[Tolonews] - The Islamic Republic of Iran has decided to deport 900,000 Afghan refugees in three months, reports say.
Don't expect the professional hand-wringers to say a word.
The Iranian Ministry of Interior has given a 3-month deadline to the Afghan refugees who have no proper documents, to leave the country voluntarily Each Afghan refugee who leaves voluntarily will receive $150 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iranian Ministry of Interior says.
The issue of Afghan refugees in Iran has been a major challenge for the Afghan government in the recent years. There are currently around 3 million Afghan refugees living in Iran.
The Afghan Ministry of Immigration and Returnees has pledged to do what it can to facilitate the return of Afghan refugees from Iran in cooperation with the UNHCR.
Officials from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Japan had previously decided to hold a joint meeting in Tokyo by the end of the year 2011 to discuss Afghan refugees, but the Iranian officials says that the meeting will be held in another country soon.
#2
The Iranians are having the same problems as any other country with large numbers of refugees, with the additional problems of smuggling and narcotics trafficking.
As far as "trained nutjobs" - the Iranians would only be concerned with the ones that want to practice their craft within Iran. The IRGC already had their brand of nutjob operating within western Afghanistan.
[Tolonews] - The Islamic Republic of Iran has decided to deport 900,000 Afghan refugees in three months, reports say.
The Iranian Ministry of Interior has given a 3-month deadline to the Afghan refugees who have no proper documents, to leave the country voluntarily Each Afghan refugee who leaves voluntarily will receive $150 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iranian Ministry of Interior says.
The issue of Afghan refugees in Iran has been a major challenge for the Afghan government in the recent years.
The Afghan Ministry of Immigration and Returnees has pledged to do what it can to facilitate the return of Afghan refugees from Iran in cooperation with the UNHCR.
There are currently around 3 million Afghan refugees living in Iran.
Officials from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Japan had previously decided to hold a joint meeting in Tokyo by the end of the year 2011 to discuss Afghan refugees, but the Iranian officials says that the meeting will be held in another country soon.
[Tolonews] - The Islamic Republic of Iran has decided to deport 900,000 Afghan refugees in three months, reports say.
The Iranian Ministry of Interior has given a 3-month deadline to the Afghan refugees who have no proper documents, to leave the country voluntarily Each Afghan refugee who leaves voluntarily will receive $150 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iranian Ministry of Interior says.
The issue of Afghan refugees in Iran has been a major challenge for the Afghan government in the recent years.
The Afghan Ministry of Immigration and Returnees has pledged to do what it can to facilitate the return of Afghan refugees from Iran in cooperation with the UNHCR.
There are currently around 3 million Afghan refugees living in Iran.
Officials from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Japan had previously decided to hold a joint meeting in Tokyo by the end of the year 2011 to discuss Afghan refugees, but the Iranian officials says that the meeting will be held in another country soon.
[Dawn] Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... -led night raids after the military insisted the operations will continue despite the recent death of a pregnant woman.
Karzai has led public criticism of the controversial raids, saying they endanger lives and harass local communities, and repeatedly called on US-led international forces to stop entering Afghan homes.
The latest spat comes after the pregnant wife of an anti-drugs official was killed during a raid in the eastern Paktia province in the early hours of Saturday when NATO-led forces returned gunfire coming from a compound.
NATO has defended the operations as the safest way of targeting beturbanned goon leaders, insisting they will continue but with the increasing involvement of Afghan special forces.
"The president of Afghanistan wants an immediate halt to the night raids and house searches of Afghans," presidential front man Aimal Faizi said. "He doesn't want any foreigner to go to the homes of Afghans and search their homes."
A loya jirga meeting of Afghan elders last month made halting the raids a condition of a strategic partnership document being negotiated with Washington.
The agreement will govern the relationship between American troops and the Afghan government after the scheduled withdrawal of combat troops in 2014.
"What NATO officials say is in total contradiction to the decisions of the loya jirga, to the demands of the Afghan people...and it is in total contradiction to what the president of Afghanistan wants," Faizi said. "One of the main reasons that we have not been able to agree on a strategic partnership is the problem of night raids on Afghan houses."
He said the Afghan government would have no problem with the raids if they were "100 per cent conducted by Afghans".
"We don't want the war on terrorism to be fought inside people's houses," he added.
The front man for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, said in 85 per cent of night raids no shot is fired and they cause less than one per cent of civilian casualties.
"Night operations remain the safest form of operations conducted to take beturbanned goon leaders off the battlefield," he said Monday. Jacobson said it was in everybody's interests to "Afghanise" the night raids as quickly as possible, that numbers of Afghan special forces were being increased, and that Afghan troops were involved in almost all such operations.
The raid on Saturday targeted a leader of the Taliban-linked Haqqani beturbanned goon network, NATO said, but the Paktia provincial governor described it as an "arbitrary operation".
The provincial anti-drugs chief was jugged but has since been released. A suspected beturbanned goon remains in jug.
On Saturday, two maimed women were evacuated after they were found in a room where the shooting had come from and one of them, the pregnant wife of the anti-narcotics chief Hafeezullah, later died of a gunshot wound. Several of the man's sisters and daughters were also injured in the raid, he was quoted as saying.
According to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... , the number of civilians killed in violence in Afghanistan rose by 15 per cent in the first six months of this year to 1,462, with cut-throats blamed for 80 per cent of the killings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
I would propose the caped crusader lead a dozen daylight raids from the front
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2011 9:40 Comments ||
Top||
[Miami Herald] A major rebel leader was killed by South Sudan government forces, officials said Tuesday, providing a possible boost to the decampedgling East African government and U.S. ally.
The aging rebel, George Athor, was intercepted by a military patrol near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and killed, said South Sudan military front man Philip Aguer. Reports that Athor was killed in a firefight could not be confirmed.
An Athor front man said that he last spoke with the rebel leader Monday night. Asked to confirm his death, James Nuot Puot said, "Actually, I don't have a clue yet. I've been trying his phone since the morning."
