Are the Taliban shelling out more money for their fighters than the U.S. and the international community are for Afghan security forces? The American military says no, and e-mails the chart below to make its case. But its not the most persuasive document. And its undermined by one of the reports in WikiLeaks trove of war logs.
#1
Of course the Taliban have more money. We have adopted policies that send them more money every time we put gasoline in our cars, and live with a permanent argument over whether to even have a domestic oil and gas industry any more.
Burger King, Pizza Hut and Subway may be coming back to Afghanistan. Oh, noze!
Army Gen. David Petraeus, the new top U.S. commander there, is "seriously considering" rescinding the order that booted out 57 individual eateries and shops on U.S. bases, according to a military source in Afghanistan. "Y'r feedin' fast food to men and wimmins in a combat zone! 'Tain't good for 'em! And take their cigarettes, too! It's bad fer their health!"
On Feb. 3, former Afghanistan commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal ordered 50 Army and Air Force Exchange Service concessionaires to close within 90 days following a review of morale, welfare and recreation activities. "The floggings will continue until morale improves!"
Before McChrystal's order, AAFES operated 141 eateries and shops in Afghanistan, according to exchange service spokesman Judd Anstey. Now there are 84. "Have some more bean sprouts, Sarge!"
"But I don't..."
"Shuddup and eat yer bean sprouts!"
"Yes, Nanny."
Petraeus' spokesman confirmed that the general is reconsidering the order. "General Petraeus is considering a number of different issues, and this is one of them. He has not made a decision. However, all options are on the table," Army Col. Erik Gunhus said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Put them back, morale beats PC every day.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/27/2010 0:17 Comments ||
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Autoedited by Rantburg
[Tolo News] Reports of a secret military field published by an organisation on Sunday claims that the war Americans are fighting in Afghanistan is aided by Pakistain's hidden hand
Even though Pakistain receives more than $1 billion a year from Washington for its help fighting the bad boyz, Pakistain's military spy service guides the Afghan insurgency, reports find.
The documents made public by an organisation called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistain allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban to sketch plots and attacks against American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.
Much of the information gathered from the field in Afghanistan likely comes from sources aligned with Afghan spy organisations which consider Pakistain an enemy. Much of the findings of the documents rely on sources that the military rated as reliable.
Days before the Kabul Conference, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Pakistain to discuss security and announced $500 million in assistance and called the United States and Pakistain "partners joined in common cause."
Pakistaini military officials as usual deny such accusations with anger and insist that the ISI cut its ties to the groups years ago. "Two words: Hamid Gul."
"Yeah, but he ain't officially in the ISI no more!"
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Versus
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > {Pro-Red Mosque "GHAZI FORCE: GROUP] VENGEFUL NEW MILITANT GROUP EMERGES IN PAKISTAN. Believed to be directly responsible for a number of past Terrstrikes formerly/mistakenly blamed on the Taliban.
and
* IIRC KOREA TIMES [paraph] > ADM MULLEN > [Some or Select] US TROOPS IN KOREA TO BE DEPLOYED TO VARIOUS INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT AREAS/REGIONS. NOT necessarily to AFPAK.
MULLEN = USFK Mil Servicemembers, Units [USFJ?]are a valid source of trained Manpower whom may, or may not be, called upon by the USG + USDOD to support US Policies as required.
Somali Islamist rebels have ordered residents in areas they control to hand over televisions and satellite dishes, warning that anyone who did not would be considered a spy, residents said on Monday.
The affected region is largely controlled by the al Shabaab group, a rebel militia linked to al Qaeda which enforces a harsh version of sharia law that includes banning school bells, ringtones on cell phones and music on radios.
Members of the militia group, which has also banned watching football and films, have warned residents through loud speakers mounted on vehicles in towns across southern and central Somalia to give up their TV sets before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan starts in mid-August.
"Families were told to surrender their television sets and satellite dishes. They are afraid some of us may use them as private channels for communication," Abshir, a resident of Buula-barde, told Reuters.
"In the past, we could not watch games or films as we wanted. Now, we cannot have TV sets at all," he said, declining to give his second name for safety reasons.
Another resident in Bardale, a town 60 km north of Baidoa, said they were informed of the decision at a public gathering late on Friday. "We are not happy to handover our belongings to someone else," said the resident who did not want to be named. Continued...
#4
US assistant secretary of state for Africa Johnnie Carson, on Monday hinted that Washington was keen on finding a lasting solution to instability in Somalia.
[Arab News] An Algerian who dropped out of view after he was repatriated from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay is at home after a short period of lawful detention, judicial sources in Algeria said on Monday.
US human rights groups have bitched that they believe Algerian national Abdul Aziz Naji, who was sent back home from Guantanamo Bay against his will, was being held in durance vile and was at risk of abuse.
"He is at home in Batna," said a judicial source who did not want to be identified, referring to a town about 500 km (310 miles) east of the Algerian capital. "He just needs to go every week to the local police station to sign a form," said the source. That's to show he's not in Mali or Afghanistan or Kybelie.
The Algiers Prosecutor's office said in a statement that Naji been held in detention in Algeria in accordance with legislation on holding hard boyz which allows for a person to be held for up to 12 days before appearing in court. But they're not allowed to hang him from the thumbs for more than 12 hours at a time.
