The commander of international forces in Afghanistan has apologised for civilian deaths in an air strike on Wednesday in Logar province. It is the first time that NATO has admitted civilians died in the air strike, which had targeted Taliban commanders.
Afghan officials said 18 civilians had died in the incident.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned the air strike, calling it "unjustifiable".
Gen John Allen flew to Logar on Friday to offer condolences to villagers and local leaders. He told local people that they "have my apology and we will do the right thing by the families," according to the Associated Press.
#1
As I understand what happened: There was active combat between NATO and Taliban forces. The Taliban were seen to retreat into a compound. No others occupants were seen in the compound. The airstrike was called in. It hit wat it was targetting. Unknown human shields died too.
[Tolo News] Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq has accused government men of being involved in an liquidation attempt on his life on Wednesday night while he was at his office.
Mohaqiq, a member of the opposition group National Front and the head of the National Unity Party, said that a group of gunnies attacked the National Unity office in Bamyan province while he was talking to news hounds.
Mohaqiq accused the government for planning the attack on his life, saying it feared the plans of the National Front.
"The government fears the National Front's plans so it wants to launch a mental war against adherents of to the National Front," he said.
He said there was a clash between his security guards and the attackers for some thirty minutes, but he did not mention any casualties.
"We have right to speak on the shortcomings and defects of the government," Mohaqiq said. "We have our own programme but we should not be answered with accusations and armed attacks."
National Front front man Faizullah Zaki said: "[Former parliamentary member] Najibullah Kabuli himself has said that the National Front must be set on fire, the National Front must be killed, attack the homes of National Front members. Kabuli himself has used such words, so Kabuli is a device of the bully boy circles and these circles were involved in the Bamyan attack."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Sudan has urged the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... to move its July summit from Malawi to its Addis Ababa headquarters after the host nation's refusal to welcome President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. , the foreign ministry said Thursday.
Sudan informed the pan-African bloc of its request on Wednesday after Malawi announced that Bashir "would not be welcome at this summit, upon a claimed adherence of Malawi to its obligations to the so-called 'International Criminal Court'," ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... the ministry said in a statement.
Sudan's president is wanted by The Hague-based ICC on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the country's troubled Darfur region.
Malawi's new president, Joyce Banda, said in May that she wanted Bashir to stay away from the summit in Lilongwe on July 9-16, to avoid straining ties with key donors for her impoverished country.
Sudan's foreign ministry said Khartoum accorded "the upmost importance" to the July summit, which required the participation of the country's leadership, given that the strained relations between Sudan and the South were on the agenda.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has sought to increase pressure on the international community to arrest Bashir, telling the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the failure to detain him and other Sudanese officials accused of war crimes and genocide was "a direct challenge to the council's authority."
He said the council should consider calling on all 193 UN member states and regional organizations to carry out the arrest warrants.
Under current rules only ICC members, of which Malawi is one, have a duty to arrest Bashir, who has visited several countries, including some court signatories, without any action being taken.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh. M. Network)- Tense of fighting and military exercise reportedly rose high in several villages near Afmadow town, southSomaliaas TFG forces along with Kenyan army advance on Al shabab controlled areas in lower Jubba region.
Mohammed Omar Gedi, a Somali MP told Shabelle Media that Al shabab fighters are regrouping in the vicinity of Afmadow town, 620 kilometers south of Mogadishu, to attack the town which is now under Somali and Kenyan forces.
"They [Al shabab] are arming local residents; especially young ones to take part the fighting against TFG and Kenyan forces in Afmadow town. I urge people in that area not to except such mistaken actions and send their youth with Al shabab fighters," said Gedi.
TFG officials have previously promised to recapture the port town of Kisamyo, 500 kilometers south of Mogadishu from Al shabab jihad boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh. M. Network)-Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, The president ofSomalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), has on Thursday held a meeting with the Traditional Elders of Somalia in Mogadishu.
During the meeting Somali president called upon the Elders to convene in a little while the newly established committee to manage conflicts in Somali Traditional tasked to select the constituency assembly that will also expected to approve the draft constitution and appoint a new parliament of Somalia before next august.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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(Sh.M.Network)-The International Police (Interpol) has joined the hunt for terror suspects suspected to be in Uganda.
At least four suspected snuffies are believed to have sneaked into Uganda recently, prompting the security agencies to issue security alert.
The Police have circulated photographs of the suspected snuffies and heightened security in the Capital Cityas well as other urban areas including Mbarara where the national Heroes' Day celebrations will be held this weekend.
The measures include manning security at some of the shopping centres and high-rise buildings.