Athor was just one of several rogue dissidents to take up arms against the South Sudanese leadership in the past two years, but the general's insider credentials posed a uniquely existential threat to the government. Before defecting, he had served for nearly two decades in the former rebel movement that now governs South Sudan, rising to the post of army deputy chief of staff. Athor tried to use that seniority to rally the myriad localized insurgencies under his own command, but with only limited success.
His loss deprives the armed opposition of perhaps its most prominent figure and could splinter the already disparate movements even further.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] In response to the region's unprecedented upheaval, Gulf Cooperation Council chief Abdul Latif al-Zayani said Tuesday that the group's six members agreed to "adopt King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah's ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... initiative to make the GCC countries a single entity."
King Abdullah on Monday asked the GCC leadership to "move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union," arguing the region's "security and stability are threatened" and that such challenges require "vigilance and a united stance."
He did not elaborate on what form such a union might take, or any proposed steps to create it.
The GCC -- comprised of Soddy Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates -- was formed in 1981 as a security alliance to counter post-revolution Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Rising Iran on one side, Rising China on the other ....
To wit,
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > INDIA [+ Sri Lanka + Maldives] TO ARREST CHINESE NAVAL FREEDOM IN INDIAN OCEAN REGION |[Hindustan Times] INDIA BEGINS TRILATERAL TALKS TO CHECK CHINA
[An Nahar] The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council called on arch rival Iran on Tuesday to "stop meddling" in the internal affairs of the group's members and urged Syria to "immediately halt its killing machine."
"Stop these policies and practices ... and stop interfering in the internal affairs" of the Gulf nations, said a statement released at the end of the GCC annual summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The Sunni-led GCC also expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over attempts by Shiite Iran to "instigate sectarian strife."
The GCC also called on Iran to "fully cooperate" with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency and work to resolve regional conflicts "peacefully," adding that the GCC nations were still committed to a Middle East "free of weapons of mass destruction."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] The Awami League-led 14-party alliance together with other like-minded parties will launch simultaneous political programmes across the country to resist the opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... 's latest "move to protect the war criminals".
The decision was made last night at a three-hour meeting of the ruling alliance, which also decided to mobilise public support in favour of the war crimes trial.
Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also AL president, the meeting held at the Gono Bhaban discussed the current political situation of the country.
The AL move comes against the backdrop of Sunday's street chaos in the capital and elsewhere in the country, which AL blames on BNP and its key ally Jamaat,claiming it was aimed at foiling the war crimes trial.
On Sunday, a series of crude homemade bombs went off in central Dhaka as hundreds of activists of BNP and Jamaat clashed with police, smashed more than a dozen vehicles and set some of those on fire.
A 24-year-old youth was killed in a bomb kaboom at the capital's Motijheel while another man died when some unruly people torched two vehicles in Sylhet, police said.
The government and the opposition blamed each other for the incident.
AL acting general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif told The Daily Star after the meeting, "We along with all the pro-liberation war political parties will have strong presence on the streets to mobilise public support in favour of the war crimes trial."
The meeting decided to hold street programme programmes including mass gatherings, rallies and human chain across the country to drum up public support against the opposition's "conspiracy", meeting sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[Bangla Daily Star] Prosecution witness Mizanur Rahman Talukder yesterday at the International Crimes Tribunal demanded exemplary punishment of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi. ...Islamic orator and politician. He was a former Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008, and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami... On Monday, he narrated how Sayeedi and other collaborators brutally tortured his elder brother during the Liberation War in 1971.
Mizanur said the Jamaat leader and other collaborators picked up his brother Abdul Mannan Talukder on his way home from work in Pirojpur either on May 21 or May 22, and "mentally and physically" tortured him the whole night.
The collaborators tried to coerce Mannan into bringing freedom fighter Mizanur to the camp. And he was let go on condition that Mizanur would be brought to the camp, third prosecution witness Mizanur said in his statement.
"As a proud freedom fighter, I demand exemplary punishment of Delwar Hossain, also known as Sayeedi, for physically and mentally torturing my brother and the other misdeeds he committed during the Liberation War," Mizanur said concluding his statement before the court yesterday.
Sayeedi is facing charges of crimes against humanity during 1971 at the International Crimes Tribunal.
The three-member tribunal led by its Chairman Justice Nizamul Huq finished recording the third prosecution witness' deposition yesterday after which Sayeedi's counsels began cross-examining the witness.
His cross-examination will resume today.
"Delwar Hossain, also known as Sayeedi, was directly and indirectly involved in all the misdeeds that took place in the Pirojpur area including arsons, killings, lootings, abuse of women and forceful conversion of Hindus to Islam and handing over women to Mighty Pak Army for rape when the Mighty Pak Army and collaborators set up a camp in Parerhaat [of Pirojpur] after May 7, 1971," he told the tribunal yesterday.
Soon after his deposition ended, defence counsel Mizanul Islam began the cross-examination of Mizanur.
During the cross-examination, Mizanur said the peace committee was functioning underground in Pirojpur before the Mighty Pak Army went there. The committee had started its operations openly with the army's arrival.
He also said he received two to three days' training in Pirojpur stadium to become a freedom fighter.
Counsel Mizanul Islam then told the witness that there was no stadium in Pirojpur during the Liberation War, and the place where the current stadium stands used to be a paddy field.
Mizanur said it was not true.
At one point of the cross-examination, defence counsel Kafil Uddin Chowdhury asked the witness when after the independence of Bangladesh he was registered as a freedom fighter.
"I've been a freedom fighter since I joined the Liberation War," was the response from Mizanur.
Kafil tried to clarify his question by asking when was Mizanur "officially enlisted as a freedom fighter".
He said he was officially enlisted as a freedom fighter in the "first published list".
When the defence counsel asked the date when Mizanur's name was included, Mizanur, seemingly irritated, replied, "I don't remember."
