UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 26--Opium production in Afghanistan declined by 6 percent this year, the sharpest decline since the United States toppled the Taliban rulers there, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday.
Afghan opium production was down about 500 tons, according to the U.N. 2008 Afghanistan Opium Survey. The amount of land dedicated to opium poppies fell even more dramatically, dropping 19 percent because of severe drought and the efforts of a handful of Afghan governors, tribal and religious leaders to persuade local farmers to abandon the elicit crop.
The U.N. report cautioned that Afghanistan remains the world's top source of opium, producing more of the illicit drug than the world consumes. It expressed caution that Afghan growers had stockpiled massive stores of opium that will guarantee large supplies on the international market even if new supplies dwindle.
Still, U.N. officials characterized the decline as a watershed that showed that internationally backed Afghan efforts to curb the trade were not doomed to failure. "The opium flood waters in Afghanistan have started to recede," Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the Vienna-based UN Office of Drugs and Crime, wrote in the report. "This year, the historic high-water mark of 193,000 hectares of opium cultivated in 2007 has dropped by 19 percent to 157,000 hectares."
The Bush administration welcomed the findings, saying the report provided vindication for its much-criticized counter-narcotics strategy in Afghanistan. But a State Department spokesman said "the drug threat in Afghanistan remains unacceptably high. We are particularly concerned by the deterioration in security conditions in the south, where the insurgency dominates."
The number of Afghan provinces where opium cultivation has ceased increased last year by fifty percent, from 13 to 18, including Badakshan, Balkh and Nangarhar. The most significant turnaround occurred in Nangarhar, Afghanistan's second highest opium producing province in 2007. This year, Costa wrote, Nangarhar, "has become poppy free."
Today, more than fifty percent of Afghanistan's 34 provinces are opium free, according to the report. Most of the country's opium cultivation --about 98 percent-- is now concentrated in seven provinces in south-west Afghanistan that house permanent Taliban settlements and provide organized crimes groups that pay taxes to the Islamic movement in exchange for a free hand in running their illicit trade.
"The most glaring example is Hilmand province, where 103,00 hectares of opium were cultivated this year -- two thirds of all opium in Afghanistan," Costa wrote. "If Hilmand were a country, it would once again be the world's biggest producer of illicit drugs."
The Taliban earned $200 million to $400 million last year through a 10 percent tax on poppy growers and drug traffickers in areas under its control, Costa said in an interview in June. He estimates that Afghan poppy farmers and drug traffickers last year earned about $4 billion, half of the country's national income.
Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan Sherard Cowper-Coles told the BBC that "we're not satisfied and we will never be satisfied until we really start squeezing poppy cultivation out of the Hilmand economy."
"We have an extremely competent governor in Helmand who has a plan . . . for getting farmers to switch from poppy cultivation in the coming season," Cowper-Coles said.
#1
seems to me that opium growing efficency is up, if availability fell only 6%, while at the same time the amount of cland planted dropped 19%, then the remaining land produced more.
Tensions increased today between Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, and US and Nato troops, with the government ordering a review of foreign military activities amid claims that dozens of civilians have died in raids and air strikes over the past week.
The ministries of foreign affairs and defence said they would seek to regulate raids with a status of forces agreement and a negotiated end to "air strikes on civilian targets, uncoordinated house searches and illegal detention of Afghan civilians".
In an angry statement, the government said officials had "repeatedly discussed the issue of civilian casualties with the international forces and asked for all air raids on civilian targets, especially in Afghan villages, to be stopped".
"The issues of uncoordinated house searches and harassing civilians have also been of concern to the government of Afghanistan, which has been shared with the commanders of international forces in Afghanistan," it said.
"Unfortunately, to date, our demands have not been addressed. Rather, more civilians, including women and children, are losing their lives as a result of air raids."
#2
Since a lot of the Afghan government is controlled by Taliban friendly thugs, our attacks on the Taliban leadership is probably putting a lot of pressure on them to make us cut it out before it changes the balance of power.
#3
Should show them pictures of St. Lo, and those were the people we were liberating. Something about 'bad guys' being in and among the population there too. The way to prevent it was demonstrated in Iraq. Don't mingle with the bad guys.
#6
Hey there, Poodle! How's that ethnic cleansing coming down there in Georgia? Having a good time raping those Georgian girls? Are they as much fun as the Chechen honeys? Free sex and loot to boot; sounds like you boys are replaying the end of WWII. I'm sure the Georgians are going to love you just as much as the Poles, Balts, Rumanians, Czechs, etc., etc. do these days.
What's that? You're misunderstood? No, I don't think so. There was a reason your former satellites named the statues of Russian soldiers you built in their countries "Monuments to the Unknown Rapist."
ALL your former colonies hate and despise you and would be very, very glad to see your country badly hurt. You boys have already had one Beslan. I suspect you've got more, and worse, coming to you. You've certainly earned it.
#7
Mass Murder. Hmm like Putin and his thugs did in Georgia, supproting Ethnic Cleansing in Abkjhazia and Osettia? Entering S Osettia BEFORE Saashkavili pushed there (Yes - the truth is now out - Putin's Mafia owned Russia moved FIRST).
Oh tell us more master of the big lie, you pro russian stooge.
Funny thing is, in 50 years Russia will not exist. 140 million people, and shrinking, Muslims replacing Ethnic Russians all over the border areas, and CHinese already outnumering Russians in the far east provinces.
When the world gets away from Oil in a dacade or so, Russia will be what it deserves to be - a spent third world country impoverished and worhtless.
Leave now so your children will not suffer that fate.
#8
How nice! Mr. Ebbusotch Poodle6880 speaks German, and so enthusiastically cheers the U.S. and NATO. But what is a ftw? Really, Mr. Ebbusotch Poodle6880, if you wish to communicate effectively, you simply must learn to spell actual words. At least you get to work with German spelling, which was simplified in the mid-1990s just for people like you, and all the new Woerterbuecher have a section at the front where the spelling rules are explained.
#9
A quick Google check indicates that ftw means "for the win" as in "mass murder for the win."
Hmmmm. It seems like just yesterday I read an article here about how new Russian text books justify incidents like the Katyn Woods massacre where 22,000 Polish officers were methodically liquidated in 1940 by old Joe Stalin's boys. Yeah, they say old Joe was just being efficient. Now, how many Russians died as a result of his efficiency? 20 million? 30 million? Can't count 'em all?
And then there was that little Russian incursion into Afghanistan. Hey, Poodle, remember Charlie Wilson?
