Mullah Omar, supreme leader of the Taliban, is reasserting direct control over the militant group's loose-knit insurgency in Afghanistan, ordering attacks and shuffling field commanders in preparation for the arrival of thousands of additional U.S. troops, according to U.S. officials and insurgents in Afghanistan.
Until recently, the ground-level conduct of the Taliban's war against the U.S.-led coalition has been left to local commanders acting on their own. Mr. Omar, who heads a Taliban leadership council called the Quetta "shura" -- named after the city in southeast Pakistan where it is believed to be based -- has typically focused on choosing Taliban leaders and funneling money, religious guidance and strategic advice to fighters.
But since the start of the year, Mr. Omar, through his direct lieutenants, has ordered a spate of suicide bombings and assassinations in southern and eastern Afghanistan that presage a bloody phase to come in the Afghan war, according to U.S. officials and Afghan insurgents.
HARTFORD, Conn. A New Jersey blogger is due in a Connecticut courtroom to face a charge of inciting violence against state lawmakers.
Harold "Hal" Turner of North Bergen, N.J., is set to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Monday.
The 47-year-old former radio talk show host, who now broadcasts commentary on his Web site, urged his blog readers earlier this month to "take up arms" against Connecticut lawmakers and suggested government officials should "obey the Constitution or die."
#1
TW, go hit this nut in the head with your cluebat! Might want to ban this guy before he blogs on RB.. LOL
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/21/2009 20:13
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God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
Posted by: Thomas Jefferson ||
06/21/2009 23:23
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#3
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants."
Rings true today as it did when Jefferson said it...our politicians have ignored the people for way to long and when confronted with the ideals of our founding republic they fall back on abusive powers of govt. The genie that was let loose on this continent 200 years ago will only be put back in the bottle if - we the people - let it. We the people, never more powerfull words yet so fleeting if we do not stand up.
Posted by: Dan ||
06/21/2009 23:29
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KABUL (AP) - A rare rocket attack on the main U.S. base in Afghanistan early Sunday killed two U.S. troops and wounded six other Americans, including two civilians, officials said. Two U.S. troops died and six Americans were wounded, including four military personnel and two civilians, said Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, a U.S. military spokeswoman.
The wounded personnel were taken to the main hospital on Bagram for treatment. ISAF said it wasn't known if any Afghan civilians living near the base were harmed in the attack.
The top government official in Bagram, Kabir Ahmad, said several rockets were fired at the base early Sunday. A spokesman with NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that three rounds landed inside Bagram and one landed outside. Bagram Air Base, which lies 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Kabul, is surrounded by high mountains and long stretches of desert from which militants could fire rockets. But such attacks, particularly lethal ones, are relatively rare.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
16:09 ||
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PARIS (AP) Iranian authorities have arrested 23 journalists and bloggers since post-election protests began a week ago, according to a media watchdog that says reporters are a "priority target" for Iran's leadership. Among those arrested was the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists, Reporters Without Borders said Sunday.
"It's becoming more and more problematic for journalists," said Benoit Hervieu of the Paris-based group, also known by its French acronym RSF.
The group released a list of 23 Iranian journalists, editors and bloggers arrested since June 14, and says it has lost contact with several others believed detained or in hiding. Hervieu said RSF verified each arrest via its network of reporters and activists in Iran. No foreign journalists were on the list.
The reasons behind the detentions remain unclear.
Iran's authorities have long kept a close eye on local and international media operating in the country, and clamped down as protests engulfed Tehran last week over the June 12 presidential election, the biggest challenge to the cleric-led government in 30 years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the landslide winner, but supporters of reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi say fraud was widespread.
Authorities have banned foreign media from reporting from the street and allow only phone interviews and information from officials sources such as state TV. Many Web sites have been blocked. Iran is particularly sensitive about news reports, blogs and Internet reports in Farsi.
"The regime has been visibly shaken by its own population and does not want to let this perception endure," RSF said in a statement.
The British Broadcasting Corporation's correspondent in Tehran has been ordered to leave the country, a BBC spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with company policy. The Fars news agency said Sunday that Jon Leyne will have to leave Iran within 24 hours, and that Iranian officials have accused Leyne of "dispatching fabricated news and reports, ignoring neutrality in news, supporting rioters and trampling the Iranian nation's rights."
Ali Mazroui, the head of the Association of Iranian Journalists, was arrested Sunday morning, RSF said.
Overnight, husband-and-wife Bahaman Ahamadi Amoee and Jila Baniyaghoob were arrested by plainclothes officers who searched their home, RSF said. Baniyaghoob edits a news Web site that focuses on women's rights, and her husband writes for various pro-reform publications.
Also detained is Mohammad Ghochani, editor of Etemad Meli, owned by opposition presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi.
Others detained include a blogger known as the "Blogging Mullah," a cartoonist, a TV producer, the publisher of several newspapers, a disabled former newspaper editor and a business reporter.
Nakhle Elhage, news director at Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television network, said authorities told them their activities have been suspended until further notice but did not ask their resident correspondent Diaa al-Nasseri an Iraqi to leave.
Last Sunday, Al Arabiya in Tehran was told by the authorities to suspend their activities for one week.
RSF says that, even before the election, Iran held more journalists and cyber-dissidents in jails than any other country in the Middle East.
Hervieu said blogs, Twitter, YouTube and other Internet methods are the only way most people can convey information from the street. But the use of anonymity by blog posters trying to avoid repercussions makes information difficult to verify. Many of those posting "are both spectators and activists," blurring lines of impartiality, he said.
He said small digital cameras passed from activist to activist and then to a foreign colleague or news organization are helping spread images, though their provenance is not always clear.
He noted the example of the much-viewed amateur video on YouTube, showing dozens of Iranians running down a street and shouting "Allahu Akbar" after police fired tear gas.
AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said last week that, when controls are imposed, "we work with those restrictions, keeping in mind our ultimate goal is to be able to do our jobs as journalists," she said.
Reporters were also restricted during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the installation of the Islamic regime in power today.
#1
I can understand why Obama is so quiet. This is how elections are normally run in Cook County and other parts of Illinois, just without the obvious violence.
#2
With Obambi its all about Image. So he won't make any kind of strong statement until he's sure the side he picks is going to be the winning one - preferably after the victory is achieved.
Long piece from Tehran Bureau on Ali Ardeshir Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament, well known to Rantburg, and long-time hardliner of the 1979 revolution. Worth the read.
I think the Europeans, who, remember, caught Obamania quite early, thought they were going to get more of the bipartisan American security shield, albeit with a charismatic multicultural veneer that would resonate with their citizens: no more Texas. No more Christianity. No more twang. No more nuclur. No more Iraq. But same old NATO. Same old bad cop to their good cop. Same old wide open Ami economy. Same old chance for triangulation. And?
As we are seeing in the Middle East, in the case of Israel, with Turkey, on the recent Iranian upheaval, and during the South America visit, Obama is clearly to the left of Europe. He sees himself more as multicultural prophet born out of the Third World, foe of colonialism, angry at past imperialism, skeptical of capitalism, eager to showcase his non-traditional ancestry and tripartite nomenclature. By coming from the West, but separating himself from the history of his own country, Obama has become a citizen of the world, who polls far higher, as intended, in the Middle East, than does his own country.
An eerie calm settled over the streets of Tehran Sunday as state media reported at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities arrested the daughter and four other relatives of ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's most powerful men.
The reports brought the official death toll for a week of boisterous confrontations to at least 17. State television inside Iran said 10 were killed and 100 injured in clashes Saturday between demonstrators contesting the result of the June 12 election and black-clad police wielding truncheons, tear gas and water cannons.
Police and members of Iran's Basij militia took up positions Sunday afternoon on major streets and squares, including the site of Saturday's clashes, but there was no immediate word on whether protesters were gathering.
The New-York based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said scores of injured demonstrators who had sought medical treatment after Saturday's clashes were arrested by security forces at hospitals in the capital. It said doctors had been ordered to report protest-related injuries to the authorities, and that some seriously injured protesters had sought refuge at foreign embassies in a bid to evade arrest. "The arrest of citizens seeking care for wounds suffered at the hands of security forces when they attempted to exercise rights guaranteed under their own constitution and international law is deplorable," said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the campaign.
A police commander sharpened the message Saturday. Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said more than a week of unrest and marches had become "exhausting, bothersome and intolerable." He threatened a more "serious confrontation" if protesters return.
On Sunday, former reformist president Mohammad Khatami called for the formation of a board to decide the outcome of the disputed election, and urged the release of detained activists and an end to the violence in the streets.
A citizens' militia trying to drive out the Taliban killed seven militants in a two-hour firefight in Pakistan's troubled northwest, police said Sunday. Several civilian militias, known as lashkars, have emerged in Upper Dir since a suicide bombing on a mosque two weeks ago that was blamed on the Taliban killed at least 33 people. The militias carry out patrols and have been pursuing remnants of Taliban who had tried to expand their influence into the area.
Ejaz Ahmed, police chief in the Upper Dir region, said scores of militants have been trapped and killed by the militias in several villages, with police cutting off escape routes. The Taliban who were killed Saturday had been trying to flee when they came across the militiamen and opened fire, he said. "Due to heavy losses, militants have been attempting to escape the area under cover of dark, and last night's incident was one such attempt," Ahmed said. He said no civilians were killed in the fighting.
In the most striking example of growing anti-Taliban sentiment, up to 1,600 tribesmen in Upper Dir cleared three villages of Taliban fighters two weeks ago, killing at least six militants.
Iranian state television says authorities have arrested the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani together with four other family members for taking part in unauthorized protest rallies. The arrests were made late Saturday. Sunday's report by Iran's official English language TV does not identify the four other family members or give more details.
State TV has shown pictures of Faezeh Hashemi, Rafsanjani's eldest daughter, speaking to hundreds of opposition supporters last week. Rafsanjani has made no secret of his distaste for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election victory in a June 12 vote was disputed by opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Ahmadinejad has accused Rafsanjani and his family of corruption.
Both tit and tat are archaic words meaning 'a light blow'. The entire expression thus means 'a blow for a blow', like 'an eye for an eye'. Both words were used as verbs, too: a popular song of the late sixteenth century had a refrain, "Come tit me, come tat me,/Come throw a kiss at me."
These words are probably of imitative origin, with a vowel variation found in other words expressing striking such as tip and tap or pit-a-pat. The tit is not related to other tit words, such as the ones (each of independent origin) meaning 'a small bird' (e.g. "titmouse"), 'a breast', or the first element of "tit-bit" (in America usually euphemized to "tid-bit," but not related to the 'breast' word).
The phrase tit for tat is first found in the sixteenth century. It is probably a variant of tip for tap, of similar origin but found a century earlier. The tip in this earlier phrase is the same word as in the baseball expression "a foul tip."
"If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave any thing in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world"
Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani December 2001
I would certainly welcome a successful overthrow of the Islamic Republic by the Iranian people.
The possibility remains however that all of this is just a power grab by one faction of the politburo Mullahs at the expense of another faction.
Mousavi et al don't deny the Holocaust of the 1930s and 40s, they just want to complete it.
Let's hope for the best but let's also be cautious and be prepared for the worst!
n appeals court in Yemen sentenced to death Sunday a man who shot dead a Jewish compatriot. In March a court ruled the man, Abdul-Aziz al-Abdi, was mentally unstable and sent him to an psychiatric institution, but the victim's father appealed the verdict.
Yehiya bin Yaeesh said his son Mashaa was in the company of four Muslim men when he was shot in the town of Raida in December and had clearly been targeted.
Al-Abdi's lawyers said they would take the case to the Supreme Court, the country's highest judicial body.
Will the country allow the loss of the lucrative resource of its Jews just because the peasants believe what[edit: what's said in] the weekly Friday sermons?
Insurgents in southern Thailand are using a network of Islamic schools to recruit fighters, but their movement does not appear to be linked to Al Qaeda or other foreign Islamist groups, according to a study due to be released Monday.
Since an upswing of violence five years ago, analysts have sought to pinpoint the primary motivations of an insurgency that has left more than 3,400 people dead in towns and villages within several hours drive of Thailands most popular beach resorts. The 20-page study by the International Crisis Group describes a homegrown movement of Malay Muslim fighters that seeks independence from Thailand and is built around longstanding resentment toward the majority Thai Buddhists in the country. Thai officials have in the past attributed the violence to the drug trade and other criminal activities.
A group known as the National Revolutionary Front-Coordinate was the main force in recruiting an estimated 1,800 to 3,000 fighters drawn from more than 100,000 students in the areas Islamic school system, the report says. The classroom is the point of first contact, the report said. Recruiters invite those who seem promising devout Muslims of good character who are moved by a history of oppression, mistreatment and the idea of armed jihad to join extracurricular indoctrination programs in mosques or disguised as football training.
The Crisis Group said the report was based on 16 months of interviews with religious teachers and students all of whom are unidentified involved in underground activities.
Until recently, a two-year crackdown by the Thai military appeared to be reducing violence in the area. But tensions flared earlier this month when a group of masked gunmen opened fire on a crowd of worshipers outside a mosque, killing 10 people and seriously wounding 12. Since the start of this month, at least 36 people have been killed and more than 100 have been wounded in southern Thailand. Buddhists are often targeted in the conflict, but more than half of those killed in the past five years have been Muslim, many labeled by the insurgents as collaborators or spies for the government.
The insurgents use many of the same methods in their recruitment oath-taking, indoctrination and military training as other jihadist groups. But in southern Thailand, the report says, recruiters appeal to Malay nationalism and the oppression of Malay Muslims by Buddhist Thai rulers rather than invoking a universal Islamic state or a global jihad. A pamphlet found at an Islamic school during a raid by security forces in 2005 offered a window into the teachings. Our land is crying and calling and waiting for independence and fraternity, it said. We have been treated as second-class citizens or like children of slaves.
The insurgents are helped in their recruitment by reports of torture by the military, disappearances and extrajudicial killings, according to the study. A Muslim lawyers group tallied 74 reports of torture of detainees between June 2007 and April 2008.
