[Dawn] A South African weekly, which angered Muslims by publishing a cartoon of Prophet Mohammad, agreed to issue an apology after a meeting with the United Muslims Forum of South Africa on Wednesday, the group said.
The paper published a drawing last week depicting the prophet on a psychologist's couch saying his followers have no sense of humour. This angered Muslims, who consider as offensive any depiction of the founder of Islam, and raised fears of reprisals during next month's World Cup.
Group representatives met Mail & Guardian editor Nic Dawes and cartoonist Zapiro after the paper published a drawing last week depicting the prophet on a psychologist's couch saying his followers have no sense of humour.
This angered Muslims, who consider as offensive any depiction of the founder of Islam, and raised fears of reprisals during next month's World Cup.
In 2005, a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Mohammad, sparking violent protests that killed several dozen people.
"The Mail and Guardian have agreed to issue a press release in which they record (that the paper) regrets the harm caused by the publication of the cartoon and apologises for the effects thereof," said a statement from the Muslim group.
Neither Dawes nor anyone at his newspaper were immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Most vile indeed. Took quite a while to find it. I suppose they'll be going after Zap now.
A brat pack of children of the most powerful officials in North Korea have been involved in worldwide distribution of forged US$100 bills and drug smuggling, the Washington Times reported on Tuesday. Citing U.S. intelligence officials, the daily said the group, named "Ponghwajo" (torch group), was unmasked when South Korea and the U.S. were looking to take sanctions against North Korea.
Ponghwajo is led by O Se-won, the son of Gen. O Kuk-ryol, a senior leader in North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission. Kang Tae-seung, the son of First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, and Kim Chol, the son of Kim Won-hong, head of the People's Army Security Command, are among members.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's second and third sons Jong-chol and Jong-un are also involved in this group, and according to some officials Jong-chol gets his drugs through Ponghwajo.
Their distribution of counterfeit U.S. dollar bills led the U.S. to impose financial sanctions against North Korea in 2005, the daily said. "We continue to have concerns about North Korean counterfeiting, both manufacturing and distributing counterfeit $100 notes," the paper cited a U.S. Treasury official as saying. They said the U.S. government is considering additional financial sanctions against the North over a torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March.
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05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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ION NEWSMAX > NORTH KOREA MAY BE SEEKING WAY OUT OF CRISIS?
North Korea on Wednesday threatened to to block all cross-border traffic to the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex. The threat came in a message from the chief North Korean delegate to inter-Korean military talks. The North warned it will "ban the passage of South Korean personnel and vehicles to the jointly controlled area in the west coast region" if the South resumes propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone.
This means the North is effectively closing the industrial park, threatening some 500 South Koreans still stationed there.
But a senior government official said, "We won't be intimidated by the threat. At the moment, we have no plan to retract the decision to resume psychological warfare."
"Of course we are considering ways to pull South Korean personnel out of the industrial park all at once, but that won't be easy without facing any North Korean attempt to stop them, and staffers of some businesses may insist on staying put," the official added.
The North Korean delegate also reiterated threats to "fire aimed shots at each and every one of the South Korean loudspeakers as soon as they are installed," while calling the South's installation of loudspeakers a "military provocation" against the North.
The North has once before left South Korean staffers stranded at the industrial park by cutting off military communication lines in protest against a joint South Korean-U.S. military exercise last year.
North Korea on Wednesday made good threats to expel South Korean officials at the Inter-Korean economic cooperation office from the industrial park and cut off five communication lines for the liaison office in the truce village of Panmunjom and two communication links between maritime authorities of the two sides.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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ION TOPIX > NEWS KERALA - RUSSIAN TROOPS NOT ON HIGH ALERT IN RESPONSE TO KOREAN CRSIS. Russ ARMY, NAVY Units repor on regular, pre-scheduled Summer Training missions.
Via InstaPundit
Faisal Abdul Rauf founder of the hugely controversial Ground Zero mosque lying to the American public and his fellow New Yorkers?
We have uncovered extraordinary contradictions between what he says in English and what he says in Arabic that raise serious questions about his true intentions in the construction of the mosque. Taqiyya? Say it isn't so!
Posted by: ed ||
05/27/2010 10:43 ||
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If almost three thousand dead didn't wake up these idiots in Manhattan, I don't know what will. A nuke set off in the lobby of their shiny new mosque that takes out most of the island might do it, although most of the survivors would probably blame Bushitler/Cheney.
#4
#2 should never have been allowed. like building a german cultural centre next to auschwitz
Posted by anon1 2010-05-27 11:19|| 2010-05-27 11:19|| Front Page ||Comments Top
#3 Or like building a memorial to the Japanese war dead and the emperor next to the USS Arizona.