Hey, where did you go, Poodle? Don't you wanna stick around and discuss it with us?
Got any sites like this in Russia where people can say what they think without fear of the Puto? (Google that one and I got a clue for you...it ain't steamed rice.)
The Afghan government says it wants to renegotiate the terms of foreign forces in their country after more than 90 civilians were killed in a US bombing.
Supply lines from the south are stressed by the Talibunnies and ISI. Supply lines from the north may be cut by Vlad. And Karsai is making faces at us. Okay, that's it, we're outta there ...
International troops are in Afghanistan to help provide security, particularly in a fierce counter insurgency campaign against the Taleban.
But in recent months there has been increased anger over the issue of civilian casualties. Two senior Afghan military commanders have been sacked over the air strike.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who ordered the dismissals, had previously criticised US forces for "unilateral operations" over the strike in west of the country. But he later appeared to suggest Afghan forces were partly to blame, ordering the removal of a general and a major.
The US originally said its strike had killed 30 militants. It is looking into the claims of many civilian deaths.
The Afghan cabinet said the review should focus on limiting the authority and responsibilities of international forces and demand an end to air strikes on civilians and illegal searches and arrests.
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says the cabinet resolution seems to have been prompted by the latest killings. It is not immediately clear whether this resolution is an act of political posturing or if it will have serious consequences for the future, he adds.
But, our correspondent says, the resolution is bound to worsen relations between the Afghan government and international forces stationed in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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We rushed into forming a government for Afghanistan, and I think it's now time to recalculate. Karzai needs to go, along with about 2/3 of his Pashtun government. Whether they go peacefully or with "extreme prejudice" is up to them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/26/2008 11:27 Comments ||
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#2
I really don't care about the government OP. I say we flame all the opium and leave. They can eat each other.
#4
Dr. Steve is right, this is bargaining in the souk. Besides, were Candidate Obama to actually win the election, the troops likely would be pulled with no payoff to the Afghanis.
Not that I think it likely that Obama will win anymore, but the rest of the world gets their opinions on American politics from CNN and the BBC.
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said on Tuesday that it had stopped disabling its main nuclear complex, and threatened to restore facilities there that the North has used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.
For months, U.S. experts and North Korean engineers have been disabling key facilities at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, in a move that temporarily shut down the North's only known source of plutonium. If the North rebuilds the facilities, it would nullify a major foreign policy achievement of President Bush.
North Korea often issues strident warnings as a negotiating tactic. Nonetheless, the latest declaration dimmed Mr. Bush's hopes of achieving a breakthrough in the North's nuclear disarmament before he leaves office in January.
"We have decided to immediately suspend disabling our nuclear facilities," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency, KCNA. "This measure has been effective on Aug. 14 and related parties have been notified of it."
The spokesman accused Washington of not keeping its promise to take the North off a terrorism blacklist. The United States first wants North Korea to agree to a comprehensive method of checking whether it withheld information in a report on its past nuclear activities.
Work started at Yongbyon late last year to disable a nuclear reactor, along with a factory that produces fuel for the reactor and a laboratory that can extract plutonium from spent fuel rods unloaded from the reactor. The North demolished the reactor's cooling tower in June.
The North would need at least a year to restart the disabled facilities, experts said.
Disabling the complex does not meet Washington's ultimate goal of dismantling it. The United States wants full access by inspectors to all suspected nuclear sites in the secretive Communist country to ensure that there are no hidden nuclear assets.
The North bristled at this demand. "The U.S. is gravely mistaken if it thinks it can make a house search in our country as it pleases, just as it did in Iraq," the North Korean spokesman said.
He said North Korea was still technically at war with the United States because the 1950-53 Korean War had ended only in a cease-fire. He added that asking the North to give up its nuclear programs while it was not allowed similar inspections in South Korea, to make sure that there are no U.S. nuclear weapons there, amounted to "a gangster's demand."
The North has sought for years to have Washington remove Pyongyang from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. If removed, the impoverished North would be able to benefit from cheap international finance. A longer-term goal for the North is to sign a peace treaty with Washington. Many experts say the North will not give up its nuclear weapons until it reaches a peace treaty.
Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem, said he had no immediate comment on the North Korean report, according to Reuters.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/26/2008 10:25 ||
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Oh. I thought it said they made a plutonium treat. To go with those "I'm not hungry bars" they just invented.
Sorry for the mixup...
#2
Its a McCain plot to make there be more threats so McCain does better.
From the Right: All them bilderbergers and trilateralists own mccain so they have their puppets in North Korea working for them, to scare usinto One World government to stop them.
From the Left: Did you know they have been using a double for 5 years? The real Kim's dead and Haliburton actually runs North Korea now for the Bushitler and oil comanies
#4
HMMMMMM, IMO its possible the NOKORS = RUSSIA = reacting here to the LT Strategic threat in Asia vv Radical Islam. CHINA fears a NUKE-ARMED ISLAMIST RUSSIA 2050-2100 = BREAKAWAY UIGHUR, ETc. REGION [Western China], as much as RUSSIA fears NUCLEAR ISLAMISM IN ITS CENTER + AMBITIOUS NUKE-ARMED CHINA = ISLAMIST CHINA IN ITS FAR EAST, + OTHER.
Ditto for the NOKORS + REST OF [non-Muslim]ASIA???
The Swiss Foreign Minister says ruling parties must be willing to hold direct talks with Osama bin Laden if they wish to tackle terrorism.
In a Monday address to the annual conference of Swiss ambassadors in Bern, Micheline Calmy-Rey defended the idea of holding dialogue even with groups that are considered by major powers as persona non grata. "This even goes as far as sitting down at the same table as Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden," Calmy-Rey said.
She explained that organizations such as Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, considered by some countries as 'beyond the pale', are all 'essential in the search for a resolution' of major conflicts worldwide.
"The only force we have ever had is that of words," Calmy-Rey stressed.
"The only force we have ever had is that of words," Calmy-Rey stressed.
Unlike other countries, there are no banned entities proscribed under the Swiss legislation. Switzerland maintains diplomatic relations with almost all countries and has often served as an intermediary between sides at loggerheads. Calmy-Rey, however, cautioned that dialogue could sometimes lead to tension and 'complex political blockages'.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Swiss, if you can be cool with Hitler, I'd imagine you could be cool with anyone.
#3
I think it's a lovely idea. Let's just put tracers and listening devices on them when they go. Perhaps those cool eyeglasses with the miniature video camera in the temple piece, too, if such actually exist beyond spy movies.
