[Tolo News] Head of the Afghan transition process Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai on Tuesday said the government will reconcile with the Taliban only under the constitutional framework.
It is crucial that Afghan constitution should be accepted prior to any peace talks, Mr Ahmadzai said.
"Limits of peace have been explained and today we emphasised that the constitution sets the framework and the process will flow through the framework," he said.
The US has welcomed President Karzai's announcement that Afghan forces will take charge of security in a number of provinces and districts from July this year.
"We look forward to troop reductions starting in July and continuing based on conditions on the ground, with the transition to be completed by the end of 2014," Mrs Clinton said in a statement. "The United States is also currently negotiating a bilateral Strategic Partnership Declaration with Afghanistan."
President Karzai on Tuesday said that Afghans will begin to take security lead in Kabul, Panjshir, Bamiyan, Balkh, Herat and Laghman provinces.
More than 152,000 foreign troops are fighting gunnies in Afghanistan for almost a decade now.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Pakistain's government Wednesday ordered that 60 percent of Afghan-bound containers stranded in Bloody Karachi port should be shipped to Afghanistan within the coming 60 days. As soon as the baksheesh has been paid...
National Logistic Cell (NLC), a transportation company owned by Pakistain's government, ships Afghan trade containers, but Pakistain's Prime Minister has said that other cargo companies should also take part in the transportation of Afghan goods.
Pakistain's Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani called on other transportation companies mostly because NLC has a small capacity compared to the number of containers stranded for months in the Bloody Karachi port.
But Afghan traders are not optimistic about Pakistain's promise.
"Considering the situation, I don't think they would take a serious step about Afghan-bound goods. We hope the challenges to be resolved soon and there is no more problem ahead of our traders in the future," Deputy Head of Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Khan Jan Alokozai, told TOLOnews.
Pakistain's embassy in Kabul said that it is making efforts to resolve problems facing Afghan traders.
"Pakistain's government and people don't want the goods to remain there. Because we have limited room there and it affects our own trade as well," Pakistain's ambassador to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq told TOLOnews.
The comments come as thirty percent of Afghan-bound goods stranded have been spoilt in the port.
Kabul has newly sent a delegate to Pakistain to discuss the containers issue with related officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
And after all the on-site spoilage/wastage - methinks we just discovered where irradiated Japanese consumer goods, foods will be heading to???
[Tolo News] Nato and US embassy in Kabul on Tuesday welcomed President Karzai's announcement on security handover process to Afghan lead.
On Tuesday President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... named the first districts and provinces for security transition and said the process will go as planned.
"I want to congratulate the President for taking this critical decision which paves the way for Afghans to take charge of their own destiny," Nato's Chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement hours after Karzai made the transition announcement.
"No one wants our forces to be in combat a day longer than necessary," Nato Chief said in the statement.
In a separate statement the US embassy in Kabul congratulated President Karzai on his "initial step toward a condition-based transition by December 2014".
"The United States reiterates its enduring commitment to the people of Afghanistan," the US embassy said in a statement. "We're just as tired of Karzai as he is of us. And we're not real happy with the rest of you beturbanned nutcakes."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Until Big Zero took office, Karzai was another major partner in the WOT. When Big Zero took office, the smear campaign began against this key allie, as well as the words "jihad" and "War On Terror (WOT)" were banned from the vocabulary.
I find it shallow to see people here even falling for the anti_American allie campaign by the One. So, where is the proof that the drug use is for real? There is no evidence. In fact, when Karzai complained that American troops were murdering civilians, the smear campaign began to be accelerated.
But golly gee whiz, just this past week, actual pictures of these murders surfaced and the key suspect on the kill team immediately pleaded guilty.
#3
Yes, Glolutch, I am just a little bit skeptical about these so-called civilians. It's kinda hard to tell, isn't it, when your enemy doesn't wear a uniform? Wouldn't it be convenient, especially for propaganda purposes, for your enemy to claim that whenever you kill one of his jihadis that said jihadi was really a civilian? I read so many times about civilians getting killed because they were in a village where the Taliban were holed up. Sometimes our guys would hold their fire because of the civilians. But it's funny because in most wars I've ever heard of, civilians run like hell when the fighting starts. I would too. Why don't those Afghan civilians?
And what about the Taliban using human shields? And what about all the civilians the Taliban kill just to make sure that everybody is properly terrorized? I've never heard of Karzai complaining about that. I dunno, maybe I just never heard it.
I have to believe the vast majority of our soldiers are truly sorry if they accidentally kill a real civilian. But in an environment like that I don't want them to be even sorrier if a so called civilian turned out to be Taliban.
I honestly don't know why the poppy crops are allowed to grow in Afghanistan although I have my suspicions. But I'm pretty sure that Karzai would scream bloody murder if any of the poppy crop workers were inconvenienced in any way, shape or form during the eradication of the crops.
Democracy in Afghanistan? I don't know. I think we should have installed an American general as governor of Afghanistan for as long as we see fit to stay there.