Gentlemen, you might think so. But the big difference is that if you oppose the Ground Zero Mosque then you are the bigot. Or, at least, that is what morons like Bloomberg would have you believe. That's how badly dulled our survival instincts in this society have become.
#9
It is their way of declaring victory. They brought down the symbol of US imperialism and built a mosque to their god.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/27/2010 18:38 Comments ||
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Redneck Jim I was simply using the multiculturalists terms against them. They do not hear reason or understand irony but appeals to emotion do occasionally work.
The Senate rejected a proposal on Thursday to require President Barack Obama to submit a timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, despite unease among some members of his own party over the nine-year-old war. The 80-18 vote nixed a bid by liberal Democrat Russ Feingold for a detailed troop timetable, which he argued would avoid future "emergency" war spending bills such as the $33 billion one now before the Senate.
Posted by: ed ||
05/27/2010 16:08 ||
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In my view, the administration's strategy in Afghanistan and the Muslim threat in general is ill advised. It is now one of limited kinetic action, appeasement, and compromise as opposed to engagement with the enemy and victory on the battlefield. The Taliban is largely financed by the drug agriculture and trade.... which has been declared a 'hands off' area. An interesting parallel is it not, the administration's policy toward illegal immigration and the drug crime it produces is also an area of little concern? Could there possibly be a message here?
The president's top counter terrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam," arguing that the term "jihadists" should not be used to describe America's enemies. Oh good grief ...
During a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, John Brennan described violent extremists as victims of "political, economic and social forces," but said that those plotting attacks on the United States should not be described in "religious terms." Except that jihad is expressly defined in religious terms ...
He repeated the administration argument that the enemy is not "terrorism," because terrorism is a "tactic," and not terror, because terror is a "state of mind" -- though Brennan's title, deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security, includes the word "terrorism" in it. The definitions of terror and terrorism are important. Brennan's problem is that he doesn't want to define either except in the most nebulous terms, because if he were to be specific, he'd have to come to some rather uncomfortable conclusions and take some unappealing actions ...
But then Brennan said that the word "jihad" should not be applied either. Our enemies use the word but we're not supposed to?
"Nor do we describe our enemy as 'jihadists' or 'Islamists' because jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one's community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children," Brennan said. I see he's bought the taqqiya version of 'jihad' hook, line and sinker ...
The technical, broadest definition of jihad is a "struggle" in the name of Islam and the term does not connote "holy war" for all Muslims. However, jihad frequently connotes images of military combat or warfare, and some of the world's most wanted terrorists including Usama bin Laden commonly use the word to call for war against the West. Even the Fox News reporter gets what Brennan doesn't ...
Brennan defined the enemy as members of bin Laden's Al Qaeda network and "its terrorist affiliates."
But Brennan argued that it would be "counterproductive" for the United States to use the term, as it would "play into the false perception" that the "murderers" leading war against the West are doing so in the name of a "holy cause." They're not doing it for money ...
"Moreover, describing our enemy in religious terms would lend credence to the lie propagated by Al Qaeda and its affiliates to justify terrorism -- that the United States is somehow at war against Islam," he said. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Not all terrorists are Muslims. But the people in the intersection of the two circles in that Venn diagram are indeed our enemy. It would be foolish, in dealing with terrorists who are Muslim, to deny the role of Islam (as they see it) as part of their motivation. That leads to a lack of understanding of one's enemy. Sun Tzu had a comment or two about the need to understand both oneself and the enemy, and it seems that Brennan understands neither.
The comment comes after Brennan, in a February speech in which he described his respect for the tolerance and devotion of Middle Eastern nations, referred to Jerusalem on first reference by its Arabic name, Al-Quds.
"In all my travels the city I have come to love most is al-Quds, Jerusalem, where three great faiths come together," Brennan said at an event co-sponsored by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the Islamic Center at New York University and the Islamic Law Students Association at NYU. One wonders how many times Mr. Brennan has watched Lawrence of Arabia ...
#4
They call themselves Terrorists or Jihadists and they call us Crusaders and we're not allowed to use any of these terms? Talk about letting your enemy define the debate.
Personally I would prefer if we put air quotes around these terms everytime and say them with a sneer to mock the evil dooers.
#5
Much the way Lebensraum was a legitimate tenet of Nazism.
I still dread Brennan is going to replace Blair as DNI.
Posted by: ed ||
05/27/2010 15:09 Comments ||
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This guy ( Brennan ) has got to be a " New Fifth Columnist " How on Earth did he get to be in such a position, spouting such drivel.
