The Afghan government said it has held positive talks with Taliban militants in an effort to encourage peace in the face of an increasingly bloody insurgency.
Presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said Tuesday officials were in contact with militants at various levels but gave no other details.
He also said some of Afghanistan's international allies have agreed to remove militants' names from wanted lists if they accepted the Afghan constitution. Taliban members' names appear on blacklists in the United States, some European countries and at the United Nations.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would consider holding talks with Taliban militants who are willing to renounce violence and reconcile. The idea is part of his revised strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
Taliban and other insurgents have made a comeback in Afghanistan, causing the highest level of violence since a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban government in 2001.
North Koreas military has bolstered its authority over several key policy-making issues after a major restructuring of the countrys ruling Workers Party, South Korean intelligence sources told the JoongAng Ilbo. The moves, experts say, create a bit of a power shift by eroding the influence of the Norths ruling party in several areas, including matters involving the South. The restructuring also diminishes the roles of some party members who have taken a more conciliatory stance on affairs with the South.
One source said the changes could explain a recent increase in bellicose statements coming from the North. This has led to a hard-line policy that the North has adopted on South Korea of late, the source said.
According to sources, the Workers Party has moved its operations department to the Ministry of Peoples Armed Forces, which handles management and operational control of the North Korean military. The operations department is responsible for managing espionage agents.
Though it has been in the partys organizational tree, the operations department had been essentially carrying out military tasks, a source said. When the department head, O Kuk-ryol, was named a vice chairman of the National Defense Commission [in February], the department itself was shifted to the armed forces ministry in what seemed to be a logical step.
In another change, the partys research department and external liaison department will now be under the control of the National Defense Commission, which is defined in the North Korean constitution as the nations top military organ. The research department collects intelligence on South Korea and other nations, while the external liaison department is responsible for training and dispatching agents.
Military officers have become increasingly visible. Lieutenant General Kim Yong-chol, head of the policy bureau at the National Defense Commission, made a surprise visit to the Kaesong Industrial Complex late last year. A spokesman for the General Staff of the Norths Korean Peoples Army has appeared on the official Korean Central News Agencys television program, in full military uniform, to read statements against the South.
Only the United Front Department remains within the Workers Party to handle inter-Korean dialogue and the Norths policy on the South, and experts say it has lost much of its influence.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION FREEREPUBLIC > EXCLUSIVE: NORTH KOREA [quietly] PREPARING FOR SECOND NUCLEAR TEST. Inspector claims NK's recent provocations are PCorrect cover for setting up for a new nuke test???
Chang Soo-man, vice minister of national defense and General Walter Sharp, the head of the U.S. Forces South Korea (USFK), will be engaged in high-level discussions next Thursday on the final details of the time table and expenses for the relocation of USFK bases to Pyeongtaek.
In previous discussions on the timetable and expenses of the relocation of the Yongsan Army Garrison and the U.S. Armys Second Infantry Division, South Korea and the United States had established a broad framework for the scale of each countrys share in expenses, however, they have been at odds on the issue of the time. Both sides agreed to issue a final draft agreement in September of last year, but that agreement has been postponed several times.
The previous agreement held between the two countries outlined that South Korea would bear something in the area of 5 to 5.5 trillion won of the costs, while the U.S. would bear 6.8 trillion won. However, according to an official of South Korea's Defense Ministry, South Korea will have to bear a considerable number of other costs besides the move expenses formally agreed upon with the U.S. The official also said that South Koreas share of the expenses did not include 3 trillion won in project support costs, including support to the city of Pyeongtaek. Moreover, as the U.S. has been showing signs that it is reluctant to bear costs for environmental clean-up prior to land return, it appears likely that South Korea will have to spend money on hazardous waste clean-up.
No headway has been made on the two sides differing opinions regarding the time-table for the move either. South Korea has suggested that the Yongsan Army Garrison relocation should be complete by 2014 and the U.S. Second Infantry Division bases in Dongducheon and Uijeongbu by 2015. Meanwhile, the U.S. is citing a lack of money and is countering that the base moves should be put off until 2016 or later.
A South Korean military official, who also asked for anonymity, said,We're proposing to move up the schedule if possible, out of consideration of complaints from residents in Pyeongtaek, Dongducheon and Uijeongbu, the areas where either the U.S. military stations are or will be, however, the U.S. is saying that they need more time in order to get Congress to approve the budget necessary for the move.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"The US is citing a lack of money....put off until 2016 or later" > Originally, it was influential/potent elements within SOKOR's establishment that desired a delay. IN ANY CASE, SOKOR OR USA, ITS NOT A GOOD SIGN FOR GUAM [ Okinawa USMC Reloc timetable].
#2
All you need to do is leave a MAG team if they want one and pull the rest. Long past due. If the S.Koreans can't handle it now, its their problem. End of discussion. Redeploy by cutting the replacement stream. Start sending what you need back home. Abandon the rest in place.
#3
The official also said that South Koreas share of the expenses did not include 3 trillion won in project support costs, including support to the city of Pyeongtaek
As a taxpayer, let's put off until 2016 unless they forget about the 3 trillion won.
