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Boko Haram Takfiris seize town in NE Nigeria
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan expels New York Times reporter
[Iran Press TV] Afghanistan has ordered a New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
(NYT) correspondent to leave the war-ravaged country over his alleged links to spy agencies.

On Thursday, Afghan Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko said Matthew Rosenberg's Tuesday article about the country's deadlock over contested results of the June presidential runoff vote was "contrary to the national interests, security and stability of Afghanistan," and ordered him to leave the country within 24 hours.

"This is not the first time that this news hound has published propaganda, and it appears that he has links with intelligence and spy agencies," the attorney general stated.

In his New York Times article entitled "Amid Election Impasse, Calls in Afghanistan for an Interim Government," Rosenberg wrote that Afghan government ministers and officials were threatening to seize power.

Rosenberg is the first Western journalist to be expelled from Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted in the 2001 US-led invasion of the country.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghans call for immediate presidential vote results
[Iran Press TV] Scores of protesters have taken to the streets in the Afghan capital Kabul to call for the immediate release of the results of the disputed presidential runoff vote, Press TV reports.

On Thursday, more than a hundred civil society activists rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud and expressed their outrage over what they described as the violation of the Afghan constitution.

The demonstrators also emphasized that the delay in announcing the results of the June vote is against the interests of Afghanistan.

"Some elements do not think about our country and people, but rather think only about their own interests. It is nothing but a pre-planned political game against the nation," said Mohammad Jawadi, a civil society activist.

"We want international community to take action to cordially end the election standoff. The delay in results of election has caused joblessness, chaos and insecurity," said Maryam Ibrahimkhel, another protester.

Speaking at a Tuesday ceremony marking Afghanistan's 95th anniversary of independence from Britannia, 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...
expressed hope that the two men vying to succeed him -- former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
, and former finance minister, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai -- would reach an agreement and save the country from further violence and economic decline.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


US offers new bounties for Haqqani network members
[DAWN] The B.O. regime is offering new rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of four top members of the Pakistain-based Death Eater Haqqani network and is boosting an existing $5 million reward for the group's leader to $10 million.

The State Department's Rewards for Justice program announced the bounty offers on Wednesday.

The $10 million reward applies to Sirajuddin Haqqani, while the $5 million rewards are being offered for his relatives Aziz Haqqani, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani, as well as Abdul Rauf Zakir.

The Haqqanis are allied with al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban and are accused of staging numerous cross-border attacks from their base in North Wazoo, Pakistain, including the 19-hour siege at the US Embassy in Kabul in September 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Fiscal Times: Failure in AFG Creates a Terror Safe Haven
Which was what it was when we got there.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Alex Quade Exclusive: Spec Ops capture & release of Taliban for Bergdahl
[Alex Quade] The story behind the Special Operations Forces’ capture of one of the Taliban-5. Quade persuaded the elite Operators to go on the record, assess the high risk detainee’s exchange for POW, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and whether the released Taliban leader will attack U.S. interests again. One highly decorated Green Beret who originally helped capture him, is now a counterterrorism head, who worked behind the scenes on the exchange. His former Special Operations Forces “Horse Soldiers” teammates share details with Alex, you’ve never heard. In Quade’s exclusive, you’ll discover the Taliban leader’s connection to: convicted “American Taliban” Johnny Walker Lindh, and CIA Agent, Mike Spann — the first American killed in action in the war in Afghanistan. You’ll also learn of the released Taliban leader’s ties to notorious former warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum – currently a vice presidential candidate in Afghanistan.
Some very interesting dots connected.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mike Spann's daughter had some issues with the release.
Posted by: Matt || 08/22/2014 8:03 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Bahrain urged to scrap laws on revoking nationalities
[Iran Press TV] Human Rights Watch
... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge....
(HRW) has called on the Bahraini regime to repeal laws that allow revoking the nationalities of dissidents after a court stripped nine Shia activists of their citizenship.

"Bahrain should repeal laws that will allow authorities to strip Bahrainis of their nationalities on grounds so vague as to be arbitrary," the international rights group said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement came after a Bahraini court stripped the citizenship of nine men after they were convicted of "forming a terrorist organization aimed at smuggling weapons to Bahrain and helping detainees to escape." The nine were also received jail terms ranging from five to 15 years.

According to the New York-based group, ten other Shias, whose nationalities were revoked in 2012, are facing jail terms or deportation from the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Politix
Feds: Obama Broke Law with Bergdahl Swap
President B.O. violated a "clear and unambiguous" law when he released five Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday.

"[The Department of Defense] violated section 8111 because it did not notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the transfer," the GAO report said. "In addition, because DOD used appropriated funds to carry out the transfer when no money was available for that purpose, DOD violated the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from incurring obligations exceeding an amount available in an appropriation."

The GAO rejected the idea that the action was legal and sidestepped the Obama team's suggestion that the law is unconstitutional.

"It is not our role or our practice to determine the constitutionality of duly enacted statutes," the report says. "In our view, where legislation has been passed by Congress and signed by the President, thereby satisfying the bicameralism and presentment requirements in the Constitution, that legislation is entitled to a heavy presumption in favor of constitutionality."
Posted by: Beavis || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mind if I sidestep my taxes then?
Posted by: gorb || 08/22/2014 1:22 Comments || Top||

#2  OK, so like, that is instance 339?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/22/2014 8:56 Comments || Top||

#3  BTW, is a law a law if its never enforced?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/22/2014 8:57 Comments || Top||

#4  A law with the force of effect is nothing more than an ink stain on a piece of paper.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/22/2014 9:30 Comments || Top||

#5  If the president does it, it is by (his) definition legal.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 08/22/2014 11:44 Comments || Top||

#6  If the [insert protected class name here] president does it, it is by (his) definition legal.

FIFY


Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/22/2014 15:04 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Obama: ISIL speaks for no religion
[Iran Press TV] US President Barack Obama
We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us...
says the Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
ISIL terrorist group represents no religion as a video emerges of the beheading of an American journalist by the the ISIL terrorists.

"ISIL speaks for no religion. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, or what they do every day. No faith teaches people to murder innocents," Obama told a presser on Wednesday.

Obama's comments came shortly after the White House confirmed a gruesome video showing the beheading of James Foley by the ISIL gunnies is "authentic."

"The entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley," Obama said, pledging that he would "do what's necessary to see that justice is done."

The US president condemned the ISIL's actions and called for continued efforts to "confront this awful terrorism and replace it with a sense of hope and civility."

