The Afghan election commission and a U.N.-backed panel investigating widespread fraud allegations said in a statement Friday that they agreed to audit and recount ballots from 313 of the 3,063 polling stations deemed suspicious because of more than 100 percent turnout or nearly all votes cast for one candidate.
Posted by: ed ||
09/25/2009 09:58 ||
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A Washington Post Sept 25 Editorial
Such behavior Zelaya's "I'm being gassed and radiated and Israelis are out to get me" speech
ought to deter any responsible member of the Organization of American States -- starting with Brazil -- from supporting anything more than a token return by Mr. Zelaya to office. The Obama administration has backed such a restoration (as have we) so as to void Mr. Zelaya's illegal removal from the country by the army in June and thus uphold the larger principle of respect for democratic order in the region. Now the United States ought to make clear that any further attempt by Mr. Zelaya or his supporters to cause public disorder or violence will mean the reversal of the U.S. position -- leaving him as a permanent ward of those in the Brazilian government who cooperated with his caper.
That's one way to walk back a loudly, oft-repeated position when Congress announced the "coup" was actually in strict accordance with the Honduran constitution.
Congressional Research Service, anyway. But it is indeed a walk-back. The Post apparently understands that it's no good to be so deeply in Oogo's pockets that you're covered with lint. Oogo's performance at the UN this week was particularly disconcerted, if you're a leftie, since he dropped his mask in front of everyone.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/25/2009 17:29 ||
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#1
Sounds to me like he's off his meds. I hope the government of Honduras keeps him locked up in the Brazelian embassy. Every crazxy statement he makes will help erode his support.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/25/2009 19:56 Comments ||
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#2
Read the comments. Even WaPo's liberal readers are calling them on this nonsense.
Sounds like they're throwing in a draft pick and a player to be named later ...
President Lee Myung-bak met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in New York on Wednesday morning, where the two discussed the principle of a "grand bargain" with North Korea for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Cheong Wa Dae said.
"The two leaders agree on the package initiative on giving North Korea security assurances and epoch-making economic assistance in return for the irreversible dismantlement of nuclear weapons," a senior presidential official said. "They discussed a recent visit by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, President Hu Jintao's special envoy to Pyongyang and agreed to strongly urge the North to return to the six-party talks as soon as possible."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had told Dai during the visit that he was willing to engage in "bilateral and multilateral talks."
Lee called on China, the host country of the six-party talks, to make efforts to persuade the North to abandon nuclear weapons and join the international community.
The two leaders agreed that bilateral cooperation has been developing in various fields since May last year, when they agreed to upgrade relations to a "strategic cooperative partnership," the official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
This explains Kimmie's thrashing around like a fish out of water yesterday.
Exactly what he Doesn't want to happen, lose his terror facility and saber rattling ability in one fell swoop.
He could scream insanely at the USA, but NOT at China, they'll string him up by his own guts, and smile doing it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/25/2009 2:02 Comments ||
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#2
Hope they don't ask Uncle Sam to finance this "package deal".
Nine North Korean refugees sought shelter at the Danish Embassy in Vietnam on Thursday morning. They had arrived in Vietnam on early morning of Sept. 14 via China. They are reportedly asking the embassy to send them to Seoul.
If the Vietnamese really wanted to rattle the Chinese, they'd quietly do what Hungary did to end the Cold War. Hungary refused to return East German refugees to that unhappy place and instead let them move onto the West. After a little while of that the Wall came down. The Vietnamese could simply allow all Nork refugees to move on to Seoul, no questions asked.
Effective rather than subtle, so the refined personages at State will never think of it.
Originally, 14 fled from North Korea and arrived at the China-Vietnam border together, but Chinese police arrested five of them near the border on Sept. 18. A local source said the five are in danger of being sent back to the North. Among them are a six-year-old boy and his mother.
The Danish Embassy is reportedly reluctant to shelter the nine North Koreans or send them to South Korea due to diplomatic considerations. The refugees include a married couple, a mother and her daughter, two women in their 40s and 20s, a teenage girl, and a 20-something man.
The refugees reportedly knocked at the doors of the Australian, Swedish and Philippine embassies in Hanoi. When there was no answer, they went into the Danish Embassy, where security was relatively loose.
The source said Vietnamese police officers guarding the embassy did not deter them as they took them for tourists.
Sure. You see that all the time. North Korean tourists. Apparently they look like Danes. Must be the horns.
"With an increasing number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea via China and Southeast Asian nations recently, the countries that maintain ties with the North as well as China are stepping up crackdowns," a knowledgeable source said. "It seems that the North Korean defectors entered the embassy because they had failed to find another appropriate escape route."
A South Korean government official said, "We're trying to find out what happened. We'll try to guarantee their safety."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
OTOH, compare wid MARIANAS VARIETY > US PLANS TO SEND EIGHT UIGHURS TO PALAU.
