LONDON - Somali pirates first seizure of U.S. citizens signals an entirely justified confidence in their ability to keep outwitting the allied naval forces deployed against them. Whatever the outcome of their brief capture of the U.S. freighter Maersk Alabama, an event that puts Somalia higher up Washingtons security agenda, factors including poverty and the seas vastness mean the gangs bold ambition is understandable.
Can you make the high seas secure? No, you cant, said Jim Wilson of Lloyds Register-Fairplay, a provider of information to the maritime industry. Warships cannot be everywhere.
U.S. Horn of Africa scholar David Shinn, in a paper written days before the incident, said: All the worlds naval forces do not have enough available ships to protect the 20,000 vessels that pass through the Gulf of Aden annually and the wider 2.5 million square miles of ocean where Somali pirate attacks occurred in recent years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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The story of Sheikh Salman al-Awda and his transformation from arch critic of the House of Saud and hero of Osama Bin Laden to something approaching what might, by Saudi standards, be considered moderate is one that intrigues many in the kingdom.
Saudis speak of two al-Awdas -- pre-prison and post-prison. Born in Buraida, a town deep in Saudi Arabia's conservative heartland, al-Awda became a key figure in al Sahwa -- Arabic for awakening -- a revivalist movement which called for the reasserting of purist Wahhabi traditions.
In the mid-1990s al-Awda was jailed after he and a number of other clerics denounced the Saudi regime for drifting from the principles of Islam and agreeing to the presence of American troops in the kingdom. His fiery condemnation of the al-Sauds and exhortations to jihad earned him the admiration of Bin Laden, who praised him for "enlightening" Muslim youth. In the first World Trade Centre bombing trial, al-Awda was identified as a spiritual adviser to Bin Laden.
But he came out of prison a changed man. "You would think he spent his sentence in a western culture. His whole ideology took a 180-degree turn," as one Saudi blogger put it. In an interview with The Irish Times during his visit to Ireland this week, al-Awda welcomed the recent appointment of Saudi Arabia's first woman deputy minister, hailing it a "wise decision"; decried those who flock to Afghanistan and Iraq for jihad; and said the kingdom's ban on women driving had nothing to do with Islam.
The Saudi cleric was in Dublin this week for a series of talks and lectures at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland based in Clonskeagh. It was his second trip to Ireland. The first, in October 2007, proved controversial after the imam of Ireland's only Shia mosque raised concerns over an article al-Awda had written for a Saudi newspaper describing Shias as "non-Muslims". Al-Awda denies he used such terminology. "There is a serious difference between Sunni and Shia and we should not deceive each other about that," he says. "But, despite these differences, all the time I warn against clashes. I believe there can be good relations between the two." He bats away the suggestion that he was something of a hero for Bin Laden. "I consider it a rumour," he says.
In September 2007 al-Awda caused a sensation across the Muslim world when he chose the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to broadcast an open letter to Bin Laden in which he railed against al-Qaeda, accusing it of "making terror a synonym for Islam". "My brother Osama, how much blood has been spilt?" the letter said. "How many innocent people, women, children and the elderly have been killed or displaced in the name of al-Qaeda? Will you be happy to meet God Almighty carrying the burden of these hundreds of thousands or millions on your back?"
Asked to give an example of what he considers a justifiable jihad, al-Awda replies: "Palestine -- the Palestinians are defending themselves and this is jihad."
What about Afghanistan and Iraq -- what would he say to a young Saudi eager to follow the thousands of others who have travelled there for jihad? "I would tell him not to go. Even if he wanted to go to Palestine I would say no. We do not support young Muslims leaving their countries for fighting right now. If they go to another country, they are causing harm to themselves and to the country. They will cause nothing but chaos." It appears al-Awda has changed his mind on Iraq. In 2004 he and 25 other Saudi clerics declared that fighting US troops there was a religious duty.
Most recently he caused controversy in Saudi Arabia when he declared there was nothing wrong with celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, drawing the ire of those within the kingdom's religious establishment who consider the practice unIslamic. Al-Awda smiles when asked his view on Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving. "This is not an Islamic rule. You will see women driving in other Muslim countries. It is merely a social decision in Saudi Arabia," he says. "If the ban is removed I would see that as a positive thing provided it is done in a way that is socially accepted."
