#1
Cost of doing business. Chieu hoi type programs are no different from army recruitment programs in this respect. Just as Taliban will infiltrate the Afghan government security services, fake Taliban will pretend to surrender. In Vietnam, it was estimated that 25% were genuine. However, the cost was nugatory and the program did indeed siphon off a great deal of communist guerrilla manpower, such that the communist victory in 1975 was achieved via a conventional cross border invasion using tanks, artillery and warplanes (purchased hastily on credit from the Soviets that North Vietnam was paying back a quarter century later).
[An Nahar] South Sudan must honor promises to investigate, arrest and prosecute those responsible for an kaboom of bloody ethnic violence in war-wracked Jonglei state, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... said Friday.
"To stem this horrific cycle of violence, the organizers have to be held to account," said Daniel Bekele, HRW's Africa director, adding U.N. and African bodies should help for "speed and credibility's sake."
"The government has repeatedly promised to investigate the attacks and hold those responsible to account, but it has not made any apparent progress in investigations or arrests," the New York-based rights group added.
Grossly impoverished South Sudan, the world's newest nation which declared independence last July, is reeling from a wave of bloody ethnic violence and rebel attacks.
Last month a marauding column of up to 8,000 armed youths from the Lou Nuer people marched on the remote town of Pibor, home to the rival Murle, whom they blame for cattle raiding and have vowed to exterminate.
Scores of people are being treated for machete and gunshot wounds at clinics, and over 140,000 people have been affected by the attacks and reprisal raids.
U.N. peacekeepers mandated to protect civilians have been unable to reliably assess how many people were killed during the brutal attacks last month.
"Murle leaders reported that more than 3,000 had been killed, while U.N. monitors have been able to confirm just a fraction of that figure and have not released an estimate of total casualties," HRW added.
Eyewitness testimonies gathered by the aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres) include reports of babies beaten against trees and women forced to watch their children have their throats slit.
HRW said a witness who visited an attack site days later had seen 12 dead bodies, including three women apparently "raped with blunt objects."
"This goes far beyond traditional cattle-rustling," Bekele said.
"The conflict is far more vicious, involving the deliberate targeting of villagers, including women and kiddies, for abuse and has taken on dangerous ethnic and political overtones."
U.N. peacekeepers and the government knew days in advance the militia column was advancing, but South Sudan's army failed to deploy in time.
That left forces in the area "too greatly outnumbered to intervene" HRW said, with government officials and U.N. peacekeepers telling civilians to flee for their lives ahead of the marauding force.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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... and not very successfully. [An Nahar] It was meant to be the historic trial of a dictator brought to justice by his long-suffering people, but the case against Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... has verged on the farcical as prosecutors and lawyers struggle to rise to the occasion.
From the start of the trial on August 3, lawyers representing Mubarak's victims drained the proceedings of gravitas as they jostled for the chance to hold forth on live television.
One man who identified himself as a lawyer told the chief judge, Ahmed Refaat, that Mubarak had in fact died some years ago and the man lying on the stretcher in the caged dock was a double.
He demanded a DNA analysis to establish the defendant's true identity.
During one recess, another lawyer declared his candidacy for upcoming presidential elections, promising to legalize hashish and export it.
But more galling to relatives of the roughly 850 people killed during the uprising that ousted Mubarak a year ago has been the prosecution's patchwork evidence against the man who ruled with an iron fist for 30 years.
Mubarak, his former interior ministry and six security chiefs are accused of ordering the killings of protesters during the 18-day revolt that forced the president to resign on February 11.
He could -- theoretically -- hang if found guilty. The prosecution has called for the death sentence, telling the court that it had assembled a strong case against the former strongman.
Yet the prosecutors, huddled together behind a desk in the courtroom, appeared to wilt as they listened to their own witnesses exonerate Mubarak and his security aides of the murder charges.
One prosecution witness, a police officer, said he had been ordered to treat protesters as brothers. And several said they were ordered not to carry deadly weapons during the protests.
At the start of each hearing, Mubarak, ashen faced and apparently disgusted by the spectacle, was wheeled on a stretcher into the makeshift courtroom at a lecture hall in a police academy once named after him.
He shares the defendants' cage with his security chiefs and his two sons Alaa and Gamal, who face corruption charges along with their father.