The statement said he was released after appearing before a judge on Sunday who placed him under judicial control -- which means he has to report regularly to police pending a further decision on his case. "Contrary to what has been falsely reported, this person's case has been dealt with in the most complete transparency and in respect for the law, whether in terms of procedure or the length of his detention," the statement said.
This article starring:
ABDUL AZIZ NAJI
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
US human rights groups have said they believe Algerian national Abdul Aziz Naji, who was sent back home from Guantanamo Bay against his will...
Jeee-zus, these people are never happy.
And I'll bet he was really getting good at Playstation 3...
[The Nation (Nairobi)] African leaders met behind closed doors to discuss boosting the African Union's force in Somalia following a plea by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to "sweep the terrorists" off the continent.
Meanwhile, Zambian President Rupiah Banda said Zambia will not send peacekeepers to Somalia.
Asked whether Zambia will send troops to Somalia, President Banda, who attended the opening session of the AU heads of state and government summit in Uganda yesterday, told journalists in Lusaka that the southern African country was not in the position to deploy troops to Somalia at the moment.
"No! Certainly not! We haven't got the facilities. We are struggling to improve the conditions of our army here. Sending them there is a big assignment which perhaps with our commitment of development at home, it will be difficult," President Banda said. The Zambian leader condemned the terrorist bombings in Kampala that killed at least 74 people a fortnight ago.
It is very important to stand by each other when there are such problems, he said.
"Naturally, I think we should all be concerned when such things are happening. It's not a good thing," said President Banda.
The AU heads of state meeting in Uganda came two weeks after Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked Shabaab claimed suicide bombings that killed 76 in Kampala and as the North African arm of the terror network executed a French hostage in Mali.
More than 30 heads of state from the AU's 53 members gathered amid unprecedented security in the Ugandan capital, with the growing regional impact of the Somali chaos topping the agenda.
The AU summit observed two minutes of silence for the victims of the attacks two weeks ago.
Mr Museveni said many of those behind the Kampala attacks have been arrested and "interrogations have yielded very good information." The two bombings were meant to bully Uganda into pulling out of the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the last thing standing between the Shabab and total power.
Uganda reacted by saying it could send 2,000 more troops and urged more decisive international support, while the embattled Somali government argued the attacks were evidence Somalia required the world's attention.
AU Commission chief Jean Ping said on Friday Guinea was ready to send troops to Somalia and the force could soon surpass its intended strength of 8,000.
According to diplomats, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa may also pledge troops to Amisom, whose current deployment consists of just over 6,000 Ugandans and Burundians.
Mr Ping also reiterated that the African Union was seeking a tougher mandate for Amisom under the United Nations Charter's chapter seven, allowing it to take more aggressive action.
"If this request is answered positively, our troops will attack," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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The Dhimmification of the British Police Service is at an advanced stage:
An Islamic extremist who has described al-Qaeda as a myth and justified the killing of British troops in Iraq has been chosen as the main link between the Metropolitan Police and the Muslim community.
Scotland Yard will now face pressure to renounce Azad Ali, the new chair of the Muslim Safety Forum, which is recognised by the Met under a formal written agreement as the principal body in relation to Muslim community safety and security.
The deal says that the Met will use the MSF as a consultation body to help formulate policy or practice. Mr Ali was the founding chair of the MSF in 2006, but left that job in 2008 and resigned entirely from the group last year after publicity over his extremist comments. Last week, he was quietly reappointed as its chairman More
#3
Remember the muslim convert they sent to the LAPD Homeland Security Conference, and the muslim fundamentalist officer in man-pajama's while attending the conference?
#1
The proper response is to begin with castration. Then prison. And remember that their rocks are medical waste, so must be properly disposed of, and not retained to be buried with them.
#2
Ah yes, islam the religion of peace, love, and tolerance--the misunderstood religion (sarc).
I see letters to the editor in our paper occasionally concerning the misunderstandings about islam. Just examples of Taqiyya to further the religion. Let's see there was Pan Am 103, 911, Fort Hood, the bombing of the Cole, Somali, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, various bombings of our embassies, etc., etc. and etc. Just a small sampling of the religion of peace.
Unfortunately, not only are the raped girls reviewed as a part of the abductors religions they also view where ever they live as occupied and conquered terror-tory.
A man who ripped a veil from a Muslim woman's face as she walked though Glasgow has been jailed for two years.
William Baikie, 26, admitted racially assaulting 26-year-old Anwar Alqahtani by forcibly removing her niqab in the city's Hope Street on 27 April. Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how Baikie, who has previous convictions for racist behaviour, ran off but was later identified through CCTV footage.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Lindsay Wood branded the assault "shameful".
The court heard how Ms Alqahtani had come to Scotland from Saudi Arabia to study a masters degree.
The 26-year-old, who wears the niqab to protect her modesty as part of her religion, was attacked as she walked to get a train from Central Station. The force of Baikie's actions damaged Ms Alqahtani's niqab and she had to find another item of clothing to cover her.
Sentencing Baikie, Sheriff Lindsay Wood told him that what he did was an "absolute disgrace".