He is concerned about the fate of young Saudis, as they struggle to balance their experience of modernity with life in what remains a deeply conservative society. "In time they will hopefully find ways of reaching reconciliation with what they have been brought up with and what they are facing from outside."
Asked about his own evolution, al-Awda becomes circumspect. "Man should know that he is in need of being flexible enough to learn from others. He should not be very fanatic with regard to his views, and he should not only listen to himself. And he should also sometimes learn from his opponents."
Former aides to President Bush and Vice President Cheney are warning their successors in the Obama administration to be wary of Russian pledges of cooperation in the multilateral campaign to rein in Iran's nuclear program.
The warnings came after FOX News reported on Thursday that top Obama aides believe Russia will be willing to sign on to "much more severe" sanctions against Iran if the Islamic republic refuses to halt its uranium enrichment activity by 2010.
A senior U.S. official serving under Obama told FOX News Moscow's new openness to tough sanctions stems from an admission by the Kremlin that American intelligence estimates on the pace of the Iranian nuclear program have been more accurate than Russia's own.
During their G-20 summit meeting in London earlier this month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Obama, according to the U.S. official, that "your assessments have been more right than ours."
But former Bush administration aides said Russia is playing a familiar tune.
"We have been there before," said David Wurmser, a former Middle East adviser to Cheney and founder of the Delphi Global Analysis Group, a private consulting firm in Washington.
"At several key moments from 2003 until 2006, Russia displayed irritation at Iran and evinced to us such exasperation at Tehran's behavior that they not only threatened tough action, but even somewhat delivered," he said. "The problem was, however, that it was never truly decisive, nor genuinely biting against Tehran."
Wurmser said Russia and China -- two countries that wield veto power at the United Nations Security Council, which has imposed relatively mild economic sanctions against Iran three times since 2006 -- knew the evidence of Iranian nuclear progress was compelling. But the American-led invasion of Iraq complicated the Bush administration's efforts to persuade other countries to take aggressive action to contain Iran's nuclear threat.
The Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the European Union all operated from "roughly the same set of facts, with only some differences in the granularity of the information" about Iran, Wurmser said in an e-mail to FOX News.
"The differences in policy emerged in the different political calculations we all had," Wurmser added. "[H]ard information we were getting [showed American officials that] the primary aim for the E.U. and Russia in 2003 to 2006 was to avoid giving the U.S. a pretext to attack Iran. No matter what information ever came to light, they were terrified we would use it to justify a strike on Tehran.
"Every time in this period I landed in a European capital at [U.N. Ambassador] John Bolton's request to discuss Iran, the first thing I got was: 'What is your end game here; are you going to use the information to pull another Iraq? Tell us where you are going with this before we tell you how much we will admit Iran is going down the path to a bomb in the U.N.' When I failed to give them a guarantee that we will not strike Iran, they stalled on moving ahead with acknowledging or using the evidence in public which in private they accepted."
Russia, he added, "was like the E.U. on hormones in this regard."
North Korea has accused South Korea of poisoning its football players with an "adulterated foodstuff" ahead of last week's World Cup qualifier match. North Korea coach Kim Jong Hun made the allegation after his team lost 1-0 to South Korea on 1 April. Seoul has denied the claim.
What did the SKors do, feed them Cheetos?
The North's football association said the act was part of Seoul's "moves for confrontation" with Pyongyang. In a statement about the match, the North's football association said: "It was beyond all doubt that the incident was a product of a deliberate act perpetrated by adulterated foodstuff as [the players] could not get up all of a sudden just before the match."
Coach Kim had asked for the match to be delayed and moved to a neutral venue, claiming three of his players had food poisoning, but FIFA rejected the request.
The Korea Football Association, the South's football federation, said a sports doctor had examined the North Korean players and found no serious problem.
The two teams have played each other a number of times in the past year, during the qualification stages for the 2010 World Cup. But the worsening diplomatic relations between the two countries appears to have translated onto the football pitch.
North Korea's home matches have had to be played on neutral ground in Shanghai, because the North refuses to allow the playing of the South's national anthem or the waving of its flags.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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A North Korean with food poisoning? That's kinda funny...
