The African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners will establish a full-time political school in Gauteng to develop and train their members, the ANC said on Monday.
The announcement follows a Gauteng tripartite alliance summit which took place at the weekend.
The Alliance, consisting of the ANC, the SA Communist Party, the Congress of SA Trade Unions, and the SA National Civic Organisation, said the institution would be up and running by January 2009.
"We agreed that there is a need to develop a comprehensive strategy that will assist us in deploying our cadres in all key areas in which the transformation agenda is being pursued," ANC provincial secretary David Makhura told reporters in Johannesburg.
Coalition special forces teams, likely the terrorist hunter-killer teams of Task Force 88, have captured a Hezbollah Brigades propaganda specialist during a raid in New Baghdad.
The propaganda specialist was positively identified by his wife after the raid, and he later admitted to his role in seeding websites with attack videos.
"The man uploads web sites with imagery and video taken from attacks on Iraqi Security and Coalition forces," Multinational Forces Iraq reported in a press release. "Reports indicate this is part of a propaganda effort in order to earn money and support from their Iranian financiers."
Little information is publicly available on the Hezbollah Brigades, or the Kata'ib Hezbollah. Multinational Forces Iraq indicates the group receives support from Iran and is an “offshoot of Iranian-trained Special Groups."
The logo used by the Hezbollah Brigades is nearly an exact match of the one used by Lebanese Hezbollah, which is directly supported by Iran. The logo shows an arm extended vertically, with the fist grasping an AK-47 assault rifle. US forces captured Ali Mussa Daqduq inside Iraq in early 2007. Daqduq is a senior Hezbollah commander who was tasked with setting up the Mahdi Army Special Groups along the same lines
The Hezbollah Brigades began uploading videos of attacks on US and Iraqi forces this year.
The group has claimed responsibility for the July 8 improvised rocket-assisted mortar attack on Joint Security Station Ur in Sadr City [see video]. One US soldier and one interpreter were wounded after eight of the makeshift "flying IEDs" detonated near the outpost. Shia terror groups have launched a handful of IRAM attacks on US and Iraqi outposts in Baghdad.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/06/mahdi_army_uses_flyi.php
Hezbollah Brigades also posted video of an attack on a US patrol with an Iranian-supplied, armor-piercing, explosively formed projectile, or EFP.
The capture of the Hezbollah Brigades propaganda expert is the latest in a series of raids against Shia terrorists. Scores of Special Groups operatives have been captured over the past month, including senior leaders, weapons smugglers, financiers, trainers, and cell leaders.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008
19:04 ||
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#1
His father, Vuk, had been a member of the Chetniks - Serb nationalist guerrillas who fought against both Nazi occupiers and Tito's communist partisans in World War II ....
#5
Umm, GCC4499, he didn't stop at killing Muslims. He killed Croats too. In Bosnia, not Serbia. (Where a Montenegrin gets the right to determine that another region of the former Yugoslavia is a part of "Serbia" is a discussion for another time.)
For some bizarre reason he might be your hero, but to the rest of humanity he's a miserable son of a bitch. Too bad he won't get what he richly deserves until he faces his Maker.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
07/21/2008 23:20
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#6
Couldn't be Americans arresting this guy; we've let Don King get away with bad hair for decades now.
Kim Jong Il Productions presents...
Pyongyang, July 16 (KCNA) -- Many Sea of Blood-style revolutionary operas were produced in the DPRK for the last decades since the revolutionary opera "Sea of Blood" was staged for the first time on July 17, Juche 60 (1971). Kim Jung Il takes no prisoners in "Sea of Blood IV: On the Spot Guidance"!
"The Flower Girl in a Sea of Blood", "A Story of a Nurse in a Sea of Blood", "Tell the Story, Forest in a Sea of Blood!" and "The Song of Mt. Kumgang in a Sea of Blood" were created with the "Sea of Blood" as a classic model. I dunno. I think it needs more cowbell Sea of Blood...
The Sea of Blood-style revolutionary operas are run through with the profound philosophical nature and instill the truth of the class struggle and the revolutionary view on life into the audience and make a proper combination of popular character and national identity and simplicity. They are characterized by new original ways of opera representation such as the introduction of stanzas, pangchang, dances and streamlined three-dimensional stage decor. ... and Seas of Blood.
The first year of the new century witnessed the 1,500th-performance of the revolutionary opera "Sea of Blood". The above-said five revolutionary operas are becoming more popular as the masterpieces of the era with the passage of time. But "Sea of Blood" remains the grandaddy of them all...
Nearly 300 famous music pieces of the operas are greatly loved by the people of the DPRK for being songs of life and struggle. Drowning in a Sea of Blood, Sailing in a Sea of Blood, Let Us Build the New Tractor Factory in a Sea of Blood...
The above-said five revolutionary operas were staged in many countries of Asia, Europe and Africa, demonstrating the vitality of the Juche-based opera art to the whole world. Hey, whadda these people, nuts?
Drawing on the successes made in the creation of the five revolutionary operas, art troupes in Pyongyang and local areas produced such revolutionary operas as "Under the Bright Sun in a Sea of Blood", "The Victory of Revolution Is in Sight in a Sea of Blood", "Sea of Love in a Sea of Blood", "The Bank of the River Tuman Bright with Morning Glow in a Sea of Blood" and "Women of Namgang Village in a Sea of Blood". Coming up next: "River of Fire", the poor man's "Sea of Blood".
Fear still grips the fabled bazaars and choked streets of Peshawar, despite an offensive against militants who threaten the northwestern Pakistani city, residents say.
Video shops keep guns under the counter and heavily-armed police man extra check posts across the city of three million people, some two weeks after tanks rolled into the adjoining tribal belt to tackle hardline groups.
""I am still scared. We are worried these men will come back for us,"" said Patras Masih, who was one of 16 Christians kidnapped from central Peshawar in June by gunmen from the radical outfit Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam).
The rebels burst into a Christian prayer ceremony and bundled them into SUVs before taking them to a cave 10 kilometers (six miles) away in the Khyber tribal district, the stronghold of the group's commander Mangal Bagh.
The rebels freed them a day later with a warning not to drink alcohol or smoke hashish, 33-year-old Masih said, as one of his four children clung to his leg.
The Christian abductions were the final straw for Pakistan's new government, already under pressure from Washington over its negotiations with Taleban guerrillas based in the tribal zone along the rugged Afghan frontier.
The advance of the militants sparked fresh fears about the growing ""Talebanization"" of this nuclear-armed nation – while Peshawar also lies on the main supply route for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Peshawar had seen months of incursions by Mangal Bagh's self-styled ""moral brigade"" and other militants seeking to impose their version of Sharia law in the style of Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taleban regime.
Long-haired gunmen in pickup trucks were seen for several months patrolling the outskirts of the city, the capital of North West Frontier Province, warning people to grow beards and close ""un-Islamic"" businesses.
Police also accused Lashkar-e-Islam of killing several villagers in a dispute over a shrine.
The paramilitary Frontier Corps finally launched the week-long operation in Khyber on June 28. Troops demolished buildings belonging to Bagh and two other hardline organizations.
Bagh, a former bus driver, signed a peace deal with the government late last week. But many residents question just how safe Peshawar is now.
Most militants melted away into the hills after the operation began, while Bagh is not even a member of Pakistan's main organization of Taleban rebels, Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP).
""This operation was just cosmetic. The government is going against the wrong people because it wants to look tough,"" said Zar Ali Khan, 46, whose video shop was hit by a bomb planted in the city's Nishtarabad market last year.
One of his employees was killed in the blast.
Whipping out an automatic pistol that he keeps under the counter for protection, Khan said his business had now collapsed. ""There is fear in the hearts of the customers,"" he said.
Many shops in the market -- overshadowed by the huge fortress headquarters of the Frontier Corps and close to the centuries-old Storytellers' Bazaar -- have removed their posters of Bollywood starlets.
Musafar Khan, another video shop owner, said the Taleban had threatened him by SMS.
""We are sitting in the mouth of death. The government can't stop bombings in Islamabad, so what can this operation do?"" he said.
A spokesman for Mangal Bagh said Lashkar-e-Islam was not trying to challenge the government's control of Peshawar.
""Our aim is to finish these criminal people here, the same as the government,"" Commander Haji Abdul Karim told AFP by telephone.
""We want peace here and across the country and will accept the rule of the security forces.""
Meanwhile Taleban who are loyal to Baitullah Mehsud -- the chief of the TTP and the man accused by authorities of masterminding the slaying of former premier Benazir Bhutto -- have gone untouched in other areas around Peshawar.
Mehsud's men control a huge weapons bazaar at Dara Adam Khel, 25 kilometers south of Peshawar, and dominate the Mohmand tribal district about the same distance to the north.
The police chief of North West Frontier Province, Malik Naveed Khan, said the offensive had restored stability to Peshawar.
""We were totally successful,"" Khan told AFP in an interview at his office.
He said that, since the operation, ""not a single incidence of incursion or crime by these militant gangs took place in Peshawar.""
Khan said claims that Peshawar was about to fall to the militants were ""probably highly exaggerated"" and blamed much of the trouble on criminal gangs claiming to be Taleban in a bid for respectability.
But he attributed much of the unrest to insecurity in Afghanistan, saying it had been at the root of Peshawar's problems for decades, most recently in the 1980s when it served as a base for U.S.-backed ""mujahideen"" fighting the Soviets.
However defense analyst Talat Masood, a former army general, described the offensive around Peshawar as a ""very limited...psychological operation"".
""It is a very serious business around Peshawar,"" he said. ""The government has to apply itself with greater resolve.""
The Indian government is quaking thanks to a 'safeguards agreement' it wants to ink with the global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
But, surprise, surprise a senior safeguards analyst of the IAEA Diane Fischer, said 'what's the point of inspecting a nuclear weapons state like India'. It essentially means that the safeguards agreement which is causing so much heart burn in India may just remain a piece of paper and not the monster it is being made out to be.
Speaking in the Euroscience Open Forum-2008 meeting on a session on 'atomic detectives' she said inspections are very expensive and the IAEA has to make a 'trade off of resources spent (on inspections) versus benefits'.
The IAEA would rather carry out inspections in states that are on the threshold of acquiring nuclear weapons like Iran, North Korea and possibly Syria.
The immediate implication of signing this agreement for India is that inspectors from the IAEA will be able to visit India to verify and account that India is not diverting the imported civilian nuclear material for its weapons program. This essentially means there just may not be any need to conduct safeguards inspections in India since there is nothing that India is doing which is clandestine.
Safeguards inspections are basically intrusive visits by specialist technicians and are undertaken to ensure that whatever nuclear fuel a country imports is not diverted on the sly towards making nuclear bombs. Since India already has enough uranium and plutonium for its weapons programs there just may not be any necessity for the country to divert materials, hence there may just not be that 'smoking guns' the safeguards inspectors are on the look out for.
IAEA director general Dr Mohd ElBaradei while sending the India Specific Safeguards Agreement for the approval of the board of governors has stated that if India puts one facility for safeguards in 2009 it would cost a whopping Euro 1.2 million for the agency to undertake this task. The Board is scheduled to meet on August 1, 2008 to consider this safeguards document.
It is worth noting that there are almost no visits by safeguards inspectors to the five nuclear weapon states of USA, Russia, China, Great Britain and France since there is nothing new that the IAEA safeguards inspectors can find as these states have a declared nuclear weapons program. On the same lines India is also a 'defacto' nuclear weapons state whether the world wants to give its stamp of approval for that or not.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008
15:49 ||
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#2
ION WAFF.com Thread > RIAN. ru > RUSSIA CONTEMPLATES BASING TU-160 BOMBERS IN CUBA IN RESPONSE TO US MISSLE SHIELD.
Also from WAFF > PARTS I, II - US VETERAN CLAIMS US [covertly]DROPPED NUCLEAR BOMBS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ. Up to FIVE 5-kilotonners or "Klick Fives"???
#3
why is there a question mark in the title? It is simply a statement of fact. And yet, our military planners will continue to insist that the Turkish military will step in should Erdogan go too far. pfft. This has been entirely predictable for at least 6 years now, but no one in our military seemed to be able to get past the myth that "the military will step in".
I wonder if this will finally give them the clue they need to grasp the situation as it has actually been for a very long time.
Has anyone ever held a press conference in the Rose Garden without the President standing by his side? Barack Obama fears the Blair effect: hero abroad, liability at home
Lest there be any illusions about the desired target audience for Obama's trip, the foreign media, including the BBC, have been left on the Tarmac. Only American reporters are on board "Obama One" as his plane heads from one country to the next.
He will have a 45-minute meeting on Saturday morning with Gordon Brown followed by a press conference, which Obama will conduct on his own outside Downing Street in a blatant departure from the usual protocol.
There will be no Brown at his side to spoil the No 10 backdrop for American voters, even though it would be unthinkable for a British prime minister to appear in the White House Rose Garden without the president. Brown will say a few words later in the day, once Obama has gone. Are there any boundaries to His arrogance?
#5
Scathing article - this guy is not only showing himself as completely unlikable but in the process of his hopscotch trip is pissing off major world players.
While at it how bout a big noon rally at Place de la Concorde without Sarkozy, as said a stop by St. Peter's without the pope, hell stop on by Leningrad and talk about how great Svedka vodka is while you are at it.
#6
HMMMM, I'm interpreting this as BARACK attempting to showcase his personal ability as a potens future POTUS - methinks the real test here will be notsomuch his speech but how he handles the Paparazzi = Media questionings.
Tater has touted that he has a new weapon and it is believed he is in favor of smaller secret groups vs the Mahdi Army. Could this be the weapon and could the Hezbollah Brigades be his new insurgent group instead of the Mahdi army?
#4
Wish I could find the link, but there was a video out last week of a flying p*nis which was eventually batted out of the air at some meeting or class of some kind.
Posted by: Menhaden S ||
07/21/2008 16:23
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#5
What was with the red circles? Were they highlighting rockets spinning in the air?
And the bonfire, did they set the launch devise ablaze?
#10
we should encourage them to launch these from their mosques and strongholds. Looks as likely to kill everyone involved in the launch as anyone else....
nice ME tech
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008 19:39
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#11
Basically the same weapon as a Nazi V-1. No general target, no real targeting ability, Purely a terror weapon.
Way to go Shit-ites, that'll convince peopel to join, killing people randomly including children.
#12
From Web Video Title:
"hezbollah brigades in iraq :
Ashtars rockets (the flying IEDS)the dangerous newest weapons,attacked the us american base in our base in kesra-atach in 7/8/2008,and we can see during the attack a spy blink is OUT of control."
I think they meant blimp. Maybe to mooselimbs the a spy blimp is a "blink".
Sounds like Inspector Clouseau.
"You have ra-ceived a bimp. One could get a concussion from such a bimp."
#13
ION TOPIX > BRUNEI > WANNA BUY A WARSHIP CHEAP? Major Brit contractor had built three each naval corvettes for Brunei WHICH ARE SO STATE-OF-THE-ART = SOPHISTICATED OR CAPABLE BRUNEI CAN'T USE/MANN THEM???
*WAFF.com > seems the ISRAELIS likethe USN's AEGIS SYS so much they would like to procure and adapt for LOCAL? LAND-BASED BMD???
US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said the United States would never allow a second holocaust in an interview with Israeli TV today about Iran's nuclear program. McCain said however that diplomatic options had not been exhausted and further sanctions might compel Iran to halt its nuclear drive, which Israel and the West believe is aimed at developing atomic weapons.
"I think that we Americans joining with our European allies can impose significant and very impactful sanctions on Iran which I think could modify their behaviour,'' Mr McCain said. "I would hope that we could succeed in that direction and I have some optimism we can, but I have to look you in the eye and tell you that the United States of America can never allow a second holocaust.''