Kafil then told Mizanur that he went to India during the Liberation War and returned after the independence of Bangladesh.
Mizanur said it was not true.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
#3
Dear North Korea, we are really sorry that Kimmie croaked, mostly because either the kid is going to be worse, or else you will start a war as part of the power struggle that is likely to happen.
Love,
South Korea
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/21/2011 18:21 Comments ||
Top||
#4
As per FREEREPUBLIC, NORTH KOREA says they got one from former POTUS Jimmy Carter.
Pudgy Kim Jong-un, North Korea's new leader, will share power with an uncle and the military after the death of his father Kim Jong-il as the isolated country shifts to collective rule from strongman dictatorship, according to reports.
The source, with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing, told Reuters that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after world War Two.
The source also said Beijing was only notified of Kim's death earlier on Monday, the same day that North Korean state television broadcast the news. Kim died on Saturday.
The situation in North Korea appeared stable after the military gave its backing to Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong-un, the source said.
Not that anyone at Roooters would have any insight into 'stability' in Nork-land, and so can't judge whether the source is just blowing smoke up their collective hind ends...
"It's very unlikely," the source said when asked about the possibility of a military coup. "The military has pledged allegiance to Kim Jong-un.
#2
Maybe not a rumor. For all intents and purposes, Nork is a military dictatorship, with the rest of the country just a support mechanism.(*)
Kim Jong Il was very wasteful of "military resources", and prone to strategic and tactical mistakes in directing the military. Military men do not appreciate being ordered to do things against their better judgment. Especially if it is likely to end up with a major and humiliating defeat.
If this is the case, I suspect that "The Great Suck" is little more than a puppet. It also implies that the military will soon be purging a lot of the more parasitic government functionaries who were in power strictly because of their relationship to the dear deceased.
(*) Oddly enough, the Soviet Union was not a military dictatorship, because Stalin saw in the US example of the value of "balance of power" in stabilizing government. So the communist party, the army, and the KGB divided up power, and when one branch became too strong, the other two would cut it down to size.
Unfortunately for them, this system ended with the ascension of Andropov, a KGB man, who set the course of the country to KGB domination, which was undermined by Yeltsin, but restored by Putin. Today, once again, the Kremlin is an agency of the FSB, despite pretensions to democracy.
Military dictatorships have their own rules, and only the wiser ones tend to survive.
#3
Jang Song-thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il and the younger Kim's uncle, was named in 2009 to the National Defence Commission, the supreme leadership council Kim Jong-il led as head of the military state.
Interesting, *not* a Kim. Either it's true, or this guy is about to become a cautionary lesson in not trying for power via the dubious power of rumor. We'll know via his severed head or lack thereof in a few days, no doubt.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/21/2011 9:17 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Not surprising. Actually kinda smart to keep a military take over from happening.
#5
They will not share power. His Uncle is in charge plain and simple. His Uncle has deep connections to the military where as Kim does not even know a single flag officer. The state will be a military dictatorship with China's help.
#8
I think Pudgy is just a figurehead. Auntie and Uncle need a figurehead to deflect attention and keep the adoring masses in line, since (I suspect) Auntie and Uncle have the collective charisma of a syphilitic camel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 12:55 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Seems they did learn a little from Stalin: Troika.
#10
Himself or by Troika, the immediate priority is halting the spread of famine to the DPRK Armed Forces, followed next the rest.
IFF THE ABOVE CAN'T OR "WON'T" BE STOPPED, ESPEC DUE TO FEAR OF CONSEQUENCE TO PERSONAL = REGIME POWER + CONTROL, THEN IMO THE rok + US-WEST HAD BETTER PREP FOR THE SERIOUS TO CATASROPHIC MIL INCIDENTS THAT KIMMIE DODN'T GET TO DO BEFORE HE CROAKED.
The USS "Mighty/Holy George" + sister CVNS aren't out of danger yet just because Big Daddy Kimmie passed.
#11
See WORLDTRIBUNE > [Significant] EROSION OF NORTH KOREAN MILITARY DISCIPLINE PROMPTED REPEATED WARNINGS FROM KIM [Kim Jong-Il], since the latter first assumed power according to SOKOR Sources.
Poor economy + lack of food was penetrating the lower ransk of the DPRK Armed Forces.
Pyongyang (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il, the great father of the Korean people, passed away too suddenly.
The DPRK is overcome with bitter sorrow at the demise of the father of the nation who had energetically worked day and night for prosperity of the socialist homeland and the happiness of people all his life.
Its army and people's loyalty and sense of obligation to him are now growing higher than ever before.
They are resolutely rising up to change their sorrow into great strength and courage with the noble sense of moral obligation and immovable faith and will to hold Kim Jong Il in high esteem forever and glorify his feats for all ages.
The hearts of all servicepersons and people are replete with the pledge to hold in high esteem the great Kim Jong Il forever and make neither concession nor delay on the road of the Juche revolution, the Songun revolution true to his behests.
The Korean people have suffered the great loss but are decisively rising up as they have Kim Jong Un, great successor to the revolutionary cause of Juche and prominent leader of the party and the army and people of the DPRK who is standing in the van of the Korean revolution.
He is another great person produced by Korea who is identical to Kim Jong Il.
No force on earth can block the revolutionary advance of our party, army and people wisely led by Kim Jong Un.
#5
Did they ever admit that his father was pining for the fjords? They seem to be fond of a apotheosis justification for the existence of deceased Kims.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/21/2011 9:20 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Well, they saved Hitler's brain. As well as Lenin's, Stalin's, "Ol' Frank" Roosevelt.
However, Mao was not so lucky. His brain ended up as a Lion's Head meatball, in of all places, Newark, New Jersey, where it was consumed in a Chinese restaurant by a Mr. and Mrs. Irving Fonebone, who ate it despite having thought they ordered vegetarian egg rolls, due to a translation error by their daughter Zelda, a freshman Chinese language student, who asked their Puerto Rican waiter for what sounded to him like "Mao's brain ball soup".
