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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Egyptians Protest for Army to Return to Power
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
3 16:15 USN,Ret. [3] 
1 17:03 Redneck Jim [5] 
1 23:26 Snise Cruter2274 [4] 
1 18:21 Bill Clinton [6] 
2 23:17 Snise Cruter2274 [12] 
6 23:19 Snise Cruter2274 [17] 
6 13:49 Frank G [] 
4 23:25 Snise Cruter2274 [6] 
4 13:14 Procopius2k [1] 
2 07:40 Threater Flusoper9823 [7] 
1 05:54 Paul D [9] 
2 08:14 Alanc [1] 
3 11:09 Procopius2k [6] 
3 13:00 SteveS [1] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
17 23:31 Snise Cruter2274 [4]
1 00:18 Skidmark [3]
5 20:52 Shipman [4]
1 10:01 Frank G [1]
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2 18:20 Bill Clinton [2]
1 07:12 Threater Flusoper9823 [7]
1 07:16 Threater Flusoper9823 [4]
3 12:49 Procopius2k [8]
1 07:23 Threater Flusoper9823 [7]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
7 22:39 Barbara [3]
6 21:10 Barbara [6]
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1 04:01 Shipman [7]
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1 09:43 Redneck Jim [3]
6 11:29 USN,Ret. [1]
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8 16:51 Bright Pebbles [2]
Page 4: Opinion
5 21:18 Shipman [6]
6 22:51 SteveS [3]
2 10:38 Procopius2k [1]
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5 20:32 CrazyFool [7]
Page 6: Politix
5 23:22 Snise Cruter2274 [4]
China-Japan-Koreas
Kerry to Visit Seoul Next Month
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit South Korea in mid-April for talks on a full range of multilateral issues.
Where he'll urge everyone to be nice and get along...
Little birdies
In their nests
Do sweetly all agree.
Officials here say North Korea's recent nuclear test will likely dominate discussions, though there should also be fine-tuning of other issues as President Park Geun-hye plans to make her first overseas visit to the U.S. in early May.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Kerry will travel to South Korea, Japan and China after attending a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in London on April 10 and 11.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The UN needs a guy like this. Does he play the Violin?
Posted by: Threater Flusoper9823 || 03/16/2013 7:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Stopping over to see your buddies in Hanoi too, Johnnie?

You'll be in the neighborhood.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/16/2013 8:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Won't come back, he loves it there, and they love him. (Yea goodies from Uncle)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/16/2013 9:46 Comments || Top||

#4  "Can I get me some kimchee here?"
Posted by: Raj || 03/16/2013 11:05 Comments || Top||

#5  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit South Korea in mid-April for talks on a full range of multilateral issues.

To include tax free yacht docking at Inchon? Maybe safer at Pusan.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/16/2013 12:56 Comments || Top||

#6  "Can I get me some kimchee here?"

with swiss cheese on it?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/16/2013 13:49 Comments || Top||


U.S. ramping up missile defense against N. Korea amid new threats
[CBSNEWS] The Pentagon announced Friday it will spend $1 billion to add 14 interceptors to a West Coast-based missile defense system, responding to what it called faster-than-anticipated North Korean progress on nuclear weapons and missiles.

Citing a "series of irresponsible and reckless provocations" by Pyongyang, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he is determined to ensure protection of the U.S. homeland and stay ahead of the North Korean missile threat. He acknowledged that the interceptors already in place to defend against potential North Korean missile launches have had poor test performances.

"We will strengthen our homeland defense, maintain our commitment to our allies and partners, and make clear to the world that the United States stands firm against aggression," Hagel told a Pentagon news conference.

The Pentagon intends to add the 14 interceptors to 26 already in place at Fort Greely, Alaska. That will expand the system's ability to shoot down long-range missiles in flight before they could reach U.S. territory. In addition to those at Greely, the U.S. also has four missile interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Hagel said the 14 extras should be in place by September 2017 but will not be deployed until they have been adequately tested.
According to my sometimes faulty math, that's four years from now, more like four and a half. Pudgeland is fulminating even as we speak blog.
"The reason we're advancing our program here for homeland security is to not take any chances, is to stay ahead of the threat and to assure any contingency," Hagel said.
That statement makes no sense. Is my arithmetic wrong? Do we live in Cloud Kookoo Land?
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Reagan v. Obama on Star Wars

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/16/2013 3:02 Comments || Top||

#2  that doofus Hagel makes me cringe every time he speaks
Posted by: Frank G || 03/16/2013 10:30 Comments || Top||

#3  That statement makes no sense. Is my arithmetic wrong? Do we live in Cloud Kookoo Land?