"The only force we have ever had is that of words," Calmy-Rey stressed.
Then why is every adult male citizen required to go in for army training yearly, and keep his weapon ready under the bed? Idiot.
#7
The Swiss should remember the admonition of the Italian condottieri Carmagnola who cornered them during foray in Milanese territory in the battle of Arbedo, 'men who did not give quarter did not deserve to receive it.'
#9
So what're you waiting for, Micheline?
We'll give you a parachute and a bullhorn and airdrop you into the middle of the Wazoos.
Let us know how you make out.
#10
Yeah, we can ask him why he killed all those people in 911. We can start a session on conflict resolution if the donks get elected. I'm sure he will listen. What part of he hates us and wants to kill all westerners don't the Swiss misses get?
WHITBY, Ontario - More than 200 people line an overpass above a stretch of Canada's busiest thoroughfare now known as the Highway of Heroes to pay final tribute to three soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Veterans, families and firefighters respectfully applaud and wave maple leaf flags as police motorcade of hearses and limousines passes. The soldiers' families wave back in appreciation. The ritual is repeated every time a fallen soldier returns to Canada.
On Saturday night, as three bodies moved down the 100-mile-long section of Highway 401 that connects the military base in Trenton, Ontario, to the morgue in Toronto, dozens of bridges along the way were packed with people.
Canada has lost 93 soldiers and one diplomat in Afghanistan - including three soldiers killed by a roadside bomb last Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Thanks! We respect neighbor Canada and their help. There's a lot of good people up North.
#2
Duty Honour Country, indeed. I'm glad there are Canadians who demonstrate respect to those stepped forward to protect us all. Such memories will be a comfort and a blessing to the families.
HILLSBOROUGH - A man who drove a rented sport utility vehicle into a lunchtime crowd on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus was sentenced today to up to 33 years in prison.
Orange Superior Court Judge Carl Fox ordered a prison term of 26 years and two months to 33 years for Mohammed Taheri-Azar, 25, for the 2006 attack at The Pit, a gathering spot outside the student union. Taheri-Azar declined to speak in court. Against his client's wishes, his attorney, James Williams, made a brief argument for a lesser sentence of about 20 years. The judge dismissed it.
"One of the things our government won't tolerate -- and after 9-11 our citizens won't tolerate -- is trying to use Americans as punching bags or targets for terrorist acts or mindless acts," Fox said.
Taheri-Azar pleaded guilty this month to nine counts of attempted first-degree murder. As part of a plea bargain, prosecutors dropped nine felony assault counts. For sentencing purposes, Fox consolidated the nine attempted murder counts to two counts.
Taheri-Azar, a U.S. citizen born in Iran and a UNC-CH graduate, claimed after the attack that he was following God in avenging the U.S. government's killing of Muslims around the world. Lucky for us you weren't very good at it. I wonder if that pissed off The Prophet?
But one witness, Taheri-Azar's sister, Leyedia, did testify, telling the jury that her brother was always helpful when it came to computer or car problems. She said the brother she knew was not the one who had rammed a utility car into the pit."He was a really naive kid who wouldn't hurt a fly," she said. He would run over one though...
Before sentencing him, Fox asked if he had anything else to say. "No, thank you, your honor," he said. Taheri-Azar's aunt, who had flown in from California, whispered, "Sorry. Say it. I'm sorry." But Taheri Azar remained silent. ...and then it was off to Pound Me In The Ass State Prison for 33 years.
#2
Lucky for us you weren't very good at it. I wonder if that pissed off The Prophet?
I'm guessing that, at this point, The Prophet is pretty much resigned to the idea that his followers are a bunch of losers. That is why He is always bringing down afflictions like tsunamis, earthquakes, polio and the U.S Marines on their sorry asses.
GENEVA: Swiss authorities on Monday closed a long-running probe into alleged money laundering against Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister who was assassinated in December and her husband, Swiss news agency ATS reported.
Bhutto and her husband, businessman Asif Ali Zardari, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about 12 million dollars (8.4 million euros) in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in the 1990s.
The couple were formally sentenced by decree on the charges in Geneva in 2003 after a first investigation, but the ruling was overturned on appeal.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/26/2008 16:26 ||
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Her husband will end up President of Pakistan, most likely. That puts his hands on serious money, and we all know what the Swiss think about serious money.
This is strictly business.
#3
Zadari was interviewed by the BBC two days ago.
He was confronted about the conviction by the Swiss Magistrate and smugly told the interviewer that the case would be closed. The interviewer asked him "How do you know? Do you control the Swiss judicial system?" He smiled and said "I do not have to control the Swiss Judicial system" and insisted the case was closed.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/26/2008 17:55 Comments ||
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Well, she hasn't been very cooperative with the investigators lately, so it's perfectly understandable.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
08/26/2008 18:22 Comments ||
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#5
The country of discreet finances meets the country of fake passports. Sounds like a joint venture is in the works.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Tok, AK ||
08/26/2008 22:25 Comments ||
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Pakistan has banned Tehrik-e-Taliban after turning down a ceasefire deal. The public, however, does not seem to favor the governments hard line against militants.
Excerpt:
The recent decision by the ruling coalition to ban the Taliban group also comes without public support. A poll by the U.S. nonprofit organization Terror Free Tomorrow indicates that 58% of Pakistanis want their government to negotiate with Taliban fighters inside Pakistan; just 19% want the army to keep fighting them, USA Today reports. Also, a poll by the International Republican Institute reveals that, 71% of Pakistanis oppose their countrys cooperation in the U.S. war on terror. President Musharraf was as military leader who could make decisions without public support; the new government elected by the people should find it much more difficult to do so.
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2008 07:56 ||
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#1
So the Pakies need to learn by first hand experience the ka-boooming of their own, just like the Iraqis before they heard the wake up call. And they wonder why they're on the bottom rungs of the ladder.
WASHINGTON Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to the United Nations, is facing angry questions from other senior Bush administration officials over what they describe as unauthorized contacts with Asif Ali Zardari, a contender to succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan.
Mr. Khalilzad had spoken by telephone with Mr. Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, several times a week for the past month until he was confronted about the unauthorized contacts, a senior United States official said. Other officials said Mr. Khalilzad had planned to meet with Mr. Zardari privately next Tuesday while on vacation in Dubai, in a session that was canceled only after Richard A. Boucher, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, learned from Mr. Zardari himself that the ambassador was providing advice and help.