He goes from being 'all powerful' to 'really awesome all powerful', apparently ...
North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly in April deleted the word "communism" from the constitution and replaced it with the term "Songun" or military-first ideology. It was the first constitutional revision in 11 years.
Radio Free Asia reported the change Thursday quoting sources in Japan familiar with North Korean affairs. The effect was to boost the status of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. "The constitutional revision contains a sentence that places the Juche (or self-sufficiency) and Songun ideologies side by side," a source said. The source added this seems to put Kim Jong-il on a par with his revered father, former leader Kim Il-sung.
The constitution as revised in September 1998 contained three references to socialism and communism, but the April revision did away with the word "communism" altogether. Already in 1992, North Korea promoted the Juche ideology by deleting the words "Marxism" and "Leninism" from the document. The move came to mark the official launch of the Kim Jong-il regime.
The latest constitutional revision also includes six clauses stating the role and authority of the leader, from "chairman of the National Defense Commission" to "supreme leader," the same status as Kim Il-sung, according to the source. "This can be clearly seen from the powers granted to Kim Jong-il in ratifying or abolishing important treaties, while being granted immunity and sole power to declare emergencies," the source added. "What stands out in the revised constitution is that the chairman of the National Defense Commission guides the entire nation, while the commission draws up major state policies."
In the previous constitution, the commission chairman was only authorized to handle defense matters, although in practice it controls all government. In the latest revision, the commission has become "the supreme governing authority."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"He goes from being 'all powerful' to 'really awesome all powerful', apparently."
But he's STILL too short to ride the carnival midway rides without a grown up; he doesn't' come up to the clown's hand.....
#3
And shortly to "Advance" to Revered Deceased Elder.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/25/2009 2:09 Comments ||
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#4
Does the ChiCom official paperwork still mention Marxism or Leninism? I had no idea the North Korean ideological wallpaper was that... post-Marxist. Or that their ideological justifications had gotten so self-referential.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/25/2009 9:21 Comments ||
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#5
I'm sure it's all in that fabulous screed On the Juche Idea, the little red book of Kimilsungism. So it's could be called post-Maoist, to say nothing of post-Marxist?
#7
ION KORYE/CORE PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > VLADIVOSTOK DENIES IT IS LEASING HALF OF THE CITY TO CHINA [for 75 years].
* POSTERS > opine CHINA should take back VLADISVOS + other ancient RFE territories lost to RUSSIA in the QING DYNASTY - meanwhile, ditto KOREA + VLADISVOS, etc. for what CHINA took from them.
ALSO, POSTER > that LENIN + STALIN n their time promised to de facto return/give back VLADISVOSTOK, etal. back to CHIN ala SIGNED TREATIES OF FRIENDSHIP-COOPER???
A man who produced a do-it-yourself jihad book has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in Australia.
Bela Khazaal was found guilty last September of producing a 110-page book, in Arabic, entitled Provisions Of The Rules of Jihad. This advised about terrorist acts such as exploding bombs, shooting down planes and assassinating people such as former US President George W Bush.
Khazaal had claimed his book was never intended to incite terrorist acts.
At his sentencing in Sydney, Justice Megan Latham said she found it "unsurprising" a jury had rejected his defence. "It beggars belief that a person of average intelligence who has devoted themselves to the study of Islam over some years would fail to recognise the nature of the material," she said.
"The dissemination of extremist activity, connected or unconnected with a terrorist plot, is caught by the government's (anti-terror) scheme ... (because such material) is capable and is shown to foment terrorist activity."
Khazaal, a former Lebanon-born Qantas Airways baggage-handler, compiled the book from a range of Internet sources, his lawyer George Thomas told the court at an earlier sentencing hearing. Its full title is Provisions Of The Rules of Jihad - Short Judicial Rulings And Organisational Instructions For Fighters And Mujahideen Against Infidels.
Catchy ...
He is the first person to be convicted on the charge of making a document connected with assistance in a terrorist act, which carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that US international terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann, who was called as a witness at Khazaal's trial, described the book as a "do-it-yourself jihad" manual, aimed at people who "don't have Osama bin Laden's telephone number".
The Supreme Court heard that, in December 2003, a military court in Lebanon sentenced Khazaal to 10 years' hard labour for terrorism-related offences, including forming a terrorist association for the purpose of committing crimes against people and property.
AL-QAEDA has reiterated its threat against Germany ahead of the country's elections this weekend, the third such statement in a week, said a US group that monitors Islamist websites.
The video, entitled O Allah I Love You 2' and posted yesterday, was the latest by al-Qaeda operative Abu Talha al-Almani, also known as "The German".
Abu Talha, who German security forces believe to be a 32-year-old from Bonn named Bekkay Harrach, said last week that if Angela Merkel is re-elected as chancellor in Sunday's polls, "bitter times await the Germans".