Israel considers Iran its main strategic threat, both because of the nuclear program and repeated statements from Iranian leaders predicting the demise of the Jewish state.
The interview came days before McCain's Democrat opponent Barack Obama was due to arrive in Israel on a world tour aimed at shoring up his foreign policy credentials vis-a-vis McCain, a veteran US Senator and war hero.
#4
What's the UN going to do? Threaten to issue another strongly worded statement? Russia and China will veto any sanctions with teeth - or just ignore them.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/21/2008 22:54
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#5
NEWSMAX/TOPIX > EXPERT: ISRAEL MAY GO TO NUCLEAR WAR OVER IRAN [Benny Morris-NYT Op-Ed].
Any anti-Iran AIR STRIKE bears the risk of IRANIAN-PROCLAIMED RETALIATION, perennial and "by any means necessary" includ but not limited to PROXY TERROR + LR MISSLE WAR. A "FAILED/
PROBLEMATIC" ANTI-IRAN AIR STRIKE WHICH DOES NOT ASSURE COMLETE DESTRUCTION OF IRAN'S NUCPROGS MAY INDUCE ISRAEL TO PREEMPTIVELY ATTACK IRAN AGAIN BUT WID NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AN OPTION WHICH AGAIN INVITES IRAN-SPECIFIC RETALIATION VIA NUKES-WMDS + TERROR.
MISSLE- + NUCLEAR-ARMED ISLAMIST IRAN SCENARIO > HEIGHTENS RISK OF ISRAELI-IRANIAN NUCLEAR EXCHANGE WHICH ISRAEL IS LIKELY TO LOSE IN THE END NO MATTER HOW MUCH REAL DAMAGE IS EFFEC INFLICTED ON IRAN.
MORRIS - "i-4 Years" [2009-2012] = "POINT OF RETURN" FOR IRAN DE FACTO ACQUIR THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE NUCLEAR WEAPON(S).
PARADOXICAL REMINDER > ISRAELI OFFIAL - "THE ONLY WORSE THAN ATTACKING [Nukular]IRAN IS TO NOT ATTACK [Nukular]IRAN"???
But in the German Chancellery a few hundred meters away there is unease with the Illinois senator's cult-like following and skepticism about whether he can live up to the hype. "There is a sort of Obama-mania in Germany right now, but I think a lot of people will have their illusions shattered if he does become president," an official in Chancellor Angela Merkel's office told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
"Euphoria in politics is an invitation for disappointment," von Klaeden said.
"The problem with Obama is that we still don't know very much about what he thinks on foreign policy, he is tabula rasa," said Rafal Trzaskowski, an analyst at the Natolin European Centre, a Warsaw think thank."We know what McCain stands for, we know who we are dealing with," he added. "Obama stands for change, he is an energetic, self-made man, and that is heart-warming, but we need to know more about his policies."
#1
Hard to get excited when your country is seen only as a backdrop, and he chooses as that backdrop a prussian victory tribute to war which was located to that spot by hitler.
Or going to 10 downing without the British Prime Minister.
Musta...forgot?
BAGHDAD -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad on Monday but did not raise his plan to remove combat troops within 16 months if he wins the election, an Iraqi official said. Probably figured he already read about it in the New York Times.
U.S. strategy in Iraq and troop levels are central issues in the November election race between the first-term senator from Illinois and Republican candidate John McCain. Mr. Obama said in brief remarks that he had a "very constructive discussion" with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He impressed me as a "typical Iraqi person".
Television pictures showed the two men smiling and shaking hands before they sat down for talks after Mr. Obama flew in to get a first-hand assessment of security in the country, where violence has fallen to its lowest level since early 2004. Can you move over a little, Nuri? The photograpers like to catch my aura. Thanks, man.
Mr. Obama did not mention his withdrawal plan to Mr. Maliki, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters. "This issue, we do not discuss... Mr. Obama did not speak about anything which concerns the Iraqi government because he does not have any official [government] capacity," Mr. Dabbagh said. Nice copout, Barry...
On Sunday, the Iraqi government denied Mr. Maliki told a German magazine in an interview that he backed Mr. Obama's plan to withdraw combat troops within 16 months. The government said Mr. Maliki's remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly. Probably why Barry didn't bring it up. "Damn! I thought he knew! I read about it in Der Spiegel."
#1
No surprise - his trip isn't long enough to do anything but get off the plane, shake a couple hands, go to the recognizable (not necessarily appropriate) landmark for a speech, then move on.
#2
The few people who still read the NYT editorial page would not read a McCain editorial anyway. They have drunk deeply of the dark blue Obama KoolAid. They are for the most part supercilious wannabe elitists, thoroughly indoctrinated but woefully ignorant socialists, "useful idiots" all.
#4
Of course, if the Fairness Doctrine had been implemented, as the Democrats seem to want, the NYT would have no choice but to run the editorial.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/21/2008 13:29
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Hmmmmmmmm? I wonder...
Belief Growing That Reporters are Trying to Help Obama Win
The belief that reporters are trying to help Barack Obama win the fall campaign has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that 49% of voters believe most reporters will try to help Obama with their coverage, up from 44% a month ago. Just 14% believe most reporters will try to help John McCain win, little changed from 13% a month ago. Just one voter in four (24%) believes that most reporters will try to offer unbiased coverage.
A plurality of Democrats—37%-- say most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage of the campaign. Twenty-seven percent (27%) believe most reporters are trying to help Obama and 21% in Obama’s party think reporters are trying to help McCain. Among Republicans, 78% believe reporters are trying to help Obama and 10% see most offering unbiased coverage. As for unaffiliated voters, 50% see a pro-Obama bias and 21% see unbiased coverage. Just 12% of those not affiliated with either major party believe the reporters are trying to help McCain.
In a more general sense, 45% say that most reporters would hide information if it hurt the candidate they wanted to win. Just 30% disagree and 25% are not sure. Democrats are evenly divided as to whether a reporter would release such information while Republicans and unaffiliated voters have less confidence in the reporters. Republicans and unaffiliated voters are more likely to trust campaign information from family and friends than from reporters. Democrats are evenly divided as to who they would trust more.
A separate survey released this morning also found that 50% of voters believe most reporters want to make the economy seem worse than it is. A plurality believes that the media has also tried to make the war in Iraq appear worse that it really is.
A survey conducted earlier this year found that 30% of voters believe having a friendly reporter is more valuable than raising a lot of campaign contributions. Twenty-nine percent (29%) believe contributions are more important and 40% are not sure.
#6
The DRUDGE REPORT presents the McCain editorial in its submitted form:
In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.
Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse."
Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.
Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.
The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.
To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.
Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military's readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.
No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.
But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.
Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”
The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.
I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.
#9
I figured it out. Fred's software kicks out the word "Po**ograph*", which I originally used in the context of the only remaining skill available to the MSM once the current collapse is complete.
In any case, bias is not really the problem with the media-industrial complex, the ridiculous pretense of objectivity and "fairness" is the problem. Nobody faults the Daily Worker for not running McCain pieces, or Rush Limbaugh for not slobbering on Obama, but somehow the dinosaur media pretend to be different. This only means that the dinosaurs can support their agenda by deceit rather than by open discourse.
The public isn't buying it anymore and the dinosaurs are headed for well-deserved extinction.
#10
Well, that was a fine editorial by John McCain . . . nothing the NYT shouldn't want to print as a news organization (now rather a front line campaign megaphone for the Dems --oh, except McCain isn't bowing down to "Obummer Messiah" like they are, nor is he lapping up everything Obama blabs like the rest of the cult members.
#12
With a state controlled press, you only get to know what those who run the government want you to know. With a free press, you only get to know what those who think they should run the government want you to know.
#1
Bloviating butthead. How about a carbon footprint up his a$$? What a huckster. He is getting rich by selling his brand of snake oil to the donk rubes.
#4
HE's a lying cocksucker, he has a $7,000 a month gas and electric bill. Is he trying to say he buys carbon free natural gas?
No JohnQC. He's saying that hey buys carbon credits from a company he owns. So he gives money to himself so he can be "green"... what????? This makes no sense. I think calling it "snake oil" is pretty accurate.
#5
My favorite was when he talked about how we couldn't go on importing coal!
Posted by: bruce ||
07/21/2008 17:28
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#6
We do import coal, we also export coal
Where I last worked was by a main track, a coal train passed every couple of days going to the docks full, and the next day the same train went back the other way, also full.
It took a while before I noticed the coal going one way, and the coal going the other way, were different color
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/21/2008 18:24
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#7
Paging Mr. Newcastle, your coal shipment has arrived...
Okay, boys. Give em the lead... Nope. They deserve only the finest hemp ...
Bali, 21 July (AKI) - The three Islamist militants convicted of the deadly 2002 Bali bombing have waived their right to seek a presidential pardon, Indonesia's Attorney-General has confirmed. General Hendarman Supanji said he hoped the three men would be executed before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in early September. Or maybe the next one. Or the one after that...
Supanji said the three - Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - have all waived their right to seek Presidential clemency. "We have offered it in writing to them and to their families and both have refused it," he said.
He said that all legal avenues have been exhausted and their is nothing to stop the men's executions from going ahead. Indonesia does not make public the timing and exact location of executions. Under Indonesian law, executions are by firing squad and can take place at any time once all legal appeals are over. The men are being held in a maximum-security jail on Nusakambangan island off central Java. When's the mysterious jailbreak?
The men's family members - who live hundreds of miles away in east and west Java - are expected to receive 72 hours notice before the condemned men face a firing squad. Indonesian police say they have prepared a firing squad for the execution.
Indonesia's Supreme Court last week dismissed the final appeal by Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Samudra. The three were convicted of planning and carrying out the nightclub bombings which was the worst act of terrorism ever seen in Indonesia. The attacks killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, and injured another 209 people. So long, smiley boy...
#4
With any luck the 72 hour notification will get lost in the Mail or other bureaucratic snafus and be received just about the time ' the shots ring out.'
otherwise expect the mysterious jailbreak to happen sometime after receipt of the same 72 hour notice.
Troops Angry At Media Bias and Laziness
July 21, 2008: American troops in Afghanistan are not happy with how a July 13th battle with the Taliban was reported. In that action, some 200 Taliban attacked a U.S. "base" and killed or wounded more than half the 50 or so U.S. and Afghan troops found there. Actual U.S. casualties were nine dead and fifteen wounded (including walking wounded). ABC article from the 14th here.
U.S. troops were irked that, once again, the mass media got lazy and didn't bother to report the action accurately. For one thing, there was no "base". What? ABC reported it as a "newly built base"
What the Taliban attacked was a temporary parking area for vehicles used to conduct patrols of the area. These are set up regularly, and have been used for years. These are secure areas, but basically a parking lot surrounded by barbed wire and several sandbagged observation posts. This one was set a few days before the attack, and was due to be taken down soon, as the patrol activity moved to another area. Such defensive precautions are taken any time U.S. troops stop for more than a few hours. That's a tactic pioneered by the Romans over two thousand years ago. In this case, it paid off. The Taliban infiltrated several hundred fighters into a nearby village, and opened fire from homes, businesses and a mosque. Say it isn't so! ABC reported the 'insurgents' "raid that penetrated an American outpost"
The U.S. and Afghan troops called in air support and kept fighting until the Taliban fled, taking most of their dead and wounded with them. Special note: ABC got most of its info on this 'attack' from Tamim Nuristani, who was fired as provincial governor last week by President Hamid Karzai
The troops are angry because, while the Taliban got lucky (such attacks are rare), the enemy did not succeed in taking the U.S. position, and fled the battlefield after suffering heavier casualties. The U.S. troops are much better shots, and know they killed far more of the Taliban. Moreover, they saw smart bombs and missiles hitting buildings that Taliban were firing from. From long experience, they know that people inside bombed buildings rarely survive the explosion. Finally, the troops involved were from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and paratroopers do not like anyone implying they were beaten at anything. Especially because, in this case, they weren't. Said Nuristani of the attack to ABC "The coordinated assault at Wanat sent a strong signal to other insurgent groups that "America cannot resist them anymore," ", with emphasis added by ABC. Kudos to the troops taking the battle to the terrorists. My boy just got back from that 'sandbox'. Everybody talks about Iran, but my $$ is on Pakistan being a smoking hole in the earth...
Appears the doc has stepped in it again...
Christian doctrine is offensive to Muslims, the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday.
Dr Rowan Williams also criticised Christianity's history for its violence, its use of harsh punishments and its betrayal of its peaceful principles. His comments came in a highly conciliatory letter to Islamic leaders calling for an alliance between the two faiths for 'the common good'. Maybe they'll autograph his kneepads? Or pay for the Vaseline?
But it risked fresh controversy for the Archbishop in the wake of his pronouncement earlier this year that a place should be found for Islamic sharia law in the British legal system. Dr Williams is also facing immense pressures from inside his own Church of England and Anglican Communion. A gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world, which begins today, is on the brink of a devastating split over whether homosexuality and gay clergy should win their approval. Looks like Trouble in Druid City... I'm waiting for the gay imams to show up in Islam. And the ruling that devout Muslims can have up to four gay concubines at a time. I'm waiting for the ordination of female imans.
The Archbishop's letter is a reply to feelers to Christians put out by Islamic leaders from 43 countries last autumn. In it, Dr Williams said violence is incompatible with the beliefs of either faith and that, once that principle is accepted, both can work together against poverty and prejudice and to help the environment. ...and everyone can have cake and ice cream.
He also said the Christian belief in the Trinity - that God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost at the same time - 'is difficult, sometimes offensive, to Muslims'. Trinitarian doctrine conflicts with the Islamic view that there is just one all-powerful God. Oh, well. Guess we'd better junk it then.
Dr Williams added: 'It is all the more important for the sake of open and careful dialogue that we try to clarify what we do and do not mean by it, and so I trust that what follows will be read in this spirit.' He told Muslim leaders that faith has no connection with political power or force, and that Christians have in the past betrayed this idea. 'Christianity has been promoted at the point of the sword and legally supported by extreme sanctions,' Dr Williams said. Yeah. We're lucky Islam ain't like that. Probably get a lotta people killed. Oh, wait... I was thinking the same thing last week as I was forcibly converting some Egyptian Muslims.
Islam, he continued, has been supported in the same way and 'there is no religious tradition whose history is exempt from such temptation and such failure.' INFIDEL! Take it back or we'll kill you!
The Archbishop appeared to rebuke his colleague, Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who criticised his sharia lecture and who maintains that Christianity is central to British law, politics and society. 'Religious identity has often been confused with cultural or national integrity, with structures of social control, with class and regional identities, with empire: and it has been imposed in the interest of all these and other forms of power,' he said.
The Archbishop said that faiths which reject the use of violence should learn to defend each other in their mutual interest. 'If we are in the habit of defending each other, we ought to be able to learn to defend other groups and communities as well,' he said. We can together speak for those who have no voice or leverage in society - for the poorest, the most despised, the least powerful, for women and children, for migrants and minorities; and even to speak together for the great encompassing reality that has no voice of its own, our injured and abused material environment.' Can't we all just...get along. He's saying that his brand of Christianity lacks testosterone, to the point where it's unwilling to compete with the Profit's evil henchmen, so the henchmen should protect him. This is a position known as dhimmitude and I've no doubt the Archdruid will be quite happy to pay his jizya.
The Archbishop did not mention sharia at all in his closely-argued 18-page letter. Dr Williams was heavily criticised by MPs and Downing Street after he suggested sharia law could have an established place in British life. But his letter in reply to last year's Islamic approach, A Common Word for the Common Good, chimes with his view expressed in February that people of faith should be able to work together against secularism despite their differences. Lambeth Palace hinted that Christians as well as Muslims should listen to Dr Williams' message. Officials pointed to the Archbishop's call for 'religious plurality' to turn to serving the common good and added: 'This is true even where truth claims may seem irreconcilable'.