He said: "The offence you committed was a shameful one. You are a man who has a number of racist convictions and you knew full well how offensive the act would have been to the lady."
Far more offensive than gang raping a 15 yr old and then pressuring her into converting to Islam.
#2
Is it possible that the new legislation proposed in the countries of France, Canada and Belgium, among others is leading to an increase in attacks on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa?
These laws seem to give individuals, many with a deep-seated hatred for Islam, the green light to act in a violent and racist manner. The politicians who are promoting these laws are pandering to the fears of their constituencies and indirectly legitimizing and institutionalizing the hatred. This hatred, manifests itself in attacks on innocent women who are protecting their dignity and professing their faith in Allah.
Posted by: Laura of Arabia ||
07/27/2010 13:10 Comments ||
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#3
Hatred of Islam can be traced to basic Darwinian survival instincts.
#4
Is it possible that the new legislation proposed in the countries of France, Canada and Belgium, among others is leading to an increase in attacks on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa?
Welcome, Laura from Arabia! Are you an ex-pat over there, or a local Saudi choosing an European name? Because what we need to explain this to you depends on your own background.
In the meantime, you do need to understand that in the Muslim neighborhoods of Europe (and Britain), girls who leave home without being veiled are subject to abuse and molestation by the radicalized young men of the neighborhood, whether or not the girls are Muslim. That is to say, some Muslims have long been acting in a violent manner more racist than the objectionable Mr. Baikie of the story above... only without being prosecuted for it.
I'm sure you agree that such behaviour should be immediately and severely punished, for by their actions the young men cause all the world to believe that Muslims are violent and uncivilized by the very nature of the laws of Sharia, fit only to live with their fellow believers in Dar al Ummah.
We do not with to be forced to conclude such a thing. Perhaps you have some advice how to make the violent young Muslim men in West behave properly?
Putting a new spin on prisoner job skill development, Mexican officials have revealed that prisoners at a northern Mexico jail were regularly allowed out to perform nighttime murders for hire. From the New York Times:
"The prisoners carried out three massacres this year in the city of Torreón in which 35 people were killed ... Among them, the authorities said, was last week's attack on birthday revelers at a party hall. A gang shot randomly into the crowd, they said, killing 17 people."
The bullets were matched with those from jail guards' firearms. And while it seems like something out of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series, this is just a particularly egregious example of state-sanctioned barbarity in prisons.
Our own prisons suffer not merely because of poor conditions but because those who finish serving time for a first offense frequently return having committed a worse crime. Meanwhile, gang culture is just a casual fact of prison life. So those who leave can't help but take with them gang instincts.
The difference between our system and Mexico's seems to be that our guards don't loan out their weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I smell BS: prisoners who murder are let out, given a gun, murder their victim, and come back.
#2
Maybe BS, maybe not. It's definitely the case that at least one segment of Mexico's ruling class -- the corrupt PRI elite that dominated the nation for 70 years, losing power only recently -- has long been in cahoots with the cartels. The PRI elite probably still have many loyal cadres running the prisons.
Also, it's likely that the Mexican state, like most oligarchies, becomes progressively weaker as you get farther from the capital city. Under oligarchy you often find local fiefdoms that are run, if that's the right word, as lawless mini-states. Could well be the case in Torreon.
#3
I believe it. Chances are, if they're cartel guys, they live better inside then most people outside. And, you gotta admit, it's a helluva an alibi...
If you want to hear it from the guy who told Los Zeta naming names and so on, click here: it's a snuff video that started the investigations and arrests going.
#5
The AP: Mexico's Catch-and-release justice system:
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico It's practically a daily ritual: Accused drug traffickers and assassins, shackled and bruised from beatings, are paraded before the news media to show that Mexico is winning its drug war. Once the television lights dim, however, about three-quarters of them are let go.
Even as President Felipe Calderon's government touts its arrest record, cases built by prosecutors and police under huge pressure to make swift captures unravel from lack of evidence. Innocent people are tortured into confessing. The guilty are set free, only to be hauled in again for other crimes. Sometimes, the drug cartels decide who gets arrested.
#6
Thank you Fred and Badanov. Aside from you, this is a hidden war. The silence makes one wonder who all on this side is connected how with whom on the other.
#7
Well we know one party, on this side of the vaguely enforced border, in particular has been working hard to emulate PRI. The other has been working on emulating the keystone cops.
#2
Nobody is saying Iran can't have peaceful nuclear energy. They also have an obligation to their neighbors that their nuclear activities be inspected to verify that it isn't being used for other things.
SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States plan to conduct live-fire anti-submarine exercises in the East Sea Tuesday during the third day of joint military drills meant to deter North Korea against future provocations, military officials said.
About 20 warships, led by the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, 200 aircraft and 8,000 military personnel have staged the "Invincible Spirit" exercises in the East Sea since Sunday to signal a warning to the North for its sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
Anti-submarine drills are a key part of the four-day naval and air maneuvers, as an international investigation concluded in May that the North is responsible for the torpedo attack that sank the warship Cheonan in March.
The allies plan to fire naval guns and artillery at an abandoned submarine disguised as a North Korean submarine, military officials said.