Fact is, we invaded Afghanistan because they were harboring the 9-11 terrorists. I'm quite certain that most Afghans didn't know or care about bin Laden's little encampment in their country. That's tough. That's what they get for letting the Taliban run their country in the first place. Maybe someday they'll figure it out. Until then I have very little sympathy for any of them, but I have even less for Karzai. What I really think is he better keep his jet warmed up after NATO leaves so he can make a fast get away before somebody hangs him.
Some background on the tribes of Libya here.
Who really are the anti-Gaddafi rebels? More than a month after the beginning of the February 17 uprising, it is still difficult to tell, according to Karim Mezran, the director of the American Studies Centre in Rome and Professor at Johns Hopkins University in Rome, who holds dual Italian and Libyan nationality.
"People always pull out the same names," Mezran says of the more well-known representatives of Libya's National Transitional Council, "while people say that they do not want to identify the others to avoid putting them in danger, but there are doubts as to whether they even really exist. Then there are defectors and deserters of the Gaddafi regime, but I don't think that independent figures are part of the movement".
#2
Well considering the mercenaries these reports make sense in real world way, and has the double edge of when word reaches the mercenaries, they certainly will not surrender or escape...almost like there is a reason throughout history mercs hired to put down civil uprisings were brought in from other lands.
Second, this is a large area with many different ancient histories - I would hesitate to say The Tribes Called Quest have the same goals or even be friendly to each other even after a theorized victory over Team Daffy.
In the last few days, Obama administration officials have frequently faced the question: Is the fighting in Libya a war? From military officers to White House spokesmen up to the president himself, the answer is no. But that leaves the question: What is it?
In a briefing on board Air Force One Wednesday, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes took a crack at an answer. "I think what we are doing is enforcing a resolution that has a very clear set of goals, which is protecting the Libyan people, averting a humanitarian crisis, and setting up a no-fly zone," Rhodes said. "Obviously that involves kinetic military action, particularly on the front end."
Rhodes' words echoed a description by national security adviser Tom Donilon in a briefing with reporters two weeks ago as the administration contemplated action in Libya. "Military steps -- and they can be kinetic and non-kinetic, obviously the full range -- are not the only method by which we and the international community are pressuring Gadhafi," Donilon said.
So it must be something else waiting to be defined at a later date by philosophers and academia.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/24/2011 11:17 Comments ||
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#2
Anyone else getting really tired of the left constantly renaming things so people aren't offended and they can distance themselves from things that sound "icky"?
#3
War 1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air. 2. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations: The two nations were at war with each other. 3. a contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns: the War of 1812. www.dictionary.com
But of course, the left does not read the dictionary, the Constitution, or Health care bills.
Posted by: regular joe ||
03/24/2011 14:53 Comments ||
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#16
Personally I'm really offended by all this.
I'm an unapologetic neo-con. I believe people have the right to be free and to fight for their freedom. If the rebels in Libya are doing that then I'm on their side, and I believe it would be right for us to help them. That they're fighting against one of the most odious, nasty, bloody thugs of the last half-century makes it even easier for me to support them.
Most people in this country would agree.
If only our President would say so.
Instead we have 'kinetic military action'. We're supposed to let the Euros lead. We're waffling about whether Qadaffy can stay or has to go. We're waffling over whether we'll have boots on the ground or not.
We have a fool for a President. He's especially a fool because he thinks he's so damned smart.
This is a WAR. It's being fought by flesh-and-blood people. It's the most serious thing our country can take on. Most everyone, liberal or conservative, understands that. We want it explained, we want it justified, we want it to matter. I'm not demanding an exact exit strategy; that isn't possible now. But I want our President to take a stand, be consistent from one day to the next, and have an understanding of what it means to make a war.
He wants Gadaffy gone? So do I. DAMMIT, make it happen. We aren't playing at mother-may-I. We aren't making wishes.
Someone recently said that Obama is making war in the same way he did health care reform. The latter was bad enough but making war by committee, by changing one's mind, and by letting himself be led around by the nose by Hillary, by Sarkozy, by Putin, by Egyptian generals, and by Hillary again is just plain unconscionable.
Mr. Obama, sir: be the DAMNED PRESIDENT.
LEAD.
Or get the hell out of office.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2011 15:32 Comments ||
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#17
Steve, you don't get it still.
Obama doesn't give a flying f*** about the Libyans or 'daffy. His only motivation in this is to further his agenda for weakening the US and moving as much of our sovereignty to the UN as possible.
Freedom means f***all to him since his goal in life seems to be to be one of a galaxy of socialist/commie "presidents" (preferably for life) with the power over all.
What's a Libyan peasant compared to the power to take over all American industry and subsume the US in the burgeoning Global Government?
#18
Thank you Dr. White. Well said. I agree with you. Currently we are short on leadership in the WH. I have never heard such a bunch of weasel words and weasel statements coming from the WH. Our military suffers from having no CINC.
#19
Hisonly motivation in this is to further his agenda for weakening the US and moving as much of our sovereignty to the UN as possible.