#1
Tough titties!
Muslim Doctrine is offensive to: Buddhists, Animists, Christians, Jews and Hindus...
esp.. those Jihad and death to all Infidels bits.
#2
This guy's an Archbishop?!
He sounds rather anti-religion to me, what's his angle?
A gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world, which begins today, is on the brink of a devastating split over whether homosexuality and gay clergy should win their approval.
I'm gonna take a wild guess at which side of the fence he's on with that.
#3
Christian doctrine is offensive to Muslims, the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday.
And Judism was 'offensive' to....
“Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.” –Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
#4
"Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"
This guy is a joke, the avatar of the politicization and marginalization of Christianity in Europe. What this man and his "church" offer long ago ceased to be Christianity and more resembles San Francisco PC.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/21/2008 15:16
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#10
Christian doctrine being offensive to Muslims is soo yesterday's news. The current topic for discussion is whether believing that His Obamaness is the Messiah is offensive to Muslims.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/21/2008 15:24
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#11
Maybe they'll autograph his kneepads? Or pay for the Vaseline?
Better Ask The Imam™ first, tu. I don't know if using them is halaal, mubah, baatil, or haraam.
#12
Hmmm...and how exactly did the Muslims achieve their victories in Syria in 634 AD and Jerusalem in 635 AD? Did they toss love bombs? And were the conversions to Islam based more on force than persuasion?
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ..."
-- John 15:18-19
#18
Apparently the Archdruid thinks that Christianity was devised approximately 2000 years ago with the specific purpose of annoying another religion that wouldn't arise until circa 1300 AD.
(Really, how DID he become not only an Archbishop, but the one in control of the C of E?? Was it an April Fools' Day joke that went to far, or what?)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
07/21/2008 23:28
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A discovery leads to questions about whether the odds of people sharing genetic profiles are sometimes higher than portrayed. Calling the finding meaningless, the FBI has sought to block such inquiry.
State crime lab analyst Kathryn Troyer was running tests on Arizona's DNA database when she stumbled across two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles. The men matched at nine of the 13 locations on chromosomes, or loci, commonly used to distinguish people.
The FBI estimated the odds of unrelated people sharing those genetic markers to be as remote as 1 in 113 billion. But the mug shots of the two felons suggested that they were not related: One was black, the other white.
In the years after her 2001 discovery, Troyer found dozens of similar matches -- each seeming to defy impossible odds. As word spread, these findings by a little-known lab worker raised questions about the accuracy of the FBI's DNA statistics and ignited a legal fight over whether the nation's genetic databases ought to be opened to wider scrutiny.
The FBI laboratory, which administers the national DNA database system, tried to stop distribution of Troyer's results and began an aggressive behind-the-scenes campaign to block similar searches elsewhere, even those ordered by courts, a Times investigation found.
At stake is the credibility of the compelling odds often cited in DNA cases, which can suggest an all but certain link between a suspect and a crime scene. When DNA from such clues as blood or skin cells matches a suspect's genetic profile, it can seal his fate with a jury, even in the absence of other evidence. As questions arise about the reliability of ballistic, bite-mark and even fingerprint analysis, genetic evidence has emerged as the forensic gold standard, often portrayed in courtrooms as unassailable.
But DNA "matches" are not always what they appear to be. Although a person's genetic makeup is unique, his genetic profile -- just a tiny sliver of the full genome -- may not be. Siblings often share genetic markers at several locations, and even unrelated people can share some by coincidence.
No one knows precisely how rare DNA profiles are. The odds presented in court are the FBI's best estimates. The Arizona search was, in effect, the first test of those estimates in a large state database, and the results were surprising, even to some experts.
Defense attorneys seized on the Arizona discoveries as evidence that genetic profiles match more often than the official statistics imply -- and are far from unique, as the FBI has sometimes suggested...
#4
Or, people with criminal tendencies share common DNA profile markers. That'll open a can of 'we can't go there' from the usual crowd. Reviving the old notion of 'bad blood' isn't PC.
#5
I have no detailed knowledge of the tech but a 9 of 13 match does not seem to equate to a match to me. 13 of 13 would be a match. It seems to me that some lawyers are looking for an out for their clients.
I would appreciate if someone with real knowledge of the process would comment.
#6
The good news is that science is testable. If Ms. Troyer is correct her work can be replicated by other labs. Perhaps there is something to this, perhaps not. But even if the FBI is unhappy, the truth about genetic profiling will come out.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/21/2008 12:56
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#7
The FBI should stay out of this and let Science take its course. One of the basic truths of DNA and genetics is there is still a LOT we don't understand. The beauty of Science is that it is continuously revising itself. Better to explore the possibility that she is correct than to find lingering questions casting doubt on DNA evidence in the future.
#8
I would suspect that this is a similar problem to the partial fingerprint ruling from not too long ago. That is, the smaller number of points used, relative to the total data field, the higher chance of inaccuracy.
This makes all the sense in the world if you compare it to CAD software. Back when it was primitive, it used few data points to connect the lines, so round objects had a boxy or beveled appearance. But as the software got better, with more data points, rounded objects became smoother. Eventually, so many data points are used that round looks round.
Adam Huras, The Canadian Press Life imitates classic SNL
SHEDIAC, N.B. — A countrywide bidding war has begun to boil over a 100-year-old, 10- kilogram Bay of Fundy lobster.
An Ontario woman slapped down $3,500 Friday, eyeing a family feast. A Vancouver woman, who wants to fly to New Brunswick to release the lobster named Big Dee-Dee, says she needs the weekend to rally donations to become the highest bidder.
ItÂ’s now the animal lovers versus the meat eaters for the rights to the crustacean caught earlier this month. . . .
Breau originally bought the lobster from his usual buyer, astonished by the size and age of the sea creature. He then sold it to a local restaurant, but then backed away from the deal after his phone began to ring with offers.
At first the bids were small but after a television newscast made the story national, a bidding war shot the price up.
"In Ontario they want to cook it for a big luncheon," said Breau. Their offer stood at $3,500 as of Friday afternoon. That price may double by the time his auction closes on Aug. 8. Big Dee-Dee could feed about 16 people, according to Breau.
Lobsters go for $8.99 a pound in his store, meaning this particular lobster — at 22 pounds — would retail for around $200. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
07/21/2008
08:24 ||
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#1
The bigger lobster gets .. the tougher it gets.
Better off spending the money on more smaller ones.
#4
A Vancouver woman, who wants to fly to New Brunswick to release the lobster named Big Dee-Dee, says she needs the weekend to rally donations to become the highest bidder.
I remember the last time one of these ditz's did this. She took a film crew out to watch her return our lucky crustacean to the briny deep and she tossed him in. Banded claws and all.
I wonder how long he lasted...
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The U.S. military in Iraq says it has arrested a suspected propaganda expert linked to a militant group that receives training from Iran. The suspect was arrested Monday in Baghdad.
The military says it believes the man is a member of the Hezbollah Brigades, an Iraqi group it describes as "an offshoot of Iranian-trained special groups." That's how the U.S. refers to Shiite fighters defying a cease-fire order from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
A military statement says the man uploads to the Web images and video of attacks on Iraqi and U.S.-led forces. The information is allegedly used to raise money and other kinds of support from Iranian backers.
Posted by: Menhaden S ||
07/21/2008
08:17 ||
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- A court on Monday barred the disgraced architect of Pakistan's atomic weapons program from speaking about nuclear proliferation, less than three weeks after he implicated the army in the sharing of nuclear technology with North Korea.
Abdul Qadeer Khan has been largely confined to his home in the capital since taking sole responsibility in 2004 for leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. However, he recently began agitating for an end to his confinement, disowning his 2004 confession in media interviews and saying the army had known all about at least one act of proliferation in 2000. President Pervez Musharraf issued a swift denial.
The Islamabad High Court, ruling Monday on a petition filed by Khan's lawyer, said the retired scientist must be allowed to meet close friends and relatives subject to security clearance -- something the government says he can already do.
Presiding Judge Sardar Mohammed Aslam also said that Khan "will not convey, transmit, relay any comment or give interview to any channel, news reporter, print or electronic media, in any manner whatsoever in respect of issue of proliferation." Aslam, in a written order, also banned Khan from discussing proliferation with family or friends.
It was unclear whether Khan would appeal the decision, which was made after government lawyers asked the judge to silence him to avoid international sanctions on Pakistan. His lawyer, Javed Iqbal Jaffri, said the ruling established that Khan was a "detainee" and that Khan could file more complaints to win his freedom.
Officials insist Khan is not formally under house arrest, but that restrictions are needed for his own safety and to prevent others from tapping his knowledge of state secrets.
Which he seems eager to spill ...
A government lawyer appeared pleased with the ruling and suggested it could blunt growing calls for Khan's release. "The court has certainly given tangible relief to Dr. Qadeer, and that is reflecting the aspiration of the people of Pakistan," Ahmer Bilal Sufi said.
Khan's 2004 confession spared Pakistan from even greater international condemnation over the leaking of nuclear technology to three countries which, at the time, were all at loggerheads with the West. Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and only resigned as army chief last year, quickly pardoned Khan.
The United States, which was counting on Musharraf as a key ally in its war on terror, has praised Pakistan's subsequent effort to investigate the international nuclear smuggling ring in which Khan played a key role.
The new government, like its predecessor, insists the chapter is closed and that it will not probe Khan any further or allow foreign investigators to question him.
But experts say it remains unclear whether other countries obtained sensitive technology from the Khan network. They also doubt that senior Pakistani officials were unaware of the trafficking.
Since the ISI pretty much knows everything that is happening in Pakiwakiland ...
Khan, a hero to many Pakistanis for making their country a nuclear power, alarmed authorities when he began giving telephone interviews to journalists after Musharraf's political allies were eclipsed in February parliamentary elections.
Khan said he only agreed to the televised confession after officials promised he would be quickly freed. He also claimed he had done nothing illegal or "unauthorized" and that his long confinement was affecting his health. Khan, 72, underwent surgery for prostate cancer last year.
Early this month, he said Musharraf as the army chief had knowledge in 2000 that a shipment of used centrifuges -- equipment used to enrich uranium so it can be used as fuel or in nuclear bombs -- was being sent from Pakistan to North Korea.
"It was a North Korean plane, and the army had complete knowledge about it and the equipment," Khan said in a July 4 interview with The Associated Press. "It must have gone with his (Musharraf's) consent." Khan sent a handwritten note to the court claiming that he had been misquoted in various articles.
But government lawyers argued that Khan's comments threatened to trigger international sanctions on Pakistan, and asked the judge to stop him from talking to the media in the interests of national security.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008
07:40 ||
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#1
WTF?
State sponsors of terrorism, didn't we lay out the penalty for that long ago?
#6
#5) Seal team. .50 cal. Leadership required.
Posted by: Hellfish
dittos..
Except the hitter/s should be a young girl, an old woman, the milk man, his goat lover, his racing camel or what ever the fuck can get close enough to ANY of these assholes that are spreading Nukes and or Nuke Technology!
Whether Tools, Blue Prints, Weapons Grade Plutonium or Uranium, Centrifuges, Critical Partz, etc. etc. Anything to do with with Putting The Entire World In Danger, then Death By Assassination Is Totally justified! IMO.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/21/2008 18:16
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#7
"Disgraced"? Khan is a national hero. He lives in a luxury compound. Anything resembling subjection of him to legal procedure is only a smokescreen to keep the US money burning process. Hopefully, John McCain can see through the current stupidity. The White House is asking Congress for $15,000,000,000 in aid and military commitments to the terrorist state.
AJMER: For Mohammed Jakir, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, begging may have begun as a compulsion but through his ingenuity he turned it into a career option.
The 42-year-old amputee, who begged in Indian cities for more than two decades, is today known to be a rich man in Bangladesh.
Indian intelligence sleuths, who nabbed Jakir after learning about his all-too-frequent visits to Bangladesh, claim that his wealth in that country could be around Rs 75 lakh!
Jakir crossed over to India illegally in 1986 at the Benapura Indo-Bangladesh border. Without hands to work with, he realised begging was his only option and he did so for years on streets near Gateway of India, Mumbai. The money he made not only supported his family in Mumbai but also helped him save.
"I earned a lot in Mumbai. Indians have sympathy for the handicapped. One man even donated Rs 1,100 to me," revealed Jakir during interrogation by the cops in Ajmer, who arrested him on Saturday night. It's learnt that Jakir, son of Mohammed Ali, is from Mohammedpura district, Bangladesh.
"My earning was so good that I could marry Naseema, a teenage girl, and buy a house at Murtinagar and raise a family with her," he says. They had five children, four of them girls.
Naseema eventually left for Delhi with her kids. "Somehow, the hearts of people changed; their sympathy faded. Two years ago, I left Mumbai and arrived at Ajmer for 'Urs'. It proved to be the right decision.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008
07:17 ||
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Apparently this guy knows how to save. I wonder why the cops picked him up. Is being a successful begger a crime? Or is he so tight with his money that he wasn't supporting his family?
The Pope has rejected an invitation to address the European Parliament, amid Vatican alarm at what is seen as a drift towards militant secularism.
A letter from the Vatican said that he was declining the request to speak to MEPs owing to other commitments and his age, The Times has learnt. The rejection came soon after the Pope agreed to spend his 81st birthday visiting President Bush and as his tour of Australia was ending. The Parliament, which wanted the Pope to be principal Christian guest in its Year of Intercultural Dialogue, may resort to a less well-known Eastern Orthodox leader.
The Vatican has favoured the White House as a reward for Mr BushÂ’s acclamation of faith in God and help for antiabortion causes. And to bolster the faith of America's 60+ million Catholics. But for the MM, it's all personalties and politics.
At a Mass held at a racecourse in Sydney yesterday the Pope, who has been celebrating Catholic World Youth Day, told 400,000 worshippers that in many societies, “side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, a quiet sense of despair”.
The breakdown in confidence between the Pope and the European Parliament is a sensitive area and observers close to the dispute are unwilling to be identified publicly. One spoke of the church hierarchy’s “great disillusionment” with the European project. Its founding fathers, Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman, were deeply Catholic. However, a well-informed observer said that the EU “has become more and more autocratic, elitist, and secularist”.
John Paul II addressed the Strasbourg Parliament in 1988. Since then there have been several clashes between the Vatican and the EU, culminating in dismay over the removal of “God” from drafts of the EU constitution. A polite way of putting it. The "removal" was done with cold contempt.
The Pope’s refusal is particularly hurtful as the Parliament’s president is Hans-Gert Pöttering, a German Catholic and Christian Democrat. After he was elected president last year, Mr Pöttering visited the Vatican to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. “He had a private audience and gave an invitation to the Pope to address the Parliament,” a spokesman for the presidency said.
The Vatican initially acknowledged that the request was being looked at, but early this year its Secretary of State said that the Pope would be unable to come “at least for 2008”.
The European Parliament has been trying to get leaders of world faiths to join its intercultural year. The Grand Mufti of Syria has already attended, BritainÂ’s Chief Rabbi will do so and the Dalai Lama has an open invitation. The Grand Mufti of ... Syria? The Dalai Lama?
“Clearly the Pope is over 80 so they have to be very careful about not exhausting him,” the presidency spokesman said. He should know. Europe is quickly turning into the world's largest nursing home.
Yet the Pope has made arduous trips to America and Australia. Mr Bush is regarded by the Vatican as far more sympathetic to its priorities than Europe. When he withdrew $34 million from the UN family planning programme in 2002, claiming that some money went to abortions, the European Union made up the shortfall.
I had prepared the edited version, with lots of snarky comments, when - looking for the appropriate photo - backed up and lost the whole thing. Such are the trials of journalism!
You could work for the NYT. Just remember, no named sources ...