Mubarak's resignation and subsequent disappearance from public view into a villa in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh placated Egyptians for only a while.
Soon demonstrations calling for him to be put on trial began to grow.
After the military, which took charge of the country following his ouster, clashed with protesters in Cairo during a sit-in in April, the public prosecutor ordered that Mubarak face questioning.
A few days later, the former president and his two sons were ordered jugged. And a month later they were referred to trial.
Almost every step of the way to the actual trial, the announcements appeared to coincide with growing unrest against the military, through whose ranks Mubarak had clambered to become president.
Last week, amid deadly protests against army rule, the caretaker government announced Mubarak would be moved from a military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo, where he is being treated for a heart condition, to a prison hospital.
The military, headed by Mubarak's long-time defense minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has been eager to prove that it harbors no loyalty to its former master.
Putting the former strongman on trial would also help defuse growing criticism that the military was trying to delay justice.
Instead, lawyers who represent his alleged victims' families say the trial of Mubarak began too soon, before the prosecution could prepare a strong case against him.
Now, with the hearings drawing to an end a year after his overthrow, the decision to place Mubarak in the dock presents the ruling generals with a dilemma.
If Mubarak is convicted, his lawyers and legal experts believe there would be strong grounds for appeal. And his acquittal could further inflame the growing protest movement against military rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Egypt's ruling military said on the eve of the first anniversary of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... that it will not bow to threats or plots against the state, official television reported.
"We will never yield to threats, and we will never give in to pressure," the much-criticized Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) said in a statement broadcast by the channel.
Ahead of a planned day of disobedience by activists, the SCAF also said the country was the target of conspiracies aiming to sow instability.
"We tell you quite frankly that our dear Egypt faces plans aimed at striking at the heart of our revolution," the statement said.
"We are facing plots against the nation aiming to undermine the institutions of the Egyptian state, and to topple the state itself so that chaos reigns."
Activists plan a day of strikes in universities and workplaces on Saturday to mark 12 months since they toppled Mubarak but left an increasingly unpopular military in charge.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said it was Ankara that demanded a NATO missile defense shield be deployed in Turkey, Today's Zaman reported. In an interview with Turkey's NTV television station on Friday, Rasmussen said the US has contributed largely to the missile defense system of NATO and the system is the most recent example of solidarity between NATO member states. He added that the details regarding the missile defense system will be discussed in Chicago, where NATO is scheduled to meet on May 20-21.
Russia and Iran object to the deployment of the early warning radar system in Turkey.
Not that it's any of Vlad's business...
Russia earlier said a NATO missile defense system could threaten its security if it develops the capability to down Russian nuclear missiles.
Recalling that Turkey played an important role as a neighbor of Russia during the Cold War era, Rasmussen said Turkey continues to play an important role currently and that the nation contributed to NATO operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya. The NATO secretary-general further said the İzmir command base will host NATO's Land Component Command, which is currently based in Spain. He added that İzmir will be an important command base for both Turkey and NATO.
During a meeting with a group of Turkish journalists in Brussels on Thursday, Rasmussen, who is set to visit Turkey next week to mark the 60th anniversary of Turkey's membership in NATO, praised the country's commitment to the alliance and its "crucial role," saying NATO needs "the voice of Turkey." Rasmussen's comments come amid calls from US conservative politicians and others that Turkey's membership in NATO should be questioned, especially in the aftermath of a crisis in its relations with Israel.
"I won't bring new initiatives to Ankara during my visit. I will repeat what I said previously, that irrespective of the Cyprus conflict, I think we can find pragmatic solutions that could improve the relationship," he said, noting that a past proposal he put forward for an arrangement between Turkey and the EU to pave the way for closer NATO-EU cooperation remains a "valid package," a "pragmatic proposal."
"But let's face it. The fundamental problem here is the continued dispute in Cyprus. Realistically speaking, I don't think we will see real progress in the cooperation between EU and NATO until there is a solution to the conflict in Cyprus," he stated.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Feeling a sudden need to suck up to the West, eh Erdogan?
[An Nahar] Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin said late Thursday it has sacked two executives loosely linked to a failed plot to smuggle a son of ex-Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... into Mexico.