The recruitment is secretive, and, even in schools where insurgents are active, not all school administrators, teachers and students may be aware of what is happening, let alone consent to it, the report said. Training often occurs at night in the remote, low-lying mountains of the area.
Government efforts to offer an alternative to the Islamic schools have met deadly resistance. Over the past five years, 115 public school teachers and education officials have been killed and 200 schools burned.
"Based on claims made on your product's label," the FDA said in a letter to manufacturer General Mills, "we have determined (Cheerios) is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of disease."
If the government's enforcement action against Cheerios were to hold up, the cereal would be pulled from grocery shelves and consumers would need a prescription to buy a box of those little oats.
That's unlikely, but experts say the message is clear: There is a new sheriff in town and when it comes to false, misleading and exaggerated labeling, you had better clean up your act.
This is simply silly. Congress just gave the FDA authority over tobacco, and their first target is Cheerios? I can understand an effort to get General Mills to disclose that they funded the studies that reached the conclusions they advertise, but threatening to categorize Cheerios as a drug is about as good a parody of overreaching regulation as anything we could gin up in the blogosphere.
Barack Obama liked to remind us that we're in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, although he's ixnayed the Epression-day talk lately, since his policies seem to be making things worse. Maybe we can focus our attention and our resources on helping companies expand and employ people other than defense lawyers.
#4
What we are seeing is a bitter harvest of public school education. Brainwashed; as it is well known ,you must parrot what is taught in order to graduate. Modern day slavery to conformity. Common sense and real word knowledge are missing the very things necessary to correct this morass of impotence.
Baraa, an 11-year-old boy, was building a sandy castle on Gaza city's beach, when a ringing mobile at the adjacent summer vacationist's tent caught his attention. "Fatah ... mother of free nations, keep your flags higher," rang the bell of the mobile. Baraa dusted the sand off his hands and dashed to his mother, whispering: "Mom, our neighbors are Fatah members! I heard their mobile."
His 38-year-old mother Om Baraa was startled at these remarks, wondering how such a little boy knew about political affiliations. She came to enjoy the beach with her sister and four children on Friday, but it seemed there was nowhere to avoid political concerns. "Many young people have their mobile phones set with bells defining their political identities. Now even our children are able to distinguish who belongs to which group," said Om Baraa. Baraa's experience is common among households in the Hamas- ruled Gaza Strip. When a mobile starts ringing, people usually can interpret the owner's political stance, or whether the person is politically affiliated.
At the Islamic university campus in Gaza city, student Abdel Karim Saleh prefers to use the most popular Hamas songs as his mobile bell. "Welcome Qassam hawk, welcome Hamasniks. Settler is no longer able to sleep, sure escape, one hundred percent." Another student Rami Zidan said: "most of the students choose their mobile ringing tones to present their political affiliations, If you want to know anyone's (political) identity, just call him." Salma Mushtaha admitted that her mobile bears a spate of ringing tones, individualized for each of her family members. "My eldest brother belongs to Hamas, while my other two brothers to Fatah and Islamic Jihad, so I had to set up different bells for them," she said.
Inside one mobile store in Gaza, Samer Al Shawa, another student from the city, refused to load his mobile with Hamas songs, and asked the technician to replace them with Fatah ones. "I simply want my mobile to be Fatah in tones and themes," he said decisively. The shop owner Khaled Jibril said most of his customers selected their mobile bells according to their political beliefs and affiliations.
The 1.5 million Gaza Strip population might be the people, who are most interested in politics in the world, Jibril said. "Their private properties, such as mobile phones, the keys of their cars and doors, and their notepads, bear the sign of their political concerns." In Gaza, however, ringing tones are not always linked with political affiliations. They also reflect other global and local incidents. Some people devote their ringing tones to advocating Prophet Muhammad of Moslems, while some show support to al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and others call for the national unity between Fatah and Hamas.
Ola Muhanna, the student at Al Azhar University of Gaza, said bells bearing political identities can be annoying, especially when people use it to tease others. "However, political and national tones are much better than rude songs which carry an offense towards Islam or Arabs," she said.
#1
the clever Juice should hack the system and download ringt*nes to unwitting Paleos...can you imagine during Friday "Death to Juice" Prayers, when "Hava Nagila" rings out?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2009 9:09
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#2
heh - found another Fred-filter word
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2009 9:10
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It's a sobering time out in the world, but that should not stop us from acknowledging the incredibly important role Dads play in our lives and the lives of all they touch.
Thanks for working hard, protecting and guiding and for making it okay to eat cold cereal for dinner standing up at the sink once in a while. Or whatever .... ;-)
A US-hired military cargo plane that intruded into Indian airspace and was forced to land at Mumbai [ Images ], took off for Kandahar in Afghanistan on Saturday following government clearance after a 24-hour detention.
The External Affairs Ministry and the IAF in the capital approved the AN-124 aircraft's flight plan designating it as a foreign military cargo aircraft at 1530 hours and it flew out at 2240 hours, IAF spokesperson Wing Commander T K Singha told PTI in New Delhi.
The US military had hired the Russian company Volga Dnepr-owned AN-124 to carry military medical recovery vehicles and medical aid equipment to its troops engaged in anti-Taliban operations in Afghanistan from its military base in Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean.
"The AN-124 had obtained Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clearance with a mandatory Air Operations Routine (AOR) authority to fly as a foreign civilian aircraft, but later switched to US military call sign while entering Pakistani airspace. Hence, the IAF immediately activated its air defence mechanism and forced the plane to land," Singha said.
The Ukrainian Antonov-make world's largest transport aircraft with NATO code name Condor, which had been operating on the same flight plan for the last few days, had goofed up by using a civilian transport aircraft call sign VDA 4466 while in Indian airspace, IAF officials said.
However, it switched to military call sign REACH 813 while entering Pakistani airspace, which attracted the suspicions of the IAF's air defence units, they said.
"Since obtaining military clearance for using Indian airspace by foreign military aircraft is cumbersome, it has to go through Ministry of External Affairs, Intelligence agencies and then IAF. The operator resorted to the short-cut of obtaining a DGCA clearance as a civilian aircraft," an official said.
On Friday night, the unscheduled AN-124, with 18 persons on board, repeated the flight plan and entered the Indian airspace around 1730 hours.
Around 2000 hours, as it was nearing the Pakistani airspace, it changed its call sign. Immediately, the IAF's air defence Movement Liaison Unit in Mumbai activated its standard operating procedures and through Air Traffic Control radio calls forced the aircraft captain, Vladimir Ustelemov, to land it at the Chatrapati Shivaji International airport at 2240 hours.
No IAF fighters were scrambled to escort the aircraft as it clearly followed ATC radio calls to land, Singha said. After Indian authorities carried out a thorough check on the aircraft and its crew members, the US and Russian embassies in New Delhi approached the MEA and obtained fresh AOR authority with a defence clearance for it to fly out, IAF officials said.
"The US has admitted that it was a mistake of the operator from whom they had hired the aircraft not to have obtained a military clearance in the first place from the Indian authorities," they said.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/21/2009
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#1
http://livefist.blogspot.com/ It has been confirmed that the US-chartered An-124 which was intercepted and grounded in Mumbai last night has on board the following items: Two Stryker armoured combat vehicles, an uncomfirmed number of BGM-71 TOW anti-tank munitions, M242 gun ammunition, a consignment of explosive reactive armour tiles for US armoured vehicles and a large consignment of helicopter/aircraft spares, ancillaries and aggregates.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/21/2009 7:51
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#2
...I can believe that loadout. A while back I flew into Charleston (SC) International Airport and there were TWO of those monsters on the ground on the USAF side of the field. They were standing taller than the C-5s and C-17s there.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/21/2009 9:34
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If Pakistan's battle against the Taliban seems difficult, a much tougher challenge lies ahead: deciding what to do about the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group it once nurtured to fight India in Kashmir.
Security experts from the United States and India believe the Pakistan Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency could shut down the group blamed for last year's attacks on Mumbai -- if they choose to do so. "The Pakistan Army could do it and the ISI could tell them where to find those guys in a heartbeat," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who led a review of strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan for President Barack Obama. "If they wanted to shut them down they could," said B. Raman, a former Additional Secretary at India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) intelligence agency. "They can do it, but they don't want to do it because they look upon it as a strategic asset."
But Samina Yasmeen, a professor at the University of Western Australia who is researching a book on the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), said the reality on the ground may be more complicated. Over the years, she said, the LeT had given birth to splinter groups which had broken free both of the Pakistan Army and ISI, and even from the LeT leadership. "There are elements within the Lashkar that are not under the control of the army anymore. They really moved on a trajectory that people did not expect," she said. "After 9/11 there was a section that emerged within the Lashkar that may not be under the control of the Lashkar leadership."
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pushed the LeT to the top of the agenda last week by effectively telling President Asif Ali Zardari that India would not re-open peace talks until Pakistan acted against the organisation and its leaders. He seems to have won support in the West, where the LeT is seen as potentially as big a danger as al Qaeda. "I think we have to regard the Lashkar-e-Taiba as much a threat to us as any other part of the al Qaeda system," said Riedel. But finding a consensus on what Pakistan can, should and will do about the LeT is like asking people to agree on how to label many different shades of grey.
For security analysts, the two questions are whether the army and ISI can close down the LeT, and if they want to do so -- the assumption being that this would have to be done by the country's powerful military rather than the civilian government. Riedel said he believed the capability was there. He acknowledged that taking on the LeT -- which is based in Punjab province, the main recruiting ground for the army -- would be hard. "They are Punjabis. You are taking on the same constituencies from which the Pakistan Army and the ISI draw their own core supporters," he said, adding that you could probably find officers with cousins in the LeT. "It's become more and more difficult but I would not underestimate the ISI's knowledge base. They would be able to bring people in," he said. But Yasmeen said more problems could be created by targeting the leadership. "You limit their ability to have some possibility of controlling those below. The risk of splintering increases," she said.
November's Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people, offered hints about splits either within the ISI or the LeT -- for the first time Jews and westerners were targeted, risking an American backlash. Raman said for this reason he was not convinced the ISI as an institution -- as opposed to individual officers -- had ordered the attacks. "I've not seen any convincing evidence to show that the ISI as an institution gave the order," he said. "They would have seen to it that they did not attack westerners." The distinction is important since the ISI as an institution would be unlikely to take action without backing from the army -- whose chief General Ashfaq Kayani was formerly the ISI head.
Yasmeen said another possible explanation for Mumbai was splintering within the LeT, since its leader Hafiz Saeed, who was released from house arrest this month, had always been clear the group's focus was on India, rather than on a global agenda. Whatever the truth about Mumbai, the question of whether the army actually wants to shut down the LeT is quite separate.
India has long complained that Pakistan selectively targets militants who threaten domestic stability, like the Pakistani Taliban in the Swat valley, while leaving alone those who can be used against India or to extend its influence in Afghanistan. It is an argument that appears to be gaining currency in the west. "Pakistan sort of compartmentalises the various militant threats," a U.S. defence official said, adding the offensive underway against the Pakistani Taliban in the tribal areas was designed to stop a threat to Pakistan. And so we haven't seen anything to indicate a strategic re-orientation in Pakistan at this time."
Analysts say the army may be rethinking its attitude to militants after it lost control of the Pakistani Taliban, which then overran the Swat valley and began encroaching on Punjab. But giving up the LeT, seen as a "force multiplier" in the event of an invasion by India -- rather like citizens trained in civil defence -- would be another step altogether. Would the army chief turn against the LeT? "My sense of Kayani is that he is very pragmatic. He hasn't accepted that India is not a threat to Pakistan," said Yasmeen. "From Kayani's point of view, does he want to deny himself the possibility of using all trained and semi-trained people?"
That question returns to the Catch 22 of India-Pakistan relations. Without peace, Pakistan may never fully turn against the LeT. And India will not offer peace talks until it does so.
#2
ION WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC TRUE SECRET OF PAKISTAN FOR CHINA: PAKISTAN IS CHINA'S MOST IMPORTANT SECURITY FRONTIER, AND KEY FOR CHINA'S ABILITY TO LIMIT AND DEAL WITH INDIA AND EXPAND INTO SOUTH ASIA.
#3
ION WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC TRUE SECRET OF PAKISTAN FOR CHINA: PAKISTAN IS CHINA'S MOST IMPORTANT SECURITY FRONTIER, AND KEY FOR CHINA'S ABILITY TO LIMIT AND DEAL WITH INDIA AND EXPAND INTO SOUTH ASIA.
...Obama wagered that the deluge of money coming from the Federal Reserve would do the heavy lifting as far as stabilizing the financial sector and keeping the already apparent recession from turning into a real disaster. Voters would, thus, continue to support his policies to assert more government control over healthcare, heavily regulate energy through a costly cap-and-trade program and further intervene into the financial industry.
The gamble appears to have failed miserably, both economically and politically. The terrible tale of the tape: a) the current downturn is arguably the worse since the Great Depression; b) household wealth has fallen by $14 trillion during the past two years, including the first quarter of 2009; c) while the economy may not shrink as much this quarter as it did in the previous three months (-5.7 percent) or the final quarter of 2008 (-6.3 percent), unemployment is soaring; d) Obama himself said the jobless rate will hit 10 percent this year; d) even worse, the Federal Reserve sees it approaching 11 percent next year. (Recall, that the original White House economic analysis of the Obama economic plan never saw unemployment exceeding 8 percent if Obamanomics was passed by Congress.)
#1
I have noticed that among those 80 and older that they have begun to stockpile canned goods. The reason being that just before the great depression things were as they are now. Next they say cash will become difficult to secure then you know what follows. Most young people I talk to can't put back now.
#4
Much of the crisis was already in motion when O was inaugurated. No matter what could have been done (by anyone), it would have gotten worse before it improved, and it would take quite a while to improve. I wouldn't say O gambled, but that he is trying the impossible, using the same methods that created the crisis to solve it, such as trying to keep ridiculously high housing prices inflated. O is relying on the same executive talent that created the problem and proved incapable of understanding what they were wreaking until it was far too late. Cap-&-trade can only impede economic growth. You can't get enough of what you don't need/want.