North Korea is set to re-appoint Kim Jong-il for a third term as chairman of the National Defense Commission on Thursday. The Supreme People's Assembly meeting is also expected to strengthen Kim's leadership by reshuffling cabinet and military posts. And the Kim could make his first major public appearance since suffering a stroke last August.
Is he ever looking awful. Don't do a Fidel on us, Kimmie, die already ...
Ahead of the meeting of the rubber-stamp parliamentary, a massive rally took place in Pyongyang on Wednesday where tens of thousands declared their support for Kim and celebrated the recent rocket launch.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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The International Telecommunication Union, the international agency in charge of radio frequency allocation for satellites, has dismissed North Korea's claim that it successfully put a communications satellite into orbit last Sunday. In an interview with Radio Free Asia on Tuesday, Sanjay Acharya, ITU's chief of media relations and public information, said the organization has no information about a satellite, adding that nobody else has probably been given any information about it either.
Just another fizzle for Kimmie ...
On the day it launched the rocket, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite is in orbit and sending the tunes of the paeans "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" to earth on the frequency of 470 MHz.
Acharya said if the North arbitrarily used the frequency, which the ITU has never allocated, it could interfere with the frequencies of other existing satellites, but added there were no reports or complaints from member states.
Experts regard communication between a satellite and its earth station as the sign of a successful satellite launch. The governments of South Korea and the U.S. have announced that the North's satellite failed to reach orbit. Neither the Radio Research Agency nor KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center in South Korea has received a signal from the satellite.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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...the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite is in orbit and sending the tunes of the paeans "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il" to earth on the frequency of 470 MHz.
Coming up next on "North Korean Top Two", the "Song of General Kim Il-sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong-il". Right after this from Burger King...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/10/2009 14:43 Comments ||
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Should keep in mind, ala WORLD MIL FORUM + OTHER CHIN FORUMS:
* NOKOR = KOREAS, ETC. is the "FACE OF CHINA" to the World.
* NOKOR = KOREAS is CHINA's all-important STRATEGIC BUFFER STATE, espec agz JAPAN + RUSSIA + US-EUROS-WORLD NATIONS [read, MIL-ECON POWERS]that do trade wid Nippon + Russia. LOSS OF KOREAS > Chin fears a "DOMINO/RIPPLE" EFFECT of various ANTI-CHIN GEOPOL TRUUUBLES all along EAST-SOUTH ASIA in consequence.
* CHINA has made it clear many times it will NOT accept nor tolerate any PRO US-WEST, ANTI-CHIN, NON-COMMIE/SOCIALIST POST-KIM REGIME to be in charge of NOKOR.
In sum, IT MAY NOT [yet] BE IN KIMMIE's DYNASTIC = STATE INTEREST TO HAVE A RELIABLE LR MISSLE SYSTEM includ NUC-WMD WARHEAD, not unless he's willing to accept the consequences as per China + GREAT POWER" CONFRONTATIONISM. Despite NOKOR's pervasive hunger prob, Kimmie ala "CHINA PROBLEM" may desire to take a protractive, well-calculated/measured approach to CHINA within the parameters of the POST-9-11, ISLAMIST-LED BREAKUP OF COLD WAR ASIAN NUKULAR ORDER.
'Devil's Advocate' jury finds no proof he was behind Sept. 11
BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks.
I thought 'Jerry Springer' and 'The View' were purely American ideas ...
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope. The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.
In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to Sept. 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. However, the jury did rule that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."
bin Laden's gotta be upset. Man goes on video repeatedly taking credit, and these infidels disrespect him like this.
The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.
Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
So he's a self-hater and a hater of everything he's been given ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Have a merry Van Gogh future Eurabia.
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2009 0:57 Comments ||
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The first Canadian found guilty under Ottawa's anti-terror law is appealing his conviction, Canadian media said Thursday.
Momin Khawaja, a 29-year-old Canadian of Pakistani origin, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison last month for participating in a foiled plot to attack several sites in the United Kingdom. He is eligible for parole five years into his prison term. The plot included attacks on a nightclub, a shopping center and electrical and gas facilities.