#4
The South Koreans aren't losing any money. Land value rises and new development will make up for any relocation costs. Yongson is a square mile of prime land in downtown Seoul. Think Manhattan and Central Park.
Posted by: ed ||
04/21/2009 9:58 Comments ||
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#5
Thats right, it is prime real estate. Once no longer a military installation, you'll see Cartier Watch stores, Outback Steakhouses, High End Apartment High Rises, and Brothels going in where Yongsan used to be.
#7
..and Brothels going in where Yongsan used to be..
IIRC the brothels were already located south of the installation in Itaewon, the 'entertainment and shopping' district. Personally, I only shopped at the computer stores in the district. :)
#8
Itaewon was "popular with foreigners for its active and varied nightlife"- WIKI
When I lived in Seoul, we learned that itaewon wasnt the only red light area. Apparently, the entire base was surrounded by them on all sides. Over by electronic city there were brothels, and USFK made it off-limits...so we never set foot there for fear of being busted.
Washington yesterday added pressure on nuclear-armed North Korea by warning of consequences for its recent rocket launch and the latest decision to kick out nuclear inspectors.
Pressure. Sure. The Norks have never been scolded before.
The U.S. State Departments acting spokesman Robert Wood said a committee under the United Nations Security Council held a meeting on Wednesday to expand sanctions against North Korea for its long-range rocket launch. The committee will agree on a list of goods and entities seen as assisting the Norths arms programs, Wood said.
And that will be made public, as you know, and then member states will be required to prevent the North from getting access to these goods and entities from supplying the types of material that we dont want to see get to the North, he said.
Wood also went further to condemn the Norths decision to walk away from the six-nation nuclear disbarment talks and restart its nuclear arms programs. The North has expelled international inspectors from its main nuclear facilities.
IAEA inspectors departed [North Korea] on April 16, International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman Marc Vidricaire said in a statement. According to the watchdog, containment and surveillance equipment installed at the weapons-grade plutonium processing facility in Yongbyon by the inspectors were removed before their departure.
The international community has required that the North take certain actions and not take certain actions, Wood said. The North has not listened to the will of the international community, and therefore its going to have to face the consequences from its unwillingness to meet the international communitys requirements.
While coercing Pyongyang with additional sanctions for a pattern of bad behavior, Wood also said the United States has had conversations with the North. We have relayed our views to the North, he said, without elaborating about the talks. How the North reacted to the U.S. message is unknown.
An unnamed senior U.S. official was quoted as saying by AFP that the communication was through North Koreas mission to the United Nations in New York.
The current situation resembles what happened in 2002 when the North declared the end of its nuclear freeze, kicked out international inspectors and resumed its arms programs. It is, however, unlikely that Pyongyang can immediately restart its plutonium-based nuclear program by using the main facility in Yongbyon. Key components of the reactor have been removed, and the North blew up the facilitys cooling tower as a gesture of its commitment to denuclearization. The advanced disablement will likely give the international community more time to work with the North diplomatically.
No, it means they have another facility that we don't know about.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC USA AND JAPAN AGAIN WORK TO DENY SOVEREIGNTY OF CHINA SEA ISLANDS TO CHINA [US suppor for expansion of Chin Seas maritime roles for JAPANESE COAST GUARD, OTHER REGIONAL STATES].
Also on WMF > IIUC INDIAN NAVY: CHINA DEPLOYS FIVE MORE ADVANCED NUCLEAR SUBMARINES TO HAINAN FOR OPERATIONAL PATROLS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN; + TAIWAN MEDIA: CHINA'S SUBMARINES TO BEGIN WORLD CRUISES/PATROLS; + TAIWAN MEDIA: AS CHINA'S MILITARY STEADILY IMPROVES, USA WILL SEE MORE PLA SPY SHIPS, SUBMARINES, SPACE SATELLITES AND RECCE AIRCRAFT PATROLS NEAR ITS COASTS, espec firstly as per HAWAII + CANUSA-NORAM Pacific/West Coasts.
[Kyodo: Korea] President Lee Myung Bak convened an unscheduled meeting of security-related ministers Monday ahead of the first government-level talks between South and North Korea set for Tuesday, according to Yonhap News Agency. ŽŽThe president and the ministers reviewed preparations for tomorrowŽs talks and discussed other security-related issues,ŽŽ an unnamed South Korean official was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Former Vice President Cheney says he knows how successful the interrogation techniques were in collecting intelligence for the United States and wants that information to be released to the public as well as the legal memos explaining the decision to allow the heavily criticized methods.
Now that the memos showing the rulings of interrogation techniques have been released, the Obama administration should release additional documents that show what the interrogations yielded to make it an "honest debate," former Vice President Dick Cheney told FOX News on Monday.
In an interview with FOX News' Sean Hannity aired on "Hannity" Monday night, Cheney questioned the point of releasing the legal decisions behind the interrogations but not the outcome of them.
"One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort," Cheney said.
Cheney said he's asked that the documents be declassified because he has remained silent on the confidential information, but he knows how successful the interrogation process was and wants the rest of the country to understand.
"I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw, that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country," Cheney said. "I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was."
Cheney says he doesn't find it surprising that he's still asked for his views on administrative policies and thinks it's appropriate for those with a different point of view to be able to express it -- and give the American people the ability to evaluate.