ISIL said 40-year-old Foley, who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, was decapitated in reprisal for ongoing US Arclight airstrikes against their forces in Iraq.

The terrorist group posted a gruesome video on social media on Tuesday titled "A Message to America."

UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
also released a statement, saying that he "condemns in the strongest terms the horrific murder" of Foley.

Ban described the murder as an "abominable crime that underscores the campaign of terror" of the ISIL, saying, "The perpetrators of this and other such horrific crimes must be brought to justice."
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  ISIL speaks for no religion

Gee, I wonder whose calphate that would be then.
Posted by: gorb || 08/22/2014 1:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Darn Amish!!
Posted by: Steven || 08/22/2014 2:47 Comments || Top||

#3  "ISIL speaks for no religion. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, or what they do every day. No faith teaches people to murder innocents," Obama told a presser on Wednesday.

No mention of an unjust God or phony religion. His wedding band must be speaking to him again.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 3:22 Comments || Top||

#4  for at least some lefties, this narrative must be getting hard to keep saying with a straight face given that there are so many murderous Islamic groups and so many other oppressive ones
Posted by: lord garth || 08/22/2014 6:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Shuddup moron!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/22/2014 7:01 Comments || Top||

#6  i thourght ISIL was following the Koran myself?
Posted by: Paul D || 08/22/2014 7:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Typical leftist arrogance. These people don't give others the respect of believing what they say.

They laugh off and poo-poo any threat that goes counter to their Kumbaya narrative about the noble savages, peace love and US evil.

Disgusting...............again.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/22/2014 8:11 Comments || Top||

#8  No faith teaches people to murder innocents

There's so many ways one can parse that...
Posted by: Pappy || 08/22/2014 8:43 Comments || Top||

#9  You don't bring 20,000 fanatical jihadi "to justice". It's a waste of time and money - to say nothing of dealing with all the lefties who will obstruct that "justice".

No, you exterminate them militarily. That's the only thing that will resolve the conflict.
Posted by: KBK || 08/22/2014 8:52 Comments || Top||

#10  However, “Gun-Toting, Bible Thumping, Bitter People”, need close watching (by the IRS, ATF, FBI, et al).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/22/2014 9:00 Comments || Top||

#11  ...and let's not forget this little episode.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/22/2014 9:20 Comments || Top||

#12 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/22/2014 9:56 Comments || Top||

#13  LMAO - priceless g(r)omgoru - Good Show !
Posted by: Javising Snore4333 || 08/22/2014 10:27 Comments || Top||

#14  O said that no religion allows the murder of innocents. That much is true. The problem is in the definition of "innocent". To ISIS, "innocent" means one of them. Everyone one else is by definition guilty.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 08/22/2014 11:41 Comments || Top||

#15  War hammers everyone. When Islam killed thousands of innocents in New York City using airplanes full of innocents on 9/11, we shifted the war to their turf, jerk.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 08/22/2014 12:36 Comments || Top||

#16  Good.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 08/22/2014 13:23 Comments || Top||

#17  mohammed's believe it or die

Check that out!
Posted by: newc || 08/22/2014 15:09 Comments || Top||

#18  The Messenger surely is fuming:
"They try to promote my communion,
But Western dumbasses
Must need better glasses...
Perhaps I should try Western Union."
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 08/22/2014 23:42 Comments || Top||


Dearborn cleric popular with ISIS fighters owes $250K for fraud
[FREEP] A holy man in Dearborn popular with supporters of the bully boy group ISIS owes a quarter of a million dollars in restitution and other costs stemming from his fraud convictions, according to newly filed court records.

Ahmad Jebril, 43, who has gained an international following among ISIS fighters and sympathizers, is on probation after serving 6 1/2null years in prison. After being released in 2012, he has used social media to become what experts say is the most popular religious leader for Islamists from the West fighting for ISIS, also known as ISIL or the Islamic State.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  In the motion, federal prosecutors wrote that a probation officer said she has "financial information about (Jebril) that would be helpful" to set up an "appropriate repayment schedule."

In other words, Jebril can pay; the Feds just aren't pursuing it with any vigor.
Posted by: Raj || 08/22/2014 8:55 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
PTI MPAs 'hand over resignations' to opp leader
[DAWN] LAHORE: The opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly claims that all 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) politicians have handed over their resignations to him.

Mian Mahmoodur Rashid, who is also PTI's core committee member, made the claim after presiding over a meeting of the parliamentary party on Wednesday.The resignations of the PTI MPAs, he said, would be forwarded to the Punjab Assembly speaker after a green signal by the party leadership.

Talking to the media, he said the government 'surrendered' and agreed to talks after the news that civil and police administration had stopped obeying orders of the prime minister.

Replying to a query about making parliament the forum for resolving issues, Mr Rashid said which parliament did Nawaz talk of?

"The parliament where he himself does not like to sit!"

He said the "drawing room politics" and "politics of deals" were not something Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
was aware of. "Now all the decisions will be taken in the open and in the Red Zone where PTI workers and leaders were present.

He claimed the Nawaz government was now at the mercy of those sitting in the open in Islamabad.

He said this was the first people's protest movement in the country and PTI's journey from Zaman Park in Lahore to Islamabad's Red Zone proved it was a peace-loving party.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Preparations underway to form national government: Chaudhry Shujaat
[DAWN] Chief of the Pakistain Moslem League — Quaid (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said the army had given a 48 hour ultimatum to the prime minister.

Speaking to DawnNews in an interview, Shujaat said that preparations were under way to hold a referendum for the formation of a national government.

The PML-Q chief said that the army was against Nawaz, adding that the prime minister had opened far too many fronts with the armed forces.

Shujaat added that no one will back down from the demand of the registration of cases against the Sharif brothers and other PML-N leaders over the Model Town tragedy.

He said the protesters were not going anywhere and would only leave once the prime minister resigns.


Shujaat's statement comes a day after the army said it didn't want to intervene in the political crisis which has developed as a result of the protests led by 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....
and Pakistain Awami Tehrik.

Although both parties had begun to hold dialogue with the government, PTI has formally called off the talks and PAT chief Tahirul Qadri
...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him...
has vowed to continue the protests until his demands are met.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Imran, Qadri protest to the same tune
[DAWN] The 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) decided to call off talks with the federal government in protest of what it claimed to be the government's efforts to prevent movement in Islamabad's 'Red Zone'. Moments after this announcement, Dr Tahirul Qadri
...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him...
addressed supporters, lambasting the government for restricting movement.