The terror suspects, some wanted inKenya, include Martin Muller alias Ahmed Khaled Andreas; Emrah Erdogan Alias Imraan AL-Kurdy Alias Salahaddin AL-Kurdy and another who is believed to have sneaked into the country on board a Kalita bus fromKenya.
Whereas Muller is German, Erdogan is German of Turkish origin.
Last weekend, the security agencies cooled for a few years Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! another terror suspect only identified as Hussein, who was described as a high value target.
The director Interpol and International relations, Asan Kasingye said Interpol has sought for vital information including the finger prints of top Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban... terror suspects, wanted byUganda.
A formal request by theLyonbased body was made on Wednesday to the Uganda National Central bureau, recently turned into a directorate.
"Internationally they are wanted andLyon(Interpol headquarters) has made a formal request for their finger prints," the director Interpol and International relations Asan Kasingye said.
Kasingye said they were working with other the security agencies in the region to gather the necessary data on the wanted terrorists.
Another suspected snuffies security agencies are seeking for is Abubarker Nur Hussein, a top commander of the Somalia based gun-hung tough guys who travelled through Entebbe International Airport undetected by airport security.
Kasingye said even though Abubarker Nur Hussein's passport was seized by AMISOM forces inSomalia, getting his finger prints has proven an odious task.
The passport was recovered early this year from Al-Shabaab hideouts in Al fitri, 12kms, north of Mogadishu by the UPDF and indicates that Abubarker Nur Hussein, a Somali national, aged 61 entered Uganda in July last year.
However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... there is no evidence in the form of aUgandavisa to show that he exited the country.
Kasingye said that although Nur Hussein claims to have been born in 1951 he looks younger than 61 on his passport picture.
Uganda, Kasingye said, has not requested Interpol to issue red notices for the terror suspects, because they are not Ugandan nationals.
"If the suspect is not a Ugandan but has been committing cross border crimes, it is the country from which the suspect hails to write to Interpol requesting for the notice to be issued," he said.
A red notice is issued for arrest or provisional arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition.
Kasingye said they have also acquired more equipment to reinforced their unit to send out pictures of the suspects to all 12 members states in theEastern Africa arrangement so as to shrink the space for the suspects, with the view of having them cooled for a few years Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived... Police have taken over the security of high rise buildings in the city in the wake of renewed threats from the Somali outfit-the Al-Shabaab. Police took over the security of many of the buildings in the city centre on Monday.
"We have reinforced security on high rise buildings and vital installations in the city," Deputy Kampala police spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi said yesterday. "Where security was not reliable we reinforced and where it was no there at all we took over," he added.
The deployments, he said, will remain in place until such time when the management of the buildings improves the security of the structures.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Thousands of people on Wednesday erupted into the streets in Yemen's capital Sanaa to affirm the determination of the protesters to stay in the change and freedom squares and not to leave until all goals of the popular uprising which erupted in early 2011 were met.
In the past two days, protesters started to remove their tents from the change square outside Sanaa University and came back to their provinces.
Reports have emerged parties and the revolution organizational committee have started to order protesters to leave the square to spread the popular revolution and reopen roads in downtown Sanaa. The reports, however, were denied though protesters are continuing to remove tents, especially those on the edges of the several-km change square.
Today's demonstration originated at the change square passing through Street 60th and the Assir area where tens of protesters were killed in last year's crackdown.
Demonstrators carried photos of deaders, who were killed last year, and affirmed they will continue their revolution and their refusal to leave the squares until their demands were met.
They also carried Syrian flag and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud in support of the Syrian people who have been cracked down by the Assad regime for more than one year, and demanded trials for and departure of relatives of ex-leader, who continue to hold senior military and security positions.
The Yemeni parties signed in November a West-backed power-transfer deal after the mass protests, which has been facing obstruction including rebellion of some military commanders.
Army commanders, including relatives of the ex-president, President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , have been resisting to give up their posts under decrees by the new president.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un during a children's rally on Wednesday made his second public speech since taking power in December.
North Korean state media said Pudgy Kim told some 20,000 children they will "lead the most powerful country in the future, where every home will be full of laughter."
Pundits say that Suet Face Kim's two public speeches in only six months in power show that he is trying to differentiate himself from his reclusive father Kim Jong-il, who uttered only a single sentence in public during his 17 years in power.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
While the children where rewarded with bark-chip treats, recently sprayed with malathion, on the down side a number of parents complained of the short notice and overcrowding, and, unfortunately, they had to be put down.
Pyongyang, June 5 (KCNA) -- The Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League and the Korean Children's Union issued on Tuesday a joint statement denouncing the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors for letting loose a spate of invectives about the celebrations of the union through its paid trumpeters.
