#3
As per various MSM-Net Artics, it seems Jong-un + Beijing don't get along despite Media, Diplomatic Repors to the contrary - SINO-DPRK "COLD WAR"???
It would have to be a "Cold War/Relations", as I don't think Beijing will tolerate or accept any anti-China "Pyongyang/NOKOR Spring"???
#4
FYI TOPIX/WORLD NEWS, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NORTH KOREA FACES WORST DROUGHT [food shortage?] IN DECADES, CHINA MUST GIVE MORE FOOD AID.
This should prove intehwesting, as "MUST" is a strong term to use when referring to China's interpretation of its relations between it + DPRK. WE'LL SEE.
In 21st-century Amsterdam, you're free to smoke marijuana and pick out a half-naked sex partner from the front window of her shop. But you can be put on trial for holding the wrong opinion about a bloke who died in the seventh century.
And, although Mr. Wilders was eventually acquitted by his kangaroo court, the determination to place him beyond the pale is unceasing: "The far-right anti-immigration party of Geert Wilders" (The Financial Times) . . . "Far-right leader Geert Wilders" (The Guardian) . . . "Extreme right anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders" (Agence France-Presse) is "at the fringes of mainstream politics" (Time) . . . Mr. Wilders is so far out on the far-right extreme fringe that his party is the third biggest in parliament. Indeed, the present Dutch government governs only through the support of Wilders' Party for Freedom. So he's "extreme" and "far-right" and out on the "fringe," but the seven parties that got far fewer votes than him are "mainstream"? That right there is a lot of what's wrong with European political discourse and its media coverage: Maybe he only seems so "extreme" and "far-right" because they're the ones out on the fringe.
Indeed. Especially when one remembers that his economics are social democrat, just like the party where he got his start.
An excerpt:
As the number of total homicides in Mexico has been slowly dropping, the sensational violence spikes higher, creating an atmosphere of instability that makes Mexicans and American visitors fear travel in wide stretches of country that even Mexican military leaders concede are not completely under state control.
Bill Clinton defeated war heroes George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole; National Guard pilot George W. Bush beat Vietnam veterans Al Gore and John Kerry; So this is not always a bad thing.
Not to mention the writer's odd conceit that the now-senior senator from Massachussetts had a distinguished military resume'. As I recall, he was given a Purple Heart for a splinter...
...and the writer's cold-blooded deceit about what John said after he came back home...
and Barack Obama was decisively elected over John McCain, who had displayed extraordinary valor during years of captivity as a Navy pilot in North Vietnam.
In 2012, we won't have the chance to test this trend: For the first time in modern American history, neither major candidate for the presidency has any military experience. This is a dramatic change. The crucible of combat not only created these United States but has also given us many of our most successful presidents.
But today, the connection between service in war and election to the highest office in the land has been severed. How we got here is difficult to ascertain. The sample size of presidential elections is small, and military service is far from the only factor that voters consider.
Yet the 2012 White House hopefuls reflect a broader truth: Even in a country waging what seems to be a forever war, military service is increasingly limited to a small swath of volunteers, widely admired but little known.
This writer is "well-balanced" because this is the Washington Post. Regarde -
Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have demonstrated impressive leadership in government, education and business. Obama's bona fides as commander in chief are clear; he has shown his resolve in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and the effective dismantling of al-Qaeda during his administration. The first lady's dedication to military families, worn down after years of war, is exemplary. Still...
Wars have given the United States many of its most important political leaders, and we can expect those who have led this country's sons and daughters in the sands of Anbar province and the mountains of the Hindu Kush to turn their sights to the highest office in the land in years to come.
When they do, these veterans will lead the nation back to its foundations. Forged in war, they will work to build a better peace.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/27/2012
07:38 ||
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#1
But today, the connection between service in war and election to the highest office in the land has been severed.
Not entirely or irreparably severed. Not if Allan West becomes the VP pick.
#2
Just a thought, but maybe the connection has been strained because organizations like the WAPO have spent the last forty years characterizing veterans as psycho-killers one loud noise away from mass murder.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/27/2012 10:53
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#3
Since I am a veteran, I like Robert Heinlein's dictum that only veterans can vote.
I realize that this is totally unrealistic: those politically connected (like Al Gore) would get cushy safe jobs (yes, I realize that Gore was a combat reporter). Some people aren't physically able to serve. And of course, it would somehow be racist/sexist/homophobic to only allow veterans to vote.
I still like the idea, however.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/27/2012 12:02
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#4
Bingo, Matt.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/27/2012 12:03
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#5
For the record, I did not serve in combat.
Many, perhaps most, veterans do not actually engage in direct combat, even in an all out war like WWII. There are many, many important and difficult jobs in logistics, maintenance, and other places where you don't have someone shooting at you.
Although the line troops complain about the "REMFs", they really like having their food/ammunition/fuel/working equipment. None of which would be there without the support troops.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/27/2012 12:06
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#6
Rambler, before there was Heinlein, there was the Militia Act of 1792, one of the very first acts passed by Congress per their authority of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. A the very start, it enrolled all free white males from around 18 to 45 to be members of the militia. In other words, you had 'skin in the game' if you had the franchise. The Act was amended in 1862 to add males of African decent which would be followed by the 15th Amendment to the Constitution extending the franchise to the same group. That linkage ended with the 19th Amendment. What has stayed on the books is the current application of the Militia Act through incorporation via Title X USC, subparagraph 311 which still defines the militia as all males 17 to 45 with two classes being the National Guard and all others as the unorganized militia. That is the basis of 'selective service' or the selective activation of the federal militia. Men still have 'skin in the game' whether they want to or not. In the past avoiding the draft usually entails a felony conviction which in most states nullifies one's franchise.
Since the new agenda to alter the military after the repeal of DADT is to remove the prohibition of women in combat units, that will logically lead to the militia definition to be rewritten from 'males' to 'citizens' as the 14th Amendment will come into play. As long as Congress exercises its authority per Section 8, it can by prohibiting women in combat justifying their exemption from the militia obligation. Once that prohibition is removed, there is no rational argument that if you draft males, you must also draft females. It's then no longer a prerogative or choice. Then we'll all have 'skin in the game'.
#7
RiV it's volunteering for service, and sticking throughout that makes a citizen in "Starship Troopers".
There is a discussion there about draft---and why it never works, P2K.
#8
Many of us will never forget that on 21 Jan 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter granted an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.
#10
When Ronaldus Maximus defeated Jimmah in November 1980, we on active duty at the time, felt the yoke being lifted from our backs. Carter was such a loser while Reagan was always so inspiring. We could care less that he was in his seventies. Besides, why would a "nuclear engineer" have his sights set on peanut farming, hut building and US national appeasement policy statement development?
Talking big, again. It's one of those cultural thingies.
Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami, speaking at a memorial service for General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the former chief of Iran's ballistic missile program who was killed in a December kaboom, said that "No base in the area is outside Iran's missile capabilities."
Â
Salami further noted that Iran's surface-to-surface missiles are accurate enough "to strike any base you can imagine."
South Africa has announced its boycott plans, Denmark and Ireland may follow, but in Bethlehem Israeli products are flying off the shelves
The storm surrounding South Africa's decision to boycott Israeli products manufactured in the West Bank is the result of a successful Paleostinian campaign. Yet a Ynet probe reveals that the Paleostinian Authority continues to market Israeli products, with locals seeing no reason why they should stop purchasing the products.
Â
The boycott, which was recently announced in South Africa, is set to spread to Denmark and Ireland has also announced that it is considering a boycott. As mentioned, the Paleostinian Authority has been pushing a campaign through the Paleostinian National Initiative led by Mustafa Barghouti which has been gathering momentum.
For example, in November 2011, Barghouti had news hounds take pictures of him spilling an Israeli orange drink into the street together with other Paleostinian activists.