Totally nuts and useless in the short term. More like 'stimulus' money.

I'd be watching ship movements (Ticos & Burkes, I think) for signs of actual response to the Norks. Assuming we have the money for fuel to leave port. (OMG! We're turning into the fUSSR!!11!!!)
Posted by: SteveS || 03/16/2013 13:00 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
CAIR intimidates teacher, rally planned in her defense
Posted by: tipper || 03/16/2013 11:37 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We're so mad at her we'll reinforce her point."
Posted by: Korora || 03/16/2013 13:40 Comments || Top||

#2  the time needs to come, soon, when the thugs at CAIR feel a huge backlash for their behavior. RICO act anyone?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/16/2013 14:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Concrete is just about an hour from my cave, and the run of the mill Concretian is not racist, but patriotic. Where else can you witness a precision bedpan drill team (Cascade Days parade)? Doubt Islamists even know what a bedpan is, much less how to use one. If those words are now synonyms we be in a heap of trouble
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 03/16/2013 16:15 Comments || Top||


Airline bomber set to be released from prison
Mohammed Rashed slipped a bomb beneath the jetliner seat cushion, set the timer and disembarked with his wife and child when the plane touched down in Tokyo. The device exploded as Pan Am Flight 830 continued on to Honolulu, killing a Japanese teenager in a 1982 attack that investigators linked to a terrorist organization known for making sophisticated bombs.

It would be 20 years before the bomber -- and one-time apprentice to Abu Ibrahim, currently featured on the FBI list of most wanted terrorists -- would admit guilt in an American courtroom.

Now, credited for his cooperation against associates, Rashed will be released from federal prison within days after more than two decades in custody in Greece and the United States.

The release does more than spring loose a convicted terrorist. It also could deprive the government of a star witness in the event that Ibrahim, a Palestinian master bomb-maker who authorities say orchestrated the Pan Am attack and similar strikes around the world, is ever captured. A former top lieutenant, Rashed would be able to implicate Ibrahim as the architect of the attack and help establish his identity in case prosecutors ever had a chance to bring him to the U.S. to face justice. Once freed, it's not clear that he would continue cooperating, though the Justice Department says it has enough other evidence for a conviction.

"They certainly could teach people coming along. Whether they
would or not, of course, I don't know. Their ability to make bombs go off is quite extraordinary," said Bob Baer, a former top CIA officer who worked clandestinely in the Middle East.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said the charges against Ibrahim, who was indicted in 1987 along with Rashed and Rashed's Austrian-born wife, remain active and that the government still seeks his prosecution. He wouldn't comment on the potential impact of Rashed's release, but noted that prosecutors indicted Ibrahim long before Rashed was in custody or had begun cooperating.

"The Justice Department does not bring charges against a defendant unless it believes it has sufficient evidence to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law," he said in a statement.

Rashed's 2002 guilty plea required him to cough up information on other terror plots in exchange for a release date of March 20, 2013. The agreement also stipulated that Rashed, a Jordanian-born Palestinian from Bethlehem, would be deported to a country of his choice upon his release. His lawyer wouldn't comment on Rashed's plans. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which lists Rashed as 63 years old, also declined to comment.
Posted by: tipper || 03/16/2013 11:25 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  An Obama/sequester release?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/16/2013 17:03 Comments || Top||


Handless cleric awaiting terror trial in New York gets prosthetics
The jail holding Abu Hamza al-Masri, the handless Islamic cleric awaiting trial on U.S. terrorism charges, provided him with a new set of prosthetics on Friday, officials said at a hearing on Friday.

His attorneys had been asking for the new limbs for months, after authorities refused to allow him to wear his usual metal hooks outside of his jail cell.
Nerf prosthetics!
Britain extradited al-Masri last October. The United States accuses him of providing material support to the al Qaeda network by trying to set up a training camp in Oregon, among other charges.

Al-Masri is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center next door to the courthouse in lower Manhattan. The Egyptian-born, white-haired preacher appeared in court on Friday without any prosthetics.