Wonder what you have to smoke to come up with this stuff
The statement says:
There are many countries and children on our planet, but there is no such country as the DPRK where children enjoy all blessings as its king.
The most splendid celebrations of the 66th anniversary of the union can be called another legend about love as they are fruition of the warm loving care the dear respected Kim Jong Un has shown by carrying forward the noble outlook on the younger generation and future of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il who embraced all the children and bestowed all sorts of care and solicitude upon them.
But the Lee Myung Bak group set in motion its paid trumpeters to launch a smear campaign over the events.
What enrages the Korean people is that the group malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK, likening it to Nazi tyrant of Germany.
This is an intolerable provocative act of hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK which its people regard as more valuable than their own lives and an unbearable insult and mockery of the Korean school youth and children who have grown with nothing to desire more in the world under the care of the peerlessly great persons of Mt. Paektu.
The Lee group, as fellow countrymen do, should have hailed the celebrations envied and admired by the world. But the group ran the whole gamut of vituperation against the celebrations to hurt the pure mind of the Korean children. This was an act against humanity and a reckless act of treachery.
The Korean school youth and children's resentment and hatred against the group are running high.
The school youth and children in the DPRK are ardently calling on the Korean People's Army to deal heavy blows in revenge upon the despicable provocateurs as early as possible as already declared in the open ultimatum.
They will also turn out as human bullets and bombs in the do-or-die sacred battles for punishing the provocateurs.
All the servicepersons and people in the DPRK will clearly show how they will take revenge on the Lee Myung Bak group that hurt the dignity of its supreme leadership and insulted the school youth and children.
The group of traitors will not be able to escape the most miserable punishment unless it makes apology for the hideous provocations.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
We need a poll. Rank in order of their lunacy:
KCNA
Iran TV
Baghdad Bob
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Tokyo Rose
Lord Haw-Haw
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/08/2012 8:20 Comments ||
Top||
#2
1. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
2. KCNA
3. Iran TV
4 & 5. (tied) Baghdad Bob; Lord Haw-Haw
6. Tokyo Rose
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States branded as "unhelpful" US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's latest stab at Islamabad's failure to tackle militant safe havens, saying it would make it harder for the two countries to narrow their differences.
Panetta, speaking in Kabul on Thursday, said the United States was reaching the limits of its patience with Pakistan because of the safe havens the country offered to insurgents fighting in neighboring Afghanistan.
#1
Unhelpful? As in harboring INK unhelpful? Allowing military convoys to be attacked unhelpful? Playing both sides unhelpful? Harboring the Taliban unhelpful? Spreading nuke tech unhelpful?
#4
Pakistan is again again reieterating its deamnd for formal aopology from the US before the NATO Supply routes will be reopened.
* INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > CIA GETS [Obama Admin] NOD TO STEP UP DRONE STRIKES IN PAKISTAN, including for strikes US command authorities may not had allowed to occur previously.
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [The Nation.PK] RELATIONS SOUR: PAKISTAN TO BAR CIA OPERATIONS FROM ITS COUNTRY/TERRITORY.
* SAME > ISLAMABAD: US HAS NOT PROVIDED INFORMATION ON HAQQANIS, ergo Pak Govt cannot authorize, + Pak Army cannot initiate, any serious Pak MilOp = offensive agz same.
The US counterargument is that it has shared info wid Pakistan vee the Haqqanis, + that the Pak Govt knows fully well the locations of the Haqqani Network + other MilTerr camps inside Pakistan.
* NEWS KERALA > US MILITARY CHIEF, LAWMAKERS BACK PANETTA ASSERTIONS OF LOSING PATIENCE WID PAKISTAN.
Lest we fergit, Pak BFF IRAN = has stated or inferred that what happens in Pakistan is widin Tehran's "core interests", + will not allow Pak sovereignty to be threatened by Zionist Crusader infidels.
-------------
As per IRAN ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > WSJ: UN NUCLEAR TEAM REPORTS FAILED IRAN TALKS.
* SAME > IRAN PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD [again] URGES RESTRUCTURING OF GLOBAL ORDER.
* TOPIX > A "SMALL" WORLD WAR [Regional, Trans-].
ARTIC = potens up to 25-30 international countries are or could be directly involved iff a US-Iran war = major Iran-centric Mil Crisis broke out in the Persian Gulf, andor in the ME where Iran has established strategic footholds e.g. Syria, Lebanon.
* SAME > IRAN CAN [effectively]FIGHT TWO-FRONT WAR, to its South-SW, + NW into Caucasus.