Senior PTI leader Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi said the party has decided that the negotiations will stay suspended until the government stops the "crackdown against party workers".

Speaking to Dawn, PTI leader and member of the negotiations committee Dr Arif Alvi claimed that the government is not serious about dialogue.

"They should tell us where they want to take this dialogue. They have 'containerised' us. It is impossible to get into or out of the Red zone," said Alvi.

"We cannot negotiate with them as long as they continue with their crackdown (against party workers)," he said.

Additionally, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that PTI will not start the negotiation process with the government until additional containers — which have been placed again — are not removed.

PTI chairman Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
has earlier claimed that the government has tossed in the calaboose
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
over 4,000 PTI workers.

The announcement to call off talks comes after a delegation of PTI leaders — comprising Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen, Arif Alvi and Asad Umar — met a government-backed team of negotiators on Wednesday night. The government team included Abdul Qadir Baloch, Ahsan Iqbal and Ijazul Haq among others.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


US meddling in Pakistan's politics, says Imran Khan
[DAWN] In round two of his diatribe on Thursday, 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 ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
in a message to the United States government said it is interfering with Pakistain's internal politics and should withdraw its statements regarding the ongoing political crisis.

The US State Department today in a statement lent support to Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
's government, saying the "elected government is in place".

Imran, however, said the government is a "servant of the US" that "polishes the shoes of the Americans".

He said that he is familiar with the workings of the American and British democratic systems and said that the US would never accept a rigged election.

"If an election took place in the US and a Congressman said that a majority of the votes could not be verified, wouldn't that constitute a full blown enquiry in America?" he asked.

Imran appealed to US ambassador Richard Olson to convey his message to the State Department, and asked "if Paks are children of a lesser god".

"Why one law for us and another for you? Why are our democracies different?"

Urging Olsen to take back the statements of the US government, Imran said Nawaz is hiding behind the army and the US to protect his rigged election.

Thursday marked the eighth day of the Imran Khan-led movement against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a campaign that has partially paralysed life in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as containers and police personnel guard state buildings against charged protesters.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Nine more Bagram detainees return from Afghanistan
[DAWN] Following the release of 10 Pak detainees by the United States earlier this year, nine more captives have returned home from Afghanistan's Bagram prison, a group representing them said Thursday.

Shahab Siddiqui, a bigwig at Justice Project Pakistain (JPP) — the group which has been pursuing Islamabad to secure their release, told Dawn.com over telephone that all nine detainees were handed over to Pak authorities in Rawalpindi earlier today.

The US authorities had released 10 Pak detainees from Bagram prison in May after the men had spent years in prison without trial.

"Nine out of them have reached their homes while one was still in the custody of Pak authorities," said Siddiqui, referring to the 10 detainees released earlier this year.

Afghan authorities took over the detention facility for holy warriors in 2013, renaming it Parwan, but the US remains in charge of foreigners and there are believed to be around 15 Paks still in jug.

"The families of the detainees have been informed by the International Red Thingy (ICRC) that their loved ones have been handed over to the Pak authorities," said a statement by the JPP.

It described one of the nine men as a 39-year-old businessman from the northwestern city of Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
, who disappeared on a visit to Afghanistan in 2008.

"After hearing the news of his detention in Bagram, his aged mother passed away. Father of three Shoaib Khan was the main bread winner of the family."

"After he was detained in Bagram Shoaib's aged father has had to go back to work to make ends meet," it added.

Sarah Belal, lead counsel for JPP said: "We are pleased to learn about the recent releases from Bagram and are delighted for their families — their years-long nightmare is finally coming to an end." She added that the detainees were currently under Pak government custody and called for their speedy release.

Rights groups have accused US authorities of carrying out prisoner abuse at the facility, and a US army report found that two inmates were beaten to death in 2002.

In some cases, US officials have found little evidence of detainees' involvement in militancy, but they have remained in jug due to delays in processing their repatriation.

A former Pakistain detainee interviewed by AFP in April said he had suffered beatings and sleep deprivation during his nine-year-detention and that Koran abuse was rampant.

A US defence front man at the time said that certain cases of abuse had been substantiated, but added: "our enemies also have employed a deliberate campaign of exaggerations and fabrications".

The JPP has taken the Pak government to court to push for the remaining detainees' liberation ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops by the end of 2014, fearing they could be caught in legal limbo.

All NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
combat soldiers will depart by the end of the year, though a follow-up support mission of about 10,000 troops is planned if the next president signs security deals with the US and NATO.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


All but one party in Parliament with us: PM Nawaz
[DAWN] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
on Thursday said that the majority of political parties in Parliament have given their support to his party during the current political crisis.

The prime minister made the remarks during a meeting with senior journalists in Islamabad.

"Out of the 12 political parties in Parliament, 11 have given their support to our party and the democratic process," the PM told the journalists.

"All democratic forces are on the same page regarding this issue," he said.

Sharif said given the regional situation, his resignation would cause great problems for democracy in the country, which Pakistain could not afford. He also said that dialogue was the only way the crisis could be resolved.

"We are showing great restraint because women and kiddies are among the protesters," said Sharif.

Sharif reiterated that he had become prime minister through a democratic process.

The prime minister's remarks on Thursday comes on the eighth day of the Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
-led movement against his government, a campaign that has partially paralysed life in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as containers and police personnel guard state buildings against charged protesters.

Although Imran is unflinching in his demand for the premier's resignation, PTI sources say the party chairman has "no other option left" as his earlier calls for a civil disobedience movement and the mass resignation of PTI politicians from assemblies have yielded no results.

Imran rallied supporters with the aim to remove Nawaz as prime minister in protest of alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections. Journalists present in D-chowk — the final destination of the PTI sit-in — say that crowds are thinning as the drawn-out protest enters its eighth day.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pakistan's Khan withdraws from talks with government
[Iran Press TV] Amid fears for a possible clampdown on protesters, Pak opposition leader Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
has pulled out of talks with the government after it appointed a new police chief for the capital, Islamabad.

"I will not talk to the government anymore," Khan told his supporters during a sit-in protest outside the parliament in Islamabad on Thursday.

Khan also pledged a revolution similar to the one that deposed former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
in 2011.

The former cricket star made the comments after officials said earlier in the day that the head of Islamabad police was unexpectedly sacked. Khan considers the move as a sign of an imminent crackdown on protesters demanding new elections.

Opposition holy man Tahirul-Qadri also said the Islamabad police chief was replaced after he refused to open fire on protesters.