I suspect this one is mostly about improving his poll numbers, Alan. Although it's possible he's preparing for a similar intervention to protect the beleaguered civilians of the Gaza Strip -- they've already asked.
#21
Whether its Libya, Gaddafi, the pirates, or even what is war and what is not is an indictment of the ruling class. We've been through how many Presidents of both parties since Lockerbie and the man is still not a stain on the ground. A society that can not, will not face the reality and deal with it in a manner that has worked for literally thousands of years, is a society that can't deal with anything but live for the next day. Or for that matter, the next continuing resolution. No resolve, no courage, no substance other than 'playing the game' that only continues because there are those willing to be between a very ugly world and the players. Take that away and the game ends badly for everyone.
#24
Pencilneck wimp
Ivy League Lawyer of postmodern male athleticism.
Tomadove holiday cruise physics class teacher's union promotional demonstration of right to assembly. Hows that for a field of shit?
What Steve said; if that is a very clear set of goals I would hate to see what ambiguous and open ended would be. I mean really, averting a humanitarian crises with this administration could mean giving them all health coverage and high speed rail.
(TW, you are not suggesting that those Marines are headed to Gonzo?)
#25
"Kinetic military action" = Whoa, haven't heard that phrase in a while. Looks like POTUS BAMMER + ADMIN are once again going "back to the future" of the 1980's REAGAN-BUSH 1 ERA, after Reagan's "STAR WARS" concepts but before "AIRLAND BATTLE 2000".
versus
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > AMERICANS + CHINESE DISCUSS "AIRSEA BATTLE" [AirSea Battle = EarthSpace/Battlespace 21].
#26
Stakeholders in a target rich environment are equally susceptable to a balistic overmatch whether the context is kinetic military action or a fully declared war.
#27
(TW, you are not suggesting that those Marines are headed to Gonzo?)
Those particular Marines, swksvolFF? No. But I do think it will be argued in the near future that it's a parallel situation. "Near future" being while President Obama is still in office, Israel-lover that he is.
#1
This is worth a read. It is deja vu all over again. As such it reads like so many of the groups from the '60s like the feminists, the civil rights groups, the draft resistors, etc.
They are in the same quandry as most of the "progressive" movement today of we won, now what?
All they have been, both here and there, are destructive and they have no clue how to advance or even what they want to advance towards.
Why not focus on activism instead of wasting time on a political party? For what is never mentioned.
At the heart of the swirling chaos is a big question: Who speaks for this new Egypt and for the millions of protesters who made it possible?
Notice it's not about what to do, just about who has the power. Remind you of anyone?
The Libyan rebel movement could legally be supplied with weapons from abroad in a move that would rapidly bring the conflict to an end, defence experts have said.
The United Nations resolution that was made before that governing the no-fly zone prevented Col Muammar Gaddafi's government from obtaining arms but analysts say that it would still be possible to arm a provisional rebel government.
There are growing doubts that the rebels will be able to prevail over Col Gaddafi's forces without outside intervention, and there are worries too that a costly and dangerous stalemate will follow a lack of decisive military action.
Brig Ben Barry, of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said however that if a provisional council was recognised by the United Nations, it would be able to accept arms, and could quickly overthrow Gaddafi loyalists or persuade the Libyan ruler's inner circle to oust him.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/24/2011 00:18 ||
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#1
UN RESOLUTION
versus
* TOPIX > IRAN'S KHAMEINI: WEST SHOULD ARM REBELS, NOT BOMB LIBYA.
* SAME > BAHRAIN'S KING EXPELS ALL IRANIANS FROM BAHRAIN, including Iranians [women] married to local Bahrainis.
versus
* WAFF > [StrategyReport]SERBIAN MAFIA + OFFICIAL ALBANIAN STATE ARMING GADDAFI | ALBANIAN GOVT. SENDING WEAPONS TO MUAMMAR GADDAFI.
* SAME [StrategyPage] KADDAFI HAS A KILLER PLAN THAT JUST MIGHT WORK.
ARTIC:
> LOGISTICS will determine whether Muammar or US-Allies/West + UNO will prevail wid NFZ, Airstrikes.
> KADDAFI, + [waffle-happy? = anti-NFZ]ARAB LEAGUE have TIME on their side.
> US = USDOD CANNOT STAY OPER TOO LONG IN LIBYUH, as per prior committals to IRAQ + AGHANISTAN [AFPAK] + BUDGET DEFICIT WOES.
> NATO"s Euro-members are LONG-USED TO THE USA BEING THE TOP/PRIMARY LEADER.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM [old] > NYT: NORTH KOREA SUGGESTS LIBYA SHOULD KEEP ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS, arguing that Gaddafi = Libyuh were foolishly duped by the USA + POTUS DUBYA [GW = Global Warming] back in 2003.
* SAME CMF > CHINA WAS CLOSER TO REBELLION TEN YEARS AGO, under the tenure of Jiang Jemin. China's security budget exceeds its defense budget for the first time under Hu Jintao, + which shows that China is more concerned more wid GROWING INTERNAL INSTABILITY than External Enemies.