IMO Artic again shows Iran is possib "shaping the Battlefield" vee the US = US-led Coalition by attempting to make those areas of the Persian Gulf beyond the Straits of Hormuz too dangerous for US, Coalition Seapower + Amphibious Forces.
IOW, THE MULLAHS WOULD PREFER THAT ANY DETONATION OF NUKES-WMDS BY IRAN ON IRANIAN SOIL AGZ FOREIGN GROUND FORCES BE A "LAST-RESORT/
WORST-CASE" OPTION.
However, for its strategy to work, Iran cannot allow any major buildup of forces either inside the Gulf or on the Saudi side - IMO, presuming that the current Govts in Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen + Oman are NOT overthrown by the "Arab/Muslim/
Ilsamic Spring" protests, THIS INFERS IRAN MAY PREEMPTIVELY STRIKE THE US FIFTH FLEET BASE AT BAHRAIN + ANY US MILFORS IN KUWAIT + IRAQ. DITTO FOR SAUDI, GCC MILBASES ON SAUDI SIDE???
The death this week of Al Qaedas deputy leader, Abu Yahya al-Libi, is likely to accelerate a shift in power from the groups dwindling leadership in Pakistan to its increasingly autonomous franchises, particularly the branch in Yemen, whose focus on attacking American interests is sure to continue, according to United States counterterrorism officials.
Mr. Libi had played a pivotal role as the organizations theological traffic cop, enforcing a unified message and ensuring that younger fighters in the affiliates did not go off the rails.
For now, Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaedas nominal leader, still holds the broad influence that he has consolidated since Osama bin Ladens death last year. But the hierarchical structure of global jihad may be loosening a bit. Mr. Libis death in a drone strike has torn at the connective tissue between the groups embattled leadership in Pakistan and its far-flung affiliates across the Middle East and Africa.
[Dawn] The UN human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... chief on Thursday called for a UN investigation into US drone strikes in Pakistain, questioning their legality and saying they kill innocent civilians.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay made the remarks at the end of a four-day visit to the country, where US drone strikes have on average targeted snuffies once every four days under US President Barack Obama. The Cambridge police acted stupidly... Islamabad is understood to have approved the strikes on Al Qaeda and Taliban targets in the past. But the government has become increasingly energetic in its public opposition as relations with Washington have nosedived.
"Drone attacks do raise serious questions about compliance with international law," Pillay told a news conference in Islamabad.
"The principle of distinction and proportionality and ensuring accountability for any failure to comply with international law is also difficult when drone attacks are conducted outside the military chain of command and beyond effective and transparent mechanisms of civilian or military control," she said.
She said the attacks violate human rights.
"I see the indiscriminate killings and injuries of civilians in any circumstances as human rights violations."
The UN human rights chief provided no statistics but called for an investigation into civilian casualties, which she said were difficult to track.
"Because these attacks are indiscriminate it is very, very difficult to track the numbers of people who have been killed," she said.
"I suggested to the government that they invite the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Special Rapporteur on Summary or Arbitrary Executions and he will be able to investigate some of the incidents."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"Because these attacks are indiscriminate "
No, these attacks are VERY discriminating.
However it probably is difficult to tell casualties from 'work accidents' from those who were drone-zapped.
[Guardian UK] The US defence secretary has raised the pressure on Pakistain over turban bases along its border with Afghanistan, saying Washington is running out of patience.
"It is difficult to achieve peace in Afghanistan as long as there is safe haven for Orcs and similar vermin in Pakistain," Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... said on a visit to the Afghan capital, Kabul.
"It is very important for Pakistain to take steps. It is an increasing concern, the issue of safe haven, and we are reaching the limits of our patience," Rooters quoted him as saying.
Panetta is on his fourth trip to Afghanistan since taking up his current role, to get an assessment of progress in the war from the top US and 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... commander, General John Allen, and to discuss plans for the withdrawal of US troops.
About 23,000 American soldiers are due home by the end of September, leaving 68,000 still in the country. NATO combat troops are due home by the end of 2014, but the pace of the next phase of the withdrawal has not yet been decided.
It depends in part on progress in training Afghan troops and holding off the turbans. The Afghan defence minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, said Pakistain would play a key role in that, and he appealed for more help from his neighbour.
"If that co-operation starts, we will be able to disrupt their command and control, disrupt their training, disrupt their weapon recruitment and also will be able to eliminate or capture their leadership," he said at a joint news conference with Panetta.
"Without doing that, I think our endeavor to achieve victory will become much more difficult," the News Agency that Dare Not be Named quoted him saying.