Tuesday's exercises also included a counter special forces maneuver aimed at better detecting and attacking the North's special forces, according to the officials. A squadron of fighter jets will fire live rounds at a simulated target at an air force shooting range in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung, about 237 kilometers east of Seoul.
Officials said the naval drills are being conducted in international waters far off Ulleung Island, about 120 km east of the Korean Peninsula and far south of the North's waters.
North Korea, which denies responsibility for the attack on the Cheonan, has threatened to "start a retaliatory sacred war" to counter the drills with its "powerful nuclear deterrence." South Korea's military said it has observed no unusual moves by the North's military.
U.S. military officials made clear that the drills aren't aimed at overtly provoking the North, but convincing the communist regime that any future provocations will not be tolerated.
"Our message is that we are here to deter aggression should North Korea determine that they want to continue down this path," said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force involved in the four-day drills. "We do not intend to have an offensive message. This is a defensive message."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Any NORK ships in the area?
Do dummy bombing runs, if they dare fire sink'em.
Paint "For the Cheosan" on them.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/27/2010 0:21 Comments ||
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#2
AFAIK "Sacred War" in KOREAN-speak is the same as saying "NATIONAL/UNIVERSAL SURVIVAL IS AT STAKE".
* KOREA TIMES > SOUTH KOREA, US TO SET NEW ALLIANCE VISION [ "Strategic Alliance 2015" roadmap].
ARTIC = As per OPCON 2015 + formal transfer of wartime control from the US to SOKOR, the US desires USFK milfors to relocate to south of the Han River by 2015.
* WMF > [ASEAN Summit]FLAGRANT INTERFERENCE IN CHINA: THE US BESIEGES CHINA + ASIA ON EVERY/ALL SIDES. CHINESE FM YANG JIECHI WARNS THAT THE US IS ENCIRCLING CHINA WID HOSTILE FORCES.
* WMF > HONG KONG "WEI WEI PO" MEDIA: US-ROK MILEXS HAVE NOT STARTED: CHINA SUDDENLY REVEALS THAT ITS PLAN "TYPE 094" FBM SUBMARINES + "EAST WIND-21" STRATEGIC SLBMS CAN SUCCESSFULLY STRIKE NEARLY ALL OF CONUS FROM CHINA'S TERRITORIAL OR COASTAL WATERS [China Seas + East Asian littorals].
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > OFFERING TO AID TALKS, US CHALLNEGES CHINA ON DISPUTED ISLANDS[SOuth China Seas]; + CHINA'S HISTORICAL CLAIMS OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE PARACELS IS INDISPUTABLE, vee Vietnam.
* TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > VARIOUS > CHINA WARNS US AGZ WADING INTO ISLANDS DISPUTES, + CHINA ASKS ASEAN MEMBERS NOT TO "INTERNATIONALIZE" DISPUTES OVER SOUTH CHINA SEAS ISLANDS.
[Dawn] Turkey will abide by UN sanctions on neighbouring Iran but will not follow tougher measures imposed by the United States and the European Union, a minister said in a newspaper interview Monday.
"We will fully implement UN resolutions but when it comes to individual countries' demands for extra sanctions we do not have to," Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek told the Financial Times.
"The facilitation of trade that is not prohibited under UN resolution should and will continue," he said.
If a trade deal needs to be financed, "we will have to find a way to pay for it," he added.
Turkey voted against a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran when the Security Council, where it holds a non-permanent seat, approved the measures in June to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Ankara argued that its "no" vote aimed to keep the door open for a negotiated settlement to the dispute under a nuclear fuel swap deal that Turkish and Brazilian leaders reached with Tehran in May.
The EU, which Turkey is seeking to join, hit Iran with fresh measures against its vital oil and gas industry on Monday.
Earlier this month, the US introduced its toughest ever sanctions on Iran, aimed to choke off its access to imports of refined petroleum products like gasoline and jet fuel and curb its access to the international banking system.
Iran is Turkey's second largest natural gas supplier after Russia through a pipeline between the two countries.
Last week, Iran signed a 1.3-billion-dollar deal with a Turkish company to build a new pipeline for gas exports, Iranian media quoted officials as saying.
In 2007, Ankara inked a preliminary deal with Tehran to carry gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to Europe and to develop three gas fields in Iran, drawing US criticism.
The Islamist-rooted government in Ankara has developed close relations with Tehran in recent years, feeding concerns that NATO's sole mainly Muslim member is sliding away from the West.
The government denies the charges, insisting that it seeks to balance Turkey's traditionally pro-Western orientation with closer political and economic ties with its Eastern neighbours.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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You can check out this clueless grinner's pic at the link.
In early July, the U.S. military announced it would press criminal charges against 22-year-old Pfc. Manning for allegedly transferring classified military information to his computer and "delivering national defense information to an unauthorized source." A whopping 22 years old. You think he'd know that he's too young to make those kinds of decisions and at least wait a few years to gain some experience.