The young gunmen at the roadblock took no chances. They put a knife to the throat of the driver before hauling the three men and one woman from the car, dragging them through the street into a nearby mosque for a rough round of interrogation.
"They were beaten on their feet and the woman was slapped around the face until she admitted planning an attack on the mosque," said Basim Mohamed, muezzin at Quiche mosque.
Inside the car they say they found an AK-47 and 10 cartridges of ammunition.
A frenzied mob formed outside the mosque as word spread that Gaddafi assassins had been cornered. It only dispersed when rebel gunmen arrived to take away the suspects to an uncertain fate.
It wasn't supposed to be like this in free Benghazi.
Really? The writer of this piece is a maroon.
After throwing off the shackles of Gaddafi's brutal rule, Libya's young opposition movement is rounding up suspected opponents and delivering its own brutal form of justice in a city living in fear that they have been penetrated by a fifth column of government loyalists.
Rebel leaders admit that dozens of Gaddafi supporters have been arrested or killed.
Of course that's the way it is in free Benghazi. It's a damned civil war!!
This is what happens in civil wars. The gloves come off. It's a bare-knuckled, nasty, brutal fight to the end. It's a rare civil war that respects the common rules of humanity. So of course the rebels are killing the Gadaffy supporters, and likewise is also true.
It's a civil war, not a indigenous kinetic military action.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/24/2011 00:09 ||
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#1
Tribalism?
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
03/24/2011 10:38 Comments ||
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#2
Suggested reading for our intrepid reporter. "Tale of Two Cities" and "Dr. Zhivago".
Or, at least, see the movies...
[Asharq al-Aswat] The crisis at Al-Azhar University has reached new dimensions, with University staff preventing the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed al-Tayyib from entering his offices. The staff stood outside the Al-Azhar University to prevent Dr. al-Tayyib from entering, demanded that he step down and that all consultants appointed during his tenure be removed. After al-Tayyib found that he could not gain entry to the religious institute that he heads, he visited the Egyptian armed forces headquarters, where he offered his resignation to the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Al-Azhar University staff barred the door of the institute to Grand Sheikh al-Tayyib, who stood outside the institute for some time unable to enter. He eventually visited the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces headquarters, where he met with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and offered his resignation, according to a source close to the Grand Sheikh. However, The well-oiled However... Tantawi refused to accept al-Tayyib's resignation, he said that the country is passing through a difficult phase, and called on the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar to be patient.
The source also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Dr. al-Tayyib went straight from the armed forces headquarters to his home. Dr. al-Tayyib has refused to comment on the incident, however the source described al-Tayyib's mood from being "extremely poor."
Following the 25 January revolution in Egypt, voices within Al-Azhar University have been calling for more independence, and for comprehensive judicial supervision, as well as for the removal of the religious consultants and advisors hired by Dr. al-Tayyib.
A delegation from the Egyptian armed forces later arrived at Al-Azhar to meet with the protestors, who presented their demands which were passed on to Dr. al-Tayyib. The demands include the removal of all consultants previously appointed by Dr. al-Tayyib, as well as Al-Azhar's independence from the state.
A source close to the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar informed Asharq Al-Awsat that this is the second time that Dr. Ahmed al-Tayyib has offered his resignation since the 25 January revolutions, however both offers were rejected by the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that is currently ruling Egypt during this transitional period. The source also revealed that Dr. al-Tayyib has spoken about being prepared to resign as Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, head of Egypt's most senior religious body, but that he fears that this may give root to chaos in the Islamic institute, as well as could open the door to him being charged with treason.
Hundreds of Al-Azhar staff yesterday protested in front of the university, preventing the Grand Sheikh from entering. The demonstrators called on him to step down as well as calling for the removal of the advisers he appointed, particularly Jamal Abu al-Hassan, Mumtaz al-Said, Dr. Abdul-Daim Nasser, and others, who the protestors claim are being paid thousands of pounds without doing any work. The protestors also accused these figures of seizing Zakat and charity funds, and called for the removal of all military personnel from al-Azhar.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] An Egyptian committee set up to investigate violence during demonstrations that toppled Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... has laid charges against the former president and interior minister for intentional murder of protesters, a state newspaper said.
More than 360 people died in the uprising and thousands were maimed, when fired rubber bullets, live ammunition, water cannon and tear gas at peaceful protesters.
The fact-finding committee submitted its charges to the Public Prosecutor's office, saying Mubarak as the head of the government was criminally responsible for the death of the protesters, Al Ahram state newspaper said on Wednesday.
The former interior minister Habib al-Adli, who is also already facing trial for wasting public funds and money laundry, is accused of ordering police to open fire at demonstrators, the newspaper said.
Egypt has already jugged and is investigating high-ranking coppers for ordering the killing of demonstrators during the uprising against Mubarak.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Algerian authorities are considering changing the constitution to meet the social and political protest in Algeria, encouraged by the Arab revolt, the Algerian press reported Wednesday.