In another accommodation, al-Masri, who is also missing an eye, will have access to a laptop computer to review evidence in his cell, Forrest said Friday. Forrest said the accommodation is being made in part because much of the evidence is in Arabic.

Al-Masri will have access to the computer at all times except for when it is charging, Lewis said after the hearing. It does not have Internet access, she said.

Al-Masri will also be able to speak with his family by telephone on March 18, Forrest said. Lewis said after the hearing that he is only allowed to speak to his immediate family.

Although pleased with the accommodations, Lewis told Forrest that al-Masri still had other needs, including a change of sheets more often. After the hearing, Lewis explained he needs a daily change of bedding because of a medical condition. Most inmates at the MCC get clean sheets once a week, she said.

Al-Masri, who has asked to be referred to in court by his birth name, Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, has pleaded not guilty to 11 criminal charges. His trial was recently pushed back to March 31, 2014, at the request of his attorneys, who cited voluminous evidence they need to sort through.
This article starring:
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Posted by: Beavis || 03/16/2013 09:04 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hand Embargo they work!
Posted by: Snise Cruter2274 || 03/16/2013 23:26 Comments || Top||


S. Texas doc charged with health care fraud and violating Iran embargo
A federal grand jury has indicted a urologist and a lawyer with ties to San Antonio and McAllen on charges related to health care fraud and violating a U.S. embargo with Iran.

The San Antonio Express-News first reported in December 2010 on Hossein Lahiji and his wife, attorney Najmeh Vahid Lahiji, when they were arrested in San Antonio in a separate case charging that they secretly sent more than $1.8 million to Iran over nine years with the help of the founder of an Oregon charity. That, prosecutors contend, violates the U.S. embargo on the Middle East country. The U.S. has had a trade embargo against Iran since 1995 because it is considered a state sponsor of terrorism.

Lahiji, a naturalized U.S. citizen who runs a urologist practice in McAllen and is an investor in the physician-owned Doctor's Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, told the Express-News in 2010 that the feds' allegations mistakenly place them in certain geographic areas when they were elsewhere. The pair moved to Texas from New Jersey.

"There are a lot of inconsistencies (in the charges), and we hope to prove our innocence," Vahid, who runs her own law practice in San Antonio, also told the newspaper in 2010.

But after further scrutiny of the pair, the U.S. attorney's office in Houston announced Thursday that a grand jury there returned a new indictment charging the pair with health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and for conspiring to violate Iranian sanctions. They are scheduled for trial in Houston on March 25. They pleaded not guilty Friday.
This article starring:
Hossein Lahiji
Posted by: tipper || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Imagine my surprise when I read this guy is a Moslem...a south Texas Moslem. That's gotta be tops for exotic something.

A south Texas Moslem...I can't get over it. And this guy is busy busy busy thinking thinking thinking about how to make money in America. the land of opportunity and freedom and ...well, OF COURSE they ALL want to come and live in America. What guy under the camel's tail WOULDN't want to live in America? They have flush toilets in America. Hey Najmeh come look at this! What vahid?
This thing flusheds.
Do it again Najmeh.
( FLUSH! )
Posted by: Threater Flusoper9823 || 03/16/2013 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Yah, I find myself wishing all these damn primitive foreigners would move back to their flush-toilet-less New Jersey and leave us alone.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/16/2013 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Don't be an idiot, Threater Flusoper9823. It gets tiresome.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/16/2013 12:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Texas.Muslim. How about - Texan, Muslim, Republican. Need to read up.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/16/2013 13:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan's resolution causes uproar in Indian parliament
[Dawn] India's lawmakers, accusing its neighbor of interfering in its internal affairs, have reacted angrily to a resolution adopted Thursday by Pakistan's National Assembly which had condemned the execution last month of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was convicted in a deadly 2001 attack on India's Parliament.

India's Parliament passed a resolution of its own Friday, insisting the Pakistani assembly "desist from acts of support for extremist and terrorist elements."

Guru was secretly hanged and buried in New Delhi's high-security prison last month. His execution triggered violence in the Indian portion of Kashmir, with his family asking the Indian government to hand over his body for burial in his hometown.