The software developer's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, filed a notice of appeal with Ontario's Court of Appeal, arguing that Khawaja's sentence was excessive, CBC public television reported. In his filing, Greenspon said the sentence was too harsh because the judge had indicated in his ruling that authorities were unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Khawaja was aware of the specific details of the plot planned by a British terror group, according to CBC.
During the trial, the defense had argued that Khawaja wanted to participate in jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan but had never intended to collaborate in terror attacks in Britain. Five of Khawaja's suspected accomplices were found guilty and sentenced to long prison terms in April 2007 in Britain.
The CIA has stopped using contractors to interrogate prisoners and fired private security guards at the CIA's now-shuttered secret overseas prisons, agency Director Leon Panetta said Thursday.
Panetta told agency employees in an e-mail message that the guards will be replaced with CIA officers at the sites, which President Barack Obama ordered closed on his second day in office.
Terminating the private security guards who watched over the secret sites would save the agency $4 million, Panetta said. The CIA refused to provide details about the contract, including its total value and the company or companies that were fired.
The secret prisons are now empty, Panetta said, and the agency has not taken any new prisoners since he became director in February.
The CIA is now preparing plans for the prisons to be permanently shut down. An intelligence official said the facilities have to be cleaned of any potentially sensitive materials before they can be closed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the process of shutting down the secret sites.
The CIA, however, still has the authority to hold and interrogate prisoners for short periods. Panetta said they will be interrogated by agency employees, not private contractors, and then quickly handed over to the U.S. military, or to their home countries or countries that have legal claims on them.
Between 2002 and 2006, the CIA held and interrogated fewer than 100 prisoners, former CIA Director Michael Hayden told Congress last year. It used harsh interrogation methods on about a third of them. Three prisoners were subjected to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning.
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04/10/2009 01:06 ||
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The secret prisons are now empty, Panetta said, and the agency has not taken any new prisoners since he became director in February.
Certainly add an entirely new dimension to the therm "we ain't taking any prisoners." Fits right in to the administration's Cum Bi Ya strategy. The enemy should see this as very good news.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for hearings on the mounting piracy threat as the fate of an American cargo-ship captain remained in limbo Thursday.
"These acts of piracy off of Somalia's coastline may seem surreal, but they're all too real and a thorough policy debate is long overdue," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in a statement. "When Americans, including at least one from Massachusetts, are endangered, you've got a complicated and dangerous international situation brewing, and that includes questions about a hot-pursuit policy on Somalia's coastline." Hey, Dickweed. We don't need hearings, we need ACTION. It's not complicated at all. Jeebus what a pompous ass.
The 20-member crew of the Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food from the World Food Program and the United States Agency for International Development to Kenya, managed to wrest control of the ship from the pirates after the Wednesday hijacking, but the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, was taken by pirates into a lifeboat that was drifting near the Alabama and the USS Bainbridge guided missile destoyer, which had arrived on scene to aid the ship.
"There have been more than 50 attacks in the area this year alone and the problem isn't going away," Kerry said. "I plan to hold hearings to further examine the growing threat of piracy and all the policy options that need to be on the table before the next fire drill becomes an international incident with big implications." I am soooo glad this windbag wasn't elected President.
Vice President Biden was less forthcoming about the unfolding drama when asked at an economic recovery meeting Thursday what the U.S. was going to do about the pirates. "This is being worked on around the clock since this happened, and — but I'm not in a position, right now, to comment on it," Biden said as pool reporters were shown the door. Nobody tol'me nutin'!
The Defense Department was similarly hushed Thursday. "There's intense interest in this, and I appreciate that, but I must ask that you appreciate the fact that this is an ongoing and unfolding situation," Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters at the Pentagon. "For those reasons, I will not talk in any detail of what the military aspect of this may or may not be."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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I can see an exclusive luncheon or three, perhaps a conference in Paris and another in Jakarta or some other exotic far-from-the-facts location. Invite Ban and some of the U.N. Regulars....
#5
Kerry said. "I plan [Stall] to hold hearings [Organized Stall] to further examine [Extended Stall] the growing threat of piracy and all the policy options [Ambiguous Stall] that need to be on the table [Diplo-speak Stall] before the next fire drill [Idiom Stall] becomes an international incident with big implications."
With talent like that Kerry must have been just pissed when Hillary was named Sec.of State.
#6
Never miss the chance to grandstand, Jawnny...
