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Feds arrest another thinks-he-is suicide bomber heading to Capitol building
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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4 23:22 Procopius2k [] 
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4 19:26 Dale [] 
3 21:34 JosephMendiola [] 
8 23:36 Elmising Poodle6592 [] 
2 08:07 Gruth McGurque5303 [] 
1 21:50 JosephMendiola [] 
3 12:12 CrazyFool [] 
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5 11:58 trailing wife [] 
8 12:19 American Delight [1] 
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4 22:17 Frank G [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
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8 15:44 Scooter McGruder []
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6 17:46 Deacon Blues []
Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
5 23:10 newc [1]
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12 22:34 RandomJD []
5 12:50 Nimble Spemble [1]
2 08:28 trailing wife []
7 23:48 Water Modem []
1 11:36 Redneck Jim []
Africa North
Libyan militias 'out of control
h/t Instapundit
Armed militias in Libya are committing human rights abuses with impunity, threatening to destabilize the country and hindering its efforts to rebuild, Amnesty International said Thursday.

Militias have tortured detainees, targeted migrants and displaced entire communities in revenge attacks, according to a report the organization released a year after the start of popular uprisings that eventually ended Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule.
IMO: A dictator who is a not a complete homicidal paranoid is the most liberal form of government a Muslim country can have.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2012 06:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmm...didn't we support them?
Posted by: gromky || 02/17/2012 7:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Years, not decades.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/17/2012 13:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Smart power!
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/17/2012 13:46 Comments || Top||

#4  "IMO: A dictator who is a not a complete homicidal paranoid is the most liberal form of government a Muslim country can have".
Libyan freedom fighters.
Posted by: Dale || 02/17/2012 19:26 Comments || Top||


Egypt Islamist campaigns to substitute US aid
Egypt's prime minister and the head of the influential seat of Islamic learning, al-Azhar, on Thursday praised a campaign by an Islamist scholar to raise donations as a substitute for US aid that is threatened by a stand-off over civil society groups.
 
The campaign spearheaded by prominent Salafi scholar Mohamed Hassaan calls on Egyptians to pay $1.66 each in response to US threats to cut aid to Egypt over investigations that have resulted in charges against 19 Americans.
Because, being on the edge of starvation as so many Egyptians are, what is a day's food for their children compared to letting the Muslim Brotherhood go to war against Israel?
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  With what, prayer?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2012 6:27 Comments || Top||

#2  US aid is several billion. $1.66 per Egyptian would be about $120M. M Hassaan may not be very good at math or else he meant $1.66 per Egyptian per week.
Posted by: lord garth || 02/17/2012 6:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Saudi,UAE,Kuwait and Qatar will substitute US aid
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 02/17/2012 8:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Saudi,UAE,Kuwait and Qatar will substitute US aid

I shouldn't think so, Gruth McGurque5303. Their promises will e generous, though -- they make wonderful promises.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 8:15 Comments || Top||

#5  The Muslim brotherhood will try to institute in Egypt Iran's weird combination of theocracy and Marxist economics. The problem is that unlike Iran, Egypt has no oil. And Iran's economy is tottering despite having ample oil reserves. Traditionally, countries with large populations but few resources have gone abroad, sword in hand, to acquire those resources from neighbors who possess more of them. Egypt's misfortune is to exist in an era of Pax Americana, where its expansion in any direction is blocked by American arms.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/17/2012 9:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe the will attack Lybia in order to aquire their abundant food supplies.
Posted by: bman || 02/17/2012 10:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Pay them in forged Iranian Rials.
Posted by: mojo || 02/17/2012 12:13 Comments || Top||

#8  "Forged," mojo?

You mean counterfeit. Forgeries are more within the expertise of CBS News and Russian spies.
Posted by: American Delight || 02/17/2012 12:19 Comments || Top||


Europe
French Supreme Court acquits Israeli doctor in intifada case
Doctor accused of slandering Paleostinian who claimed he was injured by IDF acquitted by French Supreme Court

The French Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted an Israeli doctor accused of slandering a Paleostinian man who claimed he was injured by the IDF during the second intifada.
 
The Paleostinian man, Jamal al-Dura, and his 12-year-old son Muhammad, became the symbol of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, when the two were caught in a fire exchange in the Netzarim Junction. The boy was killed in the incident,
It may or may not be true that the boy is dead. It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that, if he was indeed actually shot, it could not have been by the Israelis. Ynet has no business spreading a blood libel that has resulted in the deaths of many Jews and Israelis, including Judah Daniel Pearl, whose head was cut off for it. Google "Al Dura hoax" for the vicious details.
. triggering a blame game: The Paleostinians accused Israel for Muhammad's death, while Israeli officials claimed he was hit by Paleostinian fire.