A proposed home-and-away field hockey series between the nations' teams also was called off Friday on the advice of India's foreign ministry. Pakistan's squad was scheduled to visit India for five games from April 5-15, and the teams were to play five matches in Pakistan from April 23-May 2.

"I hope they (Pakistan) will get the message," said Salman Khurshid, India's foreign minister.

Tensions also rose this week when India accused Pakistan of involvement in an attack Wednesday in the Indian administered Kashmir that killed five paramilitary soldiers.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Pakistan should have been declared a terrorist state years ago.

The only way they make money is thru terrorism.

Lets see what happens post Afghanistan.Will the West still be blackmailed into paying Pakistan money to stop terrorism which they turn on and off like a tap!
Posted by: Paul D || 03/16/2013 5:54 Comments || Top||


UN Official Says Pakistan Demands Immediate End To U.S. Drone Strikes On Its Territory
[TALKRADIONEWS] The Government of Pakistan never approved U.S. drone strikes in the country and all strikes must cease immediately, senior Pakistani officials told a UN expert earlier this week, denying reports it secretly sanctioned American military operations within its borders.
Everybody yaps about international law like it's some vague thingy that can be anything they want.

Article 57, Hague Convention of 1899

A neutral State which receives in its territory troops belonging to the belligerent armies shall intern them, as far as possible, at a distance from the theatre of war.

It can keep them in camps, and even confine them in fortresses or locations assigned for this purpose.

It shall decide whether officers may be left at liberty on giving their parole that they will not leave the neutral territory without authorization.

"The position of the Government of Pakistan is quite clear. It does not consent to the use of drones by the United States on its territory and it considers this to be a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity." UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson said in a statement Friday after a three day trip to Islamabad.
Article 59

A neutral State may authorize the passage through its territory of wounded or sick belonging to the belligerent armies, on condition that the trains bringing them shall carry neither combatants nor war material. In such a case, the neutral State is bound to adopt such measures of safety and control as may be necessary for the purpose.

Wounded and sick brought under these conditions into neutral territory by one of the belligerents, and belonging to the hostile party, must be guarded by the neutral State, so as to insure their not taking part again in the military operations. The same duty shall devolve on the neutral State with regard to wounded or sick of the other army who may be committed to its care.

"As a matter of international law the US drone campaign in Pakistan is therefore being conducted without the consent of the elected representatives of the people, or the legitimate Government of the State. It involves the use of force on the territory of another State without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty." he said.
Presence of troops (definition available if desired) on Pakistain's supposedly allied but politely regarded neutral soil carrying out military operations against U.S. and NATO troops constitutes a legitimate casus belli. We should be drone-zapping downtown Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Preach it FredMan!
Posted by: Shipman || 03/16/2013 3:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Arclight Quetta!


Drink up!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/16/2013 10:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Everybody yaps about international law like it's some vague thingy that can be anything they want.

That's usually what it turns out to be - opinion with a false flag of pseudo-legitimacy. Just another Newspeak term which has lost its original meaning and now simply employed to exert power for which consent doesn't exist except in the mind of the speaker.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/16/2013 11:09 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Kissenger sez Israeli-Paleo peace process tango-uniform.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says there is little chance of any breakthrough in stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, as Champ visits Israel next week on his first trip there since taking office.

“I’m not optimistic” about reviving peace talks, in large part because of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties in the region that aren’t inclined to support a “just outcome” with Israel, Kissinger said in an interview airing this weekend on Bloomberg TV’s “Conversations with Judy Woodruff.”

The former national security adviser to President Richard Nixon, Kissinger, 89, is an elder statesman of American foreign policy who, among other things, negotiated the U.S. opening with China in 1971 and an Israeli-Egyptian disengagement following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He was secretary of state in the administrations of Nixon and President Gerald Ford.

Kissinger said he doesn’t have a rosy view of the so-called Arab Spring that has been widely portrayed as popular uprisings with democratic aspirations. Most revolutions, he said, consist of “many groups hostile to the existing government, but not necessarily for the same reason.”
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/16/2013 08:13 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think ole Henry said pretty much the same thing about the time Gerald Ford left office.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/16/2013 18:21 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
CIA may target Syrian extremists with drones: LA Times
The US Central Intelligence Agency is collecting information on Islamic radicals in Syria for possible lethal drone strikes against them at a later stage, The Los Angeles Times reported late Friday.