Posted by: Dave UK ||
05/27/2010 15:57 Comments ||
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Thanks for the lecture on these murderous stoneage thugs and thanks for couching it in bullshit PC terms. Nothing like diverting attention from the problem. I think we need someone as a top counter terrorism advisor who knows more than sucking up to our enemies. Is this part of the 2010 apology tour? Somehow I feel much safer. Glad I stocked up on American- made ammo today. That makes me feel safer.
#8
Other than the fact that he was addressing CSIS, aka SPECTRE, I think the best way to deal with this schmuck is to get into the habit of naming his John "Terrorist Apologist" Brennan. Or John "T.A." Brennan, for short.
While it is a ha-ha in Internetland, if word got out about it in the real world, it could mess him up big time. Such people have lots of enemies and competitors who would love to know such a nickname.
[Al Arabiya Latest] President Barack Obama's new national security doctrine will make clear that the United States does not consider itself to be at war with Islam, a top adviser said on Wednesday.
The White House on Thursday plans to roll out Obama's first formal declaration of national security goals, which are expected to deviate sharply from the go-it-alone approach of the Bush era that included justification for pre-emptive war and alienated many in the Muslim world.
Previewing parts of the document, John Brennan, Obama's leading counterterrorism adviser, said: "We have never been and will never be at war with Islam."
"The president's strategy is unequivocal with regard to our posture -- the United States of America is at war. We are at war against al-Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates," he said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Brennan's words dovetailed with Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, where the U.S. image under former President George W. Bush was hurt by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and his use of phrases like "war on terror" and "Islamo-fascism."
At West Point on Saturday, Obama laid out the broad principles of his coming National Security Strategy, a document required by law of every administration, stressing international engagement over Bush's "cowboy diplomacy."
Grappling with a fragile U.S. economy and mounting deficits, Obama also signaled he would place new emphasis on the link between U.S. economic strength and discipline at home and restoring America's standing in the world.
Obama has been widely credited with improving the tone of U.S. foreign policy but is still struggling with unfinished wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea, and sluggish Middle East peace efforts.
Critics say some of his efforts at diplomatic outreach show U.S. weakness.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Obama just hates how we run America. Not Islam. After-all, half of America are bitter, gun-totting, religion zealots. Nothing like the Religion of Peace.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/27/2010 4:03 Comments ||
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Obama has been widely credited with improving the tone of U.S. foreign policy but is still struggling with unfinished wars in Afghanistan and IraqMore foreign aid, bowing, and apologies required.
And there you have it. If you can't believe Al Arabiya, who can one believe.
#11
but we are at war with one strand of islam: wahhabist salafist islamism which puts islam as a political doctrine to be enforced by violence and expanded world wide.
#17
I can't wait until Obama is out of office then i won't have too take a xanax before reading the news
Posted by: chris ||
05/27/2010 13:33 Comments ||
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Osama was right, people respect and are drawn to a strong horse. So why do we keep coughing and acting sick? The least our President could do is speak as if he considered us Equals to other cultures, but then again to paraphrase the smarter Marx "I can't respect any nation that would elect me as President."
#19
Obama's press conf today and he had a gold curtain behind him. Not sure if it was because he is the anointed one or trying to look Al Jazira. Also noted was the lack of an American flag. Is he ashamed of it, hate it, or afraid it will burst into flame and jump him as he walks by?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/27/2010 21:03 Comments ||
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Also noted was the lack of an American flag. Is he ashamed of it, hate it, or afraid it will burst into flame and jump him as he walks by?
After forcing out his director of national intelligence last week, President Obama is reevaluating the man who had been described as a leading contender for the job, with senior administration officials saying the process of finding a new intelligence chief could take longer than they had intended.
James R. Clapper Jr., a retired Air Force lieutenant general serving as undersecretary of defense for intelligence, had been described as the top candidate for the DNI job, according to officials familiar with the selection process.
But administration officials have grown uneasy with choosing a military figure after the resignation of Adm. Dennis C. Blair, several people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday. One senior administration official said that Clapper is "still a candidate" and "still a possibility" but declined to call him the front-runner, as officials had done just days before.
White House officials floated Clapper's name "as a trial balloon," one intelligence official said, and were "hopeful" that the nomination would be well received. But in the face of objections from important lawmakers, including the leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the administration is considering other options more actively, the intelligence official said.
"Nobody who knows this stuff wants this job," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive deliberations.
CIA Director Leon Panetta, who is favored by key lawmakers and some at the White House, has said he is not interested in the position. He had turned it down once before. "Panetta has the job he wants, he finds it exceptionally rewarding, and he's happy where he is. He's made that clear," said a person familiar with his thinking.