But the way things have been going, he'll probably get two years in the brig instead of having to serve out the rest of is stint in the military. Oh, and don't forget the DD. Owie. That'll be worth it because you know some employer with a LLL bent will hire the idiot and slap him on the back and call him a hero. If I were king, he'd end up in front of a firing squad just for intending to cause all kinds of harm to the US cause in the region. Only time will tell what kind of info this cretin has released as he couldn't possibly have read and understood all that stuff in the time he was in the army.
#1
I heard on the radio this am that he pretended to listen to music as he downloaded the intel onto his mp3 player. I know flash drives are forbidden in DOD, now ipods too?
#2
Time to dust off the Rosenberg Chair at the Big Fed? Toss up, wishy washy Military Court of Appeals or Holder's DoJ. Who should get the jurisdiction to prosecute?
#4
Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944) is a former American FBI agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years from 1979 to 2001. He is currently serving a life sentence at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Administrative Maximum facility in Florence, Colorado, a "Supermax" federal penitentiary in which Hanssen spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement.
Should this guy not get something similar? Or suggested, dust off the distinguished Rosenburg chair of excellence.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn someone in the BO administration leaked the information as an excuse for getting out of Afghanistan. Hard to trust anyone in Washington who speaks today.
#5
I have zero patience nor any sympathy with anyone that has been entrusted with classified information and then sells out wholesale to the enemy.
DD? No, if they are very lenient the best he should do is the big chicken dinner after a couple of decades of breaking rocks.
I say Execute him, a deliberate act of treason during wartime.
If we cannot do that (and its likely we cannot given who the CINC is), then put him away for life without parole, at hard labor in Leavenworth. Or else put him away like Hanssen and AlQaeda in SuperMax.
And go after the people behind Wikileaks. They are guilty of illegally receiving classified documents, and further, they revealed them instead of going to the authorities. Go after them civil and criminal to the maximum extent. I dont care if we get a conviction, but BREAK them.
#2
It is wonderful to be back in Oregon, Obama said. Over the last 15 months, weve traveled to every corner of the United States. Ive now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.
Hussain is the White House envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, comprised of 57 Muslim nations.
Paging Doctor Freud
Posted by: Angick Prince of the Munchkins7834 ||
07/27/2010 6:51 Comments ||
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Colonel Imam Sultan Amir Tarar, has been held hostage by militants in Pakistanâs tribal region since March 2010, when he arrived in the area alongside another former ISI officer Khalid Khwaja.
Hat Tip to Counterterrorism Blog,
In his latest video-recorded message, Colonel Imam Tarar claims that he has been kidnapped by âLashkar Jhangvi al-Alami, Abdullah Mansourâ faction and insists that the Pakistani government has done nothing to facilitate his release. If the government continues to refuse negotiations for his freedom,
Tarar further threatens to disclose highly sensitive information about âthe weaknesses of our nationâ and the secret âgame being played with Afghanistan, India, Russia, and America.â
Allama Ahmed Mian Hammadi, a Pakistani Muslim cleric, has claimed that Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities has himself committed blasphemy by branding the recently murdered Christian brothers as victims of Pakistan blasphemy laws.
Bhatti had spoken out about the murder last week of Rashid Emmanuel, 30, and his brother Sajid, 27, by unidentified masked gunmen inside a courthouse in Faisalabad. The brothers had been accused of blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad earlier this month, a charge they had both denied.
According to Mr Hammadi's statement, published in Daily Jasarat, a Pakistani Urdu daily newspaper, the Muslim cleric said that Muslims cannot tolerate blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.
"It is not a cruelty to kill blasphemers, rather blasphemy itself is such an enormous brutality that the one who commits it neither has got a right to live in this world nor is there any pardon for the blasphemer," Daily Jasarat quoted Mr Hammadi as saying.
"Muslims won't tolerate even a slightest blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. If Shahbaz Bhatti committed blasphemy he would be beheaded."
He maintained: "A Muslim loves [the] Prophet Muhammad more than anyone else."
The newspaper quoted Mr Hammadi as saying that the incident of killing of the Christian brothers due to non implementation of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan.
According to the newspaper, the Muslim cleric criticized Mr. Bhatti for stating that the law had been abused vis-à-vis the case of the Christian brothers.
"No law has been implemented in this case. Court implements the law not people," Daily Jasarat quoted Mr. Hammadi as saying. "Christian brothers were killed after Muslims became angry."
Mr Hammadi, according to Jasarat, also demanded the arrest of Christian rioters who he said threw stones at the houses of Muslims after the murder of the Christian brothers.
#1
"A Muslim loves [the] Prophet Muhammad more than anyone else."
That in itself, by Islam's rules, is a blasphemous statement. By their rules, Mohammed was "just a man", and his prophecies were not "his", but only sent through him. The Islamic rules are very strict about idolatry of this kind, and violations are dealt with severely.
[Dawn] Pakistan's most powerful spy agency on Monday lashed out against a trove of leaked US intelligence reports that alleged close connections between it and Taliban militants fighting Nato troops in Afghanistan, calling the accusations malicious and unsubstantiated.
The reports, which were released by the online whistle-blower Wikileaks, raised new questions about whether the US can succeed in convincing Pakistan to sever its historical links to the Taliban and deny them sanctuary along the Afghan border - actions that many analysts believe are critical for success in Afghanistan.