Citing unnamed current and former US officials, the newspaper said President Barack Obama had not authorized any drone missile strikes in Syria yet, and none were under consideration.

However CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, which runs drone programs targeting militants in Pakistan and Yemen, had recently shifted several targeting officers to improve intelligence gathering on militants in Syria.

The targeting officers have formed a unit with colleagues who were tracking Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq.

Veteran militants from Iraq are believed to have moved to Syria and joined anti-government Islamic militias there, the report said.

The targeting officers focusing on Syria are based at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the paper said.

But the agency is working closely with Saudi, Jordanian and other regional spy services active in Syria, according to The Times.

The preparations come as radical Islamic fighters have won a growing share of rebel victories in Syria, the paper said.
Posted by: tipper || 03/16/2013 02:13 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sadly, an organization fully out of control and answering to no one.
Posted by: Slineth Jones9150 || 03/16/2013 2:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Will the weapons from Libya be put back into circulation, at a discount due to wear and tear?
Posted by: Snise Cruter2274 || 03/16/2013 23:17 Comments || Top||


U.S. allows citizens to transfer funds to Syrian opposition
This will no doubt turn out to have been one of the least wise decisions made by this administration, even though the rebels are, from a certain perspective -- if one squints really, really hard -- quite romantic.
The United States on Friday allowed its citizens to transfer funds and offer other services to the Syrian opposition, Xinhua reported. The Department of Treasury issued a general license authorizing "export, re-export, sell, or supply, directly or indirectly" to the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which Washington recognized in December as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Transfer of funds is among the services authorized, but must be done through the coalition's U.S. office and an account of the group at a U.S. financial institution.

U.S. citizens are not allowed to do transactions with those whose property is frozen by the administration, or engage in supply of items listed on the United States Munitions List, the Treasury said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  if one squints really, really hard -- quite romantic.

No camels, no desert, no burning sands. Only automatic weapons and Toyota pickup trucks. I'll pass.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/16/2013 3:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Did we not learn from Afghanistan re funding Sunni extremist who when Afghan/Syria war ends will look for jihad elsewhere!
Posted by: Paul D || 03/16/2013 6:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Now if 'Organizing for Action' can get National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces added to the DoD Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), Nidal Hasan can contribute from Fort Leavenworth.

It rally IS all coming together.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/16/2013 8:00 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd rather see certain "citizens" transferred to the Syrian opposition; on one way tickets, starting with the regime first.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/16/2013 8:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Crowdsourced revolutions - how 21st century!

Hey, what do you guys think about a Kickstarter project to overthrow $MOST_ANNOYING_COUNTRY?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/16/2013 12:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Blue light special on gently used Libyan ammo dump weapons some hell fire damage!
Posted by: Snise Cruter2274 || 03/16/2013 23:19 Comments || Top||


Europe divided over lifting Syria arms embargo
BRUSSELS — The European Union stood divided Friday on whether to lift an embargo on supplying arms to Syria’s opposition despite a strong push from Britain and France. Pressed by the two major EU powers to help tip the balance in the conflict by arming the ill-equipped rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, leaders of the 27-nation bloc agreed to discuss the issue again next week, but there was little sign of a deal in the offing.

“We agreed to task our foreign ministers to assess the situation as a matter of priority” at talks in Dublin on March 22 and 23, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said at the close of a two-day summit.

As the bloody conflict entered its third year, London and Paris said there was no sign of Assad relenting on the political front as he continued to receive arms from Russia and elsewhere. But there was little appetite from some Europeans for arming the rebels, fearful that a flood of weapons into Syria would only escalate the conflict.

“It is unlikely there will be an agreement to lift the arms embargo given very principled opposition from some nations, such as Germany,” Jan Techau, head of the Carnegie think-tank, told AFP.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is traditionally shy of conflict, said “I haven’t made up my mind yet”, but added that “we have a series of reservations because one has to ask whether or not one is fanning the flames of the conflict.”

“It is an extremely difficult situation,” she added after the summit. “It must be considered very very carefully.”
And for a very long time...
After British Prime Minister David Cameron this week called for an EU arms embargo to be lifted, France’s President Francois Hollande unexpectedly turned the spotlight on the issue on arriving in Brussels, saying: “We want Europeans to lift the arms embargo.”
So why not let the Brits and the Europeans lift the embargo?
“Political solutions have now failed,” he said. “We cannot allow a people to be massacred by a regime that for now does not want a political transition,” Hollande said.