Former senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who previously declined the post, was also approached recently and reiterated that he is not interested.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), the top lawmakers on the Intelligence Committee, have made it clear that they want a civilian in the job. Bond, in an interview Wednesday, said he worried that Clapper would not have the internal clout to make the job as prominent as it was intended to be. "You've got to give it to somebody who won't be sidelined by the White House," Bond said.
Similarly, Feinstein expressed doubts.
"I have concerns about Clapper as a choice," she told ForeignPolicy.com. "The best thing for intelligence is to have a civilian in charge."
Obama has struggled from the beginning of his administration to find the right person for the job. The 2004 legislation that created the DNI does not clearly define what authority the office has, beyond stipulating that whoever holds it is the head of the 16-member intelligence community and the president's chief adviser on intelligence. Blair was the third appointee in five years.
"The president needs to decide what he wants the DNI to be," Feinstein said Monday, "and then work with the intelligence committees to see that the necessary authority is, in fact, in law."
Obama asked his new Intelligence Advisory Board in December to reexamine the DNI statute. The board's response, according to sources, was that changing the law would be too difficult and that Obama should find a candidate who could get along not only with the defense secretary, who controls a good portion of the overall intelligence budget, but also with the chiefs of key Pentagon-based intelligence agencies. That person also would need to have a rapport with the directors of the CIA and FBI.
Blair got along with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who as a former CIA director understands the complex issues facing the DNI. But he ran into trouble with Panetta, setting off turf fights that played a role in the White House's decision to seek a new director.
There isn't a person alive who can get along with the heads of 16 agencies plus the Secretary of DoD plus the FBI director. In any administration.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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There isn't a person alive who can get along with the heads of 16 agencies plus the Secretary of DoD plus the FBI director. In any administration.
Actually, there is a rather simple solution. The DNI needs to be placed in charge of a centralized personnel department for hiring, training, ratings, promotions, and transfers of all intelligence community (IC) personnel at ALL LEVELS. Grab them by the balls paychecks, their hearts and minds will follow. Until this happens, don't expect much progress or change.
NEW DELHI: For those who still think a plebiscite will tilt the status of Kashmir and that most Kashmiris yearn to wave the Pakistani green, there are now numbers for the first time to contradict these claims.
A survey carried out across both Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, that its author claims is the first ever of its kind, shows that only 2% of the respondents on the Indian side favour joining Pakistan and most such views were confined to Srinagar and Budgam districts. In six of the districts surveyed late last year by researchers from the London-based thinktank Chatham House, not a single person favoured annexation with Pakistan, a notion that remains the bedrock for the hardline separate campaign in Kashmir.
However, the study by Robert Bradrock, a scholar from London's Kings College, that involved interviewing 3,774 people in both parts of Kashmir in September-October 2009 showed that 44% of people on the Pakistani side favoured independence, compared to 43% in Indian Kashmir.
Bradrock says in the 37-page report on the survey that this would put an end for all times to come to the plebiscite route as a possible way to resolve Kashmir, since the only two options envisaged under the UN resolutions proposing plebiscite in 1948/49 were for the whole of Kashmir to join either India or Pakistan; azadi was not an option. But in the Valley, the mood for azadi still remained strong, with 75%-95% respondents favouring that as a final resolution.
The poll showed no support either for joint sovereignty or for maintaining status quo. However, more than 58% of those surveyed were prepared to accept the Line of Control as a permanent border if it could be liberalized for greater people-to-people contact and trade. Only 8% voted against making the LoC a permanent boundary, with the highest level of opposition in Anantnag district, the report said.
Few people in Kashmir, compared to many more in PoK, believed that violence was likely to resolve the Kashmir issue.
In J&K, only 20% thought that militant violence would help solve the problem, compared to nearly 40% who thought it was coming in the way of a resolution. In PoK, 37% of those surveyed held the view that violence was a possible route to resolution.
That both the state legislative elections in 2008 and the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 had helped bring about a change in mindsets was seen in the increasingly high turnouts that Kashmir has posted in recent years.
The survey too demonstrated that trend, with more than half the respondents saying the elections had improved chances for peace.
"The results aren't surprising at all. I feel they re-emphasize the need to look beyond traditional positions and evaluate the contours of a solution grounded in today's realities," said Sajjad Lone, a former ally of the Hurriyat who unsuccessfully contested the 2009 election.
Peoples Democratic Party chief spokesman Naeem Akhtar said the azadi aspirations must be factored into any solution.
"It can't be wished away and has to be configured into the future strategy on Kashmir. We've always been pleading to provide an alternative to the azadi sentiment."
Posted by: john frum ||
05/27/2010 18:11 ||
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In the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, which has been at the heart of a 20-year-old insurgency against Indian rule, between 74 percent and 95 percent respondents favoured independent Kashmir.