The IntelCenter, which released the video, said the "threat of attack by al-Qaeda or its affiliates in Germany or against German interests worldwide (is) at a significantly high level based on assessment of Abu Talha's latest statement when taken in the context of his two other statements".
The "threat will be high for the lead-up to elections on 27 September and remain so following the elections," it said.
Abu Talha spoke in German, and his remarks were not immediately available in English.
Last week he warned Germans to change their government in the election, saying they will face a "bad awakening"' if they do. He also called on Germany to withdraw its 4200 troops from Afghanistan or face being attacked at home.
Bekkay, believed to be of Moroccan origin, called on Muslim youth in Germany to enable al-Qaeda to carry out the first attacks there in case jihad (holy war) were to be declared.
Germany has never suffered an attack by Islamist militants, but a number of suspected plots have been uncovered and there have been a string of other internet warnings.
#1
I suspect that they are trying to send a "go" signal to terrorists in Germany. However the Germans have likely already picked up those agents, knowing a thing or two about counterintelligence.
"Ahmed, why do those KRIPO agents keep calling us 'Jews'?"
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Canadian-Sudanese man once stranded in Khartoum for six years over his suspected links to al-Qaeda is suing Canada for its alleged role in his arrest and torture, court documents say.
Abousfian Abdelrazik, 47, had found himself on a United Nations no-fly list after traveling to Sudan in March 2003 to visit his ailing mother. He says he was twice detained in Sudan and tortured.
Following his release, he holed up at the Canadian embassy in Sudan for more than a year, fearing arrest by local authorities.
He was eventually repatriated to Canada in June after a federal court ruled in his favor and ordered Ottawa to provide him with travel documents as well as arrange to fly him from Khartoum to Montreal to be reunited with his family.
Abdelrazik's suit filed Wednesday seeks 24 million Canadian dollars (22 million U.S.) from Ottawa alleging the government's involvement in his detention and torture, and three million dollars (2.76 million U.S.) from Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon for "misfeasance in public office."
It claims the foreign minister "deliberately and flagrantly violated (Abdelrazik's) constitutional right to enter Canada, and his legal right to procedural fairness and natural justice, by refusing to issue an emergency passport."
Abdelrazik's lawyer Paul Champ told AFP: "Canadian officials (had) directly asked a foreign government -- and that's a foreign government with a record of torture -- to detain a Canadian citizen."
"He was snatched by the Sudanese secret police and his family didn't know where he was and formally the Canadian government was telling his family they didn't know where he was.
"At same time, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents were in Khartoum interrogating him in Sudanese custody," he said. "That's pretty disgusting."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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With four months left to meet its self-imposed deadline for closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Obama administration is working to recover from missteps that have put officials behind schedule and left them struggling to win the cooperation of Congress.
Even before the inauguration, President Obama's top advisers settled on a course of action they were counseled against: announcing that they would close the facility within one year. Today, officials are acknowledging that they will be hard-pressed to meet that goal.
The White House has faltered in part because of the legal, political and diplomatic complexities involved in determining what to do with more than 200 terrorism suspects at the prison. But senior advisers privately acknowledge not devising a concrete plan for where to move the detainees and mishandling Congress.
To address these setbacks, the administration has shifted its leadership team on the issue. White House Counsel Gregory B. Craig, who initially guided the effort to close the prison and who was an advocate of setting the deadline, is no longer in charge of the project, two senior administration officials said this week.
Craig said Thursday that some of his early assumptions were based on miscalculations, in part because Bush administration officials and senior Republicans in Congress had spoken publicly about closing the facility. "I thought there was, in fact, and I may have been wrong, a broad consensus about the importance to our national security objectives to close Guantanamo and how keeping Guantanamo open actually did damage to our national security objectives," he said.
In May, one of the senior officials said, Obama tapped Pete Rouse -- a top adviser and former congressional aide who is not an expert on national security but is often called in to fix significant problems -- to oversee the process. Senior adviser David Axelrod and deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer were brought in to craft a more effective message around detainee policy, the official said.
"It was never going to be easy, but we have worked through some of the early challenges and are on a strong course," Pfeiffer said.
To empty the prison, the administration will need to find facilities to house 50 to 60 prisoners who cannot be released and who cannot be tried because of legal impediments, according to an administration official. The administration must also win congressional funding for the closure process, find host countries for detainees cleared for release, and transfer dozens of inmates to federal and military courts for prosecution.
Three administration officials said they expect Craig to leave his current post in the near future, and one said he is on the short list for a seat on the bench or a diplomatic position. Craig has long made clear his desire to be involved in foreign policy, but he declined to comment on his plans.
Several White House officials remain involved in Guantanamo Bay, including Thomas E. Donilon, the deputy national security adviser; John O. Brennan, the counterterrorism adviser; and David Rapallo, an official on the National Security Council.