Like Britain, France warned it was ready to break ranks with European partners to supply weapons to the rebels. Paris was ready to “take its responsibilities” if other EU nations were unwilling to lift the embargo, Hollande said.

“Of course people want a political solution,” said Cameron. “We are more likely to see political progress if people can see the Syrian opposition as a credible and strengthening force.”

The EU embargo on supplying arms to Syria, whether to the regime or rebels, is part of a package of sanctions that was extended on February 28 for three months by EU foreign ministers, though such sanctions are always reviewed in case events change.

At the February talks ministers agreed under pressure from Britain, France and Italy to ease the arms ban to enable any EU state to provide non-lethal aid or training to the insurgents. Britain quickly pledged armoured vehicles taken from the 7th Armored Brigade and protective clothing for the opposition.

But a number of EU countries have been sceptical about going further and dropping the arms ban.

“We are against the end of the arms embargo. We think the delivery of arms does not contribute to a possible solution,” Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann told reporters in Brussels.
Not that the mighty Austrian army was going to war anyway...
An EU diplomat said many countries were likely to fall in quietly behind Germany and refuse to lift the ban.

Carnegie think-tank analyst Techau said the dispute would further undermine EU efforts to speak with one voice on the world scene.

“It will make the EU look exactly as it is — that is, not unified — dealing another blow to the bid to build a common foreign and defence policy.”
Why should Europe have a common policy? Let the different nations act as they see fit -- the French and English can help the rebels and the Germans can go on about their business.
Techau said Britain and France were likely to press ahead on their own if necessary.
See?
Speaking at a news conference closing the summit, Hollande suggested that Paris and London were determined to act.

“Inaction is the greatest risk,” he said. “It is preferable to control weapons than just allow them to circulate freely as is the case today.”
Posted by: Steve White || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meddling Englishmen and Frogs. Don't they have enough domestic challenges to keep them busy? Merkel's "fanning the flames of conflict" is spot on!
Posted by: Slineth Jones9150 || 03/16/2013 2:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Europe Divided!
Johnson? Yo... Johnson? Damn unions...
Posted by: Shipman || 03/16/2013 3:56 Comments || Top||

#3  EU Rejects Franco-British Push To Arm Syrian Rebels

European Union governments on Friday rejected Franco-British efforts to lift an EU arms embargo to allow weapons supplies to Syrian rebels, saying this could spark an arms race and worsen regional instability.

France and Britain found little support for their proposal at an EU summit in Brussels, diplomats said, but EU foreign ministers will consider the issue again next week.

French President Francois Hollande, backed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, pressed for the embargo to be lifted, saying Europe could not allow the Syrian people to be massacred.

Western nations mostly have stood on the sidelines as 70,000 Syrians have been killed, according to a U.N. estimate, during a two-year-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a leading opponent of lifting the arms embargo, said there was a danger that Assad's allies Russia and Iran could step up arms supplies to his government if the 27-nation EU lifted its restrictions.

Just because Britain and France now wanted to drop the ban, that didn't mean 25 other states must follow suit, she told a news conference in Brussels. "That will not be the case."
Posted by: tipper || 03/16/2013 9:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Good they can finally start wiping their own asses Ker Plunk!
Posted by: Snise Cruter2274 || 03/16/2013 23:25 Comments || Top||


Syria Accuses Jordan of Opening Borders for Jihadists
[An Nahar] A Syrian security official on Friday accused Jordan of opening its borders to jihadist fighters and allowing weapons bought by Saudi Arabia in Croatia to be smuggled into the country.

"We deplore the change of attitude of Jordan, which in the past 10 days has opened its borders and is allowing to cross over (into Syria) jihadists and Croatian weapons bought by Saudi Arabia," said the source.

"This can only intensify the conflict and cause more casualties," the source told AFP in Beirut on condition of anonymity.

"There's been a change of attitude because up until now, Jordan had imposed strict controls on its border to prevent the passage of terrorists and weapons," said the source, blaming "pressure by countries that are hostile to Syria" for the change.