But in the Hindu-dominated Jammu region -- which is also part of Indian Kashmir -- support for independence dwindled to less than one percent.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/27/2010 18:15 Comments ||
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Having ethnically cleansed the Kashmir valley by driving out its Hindu population, it is not surprising that a majority favor independence.
The valley is however a tiny part of J+K state. Buddhist majority Ladakh, Hindu majority Jammu and Shia-Muslim majority rural Kashmir do not wish to be ruled by Wahabist Sunni Muslims in the valley.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/27/2010 18:19 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik Wednesday revealed that Faisal Shahzad, arrested by the US for carrying out a failed attack in New York's Times Square on May 1, had links in South Waziristan.
Rehman Malik said investigations into Faisal Shahzad case are presently underway. However, he added, that no one has so far been arrested, private news channel reported.
"Faisal Shahzad had links in South Waziristan and his accounts are in focus for investigation," the Interior Minister told the reporters.
He said the government honors the decision of the Supreme Court regarding Hafiz Saeed and urged the Indian authorities to accord similar respect to the verdicts of Pakistani courts. "We had also honored the Indian courts' decision against Ajmal Kasab," he said.
Rehman called for a joint struggle against terrorism by Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] An Israeli official has said that efforts will be made to stop the Freedom Flotilla, which intends to attempt to break the three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza-bound flotilla of eight ships, which left Turkey on Saturday, is carrying 10,000 tons of supplies, including building materials, which are not allowed into the territory because of the blockade.
Greta Berlin, one of the organizers, said the cargo ships are carrying cement, prefab homes, lumber, window frames, paper for printing school books, children's toys, a full dentist's office, electric wheelchairs, and high-end medical equipment.
Pro-Palestinian activists, lawmakers from a dozen European countries, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a retired US army colonel are among the passengers, Berlin stated.
An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said early on Wednesday that if the flotilla does not retreat, the Israeli navy will stop the ships and haul them to the Israeli port of Ashkelon.
The activists will be detained and eventually deported to their countries of origin and the supplies will be transferred to Gaza by land, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
I hope they do so far out to sea, in international waters, and in such a way as to turn the flotilla into an annoying and expensive rescue effort. Plausible deniability would be great, say if half the flotilla wrecked their props on "abandoned" fishing net, right when their pumps failed.
[Ma'an] Hamas lawmaker in Gaza Jamal Nassar said his movement treats captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in accordance with Islam and "not according to reactions," referring to the passing of a law that would bar Hamas prisoners from family visits.
Nassar's comments were made during a question and answer session in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, in a public response to the Israeli Knesset's recently passed Shalit's Law, which could see Hamas prisoners in Israeli custody banned from access to a lawyer and family visitation rights in an apparent bid to secure Shalit's release.
"We are dealing with our captives according to Islam ... You will see nothing from Hamas except that which will satisfy Allah," Nassar told conveners.
The Palestinian Legislative Council official described Israel's new law as an "indication of the Zionist government's moral deterioration that will lead to its collapse."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
You will see nothing from Hamas except that which will satisfy Allah
[Ma'an] Salafi leaders do not preach violence, but rather a comprehensive perspective on Islam, the Muslim denominations' sheikhs told Palestine TV's No Spin talk show on Tuesday evening.
Among the leaders hosted on the show were Sheikh Shaker Ibn Khadr Al-Alim, an editor for the Salafi magazine and Sheikh Yassin Al-Astal, head of the Salafi Council in Palestine, participated in the show via live satellite feed from the Gaza Strip. Guests included Abdul-Aleim Da'na, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's Central Committee.
Various perspectives were discussed on Salafism, which is currently on the rise in the Gaza Strip. Religious leaders said Salafi teaching required them to obey political leaders under all circumstances - a point countered by PFLP leader Da'na, who refused to accept "unconditional obedience."
"Having a tyrant ruler for seventy years is better than spending one night without a ruler," both Salafi leaders said.
Sheikh Al-Astal said a leader should be followed regardless of affiliation to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or any other Palestinian faction and expressed his support for President Mahmoud Abbas.
Both Al-Astal and Al-Alim said there were many misconceptions approach on a number of issues, including support for violence, adding that the sect preaches an all-encompassing approach to Islam.
Misunderstanding around the nature of the movement followed the rise of Al-Qaida, Al-Astal said, adding that the movement enjoys full sponsorship from Saudi Arabia.
The PFLP leader called on Salafi groups to formulate a clear strategy for resistance, and while he expressed his disapproval for the Muslim sect's theology, Da'na said he supported its trends.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Are they sure this wasn't a fatwa by Robert Gibbs to the White House Press Corps?