The US has given Pakistan billions in military aid since 2001 to enlist its cooperation, however, often the release of such reports is considered to be a part of added pressure on Pakistan to do more against the war against terror.
The Guardian expressed skepticism about the allegations in the documents, saying ''they fail to provide a convincing smoking gun'' for complicity between the ISI and the Taliban.
It said more than 180 intelligence files accuse the ISI of supplying, arming and training the insurgency since at least 2004.
But the leaked reports, which cover a period from January 2004 to December 2009, suggest that current and former officials from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency have met directly with the Taliban to coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.
A senior ISI official denied the allegations, saying they were from raw intelligence reports that had not been verified and were meant to impugn the reputation of the spy agency. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the agency's policy.
Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, spokesman for Pakistan's army, was not reachable for comment Monday on the intelligence reports. The ISI is under the command of the army.
In one report from March 2008, the ISI is alleged to have ordered Siraj Haqqani, a prominent militant based in northwestern Pakistan, to kill workers from archenemy India who are building roads in Afghanistan. In another from March 2007, the ISI is alleged to have given Jalaluddin Haqqani, Siraj's father, 1,000 motorcycles to carry out suicide attacks in Afghanistan.
These reports, and many of the other 91,000 released by Wikileaks, cannot be independently verified.
Other reports mention former ISI officials, including Hamid Gul, who headed the agency in the late 1980s when Pakistan and the US were supporting militants in their fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
In one report, Gul, who has been an outspoken supporter of the Taliban, is alleged to have dispatched three men in December 2006 to carry out attacks in Afghanistan's capital.
''Reportedly Gul's final comment to the three individuals was to make the snow warm in Kabul, basically telling them to set Kabul aflame,'' said the report.
Gul, who appeared multiple times throughout the reports, denied allegations that he was working with the Taliban, saying ''these leaked documents against me are fiction and nothing else.''
Some of the reports, which were generated by junior intelligence officers, do seem a bit far-fetched. One dispatch from February 2007 claims militants teamed up with the ISI to kill Afghan and Nato forces with poisoned alcohol bought in Pakistan.
Wikileaks released the documents, which include classified cables and assessments between military officers and diplomats, on its website Sunday. The New York Times, London's Guardian newspaper and the German weekly Der Spiegel were given early access to the documents.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
tweet.., tick... bzzz.... snore....
swat... tick....
How many decades before the US denounces the ISI?
[Dawn] Pakistan acknowledged Monday that the Pakistani-American who pleaded guilty to a New York bomb plot met the country's Taliban commander, just days after footage emerged of them hugging.
Faisal Shahzad last month pleaded guilty in a New York court to the bomb bid and warned of more attacks on the United States until it leaves Muslim lands.
Sky News broadcast a video last week showing Shahzad and Hakimullah Mehsud, commander of Pakistan's umbrella Taliban faction, shaking hands, smiling and hugging sometime before the failed May 1 attack.
"He visited Pakistan seven times and he met Hakimullah Mehsud and also met other people, those so-called leaders of the Taliban," Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in the northwestern town of Pabbi.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is based in the country's tribal badlands on the Afghan border and has been blamed for some of the deadliest suicide attacks in the nuclear-armed country.
It claimed responsibility for the May 1 New York bomb plot.
Pakistan opened an investigation into possible links between Shahzad and militant groups at the request of the United States.
Pakistani-born Shahzad was pulled off a flight to Dubai two days after parking a car containing a bomb in Times Square.
Shahzad told a judge he underwent bomb-making training during a 40-day stay with the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan, between December 9 and January 25.
On returning to the United States, Shahzad said he planned the bombing and acted alone, telling the judge: "Nobody helped me."
Malik sought to distance Pakistan from Shahzad, who spent much of the last decade in the United States and who took US nationality.
"We accept he is of Pakistani origin but all his actions in America should also be investigated," he said.
"We should see this in greater perspective. This is a matter of mindset.
The Taliban are trying to change the mindset of present and future generations
and we have to fight against this."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The ineffectual President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he was ready for direct negotiations with Israel, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations that the Paleostinians are avoiding the talks.
"We are ready to hold direct peace negotiations with Israel," Abbas told reporters after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman. "We have negotiated with Israeli governments before, more than once. Why would we avoid such talks? We are not."
Netanyahu told the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defense earlier on Monday that the Paleostinians were trying to sneak out of direct negotiations while Israel was ready to start them "immediately."
"We have an understanding with the Americans that we need to move now, without any delay, to direct negotiations, but in response, we have a clear Paleostinian attempt to avoid this process," Netanyahu said. "They are trying to stall and to sneak away from direct negotiations and to cause the Arab League to shackle the talks."
Israel, he said, was ready to start direct negotiations "immediately." "We are ready to start as early as next week," he said.
Netanyahu's remarks were made just days ahead of a meeting in Cairo between the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas and the Arab League at which the Paleostinian leader will discuss the indirect talks with Israel, which began in May, and will also address the pressing question of a shift to direct negotiations.
Abbas has repeatedly said he would not move to direct talks without tangible progress on the key issues of borders and security, and without a complete freeze on Jewish settlement building on occupied Paleostinian land.