Last week, a Croatian daily said the country was used between November and December as a "transit point" for the transport of weapons and ammunition destined for Syrian rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Some 75 civilian transport planes carrying weapons for the rebels took off from Zagreb airport between last November and February, the influential Jutarnji List reported.

It said the transportation of some 3,000 tonnes of weapons and ammunition was organized by the United States using Turkish and Jordanian air cargo companies.

The weapons originated from Croatia -- notably guns, rocket and grenade launchers -- as well as from several other European countries including Britain, which is currently leading calls to lift an EU arms embargo on Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Is this how the Middle East deal with unemployment?
Posted by: Paul D || 03/16/2013 5:56 Comments || Top||

#2  People keep telling me that Assad is on the way out. But I also hear he's eating his breakfast aboard a Russian Cruiser in the harbor. His mother has already flown out to Bumfook al Helhol and his wife is in Paris?

"This can only intensify the conflict and cause more casualties," which I always thought was the main idea.

But then, they ARE all Moslems.

Posted by: Threater Flusoper9823 || 03/16/2013 7:40 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Arab nations to monitor jihadist websites
[MAGHAREBIA] Arab interior ministers want to keep a closer watch on extremist websites.

The new agreement emerged from the 30th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, which ended Thursday (March 14th) in Riyadh.

Twenty-one Arab ministers approved recommendations to monitor extremist websites used for recruiting young people, as well as online communications between terrorist groups.

The ministerial summit also discussed civil defence plans and strategies to combat the illegal use of drugs, Kuwait's al-Taleea reported on Thursday.

"There are many serious challenges facing the Arab nation and threatening its security, as well as its developmental, cultural, and humanitarian progress," Saudi Arabia's Okaz reported King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as saying.

Addressing these challenges to Arab security requires an "accurate diagnosis and a comprehensive vision", he added.

"Support for the capabilities of security services, unification of efforts, the development of joint security co-ordination, and activation of the roles of our religious, social, educational, and guidance institutions" would all be required, the monarch said.

Observers noted, however, the difficulty of controlling the electronic content of jihadist websites.

"The Arab interior ministers' plan is very ambitious and important because many young people start their journey towards terrorism by learning about these groups via the internet," Omar Ould Dahmed, an expert in youth issues, told Magharebia.

"The content, especially related to combat and training, as well as songs glorifying jihad, attract many people," he added.

Provided Arab nations implement the ministers' recommendations, such websites can be monitored and their content controlled. Furthermore young people who browse such websites can be monitored and their suspicious activities identified.
Posted by: Fred || 03/16/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Salafists

#1  "There are many serious challenges facing the Arab nation and threatening its security, as well as its developmental, cultural, and humanitarian progress,

And Camels, don't forget the Camels.
Posted by: Threater Flusoper9823 || 03/16/2013 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, duh. Don't publishers and editors ALWAYS monitor their authors?
Posted by: Alanc || 03/16/2013 8:14 Comments || Top||



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2Govt of Syria
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1al-Qaeda
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2013-03-16
  Egyptians Protest for Army to Return to Power
Fri 2013-03-15
  Iranian Fighter Tries to Intercept U.S. Drone in Gulf
Thu 2013-03-14
  Sources: Benghazi suspect detained in Libya
Wed 2013-03-13
  Srinagar: 5 CRPF jawans, 2 ultras killed in terror attack
Tue 2013-03-12
  Egypt's Gamaa Islamiya to form 'militias' in Assiut to replace striking police
Mon 2013-03-11
  Haqqani Facilitator, 10 Insurgents Arrested in Afghan Raids
Sun 2013-03-10
  Bomb kills five, wounds 28 in Pakistan's Peshawar
Sat 2013-03-09
   Mob in Pakistan torches Christian homes
Fri 2013-03-08
  N. Korea to sever hot line with Seoul, nullify non-aggression pacts
Thu 2013-03-07
  Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Wed 2013-03-06
  Syria rebels detain UN Golan observers
Tue 2013-03-05
  Chavez Dead
Mon 2013-03-04
  Twenty Islamists Killed in Northeast Nigeria
Sun 2013-03-03
  Jamaat, Shibir stay violent; toll rises to 47
Sat 2013-03-02
  Chad says soldiers in Mali kill al Qaeda's Belmokhtar
Fri 2013-03-01
  Al-Qaeda commander Abu Zeid killed in Mali


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