"It's important to not personally attack the new president -- I've never done that," said Cheney.
The former vice president says the biggest task he had was to protect the nation's security following 9/11 and to ensure such devastation would never happen again. He says many of the policies he set up are currently being dismantled by the Obama administration.
"There's a great temptation for a new administration to find a problem and blame it on the predecessor. We did it. The Obama administration is not the first one to do that," said Cheney.
Since his departure from the White House, Cheney says he's been concerned over the way the U.S. has been presented overseas and finds Obama's apologies to various countries "disturbing." He also feels Obama's "coziness" with America's opponents like Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez is not "helpful."
"Since the U.S. provides most leadership in the world, I don't think we have much to apologize for," said Cheney.
While he feels that a president needs to interact with adversaries, Cheney says it's important to distinguish between the good guys and bad guys. He says that the world will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they feel like they're dealing with a weak president.
"It's important the U.S. that we don't come off as arrogant -- but also important to not come across as weak, indecisive and apologetic," said Cheney.
#2
....additional documents that show what the interrogations yielded to make it an "honest debate,"
Honest debate...? Barry and his cadre are not seeking an honest debate. The purpose of the rally at Klingon Main he attended last week was to keep the lid on positive results, releases, etc, and provide folks up there executive cover.
#3
This is the first step in his defence. He has told the public there are documents that show it worked, he called them secret, the current administration is now screwed. If they provide the docs, he will be vindicated. If they don't he will say they are hiding them. In either case he will be vindicated or there will be reasonable doubt. Great move!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/21/2009 17:00 Comments ||
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#4
obama & rahm are young paduwans compared to the craft of Darth Cheney. Cheney's the man.
[Geo News] The markets are out of food items and medicines due to blockage of roads for the past several months in Kurram Agency. Local leaders Rana Wiladat, Syed Sadiq Hussain and othters told that the remaining stock of food and medicines has almost ended due to an unending blockade of roads in the agency. They said patients and children are among the most affected people due to lack of medicines and food items. They warned that the health-related problems could escalate if urgent measures were not taken by the government in this regard. They also demanded the government of taking actions against the elements responsible for creating such situation in Kurram Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik has said that the government is examining Maulana Sufi Muhammad's remarks about the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the democracy. Talking to Geo News, he said today: Â"Provincial government is responsible to maintaining law and order situation in Swat and other parts of NWFP.Â" The recording of Sufi Muhammad's public address is being seen to evaluate the intent behind his remarks about superior courts and the democracy. Malik said that he had sought a report from the provincial government about prevailing security situation in Swat valley and parts of NWFP. Â"A high-level meeting has been called on Tuesday to review the overall law and order situation across the country.Â" Earlier, he called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and apprised him of the steps taken by the government to improve law and order situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Taliban militants ban all political organizations and armed groups in Bajaur Agency in northwest Pakistan, giving those active in such fields two days to surrender.
A spokesman of Tehrik-e-Taliban Maulve Omar told reporters on Sunday that despite ceasefire some political and armed groups disturbed law and order in the agency, therefore, they were banned. The ban comes after two Taliban militants were killed in an armed clash between Tehrik-e-Nefaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhamadi group and Taliban in Mahmond area in Bajaur tribal region on Sunday. Taliban spokesman said they arrested 60 members of Tehrik-e-Nefaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhamadi (TNSM) in the agency after the clash.
The TNSM members are Afghan Taliban, who are jeopardizing peace in the agency and they have no relations with Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Omar said that the decision of banning armed organizations in the area was taken in a meeting of Shura (Council) and gave two days deadline to such groups to wind up their activities. "After failing, we took action against TNSM group in Mahmond area," he said, adding that the TNSM members are Afghan Taliban, who are jeopardizing peace in the agency and they have no relations with Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Omar had recently said that Taliban would review their ceasefire and warned both government and tribal elders to stay in 'limits' and act upon the peace deal in the agency. If the government violated the peace deal, signed with the elders, then the militants would review their unilateral ceasefire in the area, he added.
Tribal elders had signed a 28-point agreement with the administration after militants declared unilateral ceasefire in Bajaur Agency in February.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ISLAM FORUM POSTER > believes TALIBS, despite claims or promoting SHARIA, are covertly doing so in preparation of establishing ISLAMIST STRATEGIC CORRIDORS [future MILTERR operations = WAR] AGZ CHINA [Uighurs], MONGOLIA + CENTRAL ASIA BY 2020.
#3
I have to put a bit of conjecture in this answer,TW
1. They are NOT permitted to learn history, only writings in the "Holy Book"
2. They're uninterested in any History (Excuse me, INFIDEL PROPAGANDA) where they lose wars.
2.Truth is alien to their way of thinking (Holy Brainwashing)
4 ALLAH WILL PREVAIL, despite hundreds of thousands of times Allah Did NOT.
In short they're deliberately mental cripples.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/21/2009 15:42 Comments ||
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The government would take stern action against those who spread terror and want to establish a parallel government in the province, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said on Monday.
He said that a "national grand jirga" would be held to discuss the situation in Malakand division soon.