The father, who survived the ordeal, relayed his version before the media, showing the scars that he incurred in the incident. The claim prompted Dr. Yehuda David of Tel Hashomer Hospital to reveal that the scars were actually a result of a surgery the father had performed years earlier, after al-Dura was attacked by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, operatives who suspected him of collaborating with Israel.

Al-Dura decided to sue David, and last year a Gay Paree court ruled against the doctor due to the fact he released information from al-Dura's medical records. He was ordered to compensate al-Dura with €13,000, but decided to appeal the ruling at the French Supreme Court.
 
"It couldn't have turned out better," David told Ynet after the ruling was overturned. "It means that I spoke the truth, and the father just lied.
 
"We managed to deconstruct their false statements. All the scientific evidence that we collected for the past 12 years proves that the incident was staged and fake. They made up the father's injury, and the IDF troops never shot the boy."
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Dr. David on Wednesday and praised him for his determination. "You are an example for the battle for the State of Israel's truth and to sticking to the righteousness of our people's way," the prime minister told him.
 
On Sunday, the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs will discuss a bill proposing that the State fund Dr. David's legal expenses. The bill was initiated by Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon, who had served alongside Dr. David in the army.
 
David has recently begun raising funds to fight what he calls the "Paleostinian's false anti-Israel propaganda," and said that Ya'alon has joined the effort.
 
"I recently opened a Facebook page in order to collect funding for the fight against the Paleostinians' mendacious propaganda," David said. "I got a phone call from Ya'alon, and on Sunday he will put a proposal on the justice minister's desk to allocate funds, and then we will take this venture on the road... This will put an end to the lies."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The French surprise me.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2012 6:26 Comments || Top||

#2  TW,

Daniel Pearl, not Judah.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 02/17/2012 7:16 Comments || Top||

#3  My apologies. You are quite right, Eric. Fixed in the text.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 8:16 Comments || Top||

#4  I still strongly suspect that Daniel Pearl, WSJ reporter, was an Israeli agent. His job as a reporter would have been a very useful cover, and he was widely traveled, having visited the Soviet Union, China, the Balkans, and other places of interest, before moving to the South Asia bureau. He investigated several international incidents of high intelligence value.

The stories he wrote were of serious investigative value, punctuated by a few fluff pieces that could have been written by anyone.

Basically, if he wasn't an Israeli agent, he should have been.

Likely he was killed by the Pak ISI, pretending to be a terrorist organization. Their demands were nonsensical, including the freeing of all Pakistani terror detainees, and the release of a halted U.S. shipment of F-16 fighter jets to the Pakistani government.

This, by a 'terrorist' organization that hasn't been heard from before or since.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/17/2012 9:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Anonymoose, Mr. Wife's Uncle Peter, who fought two tours in Viet Nam as a Marine, is convinced my husband is a CIA agent. Mr. Wife did, after all have to get a new passport five years early, after the fourth extension fell out, and there was the year he spent over two hundred days in the Arab world starting up factories. The thing is, my husband was perfectly typical of his type, the factory start-up engineer for an international manufacturing company. And later he was perfectly typical of the department/division head with people reporting to him from the major world geographies, going round the world each quarter to check in on them.

I see nothing to indicate that Mr. Pearl was anythng more than the kind of really good investigative reporter the Wall Street Journal pays pots of money to keep on the payroll. And anyway, Mr. Pearl was not killed for being CIA; he was killed for being a Jew.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 11:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
De-radicalisation of militants: Army effort didn't work
PESHAWAR, Feb 16: An official of Pakistain Army's judge advocate general (JAG) branch informed the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court on Thursday that several of Orcs and similar vermin in Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
Valley had rejoined their groups despite de-radicalisation by security forces.

An assistant director of JAG Branch, Colonel Noor Ahmad, informed a two-member bench that security forces had been spending money and resources on de-briefing and de-radicalisation of Orcs and similar vermin and had even provided them with money for restarting new lives, but they had reports that several of them had joined back bad boy outfits.

The official was responding to queries put by PHC Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Azmatullah Malik during the hearing into several habeas corpus petitions pertaining to missing persons.

The chief justice observed that the security forces' de-radicalisation programme might be defective due to which these people returned to their former comrades.

He also said security forces should hire services of competent psychologists and psychiatrists and for that purpose the government should provide them with appropriate funds.

"How is it possible that youngsters brainwashed by ignorant holy mans could not be reformed by competent psychologists," he asked.

Mother of a missing taxi driver made a desperate appeal to the court for the recovery of her son and said if that didn't happen, she would leave his wife and children at the court for being unable to face them and keep them on false hopes and promises anymore.

Clad in traditional shuttlecock burqa, the woman said the wife and children of her son, Sanam Gul, stayed awake at night in the hope that he would return back.

"We should be at least told whether he is dead or alive following which we will never disturb the court," she said.