Â
Barghouti and other senior Paleostinian officials welcomed the South African government's decision yet it would seem that the wind of change has not yet reached the Paleostinian Authority.
Â
Brand names like Strauss, Tnuva, Osem, Elite, and other smaller Israeli brands are displayed in Hebrew and Arabic side by side in stores in Bethlehem. The names are even featured on the store signs and in the stores themselves.
Â
"People love and buy Israeli products," says one Bethlehem minimarket owner. And while there are local dairies that sell their products in the Paleostinian Authority, he says "lots of people prefer to buy Tnuva products simply because there is tighter supervision and they want to feel safe in what they buy.
Â
"It has nothing to do with politics. When we buy a product from you (Israelis) we know it is under supervision and only made with fresh ingredients."
The Israeli goods are not only found at the local food markets in the PA. Imad Naama, who owns a cleaning and hygiene product warehouse, explains that there is no comparison between the quality of Israeli products and other brands.
Â
"If my clients see that the product has Hebrew letters on it or if it says the product is from Israel, they are sure that it is better," he notes.
Â
Naama said that during the period before the Second Intifada and before the establishment of the Paleostinian Authority, products produced in Paleostinian factories were marked in Hebrew and people were sure that was their place of origin.
Â
After the Intifada broke out, manufacturers changed the inscription and removed the Hebrew so people refused to buy it, even though it was the exact same product. "They said they weren't willing to purchase it because it's what you call 'Arabic work'," he joked.
Â
Faiz Hamadan and Khaled Saleima, stall owners at the market in Bethlehem said they had no political issue with selling Israeli made produce so long as it did not originate in the settlements.
Â
"The Paleostinian Authority patrols the stores and examines the country of origin of the inventory, no one here would sell anything that comes from settlement manufactories," they say.
#1
So the Paleos = future PA State demand + like Israeli consumer goods + Power, Utilities to their areas while simul also demanding their right to violently destroy Israel...
AND - HERE'S THE FUN PART - THE PALEOS THINK THEIR LARGER MUSLIM NEIGHVORS WON'T TRY TO GOBBLE UP THEIR [post-Israeli] FUTURE STATE.
The Moslem Brüderbund may seek to modify, but will not destroy, Egypt's 33-year-old peace treaty with Israel, former US President Jimmy Carter ... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet... said on Saturday.
How would he know what the Muslim Brotherhood is going to do?
Carter, 87, was speaking after initial vote tallies put the Brotherhood's candidate ahead in the first round of Egypt's presidential election, which his Carter Center helped monitor.
#7
After all these years, Jimmy Carter can still say something that sends me outside howling at the moon with coyotes, and can drive most people door-know sucking crazy.
[An Nahar] The U.S. government is easing the airport screening process for travelers 75 and older, beginning to roll out new rules just in time for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, an official said Friday.
The U.S. government is easing the airport screening process for travelers 75 and older
From this weekend the elderly will no longer have to doff shoes, belts and jackets as they pass through security checkpoints at New York's three major airports: John F. Kennedy International, La Guardia, and Newark Liberty.
The Transportation Security Administration has said rollout of the new measures to the rest of the country could follow.
"Seventy-five-plus is in the process of being rolled out and customers will see it over the course of the summer and beyond," said David Castelveter, chief front man of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Castelveter said he did not have a precise timetable, but the New York rollout was expected to occur through the upcoming three-day weekend that unofficially kicks off the U.S. summer vacation season.
The 75-plus measures have already been successfully tested in the Chicago, Denver, Orlando and Portland airports.
Last September the TSA decided to allow children 12 and under to pass through screening without removing their shoes.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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#1
The 75-plus measures have already been successfully tested in the Chicago, Denver, Orlando and Portland airports.
Tested? Have they already forgotten that not taking off shoes and belts used to be the norm?
#2
Shoes and belts? The ONE time I've flown since 9/11 (a few months ago), they had me take off the silk scarf looped around my collar and dangling down the front of my blouse. But only for trip down, not the trip back.
Yeesh. These clowns are worthless.
Glenn Reynolds has a better idea: issue a gun to every frequent flyer.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/27/2012 9:43
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#3
I fly a bunch, which means that I've had enough contact with the TSA to establish a common-law marriage. Some of their folks show very good sense in terms of managing the process; others are little tyrants; some are rude; some are extremely courteous. So I don't blame the TSA agents personally. But the whole process is a badly conceived, infuriating waste of time and tax dollars. And one of these days the TSA is going to push a crowd of travelers just one inch too far, with interesting results.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/27/2012 10:46
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#4
A modest proposal:
Before every flight have the passengers pass a simplified version of the current screening process. A walk-through metal detector is a good idea, and screening bags is easy and can be efficient.
As you do this, profile.
Not for terrorists.
For about a half-dozen people who you think are serious, sober, sensible and careful. Find them, approach them and ask them to volunteer.
You issue each volunteer a mahogany police baton*. Their job is simple: if any miscreant tries to set his shoe or underwear afire during the flight, they are to converge on said miscreant and beat him senseless.
We issue police batons because we really, really don't want firearms on a plane. We issue a half-dozen: giving out one means one person has too much power; giving out a dozen or more means potential mob trouble. Six is about right.
The volunteers get a voucher that lets them fly at a reduced price in the future. They get indemnity if they do the job properly, and they are educated that they will be prosecuted if they grossly mis-use their power.
We don't need the current security theater. We simply need to remember that we Americans are a pack, not a herd.
* yes, yes, a number seven.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2012 11:50
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#6
Our Rantburg Marine captain one related that he started carrying a pocketful of change when he flew after 9/11. Upon settling in his seat, he would take off a sock, fill it with his coins, tie it off with a shoe lace, and set it on his tray against need during flight. Instant cosh.
I most sincerely hope never to be tapped for such a responsibility, but I'll willingly throw whatever is at hand in the miscreant's diction until the batoniers arrive on station.
#8
the trick is to not fight fair: aim for the windpipe, eyes, whatever you have at hand. It's a bar fight for your life (and others)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2012 17:11
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#9
The biggest increase in security since 9/11 has been the securing of the cockpit doors and the change in attitude of passengers. No longer can a hijacker break in and take over the cockpit. And passengers will no longer sit passively and wait for the hostage negotiators to take over. They will act to attack and disable the hijackers.
Pretty much every thing else has been theater on the part of the TSA.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/27/2012 17:45
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#10
The baton idea is excellent. And far too reasonable to ever be implemented. Which is why I LOVE the sock full of coins.
Frank: no worries. Women generally don't receive an education in fisticuffs, so "fighting fair" never really occurs to us.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Egypt's Ahmed Shafiq, the ex-premier of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... who is set to face a Moslem Brüderbund candidate in a presidential run-off, has pledged to restore the country's revolution.
Addressing the youth that spearheaded the 2011 revolt, he said: "your revolution has been hijacked and I am committed to bringing (it) back," in an apparent reference to the Moslem Brüderbund, which already controls parliament.
Shafiq was speaking after unofficial results said he would advance to a run-off against the Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Mursi.
The former premier directly addressed concerns about his time under the regime of Mubarak, promising there would be no return to the old regime.
"I pledge now, to all Egyptians, we shall start a new era. There is no going back," he said. "We must accept the results."
He reached out to the other candidates such as Nasserist candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi who came third, and Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a former member of the Moslem Brüderbund running on a consensus platform.
"I reach out to all the partners and I pledge that we would all work together for the good of Egypt," Shafiq said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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#1
That's it, go to the unemployed hot bloods of youth. Just like Obama. Hope and change no matter what that brings. We can never look back to the old ways. Here and now is all that matters. Useful tools of Shafiq.