Imran Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) party opened talks with the Islamabad government on Wednesday after the Mighty Pak Army called for a negotiated way to address the political crisis in the country.

Pak opposition leaders Khan and holy man Qadri have led week-long anti-government demonstrations, demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
step down a year after he came to power in the country's first democratic transition of power.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


New Islamabad police chief ordered to tackle anti-govt marchers
[ARABNEWS] Chairman of 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) Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
told his supporters on Thursday that the government had removed the Islamabad police chief for not using force against him, and warned the new police chief Khalid Khattak not to follow orders to crack down against the protesters.

The government denied it had any plans to confront the protesters.

Khan, a famed cricketer-turned-politician, and fiery
...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob...
holy man Tahirul Qadri
...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him...
have led massive protests from the eastern city of Lahore to the gates of Parliament in Islamabad to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, accusing him of rigging the vote that brought him to power last year.

The protests have raised fears of unrest in the nuclear-armed US ally with a history of political turmoil. Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi, a big shot of Khan's party, told news hounds that the opposition presented six demands, including Sharif's resignation.

The other demands include electoral reforms, setting up a caretaker government, removing top election officials and accountability for anyone found to have rigged last year's elections, which marked the first democratic transfer of power in Pakistain after a long history of coups and dictatorships.

It is unlikely Sharif would give ground on those demands, which the government considers illegal.

Cabinet Minister Ahsan Iqbal said government negotiators held initial talks with Khan's party — the legislature's third largest — before dawn Thursday.

"We again went to an agreed place today for more talks, but the team of Imran Khan did not turn up," he said.

He added that the government wanted to find a "win-win solution."
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


NA passes resolution rejecting PTI, PAT's 'unconstitutional demands'
[DAWN] The session of the National Assembly in the parliament House on Thursday was adjourned until tomorrow after a resolution was unanimously approved demanding supremacy of the constitution and law.
The resolution was presented by member National Assembly Muhammad Khan Achakzai.

The resolution said that the house unanimously rejects the unconstitutional demands of the 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) chief Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
and Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri
...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him...
including the resignation of the Prime Minister Nawaz and the dissolution of the National Assembly.

Earlier, media had reported that Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
was expected to deliver a speech and take the National Assembly into confidence in his address about his government's future plan of action regarding demands put forward by the PTI and PAT leadership.

The session was chaired by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and foreign media representatives were also summoned by the government.

Achakzai condemned the use of derogatory language by certain politicians.

Ijazul Haq while addressing the session said that the political parties protesting should consider holding dialogue within the constitutional parameters.

He said that the government has full support of the opposition and the NA comprising of 342 members could not be dismissed upon the orders of 38 people.

He added that first time in the history of Pakistain the political parties were unified against an issue.

The session was adjourned until 11am tomorrow.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Security personnel getting tired of 'standing around all day'
[DAWN] Hot and sweaty under the weight of their riot gear, the coppers deployed to keep an eye on the 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....
and Pakistain Awami Tehrik's sit-ins have really had a rough time. Many of them have been there for almost 10 days and their frustration is now palpable.

"I have served the department to the best of my abilities for several years, but now, when it is almost time for me to retire, they are insulting us," a police inspector from Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
told Dawn from his seat near Nadra Headquarters at the entrance to the Red Zone.

Also read: Dharna deadlock: Govt, PTI negotiators begin talks to end crisis

"We are only given a steady diet of rice, nothing else. There is no tea in the evening or lassi for breakfast. But worst of all is the boredom; there is nothing to do here. At least I have a chair, my boys have to lie on the grass all day," he says, gesturing towards a group of uniformed coppers stretched out on the green belt next to him.

Most members of the Islamabad police posted in the Red Zone positioned themselves at the foot of the viewing gallery on Parade Lane and enjoyed the music blaring from the PTI enclosure.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Der Spiegel: The Curse of the Islamic State (review article)
RTWT
IS has essentially succeeded in doing everything al-Qaida has done with the noted exception of carrying out a foreign attack.
Also possibly useful photos and a map.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/22/2014 01:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  The first part of this article is stuff we've seen many times. But, persevere - the last part has a lot of detail I've not seen collected before:

But in April 2013, Baghdadi sought to win back control of his Syrian creation. He declared himself the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq and Syria, which from that point on would carry the name Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). But Nusra leader al-Golani rejected the demand and secured the support of the global head of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri. That marked that moment at which Baghdadi parted ways with al-Zawahiri and al-Qaida. Al-Nusra also split. Some of the fighters remained loyal to al-Golani and al-Qaida, while others, including most foreign fighters, defected to Baghdadi. Even back then, Baghdadi viewed himself as the head of a state and not just one militia leader among many. He even appointed himself the leader of all faithful.

In May 2013, ISIS conquered the city of Raqqa in Syria from Nusra and later turned it into its capital. Since then, the jihadists have been fanning out across northern Syria, nourished by a constant stream of new radicals from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Europe and even Indonesia.

The Islamists did little to combat the regime, instead picking fights with other rebel groups. So it came as little surprise when, in January, an alliance of opposition from almost every group drove the jihadists out of northwestern Syria within a matter of just weeks. It didn't last long. After regrouping, the IS returned and began a new offensive with weapons secured in Iraq.

Posted by: KBK || 08/22/2014 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  I still think ISIS is a Syrian/baathist creation.
Posted by: Paul D || 08/22/2014 14:51 Comments || Top||

#3  I've read some folks that I respect who hold that IS(IS) is nothing to worry about because it will all come tumbling down due to this type of intramural warfare amongst the jihadi universe; that they won't last long.

I dunno but I figure any excuse to bomb jihadis of any stripe is good enough.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/22/2014 18:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Another review article from today's WSJ (no paywall) Islamic State Is a Different Type of Jihadist Threat
The Sunni radical group spans borders, recruits foreign fighters and hits its foes' strong points.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/22/2014 19:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Is it Napoleon that opined to not interfere when the enemy is self destructing?
Posted by: Hotspur666 || 08/22/2014 21:37 Comments || Top||


US using Foley beheading as casus belli to reoccupy Iraq: Michael Burns
However reluctantly, yes. Also France and Britain, and perhaps others, about which Iran can do nothing but fume impotently. This proves that Iran is actually no more a regional hegemon than Turkey, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia.
[Iran Press TV] The United Sates is using the beheading of journalist James Foley by ISIL murderous Moslems as a "casus belli" to reoccupy Iraq, a political and military analyst in New York says.

