as any other British citizens and they must be properly equipped when sent into battle.
"This is not a threat to national security. The result should be improved military procedures and a better war fighting force."
She said parameters had now been set out for how inquests into deaths of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan should be held in future. It meant soldiers' families would be given better access to military documents and names could no longer be deleted from documents in a wholesale manner, she said.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey also supported the verdict, saying: "This shattering ruling for Des Browne will hopefully at last wake the Government up to equipment shortages on the frontline which threaten the lives of our troops."
#1
The English have always short changed their military personnel, and government after government has been willing to trade lives for even petty amounts of money. For this reason, I approve of this decision because it hits them where it hurts, the pocketbook.
In effect it says, "You spend money on the soldiers in the first place, or you will have to spend *more* money after the fact in making good."
Perhaps it is the only thing that will get it through their thick skulled, chintzy, tight wad attitude.
#3
lotp: Soldiers under fire really don't give a hoot for much of anything other than watching their buns, trying to inflict hurt on the guys trying to inflict hurt on them, and generally carrying out their orders.
If the British military can't show up to a battle with the proper gear, or at least adequate gear, then they shouldn't be there in the first place.
The European fantasy of an EU military that nobody wants to fund, equip, or man, needs to end before it turns into a disaster. And if EU nations refuse to fund their individual military, then they, too, need to be forced to face the facts that they can no longer play.
They should go back to doing what they do best, having meetings and generating paperwork, and leave having a foreign policy to those nations willing to pay for a military.
#4
"If the British military can't show up to a battle with the proper gear, or at least adequate gear, then they shouldn't be there in the first place."
That rules out military operations by pretty much every nation on earth, and if taken literally (given the shifting definitions of adequacy and the frictions of war) by everyone. We have found a formula for world peace !
But seriously, the real effect of this would indeed be to rule out anything but token military participation by anyone without massive resources or major skin in the game.
#5
Just think of all the lawsuits this could bring from as far back as WWI.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/11/2008 17:57 Comments ||
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#6
Barrister in the MOD: "Your lordship, in order for a British soldier to be considered adequately equipped, he would need approximately one billion pounds worth of equipment".
Minister of Defense: "I see. And what is the budget for the army?"
Barrister in the MOD:"One billion pounds."
Minister of Defense: "I see. So we can only afford one soldier, then, eh?"
Barrister in the MOD: "Afraid so, m'lord."
Minister of Defense: "Very well then. Notify the MOD to sack all but one poor sod. At least he will be adequately equipped, though, so his human rights won't be violated"
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/11/2008 21:52 Comments ||
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Ron Paul was one of the few Republicans to oppose freer trade with Colombia in yesterday's House vote. I know, I know: He thinks "free trade agreements" such as the pending one with Colombia are in fact "managed trade" and therefore unworthy of his libertarian principles. Whatever. The simple truth is that Paul and the rest of the House faced a decision to vote for or against reducing government-imposed barriers to the international exchange of goods and services. Paul voted with the protectionists.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/11/2008 10:13 ||
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#1
Paul has a point. Just because something is advocated as "free trade" does not mean that it has anything to do with free trade. The devil is in the details.
Often, what is called "free trade" are agreements like "We will subsidize exports of (this product) from your country to ours, supporting your manufacturers of (this product), and in exchange, you will allow (a multinational corporation) to sell (another product), to balance the trade. We will also continue giving you billions against the drug trade."
Often this ends up just hosing both the citizens and companies of both countries, while either a multinational or just a single national company makes huge profits. In other words, the furthest thing from "free trade".
#3
As far as I can gather, the US/Colombian free trade agreement will reduce tariffs on US goods sold in Colombia, easing access to the markets for such goods. It would also create some standards in labelling and advertising, and help develop more "indigenous" production of items sold in the United States by easing some restrictions on third-party suppliers. As stated by Anonymoose, the devil is in the details. The details in this case seem to allow both sides to benefit.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/11/2008 18:34 Comments ||
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Part of the large profits from the illegal drugs trade carried out by Bulgarian and Arab organized crime groups have been used to fund Middle Eastern terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. This is one of the main conclusions of the Report on the situation in the Bulgarian Interior Ministry and its efforts to combat drugs production and distribution by MP Mincho Spasov, Chair of the Parliamentary Interior Committee.