#2
"your revolution has been hijacked and I am committed to bringing (it) back,"
Anarchists! Hijackers! Evil Anglo-Europiun bombers and Anarchists. All uncovered by our ever faithful brothers at DOJ and dispatched to jails. Ahiiiiiiii, lalalalala.... We must remain resolute at MoveOn.org
[An Nahar] The Free Syrian Army said on Saturday it could no longer commit to the ceasefire brokered by 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... unless there was an immediate solution to regime violence. "We announce that unless the U.N. Security Council takes urgent steps for the protection of civilians, Annan's plan is going to go to hell," a statement by the FSA said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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[Al Ahram] Iran has significantly stepped up its output of low-enriched uranium and total production in the last five years would be enough for at least five nuclear weapons if refined much further, a U.S. security institute said.
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank which tracks Iran's nuclear programme closely, based the analysis on data in the latest report by the U.N. ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which was issued on Friday.
Progress in Iran's nuclear activities is closely watched by the West and Israel as it could determine how long it could take Tehran to build atomic bombs, if it decided to do so. Iran denies any plan to and says its aims are entirely peaceful.
During talks in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... this week, six world powers failed to convince Iran to scale back its uranium enrichment programme. They will meet again in Moscow next month to try to defuse a decade-old standoff that has raised fears of a new war in the Middle East that could disrupt oil supplies.
Friday's report by the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a Vienna-based U.N. body, showed Iran was pressing ahead with its uranium enrichment work in defiance of U.N. resolutions calling on it to suspend the activity.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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[Dawn] Jamaat-e Islami (JI) Pakistain chief and Difa-e-Pakistain Council (DPC) central leader Syed Munawar Hasan has said that any attempt to restore supply line of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... through Pakistain would never bear fruit as the DPC would resist to such a move.
Addressing a press briefing after a meeting of the DPC leaders here Saturday, Hasan blamed the United States of wanting to destabilize Pakistain and carrying out further attacks like the one at the Salala checkpost that resulted in the deaths of 24 Pakistain soldiers. Morever, the JI chief said that the present rulers were endorsing the "wicked agenda of the genocide of Moslems" in this region.
We are ready to pay any price but would not allow the US and NATO to get reinforcement through Pakistain, he said.
He said that on May 27, the DPC would convene a grand workers convention in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... while the DPC leaders would finalize their long march on June 5.
The press briefing was also addressed by Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain...
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said that the long march was only postponed earlier because the leaders of the parties in DPC had decided to use that tool at the appropriate time.
Moreover, Saeed alleged that it was not only the US but also India that was interfering into Pakistain's affairs.
Pakistain is a sovereign state and would never be allowed to become an Indian market, said the JuD chief.
The Difaa-e-Pakistain Council is an alliance of several right-winged religiopolitical parties opposing the US 'war on terror' and Pakistain providing supply routes to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The council, especially JuD leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, has also been a critic of Pakistain's recent granting of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India.
Saeed is accused by India and the US of criminal masterminding the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Condoleezza Rice ... blamed Pakistain of "not doing enough" against Saeed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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[Yemen Post] The Yemeni forces retook all positions from the cut-throats of Al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Sharia Supporters, after fierce battles east of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province in the south, military sources said on Saturday.
All jihad boy positions in east of Zinjibar including Al-Marakid and Al-Mishqasa were recaptured and the cut-throats suffered heavy losses in the battles with two military brigades and tribal fighters, the sources said.
"About 62 cut-throats including Somalis and other foreigners were killed, tens others injured and many others have fled to other parts leaving weapons and ammunition behind them," they said.
On Friday, military sources were quoted by official media as saying that at least 65 cut-throats were killed in Abyan province at a time when the army is trying to invade the most notorious strongholds of the jihad boys: Zinjibar and Jaar.
Several soldiers were killed and the army is determined to continue the offensive, which has been recently stepped up to clear the cut-throats from the areas seized last year, the sources continued.
The Air Force participated in the battles, with Arclight airstrikes targeting positions and killing jihad boys, they said.
Hundreds of Al-Qaeda cut-throats have been killed and injured including big shots since the army has expanded the operations to recapture key towns in Abyan.
The US and tribal fighters are directly supporting the forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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[Dawn] "UNITED we stand, divided we fall'. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) consistently flouted this admonition which is blazoned across the cover of its constitution in bold letters. The violent festivities that erupted recently at the headquarters of the Hurriyat in Srinagar between the supporters of Shabir Ahmed Shah, leader of the Democratic Freedom Party, and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq reflected the rift.
Shah, who was expelled from the Hurriyat for meeting the US ambassador Frank Wisner, defying the APHC's ban on such meetings demands Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat's expulsion for his recent remarks on UN resolutions on Kashmire.
He also wants a radical restructuring of the APHC, a demand he had made before the expulsion. It had no takers and his following is none too large. The APHC was set up on Sept 9, 1963. It comprised seven political parties plus a score of associations. The parties were the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , represented by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, People's Conference led by the late Abdul Ghani Lone; JKLF, the Moslem Conference of Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Ittehadul Moslemeen of Maulvi Abbas Ansari, People's League and the Awami Action Committee led by the Mirwaiz.
In July 2000, Lone was defeated by Bhat in the polls for the presidentship. The two stalwarts largely responsible for the APHC's aura, Geelani and Lone, had fallen out. In 2003, the APHC formally split into the Geelani and Mirwaiz (Moderate) factions. On June 14, 2008, they agreed "to evolve a joint mechanism for attaining the right to self-determination through plebiscite or, alternatively, through tripartite talks". It would even "review the 1993 constitution of the APHC and implement it with amendments, if necessary", a tacit admission of the necessity for change. Geelani agreed, "We have reached the conclusion that we will unite." Before long, he declared that there was no basis for unity.
This is the background to the crisis in the APHC (M). On May 6, a rally was held at Sopore at which Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat dropped a bombshell in the presence of the Mirwaiz and some other members of the APHC's executive. "The UN resolutions constitute the legal basis of the Kashmire dispute." After declaring the orthodox position, he said: "These resolutions cannot practically be implemented with reference to the language of the resolutions which, in my opinion, is complex. That means probably these resolutions may not be implemented at all. We have, therefore, to explore the possibilities of finding a solution to the problem through dialogue." He urged that the four-point formula of former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... should be taken up "systematically".
The APHC's constitution proves that this was no heresy. Chapter II Clause (i) pays obeisance to the resolutions only to accept in clause (ii) "an alternative negotiated settlement of the Kashmire dispute amongst all the three parties to the dispute" -- the two states plus "the people of the state".
Bhat went further. He asked the unionists to join hands with the separatists to forge a united front. "The National Conference talks about autonomy, the People's Democratic Party talks of self-rule. Why should we not move together with a common minimum political agenda and push it ahead. Let us talk with one voice and follow one single agenda." When the APHC (M) executive met on May 8 a bitter debate ensued and a violent clash was barely averted.
This rift exposes two things -- a crass misunderstanding of "the UN resolutions" and the failure of the separatists to evolve a platform whose leaders can serve as interlocutors in any talks. The united APHC as well as its two squabbling progeny have revealed themselves to be incompetent in evolving any policy that made sense; a strategy which could accomplish their objectives, and tactics which could reasonably be expected to yield results.
The Mirwaiz himself is on record in his support to the four-point formula. In a press interview published on Oct 10, 2002, he offered this proposal. "An autonomous region, with the other side being a party to it, could address the issue in such a way that India can sort of live with that, Pakistain can also live with that too, and Kashmiris can also get something they have been aspiring for. So we should be ready to discuss all the options and, as I have said earlier, autonomous identity for Kashmire could be the solution."