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/21/2008
06:25 ||
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#1
The two 'major' dailies in Chicago have become campaign handouts for Obama, corrupt local Pols, and leftie causes trashing what little credibility they had left; And blowing off over 25% of their readership NOT BECAUSE OF THE INTERNET. Readers are staying away in droves.
#2
Yes it is due to the Internet but the reason is that thanks to Internet peoople now notice that they are being lied to. In the times of the seige of Kesang and the Tet offensive people took at face value what papers said because there was no channel to learn the truth.
BTW: I have the ultimate business model: sell unprinter newspaper paper to people who need to wrap fish, protect floors when painting or kill a a mosquito, things all who can't be done with computers and who until now require to buy newspapers.
#4
If you were in a line of work where your employer moved you every two to three years, you'd be aware that moving packers already were using 'newspaper' quality paper to wrap household belongings in. I'm sure they'd have no problems setting up supplies for your local merchants to take up the slack in the absence of clay tablets the dailies for all those around the house needs of the material.
#6
That is why Queen Nancy gets so hot on the 'fairness doctrine' (to which the MSM will probably be largely exempt). So that you are forced to have a certain amount of lies in your diet.
#7
I know it's hard to believe, but maybe people are tired of:
1)George Bush is the devil
2)We're gonna die from global warming Climate Change.
3)We are losing in Iraq, but shouldn't be there anyway cause we were tricked so Bush/Cheney could make money on it somehow.
#8
Pinch, McClatchy & Co.: "It's that damned new technology that's doing us in! That's the problem! Our decline has NOTHING to do with people disliking our incessant efforts to shove our biased, lying lefty-lib viewpoints down their stupid throats! Our complete disregard for the truth has NOTHING to do with our dropping circulation. NOTHING, I SAY! IT'S THE TECHNOLOGY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
The results show that papers carry fewer stories on foreign and national news and devote less space to business, science and arts reporting, and many have reduced the crossword puzzle and eliminated television and stock listings.
If it bleeds, it leads - maybe that don't sell too good?
Many editors said they must ask reporters to cover more beats, reducing their ability to produce authoritative stories. Others said, in what may create a vicious circle, that staff cutbacks reduce their ability to shape coverage to fit their communities' needs, and Ureneck said that coverage is shrinking.
So now they can invent stuff, which is easier and faster.
Still, 56 percent of the editors surveyed said their news product is better than it was three years ago because coverage is more targeted.
It's more of what we think they should like, so it's better.
The newsroom is much younger than three years ago, and reporters are more technology savvy and able to meet the demands of print and online stories, according to the study.
Also much better at crafting fiction, better able to fauxtoshop, and have musch less perspective than most living people.
But, other than that, it's a fine article.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/21/2008 13:09
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#11
Why would anyone assume that mashing black pigment on ground up tree pulp would be an eternal practice? I would think that the pro-Gore MSM would be delighted to reduce their carbon footprint.
#12
Day old news, unobjective, elitist agenda.
I'll get mine from somewhere else, thanks.
I don't know how the weekly news magazines are staying in business.
#13
This election will be a referendum on the media-industrial complex.
The public has already voted with its wallets, however, as seen in the catastrophic decline of the alphabet news audience (20% in barely a year) and the continuing cycle of layoffs and cutbacks in the dead tree branch.
Obama could pull it out for them, but it is not the foregone conclusion his media shills claim it to be. In any case, an Obama win would only slow, not arrest, the decline. If he loses, if the most media-favored candidate in history cannot defeat the enfeebled GOP and its 72 year old candidate, it will be a blazing asteroid in the media heavens and the harbinger of imminent extinction.
#15
The New York Post, Washington Times, and Wall Street Journal aren't in a "death spiral". So this isn't something that is generic to all newspapers. People still read newspapers ... when the content is worth reading.
The leader of a Muslim terrorist insurgent group in southern Thailand denounced the recent announcement of a cease-fire in the region as a hoax, while terrorists suspected rebels set off a bomb Monday that wounded seven people. Six policemen and a civilian were wounded when the homemade bomb triggered by a cell phone exploded along a road in Yala province, police Lt. Chaiya Phoorahong said. He said Muslim jihadis rebels were suspected in the attack.
Shortly before Monday's violence, the deputy president of the Pattani United Liberation Organization, or PULO, denounced an alleged cease-fire agreement between the Thai government and a group called the United Southern Underground, and said the "struggle for independence" would continue. The previously unknown group, claiming to represent others involved in the insurgency, announced last Thursday that it had ended all violence in the region. The announcement was greeted with widespread doubt.
"It is an opportunist group which was created and orchestrated by an individual to confuse and divide the liberation movement," the PULO's Lukman B. Lima said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He said the announcement was a political gimmick by a former military commander.
Former army commander and Defense Minister Chetta Thanajaro, who now heads a small political party, has said the agreement was the result of informal talks he held with leaders of the insurgency. He said the organization that made the announcement represented 11 different underground groups operating in southern Thailand, but did not identify them or their leaders. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej earlier said his government was not holding talks with any separatists, but that at least two insurgent groups were in discussions with mediators in Geneva.
BRITAIN'S SAS has revealed plans to cut down casualty rates in Iraq and Afghanistan by parachuting in German shepherds to spy on rebels.
The Sun reports the dogs are being trained to leap from planes at 25,000ft wearing their own oxygen masks and strapped to special forces teams. Once they land, the dogs will lead the way by finding enemy hideouts with cameras fixed to their heads. The images will then be beamed back to the troops, warning of rebel locations and ambushes. The bold plan comes after three SAS troopers were shot dead on raids in Iraq over two years, with eight seriously wounded.
An SAS source told The Sun: "The dogs will be exposed to very high levels of danger on these operations and you never know what's going to be behind a door. Nobody wants to see the dogs get killed but if it's their life or a man's it is obvious which the commanding officer would prefer."
The dogs will be used in a precise manoeuvre technique called High Altitude High Opening, jumping as much as 35km from their targets and gliding towards them for up to 30 minutes.
Dogs were first trained to parachute in the Second World War by the British on rescue missions. But they have never jumped from high altitude, the best way for small groups of men to get behind enemy lines undetected. The dogs have big advantages over soldiers in that they arouse less suspicion approaching targets, can squeeze into tighter spaces and can sniff out booby-trap explosives. Two have been issued to each of the regiment's four squadrons with troopers specially selected to be their handlers.
#5
While it sounds grotesque, I suspect such dogs would, or at least should, have implants so that they can be "remote controlled". This is a lot different than it sounds and much research has gone into it in the past.
In practice, it is a "horse and rider" remote. The operator sends signals giving general directions of where to go and what to do, but it is up to the dog to figure out how to do it the best way.
For example, one signal will mean "guide right", because that is the general direction of the target in a forward direction. Another is the "good" signal, for the dog to continue to do what it is doing.
Such signals even work with lab rats. And dogs are not only a lot smarter, but have been bred to respond to complex commands, like the Shepard breed.
#7
I can just see a batallion of mother Grizzlies coming down on Miranshah. Won't THAT put a kink in the talibunnies' tails? Faster, please.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2008 11:42
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#8
How about wolverines? (and I don't mean the Ann Arbor type;) Anyone remember the old sci-fi story about aliens who visit Earth and witness a wolverine whuppin' a grizzly bear, then deciding that Earthlings were too tough?
#9
Spot, that is one of my favorite SF stories - I wish I could find it again.
I wonder if wolverines are haram?
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/21/2008 12:05
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#10
How about just cloning the AFLAK duck? They would come with their own parachute ( sort of) and after 3 or 4 minutes of the innane commercials the talibunnies would be happy to off themselves.......
(Especially if the Yogi Berra ones were replayed incessantly)
#12
Re #8 - also, the aliens decided not to attack Earth after the wolverine, which had whipped the grizzly (which had almost broken their Ferocity Meter), approached a bunch of human children. Instead of destroying the children, the wolverine allowed them to pet it and play with it. The aliens reasoned that if this over ferocious wolverine would allow mere humans to play with it, the humans must be even more ferocious.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/21/2008 15:19
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#14
An SAS source told The Sun: " . . . Nobody wants to see the dogs get killed but if it's their life or a man's it is obvious which the commanding officer would prefer."
Can they go back to the old way if Obama is leading a search team-- like during a publicity stunt in a war zone? Just wondering.
#15
Thats what I was thinking - Pigs are smart as well. Put some razor armor on them, a camera and some freakin lasers on their head, and the ability to combust.
#17
Gaaawd I miss my dog(s) - my old dog RICO ruled the neighborhood as a Guard Dog and ALpha Male, but was scared to death of heights and water even iff I was holding him [shake like a puppy]. My present dog Brownie is also a good Guard Dog, but he'd covertly sneakily play and sleep wid "the Pack/Hood" unless he knows/sees I'm watching, whereupon he'll suddenly turn traitor and chase his Dawgs-in-the-Hood Boonie Boyz away like GUARD-ZILLA!
D *** NGED SNEAKY MR BURGULAR-DO-YOU-THINK-MY-BUTT-LOOKS-PRETTY LOVABLE DOGGY TRAITOR!
BANGLADESH security forces have arrested a schoolboy and seized illegal weapons and ammunition they say he was supplying to terror groups, officials said today.
"Our forces arrested Pantha Hossain Dipu, 18, from Mirpur area in the capital Dhaka, late on Sunday," said Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Tabrej Shams Chowdhury, a director of Rapid Action Battalion Force said. During questioning, the O-level student, confessed he was the leader of a gang which supplied weapons commercially to terror groups, Lt-Col Ahmed said.
The Colonel quoted Dipu as saying he had been in the arms business for three years and earned around 75,000 taka (around $1024) a month renting out weapons. Police seized three revolvers, a pistol, 60 rounds of ammunition, a knife and cartridge cases.
The RAB, comprising members of the army, police, paramilitary troops and auxiliary forces, is leading a crackdown against corruption, smuggling, illegal weapons and terrorism by Islamist and other militant groups.
#1
At eighteen, young Master Dipu is no longer a boy. Given that he'd achieved the profession of arms dealing several years previous, clearly he'd also moved up to the adult status of Mister.
#2
If you rent out a weapon and the renter declines to return it, what do you do?
He must have had some kind of muscle on call.
Not just selling feelthy pictures on the playground, this is.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/21/2008 7:55
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Three separate bus explosions killed at least three people and injured 14 in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming on Monday, media said, amid a security clampdown ahead of next month's Beijing Olympics.
The causes were not immediately clear, but the blasts came within a matter of hours of each other in the capital of Yunnan province and less than three weeks before the Beijing Games, which China has warned could be a target of terrorist attacks.
An explosion on one bus happened at the Panjiawan stop at 7.10 a.m. and the second blast was nearby, the official Xinhua news agency said. Pictures showed a gaping hold in the side of one of the buses and glass scattered in the street.
Another explosion occurred near Minshan, also nearby, the semi-official China News Service said in a report on its Web site (www.chinanews.com.cn).
Two people were killed at the scene and one died on the way to hospital, the report said.
But a Yunnan government official said there had only been two explosions. "We're still investigating the cause," the official said by telephone from Kunming, declining further comment.
#1
Big news in the run-up to the Olympics. I doubt it's the East Turkestan folks, they've been hit hard lately. Either the central government did it to justify greater security, or it's someone who the local government screwed and is now taking revenge.
From the "Where's Joe Mendiola" Department...
HONOLULU--An Air Force B-52 bomber carrying six crew members and en route to conduct a flyover in a parade crashed off the island of Guam, officials said.
At least two people were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said. Rescue crews from the Navy, Coast Guard and local fire department launched a massive aerial and ocean search for the others in and around a vast area of floating debris and a sheen of oil.
The crashed occurred at 9:45 a.m. Monday about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor, the Air Force said. The B-52 was scheduled to fly over the Liberation Day parade, marking the day when the U.S. military arrived on Guam to retake control of the island from Japan. The aircraft was from Barksdale LA. God help them find the whole crew.
#1
...Whatever happened sounds like it happened brutally fast - the crew is actually five (pilot, co-pilot, electronic warfare, radar nav and bomb nav) so there had to be an observer aboard for some reason. The pilot, co-pilot, and electronic warfare officer eject upwards from the flight deck and the two navs eject down from their stations, and the observer has to make his way down to the nav stations and physically climb out of the airplane. God bless and comfort the crew members' families - the B-52 community is a small one these days and a loss like this will hurt badly.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/21/2008 6:30
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#2
Sad news my heart goes out to crew and families.
#3
Mike, it was probably an instructor pilot sitting on the jump seat behind the pilots. The gunner's ejection seat has not been removed, although I don't know whether the seat is still serviceable for ejection.
Unfortunately there are more than a few B-52's in the water off of Guam. May the good Lord comfort their families.
... AND another Vote for the G'damn Air Force to re-open the Buff Assembly Line, the A-10 line, A-6 line and the A-14 line until the Clones & Drones take Over.
/money much better spent that some of the Hot Shot Weapons they are dreaming about today.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/21/2008 18:43
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#6
GUAM K57 AM > seems the USAF + Andersen AFB have confirmed TWO as dead, FOUR as still missing, wid one of the former now tentatively identified as Colonel George Martin after notif of next of kin. Iff this is the same B52 I saw flying over northern Guam, I wondering iff the cause was LACK OF LUBE/FUEL? [Sensors again?] AS ENGINES SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS GRINDING OR "CATCHING" - JUST DIDN'T SOUND GOOD???
#7
RIP. Our local radio, reading the newswire, noted a "Stealth Bomber" crashed. First time a B-52 was called stealth, I bet, and a reflection of media war-tools ignorance
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008 19:43
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WASHINGTON — The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel will have to go up if they go anywhere.
Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded — with a prod from the construction industry — that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs.
Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel.
"We'll put all things on the table," Oberstar said, but the gas tax "is the cornerstone. Nothing else will work without the underpinning of the higher user fee gas tax."
With gas prices setting records daily, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and former Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a 90-day suspension of the federal fuel tax to give drivers a little relief at the pump. The fuel taxes go into the Highway Trust Fund, which is used for road construction and repair and mass transit. Clinton suggested making up for the loss by imposing a windfall profit tax on oil companies, an idea that Republicans rejected.
McCain said the money could come out of the general Treasury fund, in effect adding to the federal deficit, and is still getting mileage from the idea. "Some economists don't think much of my gas tax holiday," he said in a speech this month. "But the American people like it, and so do small business owners."
If the GOP leadership had any guts and brains, they'd use the obstructionism, corruption, pork, etc, against the dems, and ice that cake with this tax hike.
That woudl be enought to get peopel to vote GOP - thats also if the GOP leadership had bothered to put in solid candidates instead of these RINO clones it keeps trying to push.
#4
It's all part of the plan to get us off oil (foreign and domestic) by making it too expensive.
And it'll work - eventually....
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/21/2008 5:56
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#5
Oil prices have at least temporarily peaked and fallen back close to 10%; gas prices 'should' follow on the next tanker load delivered. It would be the perfect time to 'reconfigure' the gas tax so that the consumer does not see it at the pump - instead prices will drop but by less than they should, and the consumer will be angry at the oil companies rather than the government.
In truth, the government actually has a point - it is difficult to budget long-term construction projects on unexpected rapidly changing revenues - but does anyone believe that a percent based tax would work any better? If such had been the case a year ago we would be hearing about grandiose plans to spend the windfall to buy our votes, and then we would be asked for a higher percentage whenever prices dropped back. (And they probably would roll back part of the windfall in return for votes.)
Posted by: Menhaden S ||
07/21/2008 7:57
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#6
A sliding gas tax would be nice. We can afford to pay more tax when gas is cheaper, ease up off us when it is higher.