North Korea's dismal economy has shrunk for the second year running. To hide this, the regime has not released any official economic data, but the U.S. estimates the North's grain yield by comparing satellite images.
Various public projects in preparation for regime founder Kim Il-sung's centenary in 2012 are on the skids, and the North is flogging underground resources to China at rock-bottom prices to pay for them. The rationing system, the backbone of socialist planned economy, has nearly collapsed, and North Koreans are suffering from shortages of food and goods. Of a population of 24 million, 4 million people in Pyongyang and surrounds are living off rations from the central government, but the rest are essentially dependent on private markets.
According to the Bank of Korea, the North posted a GDP growth of 3.1 percent in 2008. But GDP shrank 0.9 percent in 2009 and 0.5 percent in 2010. Last year, the North's gross national income amounted to about W30 trillion, a mere 1/39 of South Korea's W1,173.1 trillion. Its per capita GNI was W1.24 million, only 1/19 of South Korea's W24 million (US$1=W1,173).
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
" ... The rest are essentially dependent on private markets" > And iff MSM-Net Repors are true, more + more DPRK Soldiers want in.
#4
The rationing system, the backbone of socialist planned economy, has nearly collapsed, and North Koreans are suffering from shortages of food and goods.
North Korea's official KCNA news agency on Monday said leader Kim Jong-il died of a sudden heart attack and the cause of death was confirmed in an autopsy, although it remains unclear whether the procedure was actually performed.
Rats, I had my money on acute cirrhosis...
When former leader Kim Il-sung died in July 1994 the North also performed an autopsy, and the Soviet Union also did the same amid the power struggles after the deaths of Lenin and Stalin.
According to the announcement, Kim "suffered an acute myocardial infarction, complicated by serious cardiogenic shock" and died at 8:30 a.m. despite immediate emergency treatment. His autopsy was performed the following day, it added.
Kim's health had been closely monitored by a medical team that travelled with him on his armored train, and this could have led to rumors of an assassination possibly from poisoning or other methods unless an autopsy revealed that he died of natural causes. Kim Jong-il revealed the results of an autopsy when his father died in 1994, but there were still rumors that he left him to die by delaying emergency treatment.
Experts say Kim Jong-il's son and heir Pudgy Jong-un, who still lacks a solid power base, needed legitimate facts detailing the cause of his father's death to prevent an internal rebellion. "Through the autopsy, Kim Jong-un and the military brass around him sought to wrap up the situation quickly and prevent any suspicion about the legitimacy of his succession," one expert said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
See also WORLD NEWS > WORLD [on]ALERT FOR CHINESE WHISPERS ON NORTH KOREA.
What does Beijing intend wid Jong-Un, how will it respond?
What a wonderful day it is to be a Kremlinologist...
The North Korean regime on Monday issued a list of 232 people who make up the funeral committee for dead leader Kim Jong-il. Experts believe the order more or less matches their rank in the pecking order.
Kim's son and designated heir Jong-un is at the top of the list.
Kim Keun-sik, a North Korean expert at Kyungnam University, said, "The list is in the order of members of the standing committee of the Politburo, then members and candidate members. It shows that the party will be stronger power than the military," because Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law Jang Song-taek or O Kuk-ryol, the vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, are listed further down."
One reason could be that Sonny Boy Kim Jong-un is not yet a member of the commission, unlike his father, who ruled the country through it.
Fat Boy's Kim Jong-un's aunt Kim Kyong-hui and her husband Jang Song-taek are in 14th and 19th in the list, even though Jang was widely believed to be the eminence grise behind Kim Jong-il. Kim's exiled eldest son Fredo Jong-nam is not listed, nor are his middle son Jong-chol and virtually exiled half-brother Pyong-il, the perpetual North Korean Ambassador to Poland.
One expert on North Korea said, "It's natural for their names to be excluded from the funeral committee as it is mostly filled with people with official titles."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Kim's son and designated heir Jong-un is at the top of the list.
After all, it wouldn't do to show up the Norks in their time of grief by demonstrating that the South has things like, oh, electricity...
The South Korean government and military on Monday tried to persuade evangelical groups not to light three giant Christmas tree along the North Korean border after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
A government official said, "Since lighting up trees along the North Korean border areas including Aegibong Peak could provoke the North Korean leadership and military, we would rather not to proceed with the plan. The military delivered the decision to religious groups."
The Defense Ministry on Dec. 11 accepted requests from evangelicals to light up the steel Christmas trees to promote freedom of religion in the North. The Christmas trees were to be and lit up for 15 days from Dec. 23 to Jan. 6. North Korea threatened to dire consequences if that happened.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Even the ocean displays more lights than the DPRK.
Masses of people in Pyongyang paid their respects to dead North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Tuesday, much as they had done the previous day, while a tense regime clamped down on all other activities.
China's state-run CCTV broadcast the images of thousands of Pyongyang residents paying their respects in Kim Il-sung Square and the Pyongyang Gymnasium. But the streets were almost empty and few people were seen at bus stops where they usually form long lines. Flags hung at half-mast and most restaurants and shops were closed, it said. AP said Pyongyang remained orderly even while apparently grief-stricken.
The North is deporting foreigners out of Pyongyang, Sinuiju and the Rajin-Sonbong special economic zone, and restricting travel. Missionaries and businessmen of U.S. nationality who were engaged in charity work in the economic zone and Sinuiju were forced to leave. A Chinese man who took a flight from Pyongyang on Tuesday said, "Foreigners weren't allowed to leave their accommodation after Kim Jong-il's death was announced." The North Korean authorities are also stopping foreigners from entering and are issuing no new visas until Dec. 29.
Controls in the North have been strengthened further. In major cities all gatherings of over four people except to mourn the dead leader's death have been banned, and armed soldiers have been positioned in the streets. The Daily NK quoted a source in Onsong as saying the soldiers warned people not to move or pay the price.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm thinking that a good Rantburg nickname for him would be "Pugsley" or "Pubert", aka "The Great Succ."