#6
The obvious answer to this is more regulation, government healthcare, nationalized industries, and on and on.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/21/2009 16:55
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#7
After all it worked so well for ZimBOB right?
Next thing you know Bambi will be seizing 'white Stockholder owned' companies and transferring ownership to his buddies from Chicago... you know the ones who haven't worked an honest day in their lives but think they should be given a chance.
#10
The problem is that people like Presidents Clinton, Bush, the Big O, Dodd, Frank, et al, created this crisis as a byproduct of very bad legislation. Wall Street and the banks ran with it. Govt regulators were in bed with the Congress, President, Wall Street, and the Banks.
It is an ince$tous relationship, and what else do you expect from this unholy alliance? It will get worse until the cast of characters causing this crisis is removed from office. Otherwise we just go zimbob. Stockpile rice, wheat, canned goods, etc etc. It is responsible in many ways.
Posted by: Alaska Paul back home ||
06/21/2009 19:20
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#11
I have always stockpiled kippers. Mmmmmmmmmmm...
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/21/2009 20:35
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#12
Next thing you know Bambi will be seizing 'white Stockholder owned' companies and transferring ownership to his buddies from Chicago...
Ummmm, General Motors?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2009 20:36
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#13
We southerners have always believed in a well stocked Pantry.
You never know.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2009 20:38
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#14
Along the same theme as well as a well stocked pantry, we always keep some cash on hand, (Real green stuff, not checks) sometimes the Banks simply are NOT available.
Power out, severe storms, Truck not running, Tornado, roof missing, computers down, etc.
By the samee token, have some gasoline stored, if power's out, so are gas station's pumps. WalMart registers, Traffic lights, and so forth.
5 gallons is plenty.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2009 20:49
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#15
RJ - do you know how long gasoline will last (with the addition of an additive to lengthen its usefulness, of course)? I store gas for the generator, but even with test-running the generator, I can go years without using up the gas unless we get a bad storm.
That's the main reason I have only a one-gallon can of gas stored.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2009 21:32
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#16
I have kept gas with Sta-bil preserving it for 2 years, both in the gas tank & in a 5-gal can, it was able to start both my tiller & brush shredder right off. You need to add it as soon as you buy the gasoline.
#17
I keep 12-15 gallons of water stored at all times against power outages in winter and tornado outages in summer. But I get distilled water -- not as healthy as the regular stuff, I know -- and use it for ironing. Thus my stored water is rotated through, and never is stored long enough to go bad. Barbara, how about using your gasoline stash to fill the lawn mower and top off the car, that way you could rotate it every few weeks.
WASHINGTON A U.S. warplane failed to follow all operational rules in a complex battle in Afghanistan last month that killed an estimated 26 civilians and 78 Taliban fighters, the U.S. military concluded in a report released Friday.
The deaths last month raised the stakes in a growing battle for the good will of Afghan civilians, whose allegiance Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said is crucial if the United States is going to win the faltering war in Afghanistan.
"The inability to discern the presence of civilians and assess the potential collateral damage of those strikes is inconsistent with the U.S. government's objective of providing security and safety for the Afghan people," the report prepared by U.S. Central Command said.
Three U.S. airstrikes conducted after dark near the close of the chaotic fight in the western Farah Province probably accounted for the civilian deaths, the report said. It contained only mild criticism of the B-1 bomber crew involved, however, and the nation's top military official has already said there is no reason to punish any U.S. personnel.
The report contains no surprises U.S. officials had already given rough estimates of the number of deaths but provides a vivid narrative of a firefight that also killed five Afghan national police officers. Two U.S. personnel and seven Afghan security officers were wounded.
Local Afghan officials have said as many as 140 people were killed.
The report recommends refining the current rules for operations with the potential to kill civilians and ensuring that training matches the rules.
Other recommendations include improving the military's ability to get its side of the story in front of Afghans faster, something commanders say is frustratingly difficult. The U.S. should be "first with the truth," the report said.
The report promised a follow-up in four months on how well new tactical rules are working.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon news conference Thursday that he has seen nothing in the investigation that would call for disciplinary action against the U.S. forces involved.
Mullen added that the complex, seven-to-eight hour fight, which stretched from daylight to dark, revealed gaps in the chain-of-command and some training shortcomings that military leaders plan to address.
Mullen said he is satisfied that U.S. forces involved in the battle were sufficiently sure of their targets and believed that civilians would not be injured when they fired.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the accidental killing of civilians in Afghanistan has become one of the military's greatest strategic problems in the faltering war.
Gates has also said the thousands of new U.S. troops deploying in Afghanistan can lessen the reliance on airstrikes that sometimes kill civilians and undermine support for the fight against the Taliban.
He has assigned his new general running the Afghan war to find new ways to reduce the number of deaths.
#1
To leftists and Islamists, it doesn't matter. If even one civilian is killed, the US is evil. If we kill 10000 Taliban, and one child, we should have protected that child, and missed the opportunity.
Of course, that means that all the Taliban have to do is take one civilian with them anywhere they go, and they are invulnerable to air strikes.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/21/2009 11:39
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IN Which another newsie has a "Wait. What?!?" moment. At this rate, will the president have any fans by the end of this term?
As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies."
At least he is recycling. One can hear the disgruntled Humph! in Mr. Sobel's statement... and in the journalist's choice of quote.
The hard line appears to be no accident. After Obama's much-publicized Jan. 21 "transparency" memo, administration lawyers crafted a key directive implementing the new policy that contained a major loophole, according to FOIA experts. The directive, signed by Attorney General Eric Holder, instructed federal agencies to adopt a "presumption" of disclosure for FOIA requests. This reversal of Bush policy was intended to restore a standard set by President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno. But in a little-noticed passage, the Holder memo also said the new standard applies "if practicable" for cases involving "pending litigation." Dan Metcalfe, the former longtime chief of FOIA policy at Justice, says the passage and other "lawyerly hedges" means the Holder memo is now "astonishingly weaker" than the Reno policy.
Oh dear. "Lawyerly hedges" and "astonishingly weaker"? Them's fightin' words.
(The visitor-log request falls in this category because of a pending Bush-era lawsuit for such records.)
Administration officials say the Holder memo was drafted by senior Justice lawyers in consultation with Craig's office. The separate standard for "pending" lawsuits was inserted because of the "burden" it would impose on officials to go "backward" and reprocess hundreds of old cases, says Melanie Ann Pustay, who now heads the FOIA office. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt says Obama "has backed up his promise" with actions including the broadcast of White House meetings on the Web. (Others cite the release of the so-called torture memos.) As for the visitor logs, LaBolt says the policy is now "under review."
#5
Transparency has outlive it's usefulness, I guess.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/21/2009 10:21
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#6
Soon he will have the bunker mentality. He will want to control and direct everything from a safe and secure location. Yes I am early on this but I am a future thinker.
#7
"For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies reporter who should know better, you'd think I shouldn't be surprised."
There, Mr. Sobel. Fixed that for ya.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/21/2009 10:46
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#8
Er, ah maybe there are some "truth in advertising" issues; like the presidency doesn't live up to the campaign hype promises, eh what?
#1
Yah, and the Ayatollahs halted the Friday "death to america" chants at Teheran U, for 1 week. The next week: back to normal.
Posted by: Uloluns Scourge of the Bunions1692 ||
06/21/2009 4:55
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#2
That was still more than almost all the rest of the Islamic world.
And...strangely enough, considering all that has gone on between us and Iran, there were more condolence messages and pages from Iran after September 11 than there were from most of our "allies".
It is the winter that refuses to go away in northern Manitoba and most of the eastern Arctic.
Prolonged cold snowy conditions in the Hudson Bay area are expected to obliterate the breeding season for migratory birds and most other species of wildlife this year.
According to Environment Canada, the spring of 2009 is record-late in the eastern Arctic with virtually 100 per cent snow cover from James Bay north as of June 11.
May temperatures in northern Manitoba were almost four degrees C below the long-term average of -0.7, and in early June, temperatures averaged three degrees below normal.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration images confirm snow and ice blanket all of northern Manitoba, part of northern Ontario and almost all of the eastern Arctic as of June 12. U.S. arieal flight surveys confirm the eastern Arctic has no sign of spring so far.
"I have lived in Churchill since the 1950s, and this the latest spring I have ever seen here," said local resident Pat Penwarden. "The spring of 1962 was almost this bad."
Six-foot snowdrifts blocked Churchill-area roads. A thick blanket of snow, in places three- and four-feet deep, coated 90 per cent of the local taiga in northern Manitoba. Ecotourists, who normally flock to northern Manitoba every June to see birds and other wildlife, cancelled their plans this June "in droves," according to local ecotourist specialists. Snowy conditions are largely to blame.
"It is like a winter landscape," said Ruth Baker, a Michigan tourist who spent June 9 to 12 at Churchill. "I couldn't believe the snowdrifts, like mountains of snow".
Researchers confirm that the lateness of the spring of 2009 dooms local birds to a virtually complete reproductive failure.
#5
Right now the eastern seaboard is experiencing a winter-type northeast blow. This variety of storm is exceedingly rare after April 1, and almost unheard of after May 1.
It's the third week of June.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/21/2009 5:57
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#6
Rember that the buzz words are no longer -- "Global Warming"; but they are "Climate Change". Therefore any deviation from the mean temperature requires massive Government programs, regulation, and intervention. Oh, and making sunscreen a prescription drug.
Such major oscillations are part of a bumpy ride toward global warming," said Thomas Karl of the National Climate Center. "For awhile at least this will be the shape of things to come."
"stupid People often confuse climate with weather, and this spring is a weather phenomenon," said an Environment Canada spokesperson
#10
Major oscillations? What a shithead. Try a major cooling trend here for nearly a decade -- a cooling that has also been noticed on other planets.
Man-made warming? Bull. Try looking at the big orange-yellow ball of fusion plasma up in the sky that provides all the energy hitting this planet in massive amounts daily. It might actually be the thing at hand, not "man made". What an idiot this "expert" is.
#14
Alabama has been running 95-98 degrees aout a week now, not really out of range, but a bit earlier than "Normal".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2009 20:28
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#15
these "experts" conveniently never take into account the trajectory of the earth as it orbits the sun. The minute variances of the earth's orbital movement as it travels closer and farther from the sun impacts the heat factor on the planet & has done so since our planet was formed.
Lt. Arthur Karell and his Marine battalion were sent to Now Zad, Afghanistan, to train Afghan police. Instead, they had to fight the insurgents who had taken over the town.
"Fix bayonets."
Not long after giving that order, 1st Lt. Arthur Karell was hunched in a dirt trench crowded with Marines. The hushed darkness bristled with eight-inch blades fitted beneath the barrels of dozens of M-16 assault rifles.
You fix bayonets when you expect to need the aggressive combat mind-set that's produced by the primal sight of massed blades. You fix them when you expect to search hidden places. You fix them when you expect the fight could push you within arm's reach of your enemy -- gutting distance. In modern warfare, that's extraordinarily rare.
The problem was, Karell didn't know what to expect. He was from Arlington. He'd traveled the world. This place, though, was like nowhere he'd ever been. The 2nd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment had deployed to Afghanistan last spring to train Afghan police. But when Karell's platoon arrived in Now Zad, the largest town in a remote northern district of Helmand province, they'd rolled into a ghost town. ...
Posted by: ed ||
06/21/2009
00:14 ||
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#1
Interesting Article.
opium poppy production exploded -- drug money bankrolling the violence. The United Nations estimates Afghanistan now produces more than 90 percent of the world's illicit opium, the raw ingredient in heroin. Half comes from Helmand, one of Afghanistan's biggest and most fertile provinces. Helmand should be this hungry country's breadbasket
Washington -- Criticized for failing to challenge the intelligence operations of the Bush administration, key lawmakers have endorsed a bill that would force the president to make fuller disclosure of covert spy programs.
Not necessarily a bad idea as long as the representatives who are entrusted to hear the information can keep their mouths shut and not blab confidentially to the New York Ti ... oh, what am I saying?
The legislation approved by the House Intelligence Committee late Thursday would eliminate the president's ability to keep classified operations secret from any member of the panel, according to Democrats who described the provision. The measure was included in a broad intelligence spending bill that also would expand funding for spy agencies and require the CIA to videotape its interrogations of terrorism suspects.
Because the CIA can trust the all the members if the House of Representatives to guard their backs.
Democrats described the measure as an important effort to bolster congressional oversight of intelligence activities. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), chairman of the intelligence panel, said the bill would "have wide-ranging consequences for the way the committee conducts its business." But Republicans voted against the measure.
Good move, House Republicans!
Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the panel, said he favored a proposal last year that would have allowed the president to restrict briefings on sensitive topics with the permission of the top Democrat and Republican on the committee.
The debate centers on the controversial practice of restricting intelligence briefings to the "Gang of Eight," a group that includes the party leaders of the House and Senate, as well as the ranking Democrat and Republican on each intelligence committee.
The language adopted by the House committee Thursday would strike a provision in the nation's main intelligence statute that allows restricted briefings. Instead, the president would be obligated to inform all 15 members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as their 22 counterparts in the House. The bill calls for the committee to draft procedures that would allow restricted briefings under special circumstances.
"If this provision becomes law, Gang of Eight briefings will either be eliminated or very much restricted," said a Democratic congressional aide familiar with the legislation. The measure has yet to be considered by the full House.
Lawmakers complained bitterly that the Bush administration routinely withheld information from members as a way of reducing their ability to scrutinize or challenge controversial programs, including CIA interrogations and electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens.
Even so, records indicate that lawmakers who were informed of controversial operations raised few objections. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) was accused of hypocrisy by Republicans this year for criticizing the CIA's interrogation methods, because even though she did nothing appears to have done little to intervene after she was briefed on aspects of the program in 2002.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
I'm sure that the New York Times will be happy. Covert operations make good page one stories.