#7
even if funding had remained the same, there has been a huge hit in the deliverable end products due to the enormous rise in concrete, asphalt, and steel prices. Just can't build as much with the funds available. Trouble is, if they raise the taxes, there's no ensuring that the money will be spent on priority projects and not the Robt KKK Byrd parkway with the fools in charge. Oberstar is an idiot
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008 8:25
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#8
Unfortunately the GOP leadership doesn't seem to have any guts or brains.
#9
If the government does not have the money to continue over budget projects then they should stop. Taxes should not be increased to pay for the increased cost. Here in NJ it all goes to graft anyway.
#10
If we had any leadership in the GOP, it would be a landslide election year for them. The dhimocrats are ripe for pounding with their failure on every aspect of their party platform. As it stands now, we might only just have parity when it comes to seat swapping.
#11
The fact is, economic efficiency requires resources be priced at marginal cost, and marginal cost includes the depreciation of roads and bridges, as well as the damage done to vehicles by poorly maintained infrastructure, excess deaths and injuries, and time wasted. Marginal cost is proportional to weight and miles driven, and miles driven is roughly proportional to the amount of gasoline consumed.
#15
How about just SHOOT all current politicians, and establish a rule that no lawyer can run for public office (conflict of interest). I'm not sure doctors, dentists, engineers, or truck drivers would be any better, but they sure as he$$ can be any worse.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2008 15:29
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#16
Raise taxes on gas. Lower gas prices. So simple you'd think it would be obvious to everyone.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/21/2008 15:52
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#17
Perhaps this effing congress could streamline their allowance instead of stealing from the parent's purse/wallet. If my kids acted like this there would be a spanking of high magnitude.
--Najmuddin A Shaikh
Recent attacks on American troops in Eastern Afghanistan, notably the deadliest in Wanat which killed nine soldiers, are evidence of Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, just as events in Hangu show their growing assertion of power in Pakistan.
The Pakistan army is closing in on the militants' redoubts in Hangu and commanders are not being deterred by the threats that the Taliban will start killing the hostages they hold unless the operation is halted. The fighting is likely to spread to the Orakzai Agency where militants retreat after operating in Hangu and adjoining areas. Will this operation be allowed to continue? Will the Pakistan army be authorised and willing to hit the militants hard enough to permit the tribal elders of the region to come to the negotiating table, agree to expel all foreign militants and end the use of the area for cross-border operations in return for economic development and the dispensation of quick justice?
Meanwhile, the Taliban have set up permanent courts in Mohmand Agency and these bodies are dispensing justice to supplicants. This suggests further erosion of state authority in the Tribal Areas. Reports in the US press claim that the number of foreign insurgents in the Tribal Areas is increasing and that in a reversal of past trends militants seeking martyrdom have now chosen to move to this area rather than go to Iraq.
This is an ominous development. It needs to be determined how they are entering Afghanistan or the tribal areas. Could it be through the smuggling routes using dhows from Dubai or even our own airports? Can we ensure that our immigration officials who may be allowing other smuggling intercept at least the foreign insurgents coming from the Middle East?
Despite the Taliban ultimatums, the Frontier government is still anxious to preserve the peace deal it made earlier in Swat. Can this hold if the Swat negotiators are taking orders from Baitullah Mehsud who has made it clear that he would not agree to stop cross-border attacks because "Islam does not recognise frontiers and borders"? The most benign interpretation of this statement means that Mehsud is seeking a merger of the Tribal Areas and the Frontier province with Afghanistan.
NWFP chief minister, Ameer Haider Hoti, claims that past governments had built up armed factions as a tool of foreign policy and now no one knows how to handle this monster. True. But now the monster has to be leashed and the Frontier government has to take the lead in devising policies that would erode the support-base of this monster and interdict the funding that is keeping it alive.
Some of their funding comes from the Taliban in Afghanistan who, says the UN, are earning USD100 million annually from the imposition of ushr on opium farmers. This figure is clearly exaggerated. Much of the ushr goes to local warlords and to Karzai's officials. The last reliable estimate that I heard from American scholars was that about $32 million are collected by the Taliban and this is not enough to cover more than a small part of the expenses of the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan itself. The Havala system continues to function but there is no doubt that much of the money still comes in briefcases and could be interdicted at our border points. Can we do it?
In Afghanistan, the Americans have abandoned the new post they were setting up at Wanat but they have launched a number of operations that have perhaps killed major Taliban leaders at the cost of civilian casualties. Of particular significance is the killing of Nasrullah Khan of the Shindand region. He was labelled a prominent Taliban by the Americans but he was also the man seated next to Karzai when he last visited the region.
The two developments call into question two basic tenets of the revised American policy in Afghanistan. The first was contained in the 2006 counter-insurgency manual and exhorts the occupation forces to "protect the population": these forces must not only "find, fix, finish" the enemy but to "clear, hold, build".
Local commanders in Eastern Afghanistan were given funds to undertake projects and win over the local population. This required them to have on hand the troops that would protect local "collaborators" against Taliban reprisals. Now the locals who facilitated the setting up of the American base at Wanat will be on their own against a substantial Taliban presence in the area. Not exactly the formula for securing local collaboration in other areas. The second tenet was promoting reconciliation with the reconcilable Taliban. The killing of a tribal leader of Nasrullah Khan's status will certainly jeopardise this process.
There seems little prospect of the Karzai government improving its governance or of the Allied campaign to win the hearts and minds succeeding in the near future even as reports in the US media increasingly focus on Afghanistan and the fact that more allied lives have been lost ther than in Iraq during the last two months.
Barring some voices, the general consensus in the US is that America has no choice in Afghanistan but to stay the course. The new president, whoever he might be, will have to send additional troops to Afghanistan. In an off-the-record briefing, President Bush warned that the new president will have to worry not about Iraq or Afghanistan but about Pakistan.
Pentagon has sought USD62 million funding in the 2008 budget for an ammunition storage facility at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base, arguing that "a forward operating site, Bagram must be able to provide for a long term, steady state presence which is able to surge to meet theatre contingency requirements". I have no doubt that the Americans will not leave Afghanistan until the threat they believe exists in Afghanistan and in Pakistan's tribal area has been eliminated or at least reduced to insignificance.
The positive development is the bill presented in the Senate by Senator Biden and Senator Lugar to pledge USD15 billion in economic aid to Pakistan over the next ten years and to ensure that any military aid granted in addition should focus exclusively on augmenting the Pakistani capacity to fight the insurgents.
But alongside this are reports that examine the legal dimension of the doctrine of hot pursuit that the Americans with their legendary impatience are going to try to eliminate the Taliban and Al Qaeda strongholds in Pakistan with or without Pakistani cooperation. Some observers warn that President Bush is desperately looking for some success in the last days of his Presidency and may well authorise some ill-advised action.
The New York Times in an editorial warns that "sending United States troops into Pakistan's border regions... would provoke even fiercer anti-American furies across Pakistan", but demands that "Pakistan's civilian leaders and the new military commander, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, will need to commit to fighting the extremists...".
The editorial recognises that "local tribal leaders also need to be weaned away from the Taliban. That would only happen if Islamabad and Washington back their exhortations with substantial economic assistance". This along with the measures on depriving the Taliban of their base of financial support is what we should as a united country focus on.
The writer is a former foreign secretary
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
The difference between the US and the Russians, the Brits, and the host that came and lost before us: The bad boys can't hide from our technology. As we transition from Iraq to Afghanistan with 5 years of hard earned COIN lessons...the Taliwhackers are going to get some hard lessons.
#5
Bill Roggio has an interesting article in Long War Journal on the attack on Wanat. The comments are especially informative.
Wanat is right on the border between Nuristan and Kunar. It is some distance from the Pakistan border.
It is also an area that is undergoing an ethnic transition to Pashtun from the original inhabitants. As such it is on the fault line of ethnic tension between the 2 tribes, and is alienated from the provincial government in Nuristan.
It looks like the Americans stepped into the middle of an ethnic conflict and the Taliban were able to present themselves as the "protectors" of the Pashtun.
In order to defeat the Taliban, we're going to have to become aware of the local issues in each area, as those are a lot more important to the villagers than any global war.
The best weapon we have is the Taliban's stupidity in enforcing faux Sharia laws. We just have to be careful we don't try to stuff village size conflicts into a one-size-fits-all template.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/21/2008 12:36
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Bodies of unidentified tribesman are lying in some areas of the Mohmand Agency, a Taliban spokesman said on Sunday. Clashes among rival groups in the agency have led to casualties in the last two days. Dr Asad, claiming to be Taliban spokesman in the agency, said Taliban are searching the area for dead bodies. He also said that the Taliban were clearing the area of the rivals.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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BAGHDAD - Iraq's Electoral Commission said on Sunday time was running out to hold provincial elections this year because of parliament's delay in passing legislation needed for the poll. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has set Oct. 1 as the date for the provincial elections, which will provide early clues on how parties will fare in parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009 -- polls that will determine if Maliki himself will remain in power.
The Electoral Commission sent a letter to parliament on Sunday urging it to ratify the draft law soon, the commission head Faraj Al Haidari told Reuters by telephone. ‘We need at least three months after the law is passed to prepare so polling can be up to international standards,’ he said. ‘Even if the law is passed in the coming days, we will only be able to vote at the end of the year. Any more delay and we won't be able to have elections this year.’
The law lays down procedures for the elections.
Parliament is expected to meet again on Monday to try to pass the law after a row broke out last week over what to do about voting in the disputed northern oil city of Kirkuk. Parliament speaker Mahmoud Al Mashhadani has urged lawmakers to pass the draft.
Washington sees the elections as vital to reconciling Iraq's divided communities, particularly by boosting the participation of Sunni Arabs in politics. Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the last local polls in January 2005. ‘What's very plain is the Iraqi people want provincial elections. The political parties all know that ... if they are perceived as not delivering on the law, they will be blamed and their political fortunes will suffer,’ a senior US official in Baghdad, wishing to remain anonymous, said last week.
But Kirkuk remains a thorny issue, with lawmakers arguing over whether the vote there should proceed. Kurds, who run the largely autonomous northern Kurdistan region, see Kirkuk as their ancient capital and want a referendum to be held to decide who controls the city. Arabs encouraged to move there under Saddam Hussein want it to stay under central Iraqi government control.
Analysts say the elections will also be the battleground for a power struggle among majority Shia's in the oil rich south.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/21/2008
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Israel will have to show greater flexibility in its negotiations with Hamas in order to free Gilad Shalit, said ministers who participated in cabinet deliberations on the matter Sunday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Meanwhile, a Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip is expected to visit Cairo later this week in order to discuss an Egyptian proposal to renew the indirect negotiations between the two sides.
If there is progress in the talks between senior Egyptian intelligence officials and Hamas representatives, Israeli negotiator Ofer Dekel will also travel to Cairo for talks next week.
Olmert is likely to resume cabinet discussions on the criteria for which Palestinian prisoners can be released in exchange for Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces soldier who was abducted from Israeli territory two years ago.
A similar discussion took place six months ago, headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon.
Security and political sources said Sunday that the restrictions on the prisoner criteria must be relaxed in order to achieve progress on the talks. To date, Israel has agreed to release 71 of the hundreds of people proposed by Hamas.
Ministers involved say they have no illusions of reaching an agreement unless dozens of prisoners sentenced to life are released - including those who were involved in serious terrorist operations.
Israel is also hoping that Egypt will increase its pressure on Hamas to be more flexible.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak believes that it is important to utilize the tahadiyeh (cease-fire) in order to push through a deal for Shalit.
During discussions Sunday, Barak said he believed a gag order might be necessary, because Hamas may try to use the Israeli media in its bargaining.
This comes following the recent negotiations for reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Barak explained, as well as "loose talk" from ministers who stated that Hamas will up its demands in exchange for Shalit. "It is essential to impose a heavy curtain of censorship in order to bring Gilad [Shalit] home," Barak said yesterday. "We must not conduct this struggle with our cards open - it gives a significant and unjustified advantage to the other side."
Meanwhile, former United States President Jimmy Carter is trying to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations over Shalit's release.
A senior adviser to Carter, Robert Pastor, visited Israel last week, as part of a regional tour that included visits to the Gaza Strip, Damascus and Cairo.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
This would be a good time to revise the state policy on prisoner swaps. They have one israeli soldier, tell them to pick any one prisoner they want.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud on Sunday expressed sorrow over the killing of 10 people of the Shah group in Mohmand Agency by local TTP members, and asked local TTP commander Dr Umar Khalid to explain his position, and also form a committee to investigate the incident.
TTP spokesman Maulvi Umar told reporters from an undisclosed location that Baitullah had formed a committee to probe the incident. In case of an unsatisfactory outcome of the probe, the spokesman added, action would be taken against Dr Umar Khalid.
He said the "Taliban emirate" has formed a jirga to end the conflict between the two groups.
Joined: He said the killed members of the Shah group had taken an oath of loyalty to Baitullah Mehsud and formally joined the TTP only a few days ago. He said the "Taliban emirate" has formed a jirga to end the conflict between the two groups. Baitullah has expressed sympathy with the families of those killed in the clash, he added.
It was reported that 10 Taliban militants of the Shah group were killed at the hands of another Taliban group led by Dr Umar Khalid some days ago in the Mohmand Agency area. The Taliban spokesman told BBC that Khalid was suspected to be responsible for the killing of the 10 Taliban militants.
This article starring:
Mohmand Agency
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
MAULVI UMA
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
OMAR KHALID
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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Indian troops reported three attacks on forward positions on Thursday, the latest in over a dozen clashes this year that ruptured a ceasefire that went into place along the Line of Control in 2003. The clashes took place less than 24 hours before bureaucrats from both countries met to discuss cross-LoC confidence-building measures.
Firing was first reported at around 9 a.m. from Gurez, in northern Kashmir, when Pakistani troops fired two bursts of small arms fire at an Indian position. Two hours later, a soldier was injured when small arms fire hit an Indian forward post in the Bhimbar Gali area of Poonch. A northern command spokesperson said the attack had been executed by terrorists seeking to cross the LoC. Later in the afternoon, Indian positions in Bhimbar Gali again came under intermittent fire.
Over a dozen similar skirmishes have taken place since January, as first reported in The Hindu. Most of the fighting, including a June 5 attack which claimed the life of an Indian soldier, has taken place in the Mendhar-Poonch belt. Pakistan has also complained of Indian assaults on its forward positions in this sector. Last week, Pakistan said its troops had come under mortar and small arms fire near the town of Hajira.
In another June incident, Pakistan admitted unknown assailants had killed four of its troopsa tacit admission of the presence of terrorists in the area. Later, however, Pakistan changed tack and accused India of shooting the soldiers.
While Pakistani troops often used fire to protect infiltration attempts before 2003, Indian military analysts believe the ongoing LoC clashes are part of a broader escalation strategy.
Islamabad hopes a crisis on the LoC will give it the pretext it needs to pull troops out of the North-West Frontier Province, a senior military official told The Hindu. It believes a crisis would compel the United States of America to pressure India to make concessions on Jammu and Kashmir, he said. According to the official, India's decision not to use punitive force along the LoC was intended to avoid this outcome.
Pakistan had thinned out its forces along its northern borders with India soon after the 2001-2002 military crisis, in support of United States of America-led anti-Taliban war in Afghanistan. However, army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani is believed to have decided to slash force commitments for the anti-Taliban campaign, and return troops to their traditional locations facing Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
Moreover, Pakistan has loosened restrains imposed on jihadist groups in an effort to buy peace with its allies-turned-enemies. Since April, members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb ul- Mujahideen and al-al-Badr Mujahideen have met at least twice in the city of Rawalpindi, one of the Pakistan army's most important bases, to discuss military cooperation in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
While Jammu and Kashmir has seen heightened infiltration since these meetings, the U.S. military says attacks in eastern Afghanistan have been 40 per cent higher in 2008 compared to last year. In both May and June, the death toll of foreign troops in Afghanistan was higher than in Iraq.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press quoted a former minister in President Pervez Musharraf's ousted government as saying that Pakistan- based jihadists were being given grain as well as cash salaries of between Rs.6,000 and Rs.8,000. He said Pakistan's army and intelligence services were aware of the practice.