[Ma'an] As Lebanon's premier continues his US trip to preside over a UN Security Council meeting, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave an address Tuesday night to mark the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
The Hezbollah leader, appearing on a large screen before an audience in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, said that Hezbollah would target all Israeli trade and war ships heading to Israel if Lebanon's coast came under siege by Israel, Lebanese media reported.
"We are capable of targeting and hitting any [Israeli] vessel that heads to any port on the Palestinian shore. We are determined to enter this new field of confrontation should our coastline be put under siege," Nasrallah said, the online news site LEBANON NOW reported.
The Hezbollah leader added that the current civilian and military drills taking place across Israel will not prepare them for a Hezbollah attack. "Carry out your drills, but when rockets shower the Occupied Territories, let us see how [your] drills would have benefited you," Nasrallah said addressing Tel Aviv, the news site quoted him as saying.
"The Lebanese are anxious, and we want to reassure [them], but I do not want to reassure Israel," he said. "We should have faith that we will win the next war [we face]."
Addressing for the first time Israeli claims that Syria was supplying Hezbollah with Scud missiles, saying that the crisis was created in order "to raise $250 million [for Israel] given by the US to build a rocket shield system."
"Israelis are scared of going to war, and it is unlikely that Israel would wage war against Lebanon [anytime soon]," Nasrallah added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Since the topic has been brought up, could we change these stereotype threats to something more interesting or productive? How bout:
Pain of a million ragweed
Fallen log of doom
Blinded by science
Really anything not to do with fire or water or their behavior...its sooo bush era. Otherwise people may think you all as dull and shit on your threats like a murder of crows.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Libya's top oil official says new sanctions against Iran would create difficulties but the Islamic Republic would be able to live with them.
"It will create difficulties, but it is not going to kill them," Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, said at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in London on Wednesday.
"We had sanctions for 20 years. What did it do to us? Not very much," Ghanem added.
Sanctions on Libya were lifted in 2004 after Tripoli renounced banned weapons programs and agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
"I don't think this is a prudent policy," he said and called for diplomacy on Iran.
"Countries can live through difficulties," Ghanem added.
The Libyan official said he did not believe Iran, a fellow OPEC member, would be subject to sanctions on its oil exports.
"If you embargo oil exports from Iran, you are taking 3 million or 3.7 million barrels a day from the market. That will lead to an immense increase in the price of oil," he said. "They are cutting their own noses."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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MOSCOW Russia and Iran publicly traded barbs on Wednesday, showing strains in their longstanding alliance because of Moscow's support for a new set of American-backed sanctions over the Iranian nuclear program.
During a televised speech in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at his Russian counterparts, who last week agreed, along with the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, on the draft language for the proposed new sanctions, which would punish Iranian financial institutions and countries that offer Iran nuclear-related technology.
We do not like to see our neighbor supporting those who have shown animosity to us for 30 years,' Mr. Ahmadinejad said in the speech broadcast from the southern city of Kerman. This is not acceptable for the Iranian nation. I hope they will pay attention and take corrective action.'
If I were in the place of Russian officials, I would adopt a more careful stance,' he said.
Ohhhh, little big man threatens people who used to run the gulag ...
The comments came a day after Iran's ambassador to Moscow said he hoped Russia would dissuade the other Council members from imposing sanctions, and warned that Russia risked manipulation by the United States.
Russia should not think that short-term cooperation with the United States is in its interest,' said the ambassador, Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi. The green light the United States is showing Russia will not last long.'
A top Kremlin aide said Wednesday that Russia was guided by its own long-term interests, and that our position can be neither pro-American, nor pro-Iranian.'
The aide, Sergei Prikhodko, went on to say that Russia rejected extremism and unpredictability in the global arena, and that those who speak on behalf of the fraternal people of Iran' should not forget this.
No one has ever managed to save his authority by making use of political demagoguery,' Mr. Prikhodko said in remarks carried by Interfax, a Russian news agency. And I am sure that the thousand-year-long history of Iran itself proves that.'
Last week, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, offered cautious support for a draft Security Council resolution that would impose a fourth set of sanctions on Iran. But he emphasized that the draft needed approval from the council's nonpermanent members, and he encouraged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to consider Tehran's newest proposal to enrich uranium in Turkey.
Tension has also been building between Moscow and Tehran over a proposed sale of S-300 antiaircraft missiles to Tehran, a contract that Russia has suspended but not canceled. Washington has pressed Moscow not to deliver the weapons, which could help Iran shoot down American or Israeli warplanes should either try to bomb its nuclear facilities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it possible that Iran is getting mixed signals from Russia's TWO leaders?