#6
Congressional "oversight" is a minsnomer. What actually happens is the oversighters generally end up in the chop-chain either directly or indirectly approving, delaying with endless questions and deposition, or terminating projects as reported to them by 30 year old tweeb, aspiring staffers. All sense of urgency is lost and after a few skirmishes the initiating agency or department backs off, assumes benign role, and waits to be blamed for the next intelligence failure.
#7
Why not simply disband the CIA's operations bureau? It would be a lot more direct and accomplis the same thing.
Clearly that is the ultimate intention. But done this way when the negative consequences become apparent, no one can be held responsible for having shut Ops down. But then, I'd just shut the whole thing down and let the DoD do the job.
#9
Quite correct Snakes. Official project 'termination' can rarely be attributed to the oversight bureaucrats. Endless delays and re-looks just run out the clock and make render the entire effort meaningless.
#10
I remember (all quotations below paraphrased), in the Clinton days, that Bill was anguishing over a proposed CIA op to pinch someone (can't remember who, but he was a turban of some kind). Back and forth, back and forth went the arguments in the Oval Office. Bill couldn't decide.
Al Gore walks in, they brief him, and Bill asks Al what he would do.
Al says, "Approve the op. Let the CIA grab him."
Some staffer says, "But that would be illegal under international law!"
And Al replies, "That's why you have the CIA grab him."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 10:33
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#11
Handcuffs and shackles weren't enough to restrain the CIA, balls and chains are needed.
#14
I would support this bill if it included a clause that specified the immediate death penalty for any member of the congress, their staff, acquaintances, or whatever, if they leaked even a hint of any of the programs.
Having the story published in the New York Times would be prima facie evidence that the crime had been committed. Anyone on the list of those briefed on the program would be suspect.
Who am I kidding? They would probably read the details of any program they didn't like into the Congressional Record, or maybe an op-ed in the NYT.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/21/2009 22:23
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#15
". Rep. Silvestre Reyes "....
This would be the guy who didn't know the3 difference between Sunni & Shi'ite.... oh yeah, let's give him more oversight responsibilities.....
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] A truck bomb exploded as worshippers left a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing at least 63 people and wounding nearly 200 in the deadliest bombing in nearly two months.
The blast near Kirkuk - a city rife with ethnic tensions - came hours after the prime minister insisted US troops will leave Iraqi cities by the end of this month "no matter what happens," but acknowledged more violence was likely.
The Americans already have begun withdrawing combat troops from inner-city outposts in Baghdad, Mosul and other urban areas ahead of the June 30 deadline. But continued assassinations and high-profile explosions have heightened concerns that Iraqi forces are not ready to take over their own security.
Worshippers were leaving the mosque in Taza, 10 miles (20 kilometers) south of Kirkuk, following noon prayers when the truck exploded, demolishing the mosque and several mud-brick houses across the street, according to police and witnesses.
Rescue teams searched for hours to find people buried under the rubble while women begged police to let them near the site so they could search for loved ones. The US military said it was providing generator lights and water at the site.
Ambulances rushed victims to the overwhelmed hospital in Kirkuk and some victims had to be taken to hospitals in nearby cities. Three babies cried as they were placed on a single hospital bed to be treated.
Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir of the Kirkuk police force said late Saturday that the discovery of bodies beneath the debris had pushed the death toll to 63, while 170 were wounded.
Witnesses said the truck was parked across the street from the mosque and they assumed the driver was praying, although Kirkuk's police chief, Maj. Gen. Jamal Tahir, said investigators were looking into the possibility it was a suicide bombing.
"The truck was parked near our house; therefore most of the victims were found beneath the debris of the houses, mostly women and children," said Ehsan Mushir Shukur, whose sister was seriously wounded and taken to the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.
He said his wife was also wounded while his sister's young son and daughter were killed.
Yellman Zain-Abideen, who was wounded by shrapnel in his hand and face, cried for his missing son who had been leaving the mosque with him when the blast occurred.
The 43-year-old father of four blamed local authorities for not providing sufficient security in the mainly Turkomen area, which is surrounded by Sunni villages.
"There should have been guards around the mosque, we are living in an area surrounded by enemies," he said.
AP Television News footage later showed men using pickaxes and shovels to dig dozens of graves in the cemetery behind the mosque to bury the victims.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq or other Sunni insurgents who remain active in northern Iraq despite security gains.
Tensions have risen in the oil-rich area as Kurds seek to incorporate Kirkuk into their semiautonomous region despite opposition from Arabs, Turkomen and other rival ethnic groups.
Officials also have warned that insurgents are likely to stage more attacks after the withdrawal deadline to try to undermine confidence in the government's ability to protect its people.
Saturday's explosion near Kirkuk was the deadliest since April 24 when back-to-back suicide bombings by female attackers killed 71 people outside a Shiite shrine in Baghdad.
A suicide car bomber also struck an Iraqi police patrol Saturday in Karmah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, killing the three officers, police said.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis to maintain support for government forces, calling the first phase of the US withdrawal plans a "great victory."
"Don't worry if some security breach occurs here or there," he said in an address earlier Saturday to members of the ethnic Turkomen community in Baghdad. "They are trying to destabilize the situation, but we will confront them."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Geo News] TANDO ALHA YAR: With the confirmation of yet another polio case, the total toll of reported polio victims across Sindh province has reached 6 in the current year, Geo news reported. The Director project of IPI Sindh Dr. Mazhar Khamisani told Geo news the fresh case was confirmed in Tando Alha Yar. The case is an eighteen-months-old child Dileep who had received three doses of anti-polio while four cases had been confirmed in Karachi, one in Kunbhar district earlier, taking the total number of confirmed polio cases to 6 in Sindh, sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Update | 4:54 p.m. New York Times Op-Ed columnist Roger Cohen was out on Tehran's streets on Saturday and has filed this account of what he witnessed. Here is some of what he reports:
I don't know where this uprising is leading. I do know some police units are wavering. That commander talking about his family was not alone. There were other policemen complaining about the unruly Basij. Some security forces just stood and watched. "All together, all together, don't be scared," the crowd shouted.
I also know that Iran's women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I've seen them urging less courageous men on. I've seen them get beaten and return to the fray. "Why are you sitting there?" one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. "Get up! Get up!"
Another green-eyed woman, Mahin, aged 52, staggered into an alley clutching her face and in tears. Then, against the urging of those around her, she limped back into the crowd moving west toward Freedom Square. Cries of "Death to the dictator!" and "We want liberty!" accompanied her.
There were people of all ages. I saw an old man on crutches, middle-aged office workers and bands of teenagers. Unlike the student revolts of 2003 and 1999, this movement is broad. [...]
Later, we moved north, tentatively, watching police lash out from time to time, reaching Victory Square where a pitched battle was in progress. Young men were breaking bricks and stones to the right size for hurling. Crowds gathered on overpasses, filming and cheering the protesters. A car burst into flames. Back and forth the crowd surged, confronted by less-than-convincing police units.
I looked up through the smoke and saw a poster of the stern visage of Khomeini above the words, "Islam is the religion of freedom."
Later, as night fell over the tumultuous capital, from rooftops across the city, the defiant sound of "Allah-u-Akbar" -- "God is Great" -- went up yet again, as it has every night since the fraudulent election, but on Saturday it seemed stronger.
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06/21/2009
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#1
One wonders if they moved some personnel from securing nuclear installations to dealing with riots?
[Geo News] Unknown armed militants have shot dead two persons in Baldia Town and Saeedabad localities here late on Saturday evening, police sources told Geo news. According to police sources, the victims were identified as 25-years-old Hafeez and 24-years-old Sheraz who were rushed to Civil Hospital for medical treatment but succumbed to their injuries. Police have registered cases against unidentified miscreants, sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Bangla Daily Star] One of the organisers of a mass rally in Tehran backed down yesterday after authorities threatened a harsh response, but it was unclear if people would stay away as riot police were deploying onto the streets. The reformist Combatant Clerics Assembly said "permission was asked to hold a rally, but since it has not been issued, there will be no rally held."
But an aide to defeated candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who had earlier said his supporters planned to go ahead with a rally, later said he was unsure whether they would demonstrate or not.
The interior ministry said no rally anywhere in the country was authorised and warned that "those who violate this will be confronted according to the law."
At the same time, police said the organisers of any future rallies would be arrested, with the police chief saying firm action would be taken against any demonstration.
Following those warnings, witnesses said hundreds of riot police were deploying to Enghelab Square, where the rally was to have taken place. An aide to Karroubi had told AFP early on Saturday that a rally would be held at 4:00 pm (1130 GMT), but an hour beforehand there were no reports of any people massing to demonstrate.
Early on Saturday afternoon, Mousavi's newspaper website said he would soon make an "important" announcement, but did not elaborate. However, powerful former president and Mousavi supporter Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani denied reports that he too was to issue a statement.
Mousavi was singled out by the head of Iran's security council on Saturday for a specific warning.
"Your national duty tells you to refrain from provoking illegal gatherings," Abbas Mohtaj, who is also deputy interior minister, said in a letter to him. "Should you provoke and call for these illegal rallies you will be responsible for the consequences," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Bangla Daily Star] Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday blasted senior officials at government offices, saying their negligence in overseeing the activities of subordinates has led to widespread corruption.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Mail and Globe] A suicide bomber blew himself up at the mausoleum of the father of Iran's revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, state media said on Saturday, in an attack coinciding with more unrest over a disputed presidential vote.
"A few minutes ago a suicide bomber exploded himself in the shrine," police official Hossein Sajedinia was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.
Press TV said the attacker died and eight people were injured. It said the attack took place at the northern entrance to the Imam Khomeini shrine.
Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi set on fire a building in southern Tehran used by backers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a witness said.
The witness also said police shot into the air to disperse rival supporters in Tehran's south Karegar street.
Elsewhere in Tehran, riot police deployed in force, firing teargas, batons and water cannons to disperse protesters defying a ban on demonstrations, state media said.
Witnesses said 2 000 to 3 000 people had gathered, far fewer than the hundreds of thousands involved in earlier rallies. The reported attack on Khomeini's mausoleum seemed likely to stir outrage among Iranians who deeply revere the Shi'ite cleric who led the 1979 revolution that toppled the United States-backed shah.
The past week of protests have been the most widespread expression of anti-government feeling since the revolution.
Iran's highest legislative body said it was ready to recount a random 10% of the votes cast in the June 12 poll to meet the complaints of Mousavi and two other candidates who lost to Ahmadinejad.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Two sisters sustained serious burn injuries with acid thrown by a rejected suitor of one of them Friday night. The culprit, Akash of Bogra Sadar upazila, threw acid when the two sisters were sleeping at their Ranachandi Dakkhinpara village home in Kishoreganj upazila of the district, said family members and locals.
The victims -- Mahmuda Aktar Shimu, 16, and Masuda Aktar Shanto, 22, -- are daughters of Abdul Mannan, a primary school teacher.
Akash became furious as Shimu, a student of Hazipara Hafizia Madrasa in Rangpur district, rejected his 'offer for love and marriage'.
The cad did not offer to the girl's father, or have his father offer for him? Of course a proper young woman would spurn his suit, were she ever so interested. The cad should be horsewhipped through the streets for his presumption, never mind the acid attack.
Shimu came to her village home on Friday and slept with her elder sister Shanto at night when Akash threw acid through the window and fled away before family members and neighbours rushed there hearing scream. Following Shimu, Akash had come to the village that day, sources said.
With serious injuries on the face and other parts of body, the two sisters were rushed to Rangpur Medical College Hospital. They were transferred to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday noon.
Charge the cad's father for the costs of the girls' medical treatment. We simply cannot allow such behaviour in the very proper Ranachandi Dakkhinpara village in Kishoreganj upazila, wherever that is.
The officer-in-charge of Kishoreganj Police Station said preparation was on to file a case in this connection.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
The officer-in-charge of Kishoreganj Police Station said preparation was on to file a case in this connection.
Getting ready to make preparations to file a case which might lead to an investigation.....all in good time. All in good time you see. Yes, yes, very urgent.
#3
Getting ready to make preparations to file a case which might lead to an investigation.....all in good time. All in good time you see. Yes, yes, very urgent.
So, B, you've been to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh then. That is pretty much how it is. Court cases can drag on for years, decades even.
#2
Arab speaking thugs have apparently been shipped into Tehran (possibly Paleo or Hizbollah) to reinforce local police and the military who appear somewhat sympathetic. The out-of-town gang will relying on addresses and street signs. Moving the signs around a bit worked for the French in WWII.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has thanked the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for his comments at Tehran's Friday prayers.
"I sincerely extend my gratitude to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei over his historic and epoch-making presence as well as helpful remarks at Tehran's Friday prayers," the letter read.
It added, "Doubtless you have hoisted the Iranian nation's flag of glory and awareness before the arrogant powers. National accord, unity and esteem, are of paramount significance to national interests ... unconditional exercise of justice, reciprocal nation-government trust and collective determination aimed at resolving obstacles to the country's progress are all public demands that were crystallized in your constructive comments."
Addressing the Friday prayers congregation Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei stated that the Guardian Council, the body accountable for monitoring the election, will investigate the complaints of the presidential contenders who are disgruntled with the election results.
The Leader also underlined that the Islamic Republic establishment would never surrender to illegitimate initiatives and called upon all presidential nominees to remedy their grievances through legal means. He also ordered that protests against the country's presidential election results must end and said that the responsible political leaders will be held accountable for any violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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#1
In other news, Charley Macarthy has expressed deep satisfaction and gratitude to Edgar Bergen for their long and fruitful business relationship.
[Geo News] At least 15 suspected persons, allegedly having involvement in the Dera Murad Jamali bombings, which took place on Friday, have been arrested here on Saturday, police sources claimed. Police said they have also recovered arms from their possession meanwhile, DIG Naseerabad Ifikhar Hussain Tarar told Geo news police launched search operation following DMJ bombings on Friday, arresting 15 suspected persons including five chief commanders from Farari camps. Â"All suspects have been shifted to anonymous place for further investigations, he confirmedÂ" adding, Â"25 kilogram explosive, seven rocket launchers, 15 Kalashnikovs and other arms were seized from themÂ".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Bangla Daily Star] After trashing a $139 million gas compressors project under the Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL), the Petrobangla chief has recently made a suggestion to the energy ministry that Chevron should install one compressor as a substitute.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Security forces backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed at least 32 Taliban in South Waziristan while an officer and five jawans lost their lives in preparation for the launch of Operation Rah-e-Nijat against Baitullah Mehsud, the military said on Saturday.