"Guantanamo was everyone's part-time job," said a senior official, one of several interviewed for this article who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Now, the official added, Rouse is coordinating them.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/25/2009 7:02 Comments ||
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#2
Good grief, they're trying to blame this on Bush as well? Weasels.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/25/2009 10:00 Comments ||
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#3
Three administration officials said they expect Craig to leave his current post in the near future, and one said he is on the short list for a seat on the bench or a diplomatic position.
Oh, Lordy! Ginsburg was hospitalized last night and diplomacy hasn't got us anywhere with Iran and the Norks as it is. Just when I thought it couldn't get much worse....
#6
Not at this rate. The shot across the bow comes in 2010. The broadside comes in 2012.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/25/2009 18:04 Comments ||
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#7
the administration will need to find facilities to house 50 to 60 prisoners who cannot be released and who cannot be tried because of legal impediments
Sounds like double-speak/same-but-different way of saying what W said: We can't try them because they would just take advantage of an inapplicable legal system to cause even more grief by disclosing methods and means. Besides, that's the NYSlime's job. So it sounds like Nobama et. al. are just going to make themselves a new rule that keeps this from happening even on US soil. Which implies that W was worried that the Donks would make political hay out of this, so he put himself in a position where he would be safe for the duration of his stay in office, and let the Donks perjure themselves when their turn came.
#8
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > THE END OF BRITAIN AS A MAJOR POWER? OBAMA REJECTS GORDON BROWN'S REQUESTS FIVE TIMES [BAMMER-GORDEY private = bilater talks]; + BRITAIN'S ROLE IN G20 THREATENED BY US PLANS; + [GUARDIAN.uk] BRITIAN IS NO LONGER A MAJOR WORLD POWER, SO LETS BECOME A FAIRER, NICER NATION ABOUT IT. UK BUDGET OWES > PROBS OF CREDIT CRUNCH = come Year 2034, UK will be a MIDDLE-RANKING WORLD POWER albeit still nuke-armed + econ important to more potent States???
The village, in Taliban-controlled Waziristan, is run by the notorious al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which plots raids on Nato forces in Afghanistan. A recruitment video presents life in the village as a desirable lifestyle choice with schools, hospitals, pharmacies and day care centres, all at a safe distance from the front.
According to German foreign ministry officials a growing number of German families, many of North African descent, have taken up the offer and travelled to Waziristan where supporters say converts make up some of the insurgents' most dedicated fighters.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which has a foothold in several German cities, has capitalised on growing concern over the rising profile of German forces in Afghanistan. Their role has become increasingly controversial in Germany in recent weeks after dozens of civilians were killed in an air strike ordered by German officers.
Last night a foreign ministry spokesman told The Daily Telegraph they were now negotiating with Pakistani authorities for the release of six Germans, including "Adrian M", a white Muslim convert, his Eritrean wife and their four year old daughter, who were arrested as they were making their way to the "German village". They are particularly concerned about the welfare of the child. They are being held in custody in Peshawar after their arrest in May shortly when they crossed the border from Iran. They are understood to have left Germany in March this year. The spokesman said negotiations were "under way" with Pakistani authorities "concerning a group of German citizens" and that it had been aware that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan had been recruiting in Germany "since the beginning of the year".
Their recruitment drive has been led by "Abu Adam", a 24-year-old German believed to be of Turkish or North African descent who was raised with his, and fellow Jihadi, Abu Ibrahim, in the smart Bonn suburb of Kessenich. Adam, whose real name is Mounir Chouka, received weapons training from the German army as part of his national service, and later spent three years training at the Federal Office of Statistics where colleagues described him as a "nice boy". He left in 2007, telling colleagues he was joining a trading firm in Saudi Arabia, but is believed to have joined a terrorist training camp in Yemen.
Khalid Khawaja, a former Pakistan intelligence officer, who describes himself as a friend of Osama bin Laden, said he was aware of a German contingent and that there were a number of Swedish converts too who had arrived in Pakistan "for Jihad".
Pakistan's doubts about U.S. commitment to the Afghan war make it less likely to cooperate in targeting Taliban commanders said to be directing the insurgency across the border. Because those are Pakistan's bastards and the biggest earner of foreign currency for Pakistan. BTW, Islamabad thanks the US for decapitating the "bad" taliban who concentrated their attacks within Pakistan.
Pakistan has been ambivalent about the militants, sometimes trying to enlist them as potential allies in case they take control again in neighboring Afghanistan -- a prospect many here believe is getting closer. ...
Posted by: ed ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
a big bomb (I am not buying rounds) that is dropped by accident on ISI HQ might get noticed.