It reveals there were constant leakages of classified information from the Interior Ministry structures to the mafia. Bulgarian organized crime groups dealing with the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs destined mainly for export to the Arab states are found to have been working in cooperation with Arab persons closely related to Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Data from the Bulgarian National Security Agency disclosed by the Report confirms that a large part of the drugs trade profits have been used to finance the Middle Eastern terrorist organizations.
The United States now has a red phone linking it to Red China.
In the years of the Cold War between the former Soviet Union and the United States, officials realized that they needed instant communication with counterparts in Moscow to avoid incidents that could spark conflict in the nuclear age. It linked the White House via the National Military Command Center with the Kremlin and quickly became known as the "red phone."
Earlier today, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates tested the new defense telephone link to China for the first time, the American Forces Press Service reported, making a call to his counterpart there. Gates talked "briefly" to the Chinese Minister of National Defense, Gen. Liang Guanglie, said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. During the conversation, Gates congratulated Liang on his recent promotion to minister of national defense and welcomed "this important step in enhancing communications between our militaries," Whitman said.
The two also discussed military relations and one of the key reasons for having such a direct link: avoidance of any miscommunications between the two countries that could lead to conflict. Liang also thanked the United States for aid given during severe winter storms his country suffered earlier this year, Whitman said.
The two countries agreed to the communications system last year. The U.S. has more than 40 such links with other countries.
#2
It has been like pulling teeth to get this thing set up. The utter obstinacy of the Chinese has been very aggravating.
Their military command structure is both bizarre and confused, essentially a cabal of near hereditary warlords who may or may not follow the dictates of the central government.
This means that even though our SecDef can now talk to their "Minister of National Defense", he still might not have substantial control over that band of idiots.
I suspect much of the delay was from their Minister having to set up hot phones with them, first, and probably at our insistence.
Never confuse dictatorship and authoritarianism with efficiency.
#4
Now to hand out the number to every telemarketing parasite in the world.
Funny thing is, Chief, somehow I have a mental picture of the telemarketing parasite being right next door to the General, the way things have been "outsourced", tee-hee.
Posted by: BA ||
04/11/2008 21:18 Comments ||
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I'm not sure where to put this because it's very military.
The United States is set to start operating a powerful new military communications satellite over the Pacific next week, the first of a planned six-satellite network that will boost data flows 10-fold, the Air Force Space Command said Thursday. On its own, the maiden Boeing Co-built Wideband Global Satellite will provide more capacity for video, data and voice than the entire group of 10 or so satellites it is designed to replace, the command said.
"We expect to start cutting over operational communications networks from the existing constellation to the new satellite next week," said Air Force Col. James Wolf, chief of the command's military satellite communications division.
Australia joined the WGS program last year, providing funds that expanded it to include the sixth satellite, which had been an option under a contract awarded to Boeing in January 2001.
Wolf said in an interview with Reuters that the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Timothy Keating, had asked to "take advantage of the increased capacity just as soon as he possibly could."
He said he was unaware of any specific event that might have spurred such demand for the satellite, which will be in geostationary orbit over the western Pacific. "It's just a matter of they're out of Schlitz in the Pacific and they'd like to have some more," said Wolf, playing on an old commercial tagline, "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer."
Wideband Global Satellite is a joint Air Force and Army program intended to provide essential communications services to U.S. forces, allies and coalition partners.
Australia's financial contribution gives it access to about 10 percent of WGS bandwidth, or transmission capacity, starting with the first satellite, Wolf said. No figure was immediately available for the cost to Australia.
Launched in October, the first satellite must still undergo another three months or so of testing and evaluation even as it starts "real-world" operation, an unusual double duty, he said.
"And we're able to do that based on how well the satellite has performed until now," Wolf said. Control of the satellite is to be handed Friday to the U.S. Strategic Command, which in turn will transfer it to the Pacific Command.
The total cost of a six-satellite Wideband Global Satellite has been projected at $1.8 billion, Joseph Tedino, a Boeing spokesman, said last September.
The constellation is due to be fully operational by 2012. The second and third satellites are scheduled to launch in August and December this year, respectively, with the others to be phased in so as to make full use of remaining life of the old Defense Support Communications Satellite constellation, Wolf said.
#1
More bandwidth for more remotely operated UAVs?