The woman was accompanied by her husband, Redi Gul, who is petitioner in the case.

Mr Redi of Kajori area of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency alleged that his son was picked up at Hayatabad Township in June 2011 by local police and since his whereabouts had been unknown.

The court asked deputy attorney general Mohammad Iqbal Mohmand why the government had not been making public the whereabouts of the detainees.

It observed that Action (In Aid Of Civil Power) Regulation had been introduced which was a tough law and under it such like persons could be jugged.

Mr Mohmand said several of the missing persons had returned home and only 70 to 80 cases were left. However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
the court disputed the figures given by him observing that still a large number of cases were pending with the court.

The court directed him to try to trace out Mr Sanam Gul.

It summoned the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
advocate general, Asadullah Khan Chamkani, and asked him about the outcome of the Wednesday's meeting of the apex committee comprising the governor, chief minister and Peshawar Corps commander.

Mr Chamkani presented details about the meeting saying threadbare discussion took place on the issue with the government saying it'll follow court orders.

The court asked if the meeting was only for media consumption or any concrete plan was made to attend to the issue.

Mr Chamkani said some detainees were hardened Orcs and similar vermin and that principal of a school in Khyber Agency had informed security agencies in jug that chemicals meant for laboratory in his school were provided to Orcs and similar vermin by him.

The court observed that it had no sympathies for Orcs and similar vermin and that even suspects cleared by security forces were bailed out by courts after attaching tough conditions to their release.

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea...
the court allowed more time to the government for tracing whereabouts of two minor brothers allegedly taken into custody from their school at Lal Jan Kalae in Bara on January 7, 2011.

The petition regarding their detention is filed by their mother, Shan Bibi.

The two, Said Nazeem and Mohammad Ijaz, were 11 and 12 respectively at the time of their arrest.

The defence ministry has already informed the court that detainees were not in jug of any of the agencies functioning under its supervision.

In another petition filed by Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
, brother of missing lawyer Aurangzeb Khan, the court summoned the commandant of elite police force and head of criminal investigation department (CID).

The petitioner alleged that the lawyer was picked up by security forces at a checkpost on July 14, 2011, along with another lawyer Fazal Ilahai Khan, who was later on freed.

Advocate Fazal Ilahi informed the court that he and Mr Aurangzeb were taken away either by elite force or CID not security forces. Hearing into the case was later adjourned for January 14.

The court also disposed of another petition filed by a resident of Nowshera, Gul Naz, who said her son, Kamran, was incarcerated by plainclothesmen on January 26, 2010, in Badrashi area of Nowshera.

The petitioner's lawyer, Asthagfirullah Khan, informed the court that another petition of the woman had been pending with the commission of missing persons in Islamabad.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You ought to know better, Now that Talking has been tried, Can we blow them to hell any more?

They'll listen THEN.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/17/2012 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Never understood the concept of "de-radicalisation". I understand being a hard working paid member of the establishment who works so hard he doesn't have time to think about being radical...
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/17/2012 11:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Canadian DM Pete McKay a'sezzes the prob is PAKISTAN, NOT THE TALIBAN.

OOOOPPPS, forgot to say "...,Eh"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2012 21:34 Comments || Top||


Rightwing alliance is revived
KARACHI: Bound together by hatred of the United States and support for beturbanned goons fighting in Afghanistan, a revived coalition of supposedly banned religious beturbanned goons and rightwing political parties is drawing large crowds across Pakistain.

The emergence of the "Defense of Pakistain Council" movement has raised suspicions that the group has approval from elements in the powerful military and security establishment, aiming to bolster public support for a hardline position.

The group's rise comes as the military is trying to assert its position in renegotiating its troubled relationship with the United States and as Pakistain prepares for elections likely to take place later this year.

Some of the leading lights in the Defense of Pakistain Council have traditionally been seen as close to the security establishment, which has a long history of propping up bully boyz to defend its domestic interests or fight in India and Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the group's bandwagon rolled into Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, the country's commercial heart.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 men gathered close to a monument to Pakistain's founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, whose vision of a liberal, secular Pakistain is often contrasted to the rise of hardline, often violent groups in the country.

The star of the gathering was Hafiz Saeed
...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat...
, the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
, a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
, the orc group accused by India and the West of sending gunnies by boat to Mumbai in 2008 where they killed 166 people in attacks on a hotel and other sites.

"We demand Pak rulers quit the alliance with America," said Saeed, who was sent to his room after the Mumbai attacks but was released later and has slowly re-emerged in public now, without a response from authorities. "There can be no compromise on the freedom and illusory sovereignty of the country."

Members of Dawa patrolled the rally, some armed with automatic weapons, others on horseback.