"This is used as a casus belli, a casus belli for us to get back into Iraq with full force and full feet," Michael Burns told Press TV on Thursday, a day after the White House confirmed the authenticity of a gruesome online video showing Foley's decapitation by ISIL holy warriors.

The video shows a black-masked ISIL holy warrior beheading Foley in retaliation for US Arclight airstrikes against the group in Iraq. It also warns that the group would slay another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, if the US president did not halt the Arclight airstrikes.

"And sadly enough while we ignore and deny and turn our heads against the Israeli pounding of these innocent Paleostinians which has outraged half the world, the American policy makersâ"" simply ignore and do nothing, but pass a supplement arms bill to resupply arms to Israel before they go on vacation," Burns said, referring to members of Congress who started a five-week summer recess on August 1.

On August 10, US President Barack Obama
Ready to Rule from Day One...
also started his annual vacation on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Burns said that the United States "caused disarray" in Iraq by invading the Arab country in 2003 which is now causing the incidents like the beheading of Foley.

"I think a good part of America is disgusted at our policy makers, playing golf, having a nice vacation, [and] now getting upset over this beheading, macabre and deplorable though it be, and at the same time have nothing to say over Israel and its brutal savagery towards those innocent Paleostinians who fight back with sticks and stones," he added.

"So, I think, sure, it [the US] uses it as a casus belli to try and inflame American people so that we don't have to interrupt their golf games while they send more weaponry and more troops back into the Middle East again. So we are back in it," Burns concluded.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Burns said that the United States "caused disarray" in Iraq by invading the Arab country in 2003 which is now causing the incidents like the beheading of Foley.

Total rubbish! There's a 'cause belli' alright, and it involves any action on the international stage that can be blamed, even remotely on the U.S.

Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 3:19 Comments || Top||

#2  the Israeli pounding of these innocent Paleostinians

Kinda high lights his viewpoint, no?

Amazing how innocent folk keep shooting rockets at kindergartens.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/22/2014 8:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah, because the west is chomping at the bit to occupy Iraq again. That doesn't pass the most basic smell test.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/22/2014 14:29 Comments || Top||

#4  No, sending in US ground forces to re-occupy Iraq is the absolute last resort for Obama-the-Globalist - his priority for the time being is to empower Shia Iran as the Principal = US- style "Co-Superpower", or one of them, in future OWG Global Fed Union, e.g. Persian Gulf Union, Muslim/Islamic Union, etc.

Setting up the Union(s) both FOR COOPERATION, AS WELL AS COMPETITION, e. g. Vlad = Putinist Russia versus the Bammer + USA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/22/2014 19:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Good luck with that...800 neckbeards occupied northern Iraq in less than a week, chasing away a million men Shia army And Iran has not lifted a finger.
They just proved their impotence and that they dont matter...their "nuclear program" is just bluff, just like Saddam's Weapons of Mass destruction.
Posted by: Hotspur666 || 08/22/2014 21:33 Comments || Top||

#6  FYI CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > US MUST "DESTROY" JIHADISTS IN IRAQ, SYRIA: EX-US GENERAL.

GEN. John Allen, USMC (Retired).

AND

* TOPIX > [US JCS Chair] DEMPSEY: DEFEATING ISIS REQUIRES STRIKES IN SYRIA.

* SAME > WEST POISED TO JOIN FORCES WID ASSAD TO FACE "ISLAMIC STATE".

Besides also the UK + France supporting formal alliance wid IRAN agz AL-BAGHDADI'S BOYZ.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/22/2014 23:55 Comments || Top||


ISIL demanded $100 million ransom for Foley
[Iran Press TV] The ISIL terrorist group originally pressed the United States to provide a multimillion-dollar ransom before decapitating American journalist James Foley in a gruesome video posted online.

The faceless myrmidons had demanded a ransom of $100 million but the US refused to pay, according to The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
.

A grisly video uploaded on YouTube Tuesday and later confirmed as "authentic" by the White House shows an ISIL hard boy executing Foley in retaliation for US Arclight airstrikes in Iraq.

The video, dubbed "Message to America," came almost a month after US President Barack Obama
We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us...
authorized the use of force against ISIL in northern Iraq.

It is not clear when the terrorist group made its ransom demand for Foley's release. The journalist was on assignment for AFP and the Boston-based media company Global Post when he disappeared in Syria on November 22, 2012.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  I'll bet they'd settle for $10M.
Posted by: gorb || 08/22/2014 1:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe they could've offered five more out of Gitmo?
Posted by: Pappy || 08/22/2014 8:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe the 5 out of Gitmo were the actual plan but they were freed before ISIS could demand them.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/22/2014 14:30 Comments || Top||

#4  He was a journalist, right? 'Ransom of Red Chief' comes to mind - no way ISIS should expect to actually get PAID to let poor Foley go...
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/22/2014 15:35 Comments || Top||

#5  How much is that in Hellfire missiles?
Posted by: SteveS || 08/22/2014 18:58 Comments || Top||

#6  About 1470.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/22/2014 20:22 Comments || Top||


Iran ties Iraq role to lifting of Western sanctions
[ARABNEWS] Iran is ready to join international action against snuffies in Iraq provided the West lifts crippling sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday.

His comments followed a call by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday for all countries in the region, including Iran, to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) fighters who have seized swathes of Iraq as well as neighboring Syria.

"If we agree to do something in Iraq, the other side of the negotiations should do something in return," the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

"All the sanctions that are related to Iran's nuclear program should be lifted," he said.

It is the first time that Iran has explicitly linked its readiness to work with the West in Iraq with a lifting of the crippling EU and US sanctions imposed over its nuclear program.

Those sanctions are the subject of ongoing talks between Tehran and the major powers that are due to resume before the opening of the UN General Assembly next month.

In return for lifting the sanctions, the Western powers are demanding that Iran sharply rein in its nuclear program to ally international concerns about its ambitions as part of a comprehensive deal they are seeking to strike by November.

Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ValJar coordination, hmmmm?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/22/2014 20:47 Comments || Top||


IS is now chasing Al-Surooris
[ARABNEWS] Extremism has reached unprecedented level in the present time. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, renamed Islamic State (IS), which has assumed frightening proportions, is now not only threatening the United States and Arab governments but also terrorizing other Death Eater outfits. It has particularly declared a war against the Surooris, members of a hard-core Death Eater group founded by Muhammed Suroor Zain Al-Abedin, a Syrian who used to teach math in a Saudi school.