Ya think maybe if them pirates had gotten an education, they wouldn't have ended up stuck on a lifeboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean?
Pakistan will have to undertake not to support any person or group involved in activities meant to hurt India and to allow US investigators access to individuals suspected of engaging in nuclear proliferation if it wants to qualify for a threefold increase in US economic assistance.
The clause requiring such a pledge is incorporated in a bill moved in the US House of Representatives on April 2, seeking to provide $1.5 billion of annual assistance to Pakistan for a period of five years.
Clause (J) of the bill, called the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement or the PEACE Act of 2009, requires Pakistan not to support any person or group that conducts violence, sabotage, or other activities meant to instil fear or terror in India.
This means that Pakistan will have to ban all Kashmir groups involved in armed struggle in the valley against India.
Clause (K) of the bill binds Pakistan to ensure access of US investigators to individuals suspected of engaging in worldwide proliferation of nuclear materials, and restrict such individuals from travel or any other activity that could result in further proliferation.
If adopted, the act would enable US investigators to seek direct access to Dr A. Q. Khan and other members of his group accused of providing nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
The Indian lobby on Capitol Hill played a key role in including the two clauses into the bill and had formed a special task force for this purpose.
The Pakistani caucus, which once started as an effective lobbying group, has been rendered useless by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington. To ensure that it cannot function as an independent body, the embassy purged all senior people from a support group created to provide technical support to the caucus.
Consequently, the Pakistan caucus, which on papers has the support of almost 100 lawmakers, has become a non-functioning body with no clout on the Hill.
Although two separate bills are now being moved in the House and the Senate for tripling US economic assistance to Pakistan, the motivation for doing so did not come from the Pakistan Embassy or the lobbies.
The motivating force behind the move is Americas fear that if not helped, Pakistan, a nuclear nation of 170 million people, could turn into a safe haven for terrorists armed with atomic weapons.
The need for Pakistans help in fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan and Fata also played a key role in motivating US lawmakers for seeking to increase the aid to Pakistan.
But this did not prevent the House members from seeking strict restrictions against Pakistan in return for the aid.
Clause (H) of the bill requires Pakistan not to provide any support, direction, guidance to, or acquiescence in the activities of, any person or group that engages in any degree in acts of violence or intimidation against civilians, civilian groups, or governmental entities.
Clause (I) needs Pakistan to redouble its efforts to prevent the presence of the Taliban and Taliban-affiliated groups in Pakistan that support insurgents in Afghanistan.
To ensure transparency and provide effective accountability of all US assistance and reimbursements provided to Pakistan, the bill wants Islamabad to improve counterterrorism financing and anti-money laundering laws to comply with international standards, to include applying for Financial Action Task Force observer status and adhering to the United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
The task force is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The bill also requires Pakistan to take all appropriate measures to adapt its armed forces to be able to conduct effective and sustained counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.
The bill, however, also recognises Pakistan as an invaluable friend and ally to the United States, both in times of strife and in times of peace.
It notes that the two countries share many common goals, including combating terrorism and violent radicalism, solidifying democracy and rule of law in Pakistan, and promoting the social and material well-being of the people of Pakistan.
The bill assures the Pakistani people that the United States seeks a sustained, long-term, multifaceted relationship with Pakistan based on friendship between the peoples of the two countries, the commitment to democracy and the rule of law, and the mutual interests of stability, security, and prosperity.
It is critical for the United States to support Pakistan's democratic government and strengthen its democratic institutions, including its parliament and the judicial system, the bill notes.
The bill also makes it clear that the United States supports Pakistan's struggle against extremist elements and recognises the profound sacrifice made by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, including the loss of more than 1,600 soldiers since 2001 in combat with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other extremist and terrorist groups.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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So that's $150M/year for Zardari alone, unless Nawaz Shariff can depose him and take an even bigger cut.
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2009 0:19 Comments ||
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The real enemy is the Pak army/ISI and not the civil govt.However Shariff would do us no favours!!!
MINGORA: Peace in the country is only possible through the imposition of sharia, Talian spokesman Muslim Khan told a private TV channel on Thursday.