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense confirmed during a Tuesday morning conference call with members of Congress that the administration will be reducing the National Guard troop presence on the border with Mexico by 75 percent, according to Texas Republican Rep. Ted Poe.
The briefing featured U.S. Customs and Border Protection Assistant Commissioner David V. Aguilar, Border Patrol Chief Michael Fischer and DOD Assistant Secretary Paul Stockton.
The administration representatives revealed that the National GuardÂ’s presence on the border will be reduced from 1,200 to 300 troops and their budget will decrease from $120 million to $60 million.
“It is a mistake,” Poe told TheDC. “Last week Jason Altmire, Democrat from Pennsylvania, and I sent a letter to the president asking him not to reduce the number of National Guard troops. I’ve always thought 1,200 wasn’t enough. In fact I introduced legislation to put 10,000 at the border.”
Poe pointed to statistics as the reason he opposes the planned reduction.
“GAO, the General Accounting Office, says the border is only 44 percent secure,” said Poe. “Well, if we only control 44 percent, who controls the other 56 percent? It’s not Mexico, it’s not the United States, well who is it? It’s the drug cartels. So its an unwise decision.”
DHS and DOD announced Tuesday that they will be transitioning to an approach more focused on mobile and aerial surveillance.
#1
Good, they cost a fortune to keep there and they don' let them do any interdiction. Just look through binoculars at them, maybe give em the stink eye?
House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa has formally requested Attorney General Eric Holder's presence before his committee on Jan. 24, 2012, in a hearing that will examine Operation Fast and Furious.
"The hearing will examine flaws in the management structure of the Justice Department as demonstrated in the genesis and implementation of ATF's Operation Fast and Furious," Issa wrote in his request to Holder. "Specifically, the hearing will focus on what senior Department officials could and should have done to put a stop to this reckless program, as well as the specific areas where failures in communication and management occurred."
Issa cites a February 4, 2011, letter Holder's deputy Ronald Weich sent to Congress. The letter falsely stated that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) never allowed guns to "walk" to Mexico. Holder and several of his deputies have since admitted that statement was not true.
The letter, which Issa sent Thursday and released to press on Monday, shows Issa's staff has attempted to coordinate at least "six alternate dates" in January and February for a hearing, but Holder's team has not responded. Issa requested a response from Holder by Jan. 3 about whether he will agree to a Jan. 24 hearing date.
The letter is simply a request, and does not compel Holder to appear. But if the attorney general chooses to ignore the letter, Issa may subpoena him. A subpoena would compel Holder to testify or risk contempt of Congress proceedings.
During a Dec. 8 House Judiciary Committee hearing, Holder refused to agree to testify voluntarily when Issa asked if needed to serve him a subpoena. Holder only agreed to "consider" any of Issa's requests.
#1
“The hearing will examine flaws in the management structure of the Justice Department as demonstrated in the genesis and implementation of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious,” Issa wrote in his request to Holder.
Flaws in the management structure? Is that an euphemism for an agency that suffers from politicization and racism and which pushes a radical political agenda?
All F&F related stories are filed under 'Home Front: WoT and are considered WoT related, per previous moderator discussion. AoS.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a complaint requesting "forfeiture of property" belonging to a New Mexico gun dealer charged with knowingly selling weapons to straw purchasers operating on behalf of Mexican drug cartels. This crime occurred during the same time frame in which DOJ conducted its own gunwalking scheme, Operation Fast and Furious, encouraging other gun dealers to do exactly the same thing.
Rick Reese of New Deal Shooting Sports, according to DOJ, "sold firearms and ammunition to individuals, knowing that these firearms and the ammunition were being illegally sent to Mexico." DOJ claims that "the Reeses sold firearms and ammunition to confidential sources who were working with law enforcement and to undercover law enforcement agents posing as straw purchasers, believing that the confidential sources and agents intended to illegally smuggle the firearms and ammunition to Mexico."
"I hope my guns go to Mexico," DOJ quotes Reese -- who was arrested August 30th -- as saying in the complaint requesting a forfeiture judgement. "I hope they use them to shoot those [Mexican police officers]."
The Mexican Attorney General, Marisela Morales, has offered strong criticism for the traffic of weapons from the United States to Mexican drug cartels. "It is an attack on the safety of Mexicans," said Morales. But she wasn't talking about Reese's alleged crime.
[Dawn] Pakistain Mulim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on Tuesday said that Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) should hold elections in the country to seek fresh mandate from masses to save democracy, DawnNews reported.
Talking to media representatives at a local hotel, he said PML-N would not support any undemocratic or unconstitutional step to destabilise the democracy.
"Pakistain is facing isolation. There is an urgent need to stop committing blunders," said the party chief.
Sharif said any role for the Army in political affairs was totally unacceptable.
He said since the parliament failed to take decisions on issues of national importance, his party approached the Supreme Court on memo issue to ascertain the culprits behind the issue.
He regretted that the PPP did not accept PML-N's offer to defeat designs of anti-democratic forces when it was possible.
"We will consider lowering income tax and import duty to 10 per cent to enhance revenue collection, check tax evasion and corruption," said Sharif.
On energy generation, he said the country must generate power from its indigenous coal and gas reserves.
Answering a question, he said PML-N would decide at appropriate time to have electoral alliance with any party.
On Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... issue, he said "I see ray of hope in retrieving the situation in the province by holding dialogues, for which I have already met the Baloch leaders including Attaullah Maingal and would do so in future."
Sharif also announced that his party would discuss its election manifesto on December 23. The party will incorporate the points about economic growth, resolution of energy crisis and jobs creation in its election manifesto, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Pak Daily Times] The CIA has stopped firing missiles at snuffies in Pakistain since last month's deadly NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... Arclight airstrikes along the Afghan border so as not to "aggravate" already strained ties with Islamabad, the chief of Senate Defence's Committee said on Tuesday.