He advocated an ideology refuting the traditional Salafism. Encouraging religious rebellion, he brought about radical changes to the conventional Salafi concept. This group became notorious for its use of takfir (declaring rivals as infidels) against governments and intellectuals or anyone who disagrees with its religious and political views.

This group, which used to terrorize people on websites and elsewhere, is afraid of the IS which considers Surooris as infidels and has issued the religious sanction to kill them.

The Surooris, the Brotherhood and other Death Eaters of their ilk have now started warning people against the IS. Overnight they all have turned against the IS extremism calling it Al-Khawariji party (an outlawed Islamic political group in the early Islamic period) and makes an appeal to the Moslems to take up arms against the IS.

Other Death Eater groups — no less evil than the IS — now believe that the IS has outsmarted them in its Death Eater hard-line stance and is speaking in a more disgusting language than they used to do.

IS calls Suroori leaders agents of Western or Arab regimes and accuses them of opposing the implementation of Shariah Law and similar Islamic symbols.

One wonders what makes the Surooris think that their so-called sheikhs, religious scholars and seekers of knowledge are superior to the so-called IS religious scholars and students. Extremism is the same whatever label it may carry. All Death Eaters use takfir against others.

Now the IS has stepped up its battles and threatens to kill other Death Eater leaders whether they belong to Suroorism or Al-Qaeda. All the non-IS Death Eaters are scared of death threats by IS leaders, which used to be their own weapon against other peace-loving Moslems.

Now they are swallowing the same bitter pill they used to administer to others in the past.

Extremism is a menace that is harming the Ummah. IS is the product of the Surooris' teachings, which was the product of Death Eater ideologies before them.

Even though Death Eater ideology started with small issues, it has now grown up to be a ghoul that threatens to prevent Moslems from practicing their religion peacefully.

Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1 
The Takfir wal Hegira are the real muslims
following the teachings of Mohamed.
The Jews of Banu Quraiza of Medina made the mistake of allying with Mohamed against his Arab enemies...as soon as Momo beat the Arabs, he attacked the Banu Quraiza and decapitated 1,000 men himself, tortured their chief to get his gold, then cut his head off too then raped his young wife right on top of his still pulsation body...so, never trust a muslim, you will be stabbed in the back.
Posted by: Hotspur666 || 08/22/2014 21:26 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Haniyeh condemns killing of 3 Hamas commanders
Pro forma, of course. They've got actual existential issues facing them in the other direction.
[Iran Press TV] A Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader'>Hamas big turban
has decried the killing of three commanders of the Paleostinian resistance movement by the Israeli regime, noting that the liquidation of its leaders will only make it stronger.

Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
said in a statement on Thursday that the battle between Paleostinian resistance fighters and the Israel regime will be long and that the enemy will be defeated.

Referring to the death of Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed al-Attar and Mohammed Barhoum, commanders of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Haniyeh emphasized that Israel's liquidation of the three Hamas leaders only makes the resistance movement stronger.

The commanders were killed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike on the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gazoo Strip.

Hamas front man, Sami Abu Zuhri
...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest...
, described the killing of the three commanders as a "big Israeli crime," warning that "Israel will pay the price."

In the Thursday statement, Haniyeh also said that Paleostinians will continue their fight against the Tel Aviv regime and will not accept anything less than the lifting of the Israeli siege on Gazoo.

Gazoo has been blockaded by the Israeli regime since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Some see Qatar's hand in collapse of Gaza talks
[WASHINGTONTIMES] The kabooms rocking the Gazoo Strip may seem far removed from the flashy cars and skyscrapers of ultra-rich Qatar, but efforts to end fighting between Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Israel could hinge on how the tiny Gulf Arab state wields its influence over a Paleostinian bad boy group with few friends left.

Qatar has been home to Hamas chief-in-exile Khaled Mashaal since 2012 and has carved out a role as a key financial patron for Gazoo, buying influence while shoring up an economy overseen by Hamas.

That support is prompting accusations that Qatar helped scuttle a lasting truce in the monthlong Gazoo war, piling on pressure as the U.S. ally finds itself increasingly isolated as larger Mideast powers marginalize Islamists following the Arab Spring.

An official from Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
' Fatah movement suggested Wednesday that Qatar torpedoed the peace talks. After signs of progress last week, Hamas negotiators returned to the table after consultations in Qatar with new conditions — prompting a similar response by Israel, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  It is time to spread the message that Qatar may soon be a war zone, and foreign nationals (more than 2/3ds of its inhabitants) should be withdrawn from same for their own safety.
Posted by: djk || 08/22/2014 0:51 Comments || Top||


PA Makes 'Political Decision' to 'Slaughter Settlers'
[ISRAELNATIONALNEWS] A senior Paleostinian Authority (PA) official last Wednesday declared that his organization has made a "political decision" to support Arab Lions of Islam "slaughtering" Jews living in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.

Jibril Rajoub, head of the PA Sports Authority and Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, made the statements on the independent Paleostinian Arab TV channel Awdah. Paleostinian Media Watch (PMW) exposed and translated the interview.

"OK, brother, here is the occupation, am I stopping you from slaughtering a settlement? No one is stopping anyone...our political decision is resistance in the occupied territories in order to bring an end to the occupation [using] all forms of resistance," Rajoub said.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Jibril Rajoub
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/22/2014 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Was one of the names on the list Barack Hussein, g(r)omgoru? So odd -- just like the name of our president.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/22/2014 14:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Was one of the names on the list Barack Hussein, g(r)omgoru?

Yea, which is strange cause the preceding sequence is of Arab dictators who knew/know how to speak a language Arab men understand.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/22/2014 14:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Is it just me, or does the singer look like Hitler?
Posted by: gorb || 08/22/2014 18:03 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
New weapons-tracking site
A new website aims to make it easy for anyone to track the trade of diverted weapons and ammunitions, with the intention of facilitating the work of governments, NGOs, and journalists. iTrace, funded by the European Union, takes data collected by on-ground investigations and maps it onto an instantly recognisable, Google Earth-style interface.
Posted by: Mercutio || 08/22/2014 18:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Philippine Muslim rebels take crucial step on path to pact
[ARABNEWS] The Philippines' largest Moslem rebel group has taken a crucial step in ending decades of conflict, formally submitting to the president a final proposal for self-rule that both it and Manila have agreed on, a presidential adviser said.

The two sides signed a deal in March to end nearly five decades of conflict on the resource-rich island of Mindanao but hopes for peace were thrown into doubt this month when the rebels accused the government of reneging on the pact.