Seems fine enough for use in conflicts with third world countries but might be dangerously vulnerable in one with China or similar ('too many eggs in one basket?')
#4
Satellite vulnerability is an issue, but note that there will be a constellation of them worldwide. Plus there are other comms capabilities that can be brought to bear on the tactical battlefield.
#14
it was brewed? I thought horses figgered into the production process
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/11/2008 19:03 Comments ||
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#15
Lest we fergit, the USDOD = USA is already working on MOON-BASED SPAWAR + COMWAR options. SKYNET as we + GOVERNATOR DA ARNUUULD know it could be obsolete, or more likely consolidated, before its even officially implemented or acknowledged.
Militant groups are planning to abduct senior government officials and politicians or their families, to pressure the government to free detained terror suspects, Geo News reported on Thursday.
Citing an Interior Ministry report, the channel said terrorist groups had deployed militants to Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan and Bahawalpur to carry out the abductions, which it said had been masterminded by a Lodhran resident. It did not identify the man and did not say which terrorist organisation he belonged to, but said the militants wanted to exchange the abducted men for detained terrorists.
Following the report, police have enhanced security in the four Punjab cities, according to the channel. Potential targets were being given additional protection, it said. The channel said police had begun searching for suspects and were keeping close a watch on madrassas.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I see they mean administrators and politicians in Pakistan. And here I was with a list of Western celebrities they should keep in mind.
By Praveen Swami
Late last year, Bilal Ahmad Mir decided to undertake the most dangerous decision of his life: he volunteered to leave the comfort of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen's (HM's) offices in the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, and take charge of a terror cell in northern Kashmir. Mir's handlers at Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate armed him as best they could. He was given a legitimate Pakistani passport, AH0992231, stamped with a Nepal visa issued in Islamabad. On March 3, Mir flew from the Pakistani port city of Karachi to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Pakistan International Airways flight 268 - and promptly handed himself over to waiting Indian intelligence operatives who his family had made contact with the previous summer.
Even as India prepares to resume dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), stalled by the political crisis that swept Pakistan, J&K is readying for elections to its legislative assembly. By this winter, J&K should have a new government in place. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan will likely be fleshing out a five-point peace formula reached by their covert negotiators, S K Lambah and Tariq Aziz, which includes the recognition of the Line of Control (LoC) as a de facto border between the two sections of Kashmir, cooperative management of some agreed subjects, free trade and movement, and demilitarization - all contingent on an end to terrorism.
The US military will continue to hold an Iraqi news photographer arrested as a "terrorist" until it reviews an Iraqi order granting him amnesty, a spokesman for detainee affairs said on Friday. Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Marshall said the military was awaiting a report from the Iraqi authorities on the amnesty granted to Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein.
Hussein, 36, has been held since he was detained on April 12, 2006, in Ramadi, 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Baghdad.
The US military accuses the photographer of being a "terrorist media operative" and says he had aroused suspicion because he was often at the scene of insurgent attacks as they occurred. He was detained after marines entered his house in Ramadi to establish a temporary observation post and allegedly found bomb-making materials, insurgent propaganda and a surveillance photograph of a US military installation.
An Iraqi judicial committee on Monday dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Hussein and ordered him released.
Marshall said, however, that the order related only to one charge and that a separate panel was investigating a second charge against the photographer, who was part of an AP photo team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005.
"An amnesty panel has concluded that one of the charges is covered by amnesty; a separate panel considering the other charge has not yet announced its conclusion," Marshall said in an emailed response to queries from AFP. "Recall that by its own terms, the Amnesty Law does not purport to compel release of detainees in (US) detention facilities," he added.
US officials have said a UN Security Council mandate allows them to keep anyone in custody they believe is a security risk even if an Iraqi judicial body has ordered that prisoner freed.
AP says Hussein is alleged by the US military also to have had contacts with the kidnappers of an Italian citizen, Salvatore Santoro. In December 2004 Hussein photographed Santoro's body with two masked insurgents standing over it with guns. Hussein maintains he was one of three journalists who were stopped at gunpoint by insurgents and taken to see the propped-up body.
After the amnesty committee decision, AP president Tom Curley called on the military to "do the right thing by ending its detention of a journalist who did nothing more than his job."
Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the amnesty "could put an end to the nightmare that Bilal Hussein has been living for the past two years." "We urge the US authorities to release him without delay and not to persist in bringing new charges in order to prolong his detention," it said on Thursday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch too appealed for Hussein's release. "The US military held Bilal Hussein for nearly two years without charging, then transferred him to the Iraqi justice system, which apparently sees no reason to detain him," Joe Stork, the group's Middle East director, said in a statement. "It's time to set him free." It's time for Joe Stork to start suffering yearly tax audits.
#3
Scoundrels like this should have been taken care of by SOCOM. That is, squeezed of information, then disposed of with "plausible deniability." In this case, surrounded by the real evidence of his terrorist activity, his body is found clutching a handgun "he had fired against US military personnel."
Case closed. When anyone would complain that we had killed a "journalist", we just point out that not only was he surrounded by evidence that he was supporting terrorists, but he fired upon US personnel as well. Therefore, he was not a journalist.
#4
Tu, well said. Actually, the organizations involved here have covered themselves with shame and disrepute - once again - by their outrageous behavior and statements.
Note that they continue to use the disengenuous slur of "uncharged" - they all know full well that in Iraq and other places the actions are not normal, civil, judicial proceedings, but a complex hybrid of processes used in armed conflicts and those used in normal judicial proceedings.
Here's hoping Bilal stays locked up and ends up being charged for a serious count by the CCCI.
Iraq's prime minister got a show of support from political leaders of both Muslim sects on Thursday as he moved to isolate anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers. The meeting drew warnings from Sadrist lawmakers that the government's effort against them could backfire even as fighting between Shiite militants and U.S.-Iraqi forces eased somewhat after days of fierce clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City district.
The fighting has taken its toll on all sides. The U.S. military announced that an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb Wednesday in central Baghdad, raising to 18 the number of Americans who died in Iraq the first 10 days of April.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, convened the meeting of the main political blocs to discuss the Iraqi-led crackdown on militias that began March 25 in the southern city of Basra, triggering the current crisis. But the notable absence of the Sadrists signaled that al-Maliki was making good on a threat to try to isolate the movement politically if its Mahdi Army militia is not disbanded.
The Sadrists complained they were not invited to the meeting. "The Iraqi prime minister is waging a political war," Sadrist lawmaker Falah Shanshal said. "But he is committing a big mistake because the Sadr movement enjoys the support of a large portion of the Iraqi public."
The developments came a day after Iraqi authorities announced they would lift a 2-week-old vehicle ban on Sadr City and another Shiite militia stronghold, Shula, this weekend. The intent is to provide relief to the residents who have suffered from food shortages as well as the violence.
Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, al-Sadr's chief representative in Sadr City, welcomed the decision but warned "the battle is not over yet because the U.S. helicopters are still hovering over the city and U.S. forces are still surrounding it."
He also accused al-Maliki of waging a personal vendetta against the Sadrist movement, despite the government's assertion it is only targeting criminal gangs. "Al-Maliki is refusing to listen to us or meet our leaders," al-Feraiji said. "We think that al-Maliki is determined to continue his mission, and the recent lull happened because of the U.S. criticism of the fruitless performance of his security forces."
Violence in Iraq had declined last year and early this year following a 7-month-old cease-fire by al-Sadr, an influx of American troops and a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq. But the recent government crackdown on the Mahdi Army has provoked fierce retaliation, underscoring the fragility of the security gains. A marked reduction in casualty rates began around September 2007, and daily averages continued to decline throughout the rest of that year. However, since reaching a low this past January of 20 Iraqis killed per day, casualty levels have once again started to rise, with 26 killed per day in February and 41 per day in March, an Associated Press tally showed.
At least 261 Iraqi civilians and security personnel were killed or found dead across Iraq in the first nine days of April, an average of 29 per day, according to the tally. That's still about half of what they were a year ago; the daily average for April 2007 was 62 Iraqis killed.
The clearing of former insurgent strongholds also has led to the increasing discovery of mass graves. More than 30 bodies believed to have been buried for more than a year were unearthed Thursday by Iraqi troops at a house south of Baghdad, the military announced.
The killing of the American soldier pushed the average U.S. death rate to 1.8 per day so far in April, compared with 1.2 per day last month, according to the AP tally. That was still lower than the 3.47 deaths per day in April 2007, but the percentage of deaths caused by roadside bombs was sharply higher.