Talking to reporters, Hoti said that the situation in Swat was returning to normalcy and the government was trying to implement the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation at the earliest.
Hoti said the government wanted to resolve the issues of Dir and Buner through dialogue but would not allow its writ to be challenged by anyone. No one would be allowed to set up parallel government, he told reporters.
He said that peace has been established at 80 percent area of Swat. Hoti said that after the signing of the regulation by the president, the federal government has proved its sincerity with its masses.
The Swat peace accord had been signed keeping in view the wishes of the people of Malakand division, he said.
The NWFP chief minister said his government would soon start the rehabilitation in Swat and Malakand.
He asked the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to respect the feelings and wishes of the Pakhtuns and cooperate with the NWFP government in maintaining peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"national grand jirga"
Is that like a "double secret jirga"?
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Muslim Khan has said sharia law would not be restricted to Malakand division, and that the Taliban will not lay down weapons unconditionally, a private TV channel reported on Monday.
Asked whether the Taliban would extend sharia law to other areas of Pakistan, Khan said: "Sure, because [the holy] Quran is not only for Malakand division. It is for all humanity, for all Muslims and we will go for the implementation of sharia in other parts of Pakistan as well. "
He said Taliban would not lay down their weapons unconditionally. "We are Pakhtuns and every Pakhtun has a gun. We have no tanks, no helicopters or jets," he said. Muslim Khan said the Taliban would keep their weapons if the qazi courts allowed them to.
He said nobody had asked American forces to keep their weapons on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean or to surrender, but everyone had been asking the Taliban to lay down their arms. About international criticism that the Nizam-e-Adl is a parallel system of government, the Taliban spokesman said: "We don't care about the reaction of the government in Pakistan or abroad."
Separately, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti said his government would take all possible measures to uphold its writ in the troubled areas. He also said that the government would not allow a parallel system of governance to be established in Swat, and that the implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl was the responsibility of the NWFP government.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani brushed aside US and global concerns about the new Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Swat in a television interview on Monday.
Regarding the concerns voiced by US Special Representative on Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke over the new law, Gilani said: "He does not need to worry too much about it. This is our country. We know the ground realities better than him. We know much better what kind of strategy should be evolved."
But he added that the regulation, which some call sharia law, was contingent to peace in the restive Swat valley. "If peace prevails, we would protect this regulation," the prime minister said, adding that the country's leadership was responsibly following a "home-ground strategy" on peace as approved by parliament.
Asked to comment on a statement by Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-Muhammadi leader Sufi Muhammad that the superior judiciary and democracy were un-Islamic, the prime minister said he did not want to comment on Sufi's "personal opinion".
"There are many people who do not believe in democracy...But we believe in the will of the masses, and the support of people is with us," he said.
Regarding MQM's apprehensions about the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, Gilani said, "We are trying to convince them."
"Time will tell whether it was in the interest of the country or not," he said.
Gilani said he had received the report of the parliamentary committee on national security and it would be placed before the cabinet to evolve a national policy on terrorism. "We are trying to convince them [United States] that drone attacks are against you. They are making our job and your job difficult," the prime minister said to a question. "This is our own war and we want to fight it in our own way, and you should help us if you really want to fight this menace," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > BREAKING:PAKISTAN-BASED GROUPS [Lashkar-e-Toiba = LeT]ROPE IN BABBAR KHALSA [Khalistan] TO LAUNCH ATTACKS AGZ INDIA. Pakistani Govt. Agency ISI also repor implicated in INTER-GROUP DEAL FOR TERROR AGZ INDIA???
#3
PISS OFF Yousuf! More drone attacks are what you need to light that fire under your arse because you're not doing squat. From what I remember, your troops couldn't handle swat so they decided to surrender it.
[Al Arabiya Latest] United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Muhammad al-Baradei said on Monday more talk and deeper trust were needed to defuse nuclear disputes with North Korea and Iran, and urged Washington to stick to dialogue with both states.
Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he hoped North Korea, which expelled IAEA monitors last week, would soon invite them back and avoid confrontation and that Iran would reciprocate recent friendly U.S. overtures by opening its nuclear activities to broader inspections.
"The only way to resolve these issues is not through flexing muscles," said Baradei, referring to North Korea and Iran. He was speaking at a news conference in Beijing during an international meeting on nuclear energy policy.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Baghdad - There is little ambiguity in President Obama's plan for an accelerated US withdrawal from Iraq: By August next year the combat mission will be over. By the end of 2011 all US troops are intended to be gone.
US officials emphasize there are no current plans to keep American forces here past 2011. But as US forces shift gears to advisory and training roles, after six years of combat, the continuing insurgency and Iraq's budget crunch could cause Iraq and the US to rethink that plan.
While Iraq's security forces have improved dramatically, a wide variety of US officials interviewed for this article question whether they will be able to maintain hard-won gains in the face of a low-level insurgency expected to continue for years to come.
"The question is can the Iraqis keep it down without us being here, and we would assess right now that they cannot," says a senior US military official who asked to remain anonymous to be able to speak more freely. Iraq's security forces "are clearly better than they were, but they still do not have the capability to be their own self-sufficient counterinsurgency force."