#2
what this says to me, is that the pakis have to hedge their bets against a US withdrawl. Thats only rational, they still have to live in the region if we leave, and if the taliban is gonna to take Afghanistan anyway, or at least the Pashtun half- which is the hafl that borders pakistan, they are well advised to try to coop them. This doesnt indicat e to me that the Pakis are blameworthy - it DOES suggest that those pundits who think we can fight an antiterror war after departing Afghanistan are blameworthy.
#3
Oh, the Pakistanis are plenty blameworthy, liberalhawk. After all, the problem wouldn't exist had Pakistan not created, funded, trained, guided and commanded it for a generation or so. Nonetheless, when President Obama publicly dithers about whether, how long, and under what circumstances the US will remain in Afghanistan, those who will have to live with the results are wise to hedge their bets. So I agree with the rest of your post.
#4
a generation means going back to the 1980s. when Pakistan cooperated with our attempt to bring down the evil empire at its achilles heel. I really dont thing the use of "blameworthy" is appropriate for that, unless one is nostalgic for the time when the Red Army kept the peace in Poland, Czecho, and Hungary (as some pundits sometimes seem to be)
now after 1988, up to 1996, the Pakis, like everyone else, faced chaos in afghanistan. A chaose which we in the US turned our eyes from. A chaos which included intervention by the reformed USSR/Russian Republic, by India, and by Iran. That they wanted to keep playing their own side, and used whomever they could do so, is hardly surprising, and not unreasonable.
In 1996 they supported the Taliban takeover. That true, is blameworthy. Although at that time the most democratic forces (the PPP) were out of power. So again, I hold the ISI blameworthy, but not every element in the paki polity. (treating states as units, as comforting as it is to "realists" makes no sense in south asia) And lets be honest, we were not pushing Pakistan to back off from the Taliban prior to sept 11, 2001 under EITHER Clinton or Bush - at least AFAIK.
The history their is complex. We must be quite wary of the ISI. But to refuse to try to help the current govt in Pakistan, based on that past, would be not a mistake, but I think not as well grounded morally as some seem to imply.
as for obama, there ARE some pundits who say he is taking his time in order to have a more defensible position when he DOES okay a troop increase.
And, it should be borne in mind, while we dont want Pakistan to doubt our commitment, or Afghans in the provinces to do so, it might not be a bad thing for Hamid Kharzai to doubt our commitment.
#6
Although at that time the most democratic forces (the PPP) were out of power.
The Taliban were created by the Government of Benazir Bhutto. The ISI, who backed Hekmatyar, opposed the Interior Ministry's Taliban proposal at the time.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/25/2009 15:35 Comments ||
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#7
I believe the Taliban were originally intended to be aimed at Kashmir, along with the other jihadi groups Pakistan developed. It was only when opportunity appeared that they were turned against Afghanistan.
The US Senate voted Thursday to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to roughly 1.5 billion dollars per year through 2014 in a bid to build trust and cooperation with a key ally against extremism. Barf. The lesson learned is attack US cities and government, kill thousands of Americans and receive 10's of billions $ in jizya.
Posted by: ed ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
i really dont think this action will affect the above story at all
Posted by: abu do you love ||
09/25/2009 1:04 Comments ||
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#2
Screw hondurus and give money to the moslems. Fine "diplomacy".
If any of you are in reach, you better stand up because I file all of you under treason.
#4
From reading the Rantburg and Bill Roggio over the years it is obvious that the US know that the Pakis are two timing us with their training of jihadis in Punjab/NWF but we still pay them aid in spite of this?
These Pakis are whores who depend on money from the highest bidder whether US,Saudi,China Iran or Russia.
They are two faced to say the least and we treat them and Saudis as allies Why?
#7
Because half speed of covert behaviour is better to fight than full speed, overtly opening a third front in the war on terror that we have neither the manpower nor the materiel to handle. Even with what we've got going now the US armed forces are stretched to their limits, as are those of the countries actually engaged in this fight, Paul2. Even expanding troop levels as fast as training ability and Congressional funding would allow, we aren't anywhere near where we need to be to handle more than we've got going on now: Iraq at a lower level, Afghanistan at a high level, Africa with Special Forces aiding/training/guiding local forces, smaller efforts in Central and South America. We're going to have to complete something before we can do much more than the CIA and Air Force Predators in Pakistan, let alone go after Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.
Unless you can think of a way to persuade President Obama and his Democratic Congress to suddenly become actively pro-war, Paul2. Perhaps you ought to practice first by getting dear Prime Minister Brown to provide British troops with adequate kit and helicopters.
#8
My apologies. I am of course not an expert, or even truly very knowledgeable on matters military, and should have mentioned that this is how it appears to me, deep in the suburbs of Middle America. Those many of you who actually know what I have so freely pontificated upon, please correct my blithe statements. Thank you.