Saturday's clashes helped the forces take control of a road linking Sarwaki and Tanai -- two key towns in South Waziristan -- advancing towards the strongholds of Baitullah.
"We have secured the road following heavy pounding of the Taliban positions by jet aircraft, helicopter gunships and long-range artillery," military sources told Daily Times.
Sources close to the Taliban in Tank city confirmed the Taliban's losses, saying the "retreat was tactical. The forces have taken control of the highway linking Sarwaki with Tanai".
Although the army has not announced a formal start of full-scale operations in South Waziristan, officials said troops are already occupying strategic positions in the region.
Malakand: Eight Taliban, meanwhile, were killed in Malakand division where the army is combing areas in the Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts, a military statement read.
In Swat, the security forces secured Kotlai, Chungai, Zarakhela and commenced an operation towards Dagai. During exchange of fire with Taliban, a solider was injured.
"Terrorists ambushed a security forces vehicle ... resultantly three soldiers [were martyred while] seven others were injured," the military said.
Security forces were ambushed at Hilal Khel in Bajaur leading to heavy exchange of fire with the Taliban, the military said, adding that two soldiers were martyred and another six injured.
[Mail and Globe] Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai called on Zimbabweans living in Britain to "come home" and help in the country's redevelopment, the Daily Telegraph said on Saturday.
Does he mean the white Zimbabweans? The ones who were stripped of their property by the "government" of "President" Robert Mugabe? Why on earth would they want to do such a thing?
Most of the white farmers stripped of their land in Zimbabwe ended up either in Zambia or Mozambique. The governments there recognized that having smart, hard-working farmers was a plus, not a minus, so they gave the farmers land grants and citizenship/residency. Plus their new citizens are teaching other farmers how to improve their operations.
Most of the black Zimbabweans who fled went either to South Africa or to Britain, depending on their passports. They'll eventually come back when the government isn't of a mind to kill them and theirs anymore, but it's all tribal, so good luck with that one.
Tsvangirai, who is in Britain on a tour of Europe and the United States to woo financial support, said the country had achieved a lot since his Movement for Democratic Change entered a unity government with long-ruling President Robert Mugabe four months ago.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai is the one who lost a wife and a child in separate, but equally suspicious, car accidents in recent months, right?
He urged the estimated one million Zimbabweans living in Britain to help rebuild his country. "The government needs these professionals," he was quoted in the paper as saying.
True.
"And we also need whatever savings they made to help economic development.
Very True.
It is time to come home."
The conclusion does not follow from the previous two true statements.
Tsvangirai also called on the international community to support Zimbabwe through financial aid. "We need support if we are to avoid sliding back to where we were," he said. "I am telling these leaders that I need to re-establish Zimbabwe's relations with the outside world -- we must be part of the community of nations again and not a pariah state."
He pointed to inflation having been brought down
Really? By how much? If orders of magnitude are not part of the answer, it really isn't meaningful for the purpose of this discussion.
and the re-opening of schools and hospitals.
Have the reopened schools and hospitals been properly staffed and equipped, the staff and bills paid regularly at no more than monthly intervals?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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PRAGUE -- The international community's envoy in Bosnia moved Friday to invoke extraordinary legal powers over the country after Bosnian Serb leaders passed legislation that he said undermined the Dayton peace accords, which ended Bosnia's brutal war in 1995.
Aides to the envoy, Valentin Inzko, said the decision to assert special legal authority was necessary to hold the fragile multiethnic country together. Mr. Inzko invoked the special authority, which will take effect on Saturday, to rescind the legislation approved by the Bosnian Serbs' National Assembly, the aides said.
The European Union and the United States are determined to maintain the Dayton agreement, which divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serbian Republic, with a decentralized political system that appears to have reinforced rather than healed ethnic divisions.
No kidding. Give each group their own fiefdom and then expect them to play nice together. Who would ever have thought that it would work?
Of course, keeping them under one government had already not worked quite spectacularly. This particular Gorgon's knot requires a King Solomon, I fear.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
Gorgon's knot: (noun) A hairstyle used by insane women with snakes for hair- the snakes are knotted together and are considered impossible to untangle except by the future ruler of all Asia (Alexander) who must trick the gorgon by disguising himself as a king of the united monarchy of Israel.
#2
The Iranian people will need to properly organize and meet violence with violence. I don't know if anyone here has seen the video of the young women murdered (shot through the heart) by a Basij bastard. But it is absolutely heart wrenching.
Someone needs to teach these people how to conduct small group ambushes against these small groups of Basij. They could swarm them and overwhelm them using the right tactics. Some shivs and truncheons could be useful too.
#3
To the people of Iran, I offer these words from our William Shakespeare:
"And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
To the Dictators of Iran. Your day has come and gone. Despite all your hard work and mayhem over the past 30 years, your dream to return to the 11th century has been undone by something with the unlikely name of "twitter". Not much of a revolution if it cant withstand something named "twitter" eh? You frauds, you cancer on the ass of humanity, go. Its over.
To the people of Iran, I say fight, and fight like your very lives depends on it. This is your last chance to live as free people as something besides cattle for the mullahs. For once the Mullahs have the bomb, there will be no more street protests no opportunities to speak out against your oppression.
Now is the time. Seize the future.
Posted by: frank martin ||
06/21/2009 1:48
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GB of USMC -- I've stayed away from watching this video, but tonight, I needed to see it.... I needed to see the "face of revolution."
We here in the States, can't know of the fear, yet the strength the Iranians are showing in their quest for freedom. But this video, brings it to us, face to face......
#6
Same here Sherry - I watched that Vid because I had to see it.
Any way we can Juxtaposition that on a vid of what Zero was doing - eating Ice Cream? Bastard can't make a statement because he doesn't know which side is going to win yet and there isn't a victory to claim yet.
#7
I thought it was all over yesterday but apparently I was wrong. Iranians are very brave.
Here's hoping that if their revolution is a success they can figure out what to do with it and not be misled by another dictatorial charlatan. That part could well be even more difficult than what they're doing now.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/21/2009 11:15
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Take a good long look, folks. If Obambi has his way, we'll be in the same place the Iranians are today. Unfortunately for our "president", there are several million of us out here that know how to fight, and I don't think the US military would hold still for a dictatorship. Still, there is more than a minimum possibility of our current "government" ignoring that, and pushing the "one man, one vote, one time" meme upon us.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2009 11:50
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The truly sad thing is the bulk of the demonstrators seem to want freedom and self-choice but their rallying point/figurehead is as bad as the ones in power. Regime change will probably end up as a change in name only. In the meantime, unless the military stands with the demonstrators, perhaps more to get out from the heel of the Revolutionary Guards than any true support, there will be a period of massive repression - These citizens are not armed from what I can see and that's what it will take to break the ayatollahs' grip.
#12
May I suggest, having the Army open an arms warehouse, Fit every pistol in it with a box of similar ammo and a small green parachute, then airdropping these over tehran for the citizen's use?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2009 21:08
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#13
We did it in WW2, why not again?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2009 21:11
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Their candidate is riding the tiger right now. I doubt he can put a cork in this freedom any more than Boris Yeltsin did. Iran needs a "Boris Yeltsin" moment - someone to pivot things to where the current regime is stopped and something new emerges.
DAMASCUS - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed on Saturday efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
We agree with Syria that the dialogue should succeed, Abbass aide Nabil Abu Rdainah told reporters. He was referring to Egyptian mediation between Abbass Fatah faction and Hamas, which is supported by Syria and Iran. Egypt has set July 7 as a deadline to find a solution for divisions between the two groups.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria, cancelled a speech he was due to make later on Saturday shortly after Abbas met Assad. No explanation was given.
Abbass visit to Syria is the second since May. His aides said Abbas would not be meeting any Palestinian factions in Syria before leaving for Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah on Sunday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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Yes, that will make a difference... somehow. Did you notice that Hamas leader Meshaal (is he an emir or a supreme leader?) refuses to be in the same country as Fatah leader Abbas? Were they wearing the same dress or something?
RT @MarkSonar Spread word.Basij can't round up wounded at Embassies,are not allowed to enter.Geneva Convention applies. #iranelection #gr88
27 minutes ago from TweetDeck
realtortweet
Joan Lorberbaum Moor
Posted by: ||
06/21/2009
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#1
Since when does the Iranian government care about the sovereignty of foreign Embassies?
#3
gromky -- I'll take a try at what this means -- We Americans, as Lone Ranger stated, after the Iranians held our Embassy personnel for 444 days, are not sure that the Iranian government cares about the sovereignty of foreign Embassies ---
With that in mind, this Tweet (Twitter) is telling those wounded by the brutality of this government, to get to an Embassy, any country's Embassy --- there are dozens of Embassies in Tehran -- some will be helpful, taking in the wounded. Smart move as there are countires willing to help.
The Iranian gov't will need lots of riot control forces, etc, to cover all those Embassies. They took one once, a powerful one, granted, but it will put their butal forces to task to take over dozens. And even more forces to keep wounded Iranians from entering an Embassy and get out those already inside, seeking asylum.
With the Embassies helping, they are showing a face of freedom, willing to help the Iranian people in their quest of "Let freedom reign."
Here's hoping your question was just a "Rantburg Snark," seeking the honor of "Snark of the Day."
#6
gromky, you mean that your posts here are signed with your real name? ;)
That being said....there have also been reports that the Basij have been arresting people who show up at the hospitals to be treated for their injuries.
I wonder how safe the embassy option is, too, especially considering that Dinnerjacket was one of the leaders of the American Embassy takeover (if my memory serves me correctly.)
#7
Gromky, this is more like the intel intercepts certain US agencies get than anything you are likely to see.
We are very fortunate that info like this is getting out. It presents the really valuable stuff: what is in the minds of the rebels, and what they think they know.
Its the fragments like this that form the mosaic for good intelligence analysts, and some of these may end up being key puzzle pieces when compared to the really juicy stuff (Intercepts fo the government forces).
And, by the way, this is a pretty significant piece of info. It fits with and gives credibility to the "RUMINT" that claim the Baseej are taking wounded from the regular hospitals and executing them.
#8
OldSpook: the Basiji are indeed grabbing wounded protesters from hospitals. That was confirmed by a Canadian journalist.
There was, on IRANELECTION#, a list of embassies that were sheltering wounded protesters. The list was complete with addresses so that protesters would know exactly where to go.
I suspect the embassies will patch them up and then try to slip them out the back door.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 10:50
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[Geo News] The security in Peshawar has been put on high alert in the face of unsatisfactory law and order situation in the provincial capital on Saturday while the suspected vehicles and persons are being strictly checked, Geo news reported. According to police sources, all the entrances and exists of city, in a bid to step up security measures, are being strictly monitored.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday his country can consider deploying peace-keeping troops to Afghanistan in response to a U.S. proposal at summit talks early this week. Lee said his U.S. counterpart, President Barack Obama, asked him to send troops to the war-torn country, according to Park Sun-young, spokeswoman of the minor opposition Liberty Forward Party.
"Dispatching combat troops may be impossible, but we can consider sending peace-keeping forces to Afghanistan," he was quoted as saying.
After all, the combat troops may soon be needed at home.
South Korea withdrew its 200-strong team of medics and engineers from Afghanistan in 2007, ending several years of deployment under the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
then we can withdraw our forces from SK.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2009 8:41
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Ummm, not right now, 'k? As TW notes, they may be needed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 10:27
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ION KOREAS, CHINESE MIL FORUM > NORTH KOREA CRITICIZES US NUCLEAR PROTECTION OF SOUTH [ claims Obama's statement proves POTUS BAMMER = USA is planning atomic war agz NOKOR.
POSTER > NORTH KOREA HAS YET TO REACH [PLA] DF-5 ICBM POWER AND ACCURACY.
RT REVOLUTION IS AT HAND. GENERAL STRIKE IN ALL INDUSTRY SECTORS IN SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM. MARG BAR DIKTATOR!#Iranelection #ir #gr88
theeebatgirl
Bat Girl
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#1
Please take care of the posts you make as so not to endanger them more. Just sayin. You probably know more than me but I do not want to endanger the precious information that gets out. Nor the Humans behind it.
#2
Ahmadinejad OWNS the bureaucracy. They fixed the election for him. They are murdering innocents on Iran's streets. They have the power to put down any rebellion.
If Obamapology insists on referring to alleged US/UK intervention moves against Iran during the Cold War, then Iran's opposition will have to look elsewhere for support. This is 2009 and not 1953. And it certainly isn't 1859.
Posted by: Uloluns Scourge of the Bunions1692 ||
06/21/2009 5:00
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#4
What can be certain is that people are going to die. "Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won" - attributed to the Duke of Wellington. It's heartening to see that there are people in the world still willing to pay the price for real democracy and freedom rather than exist for a handout, a kickback, or political payoff.
#5
Another thing that is certain is that the real revolution here is in the media. With Green Helmet Guy the MSM lost all credibility but still had a strangle hold on sources. Now they have lost control of sources. This is a major shift of power from the center to the people. It will be more and more difficult to run black or white propaganda efforts. The only ones with the resources to do it are the Chinese. And the MSM will become aggregators, their only value being their ability to vet sources and flash cleavage on broadcast channels.
#6
Muggsy Tholusing5770 (if that's your REAL name!)...excellent comment, and very insightful. The MSM had already lost virtually all credibility, and now they've lost the last shreds of their monopoly on "news".
#7
Muggsy has it right. The MSM right now is following Twitter feeds just like everyone else. The photos they run are the same ones off the web, taken by ordinary people with cell phone cameras.