Taliban cadre Maulvi Abdul Rahman confirmed the Minister's allegations, telling AP that jihadists in West Asia were funnelling funds to his organisation. He also revealed that a tacit understanding with authorities allowed Taliban to cross freely into Afghanistan, in return for not staging attacks inside Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
I say Free Baluchistan. What kind of naval expeditionary force do the Indians have?
#2
The failed stated known locally as "pakistan" needs to be eliminated, and all its muslim inhabitants evenly divided between Sudan and Indonesia. The rest of the world shouldn't have to put up with this sh$$.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2008 15:03
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Senator Barack Obama met with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan for nearly two hours on Sunday and "conveyed that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continuing the war against terrorism with vigor," an Afghan presidential spokesman said.
The meeting, which continued over a traditional Afghan lunch of chicken, mutton and rice, was conducted in a "very friendly environment," the spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, said.
Mr. Obama and the two other senators traveling with him -- Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska; and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island -- reaffirmed the United States' bipartisan support for Afghanistan. And Mr. Karzai asked that the senators pass on the "immense gratitude" of the Afghan people to their constituents and the American public, Mr. Hamidzada said at a news briefing after the lunch.
In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Mr. Obama said: "We have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan. And I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front on our battle against terrorism.
Mr. Hamidzada made light of Mr. Obama's earlier criticism of Mr. Karzai as not getting out of his bunker enough to help Afghanistan develop, saying it was not so much a criticism as a statement of realism. "While we are making progress, we are also facing the significant threat of terrorism that is imposed upon us and on the Afghan people," he said. "We are spending a lot of time and resources on fighting terrorism," he said, adding that the government hoped in the future to spend more of those resources on the development of Afghanistan.
Discussions were mainly on a broad level of Afghanistan's partnership with the United States but did cover the "unmet challenges" the Afghan government has to tackle, in particular fighting corruption, counter-narcotics and regional and global terrorism, Mr. Hamidzada said.
The spokesman did not comment directly on Mr. Obama's campaign pledge to draw down troops from Iraq and send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, and to focus more on terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan. Mr. Obama has clashed with his presumptive Republican rival, Senator John McCain, about whether the war in Iraq is a distraction in the fight against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
Barry shows up and the war doesn't just "end"?
Either he's losing his touch or the Taliban don't get any of the major networks on the dish.
#2
I too am confused, I thought that THE ONE would simply go there, spread arms skyward, and viola' the conflict would end! I bet Karl Rove stole his mojo!
#3
The meeting, which continued over a traditional Afghan lunch of chicken, mutton, wiener schnitzel, Alaskan King Crab, and rice, was conducted in a "very friendly environment," the spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, said.
#4
"Nice to meet you Mr. Krazie - er, Karzie. I heard you have terrorists over here...hope you don't mind me promising to send a bunch more troops into your country without at least talking to you first but I think..hey are those the khyber mountain oysters you said I should try? (Munch munch) Juicy, explosion of taste. Well gotta go, see ya over the next 8-10 years."
White House hopeful Barack Obama's threats of US military action against extremist sanctuaries in Pakistan are undermining the new government, however not only would Pakistan defend its sovereignty, but that thousands of ethnic Pashtun tribesmen along the border would rise up to expel any foreign troops, NWFP Governor Owais Ghani said on Sunday. "These are fighters, let me tell you," the governor said. "Superpowers have underestimated them -- the British, the Soviets -- and I hope nobody makes the same mistake again."
Ghani said any incursion into the country's mountainous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan would spark disastrous consequences for the whole world.
A spate of US missile strikes in Pakistan on Taliban hideouts in the Tribal Areas had also inflamed public sentiment against Islamabad's role in war on terror, said Ghani, who oversees anti-militancy policies in the NWFP. "I think they are being shortsighted," said Ghani -- former governor of Balochistan -- referring to Obama and other US officials. "What the allies and the world must understand is that no government can remain involved in this global war on terrorism unless the majority of public sentiment backs it," he said. "These strikes, and even statements, are undermining that," the governor added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
Blah, blah, blah. Illiterate hillbillies with guns. No idea of what they are getting themselves into. The last two countries said the exact same thing,
"graveyard of the Americans" and all that.
Sri Lankan troops have captured a strategically important Tamil Tiger camp on the islands western coast, the military said on Sunday, as government forces continue their push against the rebels' northern stronghold.
The capture of the rebel base in the northwestern district of Mannar came three days after the military said it had struck a "fatal blow" against the Tigers by capturing the northwestern town of Vidattaltivu, the main base of the rebels' sea wing.
"The army, with troops from 58 Division and Army Commandos captured the largest LTTE base in the Illupaikadavai area, about 10 kilometres north of Vidattaltivu," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
"Troops have now advanced nearly 2 kilometres ahead of Illupaikadavai and are now in the process of consolidating their positions." Nanayakkara also said 48-hour fighting in the area had killed 15 Tamil Tiger rebels for the loss of one soldier. Fighting in the 25-year civil war is now concentrated in the north after the Sri Lankan army, which has vowed to finish off the Tigers this year, drove the rebels out of their eastern enclave in 2007.
There is still no clear winner on the horizon as the Tigers regularly retaliate with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, deterring some tourists and worrying investors in the $27 billion economy. An estimated 70,000 people have died since the civil war began in 1983.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
Sea wing? is that like Buffalo Wings?
Posted by: Steven ||
07/21/2008 0:34
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#2
No clear winner? This guy hasn't read his own article...
#3
Sri Lanka, as an island nation, requires sea power in order to dominate. Thus the rebels have their own ships and such, and even a few airplanes for an air wing.
I thought the Tigers were reeling back in March...they seem to be still holding out in a grinding war of attrition. The war is damaging the government's economy as it drags on.
#4
Not really, gromky. Sri Lanka's GNP is up the past year, tourism is rebounding, and the Tamils are losing bases every week to the Army. The last major sea battle between the TT and the SL Navy was a disaster for the TTs, they have a much harder time replacing equipment now that all the major countries have defined them as terrorists.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has insisted that his administration will strike at Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan if it gets actionable intelligence on the group.
Obama had an interview with the correspondent of a news channel travelling with him in Afghanistan which was broadcast by the network on Sunday. "... what I've said is that if we had actionable intelligence against high-value Al Qaeda targets and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets, that we should," he said. "Now, my hope is that it doesn't come to that. Pakistani government would recognise that if we had Osama bin Laden in our sights, that we should fire or capture..." Obama said making the point that this indeed is the current doctrine.
"I think actually this is current doctrine. There was some dispute when I said this last August. Both the administration and some of my opponents suggested, well, you know, you shouldn't go around saying that. But I don't think there's any doubt that it should be our policy and will continue to be our policy... I don't think there is going to be a change there," he said. "The United States has to take a regional approach to the problem. Just as we can't be myopic and focus only on Iraq, we also can't think that we can solve the security problems here in Afghanistan without engaging the Pakistani government," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets
Ahhh, but see, the Pak government has always gone after binny boy. SO he wouldn't invade Pakistan, after all.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/21/2008 5:45
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#2
He was in Afghanistan when he said this, so its just a little Specialty Ass Kissing, that's all.
#4
KOMMERSANT > RUSSIA'S JETS MAY FLY BACK TO CUBA [TU160's + TU95MS Bears]. However, "Technical capacity may NOT end there" statement > IMO, STATEMENT STRONGLY INFERS RUSSIA MAY CHOOSE TO BASE OFFENSIVE MISSLES, ETC. IN CUBA IN ADDITION TO LR STRATEGIC BOMBERS???
PESHAWAR: When my host in Peshawar advised me to dress in a Shalwar Kameez instead of jeans and a T-shirt, wear a prayer cap and refrain from shaving, I ignored his advice. But in Bara, when I saw the Taliban and heard them shouting at me in Pashto, I really regretted not paying heed to my host's sincere warnings.
My host, who is an influential person in Khyber Agency, arranged my trip to the Khyber Agency and insisted I visited all its three Tehsil -- Bara, Jamrud and Landi Kotal -- and also advised me to take a public bus to reach Bara. Once again, ignoring his advice, a local friend and I hired a rented car to reach Bara bazaar, the stronghold of the followers of Mangal Bagh of the Lashkar-e-Islam.
Lashkar-e-Islam is a militant organisation that is imposing its own brand of Islam on the residents of Khyber Agency and also fighting a local rival group, the Ansarul Islam, in the Tirah Valley, a far-flung area of the Khyber Agency. Their aim: to have full control of the most strategic point along the Afghanistan border.
Other militant organisations with a similar agenda are also active in the area, including the Amr Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Unnil Munkar who also use force to impose their own brand of Islam and the teachings of their Amir, Haji Namdar, on local people as well as visitors.
We entered the Bara bazaar of Khyber agency by travelling on the Bara road that leads to the tribal area. Heavy contingents of paramilitary troops and police were seen patrolling the road while several pickets were also established there. They were, however, not bothering people travelling to the tribal areas.
The shock of glimpsing the Taliban for the first time in the Bara bazaar was unexpected, given that the area is hardly a 45 minutes' drive from Peshawar. There was not a single security personnel present in the bazaar although government officials make daily claims of re-establishing the writ of the government and clearing the area of militants.
The shock of glimpsing the Taliban for the first time in the Bara bazaar was unexpected, given that the area is hardly a 45 minutes' drive from Peshawar. There was not a single security personnel present in the bazaar although government officials make daily claims of re-establishing the writ of the government and clearing the area of militants. Instead, we saw three vehicles with black flags mounted on their front and my guide told me that they were either Mangal Bagh's men or the Taliban.
As soon as we stepped out in the market, a vendor tried to sell us prayer caps for Rs10 each. When we refused to purchase the caps, he warned us in Pashto that without the caps, we could be in serious trouble. In the meantime, the Taliban or Mangal Bagh's men noticed two persons without prayer caps on their heads and they shouted something in Pashto and drew the attention of their other colleagues to us. Their leader in a double-cabin vehicle turned his attention towards us and said something in Pashto to my friend. "Where are your prayer caps? Why this one is without a beard? Bottoms of his Shalwar are also covering his sandals. Don't you know where you are standing?" my companion translated the Taliban leader's remarks to me.
Our host in Bara bazaar, Sultan Akbar, who owns a business in the area and is also an influential person, reached just in time to rescue us and negotiated with the Taliban for our protection. He later told us that he had apologised for our "sins" and told the Taliban that we were his guests and were unaware of local norms and directives. Although he received us warmly, he expressed alarm at seeing us without the obligatory prayer caps on our heads.
"The Taliban have issued decrees that everybody must wear prayer caps or turbans in the areas controlled by them. At prayer time, nobody should be present at his workplace and should leave for a mosque to offer prayers,"
"They (the Taliban) have issued decrees that everybody must wear prayer caps or turbans in the areas controlled by them. Their Shalwar should also be above their ankles. At prayer time, nobody should be present at his workplace and should leave for a mosque to offer prayers," he informed us.
We went to his office where his clients were waiting for him. After getting rid of them, he offered us lunch and briefed us about the situation in the areas controlled by Mangal Bagh. "Doing business in Bara has become very difficult as these people are creating immense problems for local traders and customers. If somebody doesn't wear a cap or turban, they shave off their heads as punishment, impose fines on them or send him to 'jail'. It is, however, a 'bailable offence' so people give them some money and secure their release," Sultan Akbar informed us. Those who are seen in the Bazaar at the time of prayers are beaten with sticks and batons and forced to go to the mosque to offer prayers, he maintained.
But the most disturbing activity of the Taliban is forcing at least one member of each family in the area to join their war with the Ansarul Islam in the distant Tirah Valley. "Every person in the tribal areas owns a gun and has fighting abilities. The Taliban force each family to send one of their members to join their fight against their rival group. Those who refuse, risk having their homes demolished and a heavy fine is imposed on them," he claimed. Sultan Akbar said that earlier people used to get spared from fighting by paying Mangal Bagh's men money but now they don't take money for this. "They compel our youth to join their fight or face penalties that may vary from losing their home, a heavy fine or going into exile," he told us.
He said these people do not extort money in the garb of any tax from traders but people may give them money according to their ability. "They don't demand money as they claim they are doing this to reform society in their own style," he explained.
Asked whether they were going Afghanistan or forcing people to join the fight against the US-led forces in that country, he said he was unaware of this but they (the Taliban) openly say that whenever they will get rid of their opponents, they will divert their attention to other parts of the agency which are currently out of their reach.
When asked what would be their reaction in case the US launches attacks on tribal areas, Sultan Akbar said in that case, every tribesman would set aside his differences with the Taliban and join the fight against the Americans and NATO to defend their motherland. "People fear a US attack which we are reading about in newspapers. Everybody is preparing for the big war and if our territory is attacked, we will not spare the 'whites' and the Afghans," he said.
Reacting to my astonishment at not seeing any security forces' personnel in these troubled areas, he said the tribesmen had no trust in the security forces as they had left the people at the mercy of the Taliban. "When they can't defeat the Taliban, how will they defend us against the heavily-equipped Americans and Nato forces," he asked in an emotional tone.
He, however, remained ambivalent about his view of the Taliban. He praised them for some of their actions, including cleaning the area of criminals and putting a halt to "obscene activities" through the closure of music shops and CD centres and forcing people to follow Islamic injunctions. "Actually, the Taliban are untrained and not very educated people. They are young and don't have complete knowledge of Islam. So they make many mistakes and make enemies among the locals. But, he insisted, the Taliban are "sincere people".
He said they had only the state-run TV channels in the area while cable networks and dish antennas were forbidden by the Taliban. "As far as radio is concerned, transmissions of only two FM radio channels are available for local people and they both are operated by the Taliban to disseminate their ideology," he said. He admitted that many people had migrated from the area but said those who left the area comprised less than five per cent of the total population. "People live in misery but how can they quit their ancestral homes?" he questioned.
To a query, he claimed that people had the liberty of shaving off their beards in Bara but in the areas in complete control of the Taliban, like parts of the Tirah valley, shaving off beards was strictly prohibited. He claimed that girls' schools and health facilities were operational in the area but their standard was very poor. "We have to send our children and patients to Peshawar for study and treatment," he claimed.
The Army and paramilitary forces were confined to their bases and only come out when they have orders to launch a "fake operation".
Asked where the Army and paramilitary forces were given that the Taliban were freely patrolling the bazaar and the entire agency, he said they were confined to their bases, posts and forts and only come out when they have orders to launch a "fake operation". "Nothing happened to these people (the Lashkar-e-Islam and the Haji Namdar group) in the recent operation by the security forces. They had left the area prior to the operation and returned and resumed their activities as soon as the forces left the area," he informed us.
Later, we travelled to Landi Kotal via Jamrud Link Road and back to Peshawar but did not notice even a single Taliban in the two Tehsil of the Khyber Agency. "The reason these two Tehsil being spared by the Taliban is that they are focusing more to conquer the Tirah Valley," a local told us. "They also used to patrol the area sometimes and would warn people to mend their ways but did not bother anybody more than that. Another reason is the strategic importance of the GT road for the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. It is their supply route and that's why the Pakistani forces keep this route free from the Taliban's influence," he said.
The Jamrud Link Road from Bara market to the GT road, that leads to Landi Kotal and the Torkham border with Afghanistan, separates the Hayatabad area of Peshawar from the Khyber Agency and there is a fenced wall with watch towers at equal distance marking this boundary.