Insurgent groups fall back across the border to escape bitter weather or heavy offensives, to rest and pick up extra supplies of weapons, food or cash. They have strong bases despite regular forays by US drones into Pak airspace.
The explicit and repeated criticism of Pakistain, after similar complaints during a visit to India, could signal US willingness to up the tempo of the drone strikes. A recent increase in strikes on cut-throats in Pakistain was due in part to frustration with Islamabad, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named said, citing an unnamed senior US official.
Panetta arrived after a day of violence that emphasised the vulnerability of Afghan civilians in the decade-long war. At least 21 people were killed by Taliban suicide kabooms on a bazaar in southern Kandahar city, and another 18 by a pre-dawn NATO air strike on a house where members of a wedding party were staying in the east, Afghan officials said.
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... , the Afghan president, cut short a trip to China to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, and issued a strong condemnation of the bombardment, which he said claimed 18 innocent lives.
"NATO operations that inflict human and material losses to civilians can in no way be justifiable, acceptable and tolerable," Karzai said in a statement. NATO has said only that it is looking into reports of civilian deaths.
The president has long criticised NATO for not doing enough to prevent the killings of civilians. His critics in turn say he should be stronger in his condemnation of the Taliban's role in pushing up the country's civilian casualty toll. Insurgents are now responsible for more than three-quarters of these deaths, according to UN figures.
Karzai said he was "deeply grieved" by the deaths caused by the Taliban bombing in southern Kandahar city, but he did not condemn the cut-throats or the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"And we really mean it this time.... why are you laughing?"
#2
See also RELATED TELEGRAPH.UK > LEON PANETTA SAYS US"REACHING THE LIMITS OF OUR PATIENCE" WID PAKISTAN, for Pakistan's failure to repeatedly take serious action agz Taliban "safe havens", e.g. the Haqqani Network.
* SAME > US DEFENSE CHIEF SHRUGS OFF ALL OBJECTIONS TO DRONES [US Drone strikes protect both the US + Pakistan].
* SAME > US SENATE LINKS CSF DUES WORTH US$1.75BILYUHN TO NATO SUPPLY ROUTES, SHAKRIL AFRIDI RELEASE.
* SAME > DEMPSEY VOICES US FRUSTRATIONS WID PAKISTAN OER HAQQANI NETWORK INACTION.
* SAME > PANETTA STATEMENTS REDUCE SPACE FOR NARROWING OF BILATERAL DIFFERENCES [bwtn US + Pakistan]:SHERRY REHMAN. Pak Amb to the US.
* SAME > MILYUHNS [+ Dilyuhns + ...] OF DOLLARS OF US GEAR TO COMBAT IEDS WASTED [unused] IN PAKISTAN. Warehouse-Depot fodder, whose expensive storage fees the US must also pay for to make sure its equipment lies unused.
#6
"Sorry about that, guys, but some of those crazy Tea Partiers got ahold of a couple of fully-loaded B52s somehow, and it being a week-end we didn't notice right away..."
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) reported today that the inflation rate in Farvardin (21 March-20 April) compared to the same period last year was at 23.9 percent
of course just like in the US, some products will have much higher price increases and when they are things like rice and bread and fuel, it is really, really, really, bad for poor people
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
06/08/2012 14:57 Comments ||
Top||
#2
More accurate than the inflation rates posted by out benevolent central banks...
Iran's president says Iran has no intention of building nuclear weapons, but fear would not deter it if it decided to make them.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments suggest a toughening of Iran's position ahead of June 18-19 talks with world powers over Tehran's nuclear program.
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany want Iran to shut down its highest level uranium enrichment facilities. Ahmadinejad's remarks suggest Iran would refuse.
Ahmadinejad made the comments during a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday in China. His remarks were posted on his website.
The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes like power generation and cancer treatment.
#1
You trust them?
I don't.
Ignore this drivel, they're still very dangerous.
Watch shipping containers.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/08/2012 15:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Again, as per the "Japan/Egypt Model" espec Japan, IRAN = JAPAN = desires a ready stockpile of enriched Nucmats = Plutonium enuff for 5000 NucBombs/Warheads in times of crisis.
IIRC any Iranian arsenal of 5000 producable Nukes will be larger than the US Arsenal after formal Treaty reduxes.
Leaving the situation alone would mean abandoning the existing diplomatic and economic initiatives (granted they are, even in sum, pretty feeble compared to military action).
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/08/2012 7:59 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] Expressing horror at the latest massacre in Syria, U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... told the major powers on Thursday that it was time to threaten "consequences" if Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... does not halt the strife.