The news is being truly democratized. I'm guessing 99% of the MSM hasn't figured that out yet, and the 1% that has is trying to figure out either how to put the genie back into the bottle or how to use it to their advantage.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 10:44
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#8
Muggsy___
Don't understimate the power of a well placed cleavage.
#9
MSM, FOX, and the rest of our "News" agencis are now entertainment and sources for slander. When people want the truth, not debate or lies, they go where they can trust the information. Now it seems Twitter is that place. The bright side to this is the American people seem to want the truth here, not some silicon enhanced beauty queen or viseral MSM hate monger. All the networks need to take note here, fire all the current talking heads and management and place some ethics in reporting or go down in history as falling to a blog called twitter....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/21/2009 12:35
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#11
ION FREEREPUBLIC > AL QAEDA SAYS IT WOULD USE PAKISTANI NUCLEAR WEAPONS, agz US = US Interests iff it ever got it hands on 'em.
ALso on FREEP > seems JIMBO CARTER may had escaped an ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT during his covert/secret confab wid HAMAS, etc. Palestinian Leaders, courtesy of a really Realy R-E-A-L-L-Y REEEEEEEELLLLLLYYY BIG BOMB???
#12
I was at the Ketchikan, Alaska airport for 7 hours on Friday night. CNN was running all kinds of Iran coverage, but there was NOTHING about what was really happening, stuff like the following was missing:
*The candidates run are at the pleasure of the Mullahs.
*The mullahs hold the power.
*Who really sets policy in Iran.
*What is happening in the countryside, not just in Teheran?
Basically, the coverage is just shallow crap about people confronting the police, paramilitaries, etc. Nothing of substance. I have not watched CNN for a long time, and now I know why.
Posted by: Alaska Paul back home ||
06/21/2009 19:06
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#13
CNN and the MSM have their agenda; it doesn't have much to do with reporting or the truth.
#14
If Obamapology insists on referring to alleged US/UK intervention moves against Iran during the Cold War
Iran wouldn't exist except for US/UK cold war intervention. Russia occupied the northern third after WW2 and only left when the US/UK threatened war to kick them out. At the time the USA had the atomic bomb and the USSR didn't. So they complied.
TEHRAN, Iran -- Thousands of protesters defied Iran's highest authority Saturday and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons as the crisis over disputed elections lurched into volatile new ground.
In a separate incident, a state-run television channel reported that a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. The report could be not independently evaluated due to government restrictions on journalists. If proven true, the reports could enrage conservatives and bring strains among backers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Another state channel broadcast images of broken glass but no other damage or casualties, and showed a witness saying three people had been wounded.
The extent of injuries in the street battles also was unclear. Some witnesses said dozens were hurt and gunfire was heard.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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[Geo News] The law enforcement agencies have claimed arresting as many as 17 persons, charged with helping terrorists, from separate areas of Punjab on Saturday, sources said. Those arrested were declared, hailing from banned religious outfits, sources said. Intelligence sources said apprehended alleged terrorists include Hafiz Abdul Malik, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Ismael, Murtuza Sial Zakirullah, Muhammad Khalid, Saifullah, Qari Barakullah, Molvi Jan Muhammad, Muhammad Zikria, Abdul Wahab, Qari Ibrahim, Haroon Rasheed, Muhammad Ismael and Muhammad Rasheed. They have been accused of providing shelter, food, security and information of sensitive buildings, sources concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Fifteen Taliban including two key commanders were killed in an offensive by the security forces in Charmang area of Bajaur Agency, a private TV channel reported on Saturday. According to the channel, commander Omar, a foreigner, is also among those killed in the operation. The security forces also destroyed four hideouts of the Taliban during the action. The operation comes a day after Taliban blew up two boys' schools and a college in Bajaur on Friday. Several locally-made bombs had been planted inside the school buildings, local government officials had said, adding that both schools had been completely destroyed.
[Geo News] Police have claimed arresting two persons allegedly accused of plotting terror attacks from the provincial capital and seized arms from their possession here on Saturday, police sources said. According to sources, Satellite Town police raided a vehicle in the outskirt of Quetta arresting two terror suspects and recovered three Kalashnikovs, 15 gun magazines, and other armaments and a vehicle form their possession Two are allegedly involved in the terrorist attacks in Quetta, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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TEHRAN -- In a statement issued on Saturday the Assembly of Experts expressed its "strong support" for the Supreme Leader's statements on the presidential elections on Friday. The 86-member assembly stated in the statement that it is hoped that the nation would realize the current condition and by sticking to the Leader's guidelines preserve their patience and manifest their unity.
The Qom Seminary Teachers Society also issued a statement on Saturday declaring strong support for the guidelines of the Supreme Leader. "The Qom Seminary Teachers Society... announces its strong support for his valuable guidelines and invites all (groupings) to maintain unity, abide by the law, and refrain from any action which leads to tension," the statement said.
Addressing hundreds of thousands of people at the most recent Friday prayers in Tehran, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged all groupings to end their street protests and to pursue their complaints through legal channels. Ayatollah Khamenei said the time for rivalry is over and everyone should unite and line up behind the president-elect.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
ION KOREAS, WORLD MIL FORUM [GOOGLE Transl.] > IIUC JAPANESE MEDIA: NORTH KOREA MAY BE DIFFICULT/NOT SO EASY FOR JAPAN TO BEAT. JAPAN MAY HAVE TO FORMALLY WITHDRAW FROM THE US-JAPAN DEFENSE ALLIANCE IN ORDER TO TRULY PROTECT ITSELF FROM NORTH KOREAN MISSLE, NUCLEAR STRIKES. NOKOR has approxi 30 mobile launchers and 200 VARIOUS SCUD-BASED MISSLES whilst Japan has none - in order to protect itself from a potens NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA, JAPAN may have to attempt to search-and-destroy these preemptively by covertly sending large teams of COMMANDOES into NOKOR [several 00 minima]. UNLESS IN SELF-DEFENSE AGZ A NOKOR FIRST-STRIKE, TREATY > US + JAPANESE AIRCRAFT ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER NOKOR OR CHINESE AIRSPACE.
* SAME > SECOND KOREAN WAR WILL GIVE CHINA AN EXCUSE TO FORCIBLY TAKE OVER AND FORMALLY ANNEX NORTH KOREA INTO CHINA; + UNTIL THE DEPLOYMENT OF F22's AND FOLLOW-ON, ETC. ADVANCED AIRCRAFT TO GUAM, USAF STRENGTH IN WESTPAC AND ASIA-PACIFIC WAS ACTUALLY QUITE WEAK DUE TO THE OVER-AGE OF ITS COLD-WAR ERA, PRE_9-11, FRONTLINE COMBAT AND COMBAT SUPPORT PLANES [F15's, F16's, C-130's, B52's, B-1's, even B-2's etal]. IT MAY TAKE ANOTHER FIVE YEARS [2012, 2012-2015 r.o] FOR THE USAF TO TRULY ACHIEVE COLD WAR-STYLE AIR SUPERIORITY/DOMIANCE IN ASIA-PACIFIC AGZ CHINA'S RISING PLAN, PLAAF AIR FORCES.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The US military hands over the control of a security base to Iraqi forces some 10 days ahead of the schedule set for American troops to withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities.
The Saturday hand over of the Joint Security Station in Sadr City comes, while according to a November interim agreement between Baghdad and Washington, the US must withdraw its forces from urban areas by June 30.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki hailed the move on Saturday, saying that the withdrawal from the cities by the end of the month would be regarded as a "great victory" for the Iraqi nation.
"It is a great victory for Iraqis as we are going to take our first step toward ending the foreign presence in Iraq," he said.
The premier, however, warned that the militants and extremists are plotting to take advantage of the transition and initiate more attacks in the country. "They (the militants) are preparing to move in the dark to destabilize the situation, but we will be ready for them," Maliki said.
Iraqi officials say the US will pull out some 12,000 troops by the end of September. Currently, the United States has some 140,000 troops stationed in the country. A full withdrawal of American forces is scheduled to take place by 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
COLOMBO (AFP) The United Nations said on Saturday that two of its employees working among tens of thousands of war-displaced civilians had been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities. The two men, both ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils, were reported missing eight days ago and were subsequently discovered to have been taken into custody by Sri Lankan officials, the UN office in Colombo said in a statement.
"We are not aware which, if any, charges have been laid, and nor are we aware of the details of any accusations," the statement said.
The two men were working for the UN refugee agency and the UN office for Project Services in the northern region of Vavuniya.
Human rights organisations have reported that thousands of Tamils had been taken from the state-run camps for people displaced by the recently ended war between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.
The UN has often been at odds with the Sri Lankan government over Colombo's handling of the final days of battle against the rebels and the treatment of 300,000 people displaced by the fighting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
Shades of "Palestine" where every UN local employee is Hamas/Fatah member.
[Geo News] Security forces have succeeded in establishing control on a very important mountain peak in terms of defence 1747 in Shaprial, Swat following a fierce fight with militants. A number of hideouts of the militants have been destroyed in the valley and the militants have been forced retreat to Bihaa valley, officials said. The militants were targeting the forces from an important mountain peak at the height of 1747. The mountain stands between Peochar and Bihaa valley. It was indispensable for the security forces to gain control of this strategically important position. Therefore, the forces decided to launch massive offensive to secure this position. The security forces approached the mountain from three sides and succeeded in clearing of the militants after fierce fighting. It was later discovered that militants had built many of their hideouts in dozens of feet long tunnels in the mountain. The militants were forced to leave all these tunnels. Written material explaining the methods of preparing various improvised explosives was found from these training facilities.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Quqnoos] A roadside bomb struck a car in western Afghanistan, killing six members of a family, Friday midnight, officials said
Naqibullah Arween, a spokesman for the local administration said three women are including the victims of the mine that went off in Guzara district of Herat province. The victims were heading off to Guzara district after visiting relatives in Herat city, he added.
"We suspect the bomb was planted by the Taliban to target security forces. It struck a civilian car and killed three women and three men," Mr Arween said.
No parities including the Taliban have immediately claimed responsibility for the attack that killed only civilians.
Guzara, a few km south of the relatively stable Heart city is a restive district in the province. Quqnoos's Reza Shir Mohammadi in Herat says Guzara is a stronghold of insurgents led by Ghulam Yahya Akbari, a local guerilla leader who previously served as a top provincial official under Karzai administration.
Normally Taliban escapes to claim responsibility of such insurgent attacks that target local civilians in the country.
The incident in Guzara district of Herat is one of recent deadly incidents that end to the deaths of local people in Afghanistan.
Soldier killed
Moreover in a separate roadside bomb blast, a British soldier has been killed in the southern Helmand province, the heartland of the Taliban militants. The soldier died on Friday morning during a routine patrol in central Helmand province, Sky news reported on Saturday.
The soldier's death raises the death toll of British army in Afghanistan to 169 since the beginning of the war in October 2001.
This article starring:
Ghulam Yahya Akbari,
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Taliban
Police officers used sticks and tear gas to force back thousands of demonstrators under plumes of black smoke in the capital on Saturday, a day after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there would be "bloodshed" if street protests continued over the disputed presidential election.
The violence unfolded on a day of extraordinary tension across Iran. The opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, appeared at a demonstration in southern Tehran and called for a general strike if he were to be arrested. "I am ready for martyrdom," he told supporters.
Mr. Moussavi again called for nullifying the election's results, and opposition protesters swore to continue pressing their claims of a stolen election against Iran's embattled and increasingly impatient clerical leadership in Iran's worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In Washington, President Obama called the government's reaction "violent and unjust," and, quoting Martin Luther King Jr., warned again that the world was watching what happened in Tehran.
Iran's divisions played out on the streets. Regular security forces stood back and urged protesters to go home to avoid bloodshed, while the feared pro-government militia, the Basij, beat protesters with clubs and, witnesses said, electric prods.
In some places, the protesters pushed back, rushing the militia in teams of hundreds: At least three Basijis were pitched from their motorcycles, which were then set on fire. The protesters included many women, some of whom berated as "cowards" men who fled the Basijis. There appeared to be tens of thousands of protesters in Tehran, far fewer than the mass demonstrations early last week, most likely because of intimidation.
The street violence appeared to grow more intense as night fell, and there were unconfirmed reports of multiple deaths. A BBC journalist at Enghelab (Revolution) Square reported seeing one person shot by the security forces. An amateur video posted on YouTube showed a woman bleeding to death after being shot by a Basiji, the text posted with the video said.
"If they open fire on people and if there is bloodshed, people will get angrier," said a protester, Ali, 40. "They are out of their minds if they think with bloodshed they can crush the movement."
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06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Geo News] The fresh clashes between two rival tribes here have continued on Saturday claiming three lives while 11 sustained critical wounds, Geo news reported. Sources said it is now fifth day today since beginning of fresh clashes following checkpost ambush in Balesh Khel area here as three tribesmen were killed in last 24 hours while as many as eight deaths have been reported so far and thirty-two injured. Tribes demanded government of taking stringent actions to halt intrusion of militants from other areas to end clashes, sources concluded. Fresh clashes in Kurrum Agency claim 3 lives PARA CHANAR: The fresh clashes between two rival tribes here have continued on Saturday claiming three lives while 11 sustained critical wounds, Geo news reported. Sources said it is now fifth day today since beginning of fresh clashes following checkpost ambush in Balesh Khel area here as three tribesmen were killed in last 24 hours while as many as eight deaths have been reported so far and thirty-two injured. Tribes demanded government of taking stringent actions to halt intrusion of militants from other areas to end clashes, sources concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Takfir wal-Hijra
LALGARH, INDIA - Indian troops regained control on Saturday of a town captured by Maoists during a rebellion by the left-wing activists against West Bengal states communist rulers. Security personnel met little resistance as they moved into the key settlement of Lalgarh, 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Kolkata, Manoj Verma, police superintendent of West Midnapur district, told AFP by phone.
Our forces have reached Lalgarh police station. It was a smooth march to Lalgarh through the forests, he said.