That could mean that the US training force left after August 2010 would transition into a continuing military presence similar to those found elsewhere in the region. "I have very little doubt that the Iraqi government in 2011 will ask for some advisers to stay and I have very little doubt that the American government will honor that request," says John Nagl, a counterinsurgency expert and president of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank.
Fighting an enemy that blends in
Unlike conventional warfare, fighting an enemy that blends into the population relies heavily on intelligence and on removing the reasons that people tolerate or support insurgents among them everything from intimidation to unemployment.
Last year's surge of US and Iraqi troops was part of a counterinsurgency campaign aimed at not just killing and capturing insurgents but also protecting and winning the support of the population. Along with Sunni fighters turning against Al Qaeda in Iraq and a cease-fire by the Mahdi Army, the campaign led to a dramatic drop in violence. The senior US official, though, says low-level insurgencies such as Iraq's can last for years.
While the Iraqi Army has become relatively adept at conventional operations and has improved its planning and logistics, much of the drop in attacks over the past year has been achieved through counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations increasingly partnered with Iraqi troops but still led by US forces.
"I think the Iraqis know that there are some things that have to occur before we leave; they know there are some capabilities they have to develop," says another senior commander, speaking on background. "I think they'll be up to task when we do leave 2011 but whether or not they'll come here and ask us for other help or training is left to be seen."
What Iraqi security forces need
A budget crunch sparked by a steep drop in oil prices could also slow efforts by Iraqi security forces to fully operate on their own and fight the insurgency, says the latest Pentagon report.
Already a hiring freeze by the Iraqi government has stalled plans to increase the size of its security forces from 615,000 to about 646,000.
Iraqi security forces still rely on the US for combat and logistical help, including close air support, communications, intelligence and surveillance, as well as clearance of roadside bombs and medical support.
"In particular they don't have the technical intelligence assets that we do in order to eavesdrop on what the insurgents are saying," says Dr. Nagl, who as a US Army officer helped develop the military's latest counterinsurgency manual. "It's easier to share the products of our intelligence equipment rather than the equipment itself," which he characterizes as "the highest-end stuff we've got" and unlikely to be shared with Iraq.
"I'm confident that [the Iraqi security forces can ultimately stand on their own] but I would say we have a fair amount of work to do before they reach that point," said Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, in charge of ground forces in Iraq, after relinquishing command this month to a new Corps commander.
External threats not as urgent
The top US commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, says he believes equipment needed to modernize the Iraqi military is largely geared at external threats rather than internal security and can likely wait until past 2011.
"Whether they're able to modernize their Army, Navy, and Air Force by 2011 is unknown because that's going to be based on the ability of their budget," said General Odierno in a recent Monitor interview.
Among the implicit assumptions are that the US will continue to protect Iraqi airspace past 2011, particularly in light of concern over neighboring Iran. The US essentially destroyed Iraq's Air Force in the 2003 war.
"I find it unlikely that the Iraqis will have control over their airspace in 2011 when in April 2009 they have no jet aircraft none," says Nagl.
Iraq committed $2.72 billion last year to buying US weapons but will likely delay a range of purchases including armored vehicles, mortars, and equipment, and the training needed to sustain systems they have.
"Part of what I think they're struggling with is a full and robust set of capabilities that they would like to purchase and maybe less than sufficient means to purchase all the things they want," says Brig. Gen. Charles Luckey.
BAGHDAD -- Vice is making a comeback in this city once famous for 1,001 varieties of it.
One police detective said he would not dream of enforcing the law against prostitutes. "They're the best sources we have," said the detective, whose name is being withheld for his safety. "They know everything about JAM and Al Qaeda members," he said, using the acronym for Jaish al-Mahdi or Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia.
The detective added that the only problem his men had was that neighbors got the wrong idea when detectives visited the houses where prostitutes were known to live. They really do just want to talk, he said.
"If I had my way, I'd destroy all the mosques and spread the whores around a little more," the detective said.
Give that man a raise, a promotion, and a bodyguard.
#2
Good idea! At least you get something in the screwing you get with the prostitutes. All you get in the screwing you get in the mosques is hope and promises of virgins. Sounds vaguely familiar.
#3
That detective is too smart to stay where he is and he is only going to get into trouble. He should be in a senior policy making job. Perhaps he could be an advisor to some of our senior politicians, who seem to know a lot about whores too.
The war that has been waging in Jenin over the last few days is of a completely different kind to the sort the West Bank city has known in recent years. It is a culture war between those groups and individuals who wish to advance artistic projects and others battling them in the name of Islam. The entrance to the city's Freedom Theater, founded by actor Juliano Mer Khamis, was set alight four days ago. Not long before that, a music center run by the al-Kamanjati organization was also set ablaze. An announcement posted in the city's mosque blasted Mer and theater employees as being depraved and immoral.
In a possible attempt to fend off attacks both against the theater and himself, Mer held a news conference on Monday, together with Zakariya Zubeidi, in which he announced the latter's appointment as the theater's director. A former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group, and one of the symbols of the second intifada, the 33-year-old Zubeidi also garnered media attention for his relationship with Israeli left-wing activist Tali Fahima.