The truth is that at every critical juncture which called for a decision the APHC dithered; most notably on the ceasefire declared by the Hizbul Mujahideen's Abdul Majid Dar on July 24, 2000. The leaders of the then united APHC behaved as if they had been robbed of leadership. In a statement issued on August 13, 2000 the Hizb scolded them. Even at the best of times the APHC did not control the gun and had not the power to establish peace. Now, in its reduced circumstances, both factions present a pathetic sight. The ego festivities of the leaders and their failure to propose any realistic solution or formulate sound policies are very evident. Advocates of tripartite talks are unwittingly constructing a Tower of Babel. No solution to the Kashmire dispute will work unless it is supported by the people.
It is equally true that there is no single leader or party or amalgam of both which enjoy representative credentials. The top leaders are barely on speaking terms with each other. What is truly deplorable is their failure to formulate a form of peaceful agitation and protest and achieve a united front to press for this very basic human right which has been denied to the people, consistently. They foolishly shun development issues of concern to the people as if they would weaken their struggle.
Recent statements by Kashmiri leaders give ground for hope that a common front on the basis of the four points is not unattainable. In that lies hope. For, that formula ensures the Kashmires reunification de facto, self-rule to both parts, demilitarisation and a joint mechanism between east and west Kashmire. All Kashmiris, across the political divide, should demand that the leaders of India and Pakistain stop dragging their feet and move ahead to clinch an accord which was very much in sight in 2007.
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[Iran Press TV] On Friday, Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill aimed at keeping state courts and agencies from using Islamic or other non-U.S. laws when making decisions, drawing criticism from a national Moslem group.
"The Kansas bill is anti-Islamic and unconstitutional," according to Nadhira Al-Khalili, a CAIR legal counsel in Washington D.C. who spoke to Press TV's U.S. Desk in an interview on Saturday.
Al-Khalili said, "We stated that the Kansas anti-Moslem bill invites a legal challenge because the bill is unconstitutional and unfortunately, the politician of Kansas voted and it was singed into law, voted for the bill, it's now signed into law. And so the next step in this is to have someone challenge the bill in court because only a court at this point can declare the law unconstitutional and strike the law from the book."
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#1
My proposal for the 28th article of amendment to the Constitution:
The judicial power of the courts established under Article III of this Constitution shall not be guided by any precedent or opinion expressed by any foreign court or tribunal; except as shall be agreed to by the United States under international treaty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2012 0:14
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#2
That would stop all this nonsense cold. No longer would any judge or justice root around in foreign court writings, Islamic law (or any other religious law), etc looking for support. It's in the Constitution or English common law, or it isn't law.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/27/2012 0:16
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#5
I like the amendment. But it wouldn't stop all this nonsense cold, because it's creeping, insidious, and already so much of the legal culture, from law school onward. The public debate would be fun, though, as it would force lefties to openly declare their allegiances.
[Yemen Post] The Sharia Supporters, the offshoot of Yemen Al-Qaeda, grabbed credit for suicide kabooms targeting Houti followers in Saada and Jawf provinces in north Yemen on Friday.
Making friends in the inimitable jihadi way...
Almasdar Online quoted a statement by the group, which has been fighting the army since it seized key towns in the south last year, that a jacket wallah infiltrated into a Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America™", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ... rally early Friday and detonated an boom belt.
"The bombing killed about twenty Houthi followers and maimed tens others," the statement said, according to the website.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the Houthi Group said earlier the bomber failed to target the rally, which is organized a week, adding, "the bomber went kaboom!" away from the rally and none was hurt".
In Jawf, another suicide bomber rammed a boom-mobile into a school where many Houthis gathered killing at least 14 including passersby and injuring others.
The krazed killer group said it was behind the bombing, though the leader of the Houthi Group said the attacks were orchestrated by the US intelligence systems to further meddle in Yemen's internal affairs. "The US is responsible for aggressive attacks against us, but we will not allow anyone to drag us into an elusive war due to US acts," Abdul Malik Al-Houthi was quoted as saying.
Al-Qaeda said the explosives-laden car in Jawf targeted a weekly meeting by the Houthi Group and a key Shiite preacher was among the victims, the website said.
Two years ago, Al-Qaeda targeted a Houthi convoy killing and injuring tens of Shiites.
The Yemeni army has fought the Houthi Group six times.
Experts said Yemen has the most dangerous, bad turban groups in the region: the Houthi and Al-Qaeda.
Meantime, the Yemeni army has been advancing on Al-Qaeda hard boyz in the southern province of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... , killing and injuring hundreds of them including big shots.
More recently, the army has stepped up the offensive to retake key towns including the capital Zinjibar, which were seized last year.
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05/27/2012
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The opposition Syrian National Council has urged the UN Security Council to act urgently after claiming that regime forces massacred scores of civilians, including many children, in the town of Houla.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the massacre and said he was "making immediate arrangements for a Friends of Syria group meeting in Gay Paree."
He spoke after the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) again called for the Friends of Syria group of nations to carry out air strikes on the forces of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Lord of the Baath... Against that backdrop, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused the Arab and international communities of being "complicit" in the killing.
The Britannia-based Observatory said the shelling had killed more than 90 people in Houla, including 25 children.
Amateur videos posted on YouTube showed horrifying images of children lying dead on a floor.
The Observatory accused the international community of standing "silent in the face of the massacres committed by the Syrian regime."
Earlier, SNC spokeswoman Basma Kodmani said "more than 110 people were killed (half of whom are children) by the Syrian regime's forces" in Houla.
"Some of the victims were hit by heavy artillery while others, entire families, were massacred."
State news agency SANA blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the killings, adding that "festivities led to the killing of several hard boyz and the martyrdom of several members of the special forces."
Later on Saturday, members of the UN team of military observers in the country arrived in Houla to assess the situation, SANA and the Observatory said.
They went to the village of Taldau on the edge of Houla "to document the crimes committed in the past 24 hours, in violation of the ceasefire," the Observatory said, adding that "kabooms and gunfire could be heard."
On Saturday morning, people turned out to protest the killings, anti-regime activists said.
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[Iran Press TV] The rift between Washington and Tel Aviv over Iran's nuclear issue has widened as the Israeli premier and defense minister refuse to meet with US Undersecretary of State.
On Friday, May 25, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused to meet with the top US negotiator on Iran in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Wendy Sherman who had travelled to Tel Aviv to brief Israeli officials about negotiations between Iran and the P5+1--Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany.
Iran and the P5+1 wrapped up their final meeting in Storied Baghdad on Thursday evening after two earlier sessions of negotiations on Thursday and Wednesday.
Sherman delivered her report to National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror and Foreign Ministry Director-General Rafi Barak instead, Debka file reported.
According to her report, no progress was achieved in Storied Baghdad as Iran refused to suspend uranium enrichment at low (3.5-5 percent) or high (20 percent) levels or shut down the Fordow nuclear plant near Qom.
Tehran and the six major world powers have agreed to hold another round of talks in Moscow on June 18-19. Another three weeks for enrichment, just what the Iranians wanted...
Iran has stressed there would be no progress until the P5+1 recognized Iran's inalienable "right" as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium.
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[Dawn] A hand grenade attack in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on Saturday killed one person and injured 10 others, DawnNews reported.
The attack took place near a hotel opposite the Bloody Karachi Central Jail.
The attackers managed to escape the site of the incident. Later on, police and Rangers personnel cordoned off the area.
Rescue teams and residents shifted the injured to hospitals for treatment.
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[Tolo News] Afghan commentators said that the 33-year jail term for the Pak doctor who worked with the US to track down the late Osama bin Laden ... who is no longer with us, and won't be again... is indicative of Pakistain's complicity with terrorism.
Shakil Afridi was instrumental in helping the US Central Intelligence Agency verify the Al Qaeda leader's identity and residence in Pakistain's 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.... by launching a fake vaccination program.
He was tossed in the slammer Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in Pakistain last year and sentenced by a tribal court last week to 33 years jail for treason.
Afghan analysts hailed the sentencing as proof of the support Pakistain lends to terrorism.