#3
Or they fear Russia might pull the rug out from under them when their banks have been wrung dry of cash. Or thinking that Russia is teaching them wrong perhaps, because they're crazy? Similar thing happened to Mao in China when learning from the USSR how to make the Nuke, but of course our US Universities saved them with Student VISA's.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/27/2010 4:01 Comments ||
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#4
Harmless sibling rivalry, nothing more. No lagging behind in the queue please, move along now.
#5
bigjim: what, you think that the Iranians will be in deep shit if Putin is found dead with a room full of coke and sheepish hookers?
I don't know, the Iranian-Russian thing seems more on the level of national interest than personal politics. The Russians have an interest in screwing over the rest of the world via their Iranian cats-paw.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/27/2010 10:30 Comments ||
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#6
New rule: never interrupt an arrogant muslim while he's pissing off a 2-ton grizzly bear.
#9
Ohhhh, little big man threatens people who used to run the gulag ...
The people who *still* have not shipped those fancy S-300 air defense systems. Nice nuclear program ya got there, Comrade President. Be a shame if it ended up like Syria's, all smokey and rubble-like.
Congress is headed toward landmark votes on whether to allow gays to serve openly in the military.
The House was expected to vote as early as Thursday on a proposal by Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania Democrat who served in the Iraq war, that would repeal the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell."
The legislation -- a compromise struck with the White House and agreed to by the Defense Department -- would give the military as much time as it wants before lifting the ban.
Under the bill, the president, defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must first certify that the new policy won't hurt the military's ability to fight.
"We need to get this done, and we need to get it done now," said Murphy.
Also as early as Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee was expected to take up an identical measure, proposed by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.
As in the House, the Senate provision would be tucked into a broader bill, authorizing hundreds of billions of dollars for the troops, that is expected to win broad support.
Supporters said this week the Senate panel had enough votes to pass the bill after key holdouts, including Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, announced they would swing behind it.
"In a military which values honesty and integrity, this policy encourages deceit," Nelson said.
Nelson said a provision in the bill giving the military the power to decide on the details of implementing the policy was key to his support because it "removes politics from the process" and ensures repeal is "consistent with military readiness and effectiveness."
Advocates hoped the momentum in the Senate would carry over to the House, where several conservative Democrats -- including Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi -- threatened to oppose the massive defense spending bill if it included the repeal provision.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he supports repeal but would prefer that Congress wait to vote until he can talk to the troops and chart a path forward. A study he ordered is due Dec. 1.
"With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
The service chiefs this week urged the Senate panel not to vote until the Pentagon could complete its survey of military personnel.
"The value of surveying the thoughts of Marines and their families is that it signals to my Marines that their opinions matter," Marine Commandant James Conway wrote in a letter to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the panel's top Republican.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the nation's top uniformed officer and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told graduating Air Force Academy cadets on Wednesday that they need to support a changing military.
Mullen didn't speak directly about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. But the chairman, who has said that the policy unfairly forces troops to lie, said service members should question convention.
"Few things are more important to an organization than people who have the moral courage to question the direction in which the organization is headed and then the strength of character to support whatever final decisions are made," Mullen said.
#1
Adm. Mike Mullen, the nation's top uniformed officer and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told graduating Air Force Academy cadets on Wednesday that they need to support a changing military.
#2
If you have 8 to 12 years in, its time to get out. The pols are going to make unit life a frat house for the juniors and military good order and discipline is going to go out the door with a new sexual revolution in the barracks. If you can't prosecute gays for fraternization, sexual harassment or adultery, you won't be able to do it to the straights, as you've done forever, either. Nearly nothing will destroy unit integrity than that kind of behavior running through an organization.
#3
1.) No one has a right to serve in the military.
2.) If I have to share a room with a homosexual, I can't just quit my job like I can in the civilian world. No other job in the world forces you to live with a homosexual.
3.) If homosexuals want to serve, they already can.
What's next, transgenders? Would they be allowed in the infantry?
#5
A quick way to put the blocks to this would be to, quite literally, print and distribute a "Military Personnel Homosexual Hunting License".
It would state that *only* when a homosexual was wearing a military uniform, *and* had self-identified as a homosexual, could they be 'culled', and only in such a manner as to not endanger the lives of other military personnel or civilians.
The 'license' would go on to state that it does not, in any way, confer legality or immunity from prosecution for homicide, if the hunter is arrested; however, it *does* authorize and encourage him to protect his command by asserting that the reason and motive for the killing is for any other reason *but* the sexual proclivities of the now deceased homosexual.
It would be a nice touch if it was 'signed' by Obama.
The licenses should also have a disclaimer printed on them that they are distributed solely as a free novelty item, and that it is a public domain document, not subject to copyright.