Can I ask what sort of advice and help you are providing? Mr. Boucher wrote in an angry e-mail message to Mr. Khalilzad. What sort of channel is this? Governmental, private, personnel? Copies of the message were sent to others at the highest levels of the State Department; the message was provided to The New York Times by an administration official who had received a copy.
Officially, the United States has remained neutral in the contest to succeed Mr. Musharraf, and there is concern within the State Department that the discussions between Mr. Khalilzad and Mr. Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, could leave the impression that the United States is taking sides in Pakistans already chaotic internal politics.
Mr. Khalilzad also had a close relationship with Ms. Bhutto, flying with her last summer on a private jet to a policy gathering in Aspen, Colo. Ms. Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan in December.
The conduct by Mr. Khalilzad, who is Afghan by birth, has also raised hackles because of speculation that he might seek to succeed Hamid Karzai as president of Afghanistan. Mr. Khalilzad, who was the Bush administrations first ambassador to Afghanistan, has also kept in close contact with Afghan officials, angering William Wood, the current American ambassador, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter of Mr. Khalilzads contacts. Mr. Khalilzad has said he has no plans to seek the Afghan presidency.
Through his spokesman, he said he had been friends with Mr. Zardari for years. Ambassador Khalilzad had planned to meet socially with Zardari during his personal vacation, said Richard A. Grenell, the spokesman for the United States Mission to the United Nations. But because Zardari is now a presidential candidate, Ambassador Khalilzad postponed the meeting, after consulting with senior State Department officials and Zardari himself.
A senior American official said that Mr. Khalilzad had been advised to stop speaking freely to Mr. Zardari, and that it was not clear whether he would face any disciplinary action.
In 1979, Andrew Young was forced to resign as the American ambassador to the United Nations over his unauthorized contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Administration officials described John D. Negroponte, the deputy secretary of state, and Mr. Boucher as angry over the conduct of Mr. Khalilzad because as United Nations ambassador he has no direct responsibility for American relations with Pakistan. Those dealings have been handled principally by Mr. Negroponte, Mr. Boucher and Anne W. Patterson, the American ambassador to Pakistan. Mr. Negroponte previously was the United Nations ambassador, and Ms. Patterson the acting ambassador.
Why do I have to learn about this from Asif after its all set up? Mr. Boucher wrote in the Aug. 18 message, referring to the planned Dubai meeting with Mr. Zardari. We have maintained a public line that we are not involved in the politics or the details. We are merely keeping in touch with the parties. Can I say that honestly if youre providing advice and help? Please advise and help me so that I understand whats going on here.
This is not the first time Mr. Khalilzad has gotten into trouble for unauthorized contacts. In January, White House officials expressed anger about an unauthorized appearance in which Mr. Khalilzad sat beside the Iranian foreign minister at a panel of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, and a request from Mr. Khalilzad to be part of the United States delegation to Davos had been turned down by officials at the State Department and the White House, a senior administration official said.
Richard C. Holbrooke, a former ambassador to the United Nations under President Clinton, said the administration was sending conflicting signals. It is not possible to conduct coherent foreign policy if senior officials are freelancing, he said.
It has long been known that Mr. Zardari, who has been locked in a power struggle with Mr. Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister whose party left the governing coalition on Monday, planned to run for president, administration officials and foreign policy experts said.
I know that Zardaris interest in becoming president has been clear for quite some time, said Teresita C. Schaffer, a Pakistan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The Bush administration has long been uneasy with the idea of Mr. Sharif as a potential leader of Pakistan, and now that Mr. Musharraf is out of the picture, the administration, despite public protestation of neutrality, is seeking another ally.
It distresses me that the U.S. government has not learned yet that having our guy is not a winning strategy in Pakistan, Ms. Schaffer said. Whoever our guy is isnt going to be the only guy in town, and if we go into it with that view, well bump up against a lot of other guys in Pakistan.
A senior Pakistani official said that the relationship between Mr. Khalilzad and Mr. Zardari went back several years, and that the men developed a friendship while Mr. Zardari was spending time in New York with Ms. Bhutto.
The Pakistani official said the consultations between the men were an open exchange of information, with each one giving insight into the political landscape in his capital.
Mr. Khalilzad, being a political animal, understood the value of reaching out to Pakistans political leadership long before the bureaucrats at the State Department realized this would be useful at a future date, the official said. The ambassador did not make policy or change policy, he just became an alternate channel, the official said.
Of Mr. Khalilzads Pakistan contacts, Sean I. McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said, Our very clear policy is that the Pakistanis have to work out any domestic political questions for themselves. Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said, The Pakistani elections are an internal matter for the Pakistani people.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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It wouldn't be so bad for State to do this if they WEREN'T ON THE OTHER SIDE. I hope Khalizad shoves it in and breaks it off. I think he would make a great improvement over Hamid Karzai, especially since he's NOT a Pashtun.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/26/2008 11:38 Comments ||
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Mr Zardari, co-chair of the Pakistan People's Party, was diagnosed with a range of psychiatric illnesses, including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The illnesses were said to be linked to the fact that he has spent 11 of the past 20 years in Pakistani prisons fighting charges of corruption. He claims to have been tortured during his incarceration.
In March 2007 New York psychiatrist Philip Saltiel found that Mr Zardari's time in detention left him with severe "emotional instability", memory loss and concentration problems, according to court documents seen by the Financial Times. "I do not see any improvement in these issues for at least a year," he wrote.
Stephen Reich, a psychiatrist from New York State, said Mr Zardari was unable to recall the birthdays of his wife and children and had thought about suicide.
Mr Zardari used the medical reports to successfully fight a now defunct English High Court case in which the Pakistan government sought to sue him over alleged corruption. The case was dropped in March. Mr Zardari was not available to comment on the documents, but Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the Pakistan high commissioner to London said he was now fit and well.
Soon as he was released from prison. A miracle cure ...
Mr Zardari is his party's candidate to succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of the nuclear-armed country.
Perfect, a mentally-ill person with his finger on the Pak nuclear button. What could possibly go wrong?
Posted by: john frum ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
As India studies the political situation in Pakistan, it's becoming clear that it will need to maintain an independent but strong relationship with the Pakistani army. I'd suggest either cash in relatively small denominations, or perhaps wire transfers through Lichtenstein. Nobody ever looks there. But make sure you get pictures, and make sure they're in focus. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" - - Michael Coreleone
Posted by: Steve ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad has condemned the arrest of Kashmiri leaders Syed Ali Gilani, Mir Waiz Omer Farooq and Yasin Malik by the Indian army on Monday, taking strong exception to direct fire on the protestors.