#9
looks like we need about 100,000 more US troops to hold the line in Afghanistan, even with SOME useable friendlies. to hold a pashtun half of the country with a population of about 16 million or so. In iraq it took over 150,000 to secure a country of about 20 million (excluding Kurdistan).
The population of Pakistan is about 180 million. Lets assume enough of Sindh is quiet to drop that to 150 million to include the likely areas that would be hostile if we went in - NWFP, Punjab, and Baluchistan.
That suggests a US force of about a million to clear, hold and build.
If the Dems were to push for that, the Dems would be quickly replaced by either a lefty party, a Ron Paul party, or something else. Short of a US city getting nuked, there isnt the support in the US population for that level of effort in South Asia.
There is no choice but to work with whomever is friendliest in pakistan.
While elements of the ISI are working with the Jihadis, it seems that elements in the civilian govt of Pakistan are working against them. The PPP despite its corruption and weakness, esp after the death of Benazir Bhutto, has been more effective than most would have expected before it returned to office.
The key will be to use the $$ to strengthen the good guys in Pakistan. That wont be easy. But thats what State and the CIA is paid to figure out.
#11
At least one organisation-http://www.prlog.org/10154325-icat-demands-extradition-of-jihadis-and-isi-operatives-freezing-of-saudi-assets.html
is fighting the Pak/Saudi connection!
I have a horrible feeling the CIA/US are lining up again with Sunni extremists in dealing with Iran/Syria/Hamas and Hezbollah!
#12
Yokay-y-y, Virginia, I'll bite, DEFICIT + BUSH RECESSION + PORKULUS/BAILOUTS + OBAMACARE + US DEBTBURDENS RISING TO US$12-13.0TRIYUHN-OF-US$14.0TRIYUHN- NET GDP, ...............@etal to come = USA HAS NO $$$.
#13
We'd be in a much better position should the 2010 Congress succeed in walking back the worst of the bills passed since January 21st, JosephM. I see no reason why, f'r instance, any remaining unspent Stimulus Plan commitments should actually go forward.
Iraqi security forces recaptured three Al-Qaeda members on Friday, police said, two days after a daring breakout which officials believe was an inside job. Among those arrested was the apparent ringleader of a 16-strong group of escapees, 12 of whom are still at large.
Meanwhile, about 100 guards and staff at the prison in Tikrit, capital of Salaheddin province north of Baghdad, were being questioned.
"Early this morning, our forces arrested Waleed Ayash, one of the Al-Qaeda members who escaped from Tikrit prison Wednesday evening," said a high-ranking police officer in the province, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. "Ayash planned the prisoner escape," he said, adding that the 34-year-old had been handed four death sentences for "dozens of crimes against police and military members, as well as civilians." The officer said two other men were arrested in the same Albo Ajeel area, 15 kilometres (nine miles) east of Tikrit, where Ayash had been caught.
The 16 men broke out of the prison, a former presidential palace, in Saddam Hussein's hometown by fleeing through a window and scaling a ladder to climb over the prison wall. One of them was already re-arrested early on Thursday. Hundreds of policemen and soldiers were deployed on Tikrit's streets, while checkpoints were reinforced and security along Iraq's border with Syria was stepped up. Forces in neighbouring cities such as Samarra were also on heightened alert.
About 100 prison guards and staff are being questioned in connection with the breakout, the area's provincial governor told AFP, blaming collusion or negligence for the security breach. "We suspect that they had accomplices inside (the prison) because there was such a high number of fugitives," said governor Mutashar Hussein Elewi. "Either that or there was some kind of negligence in the administration of the prison."
Interior Minister Jawad Bolani issued the order to put guards and other prison workers under detention for questioning, Elewi said. "They were not all around at the time but we have to punish those that did not do their job," he added. In the aftermath of the escape, the head of the province's police-controlled anti-terror force, Colonel Mohammed Salah al-Juburi, was fired, a police source said.
The prisoners had only been transferred to the jail, which is run by the interior ministry, earlier on Wednesday evening, a police source said.
The US army said it provided military dogs at the request of Iraqi authorities to search the immediate vicinity of the jail. "We have also provided aerial surveillance to assist with the search of the city and outerlying areas," said spokesman Major Derrick Cheng.
Its cold and rainy today, not a good day for an outside event.
The sponsors said 50k would show up (the event is supposed to reach apex at 100 EDT) but I can't find (as of about 1200noon) any reports yet of what, if anything, is happening.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/25/2009 11:45 ||
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Link ||
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#1
The Athan will be chanted on Capitol Hill
Is this not government property? Separation of church and state? Where's the ACLU and the atheists on this one? They are forever rooting God and Christianity out of everything.
#2
With 30 minutes until apex, there is still nothing on the videocam.