The 33-day pause is the longest since the programme began in 2004, according to The Long War Journal, a website that tracks the strikes.
Tensions between Pakistain and the United States are at their lowest ebb in years following the November 26 Arclight airstrikes at the Pakistain Army border outpost that killed 24 soldiers. The Pak Army responded by closing its border with Afghanistan to trucks carrying US and NATO war supplies. It is demanding a complete review of its relationship with Washington.
Javed Ashraf Qazi, the defence committee chief, said he believed the pause in attacks was because the US "does not want to aggravate the situation any further."
Still, Qazi, a former army general who gets high-level briefings because of his position on the committee, said he believed that if the United States had a "high-level" target in its sights then, "I think they would go ahead" and launch a strike. "If they do so, the results could get worse," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Vice President Biden spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Council of Representatives Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi on Tuesday, as sectarian tensions in the country rose after U.S. troops pulled out Sunday.
An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, who then accused al-Maliki, a Shiite, of issuing "fabricated charges."
The dust-up has raised concerns that the Sunni-Shiite relations will unravel in Iraq without U.S. troops there to keep the peace.
Gee, wonder when that concern came up?
Republican senators hammered President Obama on Tuesday for allowing U.S. troops to leave, blaming the renewed tensions on the lack of a U.S. deterrent. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called for the administration to re-open negotiations for a small U.S. military presence in Iraq.
Biden told the Iraqi leaders Tuesday that the United States was monitoring the situation closely, according to a White House readout of the call. The vice president emphasized the need for an "inclusive partnership government" and the importance of acting within the Iraqi constitution. He stressed the need for the prime minister and leaders of the other major blocs to meet and work out their differences.
Perhaps getting a phone call from the prez.."Ah, President Obama, nice to hear from you again, will you be discussing something other than your basketball brackets this morning?"
Aswat al-Iraq: One of the bodyguards of Iraqi vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi confessed a number of assassination operations.
The first operation was directed against director of Risafa health department in 2009 and the second is the assassination of a foreign ministry official for financial rewards.
Well-informed sources said that an arrest warrant was issued today by the Higher Judicial Council against Hashimi for actions described as "terrorist acts".
Earlier, the confessions were due to be broadcast on Saturday last, but postponed for investigation reasons.
(Xinhua) -- Iraqi leaders on Tuesday called for urgent talks among the country's political parties to end the deepening political crisis after a judicial body issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on terror charges.
A time to worry: Joe Biden is working the phones to defuse the crisis...
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on leaders of Iraqi political parties to hold an urgent meeting to resolve the political crisis that erupted after accusing the Sunni vice president of criminal masterminding terror charges, the state-run channel of Iraqia quoted Maliki's media advisor Ali al-Mussawi as saying.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani criticized the hasty action of issuing arrest warrant against Hashimi, a Sunni Arab, which sparked tensions among Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite communities.
In a statement on the website of his office, Talabani said that such move that "directly touch the national political reconstruction entails participation by all parties in actions and decisions with guaranteeing full independence of the judiciary and non-interference in its affairs."
He affirmed that the political parties "have to exercise utmost sense of responsibility and discipline" by avoiding provocative blurbs to provide appropriate environment for the calm political action.
Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi on Tuesday described the disclose of confessions of Hashimi's bodyguards as "clear tendency to spread suspicion among us."
Nujaifi called for "a national conference at a time when the political process is exposed to violent shocks."
The country's highest judiciary body issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on terror charges Monday, based on the Article Four of the country's anti-terrorism law.
The latest political row came after Hashimi's Sunni-backed parliamentary bloc of Iraqia, headed by Ayad Allawi, boycotted the parliament sessions since Saturday in protest over Maliki's attempts to alleged monopolizing power after the U.S. troops pulled out of the country.
On Sunday, Maliki asked the parliament to withdraw confidence from his Sunni deputy Salih al-Mutlak after the latter described Maliki as "dictator."
The latest development shows the growing struggle between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's leading Shi'ite bloc and his political rivals, as the U.S. troops concluded their withdrawal plan Sunday, leaving less than 200 personnel in the country on training mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Talabani said that such move that 'directly touch the national political reconstruction entails participation by all parties'..."
And if Malaki had consulted all parties, Hashimi would have mysteriously vanished safely from the capital before an arrest warrant could be served.
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/21/2011 18:01 Comments ||
Top||
[Iran Press TV] Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has denied charges of involvement in acts of terrorism against government officials, Press TV reports.
The denial comes a day after the Iraqi interior ministry issued an arrest warrant for Hashemi after three of his bodyguards made confessions of taking orders from the vice president to carry out terrorist attacks in the country over the past years.
The interior ministry showed videos of the confessions during a presser in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Monday, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The bodyguards said they took orders from Hashemi "personally and he was the one who paid them."
Ghassan Jassim Hameed, one of the bodyguards, said, "He (Hashemi) told me that I have to join his group to implement attacks and liquidations against Iraqi officials."
Another bodyguard, Ahmed Shawqi, said his first assignment "in 2009 was planting an IED (improvised bomb) to assassinate an official within the health ministry."
On Tuesday, an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... said the Iraqi premier called on different political groups to resolve the "crisis" in the country.
The Iraqiya party, which holds 82 of the 325 seats in the Iraqi parliament, issued a statement on Saturday, saying the bloc "is suspending its participation in parliament from Saturday and calling for the opening of a round-table to find a solution that will support democracy and civil institutions."
The bloc accuses Maliki of "monopolizing all decision-making."
Iraqiya is a political coalition of Hashimi's Renewal List party, the Iraqi National List led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi ... Iraqi politician, interim Prime Minister prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A former Ba'athist, Allawi helped found the Iraqi National Accord, which today is an active political party. He survived liquidation attempts in 1978, in 2004, and on April 20, 2005. One of these days he won't... and the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue led by Saleh al-Mutlak.