In a statement issued on Monday, Qazi said New Delhi was violating all norms of human rights in order to crush the freedom struggle of Kashmiris. He said the march of tens of thousands of Kashmiris towards the Pakistani side of Azad Kashmir was ample proof that the struggling people of Kashmir would not rest until they secured independence from Indian occupation.
Qazi blasted the mum of the UN and the world human right bodies and the government of Pakistan. Kashmiris, he said, were fighting the war of Pakistan. "Leaving them destitute and unattended in their hour of need would be great injustice towards their cherished dream of joining Pakistan," he said. "In this backdrop," he opined, "any effort to normalise relations with India, through trade and exchange of cultural troupes, is highly condemnable."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif has no reason to remind the Pakistan People's Party of its promises because Nawaz himself dishonoured agreements he had made with the Jamaat-e-Islami, JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said on Monday. Qazi told Geo News that Nawaz had promised him he would not participate in the elections but did not keep his word. He said Nawaz had now realised how he (Qazi) had felt.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Authorities in northwest Pakistan are urgently seeking millions of dollars to help up to 300,000 people who have fled from fighting between government forces and militants. No skin off our collective fore. Let the Arabs take care of them.
The displaced people are one more problem for a coalition government riven by disputes and grappling with mounting militant attacks and a sagging economy. Pakistani troops launched an offensive against militants in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border early this month.
More than 200 people, mostly militants but including some civilians, have been killed in the fighting in which fighter jets and attack helicopters have pounded militant hideouts in the mountains. Security forces issued warnings for people to leave before they began the offensive, and many heeded it, pouring out of the region packed in pick-up trucks or on foot. Most of the displaced went to stay with friends or family in safer parts of the northwest but a senior provincial official said many were now turning up at relief centres set up in schools and at tent camps looking for help.
"It's a serious problem because as of now roughly 300,000 people have come out of Bajaur and many of them who were living with relatives are now shifting to camps," provincial relief commissioner Jameel Amjad told Reuters on Monday.
The provincial government urgently needed $13 million to help the displaced, he said. "Human life is so sacrosanct. It has to be given value. If we don't get money obviously things will deteriorate," Amjad said. The federal government, however, has not issued an appeal for funds or for help from the United Nations, saying the situation was under control.
Although it had not been asked for help, the United Nations was assisting in various ways, including food distribution and water and sanitation, a UN official said. According to the UN figures, about 250,000 people had been displaced as of Sunday, with the number rising daily. About 60 per cent of the total were staying with friends or family and 40 per cent in camps. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was planning help for about 64,000 people who had been unable to find lodging, about 14,000 of whom had fled across the border to the Afghan province of Kunar.
"There's a dire need for assistance," said ICRC spokeswoman Sitara Jabeen. "We came here to save our lives but we still have problems. We don't get enough food. Some of my children are eating scraps," said Fazal-e-Wali, 40, who came to the camp from Bajaur with his family.
Villagers longed for peace and expressed exasperation with the militants. "Enough is enough. We don't want our children to die like that. We want peace, either through talks or military operations," said Khaisat Gul, sitting in a tent with his seven children.
"They should have finished off these miscreants long ago, we've been facing such hardships because of them," said Saleh Mohammad, who said his five-year-old son had gone missing while the family fled from Bajaur.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
[online poker has been pooplisted.]
Posted by: online poker ||
08/26/2008 8:07 Comments ||
Top||
The controversy regarding the construction of concrete structures at Baltal by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board is all set to deepen further with the revelations that Muslim community of the area is constructing a huge Jamia Masjid exactly inside the camp site at Baltal prompting Hindus to ask whether only Hindu structures were a threat to ecology.
In a press release Jammu and Kahsmir Peace Movement (JKPM) has expressed grave concern that while on the one hand Kashmiri Muslims say that construction of any kind at the place would be a biggest threat to ecology on the other hand they are in the process of constructing a huge Mosque exactly inside the Baltal Camp site where pilgrims stay.
The place which has put the entire state on boil with twin regions burning for the past more than a month this new revelation is likely to add fuel to the already burning fire.
The press note issued by Krishan Koul, Chairman of J&K Peace Movement has expressed his grave concern over the recent statements by some political forces of the state, adding that the construction of Jamia Masjid inside the camping site with the help of local contractor Shajan and his brother at Baltal was a ploy to create another controversy to damage the secular fabric of the state.
Supporting his argument with recent photographs of the site Koul said that while interacting with the locals of the area one Mr. Bashir Ahmed told them that the construction of the Jamia Masjid would start once the yatra was over and lakhs of rupees have already been collected for the said construction.
Koul has requested the administration to take strict note of this development to avoid another controversy which may lead to more problems for the administration.
Decrying Peoples Democratic Party, NC and other political parties of the Valley for raking up controversies over the annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnathji, Koul has said that pilgrimage poses no threat of any sort to the ecology of place and some political forces of the state are hell bent to politicize the issue for their personal gains.
In the statement issued here on Saturday, Koul said that the Shrine Board (SASB) had taken all the precautions to preserve the ecology of the area but it were some political forces of the state who try to gain political mileage by raking up the issue time and again.
He further said that the workers of his party visited the base camps at Baltal and observed that every precaution was taken to preserve the ecology of the area.
He said that the concerned board has taken all the measures to maintain health and hygiene in the camping sites and en-route the Cave Shrine and present turmoil was only to hoodwink the nation.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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A senior Kurdish leader says Kurdish militia or peshmerga will confront Iraqi army units attempting to enter Kurdish areas. Mahmoud Sinkawi said if Iraqi troops moved into Kurdish towns and villages in order to evacuate government buildings occupied by Kurdish factions and peshmerga they will be met with a "violent reaction."
The threats signal a growing row between the Kurds who control three provinces in northern Iraq and the central government.
While the government acknowledges full Kurdish autonomy over the provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Dahouk it is demanding that Kurdish peshmerga evacuate areas falling outside the administrative borders of the three provinces.
The Kurds have exploited the weakness of the central government by sending their militias to control larges swathes of territory particularly in the restive provinces of Diyala, Nineveh and Kirkuk. The government has demanded the militias leave towns and villages mainly inhabited by Kurds within the administrative borders of Diyala.