During April 2007, at least 40 percent of the deaths were from roadside bombs. So far this month, at least 56 percent have been caused by the planted explosives. Many of those were in northeastern Baghdad, which largely comprises Sadr City, a sprawling impoverished area that is home to some 2.5 million people, nearly half the capital's population. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have restricted access to the area since the fighting broke out in late March between Shiite militants loyal to al-Sadr and government security forces.
Al-Maliki has found himself on the defensive after Iraqi forces were surprised by the fierce resistance by Shiite militias to an offensive that began March 25 in Basra.
But prominent Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, who leads the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, emerged from Thursday's meeting to say the operation was "a courageous step." "We stand beside this government and support it. It was a good and blessed step to prevent militias in all provinces," al-Dulaimi said, adding his Accordance Front would begin discussions soon on ending its Cabinet boycott.
The meeting also was attended by Shiite lawmakers Hadi al-Amiri and Khalid al-Attiyah, the deputy parliamentary speaker.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"But he is committing a big mistake because the Sadr movement enjoys the support of a large portion of the Iraqi public."
Too bad that supportive public is unavailable for comment.
#2
But the recent government crackdown on the Mahdi Army has provoked fierce retaliation, underscoring the fragility of the security gains.
revisionist lie - the Mahdis forced the crackdown.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/11/2008 7:21 Comments ||
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#3
Amer Taheri had an interesting and different take on the whole Mehdi campaign in his NY Post column the other day. Basic premise was it was an essential pre-emptive strike against an impending Iranian/Special Groups offensive. Don't know if he was right, but it made a lot of sense, and I also can't say it was wrong.
#6
In a sense, the Iraq conflict is the reverse of the NCAA division I Basketball championship.
First we played the championship game US versus Saddam. Then it was US vs Al Q while Shia vs Sunni factions played in the semifinals. Now it is shia vs shia in the quarterfinals.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"A few hundred yards along the road another roadside bomb was being laid, also in broad daylight. Again nobody blinked, and there were no government or American troops anywhere nearby to hinder the militias leisurely preparations.
This was the scene here on Thursday in the center of Moktada al-Sadrs east Baghdad stronghold,"
Heh. Wanna be we have Preds and other UAVs, and already have the grids on these?
#4
Uh, how have those previous engagements with Coalition forces turned out for the redoubtable Forces of Sadr? Uh huh, thought so.
Funny how the fairly easy obliteration of Sadr's gangs that has taken place, at our discretion, at various times dating back to 2004 was instantly flushed down the memory hole by almost the entire media, even organizations that did reasonable (by current low standards) coverage of the '04 operations. Instead we hear endlessly of the "cease-fire" that JAM has nobly and confidently instituted - as if they've had any choice but to lie low. Jeez.
President George W Bush has declared a "major strategic shift" in Iraq following the US troop surge. He said the US now held the initiative and was looking to deliver a "crippling blow" to al-Qaeda in the country.
US troop levels in Iraq are now due to be reduced by about 20,000 by July, but Mr Bush said after that, the "drawdown" process would be frozen.
Then, he said, senior commander General David Petraeus would have "all the time he needs" to assess the next step. Gen Petraeus had called for a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation" after July, before any more troops left.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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The Sadr movement says it is under siege by security forces in its Baghdad bastion and warns that its members are ready to take up arms again.
The head of the Sadrists in eastern Baghdad district, Salman al-Fraiji, noted that three million inhabitants of Sadr City are presently under siege. They are prevented from leaving and from reaching food supplies. "We will obey the orders of Moqtada al-Sadr but if the violence against the Iraqis continues, if the blood of Iraqis continues to be spilled, the ceasefire will definitely be lifted," he also stated.
Following fierce clashes between Mahdi Army fighters and Iraqi forces, Residents of Sadr City have been frequently targeted by the US military snipers and bombarded by American warplanes.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Sadr movement says it is under siege by security forces in its Baghdad bastion and warns that its members are ready to take up arms again.
Good. They've been wondering when you would return to get the rest of your a$$ kicked.
#3
...but if the violence against the Iraqis continues, if the blood of Iraqis continues to be spilled, the ceasefire will definitely be lifted," he also stated.