Two months ago Zubeidi began his new job as an official in the Palestinian Authority's prisoners division, and now he has added the title of the Jenin theater director, as well as vice-deputy of civic institutions in the Jenin refugee camp. Zbeidi's appointment was most likely motivated by Mer's attempt to gain a kind of immunity from future attacks on the theater. It seems that Mer's Jewish and Arab descent hindered his desire to run the theater free from threats and harassment, despite his well-meant effort to gain the sympathy of residents of the Jenin refugee camp.
During the news conference, Mer unleashed one provocative anti-occupation comment after the other. "I do not rule out armed struggle," he said, bounding with confidence and strikingly charismatic. "An armed struggle is legitimate as long as it is directed at an occupier, and conducted on occupied land. An occupied people can act against its occupier in any means necessary," Mer said, adding that, "None of us here is to prevent someone from carrying a gun. But if there's no history, culture, or art behind that gun than that gun is killing instead of liberating."
Mer continued, promising that the theater "will not accept funding from any Israeli side," adding that decision on the matter was "final." "I want to make it clear: I support one Palestinian state, from the sea to the [Jordan] river. If the Jews want to live among us, Ahalan wa Sahalan [Arabic for 'go ahead']."
Despite both the extreme positions Mer took and the appointment of Zbeidi as the theater's director, it is doubtful if either will help prevent the next attack. The theater will continue to be perceived as a foreign agent in the eyes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters. The theater has been running for almost four years; its latest production was of George Orwell's "Animal Farm."
The quiet in Jenin's streets and the PA's action against Hamas and Islamic Jihad have also brought a kind of economic growth. Israel has allowed its Arab citizens to enter the city, and they certainly flocked to the city on Monday. About 300 Israeli Arabs from Shfaram, Eblin, and other towns, came to shop, visit friends, or eat out at restaurants. The PA arranged for buses to transport the visitors from Jalame checkpoint to the city's center, and even allocated designated parking spots.
PA security forces maintain a significant presence in Jenin. A., a resident of the city, mockingly said that PA security is slowly becoming a kind Israeli border police, adding that they "maintain Israel's security day and night."
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The State of Israel paused Monday night at 8 p.m. in memory of the six million Jews who perished from 1933-1945, as the country marked the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The annual state ceremony ushering-in the start of the 24-hour commemoration began after sunset at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. The solemn hour-and-a-quarter opening event, broadcast live on television channels and radio stations, was attended by President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the chairman of the Yad Vashem Council and Holocaust survivor Tel Aviv Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, as well as scores of dignitaries and ambassadors from around the world.
In his speech, President Peres emphasized that the appearance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Geneva 'Durban review' conference just hours before was "a deplorable disgrace."
"The conference opening today in Geneva constitutes an acceptance of racism, rather than the fight against it, and its main speaker is Ahmadinejad, who calls for the annihilation of Israel and denies the Holocaust," he said. "Criticism of the Jewish State is also tinged with chilling anti-Semitism. Among those who collaborated with the Nazis, and those who stood by and let the Holocaust happen, there are those who criticize the one state that rose to grant refuge to Holocaust survivors. The one state that will prevent another Holocaust.
"Anti-Semitism is not a Jewish disease, and its cure is incumbent upon those who perpetrate it," the president said.
"We have learned that our spiritual heritage is dependent on physical security. A people which lost a third of its members, a third of its children to the Holocaust, does not forget, and must not be caught off-guard," Peres said, hinting at modern Israel's spiritual and military might.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netnayahu, speaking after Peres, also mentioned the Geneva conference in his speech, lamenting the fact that "there are those who chose to participate in the display of hate."
Netanyahu directed a personal question at Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz, who earlier in the day defended his decision to meet Ahmadinejad in Geneva, prior to the opening of the conference. "I turn to you, the Swiss president, and ask you: How can you meet someone who denies the Holocaust and wishes for a new holocaust to occur?"
Netanyahu praised "important countries" that chose to distance themselves from the conference, mentioning the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. "We will not let the Holocaust deniers perpetrate another holocaust on the Jewish people," Netanyahu said. "This is the superior responsibility of the State of Israel and of me as prime minister."
"Israel," Netanyahu went on, is "the shield and the hope of the Jewish people. Here we create for the glory of our people and all of mankind. The country's achievements in every field - culture and science, medicine and security - are groundbreaking. We are a nation small in number but of great fortitude," Netanyahu said.
In a relay of his experiences as an orphaned child in the Buchenwald concentration camp, Rabbi Lau also noted "another child sitting in the dark, Gilad Schalit."
"Yad Vashem decided to dedicate this year's ceremony to children in the holocaust, so that Israel's children might appreciate what we have: A national home. A state. Freedom. Sovereignty. Pride. Backbone. We can and should kiss this country's ground, which enables to live a full life with a Jewish identity in our home," the rabbi said.
The central theme of this year's ceremony is Children in the Holocaust. Some 1.5 million Jewish children were killed by the Nazis.
During the ceremony, which included a mix of speeches and somber musical interludes, six torches were lit by survivors in memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The chief rabbis of Israel recited selections from Psalms as well as the kaddish mourning prayer.
All places of entertainment were closed on Monday night.