The pair became the focus of reports after Mexican officials announced charges in an elaborate plan to bring 38-year-old Saadi Qadaffy and other relatives into Mexico on false papers last year at the height of pro-democracy protests in Libya.
SNC-Lavalin, which oversaw billions of dollars worth of projects in Libya including the construction of a prison, said in a statement that Riadh Ben Aissa, executive vice-president of the firm's construction arm, and vice-president in charge of finances Stephane Roy, were "no longer in the employ of the company, effective immediately."
It added "that all employees must comply with our code of ethics and business conduct."
Roy had been placed at the scene of the arrest in November in Mexico City of accused conspirator Gabriela Davila Huerta.
He was invited to Mexico to meet with Cynthia Vanier, a Canadian also charged for her alleged role in the plot, to discuss "the possibility of water treatment projects," company spokeswoman Leslie Quinton had told Agence La Belle France Presse.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... SNC-Lavalin employees later told public broadcaster CBC that Roy had no responsibilities in this area.
Roy, said Quinton, "was asked the purpose of his visit by the authorities" in Mexico, but was not charged.
SNC-Lavalin had previously hired Vanier for "a fact-finding mission in early summer 2011 in order to establish the situation in Libya with the intent of resuming operations there," Quinton said.
Mexican authorities charged Vanier, a Dane and two Mexicans on January 28 with attempted trafficking of undocumented people, organized crime and falsifying official documents. A fifth, runaway suspect has not been identified.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... Aissa, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, had flown Saadi Qadaffy's bodyguard from Canada to Tunis where he and Aissa and Roy held a video conference with Saadi Qadaffy to discuss his movements.
The bodyguard then joined an armed convoy to escort Saadi Qadaffy to the border with Niger. After his father's death during fighting with pro-democracy rebels, Saadi Qadaffy decamped to Niger.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... on Friday vowed that if his party comes to power it would "free the nation from American slavery and US drones would be shot down."
Addressing huge public rally in Swabi, he said those in power should be embarrassed about the ongoing drone attacks that violate Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and kill innocent people.
"PTI will not let the US attack Pakistain via drone strikes and will shoot their drones down."
Imran Khan also declared that "We wont beg, we wont take loans and will generate our own funds."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm looking forward to the day you don't take funds but will generate your own. I hope I live that long, as long as it's pain-free.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/11/2012 8:47 Comments ||
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#2
This guy reminds me of a paler, middle aged Qaddafi.
Full biometrics collected, of course, so don't do anything stupid, boys...
WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq: Police released 18 senior Baathist members, who were detained at the end of the last year, pointing out that it is the first group to be released and other groups will follow, security sources said today.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that more groups will be released following the end of investigations and they have been proven innocent. On 22 October 2011, a security raid resulted in arresting a number of ex-Baath party members.
Kut, the center of Wassit province, lies 180 km southeast of the capital, Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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After the US closed its embassy in Damascus this week, US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford gave his first foreign interview since leaving Syria to FRANCE 24 on Saturday. He called for an end to the violence and for Bashar al-Assad to step down.
In an interview with FRANCE 24, the US ambassador to Syria has defended his country's stance towards President Bashar al-Assad and called on the Syrian leader to end his brutal crackdown.
Robert Ford was pulled out of Syria earlier this week after the US closed the embassy because of security concerns.
In his first foreign interview since leaving the country, Ford told FRANCE 24's Arabic channel the US were still seeking a "peaceful political" solution. Ford said military intervention was not an option and denied suggestions that his country's refusal to step in was encouraging Assad to increase the violence.
"We are not dithering. We are not hesitating. The US position is that we reject any kind of military intervention in Syria, let's be clear about that," Ford told FRANCE 24. "We are striving for a peaceful political solution. Even the Syrian people do not want a military solution to this crisis.
"We believe Assad should step down, but at the end of the day the Syrian people will make the decision, not the US," he said.
#3
So much for the often touted concept of "reponsibliity to protect" -perhaps its responsibility to protect the oil (likely a more accurate doctrine). No that I advocate western interference in this -Let the Arabs "protect" lets see how much thanks they get.
#4
Is it possible we're starting to understand that change, especially in Arab governments, is not necessarily an improvement? Are we better off with Mubarak gone? With Saleh going? Bin Ali gone? Even Daffy & Saddam may turn out to have been the lesser of evils - only time will tell.
Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organised rallies across the country to mark the occasion. Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".
"In the coming days the world will witness Iran's announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements," Mr Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television. He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
Tension with the West over Iran's disputed nuclear work has risen in recent weeks. The United States and its European allies have imposed new sanctions to try to force Tehran back to talks before it produces enough nuclear material for an atom bomb
Mr Ahmadinejad told the cheering crowd that Iran has broken the "idol" of the Holocaust, which underpins the creation of the Israeli state and US hegemony.
"The Iranian nation has smashed a new and modern idol. The world arrogance (the United States) and colonialists (the West), in order to dominate the world, created an idol called the Zionist regime (Israel)," he said. "The spirit of this idol was a story called the Holocaust.
"The Iranian nation with courage and wisdom smashed this idol to free the people of the West (of its hold)," he said.
[An Nahar] Former prime minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. on Friday called on the Arab countries to recognize the opposition Syrian National Council as the "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people. He probably figures, what the hell? It's already dangerous starting his car.
Hariri warned about "the dangers of the war waged by the Syrian regime against the growing popular revolution across Syria," said a statement released by his press office.
"The military campaign waged by the armed brigades of the Syrian regime against the cities of Homs, Zabadani, Daraa and other cities witnessing popular movements, is a dangerous episode of the bloody series sponsored by international and regional parties that agreed to give Bashir al-Assad the opportunity to pounce on his people and protect his political regime with all brutal methods," Hariri said, as quoted in the statement.
"The Syrian regime has reached the edge of collapse," the ex-PM noted, adding that Assad's government has disregarded "the almost unanimous Arab and international condemnation of the regime and of its crimes."
Hariri said Assad "would not have dared to invade the Syrian cities and villages with tanks and rocket launchers hadn't he received an external cover that allows him to do so."
He called on the Arab countries to take "practical steps that go beyond condemnation, and even beyond imposing economic sanctions."
"They should start by recognizing the Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, and pull the rug from under the feet of the brutal regime."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
I'd certainly hate to be a Syrian Christian when Assad falls.
[An Nahar] The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... is likely to launch a "Friends of Syria" coalition and appoint a special envoy to the country at a meeting this weekend, a Western diplomat said Friday.
The diplomat also said that Iranians were "on the ground" giving technical help to Syrian intelligence services, and warned that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's regime had "many levels of violence" yet to use.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said that at an Arab League meeting due this Sunday "it looks like they're preparing to appoint a special envoy, we encourage that and look forward to working with whoever they nominate.
"It looks like there may be a proposal for a Friends of Syria group or some such group to be decided on by the vaporous Arab League."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... has proposed creating a "friends of Syria" group after Moscow and China last weekend vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown on anti-regime protests.
The Western diplomat said the aim of the group would be to "intensify the pressure on the regime, to demonstrate international support for the Arab League's plan, and to intensify engagement with the Syrian opposition."
U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... on Wednesday meanwhile proposed a joint Arab League-United Nations ...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas... observer mission, after the Arab League suspended its own observer group on January 28.
But the diplomat ruled out military action or arming the Syrian opposition to help them protect themselves against President Bashir al-Assad's forces.
"What we want to do is not to make the fighting worse but to shift the arena back to political action," the diplomat said.
"That brings you back to recommitting our support for the Arab League plan, if there's a special envoy appointed this weekend engaging with that person, getting behind the Friends of Syria group if it is launched."
The diplomat also played down suggestions that the international community could create a humanitarian corridor or no-fly zone, perhaps with Turkey's help, saying there were "extreme challenges".
Assad's regime still had the "un-coerced support of 20 to 25 percent of the people", the diplomat said.
The diplomat said there was no credible evidence of Iranian troops on Syrian soil, but added: "What we do see is quite a lot of Iranian technical support to the Syrian intelligence services, they've been getting quite a lot of practical support and advice.
"There are certainly Iranians on the ground in the country. But if by on the ground you mean are there Iranian officers or troops in Homs or wherever, no ... I haven't seen any credible reports about that."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... 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... said on Friday that world confidence in the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... had been shaken after the world body failed to adopt a resolution against the Syrian regime's deadly crackdown on protests.