The Kurds were issued two ultimatums but both were not adhered to, forcing the army to barge into the region of Qara tappa on the border of Iran. The troops forced the militias out of the government buildings they occupied. They also controlled government buildings which Kurdish political factions had confiscated and used as offices.
In his warning Sinkawi, the Kurdish militia leader, also alluded to the armed conflict between the Mahdi army, the militia group of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi troops.
The Shiite militias were forced to surrender their offices to the Iraqi army. Sinkawi said Kurdish militias will not accept what happened to the "outlawed" Mahdi Army.
A Mahdi Army representative rebuked Sinkawi, saying the Shiite militia responded positively to a government order to surrender all state buildings they were using. "The Mahdi Army is not the outlaw. The outlaws are those who are refusing to give the government buildings they have occupied," said Abdulsattar al-Battat.
#1
A senior Kurdish leader says Kurdish militia or peshmerga will confront Iraqi army units attempting to enter Kurdish areas.
And why should the Iraqi army be allowed to enter Kurdish areas anymore than the US Army should be allowed to enter Virginia or Nouth Carolina without first declaring a Civil War? The government should fear the people, not the other way around. Give them some buildings, training and call them a national guard.
#2
The Iraqi legislature adjourned without reaching a decision on regional autonomy and elections. At stake are, among other things, oil revenues. Maliki is maneuvering to lock out the Sunnis, Kurds maneuvering to retain regional autonomy and economic resources.
#3
I agree that the US should be all over this as a mediator. We have really neglected political and diplomatic operations in Kurdistan, and I have long feared that it will come back to haunt us.
If our strategic plan was that Kurdistan and Iraq bust apart, we have laid the groundwork for it, but not for an amiable division.
Early on, it was proposed by the Kurds, I believe, that a barrier enclave of Turkmeni be created between Iraq and Kurdistan. Essentially a thick border just for the Turkmen that neither the Kurds nor the Iraqis would violate, lest the Turks intervene.
#5
Biden, the Foreign Policy heavyweight, has advocated the dissolution of Iraq into three ethnic states. Could be an interesting campaign issue here.
I think it's an excellent idea, given that Maliki is shaping up to be a second Saddam. The odds are that the last election in Iraq will be the one held just before US forces leave. Why give him the whole enchilada?
BAGHDAD - Some 650 of the 8,000 Iraqi physicians who fled the country since 2003 due to violence have returned to their jobs in the past two months because of improved security, a Health Ministry official said Monday. Adel Muhsin, the ministry's inspector general, said the doctors have gone back to hospitals across Iraq.
The country's medical system is woefully understaffed because of workers fleeing, and several weeks ago the government appealed to doctors to come home. We expect more doctors will respond to our call, Muhsin said in a phone interview.
Killings and kidnappings of doctors during five years of war and sectarian strife led to an unprecedented exodus of medical personnel that left Iraq's already troubled health care system almost paralyzed. Medical infrastructure is poor and some medicines are in short supply.
Muhsin said only 16,000 health care workers are running hospitals and clinics, but 100,000 are needed. The return of these doctors is a positive thing because we are suffering from a severe shortage of personnel and we welcome doctors willing to their country, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Now what society in their right mind would do something to diminish their medical system so? Barbarians. /sarc
(AKI) - The United States has reportedly begun constructing a new military base in Iraq's Kurdistan region not far from the Iranian border.
According to the state-owned Press TV, the Kurdistan Regional Government has allocated 700 hectares of land near Iran's border for the construction of a large US-financed airport.
The airport is to be built in a town called Halabja situated about 11 kilometres from the Iranian border in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah, the Press TV website said on Monday.
The site said there was speculation that the US wanted to establish an airbase close to the Iranian border for its forces.
Iraqi Political Analyst Masud Abdulkhaliq says the construction of a civilian airport near the border raises many doubts, because of its size and location. "The airport is very large and Halabja is a small town. It doesn't need to build a big airport like this in an area that is near the border," Abdulkhaliq told Press TV.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
TOPIX > GEORGIAN CONFLICT MAY CAUSE US TO RETHINK ITS GLOBAL STRATEGY + ISRAEL REPEATS WARNING IT WILL NOT ACCEPT A NUCLEAR IRAN.
*BIGNEWS NETWORK > JIHAD AND GENTLE RESISTANCE IN THE WILD WEST [China + UIGHURS].
#6
Beached aircraft carriers? Most likely a support and observation location, too easy to target for surface to surface missile targeting. Our carriers in the Gulf are just about as close with delivery ordnance, and a moving target.
#7
Why would we build near the border? That just makes security more difficult and doesn't add anything to our capabilities.
I mean, fer crissake, we fly bombers out of the continental US to hit targets in Iraq and Afghanistan -- why would we need to snuggle up to the Iranian border?!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/26/2008 10:34 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Maybe it's for small radioactivity-monitoring planes to monitor the rubble yet-to-come.
#10
All kinds of uses. Remember just off the bat that US bases have 100 foot towers giving us an observation view of 50 miles in all directions. From an airbase in that location, we could launch a fleet of Reaper UAVs.
It also makes a good landing site for any damaged aircraft, or just those that need, ahem, rapid refueling and rearmament.
#13
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems from what I've seen since we started operations in Iraq that we would be foolish to have bases anyplace in Iraq OUTSIDE of Kurdistan. If Yon and Totten are to be believed, those folks LOVE us and really want us to stay. I don't think you can say that about much of the rest of Iraq, and certainly not to the same extent.
#15
A U.S. base in Kurdistan would make the Kurds a lot more comfortable dealing with the rest of Iraq. I think the weather is nicer than the rest of the country, too.
No port, not much oil, and Turks, Iranians, and their fellow Iraqis would mostly like to erase them. Yep, good place for the US to stick around. At least we're likely to be welcome.
Iraq and the United States have agreed that a planned security pact will require all U.S. troops to leave by the end of 2011, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday, while Washington said no final deal had been reached.
"There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil," Maliki said in a speech to tribal leaders in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. "Yes, there is major progress on the issue of the negotiations on the security deal," Maliki said.
The Iraqi government had proposed in bilateral talks that U.S. troops end patrols of Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year, and that U.S. combat troops leave Iraq by 2011, under a pact that will govern their presence after 2008.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said there had been a draft agreement but that it needed to "go through a number of levers in the Iraqi political system before we actually have an agreement from the Iraqi side".
"Until we have a deal, we don't have a deal," he said. He declined to comment on the 2011 withdrawal date.