Although Israel has been observing a temporary freeze on new settlement construction in the West Bank, that moratorium runs out on September 26.
Meanwhile Abbas is due to meet Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on Tuesday in Amman before flying to Cairo.
Netanyahu is under pressure to renew the freeze in order to build trust between the two parties. But until now, the hawkish Israeli leader has studiously avoided any such pledges -- with some of his closest allies vowing to begin building as soon as the moratorium expires.
U.S. President Barack Obama said during a meeting with Netanyahu at the White House earlier this month that he hoped direct Middle East peace talks would start before the end of September when the freeze runs out.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Translation STALL, STALL, STALL.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/27/2010 0:30 Comments ||
Top||
Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces in the Thai south are the three provinces that have been dogged by decades of insurgencies launched by groups allegedly linked to foreign terrorist organizations. Although the number of insurgent attacks has gone down since 2006, insurgencies in the south have continued to draw the attention of Muslim-majority countries as the three provinces are home to Muslim-minority population in predominantly Buddhist Thailand. The Thai government's public relations department invited journalists from seven countries, including The Jakarta Post's Lilian Budianto, to Pattani and Narathiwat last week to witness the strategies they are adopting to deal with the situation.
The IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions if Israel is again subjected to rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday.
He told the newspaper that since the Lebanese goverment is allowing Hizbullah to rearm, "we will not run after each Hizbullah terrorist or launcher. . . . We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hizbullah."
Ahead of his visit to Washington today, Barak drew attention to this issue as well as his views on the Iranian nuclear threat and the actions currently being taken by the international community.
"There are differences about what could be done about it, how it should be done, and what [is] the timeframe within which certain steps could be taken," he told the newspaper.
The defense minister also reiterated his support for further sanctions against Iran, but said that there needs to be an awareness of the limitations.
"It's still time for sanctions," he said, though he added that "probably, at a certain point, we should realize that sanctions cannot work."
Addressing the peace process, Barak told The Washington Post that the government's will to move forward "is there. But, of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We have to prove it in actions, in the negotiations."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Promise?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/27/2010 0:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions
I'd be tempted to go for maximum bang for minimum buck. Leave water in place but blow up the sewage treatment systems, etc.. Make them think twice next time.
#3
Bomb the Bekaa Valley even further into the dark ages, sever the highways and passes to Syria, and blockade the ports. And build the shit out of the Golan
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/27/2010 21:45 Comments ||
Top||
#4
MEMRI > HIZBULLAH PREVENTS SIGNING OF LEBANON-FRANCE SECURITY [+ Cooper] AGREEMENT. The US angrily proclaimed by the Hizbullah + aligned the being TRUE/REAL TERRORIST in the ME, + France is its proxy = cover for US-LED IMPERIALISM IN REGION.
Iran's opposition leader said Monday that Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah if they continue to consolidate their grip on power.
The internal pressure comes as western countries imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, including Monday's sanctions from both the EU and Canada, which came in the wake of UN sanctions and a harsher set of unilateral US sanctions in June.
The comments by opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi represent a clear break with a ruling system he was once firmly a part of. The former prime minister was a fervent supporter of the 1979 revolution that brought cleric-led government to Iran before recasting himself as a leader of the reform-seeking opposition in last year's disputed presidential election.
In comments on his website Monday, Mousavi accuses hard-liners of moving toward an oppressive, one-party system. Previously, he limited his criticism to authorities' post-election crackdown rather than taking on the ruling system.
Unilateral sanctions:
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced unilateral sanctions against Iran, saying the new measures will include a ban on any new Canadian investment in Iran's oil and gas sector, and restrictions on exporting goods that could be used in nuclear programs.
Iranian banks will also will be barred from opening branches in Canada and Canadian banks will not be able to operate in Iran.
The European Union formally adopted new energy sanctions against Iran earlier Monday which target the country's energy, banking, and foreign trade sectors.
The move came on the heels of the unilateral US sanctions passed last month by the Senate. The EU sanctions were agreed to in principle by European leaders in June, and are the latest in a series of measures taken by the international community in an effort to halt Iran's nuclear program.
"We have a comprehensive set of sanctions. This is something where we have all 27 countries working together," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said ahead of the meeting.
According to the decision reached in June, the sanctions will target dual-use items that could be used as part of a nuclear program, and Iran's oil and gas industry -- including the "prohibition of new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies."
Iran's shipping and air cargo companies will be blacklisted and banned from operating in EU territory, and new visa bans and asset freezes will be imposed on Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The sanctions also encompass trade insurance and financial transactions.
EU exports to Iran -- mainly machinery, transport equipment and chemicals -- amounted to euro 14.1 billion in 2008.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's response to the June around of sanctions passed by the UN was that they were "worthless" and should only go into "the trash bin," in a report cited by Bloomberg News.
Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee has accused the United States, Britain and their allies of abusing the Security Council to attack Iran.
"No amount of pressure and mischief will be able to break our nation's determination to pursue and defend its legal and inalienable rights," said Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee. "Iran is one of the most powerful and stable countries in the region and never bowed -- and will never bow -- to the hostile actions and pressures by these few powers and will continue to defend its rights."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Hummm, you might ponder this thought, "Revolution beats vaporization".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/27/2010 0:27 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah if they continue to consolidate their grip on power."