"We all used to take pride in the United Nations which used to bring us together and not divide us... but what took place does not augur well as world confidence in the United Nations has undoubtedly been shaken," King Abdullah said in a short televised speech.
"We are going through scary days and unfortunately what happened at the United Nations is absolutely regrettable," the Saudi king said.
King Abdullah was alluding to the blocking by Russia and China last Saturday of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... 's regime.
"No matter how powerful, countries cannot rule the whole world," he said. "The world is ruled by brains, by justice, by morals and by fairness."
On Tuesday, the six Gulf states decided to expel Syrian envoys and withdraw their own over the "mass slaughter" of civilians.
Regional kingpin Soddy Arabia called on Monday for "critical measures" to be taken on Syria, warning of an impending "humanitarian disaster".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, I know mine was, your hugeness. But that was years ago...
#2
Might be interesting to bring the issue of their continued veto before the general assembly. Even if it isn't overturned, it would probably make them think a little.
#3
Might be interesting to bring the issue of their continued veto before the general assembly.
Might be interesting is right. The pseudo countries comprising the majority of UNGA been in need of a remainder of who is who and what is what for a very long time.
#4
Easy on the UNGA g(r)om. They are quite busy at the moment with backroom drafts of the soon to come strongly worded condemnation of the IDF 7 June Operation Opera-II attack on Iran.
#5
Easy on the UNGA g(r)om. They are quite busy at the moment with backroom drafts of the soon to come strongly worded condemnation of the IDF 7 June Operation Opera-II attack on Iran
Neh, that will be condemned by UNSC (USA voting "present").
#6
Doesn't he whom "The One" bows down to and adores understand that General Ban Ki-moon and his topmost United Nations aides are brainstorming how the U.N. could benefit from a unique opportunity to reshape the world?
There's no pleasing some people.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/11/2012 16:20 Comments ||
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#10
Crocodile tears to appease the Sunni Arab troglodytes population in Saudi Arabia. If Abdullah were truly concerned, he'd be funneling billions to the rebels for arms instead of complaining about the UN. King Fahd certainly spent huge sums keeping the Afghan mujahideen afloat during the Soviet occupation.
Iran has started manufacturing "Jamaran 2" destroyer, Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said at a press conference, IRINN reported. Sayyari added that the "Jamaran 2" destroyer is being manufactured domestically under supervision of Iranian specialists.
He also said the new destroyer model will be more advanced than the first "Jamaran" destroyer launched in the Persian Gulf waters in February 2010.
First Jamaran destroyer was also domestically-manufactured, and it completed its first international mission on December 18, after conducting counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.
The 1,420-ton destroyer,
So it's really a corvette...
which is part of the 16th fleet of Iranian warships, is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities. Jamaran destroyer has a top speed of up to 30 knots and a helipad. The destroyer features highly advanced anti-aircraft, anti-surface- and anti-subsurface systems. The vessel has also been equipped with torpedoes and naval cannons.
Iranian Navy officials have earlier stated that the production of five other naval destroyers similar and even more advanced than the Jarmaran-class destroyers are on Navy's agenda.
Admiral Habibollah Sayyari also said two "Ghadir" midget submarines were handed over to the Iranian Navy. "Ghadir" submarines were built by Iran specifically for being sunk cruising within the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Given the possible range of size(s) for any budding Iran NucWeaps Arsenal, IMO Iran's "offensive" aces during a Conventional or "Limited Nuclear"? US-Iran war still comes down to its external MilTerr Groups = Proxies, the UNO = UNSC, + BFFS Russia-China [Pakistan?] = Nuke Brinkmanship.
DEFENSIVELY, 1990's MULLAHS > SHORT OF MUTUALLY DESTRUCTIVE NUKE WAR, NLT AN MIL GROUND INVASION + OCCUPATION OF IRAN PROPER WILL STOP ISLAMIST/
REVOLUT IRAN FROM DOING FROM ISLAMIST/REVOL IRAN WANTS TO DO. The Mullahs have no qualms about resorting to MAD US-Iran, Global NUke War; nor detonating Nukes-WMDS in Iran's own Cities + Towns, etc. to defeat a wily dastardly Infidel Zionist-Crusader invasion force.