"Until some weeks back, the Taliban used to enter Peshawar through Hayatabad and tried to impose their ideology on the people of the city," said the Landi Kotal local. Referring to the reports some weeks earlier about the growing threat to Peshawar, he added: "They abducted some people, blew up a few CD shops and also entered the homes of some locals and destroyed their TV sets. Since then, security on Peshawar's border area has been beefed up and no more incidents of this nature have been reported in recent days," he claimed.
This article starring:
Bara
Jamrud
Khyber Agency
Landi Kotal
Peshawar
Tirah Valley
HAJI NAMDAR
Amr Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Unnil Munkar
MANGAL BAGH
Lashkar-e-Islam
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008
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#1
But the most disturbing activity of the Taliban is forcing at least one member of each family in the area to join their war with the Ansarul Islam in the distant Tirah Valley.
Distressed women, children and mental defectives in Iraq, functionally kidnapped sons in the tribal regions of Pakistan... the jihadis know well how to undermine support for their cause.
#4
bigjim, the MSM were not conscripted, it was strictly voluntary.
Posted by: Menhaden S ||
07/21/2008 13:00
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#5
i love how this asshat thinks he knows so much and ignores every bit of his local advice... just so points up the institutional ignorance that the press has... the locals don't know... I'm a self professed expert, and i know better...
shit ball
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/21/2008 14:45
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#6
"don't you know who I am?"
*thud*
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008 19:20
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Iraq: What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn't tell the American public? Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq.
London's Sunday Times called it "the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror." A terrorist force that once numbered more than 12,000, with strongholds in the west and central regions of Iraq, has over two years been reduced to a mere 1,200fighters, backed against the wall in the northern city of Mosul.
The destruction of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) is one of the most unlikely and unforeseen events in the long history of American warfare. We can thank President Bush's surge strategy, in which he bucked both Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington by increasing our forces there instead of surrendering.
We can also thank the leadership of the new general he placed in charge there, David Petraeus, who may be the foremost expert in the world on counter-insurgency warfare. And we can thank those serving in our military in Iraq who engaged local Iraqi tribal leaders and convinced them America was their friend and AQI their enemy.
Al-Qaida's loss of the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis began in Anbar Province, which had been written off as a basket case, and spread out from there. Now, in Operation Lion's Roar the Iraqi army and the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is destroying the fraction of terrorists who are left. More than 1,000 AQI operatives have already been apprehended.
Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, traveling with Iraqi forces in Mosul, found little AQI presence even in bullet-ridden residential areas that were once insurgency strongholds, and reported that the terrorists have lost control of its Mosul urban base, with what is left of the organization having fled south into the countryside. Meanwhile, the State Department reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has achieved "satisfactory" progress on 15 of the18 political benchmarks - a big change for the better from a year ago.
Things are going so well that Maliki has even for the first time floated the idea of a timetable for withdrawal of American forces. He did so while visiting the United Arab Emirates, which over the weekend announced that it was forgiving almost $7 billion of debt owed by Baghdad - an impressive vote of confidence from a fellow Arab state in the future of a free Iraq.
But where are the headlines and the front-page stories about all this good news? As the Media Research Center pointed out last week, "the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 were silent Tuesday night about the benchmarks" that signaled political progress.
The war in Iraq has been turned around 180 degrees both militarily and politically because the president stuck to his guns. Yet apart from IBD, Fox News Channel and parts of the foreign press, the media don't seem to consider this historic event a big story.
#2
Compare wid CHINESE MIL FORUM Thread > HINDU GIRLS IN INDIA ARE LEARNING CHINESE KUNG FU [including Sword-Weapons arts] to protect agz HINDU ZEALOTS???
Also from CMF > GLOBALRESEARCH.CA > RICHARD C. COOK - STATUS REPORT ON THE COLLAPSING/COLLAPSE OF THE US ECONOMY; + ANTI-EMPIRE:THE POST BUSH "PERFECT STORM" OF US DEBT.
USA may have to go not only SOCIALIST-GOVTIST, BUT ALSO ISOLATIONIST!?
2008-2012[2016?] Post-Dubya Period is still attacking the USA = OWG USSA/USR.
Nine policemen were killed in Afghanistan on Sunday in international military air strikes called in after police and soldiers mistook each other for the Taliban and clashed.
The fighting erupted at around 1.30am when Afghan and international soldiers moved into a district without informing the police, who mistook the soldiers for militants, said Farah province Deputy Governor Mohammad Younus Rasouli, adding, "An engagement took place with each side thinking the other was the Taliban." He said the troops called for air support after which military aircraft bombed a police post, adding, "Nine police officers were killed and five were wounded."
The US-led coalition said the combined Afghan and US patrol acted in self-defence after coming under attack from a "non-uniformed hostile force".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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Hat tip Gateway Pundit. Apparently the sea-ice over the Arctic is 1 million square kilometers larger than this time last year. So much for the Big Melt. Lot of scienterrific pictures at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/21/2008
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#1
In climate circles when the problems of the surface temperature record are brought up, global warming believers tend to switch their argument to 'but the ice is melting'.
This has been rather sarcastically called, 'The retreat to the ice'.
So a large increase in both northern and southern hemisphere sea ice this year over last year is particularly embarassing for the warming believers.
BTW, the southern hemisphere increase is probably more significant
#4
I have suggested to a friend in Cleveland that he have a special small "warm room" in his house, so if next winter is arctic cold, and the price of home heating oil is sky high, or worse, in shortage, he and his son will have a warm place to sleep for eight hours a day and hang out, even if they can't heat the rest of the house.
#5
A couple of sweaters with a Thermacare wrap underneath against the back, a knit cap, and thick socks are almost as good, Anonymoose. Better, if the power goes out, along with a camp stove or a couple of home-made paraffin-soaked cardboard in a tuna tin thingies for heating soup and hot chocolate.
#7
For those in the southern climes, don't forget that not heating most modern homes means you just allowed your water pipes to freeze. That really compounds your bad day.
#8
Yeah, that will ruin your whole weekend. Under the house with frozen fingers and lead solder, catching the floor joists on fire as you writhe in misery and thrash about with a propane torch.
#9
Under the house with frozen fingers and lead solder, catching the floor joists on fire as you writhe in misery and thrash about with a propane torch.
That's if you still have copper pipes. Lot's of new housing have gone all plastic. I think they just split and have to be replaced.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/21/2008 16:40
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#10
Not exactly Steve, plastic Pipes are much easier to replace, and dirt cheap as well, just hacksaw out the split section, two plastic slip-joints, a bit of glue, and whatever pipe length is needed and 5 minuites of labor.total cost about 5 bucks.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/21/2008 18:50
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(Xinhua) -- Afghan troops have killed and injured more than three dozen insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the former stronghold of Taliban, the defense ministry said Sunday.
"An operation aimed at cleaning up Daman, Dand and Panjwai districts from militants launched days ago with the support of the U.S.-led Coalition forces have left 18 militants dead," the ministry said in a statement.
It also said that 25 more insurgents had been injured and 15 others made captive. However, it did not say the casualties of Afghan and Coalition troops. Taliban militants fighting Afghan government have yet to make comment.
Afghanistan has witnessed a surge of violence and riot throughout the south to east over the past months while militancy and conflict left more than 2,300 people including over 700 civilians dead in various so far this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
what really happened in that recent afghan firefight involving the 173rd airborne
Prosecuting Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Darfur is not going to end the conflict, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga said in an interview with BBC television Sunday.
"I think that, basically, to try to exonerate people here and there or to appropriate blame is not going to resolve the issue of Darfur," he told the broadcaster from Nairobi when asked about his view of the move. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was asked last Monday for Beshir to be arrested on genocide charges. If granted, the arrest warrant would be the first issued by the court against a sitting head of state.
The request, from ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has prompted criticism, notably from the Arab League, some of whose members have said it threatens the prospects for peace in the troubled western Sudanese region. Leaders of the African Union have also warned that indicting Beshir could lead to a power vacuum in Sudan, increasing the risk of military coups and even anarchy, scuppering efforts to resolve the situation.
Odinga said: "So many lives have been lost in Darfur. "I think it's necessary for the African Union to be much more proactive on this issue, to lead the way, so that the rest of the international community supports the initiative of the African Union."
Meanwhile, Darfur's new chief mediator Djibril Bassole made his first visit to Sudan on Sunday as he begins his uphill task of reigniting a stalled peace process. "This will be a difficult mission but it's not mission impossible," he told reporters after long talks with Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Karti.
Bassole, the foreign minister of Burkino Faso, faces numerous obstacles to securing peace. "My priorities will be defined by the Sudanese but we must strengthen dialogue and ask for a cessation of hostilities to create the conditions to search for a comprehensive political solution," Bassole said. Bassole's task will be complicated by the fact he speaks neither Arabic or English, the languages understood by those negotiating, whether from rebels or from the government.
Bassole will be based in Darfur's main town el-Fasher, a critical improvement on his predecessors UN envoy Jan Eliasson and his African Union counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim who were often criticised for their "part-time diplomacy" jetting into the country for short visits every few months.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Guess we should just forget about it then. Let bygones be bygones, bury the hatchet. Where is that darned hatchet anyway?
#2
Of course, if one crooked, murderous african politician gets nabbed, who knows which one might be next? If Diogenes was around today, there's one whole frickin' continent he could skip over in his search...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/21/2008 9:31
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#3
The African Dictator Protective Association springs into action.
AMMAN - King Abdullah II was urged on Sunday to pardon a Jordanian soldier who is serving a life sentence for killing seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997. "After around 12 years in prison, Ahmad Dakamseh deserves your majesty's special pardon," a group of 70 Islamists, unionists, lawyers, human rights activists and former officials said in a signed letter to the king.
Just after the prisoner exchange in which a hated murderer, Samir Kantar, was released, this would send a terrible message in the region. If Abdullah is as smart as his old man he'll find a way to ensure this doesn't happen.
In March 1997, Dakamseh fired an automatic weapon at a group of Israeli schoolgirls as they visited Baqura, a scenic peninsula on the Jordan River near the Israeli border, killing seven and wounded five others as well as a teacher. The attack came almost three years after Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty, only the second between an Arab country and the Jewish state.
Israel handed over its last five Lebanese prisoners, including convicted murderer Samir Kantar, and the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who were captured in July 2006, sparking a devastating 34-day war in Lebanon.
"Following the recent release of Arab prisoners, we hope to see Dakamseh free again," they said, referring to Israel's prisoner swap with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group last week. "The current political stage requires a policy that would make people happy and ease their socio-economic and political pressures. Pardoning Dakamseh will have a great effect on people," the letter said.
The signatories include Islamic Action Front secretary general Zaki Bani Rsheid, former prime minister and intelligence department director Ahmad Obeidat, Jordan Bar Association head Saleh Armouti, and Hani Dahleh, president of the Arab Human Rights Organisation.
The motives of Dakamseh, who was 30 at the time and a married father of three, were never clear. The then King Hussein cut short a visit to Europe and rushed home where he condemned the attack and later travelled to Israel to offer his condolences to the families of the slain schoolgirls. Jordan also later paid compensation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Smae old pattern:
1) Muslim kills a lot of infidels, sometimes children
2) Infront of the a,ger oà f the infidels either the perpetrator or a usual suspect is arrested
3) He is sentenced but never to death (or in that case he is quickly pardonned). One could find that funny given how easily death sentence is used ion those countries until you remember that shariah says that muslims aren't to be senetnced to death for the murder of untermenschen infidels.
4) A couple years later there is an Amnesty for Ramadan, for Kinng's coronation or because the king's favourite she-cat just gave birth and guess who is realeased after serving for only two or three years? less than whatis used in those countries for stealing candy). You guessed it: the murderer of untermenschen infidels.
In fact I am surprised this guy was held for so long.
#5
This is why the Israelis need to get nasty. Kuntar? He should have been taken to the exchange point and, once they saw the condition of the bodies he was being traded for, immediately shot and had his body mutilated while the terrorist delegation watched.
ISLAMABAD - The opposition has termed Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's speech to the nation as a "pack of lame excuses" and an attempt to cover up his government's failure on all fronts.
PML-Q leader and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi termed the prime minister's speech as an extension of budget speech "that contains only promises but no solutions to the problems being faced by the masses."
And who would know more about promises with no solutions than Pervaiz Elahi ...
"Though there were claims that the prime minister would announce remedies for the malaises of unemployment, price hike and extremism but in reality not a single promise was fulfilled in the speech," he added.
Nor will any be fulfilled in the future. This is Pakistan.
He said situation of law and order deteriorated during the first 100 days of the government. He further said that though the prime minister commended the opposition for giving him vote of confidence, yet he did not mention the political victimisation and registration of fake cases against the opposition leaders as well as workers. "The government cannot satisfy people by making allegations against the previous government as the day is not far when people will make them accountable," he added.
Secretary Information PML-Q Senator Tariq Azeem said the speech contained nothing but only a pack of lame excuses of failure of the government in first 100 days.
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07/21/2008
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U.S. businessman Morris Talansky lashed out at the prime minister's lawyer during his third day of cross-examination in a corruption case Sunday, as Ehud Olmert's defense team tried to tear holes in Talansky's testimony and portray him as an unreliable witness.
In the latest court session, Olmert's attorneys played video clips from police interrogations that showed Talansky changing his account of sums he said he had given Olmert.
Asked to explain the discrepancies, Talansky said they stemmed from "a state of confusion and fear" during police questioning - and he insisted figures he had given originally had been accurate. "I'd appreciate if you didn't call me a liar," Talansky told Olmert attorney Eli Zohar after the lawyer asked whether his testimony "is a truth or a lie."
Talansky previously told police he gave Olmert $150,000, much of it in cash-filled envelopes, before Olmert became prime minister in 2006. Both Olmert and Talansky have denied any wrongdoing.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
Maybe they're queer for each other.
How's that for a defense?
Several people were hurt in an explosion at Kashmir's main mountain tourist resort Sunday, the second attack in two days, police and witnesses said. "Preliminary reports suggest that several people were hurt in an explosion in Gulmarg," a police officer who did not want to be named said. "Police teams have rushed to the spot," he said. Gulmarg is a hill station popular among Indian tourists wishing to escape the summer heat of the subcontinent, and a well-know adventure ski resort in the winter.
It is situated 52 kilometers (32 miles) west of the summer capital Srinagar and close to the Line of Control, the heavily militarised border dividing Kashmir between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.
The blast came a day after nine Indian soldiers were killed and 16 injured when their bus was hit by an improvised explosive device near Srinagar.
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(Xinhua) -- Nearly seven civilians including five school children have been killed and almost 12 others were wounded Sunday after artillery shells and bullets hit residential areas in Mogadishu following renewed fighting between insurgent fighters and Somali government forces and Ethiopian troops, witnesses and local media reports said.
Five school children from the same family were killed in Gubta neighborhood shells hit them as they left their schools while eight others were injured, witnesses said.
"Three children died when a shell hit as they entered their home," an eyewitness in Gubta who requested anonymity told Xinhua. "More than eight other people were injured in our neighborhood shells rained all over the place."
Another witness Mohamed Musse confirmed the figure but added that two more children from the same Quranic School died when a shell landed close to where they were.
Residents said shelling started shortly after the children were released from schools in the neighborhood.
Local media reported that two young men died in Yaqshid district in the northwest of the Somali capital and four others were seriously wounded after they were hit by stray bullets from the battle between Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian troops and rebel fighters.
Somali transitional government officials told local media that the insurgent fighters attacked bases of the government forces and those of the Ethiopian troops in northwest Mogadishu. They denied insurgent allegation that the Ethiopian troops shelled residential areas after the attack.