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has sought to avoid fixed timetables, but Maliki's Shiite-led government has been increasingly assertive in seeking assurances surrounding the exit of the approximately 144,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a visit to Baghdad last week that a deal was close, but not yet final.
The pact is needed to replace a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 which has formed the legal basis for the American troop presence ever since, but expires at the end of this year. Iraqi officials say a draft agreement was completed last week and must now be circulated to political leaders for approval before it can be submitted to parliament next month.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
The devil is in the details. I would expect that there is an "elections" clause in there that if Obama is elected, US forces will be gone by inauguration day, but leaving vast amounts of equipment behind. Maybe even a brand new combat Iraqi air force and an s-load of SAMs and advanced anti-tank weapons.
(With discreet enhancements to their electronics so that they narrowly miss any US aircraft or tanks they are fired at.)
However, if McCain is elected, their will be a scheduled review of the SOFA after the next Iraqi election.
#2
I think Maliki wants the next election to be last election ever in Iraq. Maliki's the second coming of Saddam. Just watch what he does after we're gone.
On Monday, 26 August 2008, a Palestinian child was wounded in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah by an aimless gunshot while gunmen were training in a nearby place. This incident is part of the state of security chaos prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It's almost like this has been going on, like...forever. Since the evil Jooos left, anyway. Back in the days of active "occupation" no paleos were allowed to have guns, because it was felt they couldn't be trusted with 'em. Wonder where they would have gotten that idea?
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 18:00 on Monday, 26 August 2008, 7-year-old Shadi Sa'id 'Aashour, from Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in the west of Rafah, was moderately wounded by an aimless gunshot that entered the buttock and settled in the pelvis, when he was playing near his family's house. According to the child's father, sounds of shooting were heard in a training site of Palestinian armed groups near the house. I thought you guys said you were gonna be careful!
Oh. You were serious?
The spokesman of the police, Islam Shahwan, stated to PCHR that the police initiated investigations into most of such incidents and presented recommendations to the Ministry of Interior considering them occasional and unintentional. Nuthin to see here, Mahmoud. Move it along...
The Ministry of Interior established a committee to communicate with Palestinian factions to avoid the occurrence of such incidents, Shahwan added. Please note that our options have changed.
If you have a relative who has been killed by a mysterious explosion, ambiguous explosion, aimless gunshot, unknown gunman, or work accident, please press "ONE".
If you have a relative who has been wounded by a mysterious explosion, ambiguous explosion, aimless gunshot, unknown gunman, or work accident, please press "TWO".
It is worth noting that 4-year-old Salah 'Alaa' al-Din al-Mudallal was wounded in similar circumstances in the same area on Friday, 22 August 2008, and on Thursday, 21 August 2008, Ahmed Mousa al-Qedra, 37, from Khan Yunis, was killed in a similar incident. They are now known as "Heroes of The Resistance"... 'Martyrs' has a nice ring to it ...
PCHR is gravely concerned over such attacks that have caused casualties among Palestinian civilians, and which are part of the state of security chaos and misuse of weapons prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. PCHR calls upon authorized bodies to investigate this latest attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. Yes. We'll...get right on that.
PCHR further calls upon Palestinian armed groups to conduct their military training away from civilian populated areas to avoid civilian casualties. How about we train outside of PCHR's office, if you get my drift.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai announced Monday that Israel will close its border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to a Palestinian rocket attack earlier in the day.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asserted on Monday that there would not be peace with Israel until all Palestinian prisoners were freed, speaking shortly after Israel released 199 jailed Palestinians. "An inch isn''t enough. We want the whole mile. And a pony."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#2
Sure, Mahmoud. We will release them all.
From about 30000 feet.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
08/26/2008 1:28 Comments ||
Top||
#3
How about NO prisoners released until comprehensive peace established and MAINTAINED for an unbroken period of say, 50 years. Think about that proposal for a while.
(AKI) - The Philippines government is not conducting an "all-out war" in the southern province of Mindanao despite a military offensive against the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, President Gloria Arroyo said on Monday.
Arroyo gave the assurance in a speech at a groundbreaking ceremony of the Global Gateway Logistics City in Pampanga in the central region of Luzon. "I say to the Filipinos, to the world, to our Muslim brothers in the south, to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) through our Kuwaiti friends, there is no all out war," the President said.
According to the website of GMANews, Arroyo made her remarks as fresh fighting erupted in the south.
Fighting between Muslim separatists and troops intensified in the southern Philippines at the weekend undermining hopes for renewed peace talks. More than 100 fighters have reportedly been killed in four days of clashes on Mindanao island, according to media reports.
The government has been conducting a military offensive in several provinces in Mindanao for the past week. They are continuing to hunt for two MILF commanders -- Umbra Kato and Abdullah Macapaar alias Bravo -- who allegedly led recent attacks in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte.
President Arroyo said the military action is only aimed at the MILF factions under Kato and Macapaar and not the MILF as a whole. She said the government had never lost its intention to forge a peace agreement with the secessionist group. "We have never deviated from the objective of the peace process. That peace must be anchored on justice. The rampage of some lawless MILF groups in Mindanao call for resolute military and police action," she said.
According to GMANews, Arroyo also said that the targeted MILF units had historically been the rebellious forces that had started trouble before and during the peace process.
On Friday the International Committee of the Red Cross said it had escorted 900 trapped civilians out of a combat zone. It is providing assistance for around 40,000 people who have been displaced from their homes and clean water for over 12,000 victims.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's foreign minister said Monday that no headway has been achieved in several rounds of indirect negotiations with Israel. Walid Al Moallem said the talks mediated by Turkey regrettably have not progressed enough for the two parties to hold direct negotiations but added both Israel and Syria were serious about solving outstanding issues.
Moallem said both sides are still discussing outstanding issues, particularly the determination of the 4th of June, 1967 line, a reference to the size of Syrian territory on the Golan Heights that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
Direct Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations under US sponsorship collapsed in 2000 amid disagreement over the extent of Israeli withdrawal. Israel then offered to turn over the Golan Heights to Syria, but refused to accede to a Syrian demand for access to the Sea of Galilee. Israel relies on the reservoir for its fresh water supplies.
The Syrian foreign minister was speaking Monday at a joint press conference with the visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who expressed his country's willingness to assist in the peace process if both parties requested it.