"With this action, Pakistain proved that it supports global and regional terrorism, and it shows that regional spy agencies still have strong ties to myrmidons," Kabul University law professor Nasrullah Stanikzai told TOLOnews.
Afghan military expert General Noorulhq Olomi believes that the Pakistain government is trying to redeem its own intelligence agency in the eyes of its people by taking this action.
"Pakistain is trying to rescue the ISI from its people's criticism for protecting Osama bin Laden," he said.
"But by committing national treason, he [Afridi] rescued the world from terrorism."
Bin Laden was killed in a US special operation at the Garrison Abbottabad near the Pak capital Islamabad last year.
The attack was massively criticised by Pakistain officials and its parliament, with diplomatic relations between it and the US hitting new lows since the start of US' "war on terror".
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#1
Does any country like or trust Pakistan?
Posted by: Paul D ||
05/27/2012 14:06
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#2
China - but only strategically, to poke at India
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2012 14:09
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Pakistan is also a useful Chinese proxy for Africa.
If Pakistan stops backing Taliban commanders, Pashtuns will not protest
There are three groups of Pashtuns fighting the US/NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... and Afghan cops in Afghanistan - the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Shura led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... , the North Wazoo based Haqqani Network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, and the Quetta Shura led by Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... . All three of them are closely linked with the military establishment of Pakistain.
A section of Hekmatyar's party has already given up violence and is part of the current Afghan government and parliament. Many of the remaining prominent party leaders are frustrated with Hekmatyar's rigid stance and have privately said they are willing to give up violence for a peaceful political process.
Hekmatyar's son in law Ghairat Baheer has recently met Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... to speed up the process of peaceful political settlement in Afghanistan. The group is therefore likely to have a role in Afghanistan's future political set-up. But that cannot be said about the other two groups.
The Haqqani Network is led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, but its operations are controlled by his son Sirajuddin Haqqani. The group has attacked US, NATO and Afghan forces, and is also accused of attacking Afghan civilians and development workers sent by India to help rebuild the Afghan infrastructure. The US accuses Pakistain of supporting the Haqqani Network and using it as a tool in Afghanistan.
Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Khalid Rabbani said last month that Pakistain Army had conducted more than 1,000 military operations in FATA in 2009 and 2010. Pakistain's Air Force chief had reportedly said in Dubai that more than 10,600 bombs have been dropped on FATA since 2008. But no leading Taliban capos have been captured or killed in FATA during this period. Those in FATA who are critical of the military establishment say Taliban are not captured or killed, but handed over to leaders of the Haqqani Network.
And while most of the media attention is on Waziristan, a lot of jihadi activities are taking place in the Pashtun belt in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... . NATO commanders have repeatedly described the area as major command centre for expanding cross-border attacks on the US/NATO and Afghans forces. The Quetta Shura have also been accused of assassinations of Pashtun tribal leaders and holy mans who advocated against Taliban militancy in Pashtun villages in Afghanistan.
Mao Tse-tung once said that guerrilla freedom fighters must live among their people as fish swim in the sea. History shows that almost all genuine guerrilla fighters have come back to fight the foreign aggression amid their people with their help after necessary training abroad. If the Afghan Taliban are so confident of the Pashtun public support in Afghanistan, why don't they go back to Afghanistan and fight the US/NATO forces with the public support? Why do they sneak in, strike and run back?
In fact Afghans, both Pashtun and non-Pashtun, accuse Pakistain and more specifically the Punjabis of nurturing the Orcs and similar vermin in Afghanistan. Many of the Pashtun in FATA also accuse Pakistain Army of backing the Taliban or not supporting local anti-Taliban forces. Just because the Pak media is not showing Pashtun anger does not mean it does not exist on the ground.
The Pashtun nationalists and generally all other anti-Taliban Pashtun from all socio-economic statuses and statures in Afghanistan and Pakistain are well known people in their communities. Their names, faces, addresses, and tribal or family affiliations are there for the whole world to see. They stand firmly on their native soil in the face of Taliban atrocities. Contrary to this, most of the Taliban capos and foot soldiers do not even show their masked faces in public. The Pashtun people do not even know who is behind those masks - Punjabis, Arabs, Uzbeks, culturally uprooted Mohammedan immigrant snuffies from the Western countries, or Pashtun outlaws?
Most of the Pak Taliban also do not operate in the areas they claim to belong to or represent. The popularity of Mullah Omar, the Haqqanis, Gul Bahader, Mullah Nazir and Mullah Faqir is a myth perpetuated by incompetent researchers. The same analysts had said Mullah Fazlullah was popular in Swat. But the locals welcomed his ouster. Now that he is gone, nobody is protesting. And if Pakistain stops backing other Afghan and Pak Taliban capos, no Pashtuns will protest.
#1
The Pakistani Frontier Corps has been aiding and abetting the Taliban for at least a decade. Frontier Corps outposts dot the Durand line up and down the border. As evidenced by the recent border closure to ISAF transport, these border outposts occasionally fire on coalition aircraft and personnel. [Remember the ISAF helo's who fired up an outpost killing 20 or 30 "Frontier Corps soldiers" prompting the closure? Muted ISAF investigation followed?] The Taliban use the outposts as drop-off points, observation points, and layover stations. They come and go as they please. Unfortunately, the complicity does not end on the Pak side of the border. Some outposts of the Afghanistan Border Patrol (ABP) are Taliban friendly as well.
Meanwhile, a smallish contingent of highly engaging Pakistani Army liaison officers (LNO's) who speak the Queens English dot key ISAF FOB's. These splendid fellows make nice with local ISAF commanders and staff, enjoy free access, ISAF transport, and cellie communications with their PAK HQ. Now what branch of the PAK Army might you think these blokes come from, and what might they be doing?
You figure this phueching thing out. I certainly cannot.
#2
The Pakistani Frontier Corps has been aiding and abetting the Taliban for at least a decade
An open secret: the FC is a financial conduit. Monies ostensibly earmarked for FC training and supplies have long been routed to the Taliban instead; what little remains is used for what essentially is a jobs program for local tribesmen.
At least Karzai had the ironic grace to thank the U.S. taxpayer.
[Iran Press TV] Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi is going to file an appeal for the country's election to be suspended because of alleged voting irregularities in favor of ex-PM Ahmed Shafiq, lawyers say.
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/27/2012
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Linnea Quigley aka A "Scream Queen" aka Trash in "The Return of the Living Dead (1985)" aka Bianca in "Creepozoids (1987)" aka Spider in "Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)" aka Samantha in "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988)" aka Sally in "Beach Babes from Beyond (1993)" aka Tere in "Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula in 8 Legs to Love You (Video 1998)" (age 54)
[Al Ahram] Attacks north of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Saturday killed four people, including three soldiers who died in a bombing, security and medical officials said.
In the deadliest attack, a roadside kaboom against an Iraqi army patrol in the town of Badush, just outside the main northern city of djinn-infested Mosul, killed three soldiers, police First Lieutenant Salam al-Juburi said.
A kaboom and a shooting in the town of Abu Saidah, in restive central Diyala province, left one labourer dead and five people, including a soldier, maimed.
In the shooting, gunnies opened fire on a truck carrying workers, killing one and wounding four others, according to a police major and Ahmed Ibrahim, a doctor at the main hospital in the lovely provincial capital Diyala.
A separate roadside kaboomwent kaboom! close to a passing Iraqi army patrol, leaving one soldier maimed, the major and a medic said.
Two more roadside kabooms near the home of a Kurdish family in Jalawla, also in Diyala, left two young men maimed, they said.
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[An Nahar] A new ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran's nuclear activities is "proof" that Tehran's program is peaceful, Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh made the comment late Friday to Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? ... other than perhaps the Iranian ambassador to the UN...
despite the report, circulated earlier in the day, revealing that uranium traces of a higher grade than any found before had been detected.
Soltanieh gave no direct reaction to that discovery.