Adil Daham, a front man for the Iraqi interior ministry, said the arrest warrant was issued "according to Article 4 of the Iraqi Constitution."
The Iraqi vice president has reportedly flown to the northern city of Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
(Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan police tossed in the slammer eighteen opposition members including some local councilors on Tuesday over the violence which erupted during elections for the opposition leader's post the previous day.
A police front man told Xinhua that among the suspects tossed in the slammer were two leading provincial councilors of the opposition United National Party who had backed the losing candidate at Monday's polls.
Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was re- elected as the opposition leader and leader of the United National Party defeating his rival Karu Jayasuriya.
Jayasuriya, a deputy leader of the United National Party, was favored to win the election and had the backing of members within the party.
Violence broke out when the election results were announced on Monday evening resulting in the fence around the headquarters of United National Party being razed to the ground and several vehicles and the building being pelted with stones.
General Secretary of the United National Party Tissa Attanayake said that a complaint was lodged with the police following the violence and some party members were also identified as suspects.
The police said they have tossed in the slammer United National Party councilors Maithri Gunaratne and Siral Lakthilaka as well as sixteen others and will be producing them in court.
Jayasuriya meanwhile accepted the election results and appealed to his supporters to remain calm and not resort to violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The majority of Hamas leaders have left Damascus and the tensions between the Palestinian movement and the Syrian regime have reached their peak, London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Wednesday, quoting an Islamic source.
According to the source, Syrian President Bashar Assad has refused to meet with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal after the latter called for reforms in Syria following the oppression of opposition protestors.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's attempts to mediate between the two have been futile. The source noted that apart from Mashaal, the movement's leaders have left Syria in favor of several countries.
Mashaal's deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, reportedly left Damascus for Amman. According to the source, Jordan agreed to take him in under the condition that he avoids engaging in any political activity on its territory.
The Hamas leadership was deported from Jordan about a decade ago before settling in Syria.
Hmmm: would it be easier for Mossad to reach out and touch Moussa if he's in Amman, or would that just create problems needlessly?
America's most senior military official has indicated that the country is ready to engage in a conflict with Iran, if President Barack Obama were to give the signal.
Leon Panetta is a war-monger? Leon Panetta??
Tensions have been growing in the region following international condemnation over Tehran's growing nuclear ambitions. Last month, Britain's ambassador to Iran was expelled from the country following attacks on the British Embassy. The US is also involved in a standoff over a downed spy drone, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has refused to return despite America's requests.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that the US military had reached a point where they were ready to execute force against Iran if necessary. In an interview with US media in Afghanistan he said: "We are examining a range of options. I'm satisfied that the options that we are developing are evolving to a point that they would be executable if necessary."
His comments come just days after Leon Panetta, US secretary of defence, said "no options were off the table" in stopping Iran develop a nuclear weapon.
#1
For the US to launch against Iran, the major focus of activity would be Diego Garcia. But a big question is how much they have been restocked since GW I and II.
There was at one point supposed to be enough 500lb iron bombs there to attack the southern third of the Soviet Union, but we about depleted our stock during GW I.
Importantly, a B-52 can carry 51 such 500 pounders, but only 32 250lb Small Diameter Bombs, which is just slightly more than the number of 1000lb bombs it could carry.
This shows the advantage of GPS guidance, BUT ONLY if GPS guidance works. It would be no surprise if by now, Iran has the largest collection of Russian built GPS jammers ever assembled.
If Iran does not have effective GPS jamming, the B-52s could drop its SDBs 110km away from their targets, at altitude, far outside the range of any SAM. With jammers, they would have to be right overhead, and use old style guidance.
#2
why not open a corridor to afganistan through southern iran. a plus would be the removal of the threat of a hormuz shutdown.
Posted by: dan ||
12/21/2011 12:43 Comments ||
Top||
#3
That would require us to cooperate with the Baluchi tribes in that part of southeast and east Iran. Imagine trying to work with a whole lot of Bugtis, and you'll see the problem.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 12:58 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Well, if Iran jams the GPS, I guess we would have to rely on good old fashioned Arclight strikes.
As for SAMs, I believe our current doctrine is to take out the radar sites and command and control sites first, using stealth aircraft.
After that, work on the refineries, electrical grid and other targets.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/21/2011 18:37 Comments ||
Top||
#5
See also TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > US GENERAL : US CAN "PREEMPTIVELY STRIKE" IRAN.
versus
* FREEREPUBLIC BLOGGER = Iranian friend claims that the majority of the people in Iran are NOT anti-US, + that the US = US-Allies should be covertly arming the populace to overthrow the Mullahs ]"Iran/Persian/Tehran Spring"] instead of threatening unilateral milstrikes or war.
As said before, the direct or indirect pressures/reasons for POTUS Bammer = USA to strike + invade Iran, in 2012 or after Jan 2013 iff he wins re-election, ARE MANY + STEADILY GROWING. HIS GOP OPPONENTS FOR 2012 ARE ESSENS SAYING THAT THEY ARE WILLING OR WILL WAGE WAR AGZ IRAN BECAUSE POTUS BAMMER IS TOO WEAK OR HESITANT TO DO SO.
IOW, IRAN = IT WON'T MATTER WHOM WINS THE 2012 POTUS ELECTIONS, DEM OR GOP, IN THE US.
Posted by: kelly ||
12/21/2011 19:58 Comments ||
Top||
#7
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS BLOGGER = believes that the US + Israel, etal. have NO REAL MIL CHOICE/OPTION IN WAR AGZ IRAN SAVE FOR MASS GROUND ATTACK + INVASION.
Also argues that for Iran to defeat any such US-Allied assault, the P-A-K [Pakistan-Afghan-Kahsmir] RAILWAY LINKING THE P-A-K STATES WID CHINA'S XINJIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION WILL BE KEY.
versus
* VARIOUS NET BLOGGERS > Iran's greatest "ace" in case of de facto War agz the US + Israel, etal. will be the allegedly WEAK POTUS BAMMER ADMIN = AKA "MUSLIM/PRO-MUSLIM, ISLAMIST OCCUPYING THE WHITE HOUSE/OVAL OFFICE"???