Six executives, including President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him... and Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, met five times in recent days to discuss possible reforms, said Wednesday the daily Le Soir.
According to the newspaper, citing a source close to the presidency, "all depend on the level of protest. Its nature and forms as it eventually takes."
March 17, Ouyahia presented findings, which point to a revision of the Algerian constitution, "wrote Le Soir.
All of the Algerian press has reported these secret meetings for several days, while President Bouteflika announced Saturday significant "global," reforms including "political".
"It is almost certain that the president will return to the old formula before November 2008, showing the limitation of presidential terms to only two," the presidential source quoted by the daily. Such a limitation would not affect the current president's term since it would only be applicable after 2014, presidential election year that would keep Mr. Bouteflika.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Despite continuing air attacks on Libya, Col Qadaffy has made a defiant address to his supporters pledging victory. Thugs usually do that right before the decamp...
Col Qadaffy has urged "all Islamic armies" to join him. In Switzerland...
His offspring have caused trouble in Switzerland before. If they're wise they won't take him.
Speaking at a recently bombed site, President Qadaffy said he and his supporters will be victorious in the end. Unless they get bombed again in which case they'll do lunch in Zurich...
The site, Bab al-Aziziya, was bombed on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match... a US warplane crashed in Libya Tuesday, killing six villagers. The crewmen were reportedly rescued.
In his recent TV address, Qadaffy has described the intervention as a new crusader war against Islam. Mo conveniently found religion last week...
That happens to people sometimes when the reality of air attacks hit home close by. Or so I'm told ...
Describing the people as the most powerful air defence, Col Qadaffy has said Libyan people will not fear the missile attacks and fight on. As long as Qadaffy has a gun in their backs...
Meanwhile the United States is trying to transfer its leading role in Libya. La Belle France fears that the Arab World will not welcome a Nato lead.
Turkey has urged limits on Nato involvement expressing concern that the strikes have already exceeded the resolution.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON, March 23 -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will likely visit North Korea next month to broker rapprochement in U.S. relations with the reclusive communist state, which have chilled over the North's nuclear and missile programs and other provocations, a diplomatic source here said Wednesday.
Any chance they'll keep the anti-Semitic old coot?
"It is highly likely that ex-President Carter will travel to North Korea in about a month as the North Korean mission in New York has been arranging for the visit," said the source, who requested anonymity.
Carter is expected to be accompanied by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other prominent figures who are ready to be middlemen in U.S. relations with the impoverished but nuclear-armed state.
Just what we need, a bunch of washed-up has-beens deciding how we handle the Norks.
Carter visited Pyongyang in August and brought back Aijalon Gomes of Boston, who had been sentenced to eight years in a labor camp and fined about US$700,000 for illegally entering North Korea months earlier.
Carter brokered a bilateral U.S.-North Korea deal during the first North Korean nuclear crisis in 1994, which led to the Geneva Agreed Framework later that year. The pact called for the freezing of the North's plutonium-producing nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, north of its capital, Pyongyang, in return for massive energy and other economic aid and diplomatic recognition by Washington.
That worked out well, didn't it. The old 'Agreed Framework' really did cause the Norks to reform, ev'ryone sees that...
Speaking to reporters, State Department spokesman Mark Toner repeated that the U.S. has "nothing really to announce" on any planned meeting with North Korean officials.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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The North Korean military on Wednesday threatened to fire aimed shots at targets in South Korea if defector organizations float more balloons carrying propaganda leaflets across the border.
But defector groups were undeterred, pledging to float the balloons from Baeknyeong Island in the West Sea on Friday and Saturday as scheduled to mark the first anniversary of the North's sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. The government says it cannot interfere in the activities of civic groups.
The North's official KCNA news agency quoted the commander of the North Korean Army's western frontline district as saying troops are always ready to fire aimed shots at the "bases of anti-North Korean psychological warfare" along the entire frontline. "The troops are prepared to take action any time," he added.
"Psychological warfare is an act of war. In order not to repeat the lesson of the artillery duel over Yeonpyeong Island, they should immediately stop all psychological warfare maneuvers, including dissemination of leaflets," he added.
On Feb. 27, the head of the North Korean delegation to the inter-Korean military talks sent a message to the South, threatening to fire aimed shots at the sources of psychological warfare.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
DPRK AIMED ARTY + ROK LEAFLETS
versus
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > SURVEY: MAJORITY OF SOUTH KOREANS WANT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, for SOKOR as due mainly to the NOKOR military threat.
* ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > PHILIPPINES EMBRACES US, REPELS CHINA Manila emboldened by "Sole Strategic Partner" USA to send Philippine military assets to China-claimed Spratleys = Nansha Islands in SCS during recent incident.
MIL FORUM POSTERS - Chinese DF-21C's + Other LRBMS can easily reach the former Philippine US Milbases at SUBIC BAY + CLARK AFB, + also MANILA BAY [PHIL trade hub].