"The report once again proves to the international community that all Iranian nuclear activities are successfully underway and are uninterrupted, and that there is no diversion in Iran's nuclear material towards military objectives," he was quoted as saying.
The report, he said, "is more proof of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities and of our country's success in the field of nuclear technology, in particular enrichment, and its full cooperation with the agency."
The agency report said that the traces found at the Fordo site, inside a mountain bunker near Qom, were of uranium enriched to purities of 27 percent. Previously, the highest level recorded by the agency in Iran was 20 percent.
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#1
As per FREEREPUBLIC, Iran is repor willing to stay enrichment to 20%.
[Al Ahram] Hundreds of Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... attacked bars and shops and clashed with security forces in a Tunisian town on Saturday in the latest incident to raise religious tensions in the home of the Arab Spring uprisings.
Police and witnesses in the northwestern town of Jendouba said hundreds of Salafists - followers of a puritanical interpretation of Islam - began rioting to protest the arrest of four men in connection with previous attacks on alcohol vendors.
Police responded with tear gas, breaking up the crowd, but festivities had yet to die down, witnesses and police said.
"This morning, four men were set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in connection with attacks on alcohol vendors in recent days," Interior Ministry official Lutfi al-Haydari told Rooters.
"So hundreds of Salafists attacked the security base, pelting it with rocks and petrol bombs before they were dispersed by tear gas. They also set fire to a cop shoppe and attacked three shops in the town ... they are now in the centre of town and are being dealt with."
The festivities come a week after Salafis fought with alcohol vendors in the central town of Sidi Bouzid, prompting the justice minister to promise they would be punished.
Many Salafi Islamists were in jail or underground before the 2011 uprising that ousted secular strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. But they have since become more assertive.
While Islamists did not play a major role in the revolt, the struggle over the role of religion in government and society has since emerged as the most divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... issue in Tunisian politics.
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[Iran Press TV] Afghan protesters have held an anti-US demonstration in the central province of Wardak, demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.
On Saturday, protesters shouted slogans against the United States and called for an end to the country's decade-long military presence in Afghanistan
The angry demonstrators say the US-led foreign forces have set fire to a drugstore and desecrated the Holy Koran.
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... Afghanistan's parliament has approved a recently signed security pact between Kabul and Washington, which extends the US presence in the war-torn country to another decade beyond 2014.
Critics have condemned the agreement as a violation of Afghanistan's illusory sovereignty, demanding all foreign troops leave their country by the end of 2014.
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#1
The place is 70% Pashtun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidan_Wardak_Province
#2
Wardak was the site of the Chinook loss last year that killed so many SEALs. I hope its residents enjoy the remainder of the 7th century.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/27/2012 13:19
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#3
Wardak was the site of the Chinook loss last year that killed so many SEALs. I hope its residents enjoy the remainder of the 7th century.
The Romans would have deputized their local allies to drive the Pashtuns out of Afghanistan. Fortunately for them, we're not Romans. Of course, if we were Romans, the Pashtuns might be a little more deferential.
[An Nahar] Mauritanian police fired teargas to break up a fresh opposition protest Friday calling for President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to step down, leaving many injured and at least five under arrest.
Youths gathered after Friday prayers in the Mohammedan majority country for the anti-regime protest called by the Coordination of Youths from the Opposition (CJO), which police broke up using teargas and batons.
"Many were maimed including the coordination's president Fadhel Ould Elmoctar," who was taken to hospital for a head wound, a front man for the protesters said.
"At least five youths were incarcerated." I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
Dozens of youths barricaded themselves in a mosque after the protesters dispersed and "police are following the evolution of the situation," a policeman told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The opposition began holding similar protests on May 2, most of which have been broken up by police, leaving several injured.
They want former general Abdel Aziz to step down, accusing him of despotism and mismanagement as well as failing to heed commitments made in the so-called Dakar accords which led to his election in 2009, a year after he seized power in a coup d'etat.
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[Yemen Post] Yemeni Minister of Information Ali al-Amrani revealed on Saturday that the Ministry of Information and the traditional official media are going to be cancelled soon in line with the changes that took place in the country after the youth revolution succeeded in ousting former 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...
In an interview with the state-run 26 newspaper, al-Amrani said that there are ongoing efforts to change the traditional official media role from being a tool that serves the President and the government to a tool that serves the people and their issues.
When asked about the credibility of what some people say that he is going to be the last Minister for Information in the country and that a new committee is going to be tasked with supervising the media conduct, he replied: "I hope this is going to happen... I'm with cancelling the ministry as well as the role of the official media."
"The official media and the partisan media have to stop and we will try to reach this outcome or even, at least, I can say we have this tendency." Al-Amrani said.
Speaking about journalism and publications law in Yemen, he stressed that this law must be reformed. The official media used to be a tool to trumpet the achievements of the former regime headed by Saleh. But, even after the official media was taken over by al-Amrani, who belongs to the Joint Meeting Parties, the official media still carries out the same mission. The only difference is that it praises the current regime not the old one.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Al-Qaeda-linked Somali faceless myrmidons have vowed to intensify the war against government and 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... troops, despite the fall of their key stronghold of Afgoye.
"God willing we will continue the war and we will win the battle without doubt," said Sheik Abdiaziz Abu Musab, front man for the hardline Al-Shabaab, ... the successor to the Islamic Courts... a day after AU and Somali troops entered Afgoye.
The bulk of Al-Shabaab fighters left ahead of an advancing column of hundreds of AU and Somali government troops, who launched a long-awaited assault on the town, some 30 kilometres northwest of the capital Mogadishu.
The loss of Afgoye is another major blow for the forces of Evil who have been on the backfoot for several months.
More than 400,000 people were living in the Afgoye region at the start of the year -- the world's largest concentration of displaced people -- according to the United Nations. ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... On a separate front, Somali troops were reported to be pushing northwards towards Al-Shabaab-held town of Balad, which lies some 35 kilometres north of Mogadishu.
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[Yemen Post] Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) posted on Saturday a video message in which a Saudi diplomat, Abdullah Al-Khalidi, demanded the King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... Ben Abdul-Aziz to save his life.
In a four-minute message, Al-Khalidi, who worked as the Saudi deputy consul in the Yemeni port city of Aden and was kidnapped in March, appealed to bring him back to his family, children and wife.
It is thought that Al-Khalidi is held in a region between Shabwa and Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... in which al-Qaeda is engaged in fight with the Yemeni army.
Al-Khalidi spoke in the video about sectors and offices of the Saudi consulate in Aden, detailing its nature and activities.
He revealed that the consulate contains an intelligence office that is run by three Saudi officers, asserting that it operates to recruit agents who report to the consulate about Al-Qaeda's activities and its leaders.
He also made it clear that the consulate send reports to the US forces that raided Al-Qaeda with drones.
The Saudi diplomat is one of several foreign diplomats who are being held by Al-Qaeda in Abyan. It holds a Swiss teacher and a relief French worker.
Al-Qaeda demands to release Saudi incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! women and other men who are charged with connection to Al-Qaeda.
Riyadh previously said that it will not respond to blackmailing of Al-Qaeda, retreating it was paralyzed inside the 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 most its leaders transferred to operate from Yemen.
Saudi Arabia had said it received a call from Al-Qaeda wanted operative, Mashaal Rasheed al-Shawdakhi, who claimed the abduction, indicating that al-Shawdakhi demanded the release of cut-throats cooled for a few years Book 'im, Mahmoud! in Saudi Arabia and a ransom payment in exchange for the diplomat.
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[Iran Press TV] Iran's President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad says the world needs a new order based on justice, brotherhood, progress and welfare.
We should work toward the creation of a fair world order that stems from the will power of nations and one all nations and governments can play a role in establishing under fair conditions, President Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with African ambassadors to Tehran on Saturday.