About 1,800 state and federal troops have been deployed to quell the uprising that began one week ago when Maoists and tribal villagers went on the rampage against the states ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM). Police say 10 CPM activists had been killed by Thursday and that security camps and party offices had also been burnt down.
Praveen Kumar, a senior West Bengal police officer, said that clearing the whole area under rebel control comprising hundreds of villages in more than 1,000 square kilometres (390 square miles) would take time.
It is a partial victory, Kumar told reporters in Lalgarh on Saturday. The 100 percent operation is yet to be completed. It may take days, even weeks to do this.
The Maoist insurgency, which grew out of a peasant uprising in 1967, has hit 15 of Indias 29 states. The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of neglected tribespeople and landless farmers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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MARDAN, Pakistan -- The Khan family made it through Taliban rule, a military offensive and the three-day journey to this crowded city. But after more than a month of living together -- 75 people, three rooms, one bathroom -- they might not survive one another.
"This is a test for us," said Akhtar Jan, a mother of four who is part of the extended family. "If we don't smile, we would be dead from crying."
Pakistan is experiencing its worst refugee crisis since partition from India in 1947, and while the world may be familiar with the tent camps that have rolled out like carpets since its operation against the Taliban started in April, the overwhelming majority of the nearly three million people who have fled live unseen in houses and schools, according to aid agencies.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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#1
uh, these people need support from citizens here, hospitality is going to need to extend across international boundaries immediatly
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday said determining the "contiguous" borders of a future Palestinian state was the first priority of getting the Israeli Palestinian peace process back on track.
In a piece entitled How to Achieve Israeli-Palestinian Peace in Friday's Wall Street Journal, Mubarak opined that US President Barack Obama's "seminal" address in Cairo earlier this month had shown that "it is issues of politics and policy, not a clash of values, that separate the Muslim world and America. It is the resolution of these issues that will heal the divide."
"Among the host of challenges before us," Mubarak continues, "it is the Palestinian issue that requires the greatest urgency, given the precarious state of the peace process after years of stalemate."
Mubarak reiterated the Arab world's commitment to the Saudi peace initiative, citing the Beirut summit of 2002 where the initiative was adopted by the Arab League.
He said Israel's "relentless settlement expansion, which has seriously eroded the prospects for a two-state solution," must come to a stop if the peace initiative is to be successfully implemented, as well as the closure of Gaza. The Palestinians, Mubarak writes, must "continue to develop their institutional capacity while overcoming their division to achieve their aspirations for statehood."
The first priority, the Egyptian president says, is "to resolve the permanent borders of a sovereign and territorially contiguous Palestinian state, based on the 1967 lines, as this would unlock most of the other permanent status issues, including settlements, security, water and Jerusalem."
"A historic settlement is within reach," Mubarak wrote. "Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
Husni, your son is not going to be a Rais (head) after you.
#2
determining the "contiguous" borders of a future Palestinian state
Currently the borders of the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza) are not contiguous. The only way they could become so is by taking a chunk of pre-June 1967 Israel. Awfully sly that President Mubarek, dontcha think?
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's drive to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has hit a new snag: At least some of the 13 detainees accepted for resettlement by the island nation of Palau don't want to go there.
Palauans are icky!
I can only imagine the first reaction of the Ugglies when they were told they'd be going to Palau: "where???"
Meanwhile, protests have erupted in Bermuda over its recent resettlement of four Uighur detainees, with the country's leader facing a no-confidence vote by his parliament.
Uighurs are icky!
Dissent in the British island territory, which sits in the Atlantic Ocean east of North Carolina, came after Bermuda's acceptance of the men strained relations with London, which complained that the island's home-rule government failed to advise it about the decision.
Palau, a tiny South Pacific country, seemed to offer a potential solution to a problem that has vexed the Bush and Obama administrations since the Defense Department began clearing 22 Uighurs from China for release, after deciding they were erroneously deemed enemy combatants in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under:
#1
I understand that the ACLU has agreed to a transfer to Tahiti. Or Long Island.
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged Iran's government to halt a "violent and unjust" crackdown on dissenters, using his bluntest language yet to condemn Tehran's postelection response.
Obama has sought a measured reaction to avoid being drawn in as a meddler in Iranian affairs.
No; 1) he doesn't know what to do 2) he doesn't want to sound like George Bush 3) he'd rather work on health care 'reform' and 4) speaking out on Iran doesn't give him a chance to apologize for how evil America is.
We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people," Obama said in a written statement. "The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights."
A written statement. Great. How about a televised statement from the Rose Garden? With the teleprompter and everything. Wear a green tie. That would send a message.
Obama has flailed searched for the right tone in light of political pressures on all sides. On Capitol Hill, Congress pressed him to condemn the Iranian government's response. In Iran, the leadership was poised to blame the U.S. for interference and draw Obama in more directly.
"Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away," the president said, recalling a theme from the speech he gave in Cairo, Egypt, this month.
"The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government," Obama said. "If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion."
Is there a reason why he couldn't have said this earlier in the week?
Obama's comments came as protesters outside the White House waved Iranian flags and denounced Iranian government efforts to suppress the protesters.
The protesters are going to remember the Basiji. They're going to remember who beat them and shot them. They're also going to remember who stood with them and who didn't. We need to be remembered as people who stood with them.
Obama's criticism came one day after both houses of Congress voted overwhelmingly to condemn the actions by the Iranian government against demonstrators and moves to interfere with Internet and cell phone communications. That was seen in part as a veiled criticism of Obama's response, too.
The president already was on record as saying the United States stood behind those who were seeking justice in a peaceful way. He responded to critics that he hadn't been forceful enough in support of protesters, telling CBS News: "The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States. That's what they do."
But you got blamed anyway. Playing defense doesn't work when dealing with thugs. Get out in front. Play offense. Put some heat on them. Maybe they'll crack and the protesters will win.
The president returned Saturday to his theme that the world is watching the way the Iranian government responds. Obama cited Martin Luther King's statement that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
"I believe that," the president said. "The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people's belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Why can't I just eat my French Vanilla ice cream?
#4
It's the Superfecta folks. No Chalk-eaters on this one folks. All play ends in five minutes, thats five minutes. Get your beer and ice cream after your play.... that's four minutes remaining. These ponies are HOT!
#5
This doesn't fit the leftist narrative (protests should only be against America or Israel) and it is very confusing for him.
Posted by: Lord garth ||
06/21/2009 8:03
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#6
Yeah, he sorta messed up with that Great Satan thingy for which he's been apologizing for on every trip abroad. The events don't match the meme. Which is why the Joe the Plumber event derailed him for a bit till his attack machine could overwhelm the information flow.
In short you want Obama to say exactly what the Iranian regime had to LIE about what he said.
Why are you people such big lovers of the Iranian regime that you want to give them exactly what they want?
The Iranians hate American meddling. If you want the Iranians to overthrow their dictator, DON'T MEDDLE.
The Islamofascists gained power as a response to the America-supported Shah.
The very Basij who are killing people now, got power in response to the American-supported war of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.
If you didn't keep meddling, the Iranian people would have overthrown their dictators 15 years ago.
STOP MEDDLING. STOP "PLAYING OFFENSE" WHICH KEEPS GIVING THE IRANIAN REGIME EXACTLY WHAT IT WANTS.
Obama acted sanely here. Follow his example, and keep your paws off Iran.
#8
Ok, 'burgers....in regards to Punky, is he/she/it an Obamabot (complete with kneepads), someone with a "I -Heart- Basijis and Dinnerjacket gets me hot" poster on the wall, or both?
#10
If Iran doesn't like our 'meddling' why then are they sending arms and ammunition to kill people (civilian and military) in Iraq? Not to mention the annihilation of Israel and the murder of all Jews? What about their 'meddling' in the states of Lebannon and Israel (and Syria for that matter)?
Sorry but you can't have it both ways. We have been, defacto, in an undeclared war with the GOVERNMENT of Iran for several years now.
Note I said Government - not the People of Iran - who have little, if any, say in their government. (And I wouldn't try that 'Iran is a democracy' BS here...)
#11
Punky, please answer honestly the following question:
In the current confrontation between the people and the ruling regime in Iran, whose side are you on?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 10:40
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#12
Punky claims: If you didn't keep meddling, the Iranian people would have overthrown their dictators 15 years ago.
Really? How, exactly? Have you seen who has the guns and the nightsticks? Who has the nasty hard boyz who are willing to use them?
And if the people had tried to overthrow the regime fifteen years, ago, that would have been 1994. Bill Clinton was president then. What would you have expected him to say and do?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 10:42
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#13
There is a mandatory moral dimension to being President of the United States. We, as an exceptional nation, are on the side of Liberty. Or at least we used to be (exceptional, liberty) until recently.
Reagan understood this innately, and used his words to that effect, to support Solidarity, etc. "Mr Gorbachev, Tear down this wall".
Surely as glib a fellow as Obumble can find the right words and present them well from his telepromper.
#14
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
#15
Let every business nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill ,which Rahm keeps a close eye on, believe me, that we shall force it to pay any tax price, bear any regulatory burden, meet any goal for campaign contributions hardship, support any Democratic candidate friend, oppose any Republican candidate, especially Sarah Palin foe to assure the survival and the success of the Chicago Way liberty.
Barack Obama, 2009
Posted by: Matt ||
06/21/2009 12:14
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#16
Don't blame Barry, he was simply once again caught..... "unaware."
Barack Obama, through his spokesman, claimed that he was unaware of the tax day tea parties.
Granted, the MSM has done a good job in suppressing any sort of coverage ahead of time (and the little coverage they did provide was derisive at best) but how out of touch is the Community Organizer in Chief, really?
This much:
- He was unaware that his Presidential plane was used during a photo op joy ride, costing taxpayers $329,000, flew over New York, being pursued by an F-16 fighter, terrorizing thousands of American citizens.
- He was unaware that he was attending a church (for 20 years) with a racist pastor who hates America.
- He was unaware that he was family friends with, and started his political career in the living room of, a domestic terrorist.
- He was unaware that he had invested in two speculative companies backed by some of his top donors right after taking office in 2005.
- He was unaware that his own aunt was living in the US illegally.
- He was unaware that his own brother lives on pennies a day in a hut in Kenya.
- He was unaware of the AIG bonuses that he and his administration approved and signed into a bill.
- He was unaware that the man he nominated to be his Secretary of Commerce was under investigation in a bribery scandal.
- He was unaware that the man he nominated to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services was a tax cheat.
- He was unaware that the man he nominated to be his Secretary of the Treasury was a tax cheat.
- He was unaware that the man he nominated to be the U.S. Trade Representative was a tax cheat.
- He was unaware that the woman he nominated to be his Chief Performance Officer was a tax cheat.
- He was unaware that the man he nominated to be #2 at the Environmental Protection Agency was under investigation for mismanaging $25 million in EPA grants.
For the love of God, there are people in comas that are more aware of world affairs than this guy.
#18
I'm with the Iranian people, Steve. Khameini is a theocratic fascist, Ahmadinejad a genocidal fascist, and Moussavi himself is not much better (he supported the fatwah against Rushdie, and he's one of the founders of Hezbollah)
But the Iranian people are currently using Moussavi to promote their own desire for freedom, and I'm with the Iranian people.
"Hey Punky, we have not touched a thing in Iran since Carter was president"
Iran-Iraq war. You supported Iraq in a war against Iran. This solidified the legitimacy of Iranian regime, of Iranian anti-Westernism, and besides the deaths it caused then, it helped created some of the most horrible mechanisms for oppression (e.g the Basij), mechanisms that are used today.
What you won't understand is that a nation that's being invaded, or a nation under imminent threat of invasion, won't rebel against the current regime. The regime uses that threat to legitimize itself.
What we're seeing now, under Obama, are the first significant protests since the July 1999 student protests -- under CLINTON.
In between the two, came the brilliance of George W. Bush, who kept threatening to invade Iran -- result? No significant protests during *Bush's* years.
That's why I said "15 years ago". Remove the stupid Reagan years with his Iran-Contra and his support of Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. Remove the stupid Bush years with his own threats of invasion. The events we're seeing now, we'd be normally seeing 15 years ago.
I'll grant you they might have failed then, same as they seem likely to fail now. But the regime would have been delegitimized that much sooner. Instead you kept boosting the Iranian regime's legitimacy through the Reagan and Dubya years -- by either supporting or threatening attacks on the Iranian people.
#19
Punky: Iran-Iraq war. You supported Iraq in a war against Iran.
Yeah, sorta the way we supported Stalin in World War II. We gave Iraq limited intel so that they could stop Iran from reaching the Shatt-al-Arab. Sometimes you don't get to pick the cleanest side in a fight.
Good to know you're with the Iranian people.
As to Bush and the 'intervening years', Bush had it right: he supported the Iranian people also, and he said so loudly. That the Mad Mullahs used his words to try and build support for themselves at home is irrelevant: they've used America as their stalking horse and have done so regardless of who was President.
Did you notice how the Mad Mullahs slacked off the America-hating when Obama became President? No, me neither.
Your idea that we would have had this revolution sooner if only America had kept quiet is a fallacy -- it's the sort of 'realpolitik' that keeps us from what we should be doing, which is to support liberty, human rights and democracy loudly. Always. And damn the thugs and dictators who try to use us to build support at home.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2009 13:59
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#20
"we would have had this revolution sooner if only America had kept quiet">
More Jeremiah Wright and Barry Soetoro "Hate America" drivel. Please don't buy any.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/21/2009 17:48
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#25
What you won't understand is that a nation that's being invaded, or a nation under imminent threat of invasion, won't rebel against the current regime. The regime uses that threat to legitimize itself.
How come this threat always works in the mullah's favor if we're the ones fighting them but it never works against the mullahs when they have a bunch of syrians cracking heads?
#26
"Yeah, sorta the way we supported Stalin in World War II."
Since Saddam was the one who invaded Iran, it's more like if you had supported Hitler against Stalin instead.
But if it makes you better, I rechecked the timeline and this sin was initiated by *Carter's* first green-lighting the Iraqi attack on Iran.