Also represented on stage and in the crowd were Sipah-e-Sahaba, a feared Sunni thug group that has carried out scores of attacks on minority Shias in recent years. Its members have reportedly formed alliances with al Qaeda operatives in Pakistain.

A large banner that hung over the stage read "Wake up, countrymen, break the shackles of American slavery."

That anti-American message has been amplified by the Mighty Pak Army since US Arclight airstrikes along the Afghan border in late November killed 24 Pak soldiers.

The Mighty Pak Army accused the US of deliberately targeting the outposts, rejecting American assertions it was mistake.

Pakistain retaliated by closing its western border to NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
and US military supplies into Afghanistan, a key supply line for the war.

Saeed and other speakers threatened civil disobedience if Pakistain reopens it. Their stance could hamper American hopes that Islamabad will quietly reopen the route in the coming weeks.

"We vow that the NATO supply will never be restored," he said.

The alliance groups many of the same parties and holy mans that banded together after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, capitalising on anti-American sentiment.

The current government, which doesn't espouse political Islam, is under pressure from the courts and opposition parties.

Elections are now seen as likely later this year, and the revival of the "Defend Pakistain" group appears to be a push by politicians grouped within it to win votes among the legions of Paks who subscribe to Islamist views. However Hafiz Saeed has reportedly denied that his party will take part in election.

It could also be attempt by the army to put pressure on the ruling Pakistain People's Party, which has repeatedly clashed with the generals since taking power in 2008 and has tried to get closer ties with India.

The group has organised large rallies in several cities; next week it plans a gathering in the capital, Islamabad.

Many of the speakers in Bloody Karachi rallied the crowds with warnings that Pakistain was under threat, and Islam its only defense.

"Do you swear to fight back with Islamic spirit, honour and dignity if anyone, whether American, NATO, Israel or India attack Pakistain?" asked Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, head of a hardline school that has sent thousands of people to fight in Afghanistan over the last 10 years.

"Jihad! Jihad!" the crowd roared.

Speaker after speaker also touted the army line on India, saying the neighbouring country represents an existential threat to Pakistain.

This stance justifies the security state that has been established since the two nations were partitotioned under a British-ruled subcontinent in 1947.

The two nuclear-armed neighbours had fought three wars since their independence in 1947, 1965 and 1971.

Liberals, democrats and peace activists have been trying for years to bring India and Pakistain closer together.

But in the past, the army has funded and trained orc groups and their umbrella organizations to battle Indian forces in Kashmire, the disputed territory at the heart of the rivalry between the two countries after partition.

"The security establishment of this country desires that ultra-radical parties should be brought into politics so that their doctrine against India, America or Israel could be infused to the masses," said Tauseef Ahmed, the head of the Mass Communication department at the Federal Urdu University.

Also at the Bloody Karachi rally was Hamid Gul
The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command...
, a former general who headed the country's spy agency in the late 1980s when Pakistain and the US were supporting gunnies in their fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan.

He has since become a leading voice in the media against America and in support of the Taliban. Documents released by the whistleblower site Wikileaks alleged he retained ties to the insurgency there, a charge he denies.

Ejaz Haider, a security analyst, said the security establishment should be "checked for serious dementia" if it was using the council for its own purposes, given that many of its members have been linked to terrorism that is taking a deadly toll inside Pakistain.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If ever there was an enemy....
Posted by: Fat Bob Unotch3711 || 02/17/2012 6:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Pak Army/Mullah nexus has never been split post Zia.
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 02/17/2012 8:07 Comments || Top||


Afghan, Iranian Leaders in Pakistan for Summit
Pakistain on Thursday welcomed the leaders of Afghanistan and Iran for a regional summit at a key juncture in peace efforts with the Taliban and amid rising tensions between Tehran and Israel.

Iranian leader Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad flew into Islamabad in the afternoon for a formal summit meeting scheduled on Friday to be followed by a joint news conference, Pakistain government officials said.

Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
arrived earlier in the day for a series of talks with the government and the military on his second visit in nine months.

His office said separate talks with Pak President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
would focus on expanding relations, economic ties and "enhanced cooperation" on ending 10 years of war in Afghanistan.

The Mighty Pak Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
and senior government ministers were also present, officials said.

Karzai termed Pakistain's support as "critical to the success" of an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led grinding of the peace processor and the reconciliation.

Pakistain, the historic ally of the Taliban, says it will do anything required by Kabul to support an Afghan-led grinding of the peace processor, but there is a wide degree of skepticism in Afghanistan and the United States about its sincerity.

"Both sides agreed on the need to strengthen mutual cooperation to overcome the common challenges of terrorism and extremism and expressed their resolve to work for the stability and peace of both the countries," Gilani's office said.

Pak Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Kabul this month on a fence-mending visit amid reports that Kabul and Islamabad felt isolated by contacts between the United States and the Taliban in the Gulf state of Qatar.