Annan and U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... condemned the reported slaughter of dozens of people in the village of al-Qubeir on Wednesday, telling the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly it was time to increase pressure.
Annan expressed "horror and condemnation" at the al-Qubeir killings, which Ban called "shocking and sickening."
"For many months, it has been evident that President Assad and his government have lost all legitimacy," said Ban.
"The trail of blood leads back to those responsible."
Annan, who secured Assad's agreement to a six-point peace plan, grimly told the assembly: "I must be frank and confirm that the plan is not being implemented."
He called for stronger international action to back his peace plan, which includes demands for Assad to pull troops and guns out of cities and halt violence so that political talks can start. But a cessation of hostilities that officially started on April 12 has now all but collapsed.
Annan said the international community had united behind the peace plan "but it now must take that unity to a new level."
"Individual actions or interventions will not resolve the crisis. As we demand compliance with international law and the six-point plan, it must be made clear that there will be consequences if compliance is not forthcoming."
The U.N. envoys for Germany and Britannia and Arab League secretary Nabil al-Arabi said that the "consequences" must be sanctions. The United States has called several times for strong sanctions against Assad.
Annan warned that without change in Syria, "the future is likely to be one of brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence and even all-out civil war."
U.N. leader Ban also called for more determined international action to halt the crisis which Syrian activists say has now left more than 13,000 dead in 15 months of conflict.
"In view of the deteriorating situation, I would welcome further international discussion on how we can act more effectively," he said.
"No one can predict how the situation in Syria will evolve. We must be prepared for any eventuality. We must be ready to respond to many possible scenarios."
Annan was expected to call on the U.N. Security Council later Thursday to set up a contact group bringing together the Western powers and Russia and China in a bid to force Assad into talks.
The envoy could even call for Iran and other key Middle East nations to be let into the group, diplomats said.
With the peace plan floundering, Annan wants the west, Russia and China to join together to increase pressure on Assad to start talks on a process that would eventually force him out of power, according to diplomats.
Annan is considering proposing that Iran, Turkey and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... join the permanent members of the Security Council -- Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia and the United States -- in the group, The Washington Post and Le Monde reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for a meeting on similar lines.
Russia, Syria's major international ally, has protected Assad from action at the U.N. Security Council and most western nations see President Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... as the key to applying any effective pressure.
Russia and China have vetoed two council resolutions that merely hinted at sanctions.
"We need to bind Russia into some sort of transition strategy on Syria," said one U.N. diplomat, who highlighted the growing contacts with Russia.
Putin has been in Gay Paree, Berlin and Beijing in the past week. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Abel P. Upshur ... has had talks with Lavrov, and Britannia's Foreign Secretary William Hague has also been to Moscow.
Key leaders are expected to hold a meeting on Syria on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico on June 18-19.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A regional group led by Russia and China said Thursday it opposed military intervention in the Middle East, a day after the Syrian opposition accused forces loyal to the regime of massacring 100 people.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) statement called for a "peaceful resolution of the Syrian problem through political dialogue", adding the use of force against Iran -- an ally of both Beijing and Moscow -- was "unacceptable".
"Member states are against military intervention into this region's affairs, forcing a 'handover of power' or using unilateral sanctions," said the declaration, issued at the end of a summit in Beijing attended by the leaders of Russia, China and Iran, among others.
Moscow and Beijing have consistently opposed international intervention in Syria, but they face growing pressure to change their stance after 15 months of conflict in which more than 13,500 people are said to have died.
On Wednesday, an exiled opposition group said forces loyal to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... had "massacred" about 100 people including women and kiddies -- a claim the regime denied -- as the US demanded a full transfer of power.
The call by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Henry Kissinger ... set the stage for a renewed diplomatic stalemate.
Russia and China have vetoed two Security Council resolutions against Assad's regime, but backed UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... 's blueprint to end the conflict.
The Annan plan was supposed to begin with a ceasefire from April 12, but doubts have emerged about its effectiveness as violence has raged on despite the deployment of nearly 300 UN observers.
The SCO statement also expressed "serious concern about the situation around Iran", which is an observer nation to the organization that groups together China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
"Any attempts to solve the Iranian problem with force are unacceptable and could lead to unpredictable circumstances that threaten stability and security in the region and the entire world," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Ditto the SCO as per interventionism agz IRAN.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PUTIN TO AHMADINEJAD: RUSSIA HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED IRAN'S RIGHT TO CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY.