JERUSALEM - Israel wound up its largest ever civil defence exercise on Thursday with a simulation of a chemical weapons attack on a hospital and claimed the five days of drills worked well.
In the final drill a hospital in the northern city of Afula was evacuated during a simulated chemical weapons strike, a military spokesman said.
The home front manoeuvre was aimed at preparing Israel for possible attacks involving conventional weapons as well as missiles equipped with chemical or bacteriological warheads. The exercise, which began on Sunday worked very well, everything worked according to what we planned. We thought we would have many more problems, said defence ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror.
The drills also aimed to prepare the country for possible concerted attacks by Syria, its Lebanese Hezbollah militia allies from the north, and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas from the south. The nationwide exercise raised tensions with Israels northern neighbours Syria and Lebanon, but Israel insisted the drill was solely designed to test civilian defences.
The objective of the drill was to check all kinds of situations, Dror said. We said earlier that if everything went well (during the 2006 Lebanon war) we wouldnt have to do a drill.
The commander of the homefront northern command said Israel was today much better prepared for missile attacks than it was at the 2006 war against the Shiite Hezbollah militia when over 4,000 rockets struck northern Israel. We are at a completely different place today. The level of our readiness is much higher and everyone understands what they have to do, Colonel Yossi Luchy told AFP.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed support on Thursday for Yemen's efforts to reconcile rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah. "We back Yemen's efforts to reconcile Palestinian factions like Hamas and Fatah," Mottaki said after talks in Sanaa with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yemen has "played an important and serious role to achieve unity among Palestinian factions. The Islamic Republic backs this drive," Mottaki also told reporters after separate talks with Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi.
The moderate Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the Islamist movement Hamas penned a deal in Yemen last month to open their first direct talks since Hamas drove Fatah forces from the Gaza Strip in June.
However, the two factions started bickering about the meaning of the agreement within hours of signing it.
Mottaki said he handed Saleh a message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dealing with "economic and security cooperation" between Tehran and Sanaa.
The Iranian foreign minister said his talks with Saleh covered developments in the Middle East, including Iraq and Lebanon.
According to Yemen's state Saba news agency, Saleh said Iran had a major role to play in helping stabilise war-torn Iraq and he also backed Tehran's right to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Mottaki's visit to Yemen came less than a year after Sanaa accused Shiite Iran of backing a rebellion by members of the Zaidi community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Relations have since improved between the two countries.
The visit also came two days before the opening of the trial of 18 Iranians held in Yemen for trying to smuggle drugs into the country. They were arrested in two separate incidents in February after sailing into Yemeni waters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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The US State Department says it has advised Jimmy Carter against meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during his visit to Syria.
The State Department told the former US president in late March not to meet any officials from Hamas, because the Washington considers the Palestinian movement a terrorist group, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Thursday.
The State Department will help Carter with arrangements if he visits Syria but "will not participate in the planning or scheduling of any meetings with Hamas figures in Damascus," McCormack said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Might as well tell Nasrallah not to talk to any Hezb'Allah.
The Zionist regime has blamed Hamas for the Gaza Strip clashes and said it would settle the score with the group when the time is ripe. "We will settle the score with Hamas which bears sole responsibility for what happened in the Gaza Strip," deputy Israeli war minister Matan Vilnai said on Thursday. He added that Israel would pick the time and the place.
On Wednesday, seven Palestinians as well as two Israelis were killed in a border gun battle in the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees have claimed responsibility for the raid at the Nahal Oz border terminal. Tel Aviv nonetheless insists Hamas is ultimately responsible since it controls Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Inventor Dean Kamen previews the extraordinary prosthetic arm he's developing at the request of the Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 "kids" who've come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who've lost both arms).
Video at link.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/11/2008 09:14 ||
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#1
Prosthetic limbs are frustrating precisely because there are several parallel approaches to making them that seem to be blissfully unaware of each other.
Their developers don't seem to be able to surf the Internet to see what each other are doing.
For example, there are two kinds of "muscles" that show great promise. Air pressure tubes that give smooth, controlled and gentle motion; and hydrogen peroxide cylinders that give powerful, strong and fast motion. If they would just combine the two, it would create a musculature that would not only replicate a real limb, but would actually be stronger than a real limb.