But in an interview published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Karzai said the Afghan government was part of three-way peace efforts.

There has been no Taliban confirmation of talks with Karzai's government.

"There have been contacts between the U.S. government and the Taliban, there have been contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and there have been some contacts that we have made, all of us together, including the Taliban," Karzai was quoted as saying.

He did not mention any Pak involvement, but said cooperation from Islamabad "would make the whole matter easier".

Pakistain says the trilateral summit will focus on cooperation on counter-terrorism and transnational organized crime including drug and human trafficking, border management and trade issues.

Islamabad is moving towards a detente in its own relations with Washington, which took a drastic turn for the worse over last year's covert American raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones...
and air strikes that killed 24 Pak soldiers.

But despite strong U.S. objections, Pakistain says it is pressing ahead with a multi-billion-dollar project to build a gas pipeline to import fuel from Iran.

"There is no change or shift regarding the gas pipeline project and it is scheduled to be completed by 2014," said the official.

Israel this week accused Iran of targeting its diplomats in Georgia, India and Thailand, against a backdrop of speculation that the Jewish state or the United States could be months from launching military strikes against Iran.

On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad unveiled new strides in Tehran's nuclear program in a defiant blow to U.S. and EU sanctions designed to rein in its atomic activities.

"I don't think so," a senior Pak government official told Agence La Belle France Presse when asked if mounting tensions between Iran and Israel, and the showdown over Iran's nuclear program, would dominate the summit.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan once again a'sezzes at the Summit...

To wit,

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PAKISTAN WON'T PROVIDE AIRBASES FOR [any] ATTACK ON IRAN: ZARDARI.

* TOPIX > PAKISTAN WON'T SUPPORT WEST ON IRAN ATTACK.

Mighty Pak Army + Nukes stayin' neutral???

IMO Islamabad recognizes like other neighbors of Iran that, iff the latter is occupied or mostly occupied by the US = US-led UN Mil Coalition, its sovereign territory may end up being used by Iran to mount a mix of cross-border anti-US, Coalition Guerilla [Basij], pro-Mullahs/Govt. Military Ops WID OR WIDOUT PAKISTAN'S, ETAL. CONSENT.

VIETNAM-ERA "HO CHIN MINH TRAIL" = FUTURE
"KHOMEINI TRAIL" [Osama Trail?]???

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2012 21:50 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Home Front Command to test air raid sirens in Jerusalem
Preparing for war.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  For many years, the US had air raid sirens that it would test once a month. They quietly discontinued this for two reasons.

The first being that the US only has a tiny number of fallout shelters, and more importantly, it was determined that casualties without fallout shelters would not be appreciably different than if fallout shelters were used, given the amount of time the public would have to seek shelter in a nuclear attack.

However, Israel is a different case. Being under frequent attack from projectiles, with a public drilled on rapidly seeking shelter, and having a modern, equipped shelter system, gives a much better statistical outcome for the use of shelters.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/17/2012 8:50 Comments || Top||

#2  For many years, the US had air raid sirens that it would test once a month.

Anonymoose, now the government tests the emergency broadcast system (exterior sirens, interior horrid sound on radios, televisions, and weather radios) every week. So every Wednesday I am catapulted out of my morning nap at 11:30, to be reassured that if there were an actual emergency I would be informed what to do. Thus I am reassured that we as a community are ready for inclement weather, tornadoes, or even nuclear war, in which case we will duck and cover in our windowless tornado room/guest room in the back of the basement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 12:10 Comments || Top||

#3  They don't do this now?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/17/2012 12:12 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Thai cops: Iranian bomb suspects partied with prostitutes
What's the Shia word for "takfiri"?
Oh, no. That kind of thing is permitted before formally setting out on the jihad of the sword. You should've seen what the 9/11 lot got up to in Las Vegas before getting on their airplanes.
Three Iranians detained for allegedly plotting bomb attacks in Bangkok on Israeli diplomats apparently had more than terrorism on their minds: Police said Friday the men had also cavorted with prostitutes at a Thai beach resort.

The news emerged as authorities announced they were searching for two more suspects in the botched bomb plot, including a possible explosives specialist who may have been training the Iranians.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/17/2012 09:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Thailand Bomb Plot: Iran Suspects Cavorted With Prostitutes
The three Iranian men detained for allegedly plotting bomb attacks in Bangkok on Israeli diplomats had more than terror on their minds in Thailand. Police said Friday that they had also cavorted with prostitutes at a beach resort.

The news comes as Thai authorities announced they were searching for two more suspects in the botched bomb plot, including a possible explosives specialist who may have been training the Iranians.

The foiled plan was discovered Tuesday when explosives in the men's rented house blew up by mistake, forcing them to flee. Two were detained in the Thai capital, and a third was captured Wednesday in neighboring Malaysia as he reportedly tried to return to Iran.