Talking to Daily Times earlier, he joined Sufi Muhammad in condemning the president for not signing the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. We support Sufi Muhammads stance against the federal government, he said. If clashes between Taliban and the security forces resume, the president will be responsible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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LAHORE: President Asif Zardari on Thursday presided over a high-level meeting at the Presidency to review the Swat situationand is likely to sign the Nizam-e-Adl regulation in the next few days, a private TV channel reported.
Where's the 10% on sharia?
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Interior Adviser Rehman Malik also attended the meeting to review the situation after Sufi Muhammads decision to wrap up his peace camp in Mingora.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Mohammed's cut was 20%. Zardari is rubbing his hands in anticipation.
Posted by: ed ||
04/10/2009 0:15 Comments ||
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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday reiterated the governments commitment to eliminate terrorism and renewed his offer of dialogue to those who laid down arms.
Addressing a delegation of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), he warned that the government would strictly deal with those who tried to challenge its writ. The prime minister said the government was working on a three-pronged strategy of corrosion dialogue, corruption deterrence and capitulation development to counter terrorism.
He said the country was facing external and internal threats and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government inherited a fragile situation fraught with challenges of terrorism, economic weakness, political instability and energy crunch.
Gilani said the elimination of terrorists and terrorism was the governments priority.
Right up there with developing the country ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has not received any credible intelligence report about the presence of Al Qaeda leadership inside its borders, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Abdul Basit said on Thursday.
We have not come across any authentic intelligence which would indicate that Al Qaeda leadership is in Pakistan, and we do not attach importance to speculations, Basit said in a weekly briefing.
Looked in the closet and found nothing more than an old bowling ball ...
He said the United States drone attacks might have achieved certain tactical gains but they were largely counterproductive and in violation of Pakistans sovereignty. We cannot condone these attacks, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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So all those alqaeda killed in drone attacks and those hard boyz arrested in the cities eg.KSM etc was a figment of our imagination.
Next they will be telling us no Taliban in Quetta....oh wait!
ISLAMABAD - A spokesman says 'heightened security' is prompting the suspension of routine consular services Friday at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistans capital.
Lou Fintor declined Thursday night to give any more information on what led to the security concern in Islamabad. He said the U.S. consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar will be open Friday.
Fintor says while regular consular services, such as visa processing for Pakistani nationals, wont be available in the capital on Friday, the embassy still will be able to provide emergency services to Americans.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Credible threat?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/10/2009 11:09 Comments ||
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Yeah. This one...
Fintor says while regular consular services, such as visa processing for Pakistani nationals...
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked the U.S Congress on Thursday for an extra $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, citing threats from al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban. The request, to cover the rest of the 2009 fiscal year which ends on Sept. 30, comes on top of more than $822 billion that Congress has approved to fund the wars since September 2001, Obama said.
I seem to recall that Dhimmicrats never liked supplemental requests for Iraq funding ...
"We face a security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan that demands urgent attention," he said in a letter to Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, urging lawmakers to approve his request swiftly. "The Taliban is resurgent and al Qaeda threatens America from its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border."
Almost 95 percent of the funding would go to support military efforts to stabilize Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said in the letter released by the White House. The request also includes funding for other national security priorities of the administration, including assistance for anti-drug efforts in Mexico, security assistance in Lebanon and closing down the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Congress has already approved $65.9 billion for the wars in 2009 and some anti-war Democrats expressed reservations about the new request.
But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Obama's policies on Iraq and Afghanistan enjoyed broad support on Capitol Hill. "The alternative to the supplemental is a sudden and precipitous withdrawal ... from both places. And I don't know anybody who thinks that's a good idea," Gates said.
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04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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AMMAN - Jordans King Abdullah II pressed on Britain the need for serious negotiations between the new Israeli government and the Palestinians over a two-state solution on Thursday, in a meeting with the British Foreign Secretary.
Even though the Paleos don't support a two-state solution ...
David Miliband, speaking at a joint press conference following the meeting, expressed Britains concerns at Israeli plans to demolish scores of houses in East Jerusalem, leaving around 1,500 Palestinians homeless. It was Milibands first trip to Amman as foreign secretary, where he also met Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, in talks which also took in the global financial crisis.