But 10 days of negotiations rescued the deal under which the main rebel group — the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) — has agreed to disband and rebuild communities in exchange for powers over the economy and society in the Bangsamoro region.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front

#1  OTOH, as per GLOBALNATION.PH, the breakaway BIFFies have acknowledged their new alliance wid the ISIS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/22/2014 20:22 Comments || Top||


Indonesian president says IS 'embarrassing' Muslims
[ARABNEWS] The president of Indonesia has called the actions of Islamic State snuffies "embarrassing" to the religion and urged religious leaders to unite in tackling extremism.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the slaughter wrought by the gunnies in overrunning large swathes of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.

"It is shocking. It is becoming out of control," he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after IS released a video showing a masked murderous Moslem beheading US news hound James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.

"We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia," he added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
, as IS was formerly known.

"Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions."

He urged international leaders to work together to combat radicalization.

"This is a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders," he said, adding that the actions of IS were not only "embarrassing" to Islam but "humiliating," the newspaper reported.

"All leaders must review how to combat extremism. Changing paradigms on both sides are needed — how the West perceives Islam and how Islam perceives the West."

Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Moslem population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism. But a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks.

Jakarta has estimated that dozens of Indonesians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight and Yudhoyono said he was concerned about their return, adding that he had tasked agencies to oppose the spread of holy warrior ideology in the sprawling nation.

"Our citizens here in Indonesia are picking up recruitment messages from ISIS containing holy warrior ideas," said the president, whose decade in office comes to an end in October.

"The philosophy of ISIS stands against the fundamental values we embrace in Indonesia. Last Friday, in my state of the union address to the nation, I called on all Indonesians to reject ISIS and to stop the spread of its radical ideology.

"My government and security agencies have taken decisive steps to curtail the spread of ISIS in Indonesia, including by prohibiting Indonesians to join ISIS or to fight for ISIS, and also by blocking Internet sites that promote this idea."

Indonesia's neighbor Australia has also seen up to 150 of its nationals join the murderous Moslems, with the photo of an Australian boy holding a severed head in Syria last week sparking global condemnation.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday said IS was "as close to pure evil as we're ever likely to find" and what happened to Foley was "sickening."

Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  The truth can be embarrassing.
Posted by: gorb || 08/22/2014 1:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Only embarrassing as far as it was videoed and released world-wide. I prefer to call it letting the sunshine on what makes these goons tick.
Posted by: BA || 08/22/2014 10:08 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
LTC Ralph Peters: 'Release of failed prisoner rescue info was a murderous act.'
[Breitbart] Thursday on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," Fox News strategic analyst LTC Ralph Peters said the Champ regime releasing the details of the failed attempt to rescue the beheaded journalist James Foley was a "murderous act."

Peters said the released remind him of "Stalinist bureaucrats' and the "administration acted disgracefully" and purely for "political cover."
I needed no reminder. The "Stalinist" analogy is axiomatic.
"I have got to address not only disgraceful, but murderous release of details of this raid," Peters said. "You just don't do it. The special operators are furious because the administration rolled them on the bin Laden raid."
Independent voters were the ones "rolled." No self respecting operator would have voted for the Champ anyway.
"Why do I say murderous?" he continued. "Not only because detailing which units are involved, tactics, how we did it, not only does that endanger our fighters, if we go in on a future raid, but the administration didn't think about the hostages still being held. They released the data, to the information that we got intelligence from released European hostages. do you think the Islamic State is going to release more hostages? We signed their death warrants by compromising that information."

"I'm a former intelligence guy," he added. "You do not compromise a vital, above top secret national security information for five minutes of political gain. It's un-American."
"Un-American" is a regime litmus test. Everything the Champ undertakes is for 'political gain.' There really are no exceptions. Throwing SOF or future sensitive operations under the bus is tomorrow's challenge. We've got the back 9 to play after lunch.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 03:36 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Since your average single-celled organism would have immediately seen that tipping off the enemy was a terrible idea, you really have to wonder what the decision-making process is here. Are they too stupid to see the second-order effect, or do they just not care, or worse? But we've had that debate often enough.
Posted by: Matt || 08/22/2014 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Certainly has to be either stupidity or treason. When juxtaposed with the regime's performance these past six years, I've pretty much ruled out stupidity,
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 8:48 Comments || Top||

#3  You're all expendable for the power of the Party.
What part of 20th Century Socialism did you miss?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/22/2014 9:18 Comments || Top||

#4  As my alter-ego state yesterday to swksvolFF

Only my opinion swksvolFF, but the article released by the Pentagon reads like the aftermath of the Benghazi Affair, where the USG response was a "Day late and a dollar short" with the hint of "we at least we tried" unlike the Daniel Pearl Affair, a CYA move by the PUBAHs in DC and a nose thumb to "W"'s Admin, which the Big O's admin likes to compare events to, 7-10 years on.

Really only time will tell, someone is bound to let something slip, be mindful of the sources in all news reporting, we do not have a very critical MSM where Barry is concerned.
Posted by: Javising Snore4333 || 08/22/2014 10:21 Comments || Top||

#5  I wondered why they released the info. Didn't free the hostages? So why report a swing and miss? Was it to cover that they didn't pay the ransom? was there pressure on them for not paying the ransom? I don't remember hearing anyone saying they blew that.

I think they just run off at the mouth from time to time. This administration has minimal understanding of cause and effect.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/22/2014 14:28 Comments || Top||

#6  > This administration has minimal understanding of cause and effect.

It does seem to be a weekness for marxists.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/22/2014 14:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Gotta maintain President Gutsy Call.

Even if there wasn't a rescue mission, they would have to say there was. Either way somebody else gets blamed.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/22/2014 18:34 Comments || Top||

#8  The only solution...Impeach.

do you think the American people have the guts?

do you still think giving the Police military equipment is a bad idea while ALL major city will soon face massive riots and open revolt??
Posted by: Hotspur666 || 08/22/2014 21:14 Comments || Top||


Justice elusive year after Syria gas attack
[ARABNEWS] One year after the deadly chemical attack on rebel-held areas outside Damascus, the victims and their families have yet to see those behind the mass killings held responsible, a human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
group said Thursday.

In the early hours of Aug. 21, 2013, rockets carrying the nerve agent sarin slammed into the rebel-held suburbs of the Syrian capital of eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyeh. Hundreds were killed in what the UN chief called the "worst use of weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century."