After flying into the southern city of Phuket on Feb. 8, the men moved to Pattaya and stayed there for at least two nights before heading to Bangkok. Located 45 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of the Thai capital, Pattaya is particularly notorious for its sleazy sex industry and large contingent of prostitutes.

The Iranians hung out with several female sex workers during their stay there, and one of the women was brought to Bangkok to identify the suspects on Thursday, said Lt. Col. Noppon Kuldiloke, a senior immigration police investigator in southern Thailand.

A cellphone image taken by one of the women, published by the Bangkok Post with an article headlined "Suspects partied in Pattaya," purportedly showed the three Iranians at a Middle Eastern bar or restaurant surrounded by hookah water-pipes, two of them cradling women in their arms. The men posed for the photo around a low, drink-filled table on which there appeared to be at least one bottle of beer.

The woman who took the image said one of the now-detained suspects, Mohammad Kharzei, had asked her to escort him "because he was not good at speaking English," according to the Bangkok Post.

She said she brought two companions for Kharzei's friends, and they had drinks and played snooker together. The woman detected nothing awry, except when one of the Iranians "barred her from approaching a closet" in his hotel room, the newspaper reported.
Posted by: tipper || 02/17/2012 11:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As Raj said on Wednesday "Legless man found in topless bar?"

Yes!
Extra points for Raj.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/17/2012 15:42 Comments || Top||

#2  before 911 - wimmn and drink
before fallujah- wimin and drugs and drink and gay sex.

inference about jihads?
Posted by: 3dc || 02/17/2012 21:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this like a jihadi version of a bachelor party before hooking up with the allotted virgins for eternity.
Posted by: Super Hose || 02/17/2012 22:12 Comments || Top||

#4  ...looking for professional tips?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/17/2012 23:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Khamenei loyalists set to defeat Ahmadinejad
Loyalists of Iran’s supreme leader, who is implacably hostile to the West and its drive to curb Tehran’s nuclear work, look set to triumph in Iran’s parliamentary poll at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a contest among hard-liners.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei turned against the man he backed in a disputed presidential vote in 2009 after Ahmadinejad challenged his authority over top government posts. Ahmadinejad, first elected in 2005, had shown signs of seeking real power for the presidency, which in the Islamic Republic has always played second fiddle to the supreme leader in all state matters such as nuclear and foreign policy.

But Khamenei remains in the driving seat and the outcome of the March 2 election is unlikely to alter Iran’s defiance of the West over its nuclear program, despite ever harsher sanctions and the possibility of an eventual military confrontation.

An alliance of clerics, elite Revolutionary Guard and influential bazaar merchants has made sure many pro-Ahmadinejad politicians cannot register to run for the assembly.

Politicians say the Council of Guardians, made up of six clerics and six jurists who vet candidates, has barred many Ahmadinejad supporters, forcing him to pick younger political unknowns.

“They had no public link to Ahmadinejad’s camp, but the Council was wise enough to spot them and around 45 percent of his supporters have been disqualified,” said one official involved in the multilayered vetting process.

Posted by: tipper || 02/17/2012 19:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  same assholes, different crony "capitalists" elite
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2012 22:19 Comments || Top||


Iran eyes talks after nuclear boasts
TEHRAN:Iran on Thursday expressed hopes of reviving moribund talks with world powers, a day after the Islamic republic unveiled what it described as major progress in its controversial nuclear programme.

"We have always welcomed the principle of negotiations and we believe that, with a positive approach and spirit of cooperation, there can be a step forward in these negotiations," foreign ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

Iran on Wednesday sent a letter confirming its readiness to discuss resuming negotiations in response to an October 2011 offer in that sense made by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

The last round of talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group,UN Security Council permanent members Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, collapsed in Turkey in January 2011.

Iran's tardy reply to Ashton appeared to be linked to the timing of its nuclear announcements also made on Wednesday, which collectively suggested the country had made strides in its atomic activities despite severe Western and UN sanctions.

President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad, wearing a white coat, oversaw what was described on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
as the insertion of Iran's first domestically produced, 20-percent enriched fuel plate into Tehran's research reactor.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday ordered Iran to "go build" four more nuclear research reactors in addition to the sole one operating in Tehran.

"It has been estimated that four nuclear reactors in four different spots in the country are needed. Go build them, to carry out research activities and provide radio-medicine needed by the country," he said in a speech on state television.

He and other officials also said Iran had added 3,000 more centrifuges to its uranium enrichment efforts and was stepping up exploration and processing of uranium yellowcake.

The declarations were meant to underline Iran's progress in mastering all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle and underline its commitment to what it said was a purely peaceful atomic programme for energy generation and medical use.