The monarch discussed with Miliband efforts being exerted with a view to launch serious negotiations to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, a royal court statement said. King Abdullah underscored the importance of the role of Europe and the world community in pushing forward the peace talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides towards the establishment of just peace based on relevant UN resolutions and the Arab peace initiative, it added.
"And I don't want them back!"
King Abdullahs remarks reflected concerns on the part of the Jordanian leadership as to the future of the Arab-Israeli peace process after the new right-wing Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, failed to unequivocally support the two-state formula.
Jordanians have been also worried by reports from Israel about plans backed by the new cabinet to speed up the building of settlements in East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day war along with the rest of the West Bank.
Miliband expressed his countrys worries over plans by the new Israeli government to demolish scores of Palestinian homes in an East Jerusalem suburb and turn about 1,500 Palestinians homeless. We view with real concern the proposed demolition in East Jerusalem, the British Foreign Secretary said at a press conference he jointly addressed with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh. Jerusalem should be the capital of the Palestinians and Israel, he added.
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04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Jordan and Britain stress two-state solution in talks
Jordan the Palestinian state & Britain the Pakistani state?
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday expressed skepticism about Iranian claims of new advances in its uranium enrichment program.
Of course. It's easier to dismiss and ignore the problem if you're skeptical about it.
But she said the claims underscore the need for Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and return to negotiations on its nuclear program.
The Iranian claims of major advances in its nuclear program came only a day after the Obama administration said it was ready to reverse previous U.S. policy and directly engage Iran over the issue.
But in a talk with reporters, Clinton declined to call the Iranian statements a rebuff to the U.S. overture and also expressed some skepticism that Tehran has actually made enrichment gains. Clinton, speaking after U.S.-Australian security talks that included the Iranian nuclear issue, said U.S. officials do not attribute any particular meaning to the latest Iranian claims.
"We don't know what to believe about the Iranian program. We've heard many different assessments and claims over a number of years. One of the reasons we are participating in the P-Five-Plus-One is to enforce the international obligations that Iran should be meeting to insure that the IAEA is the source of credible information, because there is a great gap between what the IAEA observed about six or seven weeks ago, and what the Iranians are now claiming," she said.
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04/10/2009 00:00 ||
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It is painful to read the headlines and news stories about these people. As Lincoln observed, there are limits to a person's greed, but no limits to their stupidity.
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.
LONDON - Somali pirates first seizure of U.S. citizens signals an entirely justified confidence in their ability to keep outwitting the allied naval forces deployed against them. Whatever the outcome of their brief capture of the U.S. freighter Maersk Alabama, an event that puts Somalia higher up Washingtons security agenda, factors including poverty and the seas vastness mean the gangs bold ambition is understandable.
The story of Sheikh Salman al-Awda and his transformation from arch critic of the House of Saud and hero of Osama Bin Laden to something approaching what might, by Saudi standards, be considered moderate is one that intrigues many in the kingdom.
North Korea has accused South Korea of poisoning its football players with an "adulterated foodstuff" ahead of last week's World Cup qualifier match. North Korea coach Kim Jong Hun made the allegation after his team lost 1-0 to South Korea on 1 April. Seoul has denied the claim.
North Korea is set to re-appoint Kim Jong-il for a third term as chairman of the National Defense Commission on Thursday. The Supreme People's Assembly meeting is also expected to strengthen Kim's leadership by reshuffling cabinet and military posts. And the Kim could make his first major public appearance since suffering a stroke last August.
'Devil's Advocate' jury finds no proof he was behind Sept. 11
The first Canadian found guilty under Ottawa's anti-terror law is appealing his conviction, Canadian media said Thursday.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for hearings on the mounting piracy threat as the fate of an American cargo-ship captain remained in limbo Thursday.
SLAMABAD: Pakistan has not received any credible intelligence report about the presence of Al Qaeda leadership inside its borders, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Abdul Basit said on Thursday. 
ISLAMABAD - A spokesman says 'heightened security' is prompting the suspension of routine consular services Friday at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistans capital.
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked the U.S Congress on Thursday for an extra $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, citing threats from al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban. The request, to cover the rest of the 2009 fiscal year which ends on Sept. 30, comes on top of more than $822 billion that Congress has approved to fund the wars since September 2001, Obama said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday expressed skepticism about Iranian claims of new advances in its uranium enrichment program. 