A two-minute siren will sound on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the start of a series of daylong ceremonies throughout the nation.
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04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] An Iranian official says the country has full knowledge of nuclear fuel production and now seeks to expand its activities by exporting fuel.
Despite mounting international pressure, Iranian scientists have acquired the desired know-how to produce nuclear fuel without receiving outside help, deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Abdallah Solat-Sana told IRNA on Monday.
Speaking at Tehran's third Nuclear Technology Exhibition, Solat-Sana said international pressure had prevented different countries from offering Iran a nuclear license and therefore "it is only natural for them [other states] to show reluctance in purchasing nuclear fuel from Iran."
The Iranian official went on to say that the best means to gain international trust for Iran's nuclear products was "to firstly use domestically-produced nuclear fuel in Iranian nuclear plants."
Iran's first Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) in the central city of Isfahan is slated to produce pellets of uranium oxide that could be used to fuel Arak IR-40 heavy-water reactor and Darkhovin IR-360 reactor within 2 and 6 respectively.
Regarding the Bushehr plant, Iran's first nuclear reactor built with Russian help, Solat-Sana said in its initial agreement with Moscow, Tehran had accepted to power the plant with Russian fuel."
"We do not wish to provide nuclear fuel for the Bushehr plant ourselves, as we believe in having international ties which will enable us to both purchase and sell nuclear fuel," the Iranian official concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Iranian scientists have acquired the desired know-how to produce nuclear fuel without receiving outside help,
Lying bastard they want us to 'forget' all of Russias help in building their plant (Did they ever pay yet")
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/21/2009 16:02 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Europeans walked out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speech to a United Nations racism summit Monday when he accused Israel of being the "most cruel and racist regime."
The conference had already been badly undermined when the U.S. and at lest seven other Western nations decided to boycott the conference over concerns that it would be used as a platform for attacks against Israel.
The boycott left Ahmadinejad as the only head of state in attendance, and his speech produced the kind of language that many Western countries and Israel had feared.
Ahmadinejad, who has in the past cast doubt on the Nazi Holocaust, accused Israel of occupying Palestinian territories "on the pretext of Jewish suffering."
He was quoted on Sunday by Iran's state broadcaster as saying "the Zionist ideology and regime are the flag bearers of racism."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the advocates of "freedom of speech" about the sincerity of their conviction. I think we've been through this before, starting with Boris the Lop Eared Serbian Troll, in fact...
After Israeli advocates staged a walkout in the midst of the Iranian president's speech at the UN anti-racism summit, President Ahmadinejad criticized the "so-called advocates of freedom of information." "Why is it that the so-called advocates of freedom of information fear hearing other people's opinions," the Iranian president asked. Probably because they've heard them before, and found them tedious. It really is hard to improve on Julius Streicher. Freedom for you to speak doesn't bring with it a concommitant requirement that we listen. We're just as free to dismiss your opinion as soon as you begin speaking as you have been to dismiss ours since 1979.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva after addressing the United Nations conference on racism, President Ahmadinejad described the countries which boycotted or walked out of the UN anti-racism summit as "arrogant and selfish." "In our opinion, this is arrogance and selfishness and the root cause of the world's problems," President Ahmadinejad told the Monday press conference. He just made a speech calling for an entire nation to be wiped off the face of the earth and he's complaining that people didn't sit rooted to the spot listening to him, and he criticizes them for being "arrogant and selfish"?
"The subject of this conference is anti-racism and the advocates of racism did not attend this summit," he added. Some of us are of the opinion that they did.
The Iranian president's speech at the Durban Review Conference at the UN European headquarters was disrupted several times by protesters who shouted slogans and held placards before they were escorted out of the conference room by security guards. I thought the clown wigs kinda ruined the whole effect...
President Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli remarks also caused 23 European Union delegatees to walk out of the conference room.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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ION FREEREPUBLIC > EGYPTIAN FM TO RUSSIA: EGYPT IS NOT A SMALL COUNTRY, CAN CONTROL ITS OWN TERRITORIES[vee Hezbollah + IRAN].
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Following Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address at the United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva, during which he called for the eradication of Israel, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released on Monday a statement slamming Ahmadinejad's cynical manipulation of the conference.
"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian president to accuse, divide and even incite. This is the opposite of what this Conference seeks to achieve. This makes it significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism," the statement read.
"It is deeply regrettable that my plea to look to the future of unity was not heeded by the Iranian president. At my earlier meeting with him, I stressed the importance of the Conference to galvanize the will of the international community toward the common cause of the fight against racism," it continued.
Ban Ki-moon also noted that he "reminded the President that the UN General Assembly had adopted the resolutions to revoke the equation of Zionism with racism and to reaffirm the historical facts of the Holocaust respectively."
"We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance," he said.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also commented on the speech in a statement, calling the remarks on Israel "offensive, inflammatory and utterly unacceptable."
"That such remarks were made using the platform of the UN's anti-racism conference is all the more reprehensible," continued Miliband.
"The UK delegation, along with many others, rightly walked out of President Ahmedinejad's speech because such hate-filled rhetoric is an intolerable abuse of free speech and of the conference," he said.