But in any event, if a few hundred of these were printed up, and discreetly slipped to military personnel, imagine the glee when they eventually went up the chain of command.
#6
It would state that *only* when a homosexual was wearing a military uniform, *and* had self-identified as a homosexual, could they be 'culled', and only in such a manner as to not endanger the lives of other military personnel or civilians.
One day we'll come for the Nazi. But I was a Nazi so I didn't cry.
The 'license' would go on to state that it does not, in any way, confer legality or immunity from prosecution for homicide, if the hunter is arrested; however, it *does* authorize and encourage him to protect his command by asserting that the reason and motive for the killing is for any other reason *but* the sexual proclivities of the now deceased homosexual.
#9
Moose, I gotta say I am disgusted by your gay hunting "license". Ship and I don't always agree, but on this you were way over the f*cking line. I understand DADT and the instances noted of unit comeradery, and don't have a problem with it. I don't need to know who/what my co-worker bonks. TMI. But to support the hunting down of gays is just aplorable. Count me off your fan list
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2010 20:50 Comments ||
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#10
"de"plorable....dammit
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2010 20:51 Comments ||
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#11
I think who or what you love is none of my damn buisiness, I wish others thought the same.
It'd eliminate much wasted hate.
Those who think i advocate animal sex, NO, but everyone has lost a loved pet or two, and the anguish was no less that the loved one was nonhuman.
I had arsonists burn my home along with my cats, if I find them I'm likely to Burn them the same way, it hurt finding small roasted bodies burned hairless, I wil NOT forget.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/27/2010 21:02 Comments ||
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#12
I had arsonists burn my home along with my cats, if I find them I'm likely to Burn them the same way
If that happened to me and I caught these SOBs in the act, they would not do it again. I put these arsonist in the category of child abusers.
Who's pushing abandoning DADT? What's the purpose of changing the existing policy? How would changing the existing policy affect military morale and readiness? Does anyone who currently serves in the military serve with anyone who is gay? How does the gay person do their job? How does this affect others and the way they do their jobs. Are gays capable of capable of killing the enemy if need be? Are there support jobs they can do effectively?
[Al Arabiya Latest] Misconceptions about Arab and Muslims need to be changed and their achievements have to be highlighted in different fields, including that of beauty pageants, Syrian-American presenter Laila al-Husseini said.
Al-Husseini is one of the most famous Arab anchors in the United States and is known for her two popular shows Radio Baladi (Arabic for My country's radio) and Good Morning Michigan.
Husseini said all Arabs in the United States anxiously followed the 2010 Miss America pageant and were extremely excited when Lebanese-born Rima Fakih was chosen.
"Arabs and Muslims in the United States breathed a sigh of relief when Fakih was crowned Miss America," she told Al Arabiya. "This is a great honor for all of us since she is the first Arab-American to get this title."
When asked about the fact that Fakih had to wear a swimming suit in the contest, which is considered by many to be a violation of Muslim codes, Husseini replied that modesty as far as dress code is concerned is found in all religions and not only in Islam.
"Of course wearing a swimming suit is not permissible in Islam and there are so many other ways of showing beauty."
However, she stressed, it is a matter of personal freedom.
"I am wearing the veil and am comfortable with it; similarly, Fakih also has the right to choose what she wears. No one can tell her what to do."
Hussieni added that in all cases, beauty pageants have a value of their own.
When asked about the image of Arabs and Muslims in the United States, Husseini said that the best way to change the prevalent stereotypes is through hard work and success as well as raising awareness.
"The result of the beauty contest came as part of this awareness," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2010 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
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#1
They can't think of anything, even a beauty pageant, in terms other than religion.
#4
When asked about the image of Arabs and Muslims in the United States, Husseini said that the best way to change the prevalent stereotypes is through hard work and success as well as raising awareness.
For our lesson today, please locate the mutually exclussive words or phrases in the paragraph above.
#8
I fully agree that non-Muslim Arabs should be seen as far superior to Muslim Arabs, be they Maronite and Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Greek Melkite, Coptic, Syriac Orthodox, and Protestant.
Likewise, there are many Jews who are Arabic as well, and as such are far superior to Muslim Arabs.
#10
Many religions have modesty codes but only one has followers who will throw acid into the faces of those they believe don't live up to them.
Start within if Muslims want to change stereotypes. Volunteer for extra security at the airport. Denounce Muslims who demand to be treated as superiors. Denounce and fight against Muslims jihading against civilization. Etc. Etc.
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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Misconceptions about Arab and Muslims need to be changed and their achievements have to be highlighted in different fields, including that of beauty pageants, Syrian-American presenter Laila al-Husseini said.