Once again, IRAN GETS ITS NUKES, OR ELSE IRAN GETS INVADED.
Pesky Persians are Pesky - ask the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Mongols, + Ottomans, etc.
[An Nahar] The Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, prime minister in Gazoo, Ismail Haniya, arrived in Tehran on Friday on a three-day trip and is due to speak at a rally marking the 33 anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution on Saturday, state media reported.
The state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
website said the Paleostinian will meet with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad and other high ranking Iranian political and security officials.
Local media said two days ago that Haniya would receive an honorary degree from Tehran University.
Israel views Hamas as a terrorist group and has accused Iran of being its main arms supplier.
Khamenei, last week called Israel "a cancerous tumor that must be removed, and God willing it will be."
Ahmadinejad, who is to give a speech on Saturday to mark the day 33 years ago when revolutionaries claimed victory over the deposed regime of the U.S.-backed shah, has strongly backed the Paleostinian cause.
He has voiced Iran's longstanding policy of rejecting the continued existence of Israel and of supporting foes of the Jewish state, including Hamas.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Turkish prosecutor has launched a probe after two Syrian refugees staying in a Turkish border camp were handed over to Syrian security forces, Anatolia news agency reported Friday.
Syrian dissident army colonel Huseyin Mustafa Harmus and Mustafa Kassum were taken out of a refugee camp in Altinozu, Hatay province, near the Syrian border and delivered to Syrian security forces "by force," said the prosecutor's office in southern Adana province, in a statement cited by Anatolia.
Five people including a member of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) were jugged and some MIT officials were summoned to testify as part of the probe, it reported.
The investigation centered on "accusations of political espionage," said the statement according to Anatolia, without elaborating.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... is likely to appoint a special envoy to Syria at a meeting this weekend, a Western diplomat in London said on Friday.
Also on Friday, the opposition Syrian National Council, an umbrella body grouping parties in revolt against Bashir al-Assad's regime, said it expects to be recognized within days by several Arab states.
Currently meeting in Qatar under its Gay Paree-based leader Burhan Ghalioun, the SNC is hopeful that it will win a diplomatic breakthrough on Sunday at meetings of the vaporous Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council in Cairo.
"There should be an official recognition of the SNC by several Gulf countries," said Imad Hussari, a front man for the group and leader of the "Local Coordination Committees" which mobilizes protests inside Syria.
Another SNC figure, Istanbul-based Khaled Khoja, confirmed he expects recognition "by several Arab states in the coming days."
Currently, only Libya's post-revolutionary interim government recognizes the SNC as its sole legitimate Syrian interlocutor, but the Gulf states decided on Monday to expel Syrian ambassadors from their capitals.
The SNC groups parties from different backgrounds, including Islamists from the Moslem Brüderbund and liberal nationalists. Officials said it will meet in Cairo or Istanbul on February 15 to choose a new chairman.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
And if that don't work, they'll appoint a Very Special Envoy...
[An Nahar] Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that his country is ready for any act of provocation by Hizbullah over the deepening crisis in Syria.
During a meeting on Thursday with 15 U.N. envoys in New York, He 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... that Hizbullah will use a provocation against Israel as a means of distracting the world from violence in Syria.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that sophisticated weapons could be transferred from Syria to Hizbullah if the regime of Bashir al-Assad falls.
"We are tracking this issue constantly and carefully," he said, without giving further details.
Barak said Israeli assessments suggest Assad's downfall was a matter of time.
Israel fears it could suffer from various consequences of the regime's weakening and collapse, including a wave of refugees, or even attempts by the regime to distract attention by attacking the Jewish state.
Officials have also warned that Syria's weapons, including alleged chemical and biological ones, could fall into the hands of bad boys, including Hizbullah.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
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.
[An Nahar] It was meant to be the historic trial of a dictator brought to justice by his long-suffering people, but the case against Egypt's ex-president 
Egypt's ruling military said on the eve of the first anniversary of the revolt that toppled 
Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin said late Thursday it has sacked two executives loosely linked to a failed plot to smuggle a son of ex-Libyan dictator 
[Dawn] Pakistain 
[An Nahar] Former prime minister 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Mahmoud 
[An Nahar] The 
[An Nahar] Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that his country is ready for any act of provocation by Hizbullah over the deepening crisis in Syria.