Miliband also used the platform to justify the presence of his country's delegation at the conference, saying that while "we will not accept an event that degenerates into racism and intimidation," there is danger in leaving "the international stage only to those, like President Ahmedinejad, who would take global efforts against racism backwards."
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04/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Having innocent people tortured and killed and funding terrorism are acceptable.
In releasing highly classified documents on the CIA interrogation program last week, President Obama declared that the techniques used to question captured terrorists "did not make us safer." This is patently false. The proof is in the memos Obama made public -- in sections that have gone virtually unreported in the media.
Consider the Justice Department memo of May 30, 2005. It notes that "the CIA believes 'the intelligence acquired from these interrogations has been a key reason why al Qaeda has failed to launch a spectacular attack in the West since 11 September 2001.' . . . In particular, the CIA believes that it would have been unable to obtain critical information from numerous detainees, including [Khalid Sheik Mohammed] and Abu Zubaydah, without these enhanced techniques." The memo continues: "Before the CIA used enhanced techniques . . . KSM resisted giving any answers to questions about future attacks, simply noting, 'Soon you will find out.' " Once the techniques were applied, "interrogations have led to specific, actionable intelligence, as well as a general increase in the amount of intelligence regarding al Qaeda and its affiliates."
Specifically, interrogation with enhanced techniques "led to the discovery of a KSM plot, the 'Second Wave,' 'to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into' a building in Los Angeles." KSM later acknowledged before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay that the target was the Library Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. The memo explains that "information obtained from KSM also led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, better known as Hambali, and the discovery of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemmah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the 'Second Wave.' " In other words, without enhanced interrogations, there could be a hole in the ground in Los Angeles to match the one in New York.
The memo notes that "[i]nterrogations of [Abu] Zubaydah -- again, once enhanced techniques were employed -- furnished detailed information regarding al Qaeda's 'organizational structure, key operatives, and modus operandi' and identified KSM as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks." This information helped the intelligence community plan the operation that captured KSM. It went on: "Zubaydah and KSM also supplied important information about al-Zarqawi and his network" in Iraq, which helped our operations against al-Qaeda in that country.
All this confirms information that I and others have described publicly. But just as the memo begins to describe previously undisclosed details of what enhanced interrogations achieved, the page is almost entirely blacked out. The Obama administration released pages of unredacted classified information on the techniques used to question captured terrorist leaders but pulled out its black marker when it came to the details of what those interrogations achieved.
Yet there is more information confirming the program's effectiveness. The Office of Legal Counsel memo states "we discuss only a small fraction of the important intelligence CIA interrogators have obtained from KSM" and notes that "intelligence derived from CIA detainees has resulted in more than 6,000 intelligence reports and, in 2004, accounted for approximately half of the [Counterterrorism Center's] reporting on al Qaeda." The memos refer to other classified documents -- including an "Effectiveness Memo" and an "IG Report," which explain how "the use of enhanced techniques in the interrogations of KSM, Zubaydah and others . . . has yielded critical information." Why didn't Obama officials release this information as well? Because they know that if the public could see the details of the techniques side by side with evidence that the program saved American lives, the vast majority would support continuing it.
Critics claim that enhanced techniques do not produce good intelligence because people will say anything to get the techniques to stop. But the memos note that, "as Abu Zubaydah himself explained with respect to enhanced techniques, 'brothers who are captured and interrogated are permitted by Allah to provide information when they believe they have reached the limit of their ability to withhold it in the face of psychological and physical hardship." In other words, the terrorists are called by their faith to resist as far as they can -- and once they have done so, they are free to tell everything they know. This is because of their belief that "Islam will ultimately dominate the world and that this victory is inevitable." The job of the interrogator is to safely help the terrorist do his duty to Allah, so he then feels liberated to speak freely.
This is the secret to the program's success. And the Obama administration's decision to share this secret with the terrorists threatens our national security. Al-Qaeda will use this information and other details in the memos to train its operatives to resist questioning and withhold information on planned attacks. CIA Director Leon Panetta said during his confirmation hearings that even the Obama administration might use some of the enhanced techniques in a "ticking time bomb" scenario. What will the administration do now that it has shared the limits of our interrogation techniques with the enemy? President Obama's decision to release these documents is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible acts ever by an American president during a time of war -- and Americans may die as a result.
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.
The Afghan government said it has held positive talks with Taliban militants in an effort to encourage peace in the face of an increasingly bloody insurgency. 
The government would take stern action against those who spread terror and want to establish a parallel government in the province, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said on Monday.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Muslim Khan has said sharia law would not be restricted to Malakand division, and that the Taliban will not lay down weapons unconditionally, a private TV channel reported on Monday. 
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani brushed aside US and global concerns about the new Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Swat in a television interview on Monday.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the advocates of "freedom of speech" about the sincerity of their conviction. 
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Following Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address at the United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva, during which he called for the eradication of Israel, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released on Monday a statement slamming Ahmadinejad's cynical manipulation of the conference. 
In releasing highly classified documents on the CIA interrogation program last week, President Obama declared that the techniques used to question captured terrorists "did not make us safer." This is patently false. The proof is in the memos Obama made public -- in sections that have gone virtually unreported in the media. 