The world is in need of a new order characterized by justice, brotherhood, human dignity, progress and welfare, he added.
He said that a demand for the establishment of a just world order is becoming a popular demand in the world, adding that this goal can only be achieved through collective effort.
The Iranian president said the world requires a new economic system that will protect the interests of nations as well as a new political establishment that will bring security, peace and mutual respect to all nations.
He said the economic, political and social structures in the existing world order are controlled by a small group of people who refuse to allow the world order to change and benefit other nations.
President Ahmadinejad criticized certain domineering countries for controlling the world and said all nations and governments need to be fairly and equally involved in global decision makings.
He praised Iran's relations with African countries for being based on friendship, affection, respect, human dignity and justice and called for the further expansion of Iran-Africa ties.
He said the Islamic Theocratic Republic would stand by African countries and support any measures aimed at developing bilateral ties.
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#1
...as well as a new political establishment that will bring security, peace and mutual respect to all nations.
Except for those uppity infidels who arrogate to themselves the faithful's privilege of a tolerable life.
#4
for this dipsh*t, justice comes in kiloton units and MOAB penetrators only. The Iranians have been killing Americans sine Beirut and we still pretend not to notice, because Washington lack the will to deal with them in ways they understand.
Two people were killed and at least 13 others injured on Saturday amid rocket attacks in different parts of the violence-hit quiet provincial capital of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , DawnNews reported.
According to police, at least two rockets were fired from Quetta's adjoining areas. The first attack shattered a local shop completely in Qandahari Bazar and killed two people.
Meanwhile the second rocket was dropped on a house in Basti Panchayat near Kasi Road. Three houses were destroyed as a result and at least 13 people sustained injuries as well.
Injured were taken to a nearby hospital.
Police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) officials cordoned off the sites and initiated an inquiry into the incidents.
Moreover, a student was killed while five people including Principal of Kharan Public School received bullet shots when gunniesshot up them earlier on Saturday, police said.
"Unidentified gunnies riding bikes targeted the vehicle of local private school principal Muzafar Jamali in Kharan district as a result one student Obaidullah sitting inside the vehicle was struck down in his prime while five people including the principal sustained injuries and were shifted to a hospital.
The assailants managed to escape.
Due to their critical situation, doctors referred the injured to hospitals in Quetta.
Police started the paperwork but haven't done much else and started investigation.
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[An Nahar] U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... and 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... on Saturday condemned a massacre of more than 90 civilians in Syria as a "brutal" breach of international law by the government, a front man said.
Ban and Annan "condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing, confirmed by United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... observers, of dozens of men, women and kiddies" at Houla, said U.N. front man Martin Nesirky.
"This appalling and brutal crime, involving indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force, is a flagrant violation of international law and of the commitments of the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers and violence in all its forms.
"Those responsible for perpetrating this crime must be held to account," the U.N. secretary general and the special envoy added.
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#1
Count on the UN to show up and tut-tut after everyone is already dead. Except when it's Israel.
[Shabelle] (Sh.M.Network)-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... Mission (AMISOM) and Somali forces on saturday,put on view today the Media to the areas recently liberated from Al shabab Death Eaters linked with Al Qaeda.
The journalists were showed the areas like Carbiska, Afgoye district and several other villages nearby Afgoye. During the visit, journalists escorted to Beert Sheikh Zaid and Afgoye Bridge where Al shabab have had military bases.
People's Movements and transport have returned to normal after the town fell to Somali and AU forces on Friday.
Brigadier Paul lokech, the commander of Ugandan contingent of AMISOM briefed the media as follows:
1-We launched this offensive in the last three-days and the general intend was to insure the capture Afgoye town, which is southern strategic town it opens the corridor of parts of Somalia regions.
It is going to give us access to areas like, Marca and Jowhar to liberate them all from Al shabab orcs.
2-it going to enable for delivering the humanitarian aid reached to the needy people.
3- This was a stronghold of Al shabab and the command and control centre for Al shabab and in fronted necessary it to extend our future operations.
Of course it took us three days to capture it because we wanted to avoid the civilian casualties in Elasha and Lafole areas.
Today we are here in Afgoye and the operation still continuous to progress to other areas in Lower shabelle region and middle and short as possible.
My messages therefore to Somali fighters who are still with Al shabab come out and take this opportunity and join your brothers, this is only opportunity you still have build your country.
The imported muscle you are unfortunate, we are going to take you to the justice.
"The civilian population in Afgoye today you are liberated and you are free from Al shabab," he added.
On his side, General Abdikarin Yusuf Dhagabadan, TFG's top military commander, told Media that both Somali and AMISOM gained a tangible victory over the fighting against Al shabab.
He also told news hounds in the liberated area from the cut-throats that the allied forces have managed on Friday to capture Afgoye, 30km south ofMogadishu, where Al-shabab fighters have been using as a military camp to organize guerilla-style attacks.
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[Al Ahram] Syrian regime forces on Saturday pounded rebel positions in central Homs province, with 18 people killed in violence across the country, including 13 civilians, a monitoring group reported.
The latest deaths come just hours after more than 90 people were reportedly massacred by regime forces in the town of Houla, also in Homs province.
"A civilian was killed during the shelling of Qusayr," a rebel bastion in Homs and scene of frequent festivities between regime troops and rebel fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"In the city of Homs, blasts were heard this morning as well as heavy machinegun fire in the Jobar district," the Britannia-based monitoring group said, adding that three other non-combatants were killed in the restive province.
In Ariha in northwest Idlib province, two non-combatants were killed by shells, the rights watchdog said.
Mohammad Riad Haj Ahmad, a young activist, was killed and another 10 people were maimed when regime forces met the demonstrators with hot lead in Saraqeb, also in Idlib, according to the same source.
Protesters in Saraqeb had cut off the road linking Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... and Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... , to condemn the massacre committed by regime forces in Houla, the rights watchdog said.
In the capital, one woman and two men were killed in the Qadam neighbourhood in a shooting, while another civilian was killed by sniper fire in Damascus province.
In southern Daraa, three civilians, including two women, were killed when regime forces shelled the village of Khirbit Ghazala.
Also in Daraa, regime forces raided Qarfa village and tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! scores of residents, while five regular soldiers were ambushed and killed in the same region, the Observatory added.
In Aleppo, Syria's second city, thousands of people erupted into the streets on Saturday, during a funeral in the Seif al-Dawla district, to condemn the Houla massacre and call for the fall of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
Other demonstrations took place, including a several hundered-strong protest in Hama denouncing both the Syrian regime and the international community, according to videos posted by activists on Youtube.
Protests also took place in Daraa and Damascus, the Observatory said.
The watchdog said more than 110 people have been killed by regime forces since Friday, when large demonstrations were held across the country, including Aleppo, a traditional bastion of Assad's regime.
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[An Nahar] France condemns the "massacre" by Syrian forces which reportedly killed more than 90 people in the town of Houla and calls for greater international action, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Saturday. "I am making immediate arrangements for a Friends of Syria group meeting in Paris," Fabius said in a statement in the wake of Friday's attacks on the town in a new violation of a ceasefire.
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#1
That'll do it. Now who's for a drink down at the club?
#2
"I am making immediate arrangements for a Friends of Syria group meeting in Paris,"
Following that drink at the club, I recommend anything on the menu at....99, avenue des Champs-Elysees. The raspberry creme dessert is splendid. Parties of 5 or more (your's is probably no larger) require a res. dial 01 40 69 60 50.
You'll be returning for many more FOS condemnations, I assure you!
[Tolo News] Afghanistan's parliament approved Saturday a strategic pact between Afghanistan and the US, clearing the way for a US presence in the country.
The agreement is for at least a decade after the foreign combat troops will leave Afghanistan after 2014.
Nearly 200 MPs were present at today's parliamentary sitting and only five voted was against the pact.