Ouchies.
versus
* PAKISTAN DEFENSE FORUM > WORK ON PAK-IRAN GAS LINE IN FULL SWING.
* SAME > WIELDING SOFT POWER, US OFFERS TO FINANCE T-A-P-I GAS PIPELINE, as more feasible than the I-P [Iran-Pak] pipeline project.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > MUSHARAF MAY SEEK [Civilian = reactors] N-POWER FROM US.
Two more explosions today. One at the big refinery in Isfahan, the other at the very important Revolutionary Guards base in Kerman, which is the headquarters for the RG's operations in the East (think Afghanistan, etc.).
The Isfahan explosion is this one related at YNet, and is the same one we noted yesterday.
I don't have casualty figures yet, but the Kerman blast was a biggie.
Can't find anything on the web for the Kerman blast.
I am told that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hasn't made a public appearance in more than two weeks. I don't have any way to check this, but he certainly hasn't been hogging the spotlight of late. That role is being played by the Iranian currency, the rial, which is in the same death spiral as the regime. It's dropped from 1300-and-change to the dollar to 1500-plus in a couple of weeks. Maybe Khamenei doesn't want to talk about the resounding success of his regime?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Even if most of these incidents are industrial accidents these rumors of sabotage have to be driving them nuts.
#2
Pretty soon they'll need a Reichstag fire to maintain power if they can;t stop all these other fires. That refinery is one that's really going to hit them hardest - an economic kick in the yarbles if it stays down for an extended period.
Might serve as a nice warning as to what happens to the Iranian economy if the Ayatollahs start a war and the US lobs a couple cruise missiles into that refinery as part of the response.
#3
Might have to wait until after the 2012 elections for anything to get to get lobbed into Iran. All the cans are getting kicked down the road until after elections.
#4
Just one individual with Explosive Ordnance Demolitions experience can be a nightmare.
New York City was about driven nuts for 16 years by "The Mad Bomber", George Metesky, who had just minimal military and electrical training.
Someone who really knows what they are doing could come close to paralyzing an entire country, especially if he has "non-suspicious access" to critical infrastructure, or materials going in to it, and a goodly amount of HMX explosive, about twice as potent as TNT, concealed with its detonator inside something that looks innocuous.
#5
I might add that the US government was so terrified of George Metesky, that they leaned on Hollywood to never, ever make a movie about him, with the reasonable fear that there are lots of others out there who could emulate him.
Oddly enough, the US Supreme Court eventually ordered him released. Being captured, "just a week or two from dying of Tuberculosis", he responded remarkably well to treatment, and having completed 2/3rds of his sentence, had he been in prison instead of committed, he would have been paroled.
He lived another 20 years, though the state never did give him his deserved workers compensation, a penny-ante cheat that ended up costing them a fortune.
[An Nahar] Iran has invited the U.N. atomic watchdog for a visit, but it is unclear whether inspectors would have access to sites where covert nuclear weapons activity is suspected, Western diplomats said Tuesday.
"Our understanding from our conversations with the IAEA is that... Iran has made a sort of general invitation, but there is nothing specific in there," one diplomat to the Vienna-based agency told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
"We don't know how the agency is going to reply yet. To us it seems in keeping with Iran trying to mollify the IAEA without really offering anything substantive."
A second diplomat said it was unclear whether the Iranian letter dated December 14 addressed any of the issues raised in November's hard-hitting report from the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency.
"I doubt the letter contains any offer of engagement" on such issues, the diplomat told AFP. "I am very skeptical on that."
The IAEA published a report on November 8 expressing "serious concerns" that the Islamic republic "has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear bomb".
Iran, already subject to four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions, rejected the report as "baseless".
Ten days later the IAEA board passed a resolution submitted by all five U.N. Security Council permanent members condemning Iran but stopping short of reporting it to New York or setting a deadline for Tehran to comply.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, angrily called the move "unprofessional, unbalanced, illegal and politicized" and said it put future cooperation with the agency in doubt.
Soltanieh was not immediately available for comment. "I can say no more!"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/21/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
[Dawn] 
[Miami Herald] A major rebel leader was killed by South Sudan government forces, officials said Tuesday, providing a possible boost to the
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah's
[Bangla Daily Star] The Awami League-led 14-party alliance together with other like-minded parties will launch simultaneous political programmes across the country to resist the opposition BNP and 
Prosecution witness Mizanur Rahman Talukder yesterday at the International Crimes Tribunal demanded exemplary punishment of 
Pyongyang (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il, the great father of the Korean people, passed away too suddenly.
North Korea's dismal economy has shrunk for the second year running. To hide this, the regime has not released any official economic data, but the U.S. estimates the North's grain yield by comparing satellite images.
North Korea's official KCNA news agency on Monday said leader Kim Jong-il died of a sudden heart attack and the cause of death was confirmed in an autopsy, although it remains unclear whether the procedure was actually performed.
Masses of people in Pyongyang paid their respects to dead North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Tuesday, much as they had done the previous day, while a tense regime clamped down on all other activities.
Nawaz Sharif
The CIA has stopped firing missiles at 
(Xinhua) -- Iraqi leaders on Tuesday called for urgent talks among the country's political parties to end the deepening political crisis after a judicial body issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on terror charges.
Nouri al-Maliki
(Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan police 
The majority of Hamas leaders have left Damascus and the tensions between the Palestinian movement and the Syrian regime have reached their peak, London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Wednesday, quoting an Islamic source. 
[An Nahar] Iran has invited the U.N. atomic watchdog for a visit, but it is unclear whether inspectors would have access to sites where covert nuclear weapons activity is suspected, Western diplomats said Tuesday.