May be an underperforming rally.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/25/2009 12:30 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Considering all the breaking news regarding homegrown al-qaeda plots, this is the worst of all possible timing for these idjits. You gotta luv it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/25/2009 15:15 Comments ||
Top||
#4
AtlasSrugs has pictures on her blog and she estimates the crowd generously at 5000. They also seem to be well behaved - in the model of a tea party (as opposed to the G20 protesters).
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/25/2009 16:16 Comments ||
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#5
What is going on?
Congresscritters probably invited them. Human shields.
#6
My guess is that the thugs stayed home, given current events - leaving mostly honest folks to turn out. 5,000? That's possible.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/25/2009 18:03 Comments ||
Top||
#7
ION JPOST > BE VERY AFRAID.... MUSLIMS TO OVERRUN THE PLANET. Milit-Terrorism is PFFFAAWWW second-fiddle to pan-Muslim Birth rates = Demographics.
Don't tell that to CHINA [high as 1/4th of Earth's Population by Year 2100]!?
* SAME > BIN LADEN VOWS RETALIATION AGZ EUROPE FOR FOR ALLIANCE WID US.
* RENSE > WORLD AFFAIRS Blog > CANCELED EUROPEAN MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD SIGNALS NEW DISARMANENT RACE TOWARDS WAR.
* WAFF > CHECHEN LEADER: GEORGIA AND AZERBAIJAN SUPPORT TERRORISM AGZ RUSSIA.
HMMMM. HMMMMM, so IOW > BATTLE FOR THE BRIDGEHEAD = ARABIAN PENINSULA [SAUDI ARABAIA, Yemen, Sultanates] = also BATTLE FOR THE CAUCASUS = ISLAMIST BRIDGEHEAD INTO EUROPE, vee Whitney-Huston Fan OSAMA???
Iran has revealed the existence of a secret uranium-enrichment plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday, a development that could heighten fears about Tehran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon and escalate its diplomatic confrontation with the West.
Iran told the agency "that no nuclear material has been introduced into the facility," he said. I.e. There is a third and fourth U235 bomb enrichment plant.
"In response, the IAEA has requested Iran to provide specific information and access to the facility as soon as possible."
The officials said that Iran's letter contained no details about the location of the second facility, when or if it had started operations or the type and number of centrifuges it was running. But one of the officials, who had access to a review of Western intelligence on the issue, said it was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Tehran and was the site of 3,000 centrifuges that could be operational by next year.
An August IAEA report said Iran had set up more than 8,000 centrifuges to churn out enriched uranium at its cavernous underground facility outside the southern city of Natanz. The report said that only about 4,600 centrifuges were fully active.
Posted by: ed ||
09/25/2009 09:51 ||
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PITTSBURGH -- The government of Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it is building a previously undisclosed uranium enrichment plant.
White House officials said Western intelligence agencies have been tracking the facility for years.
One hopes Israel was aware of it as well.
Obama said officials from the United States, France and Britain briefed the IAEA in Vienna on Thursday on what they knew about the facility. The three heads of state decided to publicly disclose the existence of the facility after learning that Iran had become aware the site was no longer a secret.
Iran acknowledged its third facility in a Sept. 21 letter to the IAEA which stated "that a new pilot fuel enrichment plant is under construction in the country," agency spokesman Marc Vidricaire said. "The letter stated that the enrichment level would be up to 5 percent." Also fwiw, the Bushehr plant is, per public affairs announcements, about 96% complete as of earlier this month.
The global standoff over Iran's nuclear program began in 2002 with the discovery of two large nuclear facilities in Natanz and Arak, with the Natanz facility devoted to uranium enrichment. In Arak, a plutonium-fuel reactor was being constructed. U.S. intelligence had secretly provided the geographical coordinates of the facilities to the IAEA three months before an Iranian exile group drew attention to the facilities at an August news conference in Washington.
The public exposure led to demands that IAEA inspect the facilities, which it did in 2003, and ultimately to Iran's admission that it had kept its nuclear program hidden for 18 years in violation of an international treaty.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/25/2009 08:31 ||
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#1
They're gonna keep pushing until somebody pushes back.
Iran is currently conducting research and development on nuclear weapons, an exiled opposition group claimed Friday in Paris - identifying two locations near Tehran where such work is allegedly taking place.
"This site and centre are the locations for research and production of the explosion system of an atomic bomb, which is one of the most important aspects of the mullahs' nuclear weapons project," Mehdi Abrishamchi, an official of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said, referring to Iran's clerical leaders.
In contrast, U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Islamic state probably ended weapons-related work in 2003.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has received intelligence information indicating that such research could have been conducted in the past, but has not drawn a final conclusion to confirm this.
The ongoing efforts were being conducted by an entity called Research Centre for Explosion and Impact (MEFTAZ), affiliated with the Defense Ministry and housed in an unmarked building in Tehran, Abrishamchi said at a press conference.
Among other tasks, that centre was working on computer simulations, he said.