* WAFF > RUSSIAN NAVY GOES SHOPPING FOR INDIAN OCEAN PORT. RN will establish Indian Ocean "Special Command of the Long Range Zone" by 2013 - mission scope will include but won't be limited to ANTI-PIRACY.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > INDIA IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO DESTABILIZE [break up] SRI LANKA, wid alleged coordinated three-prong strategy.
IMO Artic read, INDJUH TRYING TO MONITOR, + ESPEC BLOCK CHINESE MIL ACCESS INTO CENTRAL INDIAN OCEAN [Sub-read, PAKISTAN + BANGLADESH + MYANMAR].
#2
That would be one heck of a shot since the DMZ is 4km wide. Why do I suspect they instead want to pop the balloons for themselves to get at the food and dollar bills?
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/24/2011 1:04 Comments ||
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#3
The boys at KCNA sound kinda nervous, don't they?
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday that the civil war in Libya was like the onset of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide in that it demanded action from the forces of good.
Why, that's almost 'neo-con' in its outlook...
"My view is that there are times in American history — Rwanda was one, bombing the tracks during the onset to the Holocaust, that we could have sent a bomber wing in to take out the tracks, we didn't do it — we look back and we see we should use military force to try and defend people who can’t defend themselves," Weiner said Monday on the Don Imus show in New York.
You mean like in Iraq, 2003?
“If we are a powerful country one of the ways we use our power is for good," Weiner said. “What’s the purpose of being a powerful country if we are not using it to defend people?”
Because a progressive agenda doesn't want us to be powerful and certainly doesn't want us to defend anyone...
Although Weiner defended Obama's decision to lead a coalition on the initial attack, he said the president had erred by initiating the conflict without first seeking the permission of Congress, which according to the Constitution holds the sole power to declare war.
“I do believe the president made a mistake by not going to Congress and asking for permission,” Weiner said.
So the LightWorker isn't quite perfect, even by Anthony's standards...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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"I do believe the president made a mistake by not going to Congress and asking for permission,"
In all fairness, Barry *did* send them a postcard from Rio telling them to switch on CNN.
#2
Rep. Weiner compares decision on Libya to Holocaust, Rwanda
But, but, but, this....this is quite different. The tough boys responsible for African Natural Selection genocide in Rwanda....were, were, were BLACK!!! We could do NOTHING! .... (conveniently enabling both a helpless and guiltless feeling afterwards).
Editor-in-chief of The Nation and Nazria Pakistan Trust (NPT) Chairman Majid Nizami has again said that Pakistan must wage jihad against India to 'free' Kashmir.
"I ask every Pakistani who acts upon the spirit of Islam to make oneself ready for Jihad," Nizami was quoted in The Nation as saying while presiding over a session at Aiwan-e-Karkunan Tehrik-e-Pakistan.
He said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had called Kashmir the jugular vein of Pakistan and had ordered the then army chief to send Pak forces into Kashmir, but the latter had ignored Jinnah's order.
Ever since that day, no army chief has tried to please the Quaid-e-Azam's soul, he yammered, adding that jihad is the only way to solve the Kashmir dispute.
In their secret heart of hearts the Pakistani army pashas know that if they go up against India they'll slink home with much more than a bloody nose...again. The Father of his Country Jinnah will never get his wish, so long as the sun shines and the grasses wave on the plains.
Nizami said that there must be war between Pakistan and India on water issues as well.
Yes, dear. Here, have a cookie with a valium tucked in it.
"India is constructing dams at rivers' flow from Kashmir to Pakistan, conspiring to turn our land into waste, " claimed the NPT Chairman, adding that Pakistan must free its jugular vein from Hindus.
Retired ISI chief Lieutenant General Hameed Gul, who was the main guest, declared that India wanted to deprive Pakistan of water with the support of international imperialists, but their actual target was its atomic assets.
That last clause is actually true. Insane societies oughtn't be allowed dangerous toys.
Gul said Pakistan's irrigation system had a vital role in the security of the country, yet India wanted to destroy it.
He opined that the Pakistan People's Party, the Awami National Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were responsible for energy crises in Pakistan, and added that Pakistan must build other reservoirs besides Kalabagh Dam.
#1
Retired ISI chief Lieutenant General Hameed Gul, who was the main guest, declared that India wanted to deprive Pakistan of water with the support of international imperialists, but their actual target was its atomic assets.
Face it Gul its idiots like you why the rest of the world hate you!I fully support India in any way to hurt/disrupt this mess of a country!
Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. said on Wednesday that Islamic fascistiwere trying to draw the attention of the world by attacking the capital of Pakistain but they will not succeed.
While addressing a ceremony held for the martyrs of Islamabad police, Malik said that the Islamabad police officials laid their lives in order to protect the civilians and provide them with a peaceful environment.
The interior minister assured that the government was trying its best to facilitate the city police.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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terrorists were trying to draw the attention of the world by attacking the capital of Pakistain but they will not succeed.
Oh, they are succeeding plenty. The world no longer gives a damn.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/24/2011 1:12 Comments ||
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Jamaat-i- Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hassan ... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Bloody Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jama'at-e-Islami Pakistan in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009... on Wednesday said that the people will bring an Islamic revolution in Pakistain.