IMO Artic read, as per Iran's desired "Japan/Egypt Model", PUTIN SUPPORTS IRAN = JAPAN = HAVING ENOUGH PLUTONIUM NUCMATS IN RESERVE TO QUICKLY PRODUCE 5000 NUKE BOMBS/WARHEADS IN TIME OF CRISIS???
#2
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > DAWNING OF NEW AGE SEES RUSSIA + CHINA SET REALPOLITIK [not idealist] AGENDA.
Stability of sovereign Govts-Societies has priority over Human Rights + Democracy.
and
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > WEST FEARS "ISLAMIC" IRAN. NOR A "NUCLEAR" ONE: LEADER. Ayatollah Khamenei.
* PRESS TV - IRAN TODAY IS MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER: LEADER. Again the Ayatollah Khamenei.
versus
* DEFENCEPK/FORUMS > ROGOZIN: POST-2015 [2015-2018] US HYPERSONIC WEAPONS A THREAT TO RUSSIA.
* TOPIX > "NIXON OPTION" FOR IRAN COULD BREAK STALEMATE, ALLOW US TO STRENGTHEN SECURITY WIDOUT WAR.
POTUS Bammer + Michelle? should visit Iran for "one-on-one" wid Ahmadinejad andor Khamenei???
[FORREST GUMP PLAYING "PING-PONG" SCENES here].
STAR TREKS'S MR. SPOCK > OLD VULCAN SAYING = "ONLY NIXON COULD GO TO CHINA"!
The Bammer just has to make the USDOD has one or more Drones or SATS assigned to Gump so that ole' Forrest doesn't skedaddle away back home wid the Paddle = aka US Govt. Property.
(Reuters) - Russia would accept a Yemen-style power transition in Syria if it were decided by the people, Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, the latest statement seemingly aimed at distancing the Kremlin from Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... The United States is seeking Russia's support in getting Assad to step aside but Mikhail Bogdanov said the president's fate was "not a question for us" but for the Syrian people.
"Application of the so-called Yemen scenario to resolve the conflict in Syria is possible only if the Syrians themselves agree to it," Bogdanov said, according to the Interfax news agency.
"The Yemen scenario was discussed by the Yemenis themselves. If this scenario is discussed by Syrians themselves and is adopted by them, we are not against it."
Street protests against Assad that began 15 months ago have evolved largely into armed insurgency as he stepped up efforts to crush dissent. Two reported massacres of civilians by pro-Assad forces since May 25 have heightened Western calls for Assad to make way for a democratic transition.
Russian Foreign Ministry front man Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday that Russia "most decisively condemns the barbarous acts of violence", referring to a reported massacre in Mazraat al-Qubeir that killed 40 women and kiddies.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bloomberg] Russia is urging Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... and Qatar to halt help for Syrian rebels, a senior politician in the Russian ruling party said.
Russia and China yesterday proposed a meeting to support peace efforts by United Nations ...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... . The two nations, along with the U.S., the U.K., La Belle France, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , the Organization of Islamic Conference and Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... States, Turkey and Iran should take part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Beijing yesterday after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... and Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao ...Hu has been involved in the Communist party bureaucracy for most of his adult life, meaning his viewpoint has a lot more theory than it does practice. He espouses a Harmonious Society approach, suggesting everybody should play nice or they'll be shot... "Boats carrying weapons are being dispatched and they are getting financing too because Saudi Arabia and Qatar are paying salaries to members of the Syrian Free Army," Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign-affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said in a telephone interview today. "Instead of supporting the armed actions of the opposition, we want them to exert a restraining influence."
Saudi Arabia and Qatar, ruled by Sunni monarchies that are at odds with Syria's mainly Shiite ally, Iran, have publicly voiced support for arming the rebels. Syria's ambassador to Russia said last week that the two countries are sabotaging a UN plan to end the 15-month conflict in his country by continuing to arm rebels in violation of a cease-fire agreement reached in April.
"Weapons are entering Syria through its borders with Leb and Turkey," Riad Haddad said in a June 1 interview. "And these are heavy weapons."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bloomberg] Russia, China and other countries received a request from the Syrian government to investigate last month's massacre in Houla, according to a senior politician in the Russian ruling party.
"There's no proof of either the involvement of pro- government or opposition forces," Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign-affairs committee in the lower house of parliament in Moscow, said in a telephone interview today. "If you listen to Western media, you hear witnesses who say pro-government militia carried it out, but if you listen to Syrian media, you hear witnesses who say that it was opposition fighters."
The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Human Rights Council called for a probe into the May 25 massacre of more than 100 people, including dozens of children, which it said was carried out by "pro- regime elements" and government forces. Syria blamed hard boyz for the killings.