Not only that, but the air pressure tube muscles can even, to some degree, be used to provide pressure data back to the user's brain. That is, if the user grabbed a ball, the pressure of grabbing it would be translated back into a feeling of grabbing transmitted to their brain.
But this is the "simple" part of the machine. The complex part is making a microprocessor "brain" for the arm, and a functional interface with the nervous system. Think a "snap on" prosthesis, a connector.
The stump of the arm or leg would have a connector cap firmly affixed to the bone, with wire-to-nerve connections. Interestingly, the wires would just give little electrical shocks to the nerves--the user's brain would retrain itself to interpret and associate these shocks with particular things, such as a "feeling of grabbing". This has already been proven to happen naturally.
So then, all the user has to do is "plug in" their prosthesis to the connector. Plug and play.
The microprocessor "brain" of the prosthesis is mostly a diagnostic tool, but it also translates the signals sent from the brain to the nerves and converted to tiny electrical impulses.
It is likely that the prosthesis would use audio signals to inform the user of the need to replenish its peroxide or fuel cell power supply, probably run with propane. It might also use its audio to help the user gauge their muscle use. For example a low, soft tone for a gentle muscular action, and a higher, louder tone for a stronger action.
Paris is accused of involvement in the disappearance of a witness in the probe into the assassination of ex-Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri. "The French authorities helped facilitate the disappearance of Mohammed Zuheir al-Siddiq with the aim of his being liquidated by another party or they liquidated him themselves," Imad al-Siddiq, the brother of the Syrian witness, said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the witness, a former intelligence officer, had disappeared from his suburban home in the French capital. He was under house arrest at the time of his disappearance.
Siddiq was detained in October 2005 in a Paris suburb in connection with the February 2005 assassination of Hariri. He was then under an international arrest warrant requested by a Lebanese prosecutor.
Paris refused to extradite him to Lebanon because it had not been given guarantees that he would not be held liable to the death penalty there if convicted of a crime.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Polish MEPs demand from EU to regard Hezbollah as terrorist organization. It will be easier to invigilate them and monitor their financial transfers in EU says Konrad Szymañski (PiS), one of campaign initiators.
Hezbollach is listed as terrorist organization in US, UK and Israel. Brussels objected such decision so far. Some other organizations, as Council of Europe is against any terrorist lists at all, because people being charged for relations with terrorism do not have possibility to defend themselves. On the other hand experts say that Hezbollah gathers money in EU member states. Last days, Bulgarian parliamentary committee revealed that Bulgarian mafia bosses financed Hezbollah.
Szymanski states, that Hezbollahs activity destabilizes situation not only in Lebanon or Israel, but also at the whole Middle East. First step of campaign will be debate on forum of European Parliament. Such proposal, signed by 40 MEPs should be filed in coming days.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday set Iran its latest mission of wiping out the "corrupt world leadership," and said sanctions and threats were nothing but scraps of paper. "The Iranian nation will not give up until the corrupt leadership in the world has been obliterated," Ahmadinejad said in the Shiite holy city of Mashhad, northeast Iran, quoted by the Fars news agency. "Our foes should know that threats, sanctions, and political and economic pressures can not force our nation to back down," he added.
Ahmadinejad outlined two goals for the Islamic republic and its people. "We have two missions, to build Islamic Iran and to exert an effort to change the leadership in the world. We have to carry out both (missions) as well as we can," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ALso on FREEREPUBLIC + LUCIANNE.
FREEREPUBLIC has it as "CORRUPT WESTERN POWERS" = "CORRUPT WORLD POWERS"???
*IRAN > IRAN: CERTAIN WORLD ANTI-ISLAMIC ACTS ARE INTOLERABLE.
*"To build an ISLAMIC IRAN" > for me, is another indic that OSAMA BIN LADEN + RADICAL ISLAM ARE INTENT ON EMPOWERING AND EXPANDING NUCLEAR IRAN + ACQUIRING ISLAMIST-SPECIFIC NUKES-WMDS ASAP AMAP, BOTH BY 2010 or 2012 [FBI Officio - AQ, etc. facing defeat in 3-3.5 years]. *2008 + 3/3.5 Years = April 2011/April 2011 + Six Mos [OCTOBER 2011]???