Perhaps you'll find it easier to consider it a horrible crime if you know that it was Carter who first committed it, and Reagan merely continued it.
"Yeah, winning the cold war was no biggie, eh? "
Reagan's administration was fine where the Cold War was concerned. It was absolutely horrible where the Middle-east was concerned, supporting Iraq and equipping Iran, and helping two bloody dictatorships spill the blood of their young people.
Honestly, us not nuking Iran in 1979 is the real problem here. I forget who said it, but I really liked the sentiment. This is paraphrased, "Every so often, the US needs to pick some small country up and throw it against the wall, just to keep the rest of the world in line."
Honestly, thanks to the slowly diminishing spines of our leaders, people no longer fear the US as they should and we're eroding away the morality that makes people turn to us for aid and comfort when evil is afoot. We should get back into stomping evil, instead of running about, whining that people can like us now. I don't want the world to like us. Respect, fear, and loyalty I'll take though.
#29
You do notice how he continually drags things oiff topic, refuses to address the iusses at hand, dodges and weasels, etc. Typical techniques of a propagandist, not someone who is honestly attempting to actually argue the points. I say cage him and drop in into the crap pile from which he came.
[Bangla Daily Star] Pakistani troops backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed about 50 militants in a volatile northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan where the country's top Taliban leader is believed to be entrenched with thousands of his fighters, officials said yesterday.
They were the first known militant casualties in South Waziristan where Pakistan Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud and al-Qaeda figures are believed to be hiding since the military started pounding the area with artillery about a week ago. Mehsud is blamed for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 100 people since late May.
Although the army has not announced a formal start of full-scale operations in South Waziristan an offensive that Washington has been pressing Pakistan to undertake officials said troops are already occupying strategic positions in the region.
Lahore Commissioner Khusro Pervaiz has warned that the militants could target some strategically important buildings in the city.
Pervaiz said that the terrorists are on the look out for the right opportunity to carry out terror strikes on the offices of law-enforcement agencies and top hotels located here.
According to The Daily Times, the Lahore CCPO, Pervaiz Rathore, in his letter to Pervaiz, has warned that militants may trigger attacks more powerful and devastating than those that have occurred in the recent past.
The militants could target important buildings such as the IB headquarters, Central Police Office, Special Branch offices, CID offices, Police Investigation Headquarters, NADRA and passport offices, Rathore feared.
Following the increased threat perception, Lahore police have been asked to beef up security at the Pearl Continental and Avari hotels, as they are also in the terror hit-list.
The operation, seen as a test of nuclear-armed Pakistan's resolve against an insurgency that has expanded in the past two years, could be a turning point in its sometimes halfhearted fight against militancy. It also could help the war effort in Afghanistan, because the tribal belt has long harboured militants who launch cross-border attacks.
Jet fighters flattened two abandoned militant-linked seminaries and a training facility Friday in a clear sign that the operation was ramping up.
Two intelligence and army officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media, said heavy fighting was under way in the villages of Barwand and Madijan, with about 50 militants killed.
There was no immediate comment from the military, and the reports could not be independently confirmed due to restrictions on media access to the region.
Meanwhile, artillery fire was pounding militant positions in the Biha valley, in the upper Swat Valley, as an intense operation there started Friday night against remnants of Taliban fighting forces and continued into the day.
"This area is the centre of gravity for the terrorists," said Maj. Gen. Sajjad Ghani, who is in control of efforts to clear a 3,860-square-mile (10,000-square-kilometer) area of Taliban. "As of now, there are only pockets of resistance left. The terrorists are on the run. Command and control is disarray. They are unable to organise an integrated response."
During a military-sponsored trip for journalists to the town of Chuprial, Ghani said 95 percent of Swat has been cleared and that most of the resistance the military is facing is in Biha, a short valley that backs into snow-covered mountains that are limiting the Taliban's efforts to flee.
He said about 400 militants have been killed in the area over the past six weeks but conceded that many top commanders have managed to escape, some possibly headed to havens in Afghanistan or the Waziristan tribal areas. He did not specify how many militants are believed to be holding out, and his statements could not be independently confirmed.
Overall, the army says it has killed nearly 1,500 militants since April in Swat.
Ghani said a high-intensity operation will continue for about a week or so, then another few weeks will be needed to go after stragglers.
Reporters were taken to an abandoned militant training camp where Ghani said about 50 militants were killed, including Arabs, Afghans and Uzbeks. The complex included tunnels and an ammunition dump. Troops showed off seized weapons, including improvised bombs, heavy machine guns and ammunition boxes for rocket-propelled grenades.
Helicopters, including Cobra gunships, flew overhead, and there was no sign of civilians in the scenic area of steep mountainsides and terraced fields, dotted with small villages of single-story concrete houses. The army clearly has the high ground in most places, dug in with heavy machine guns in sandbagged bunkers.
Officials are planning to let some of the 2 million people displaced by fighting in Swat to start returning home further south Thursday.
They are being sent first to Mingora, Swat's main city. Electricity and civic facilities must be restored before they are allowed to go home in "phases," said Fazal Karim Khattak, a senior government official.
Refugees were happy to hear they will soon go home but worry about what they will find.
"Of course I am happy, but I don't know whether our home is safe or it has been destroyed," said Khadija Bibi, 45, a mother of four who left her home in the Kanjua near Mingora in May.
Khaisata Khan, 32, who owned a shop in the heart of the city of Swat, said he didn't know what had happened to his shop as the military had targeted Taliban in the area where it was located.
"If peace returns to Swat, I will forget the damage to my property and the pain we have to face in the camps," he said as he sat in a camp on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar.
The Swat offensive has been generally welcomed in Pakistan, but public opinion could quickly turn if the government fails to effectively help the refugees or civilian casualties mount. The government has said the army will need to stay in Swat for a year to ensure security.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A military court in Lebanon has convicted eight people over a plot to attack the United Nation's peace keepers in the southern regions of the country.
Five of those tried were in custody and were each sentenced to three years in prison. The other three, who remain at large, were tried in absentia and were given life sentences on Friday, an official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP.
Ever since deployment the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has come under several attacks in the deadliest of which, six Spanish troops were killed in a car bomb blast in June 2007.
The attacks are usually not claimed by any group; however, al-Qaeda number two, Ayman al-Zawahri, has praised a number of the incidents.
In an audio message in 2008, Zawahri called on the extremists to fight "the invading Crusaders who pretend to be peacekeeping forces in Lebanon."
He also denounced the UNSC Resolution 1701, which was released to end the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon which was repelled by Hezbollah in 33 days.
The resolution also called for the peacekeeping force to be deployed in southern Lebanon to prevent further attacks by Israel. Currently there are some 13,000 international troops stationed along the border in Lebanon.
The eight convicted on Friday were also found guilty of establishing an armed group aimed at weakening the Beirut government, as well as transporting military arms and explosives and training to carry out terror attacks, the court official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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[Quqnoos] Unknown men beheaded a university student in the southern Kandahar province on Friday, officials said. The third-year medical student at Kandahar University was found dead with his throat cut Friday at around 11:00 am inside a mosque at the campus where he was studying.
No parties or individual have immediately claimed responsibly for the beheading of Mohammad Moshtaq, a Kabul origin student who was studying in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban militants. A classmate of decapitated Moshtaq, Abdul Haq is missing, classmates confirmed.
According to Brig Gen Maituallah Safi Kandahar Police Chief, no arrest have yet been made but investigations have begun to identify the criminals. "There is a possibility that Moshtaq's missing friend has committed the murder, there is no prove for this yet," Gen Safi told a news conference on Saturday morning.
A classmate of Moshtaq who is shocked after the incident and wished to remain anonymous said, Moshtaq was a simple student and he had no establishments to officials in Kandahar.
Quqnoos's correspondent Mohammad Masumi in Kandahar said the university has no surrounding walls and according to students, unknown dangerous men were seen around over the past few days.
Students warned to launch protest rally unless the men behind the murder of the student are identified and punished.
Kandahar University Chancellor Dr Hazrat Mir Totakhel termed the incident a unique tragedy that happened at the campus of the university during the daylight.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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#1
The guy with the turban did it.
Posted by: Uloluns Scourge of the Bunions1692 ||
06/21/2009 5:12
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[Geo News] The security of the provincial capital has been tightened following reports regarding the entry of suicide bombers here on Saturday, police sources said. Intelligence sources said, the alleged suicide bombers include 18-years-old Zubai and 22-years-old Inayatullah. Zubair's complexion is wheat colored, possessing big nose, presenting round face and 5.7 feet high while Inayatullah is 5.6 feet high, possessing white colour and keeps long beard.
No problem picking out the would-be miscreants in a crowd, with those descriptions.
Two terrorists have been assigned to target Data Darbar, Staff College NIPA mall road and Civil Services Academy, sources claimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/21/2009
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#1
niacblog is on it like a fly on democrat.
I remember Mousavi from when 30,000 dissidents (protesters) were killed.
Strange to see him on the flip side. He signals good intel for concilitory work.
I just hope those blessed people can wipe out the whole regime. Less to toss and turn about at night. Iranians are smart as all damnit and deserve that country as a real operating force in the world. These regimes have brought them nothing.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Contrary to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's claim, his Palestinian counterpart believes that Israeli settlement activities are the 'main obstacle' to the peace process.
Of course he does.
"Everyone knows that settlement activities are the basic obstacle and the Israelis are trying to change the facts on the ground," the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Affairs Minister Riyadh al-Maliki said in a statement on Saturday. He made the comment a day after Lieberman claimed that "Settlements are not an obstacle to achieving peace."
"Lieberman has a twisted vision and analysis about the settlements' issue," al-Maliki added, explaining that settlement expansion was part of a larger Israeli plan to occupy Palestinian land.
Despite Lieberman's claim, the construction of settlements has always been a sticking point in talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials.
US President Barack Obama has called for a halt to settlement activities which are ongoing in the West Bank and al-Quds-Sharqi (East Jerusalem).
Defying US calls, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his first major foreign policy address on Sunday, stated that the construction would continue in the already existing settlement areas. The issue is widely viewed as Tel Aviv's plan to engineer the demographic features of al-Quds-Sharqi (East Jerusalem) and Judaize what it calls "the future capital of Israel".
Judenrein is so much better than Judaizing.
The peace talks have been on hold since Israel launched a three-week-long military offensive against the Gaza Strip last December - an attack that continued through January 2009. Netanyahu's succession to power also contributed to the freeze in the peace process.
While the Obama administration seems determined to pursue the two-state solution and establish peace in the region, opinion polls suggest that Palestinian and Israeli citizens have 'little hope' that such negotiations would bear fruit.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2009
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#1
If the Juice stopped building settlements, the Paleos would just move on to the next "issue". If the Israeli government forcibly moved all Jews out of the disputed settlements, the Paleos would just move on the next "issue". Repeat past nauseum.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/21/2009 19:33
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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.
Insurgents in southern Thailand are using a network of Islamic schools to recruit fighters, but their movement does not appear to be linked to Al Qaeda or other foreign Islamist groups, according to a study due to be released Monday.
"Based on claims made on your product's label," the FDA said in a letter to manufacturer General Mills, "we have determined (Cheerios) is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of disease."
Baraa, an 11-year-old boy, was building a sandy castle on Gaza city's beach, when a ringing mobile at the adjacent summer vacationist's tent caught his attention. "Fatah ... mother of free nations, keep your flags higher," rang the bell of the mobile. Baraa dusted the sand off his hands and dashed to his mother, whispering: "Mom, our neighbors are Fatah members! I heard their mobile." 
If Pakistan's battle against the Taliban seems difficult, a much tougher challenge lies ahead: deciding what to do about the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group it once nurtured to fight India in Kashmir.
[Geo News] TANDO ALHA YAR: With the confirmation of yet another polio case, the total toll of reported polio victims across Sindh province has reached 6 in the current year, Geo news reported. The Director project of IPI Sindh Dr. Mazhar Khamisani told Geo news the fresh case was confirmed in Tando Alha Yar. The case is an eighteen-months-old child Dileep who had received three doses of anti-polio while four cases had been confirmed in Karachi, one in Kunbhar district earlier, taking the total number of confirmed polio cases to 6 in Sindh, sources said.
I don't know where this uprising is leading. I do know some police units are wavering. That commander talking about his family was not alone. There were other policemen complaining about the unruly Basij. Some security forces just stood and watched. "All together, all together, don't be scared," the crowd shouted.
[Bangla Daily Star] One of the organisers of a mass rally in Tehran backed down yesterday after authorities threatened a harsh response, but it was unclear if people would stay away as riot police were deploying onto the streets. The reformist Combatant Clerics Assembly said "permission was asked to hold a rally, but since it has not been issued, there will be no rally held."
Security forces backed by jet fighters and artillery have killed at least 32 Taliban in South Waziristan while an officer and five jawans lost their lives in preparation for the launch of Operation Rah-e-Nijat against Baitullah Mehsud, the military said on Saturday.
Fifteen Taliban including two key commanders were killed in an offensive by the security forces in Charmang area of Bajaur Agency, a private TV channel reported on Saturday. According to the channel, commander Omar, a foreigner, is also among those killed in the operation. The security forces also destroyed four hideouts of the Taliban during the action. The operation comes a day after Taliban blew up two boys' schools and a college in Bajaur on Friday. Several locally-made bombs had been planted inside the school buildings, local government officials had said, adding that both schools had been completely destroyed.
TEHRAN -- In a statement issued on Saturday the Assembly of Experts expressed its "strong support" for the Supreme Leader's statements on the presidential elections on Friday. The 86-member assembly stated in the statement that it is hoped that the nation would realize the current condition and by sticking to the Leader's guidelines preserve their patience and manifest their unity.
Police officers used sticks and tear gas to force back thousands of demonstrators under plumes of black smoke in the capital on Saturday, a day after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there would be "bloodshed" if street protests continued over the disputed presidential election.
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's drive to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has hit a new snag: At least some of the 13 detainees accepted for resettlement by the island nation of Palau don't want to go there.