They also underlined the Islamic republic's determination to push on with nuclear activities despite US and EU sanctions aimed at throttling its economy,especially its all-important oil exports, and despite speculation Israel or the United States could launch air strikes against its nuclear facilities.

Russia, which built Iran's first nuclear power plant and has far warmer ties with Tehran has thus far has protected Iran against Western diplomatic efforts to broaden sanctions,has often stressed the need for talks and said too much pressure on Tehran was counterproductive.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabko suggested time was not on the side of the world powers and urged talks take place, with real concessions for the Iranians, otherwise the nuclear risks would increase.

Making a case for a renewed dialogue with Iran, Ryabkov said four rounds of UN sanctions and additional measures by Western nations had had "zero" effect on its nuclear programme.

"The Iranian side is indeed making progress in its nuclear programme,"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the specialised journal Security Index.

Ryabkov emphasised that "an Iran with nuclear weapons is not an option for Russia" but said there was no "hard, unequivocal evidence" that nuclear work which Tehran says is for purely civilian purposes was in fact aimed at producing a bomb.

"We have no smoking gun confirming the presence of a military component and a military aspect of the Iranian nuclear programme," he said in the interview with the journal Security Index.

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea...
China urged the UN atomic watchdog to step up cooperation with Iran in a bid to restore trust over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, after the Islamic state unveiled progress in its atomic programme.

"As a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and it should also fulfil corresponding international obligations," foreign ministry front man Liu Weimin said.

"The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should strengthen contact and cooperation with Iran in order to restore the international community's trust in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme."

But Washington, which fears Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons, was quick to dismiss Wedesday's announcements as "hyped" and "not big news".

The Iranians have for months been boasting of progress, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, but they are in fact "many, many months behind" their own calendars.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli state radio in a telephone interview from Tokyo that the Iranians were "boasting of successes they have not achieved," even though he admitted they "are continuing to progress" in the nuclear field.

"The Iranians want to give the impression they are more advanced to create the impression they have passed the 'point of no return', which is not true,"he said.

Tensions between the two arch-foes rose significantly this week after a series of bomb incidents in India, Thailand and Georgia targeting Israeli diplomats.

Israel blamed them on Tehran, which denied any involvement.

A high-level IAEA delegation visited Tehran late last month to discuss the concerns.

But one diplomat at IAEA headquarters in Vienna said afterwards that the Iranians "quite cleverly stonewalled for three days."

The delegation is due to return to Tehran next Monday. The outcome of those discussions could be key in determining the path towards wider talks between Iran and the P5+1.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sunni or Shia, widout NucWeaps there is NO OWG = GLOBAL ISLAMIST-JIHADIST CALIPHATE, PAR OR SUPERIOR OR DOMINANT, VEE ANY + ALL NON-ISLAM.

Israel clearly expects Iran to de facto covertly build an indigenous NucArsenal, not just to stockpile + store the required advanced NucMats for one for subjective contingency, i.e. to "threaten" to build one widout actually doing so, sub-i.e. NOT YOUR TYPICAL "JAPAN/EGYPT" ENERGY-ONLY MODEL".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2012 2:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Good cop again?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/17/2012 6:24 Comments || Top||

#3  We need the 'dance steps' graphic.... again.

We've made these steps before. Several times before.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/17/2012 8:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Minuet added, per request.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 8:39 Comments || Top||

#5  I always was a fan of having big masers pointing down from space. [Sort of gently heat (microwave) the SOB (in bed) to a stroke point within a meter or two]
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/17/2012 11:54 Comments || Top||

#6  They say this all the time. Means nothing at all.
Posted by: newc || 02/17/2012 19:26 Comments || Top||

#7  New ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Guardian.UK] US OFFICIALS BELIEVE IRAN SANCTIONS WILL [ultimately] FAIL, MILITARY ACTION LIKELY.

ARTIC = Israel likely to allow reasonable time for Sanctions to work.

versus

* SAME > TURKEY WON'T ALLOW NATO TO SHARE [BMD Radar] INTEL [+ MilFacs/Bases] WID ISRAEL.

Plus a few Other Nations, BUT ESPEC ISRAEL AS THE LATTER IS NOT A FORMAL NATO MEMBER-STATE.

Turkey putting out a wily, covert, anti pro-Muslim "Message-widin-a-Message" for Israel to formally join NATO???

D *** NG IT, TURKEY = IFF ONLY THOSE DIRTY ZIONIST JEWS CAN JOIN NATO WE CAN DESTROY THEM PROPERLY LIKE GOOD MUSLIMS!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/17/2012 22:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Turkey is in ascendancy these days. Our Pharaoh, obama, He be knowin' all 'bout dis.