The Paris-based NCRI also alleged that there was a second site near Sanjarian village for building technical components and testing high explosives.
In nuclear weapons, high explosives are placed around a core of nuclear material and triggered simultaneously in order to implode the core and cause a nuclear chain reaction.
Iranian officials have told the IAEA that they experimented with simultaneous detonators in the past, but said the work was done for civilian rather than military use.
A diplomat close to the Vienna-based agency said its inspectors had not found anything suggesting ongoing Iranian efforts in that field.
Tehran's leaders say they have no interest in nuclear energy except for electricity generation and other peaceful uses.
The Paris-based NCRI made its allegations one week before Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States are scheduled to hold talks with Iran in Geneva, where the world powers expect a serious response to their concerns over Iran's nuclear program.
The NCRI is considered the political wing of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, a group that seeks to overthrow Iran's clerical regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday launched talks with the country's various political parties in his second bid to form a government since a June election.
Hariri, 39, began his consultations by meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal party is in the opposition.
He was then to hold a series of talks until next Tuesday with members of the various other parties, including the militant group Hezbollah which heads the opposition bloc supported by Syria and Iran.
Hariri abandoned his first bid to form a national unity cabinet after failing to secure backing for a proposed line-up from political opponents, who are insisting on having a say as to who should head each ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gaddafi says launching a strike on Iran over its nuclear program will set a "dangerous precedent".
No,that would have been Osiraq, back when Saddam Hussein was running the place. Just about all decided, after they stopped fussing, that it had been A Good Thing.
"If we are talking about military action, then the question will be who will take this military action? Who will do it and who has the right to do so?" Gaddafi told the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank in New York on Thursday.
He noted that other countries including India, Pakistan, China, Russia, the US and Israel have atomic weapons.
"All of them have nuclear bombs. Why not take military action against them?" Reuters quoted Gaddafi as saying.
Israel, which is the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, has repeatedly voiced its determination to halt Iran's nuclear program, even through military options.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/25/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Precedent? Oh you mean your ass would be grass, good by me
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/25/2009 2:07 Comments ||
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#2
This is the guy that thinks the Kennedy assassination should be re-opened because Jack Ruby was Jewish and the Jews were responsible? And that the next serious pandemic is Fish Flu? Are we sure this guy's brain isn't addled by syphilis [or radical islam]?
#3
All of them have nuclear bombs. Why not take military action against them?
Maybe, because if you attack a nuclear armed country, they will strike back?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/25/2009 7:29 Comments ||
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#4
Except in the case of the U.S. BO is hellbent on nuclear disarmament. Naïveté coupled with arrogance is a dangerous mix.
#8
Dangerous precedent - YES! But only dangerous to 3rd-rate dictators in dirtbag countries trying to get technology which makes them a menace to their neghbors (and the rest of the world).
A Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group raised concerns recently that an anti-Islamic video was part of a Council Rock High School South elective.
The video, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," was produced by the Clarion Fund Inc. The New York City-based nonprofit organization, founded by Israeli-Canadian film producer Raphael Shore, says its efforts are geared toward informing the public about national security threats. "Obsession," according to the Clarion Fund's Web site, gives an "insider's view" of the hatred Islamic extremists are teaching, "their incitement of global jihad, and their goal of world domination."
That's not the way the Council on American-Islamic Relations sees it, according to Marwa El-Turky, the group's civil rights director in Pennsylvania. "At the beginning of the video it says it is to show Islamic extremism. But throughout the video, it suggests and promotes bigotry and hate," El-Turky said Thursday. "It doesn't make a distinction between mainstream Islam and extremists."
CAIR-PA learned from a former Council Rock student recently that CR South offered a course called "Social Problems in America," which included the use of the video, El-Turky said. The student saw the video usage posted on an online course syllabus. The Muslim group contacted Council Rock officials in August and asked them to stop showing the video "to a captive audience" in the social studies class.
It's the first complaint the district had received about the course, Council Rock Superintendent Mark Klein said Thursday. Up until this school year, it had been shown by course teacher David Jacoby "as part of a bigger look at Islamic issues," Klein said. School administrators knew the video was included in the course because teachers are required to submit a syllabus for the classes they teach, he said.
Jacoby, an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy reserves, is on leave from his teaching position this school year while serving on a military assignment in Iraq, officials said. The "Social Problems" course he taught for several years was replaced this school year with a gender study class, based on a decision the district's school board made in early 2009, Klein said. The recent concerns raised by CAIR-PA had no impact on the board's decision, he said.
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.
Nine North Korean refugees sought shelter at the Danish Embassy in Vietnam on Thursday morning. They had arrived in Vietnam on early morning of Sept. 14 via China. They are reportedly asking the embassy to send them to Seoul.
A Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group raised concerns recently that an anti-Islamic video was part of a Council Rock High School South elective. 