Syrian President Bashar Assad had said in an interview Thursday with the Arabic language Russia Today TV station that the next round of indirect negotiations planned for next week will be decisive. He did not elaborate. Assad said Syria wished to give peace a chance although I have no confidence in Israel's peace intentions. He added that the talks have failed until now to produce an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the strategic Golan Heights, which it occupied from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War.
Assad, during a meeting with Kouchner in Damascus Monday, said that ending Israel's occupation of Arab territories is the only guarantee to achieve permanent security and peace in the Middle East, Syria's official news agency SANA reported. It said Assad discussed with Kouchner the situation in the Middle East and the Caucasus, and stressed the need to adopt dialogue and diplomacy as the only ways to solve conflicts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed yesterday to destroy Israel if it carries out threats to hit Lebanon should the government give greater legitimacy to the Shia militant group. "If (a war) were to happen as they are threatening, our victory this time will be decisive, unquestionable and final," Nasrallah said in a televised address marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Hezbollah-sponsored 'Al Mahdi Scouts.'
A number of Israeli leaders have issued warnings to Lebanon in recent days after the formation of a national unity government in which the Hezbollah-led opposition has 11 ministries and the power of veto over cabinet decisions. "The moment the Lebanese government confers legitimacy on Hezbollah, it must understand that the entire Lebanese state will be a target in the same way that all of Israel is a target for Hezbollah," Environment Minister Gideon Ezra said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made similar remarks the previous day, warning that Israel would fight a far more devastating campaign than in the 2006 war if Hezbollah led the government.
Nasrallah branded these statements as "scare tactics" and "psychological warfare" on the Lebanese, saying they were "an internal necessity in Israel. "There are currently elections within Kadima (Israel's ruling political party) and each candidate is trying to portray himself as the leader and the savior" of Israel, he said.
Nasrallah said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had threatened to wage a land operation with five Israeli military units. "The five units will be destroyed in our mountains and valleys and homes and villages," Nasrallah said. "And with it will be destroyed your country that is violating our sacred land."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
WAFF.com > Poster's Independent Net Research = MASSIVE US NAVAL ARMADA HEADS TO PERSIAN GULF REGION - NAVAL BLOCKADE, WAR? AGZ IRAN MAY BEGIN 08/30/2008???
Broadly, Poster + Sources opine that there is no reason for such naval strength in the Gulf except as per Naval Blockade + espec WAR???
(AKI) - Kurdish prisoners, all jailed for political motives in Iran, on Monday began an indefinite hunger strike to promote human rights. The news, released by the Kurdish agency, Mokrian, was confirmed by the sister of Adnan Hassanpour, the award-winning journalist who has been condemned to death.
Hassanpour was awarded a media award in Italy by the Information, Safety & Freedom Association.
The prisoners' hunger strike is to "sensitise Iranian and international public opinion" to "protest against the death sentences given to Kurdish representatives" and to "denounce continuing human rights violations in prison and outside prison".
Eight Kurdish intellectuals and activists have been condemned to death in Iran, while another six have been sentenced to penalties of up to 11 years for their alleged political and militant activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Despite efforts by the CIA to keep it quiet, it was recently revealed how the CIA did major damage to nuclear weapons developments programs in Libya and Iran. This was done by getting to one of the engineers working for the Pakistani Khan network (named after scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, who led development efforts for Pakistani nuclear weapons.) The CIA basically hired Swiss engineer Friedrich Tinner and his two sons, to feed the Khan network, and its customers, defective (in subtle ways) nuclear weapons components. From 2001-4, the Tinners worked under CIA direction. This caused Libya to drop its nuclear weapons program, and delayed work in Iran.
Since then, the Tinners have been prosecuted in Switzerland for their work with the Khan network. The elder Tinner began working for Khan in the 1970s, helping to steal European nuclear technology for the Pakistani weapons program. This relationship expanded in the 1990s, when Abdul Qadeer Khan began making money on the side by selling nuclear weapons technology to anyone who could afford it and was discrete (like Libya, Iran, North Korea and Iraq). The CIA effort to discover the Khan network, and take it down, led them to Tinner, whose willingness to collaborate helped bring down the Khan network.
The CIA paid the Tinners $10 million for their work, and are trying to keep them out of jail. But now details of the Tinner operation have been leaked to the media. The CIA will now try to keep secret the methods and contacts it used to uncover and destroy the Khan network, as well as how it sabotaged components. All this information can be used again, if it doesn't get published in the mass media first.
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2008 07:29 ||
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#1
Live by the leak, die by the leak. Drip, drip, drip...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/26/2008 8:55 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Interesting. The Pakistani nuclear weapons really might be rusty and useless, beyond mere shoddy maintenance. Defective components would also explain North Korea's embarrassing test failure recently, not to mention easing the concern of Israel... and raising it in Iran. The North Koreans can't even make bicycles, if I recall correctly, but would Iranian engineers be able to recognize defective parts if they knew to look for them?
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.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 26--Opium production in Afghanistan declined by 6 percent this year, the sharpest decline since the United States toppled the Taliban rulers there, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday. 
Tensions increased today between Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, and US and Nato troops, with the government ordering a review of foreign military activities amid claims that dozens of civilians have died in raids and air strikes over the past week. 
The Afghan government says it wants to renegotiate the terms of foreign forces in their country after more than 90 civilians were killed in a US bombing. 
The Swiss Foreign Minister says ruling parties must be willing to hold direct talks with Osama bin Laden if they wish to tackle terrorism. 
WHITBY, Ontario - More than 200 people line an overpass above a stretch of Canada's busiest thoroughfare now known as the Highway of Heroes to pay final tribute to three soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad has condemned the arrest of Kashmiri leaders Syed Ali Gilani, Mir Waiz Omer Farooq and Yasin Malik by the Indian army on Monday, taking strong exception to direct fire on the protestors.
BAGHDAD - Some 650 of the 8,000 Iraqi physicians who fled the country since 2003 due to violence have returned to their jobs in the past two months because of improved security, a Health Ministry official said Monday. Adel Muhsin, the ministry's inspector general, said the doctors have gone back to hospitals across Iraq.
(AKI) - The United States has reportedly begun constructing a new military base in Iraq's Kurdistan region not far from the Iranian border.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed yesterday to destroy Israel if it carries out threats to hit Lebanon should the government give greater legitimacy to the Shia militant group. "If (a war) were to happen as they are threatening, our victory this time will be decisive, unquestionable and final," Nasrallah said in a televised address marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Hezbollah-sponsored 'Al Mahdi Scouts.'