The attack is almost certainly the single deadliest event in Syria's civil war — a conflict that has killed more than 170,000 people since it began in March 2011.

Following the chemical assault, UN inspectors conducted a swift investigation that determined rockets loaded with sarin had been fired from an area where the Syrian military has bases. But the UN probe's limited mandate did not authorize the experts to identify who was responsible for the attack.

The Syrian opposition and its allies, including the United States, accused Damascus of carrying out the attack. Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Terror of Aleppo ...
's government denied responsibility, and blamed the rebels.

The B.O. regime threatened to carry out punitive Arclight airstrikes against the Syrian government, touching off a flurry of diplomacy that eventually resulted in Assad accepting a US-Russia brokered deal to relinquish his chemical arsenal.

Over the past 11 months, a joint mission by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has overseen the removal of all of Syria's declared chemical stockpile of 1,300 metric tons (1,430 tons) from the country. More than 80 percent of those materials, which include mustard gas and precursors to sarin, have been destroyed so far, according to the OPCW.

Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch
... During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, HRW received a pledge from the Foundation to Promote Open Society, of which George Soros is Chairman, for general support totaling $100,000,000. The grant is being paid in installments of $10,000,000 over ten years.Through June 30, 2013, HRW had received $30,000,000 towards the fulfillment of the pledge....
, welcomed the removal of Syria's chemical arsenal, but said its destruction "will do nothing for the hundreds of victims who died a year ago and the relatives who survive them."

"Closure of the chemical weapons issue in Syria will be possible only when those who ordered and executed the Ghouta attacks have been held to account and are behind bars," Houry said in a statement Thursday.

Questions also linger over whether Assad is hiding undeclared poison gases or attacking rebels with chlorine. While not specified as a chemical weapon, chlorine is a toxic industrial gas. The use of any such material as a weapon is illegal under international law.

In May, an OPCW fact-finding mission found evidence that chlorine gas was used in fighting between rebels and Assad's government. The OPCW stopped short of saying which side was to blame.

The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group used Thursday's anniversary to urge the international community to fully follow through with the mission to destroy Syria's chemical program.

"Much work remains to be done as questions over discrepancies in the regime's initial declaration of chemical substances remain unanswered," the Syrian National Coalition said in a statement.

"Also, the remaining chemical weapons production facilities must be completely destroyed and the regime's ability to produce, stockpile, and use chemical weapons neutralized," it said.

It also mourned the loss of those killed a year ago in the attack outside Damascus, saying the "families of the victims deserve closure."

"The international community must send a strong message to Assad, and indeed all dictators, that terrorizing their populations will not pass unchecked, and that it is just a matter of time before those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity are brought to justice," the Coalition said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Hollande: France armed Syrian rebels 'a few months ago'
[ARABNEWS] President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
said on Thursday that La Belle France had delivered weapons to rebels battling the Syrian regime of Bashir al-Assad "a few months ago." The deliveries took place "a few months ago, when the Syrian rebels had to face both the armies of the dictator Bashir al-Assad and this terrorist group Islamic State," Hollande told news hounds on a tour of the French island of La Reunion.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


Foley's killer appears to be from the UK.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  i would bet british born of pakistani parents.
Posted by: Paul D || 08/22/2014 14:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Corrected name from Folley.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/22/2014 18:50 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Aafia Siddiqui: the Pakistani female scientist 'on Isil's list of demands'
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) reportedly called for the release of a female Pak scientist with ties to al-Qaeda in exchange for James Foley.

According to the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
, Isil sent through a "laundry list" of demands to the United States which included the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui
...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her...
, an MIT-trained neuroscientist currently incarcerated in a prison in Texas.

In the United States Dr Siddiqui is considered an al-Qaeda courier and fundraiser involved in bomb making, but in Pakistain and Afghanistan, she is seen as an Islamic 'damsel in distress' who has been persecuted for her faith.

Their demand taps into feelings of 'Moslem righteousness' felt widely throughout the two countries, said Michael Semple, a leading expert on the Taliban and former European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
representative in Kabul.

Sympathy for Dr Siddiqui over her arrest, detention and extradition to the United States is so widespread in Pakistain that its government offered to swap her for a CIA contractor who rubbed out two alleged robbers in a Lahore street in 2011.

Dr Siddiqui, a US-trained neuroscientist, was tossed in the slammer
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
in Ghazni, Afghanistan in 2008 and found to have documents on chemical weapons, dirty bombs and viruses indicating she was planning attacks against American enemies.

When she was interviewed by American soldiers and FBI officers the following day she allegedly grabbed a rifle left on a table and shot at her interrogators. She was treated for gunshot wounds suffered in the struggle and later sent to the United States where she was convicted of attempted murder and nabbed
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
for 86 years.
Posted by: Fred || 08/22/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  She's most likely on Barry Hussein's pardon list when he leave for his last golf game on tax payer's dime.
Posted by: Hotspur666 || 08/22/2014 21:19 Comments || Top||

#2  CNN this Guam AM reminds us that Aifia married OBL's BFF, 9-11 Planner Sheikh Khalid Mohammed [aka KSM].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/22/2014 23:58 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2014-08-22
  Boko Haram Takfiris seize town in NE Nigeria
Thu 2014-08-21
  Israeli Fire Kills 31 in Gaza as Hamas Warns Foreign Airlines, Declares Truce Talks Over
Wed 2014-08-20
  Geelani, Yasin Malik meet Pak envoy after India calls off talks
Tue 2014-08-19
  Kurdish PKK trains Yazidis to fight back against Islamic State.
Mon 2014-08-18
  Apple employee took assassin's bullets for British colonel
Sun 2014-08-17
  Jihadists kill dozens in north Iraq 'massacre': officials
Sat 2014-08-16
  Iraq Sunni Tribes Take Up Arms against Jihadists
Fri 2014-08-15
  ISIS jihadist poses with severed head as Caliphate seize more key towns
Thu 2014-08-14
  Boko Haram Appoints New Emir for Gwoza
Wed 2014-08-13
  Prince Saud: Israel has no right to self-defense
Tue 2014-08-12
  "Convert by noon today or we will kill all of you"
Mon 2014-08-11
  Iraq PM to sue president, security forces deploy across Baghdad
Sun 2014-08-10
  Al-Qaida Militants Kill 15 Yemeni Soldiers
Sat 2014-08-09
  Gazans back in UN schools as Israel resumes blitz
Fri 2014-08-08
  Widening of Zarb-i-Azb operation likely

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