#6
More detail and a slightly less diplomatic, but more accurate translation: Iran: President wants to 'annihilate corrupt powers'
Mashhad, 10 April(AKI) - Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday his country's objective was to destroy what he called corrupt western powers.
"Our objective is to annihilate all corrupt powers that dominate our planet today," said Ahmadinejad. Paying attention Sen. Pelosi (D: Ghey Mecca)?
He was speaking in the holy Shia city of Mashhad, located 850 kilometres east of the Iranian capital Tehran at an event where he met Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade.
Ahmadinejad also "advised" western powers to repent or, "otherwise Iranians will hoist their flag on the roof of their buildings." Sounds like a declaration of war. Too bad our puss leadership will avert their eyes to the Iranians until all our cities erupt in nuclear fire.
"Our enemies do not fear the technological, economical and industrial aspects of our nuclear programme, but tremble at the thought of the Islamic republic sitting as equals with them at the same table," he said. That's what muslims want: equality.
Koran 98:6 - The unbelievers among the People of the Book and the pagans shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures.
Posted by: ed ||
04/11/2008 9:53 Comments ||
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#7
So he wants to get rid of Hammas too! Oh, wait. Nevermind.
(AHN) - A global coalition of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and secular organizations urged Indonesia's state-owned television network Wednesday to stop broadcasting a television channel operated by Hezbollah.
A press statement from the Coalition Against Terrorist Media called for Indonesia Telkom to follow the lead of other major satellite companies and cease its ties to al-Manar, Hezbollah's propaganda arm. "The Jakarta government should not be enabling the broadcast of al-Manar because it uses the Quran to justify terrorism and violence," said Mark Dubowitz, manager of the Coalition.
Al-Manar also recruits terrorists, provides "operational surveillance" to Hezbollah, and violates the European Television Without Frontiers Directive, which prohibits "any incitement to hatred on grounds of race, sex, religion or nationality," according to the statement.
Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim militia group tagged by the U.S. as a terrorist entity. The CATM website describes the organization as working to educate the public, the satellite industry and governments about media outlets that are owned or funded by terrorist organizations and those who advocate or incite violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Fouad Siniora has said his main concern is holding presidential elections in Lebanon in a bid to lead the Lebanese toward the future.
In his continued effort to hold an Arab foreign ministers meeting to discuss the strained ties between Beirut and Damascus, Siniora met Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamed bin Khalifa al-Thani before heading to Manama to meet Bahraini King Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa.
Speaking to reporters in Doha, Siniora said electing a new president as soon as possible was the key to solving Lebanon's protracted political crisis.
The premier reiterated that Lebanon's boycott of the recent Arab summit in Damascus aimed to send a message to all Arabs that the country was not in a state of normalcy.
He added that the purpose of his Arab tour was to explain to Arab leaders the prevailing situation in Lebanon. "We are not living under normal circumstances. The country has been without a president for the past five months, Parliament has not met once in the past 17 months. This is why we boycotted the Arab summit. We want to highlight that there is a problem between two neighboring Arab states; Lebanon and Syria. The strained ties between the two states must be addressed by the Arab community."
Siniora said that he was in the process of preparing for an extraordinary Arab foreign ministers' meeting dedicated to addressing the Lebanese-Syrian problem. "We already have a consensus candidate that we should elect as president and then move forward to forming a national-unity government and drafting a new electoral law in accordance with the Arab initiative," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
With the destruction of a bridge on the Indus Highway in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) region of Darra Adamkhel last weekend, the Taliban have taken another step towards choking the supplies that flood through Pakistan to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Afghanistan.
A large number of militants arrested by Saudi security forces were on drugs, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef says. The Saudi official said the ministry has seized tons of drugs and millions of tranquilizer pills in operations in which more than 400 members of the kingdom's narcotics squads have been killed, AP reported. Many of those who have been arrested in terror-related (incidents) were drug users,'' said Nayef. 
The US military will continue to hold an Iraqi news photographer arrested as a "terrorist" until it reviews an Iraqi order granting him amnesty, a spokesman for detainee affairs said on Friday. Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Marshall said the military was awaiting a report from the Iraqi authorities on the amnesty granted to Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein.
Polish MEPs demand from EU to regard Hezbollah as terrorist organization. It will be easier to invigilate them and monitor their financial transfers in EU says Konrad Szymañski (PiS), one of campaign initiators. 