Speaking at a gathering organized on account of 'Pakistain Day,' Hassan said that Jamaat-i-Islami had started a 'public contact' campaign in which 2.5 million people will take part.
He said that Raymond Davis's release was the connivance of Punjab government, in which the central role was played by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah.
"Despite all claims the Punjab government could not recover the US embassy car that crushed a Pak citizen, Abdul Rehman," said JI chief.
Hussain claimed, President Zardari had $114 billion and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Müslim League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... had $104 billion worth assets outside the country while the people of Pakistain were being deprived of food.
The gathering was led by Munawar Hassan, Liaqat Baloch and Siraj-ul-Haq. After the gathering "Go America go" slogans were chanted.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
They will also bring ignorance, famine, death and cranial-rectal inversion syndrome.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/24/2011 1:15 Comments ||
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#3
Partly from the little collection boxes outside the mosques, partly 'donations' from shopkeepers and other businessmen, partly from highly-supportive yet anonymous donors in a magical kingdom across the waters...
[Ennahar] The port of Oran was the scene of a major international scandal which was sponsored by the World Food Program of United Nations ... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... and the Moroccan government, after the discovery of large quantities of cooking oil from Morocco, destined to the Sahrawi people in the form of humanitarian aid.
According to an informed source, the humanitarian aid was consisting of 24 containers with 462 tons of cooking oil that should be received by the Saharawi Red Islamic Thingy for distribution to the Saharawis in the refugee camps.
The Saharawi, upon receipt of such aid, learn they were from Morocco. It later turns out that Morocco has sold the amount of oil to the United Nations which sends it as humanitarian aid to the Sahrawi refugee camps under the World Food Program. But the Saharawi Red Islamic Thingy refused such aid as they were came from Morocco and decided to send them to the Libyan people.
According to sources Ennahar, the contract price of oil paid by the United Nations to Morocco rises to two million dollars.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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Cooking oil is food aid?
What about something to cook?
[Ma'an] President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. ... on Wednesday condemned a bombing attack in central Jerusalem that killed one woman and injured dozens, the official Paleostinian Authority news agency reported.
Salam Fayyad, the resigned caretaker prime minister, said in a statement, "I condemn in the strongest terms possible the terrorist attack in Jerusalem today regardless of who is behind it."
He also wished a speedy recovery to those who were maimed.
An Israeli woman critically maimed when a bomb destroyed a bus in Jerusalem has died of her injuries, Israel's public radio reported, citing medical sources.
The kaboom was caused a kaboom, Israel's internal security minister said. "The bomb was inside a bag which was left at the bus stop," Yitzhak Aharonovitch told news hounds at the scene.
The blast, which injured 20 people, hit the 174 bus as it stopped to pick up passengers at a stop between the central bus station and the ICC conference center, both of which lie at the western entrance to Jerusalem.
According to a statement from the Israeli military, two buses were hit with the kaboom, which was named as a terrorist attack. The statement said one victim was at death's door.
The kaboom occurred shortly after 3:00 p.m. and shook buildings hundreds of meters away, witnesses said.
An AFP correspondent at the scene saw people lying on the floor covered in blood, and many cars and buses with shattered windows.
Sirens echoed through the city as dozens of ambulances and fire engines raced to the scene, with media reports taking of at least three people who were very badly injured.
No group has claimed the bombing, which comes amid a wave of violence in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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Did they say this in English, Esperanto or Pig-Latin? Or in Arabic?
[Ma'an] Gazoo government officials declared Wednesday a day of mourning, with a collective funeral in central Gazoo City at midday, for the four civilians and four gunnies killed by Israeli fire a day earlier.
Officials called on residents of Gazoo to join the funeral procession.
In Moscow, President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... Since no one would talk to him anymore in the wake of the Karine A incident, Yasser Arafat appointed Abbas prime minister in 2003. Arafat then proceeded to pretend there was no such thing as a prime minister and Abbas resigned in frustration in October of the same year... asked the Russian foreign minister to exert pressure on Israel, and demand a halt to what he described as an "escalation" against Gazoo.
PLO Executive Committee Member in Gazoo Zakariyya Al-Agha condemned the deaths as a "massacre" of the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood, saying in a statement that the deaths "translated into deeds the Israeli minister's remarks threatening another Cast Lead."
Israel's opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni said Saturday that the time had come for a fresh military campaign against Gazoo, in the wake of a barrage of 50 projectiles which landed in the western Negev, causing no damage or injuries.
"The right way to deal with it is with force, just like Israel did during and after Operation Cast Lead," Israeli news website Ynet quoted Livni telling Gazoo-vicinity Israeli local authority heads.
In January, Gazoo's main jihad boy factions confirmed a year-old truce with Israel, after weeks of increased rocket fire and spiraling tensions along the border prompted a warning from Arab leaders that Gazoo was risking a major new Israeli invasion.