Actually, I think that would be how the regime keeps its power. If it fails to consolidate is when it is at risk.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran said on Monday it was ready to return to talks on a nuclear fuel swap, a surprise that came shortly after the European Union agreed tougher sanctions, including a block on oil and gas investment.
EU foreign ministers approved a range of extra restrictions on Iran that went well beyond U.N. sanctions agreed last month and included a ban on dealing with Iranian banks and insurance companies and steps to prevent investment in Tehran's lucrative oil and gas sector, including refining.
"Today we sent out a powerful message to Iran, and that message is that their nuclear program is a cause of serious and growing concern to us," EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton told reporters.
"But our objective remains, as I have always said, to persuade Iranian leaders that their interest is served by a return to the table. Sanctions are not an end in themselves," she said after the ministers met in Brussels.
Shortly afterwards, Iran said it was prepared to return to negotiations on a nuclear fuel swap "without conditions", according to the official IRNA news agency.
Talking of a letter that Iran handed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran's envoy to the U.N. agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said: "The clear message of this letter was Iran's complete readiness to hold negotiations over the fuel for the Tehran reactor without any conditions."
The announcement appeared to be an Iranian signal of willingness to negotiate as a net of U.N., EU and U.S. sanctions tightens around it, but it was not clear that the quick offer of fuel swap talks would be enough to placate world powers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A senior Iranian legislator accused Germany on Monday of meddling in Iran's affairs by granting asylum to Iranians who fled the Islamic state after a crackdown on post-election protests.
Germany confirmed on Saturday that it was giving asylum to dozens of dissident Iranians who participated in post-election protest rallies. Most of the refugees were journalists critical of the government.
"It is natural that the enemies of the Iranian nation would give medals and prizes to their soldiers and stooges," Hossien Ebrahimi, deputy chairman of Iran's parliamentary committee on security and foreign policy, was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.
Thousands of opposition supporters were detained after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was returned to power in a contested vote in June 2009. Most of them have since been freed but more than 80 people have been jailed for up to 15 years. Two people put on trial after the election have been executed.
Iran has accused Western countries of fomenting anti-government protests, something they have denied.
Ebrahimi said Germany's decision to welcome people it considers dissidents amounted to interference.
"Does it not bother Berlin if a riot happens in Germany and then some other countries start interfering in its internal affairs by giving awards and granting asylum to the rioters?
"Why, now that the fire of sedition has been extinguished and the seditionists have been banished by people, has Germany started to grant asylum to them?" said Ebrahimi.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/27/2010 00:00 ||
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Late last week, two suicide kabooms in southeastern Iran reduced a mosque to rubble, leaving 27 dead and nearly 300 injured. The explosions were the work of Jundollah--"Soldiers of Allah"--a rebel Sunni group opposed to the Shiite-controlled regime in Tehran.
The Islamic Republic has always accused the United States of being Jundollah's paymaster. The leader of Tehran's government-controlled Friday Prayer even charged the U.S. with masterminding the attacks: "Since the U.S. has lost face in the case of Shahram Amiri [the Iranian nuclear scientist who allegedly spied for the U.S. against Iran] and the reputation of its intelligence has also become questionable, they wanted to divert attention from their defeat and disgrace through this crime."
The bombs sent a powerful message that Jundollah survived a major setback earlier this year when its leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, was jugged and subsequently hanged on June 20. When the regime apprehended Rigi, the state media went out of their way to showcase the operation. Security teams surrounded a beaten Rigi with large, muscled balaclava-clad agents known as the "unknown soldiers of the Messianic Imam Mehdi" in an attempt to demonstrate the strength of the state against a feeble rebel on national television.
The twin explosions presented the opposite picture. Jundollah struck Iran's leadership on a highly symbolic day, as it was both the birthday of the prophet Mohammad's grandson (revered by Shiites as the ultimate martyr) and Revolutionary Guards Day on the official calendar. Jundollah claims that the victims were mostly high-ranking Revolutionary Guards busy celebrating the holiday at the mosque. The mosque was also located in the center of Zahedan, where there is maximum security. Now, it's Jundollah's turn to boast.
Unreported in the Western press is Jundollah's claim that, in addition to the bombings, it trapped and murdered a top Iranian regime informant in a separate operation. Collaborators and informants understood the warning: Cease cooperation with the Iranian government, or suffer the same fate.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the bombings, three members of Iran's parliament from the Southeast resigned. Their official justification was that the central government has been unable to provide security in the region. More likely, they are attempting to escape Jundollah's bloody campaign of Dire Revenge™.
Only one day before the Jundollah attacks, Iran's Interior Minister and Revolutionary Guard member Mostafa Najjar had declared peace in the Southeast thanks to Rigi's June execution. "The eastern regions of the country are absolutely calm," 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.
SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States plan to conduct live-fire anti-submarine exercises in the East Sea Tuesday during the third day of joint military drills meant to deter North Korea against future provocations, military officials said.
The IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions if Israel is again subjected to rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday. 
Iran's opposition leader said Monday that Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah if they continue to consolidate their grip on power. 