A pay-off, regardless of where it came from, will be lovingly used to pervert, warp and unsettle our lives, goals and future hopes,
Posted by: Elmising Poodle6592 || 02/17/2012 23:36 Comments || Top||


Iranian bombs smuggled out in diplomatic mail?
Officials suspect that bombs used in recent spate of global terror attacks produced in same Tehran lab, smuggled out of Iran via unscreened diplomatic mail

Security officials are looking into the possibility that bombs used in the recent spate of terror attacks against Israeli targets worldwide were produced in the same Tehran lab and smuggled out of Iran via diplomatic mail.
 
Notably, diplomatic mail items are exempt from security screening and x-raying, thereby making it easier for Iranian terror masters to provide perpetrators with bombs.

Iran's elite al-Quds force, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, is believed to be behind the recent bombings in New Delhi and Bangkok, as well as the foiled attack in Tbilisi, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.
 
Israeli officials say the global terror offensive in fact started several months ago and includes numerous terror operations, most of them foiled by security forces worldwide before materializing. The instructions to carry out the attacks are believed to have arrived directly from Tehran and to have received the blessing of Iran's top leaders.
 
Israel warns Iran
Iran's willingness to assume such risks and generate friction with other states attests to the huge pressure faced by Tehran and its difficulty in coping with economic sanctions, the liquidation of nuclear scientists, and the American threat to operate in the Hormuz Straits, officials said.
 
Initial probes show that the Iranians are aiming to carry out attacks at any price and are trying to identify Israeli vulnerabilities. As Israel's ambassadors enjoy a high level of security, Iranian Death Eaters are believed to be setting their sights on low-level diplomats and the spouses of Israeli envoys.
 
Meanwhile,
...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell...
sources in Israel estimate that the global terror offensive will continue. Officials have decided to adopt a series of precautionary measures, including the reinforcement of security arrangements at Israeli embassies, issuing requests for local authorities to boost security, and instructing Israeli diplomats to change their routine activities.
 
Moreover, Israel has been conveying explicit warnings to Tehran, warning Iran that Jerusalem will not remain idle in the face of the Iranian terror offensive.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So are diplomatic parcels permitted un-checked by TSA types on commercial airlines? This should be a no-no.
If they want the pouch .. take it on a private plane.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/17/2012 21:41 Comments || Top||


Iran firms seek ruble deals for Russia grain-trade
Iranian traders are in talks with Russian sellers over the import of grain which will bypass western banking sanctions imposed on the Islamic Theocratic Republic, trade sources said on Thursday.
 After all, how much more rice will India sell them, being as Iran stiffed them on payment for the last lot...and then blew up some diplomats on their territory?
Sources said any deals were likely to be done in roubles avoiding European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and US currency restrictions which were covered by sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Persians are looking to trade slighlty warm, somewhat irradiated rubble for Rooski wheat? Oh, wait! I get it: 'ruble' as in commie dollars.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/17/2012 2:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Iran was the middle east largest producer of wheat. Localized drought and mosaic have hurt the crop extensively.
Posted by: bman || 02/17/2012 10:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Russia doesn't need oil or uranium or hash. What are they going to trade?
Posted by: 3dc || 02/17/2012 21:43 Comments || Top||

#4  elevated oil prices
Posted by: Frank G || 02/17/2012 22:17 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Hezbollah denies role in attack on Israel's missions
Hezbullies leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
denied Israeli accusations on Thursday that his group was behind bombers who targeted Israeli missions in India and Georgia this week.
"Don't hurt us!"
"I assure you that Hezbullies has nothing to do with this," he told supporters. Israel accused Iran and Hezbullies of being behind twin kabooms that targeted Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/17/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2012-02-17
  Feds arrest another thinks-he-is suicide bomber heading to Capitol building
Thu 2012-02-16
  U.S. drone kills five insurgents in Miranshah
Wed 2012-02-15
  Thailand charges Iranian bomb suspects in Bangkok
Tue 2012-02-14
  Suspected Iranian Agent Bungles Bombing in Bangkok
Mon 2012-02-13
  Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia
Sun 2012-02-12
  Uzbek man in US pleads guilty in Obama murder plot
Sat 2012-02-11
  Arrests in Quetta Related to Rabbani Assassination
Fri 2012-02-10
  Zawahiri says Somalia's Shebab Joined al-Qaida
Thu 2012-02-09
  Badar Mansoor Dronezapped in North Wazoo
Wed 2012-02-08
  German Police Arrest Lebanese, Syrian for Spying for Damascus
Tue 2012-02-07
  Blasts Rock N. Nigeria, Police Station Attacked
Mon 2012-02-06
  36 Civilians, 28 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence
Sun 2012-02-05
  Expel Syrian Envoys, Says Arab League Official
Sat 2012-02-04
  Libya's ex-envoy to France dies in custody
Fri 2012-02-03
  Britain Appoints First Ambassador to Somalia in 21 Years

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