The timing of the Houla massacre, as well reports yesterday by opposition activists of the killing of 78 people, more than half of them women and kiddies, in a village in Hama province, point to the involvement of rebel fighters, said Pushkov. The first massacre happened a day before United Nations envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... visited Syria and the latest on the eve of UN Security Council discussions on Syria, he said.
"To carry out such acts on the eve of such events is absolutely counterproductive for the Syrian government," Pushkov said. "To the contrary, I can see that for rebel fighters, especially Islamist rebel fighters for whom blood is cheap, as shown by experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and many other places, there is a direct political benefit."
Syria has found evidence that fighters from Libya and Tunisia with ties to al-Qaeda are among the rebels and some of the Houla massacre was filmed, Syria's ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, said in a June 1 interview.
"The main aim is to cause failure of the Annan plan and to provoke foreign military interference," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/08/2012 00:00 ||
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The wife of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has congratulated Muslim women for the role they have played in the Arab Spring and urged them to raise their children for jihad.
Which wife, and why is she speaking up in the public sphere reserved for men? And how many wives does he have, anyway?
"I congratulate all Muslim women for these blessed revolutions," Umaima Hassan Ahmed Mohammed Hassan wrote in a letter posted on the Al-Fajr website on Friday.
"I advise you to raise your children in the cult of jihad and martyrdom and to instil in them a love for religion and death," she wrote.
In doing so, "each woman would raise her child to be a new Saladin by telling him 'it is you who will restore the grandeur of the Islamic nation and you will will liberate Jerusalem.'"
Saladin was a 12th century Kurdish general who became the first sultan of Egypt and whose forces defeated Crusader armies in a battle that led to the eventual fall of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The text also counseled women to continue to wear the veil and to encourage their husbands and sons to "free the prisoners wherever they are... such as the widows of our martyr Osama bin Laden, who are languishing with their children in a Pakistani prison."
I thought his dependents had been returned to the bosoms of their families, because the bin Laden clan wasn't interested. Am I wrong?
#1
I advise you to raise your children in the cult of jihad and martyrdom and to instil in them a love for religion and death
A description of Islam in a nutshell.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/08/2012 19:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
More proof that those whom believe the GWOT is over wid the death of Osama + the degradation of [core] Al-Qaeda leadership were at best premature or fallacious, at worst don't understand the Islamic andor Islamist mindset.
* RADICAL CLERIC = "ISLAM RULES, OR [else] ISLAM IS DESTROYED". There is no interim or compromise option, as Radical Islam Jihad = WAR FOR UNILATERAL OR MUTUAL ANNIHILATION.
As indic once again now by Ayman's Babe, IMO ANY US SUCCESS IN THE GWOT WILL BE DETERMINED, IN PART, BY HOW WELL THE US-ALLIES ARE ABLE TO DECONSTRUCT + MOVE THE ARAB-MUSLIM WORLD AWAY FROM SUPPORTING ANY + ALL CONCEPTS OF UNILATERAL VIOLENT = "MILITARY" JIHAD. Until such occurs, the US-led GWOT will never be truly "over" - the US will simply be in temporary or benign period(s) of "armistice" = "defensive peace" ala the Medieval Crusades.
Lastly, the comments of Ayman's Babe also indir shows why, within the context of perennial Islamic/Islamist Jihad agz US-West/Allies unto Total Victory or Total Annihilation, PAST
"IMPERIALISM" IS NOT NECESSSARILY A "DIRTY WORD/CONCEPT".
Iff only because ISLAM = "WARRIOR/CONQUERER'S FAITH" = itself akin to GOD-BASED/LED MILPOL
"IMPERIALISM", among other Models e.g. Theo-Socialism.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq has accused government men of being involved in an 
International Criminal Court',"
(Sh. M. Network)- Tense of fighting and military exercise reportedly rose high in several villages near Afmadow town, southSomaliaas TFG forces along with Kenyan army advance on Al shabab controlled areas in lower Jubba region.
(Sh. M. Network)-Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, The president ofSomalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), has on Thursday held a meeting with the Traditional Elders of Somalia in Mogadishu.
(Sh.M.Network)-The International Police (Interpol) has joined the hunt for terror suspects suspected to be in Uganda.
[Yemen Post] Thousands of people on Wednesday 
[Guardian UK] The US defence secretary has raised the pressure on Pakistain over
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
[Dawn] A regional group led by Russia and China said Thursday it opposed military intervention in the Middle East, a day after the Syrian opposition accused forces loyal to the regime of massacring 100 people.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Bloomberg] Russia, China and other countries received a request from the Syrian government to investigate last month's massacre in Houla, according to a senior 