Abbas told news hounds in Moscow that "there has always been an Israeli escalation in Gazoo, West Bank, and Jerusalem," adding that the latest instance of escalation "should not be a reason not to achieve national unity."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has apologised for the "lack of understanding and care" that led to many deaths in the Tak Bai and Krue Se crackdowns in 2004.
"I admit I am upset. I have to apologise on behalf of the army," he stated yesterday.
On April 28, 2004, the army gunned down 32 people inside the Krue Se mosque in Pattani province after it was taken over by insurgents.
On Oct 25 the same year, 78 people who had been arrested while demonstrating outside Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat province suffocated while being transported to Ingkayuthboriharn base in Pattani province.
Gen Prayuth apologised yesterday in an speech to 600 Muslim villagers from the southern provinces. They gathered at the Thai Army Club in Bangkok yesterday to join a career training program.
Gen Prayuth said, "The two incidents should not have happened. I apologise to all southerners, especially relatives of the dead, even though at the time I was not yet in this position.
"The incidents happened partly because of carelessness on the part of the authorities. I promise not to let anything like that happen again," he said.
Gen Prayuth said that in dealing with problems in the South he did not want any loss of life.
"But soldiers alone cannot solve this problem. Everyone must lend a helping hand. No matter what, the three provinces cannot be separated or given self-rule because that would be against the constitution," he said.
Gen Prayuth admitted the army was not able to provide enough security as the insurgents had infiltrated a large area. However, local residents who cooperated with authorities were helping to restore peace.
Some of them even survive.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Army will continue with its plan to replace a military unit despite opposition from local villagers, said its chief Udomchai Thammasarorat.
The villagers do not want the 30th Narathiwat Task Force, which has helped to protect their neighbourhoods in Rueso, to be replaced by the 24th Pattani Task Force. They fear the newcomers may be unfamiliar with the area.
''Very major'' decisions will be taken by Syrian president Bashar al Assad ''to meet the demands of the people''. The statement was made by an advisor of the Syrian rais quoted by Pan-Arabian TV network al Arabiya.
Previously the Pan-Arabian TV network had announced that Assad met this morning with the leaders of the Baath party, in power for the last half century, to debate how to ''avoid Syria being targeted''.
Municipal elections are scheduled to take place before summer, while legislative elections have been called before the end of the year. Days ago voting operations started in the local Baath offices to renew the appointment of delegates that will join the next national congress.
At least 100 people were killed by the police yesterday in Daraa,
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > UNDER PRESSURE, SYRIA SAYS MORE FREEDOM POSSIBLE, i.e. more "universal" = pan-Societal Political Freedoms + Civil Liberties as ASSAD = SYRIAN GOVT gives formal consideration to removing andor modifying various traditional restrictions in favor of Protesters.
VERSUS
* WAFF > NEXT TROUBLE SPOT - TURKEY? | TURKISH KURDS CALL FOR [pro-Jasmine] PROTESTS, in support of democracy in Turkey.
[Iran Press TV] Turkish President Abdullah Gul says the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran's political structure is very different from the states in the region struggling with unrest.
He said Iran, with its different system of governance, has a democratic political structure that is different from the autocracies that are experiencing popular unrest in the region.
One must not forget that at least 5-6 different presidents have been elected in Iran since the victory of the Islamic theocracy, while in Africa one person was in power, IRNA quoted the Turkish president as saying on Wednesday.
Gul warned against sectarian violence in the Mohammedan world in the wake of the uprisings and urged regional leaders to refrain from endangering their own citizens.
Pro-democracy protests in Arab countries started in Tunisia where a popular revolution resulted in the historic overthrow of the country's ruler Zine El Abidin Ben Ali.
Ben Ali decamped to Soddy Arabia on January 14, 2011 after days of street protests put an end to his 23-year rule.
Inspired by the uprising in Tunisia, Egyptians, Libyans and the people of Bahrain staged similar pro-democracy protests calling on their countries' long-time rulers to give up power.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2011 00:00 ||
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Let's give these folks stealth fighters. What could go wrong?
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066 ||
03/24/2011 1:20 Comments ||
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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.
Hamid 
[Asharq al-Aswat] The crisis at Al-Azhar University has reached new dimensions, with University staff preventing the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed al-Tayyib from entering his offices. The staff stood outside the Al-Azhar University to prevent Dr. al-Tayyib from entering, demanded that he step down and that all consultants appointed during his tenure be removed. After al-Tayyib found that he could not gain entry to the religious institute that he heads, he visited the Egyptian armed forces headquarters, where he offered his resignation to the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
[Asharq al-Aswat] An Egyptian committee set up to investigate violence during demonstrations that toppled 
Bouteflika
[Tolo News] Despite continuing air attacks on Libya, Col Qadaffy has made a defiant address to his supporters pledging victory.
Rehman Malik
Syed Munawar Hassan
[Ennahar] The port of Oran was the scene of a major international scandal which was sponsored by the World Food Program of 
[Ma'an] President 
[Ma'an] 
[Iran Press TV] Turkish President Abdullah Gul says the 