The pact was signed by US President Barack Obama B.O.... and Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... in Kabul on May 2, but requires the approval of Afghanistan's parliament and its US counterpart to be enacted.
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[Tolo News] A US drone attack early Saturday killed at least four bully boyz in a northwestern Pak tribal district bordering Afghanistan, security officials said.
The strike is the third such attack in the region in four days, with a total corpse count said to be around 13, but as high as 17.
The attack took place at a house near Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the main town of North Wazoo tribal district, a known hide-out of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked Death Eaters, the Pak officials said.
"A US drone fired two missiles at a house and at least four bully boyz were killed," a security bigshot told AFP.
"The identities of the bully boyz killed in the drone strike were not immediately known," he added.
Two other officials confirmed the attack to AFP.
Pakistain's semi-autonomous northwestern tribal belt is considered by the US to be the main hub of Taliban and al Qaeda bully boyz plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.
Pakistain says the missile attacks are counterproductive and violate its illusory sovereignty.
At least four bully boyz were killed on Wednesday by a US Arclight airstrike, followed by another five to nine deaths by a drone attack on Thursday, both in the same region.
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The West seeks to follow its imperialist policy inside Syria through military intervention, an American author and historian tells Press TV.
Webster Griffin Tarpley says the Western powers would like to follow their imperialist policy "using the people NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... has on the ground (in Syria) at the moment."
He made the comments in an interview with Press TV on Saturday.
Tarpley added that those NATO "people" are supplemented by "mercenaries from La Belle France, Turkey and other countries."
"This is of course the essence of the imperialist policy. It is partition, mini-states, micro-states and failed states."
The American author also stated that the West tries to "cut a corridor, and it will not be a humanitarian corridor, it will be a terror corridor" into Syria.
The West and the opposition blame the Syrian government for the unrest that began in March 2011, but Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... says foreign-sponsored "terrorists" are responsible for the turmoil.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... the new Syrian parliament held its first meeting on May 24, under a new constitution approved by a majority of voters in a February referendum.
Also on May 24, Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... said, "Syria has been able to overcome the pressures and threats it has faced for years and is able to get out of this crisis thanks to the strength of its people and commitment to unity and independence."
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[Yemen Post] Yemeni President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi ...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... ordered the army units in the southern province of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... to storm Zinjubar, the lovely provincial capital, and Ja'ar, the al-Qaeda stronghold, in an effort to dislodge the beturbanned goons from their areas of influence, familiar sources said.
The sources said that Hadi gave his orders to the army troops in Abyan to start a comprehensive campaign to retake control of the captured towns and push the elements out of them. The sources revealed that carrying intensive Arclight airstrikes have been planned in order to neutralize al-Qaeda snipers who are positioned in areas close to the troops' sites and help significantly in slowing down the military operations.
The government has stepped up the security measures in guarding the government officials and army commanders after intelligence received information indicating that the cut-throats are planning to target government, army, and security officials.Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde... military armored vehicles were deployed in the central part of the capital to prevent riots caused by former President's supporters recently in al-Tahrir area.The threat of al-Qaeda in Yemen has heightened, especially after the terror network carried out suicide kabooms in Sana'a and other provinces that left more than 150 people killed in less than a week.
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[Iran Press TV] Bahraini regime forces have attacked anti-government protesters holding a demonstration in the northwestern village of Saar.
The protesters erupted into the streets in Saar, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) west of the capital, Manama, on Saturday.
They rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the ruling Al Khalifa regime.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths... similar demonstrations were also held in several towns and villages near Manama on Saturday. Regime forces used tear gas and sound grenades against the demonstrators.
On May 23, Bahraini protesters erupted into the streets in the Ras Rumman neighborhood of Manama, burning the US flag and condemning Washington's support for the Manama regime.
The US State Department said on May 11 that Washington will resume arms sales to Bahrain. Bahraini opposition groups and activists condemned the decision, saying it could encourage further human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations in the Persian Gulf country.
The Saturday attacks on peaceful Bahraini anti-regime demonstrators come two days after reports said a court in Bahrain has sentenced tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja to one month in prison on May 24.
The court convicted the female activist of insulting a policewoman and obstructing traffic during an anti-regime demonstration in Manama on April 21.
Zainab is the daughter of prominent rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for more than three months.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who holds dual Danish and Bahraini nationality, was given a life sentence in a military court in June 2011 over accusations of inciting protests against the Manama regime.
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#1
"Iranian puppets thumped - again"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/27/2012 9:11
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Algerian Islamists have disrupted the first session of Algeria's new parliament by waving placards condemning alleged fraud in the recent elections before walking out of the chamber.
The 49 members of the three-party Green Algeria Alliance (AVV), a moderate Islamist coalition, staged their protest immediately after the roll-call of the newly-elected deputies.
It was not clear if they would return for the resumption of proceedings later in the day, when the 462-seat house dominated by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him... ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) was to elect its new speaker.
Alleged fraud
The AVV, which had confidently predicted victory in the May 10 elections, alleged fraud after it won fewer than 50 seats.
On Thursday the constitutional council accepted only 13 of the 167 appeals filed after the polls, yielding minor changes in the parliament's breakdown of seats.
The FLN saw its tally reduced to 208 from 221, while Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia's National Rally for Democracy lost two seats but remains in second spot with 68 politicians, forming a comfortable presidential majority with the FLN.
The AVV was deprived of one seat but allocated another three, making its total 49, while the Socialist Forces Front, Algeria's oldest opposition party that returned to the electoral fray this year after a 10-year boycott, saw its tally rise to 27.
The main beneficiary of the constitutional council's redistribution was the Workers Party, which was granted seven more seats and with 26, attained the legal threshold to form a parliamentary group.
Opposition parties and other critics argue that the results announced by the interior ministry and confirmed by the constitutional council have little correlation with reality.
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[Iran Press TV] Afghan cops have killed 13 Talibs and captured 15 others during cleanup operations across the country over the course of 24 hours.
"Afghan coppers and army troops 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... -led coalition forces launched seven joint operations in Laghman, Kandahar, Zabul, Wardak, Pashtun-infested Logar, Ghazni, and Farah provinces, killing 13 armed Talibs and detaining 15 others over the past 24 hours," the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday afternoon.
They also recovered weapons from the turbans.
The Taliban have announced that their annual "spring offensive" across Afghanistan has begun and are threatening to target US-led NATO troops and their allies.
Code-named Al-Farouq, the primary targets of the offensive will be "foreign invaders, their advisors, their contractors, all those who help them militarily and in intelligence," the gun-hung tough guys said on their website.
"Al-Farouq spring offensive will be launched on May 3 all over Afghanistan," the Taliban stated.
They don't seem to have achieved much with their vaunted spring offensive -- some sound and fury, but nothing terribly tangible, according to the news reports...and an awful lot of them seem to get themselves captured or killed.
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#1
What is the quality of the Afghan cops and army troop at this point?
[An Nahar] The U.N. mission chief in Syria Major General Robert Mood on Saturday condemned the "brutal tragedy" in Houla, where he said 92 bodies, including those of more than 32 children, had been counted.
Mood said he condemns "in the strongest possible terms the brutal tragedy" in Houla in the central province of Homs, adding that U.N. monitors visited the area and counted 92 bodies, including "more than 32 under the age of 10."
"Those using violence for their own agendas will create more instability, more unpredictability and may lead the country to civil war," Mood told news hounds in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... , describing the violence as "indiscriminate and disproportionate."
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...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...
Pervez 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
A hand grenade attack in 
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Wazoo
Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi is going to file an appeal for the country's election to be suspended because of alleged voting irregularities in favor of ex-PM Ahmed Shafiq, lawyers say.
,
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
Mahmoud 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The West seeks to follow its imperialist policy inside Syria through military intervention, an American author and historian tells Press TV.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Yemen Post] Yemeni President 
Bouteflika's