Spokesman for fighters of the Union of the Islamic Courts Union said they launched "concerted attacks" on Somali government and Ethiopian army posts and claimed to have caused "huge loses" on them.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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Two girls in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district were allegedly tonsured by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants on suspicion of being army spies, an act that drew strong protests from the locals.
Two LeT militants - Yasir Wani and Sajjad Ahmed - intercepted the girls when they were grazing cattle at Beli area last evening, official sources said.
Labelling them as army informers, the militant duo shaved off the hair of the two girls from Chalias village of Gandoh. The girls were set free with a warning that they will be killed if they don't stop working for security forces as informers, the sources said.
Locals informed the security forces and police about the incident. The people resorted to protest demonstrations in the area today. The militants are yet to be traced.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
Oh Brave Lions of Islam, a little off the top and leave the sideburns alone.
Posted by: Steven ||
07/21/2008 0:32
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Sunday to bring back a soldier captured by Gaza militants more than two years ago, following a prisoner exchange with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. "We've promised the Shalit family in our name to do everything to bring Gilad Shalit home alive and in good health as quickly as possible. Let me tell you it is not easy," Olmert told a weekly cabinet meeting. "I believe Gilad Shalit will return home safe and sound. We will not rest and not stop until we get him back," he added. The Hamas movement has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who was captured in a deadly cross-border raid by Gaza fighters in June 2006.
Shalit's captors have over the past two years released several letters written by the 21-year-old corporal in captivity, where he said his health was deteriorating. On Wednesday, Israel handed over five Lebanese prisoners to Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured in a similar raid that sparked the 34-day Lebanon war in July 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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Negotiations started last Friday in Algiers between the Malian Government and Tuareg rebels are slowly moving forward, a source within the Alliance of 23 May for Change rebel movement told El Khabar.
The same source further added that all that the negotiations are expected to reach during this week is releasing a batch of Malian POWs, as the Tuareg rebels have showed intransigence over Bamako's request of releasing its hostages at once.
Furthermore, Algerian Press Agency has quoted a diplomatic source saying "he dialogue between Mali's Government and the Democratic Alliance of 23 May 2006 for Change is characterized by sobriety and will. It targets reaching unity and concord between all Malians." In turn, Algerian Laxative, namely Algeria's Ambassador to Mali, Abdelkrim Ghraib is making significant efforts to get opinions of the two parties closer, a source told El Khabar. Yet, the same source said: "information saying there is a direct interference of Prime Minister Ouyahia in the current negotiations is unfounded."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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The commission has elaborated a secret list of more than 400 people and 125 organizations charged of attributing financial support to terrorism worldwide. The same source said the US experts and the UN mission are to present a line of recommendations in terms of fighting financial sources of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb by freezing assets of its leaders in Europe and the US.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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(Xinhua) -- Four bombs exploded in the northern Spanish province of Cantabria Sunday but cause no injuries, government officials and local media said.
The blasts occurred in the coastal city of Laredo and the nearby beach resort town of Noja after a warning call, which said four explosive devices had been planted by the separatist group ETA. "We received a call at around 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) from someone who said they represented ETA and told us ETA had planted four bombs on beaches at Laredo, Noja and Noja golf course," said an emergency services official.
The caller also said the bombs would explode between 12:00 p.m.(1000 GMT) and 3:00 p.m. (1300 GMT), according to government officials. There were no casualties as the authorities evacuated the areas in response to the warning, they said.
Laredo and Noja are popular tourist destinations in summer, each with long, sandy beaches facing the Bay of Biscay. Authorities said the explosions marked the beginning of ETA's traditional summer bombing campaign, aimed at hurting Spain's key tourism industry by attacks on its holiday resorts.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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The militant toll in battles between security forces and militants in the Och area of Dera Bugti rose to 33 on Sunday, while at least 9 security personnel and a Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) engineer had also been killed since the clashes started, Aaj TV reported on Sunday. The FC also arrested nine injured militants, recovering a huge cache of arms from their possessions and was using helicopters and armoured carriers in the search for militants. Meanwhile, a powerful bomb detonated outside the Frontier Corps fort and damaged its wall and two power pylons were blown up when powerful bombs detonated in the in the Kohlu district, sources said. No loss of life was reported as a result of the blasts, the channel said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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A "crisis of confidence" between Hamas and Egypt appears to be the main factor behind the Islamist movement's decision to suspend talks on the release of St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit, Palestinian Authority security officials said Sunday.
Over the past few days, Hamas officials and spokesmen have been talking about seeking a new mediator to help broker a prisoner exchange with Israel. Some Hamas representatives even mentioned Germany as a potential intermediary, pointing out the role German officials played in achieving the recent prisoner deal between Israel and Hizbullah.
The Egyptians, according to the PA security officials, have voiced anger over the statements coming from the Hamas leadership. The Egyptians are said to be particularly enraged over allegations made by unnamed Hamas officials to the effect that Cairo was not an honest broker in the Schalit affair.
The Hamas officials were quoted over the weekend in The Jerusalem Post as accusing the Egyptians of failing to represent the interests of the Arabs in the talks with Israel over a prisoner exchange agreement. "A serious crisis has erupted between Hamas and Egypt," the PA security officials said. "The Egyptians have even threatened to stop their mediation efforts to reach an agreement."
Have they threatened to extirpate Hamas and sow Gaza with salt? That's a threat that might cause Mashaal to pay attention ...
However, an Egyptian diplomat told the Post his country was continuing to act as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. The diplomat accused unnamed Hamas officials of "waging a smear campaign" against Cairo in a bid to "embarrass the Egyptian government."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
The Paleostains just can't help but alienate everybody that tries to help them.
Heavy fighting broke out in Yabariweyne area and part of lower Shabelle region Sunday afternoon residents said.
Residents in the locale said they had heard Thundering explosions and gunfire could be heard at afternoon under one of the heaviest bombardment.
The fighting has started after armed islamist fighters have ambushed armed Som-Ethio troops were heading to Mogadishu Baidoa town south central Somalia. Fighters hostile to the interim government have been setting up defensive-lines in the battling area in the last days. It's yet unknown the causalities of that fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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More than 5,000 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by Sri Lanka's military since the beginning of the year, the defence ministry said Sunday. The ministry said its latest figures showed 5,036 rebels and 446 of its own soldiers had died in fighting between the start of the year and Friday night. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have not released their estimate of casualties. Figures from both sides cannot be independently verified as journalists are barred from reporting from front line areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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ISLAMABAD - Promising "good news soon" Yousuf Raza Gilani in his maiden address on state-run PTV, Yousuf Raza Gilani has said dictatorship is creating problems and sought support of the people to deal with challenges inherited by his government.
Gilani underlined the urgency of tackling extremism and militancy by assuring the nation that the war on terror is Pakistan's war and foreign forces cannot operate on its territory. He said the militancy was making it difficult to run the affairs of the government but expressed confidence the government would overcome this problem.
He said the PPP-led coalition government would fulfil all its promises, including the restoration of sacked judges, controlling price-hike and loadshedding. He urged for patience to let his government overcome these challenges that were complicated by the misrule of past eight years.
Take that, Perv. Meanwhile, the Taliban and their allies are gobbling up the Northwest Frontier ...
The premier's first speech was mismanaged and delayed for over three hours for inexplicable reasons except reports that PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari was returning from Dubai. Again he was badly advised to read through teleprompter and, as was expected, he started faltering. The speech was then disrupted for couple of minutes and then he started reading from the written copy.
It was meant to defend his performance during first 100 days but Gilani mainly relied on sloganeering, epithets and dilated much time on mismanagement of economic, social, political and foreign affairs by the previous regime.
When you don't have any accomplishments to point to, you blame someone -- anyone -- and call for the country to rally around you and your lack of accomplishments.
The prime minister declared that his government would not allow any foreign country to operate from Pakistan against terrorists and said that Pakistani forces would do the job for which the international community has been taken into confidence. He said Pakistan was passing through a critical phase which demanded that, "we should not waste our time in levelling allegations against each other."
Except when politically convenient for him to do so.
He appealed to the nation to give time to the elected government to deliver specially in improving the deteriorating economic situation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/21/2008
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#1
What on earth is loadshedding, when applied to the Pakistani government?
Bankhead came from a powerful Democratic political family in the South in general and Alabama in particular. Her father was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936-1940 (in the 74th, 75th, and 76th Congresses), immediately preceding Sam Rayburn. She was the niece of Senator John H. Bankhead II, and granddaughter of Senator John H. Bankhead. Bankhead herself was a Democrat, albeit one of a more liberal stripe than the rest of her family.
#6
Fred, I do appreciate the opportunity you give us to see these women in their prime, particularly since previously I'd only seen them in their old age when I couldn't figure out what the attaction was.
Two militants were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Swat's Matta tehsil on Sunday. The security forces retaliated when the militants attacked a security post in the Venai area. Two militants were killed and five injured in the clash. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan confirmed the killing of only one militant.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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Barely a day after killing 10 army personnel, militants on Sunday gunned down an army officer and a policeman besides wounding four others in a fierce encounter in Rajouri district of Jammu region. Elsewhere, two militants and two civilians, including a tourist were killed and four others wounded in different incidents across the valley since Saturday evening.
Rajouri gunbattle: Acting on a tip-off regarding presence of militants, police and Army launched a joint cordon-and-search operation in upper reaches of Zadawali near Shahdra Sharief in Thanamandi on Saturday night. Shafiq Mir quoting police sources reports from Rajouri: When Major Bhano Partap Singh of 43 RR and SOG head constable, Anjeeb Ranna alias Angu Ranna entered a house, the militants present there opened indiscriminate fire killing both on the spot.
Sources said other troopers had to take shelter in maize field after they came under heavy fire from the militants. Two soldiers and a policeman were injured in the assault. They were identified as sepoy Ravinder Singh, lance naik Gyan Prakash and constable Zaffar Javed. However, the militants managed their escape under the cover of darkness.
In a tele-statement to Greater Kashmir, Lashker-e-Taiba spokesman, Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi, claimed the militants reached their hideouts safety. "They killed four army personnel, including a major," Dr Ghaznavi claimed.
However, there is another version. Local sources said that a team of SOG and Army in civvies led by Major Singh were on the look out for militants last night. Incidentally, they entered a house where a group of militants opened indiscriminate fire killing the major and the constable from close range. Police maintained silence on whether the slain troopers were carrying arms or not.
On Sunday morning, troops launched a search operation and arrested the inmates of the house where the militants had reportedly taken shelter. Among them are Zahoor Ahmad, Muhammad Sharief, Gulzar Begum, Muhammad Zubair and Samina Akhter. Major Bhano Partap was resident of Rajasthan. He was given two out of turn promotions by the government for his anti-militancy operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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An activist group hoping to pressure the Roman Catholic church into dropping its long-standing prohibition barring women from the priesthood says it ordained three women on Sunday.
I just wore a blister on my head from scratching: How does somebody who's not the Catholic Church pretend to ordain Catholic priests?
Church officials did not recognize the ordination, and the Vatican has previously warned that women taking part in ordination ceremonies will be excommunicated. The group known as Roman Catholic Womenpriests held the ceremony at the Church of the Risen Elvis Covenant, a Protestant Church in Boston.
So they ordained women as priests in a Protestant Church? I'm sure that'll go over well with Catholics around the world.
The group said the three women -- Gloria Carpeneto of Baltimore, Judy Lee of Fort Myers, Fla., and Gabriella Velardi Ward of New York City -- are responding to a heartfelt call to serve the church as priests. A fourth woman, Mary Ann McCarthy Schoettly of Newton, N.J., was ordained as a deacon, the group said.
The Archdiocese of Boston issued a statement decrying the ceremony. "Catholics who attempt to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the women who attempt to receive a sacred order, are by their own actions separating themselves from the church," the archdiocese said.
The group says the women who are ordained remain loyal members of the church and will act as priests whether they are excommunicated or not. Sunday's ordination ceremony was performed by two women the group describes as bishops -- Ida Raming of Struttgart, Germany, and Dana Reynolds from California.
Let's be clear: they're not Catholics, whatever they call themselves.
The ceremony "is not in compliance with their man-made rules, but it's certainly in compliance with the Roman Catholic ordination rituals because our bishops were ordained by all-male Roman Catholic bishops who are in good standing with the church," as provided by the church's ordination rituals, said Bridget Mary Meehan, the group's spokeswoman.
The group, which was formed in 2002, has conducted similar ceremonies in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
In March, the archbishop of St. Louis excommunicated three women -- two Americans and a South African who were part of the Womenpriests movement -- for participating in a woman's ordination.
Pope Benedict XVI, like his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, has rebuffed calls to change traditional church teachings on the requirement that priests be male.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Group says...
I think only a bishop can ordain a priest, and I doubt if any actual Catholic bishops were in the vicinity...
#2
They can call themselves "real" catholics, but they are no more valid in that claim than would be a hand full of loose sand claiming to be a rock.
They have incurred on themselves, by their own actions, a latae sententiae excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.
No paperwork is needed. THier deliberate and intentional disavowal of the Catechism of the Catholci Chruch regarding the respect of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and their denial of the apostolic nature of the Roman Catholic Chruch pretty much shows them to no longer be a willing part of it.
THis is a fundamental nature of one of hte 7 sacraments, and now matter how much they whine, its not going to change. This is part and parcel of the theological basis for the one holy, catholic and apostoloic Church. Unlike preistly celibacy (which is a tradition that has been changed at times), this is an core part of the Church that always has been and always will be the way that it is.
What these women have done is try to force thier heresy into the Church by press release.
Why does anyone pay these people attention, other than they are attention whores?
#3
There is already a way for women to serve the Church. It's called being a nun.
It isn't quite as glamorous and exciting as being called a bishop, "retaking the Church from the patriarchy", and restoring the "good" name of the nonexistent Pope Joan in a presentation to your womyn's group, etc. But to act like there is no avenue for a woman to serve in an official capacity is total crap, and these "ladies" know it.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
07/21/2008 5:58
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#4
I just ordained my cat and my neighbor's hamster as priests in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, so it's all good times, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008 8:43
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#5
Dana Reynolds is part of a group calling themselves the "Progressive Catholic Church" here in California. They can call themselves "Mork from Ork" for all I care but that doesn't mean they are Roman Catholic priests. The Progressive Church here in Sacramento is everything you can imagine goes with the word "Progressive". Personally I care not who/how/why/when you pray but like I can't just declare myself Jewish and be Jewish, you can't just call yourself Catholic. You have to abide by and be totured by the teachings of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and (if memory serves me) there is a death match involved. ;-) No shortcuts.
#6
Its pretty easy - jsut obey the Catechism and so on, and you;re a Roman Catholic.
Don't like the rules? Go found your own church. It worked for Martin Luther and centuries of Protestants. Just don't claim to be a Roman Catholic.
The only possible reason that these women have for doing as they do, given all the protestant outlets available, is that they simply wish to destroy the Roman Catholic Church.
Otherwise, they'd simply become Anglicans or Episcopalians.
#8
While, I firmly believe the Roman Catholic Church (to which I belong) has the right to set its own rules, I do question the legitimacy of restricting women from being priests. Does anyone know the biblical proscription against women priests? I don't know the sources of this long-standing rule and would like to read it. Although, I can guess that it probably stems from the mysgonist nature of mankind 2000 years ago. Of course Jesus took 12 men as his disciples, no one in that day in age would listen to women. In this day in age, I would hope people would know better. Obviously, it is up to the Catholic Church to make the change. One day, perhaps they will realize that God created ALL his children in His image and we are ALL equal in the eyes of the Lord. Until, then I'll keep praying that the Church continues to grow and move closer to His will.
#10
2 cows in a pasture.
First cow, "wow have you heard about this mad cow disease; scary stuff."
Second cow, "What do I care, I'm a super bishop helicopter."
#11
the old testament priesthood passed through the sons of Levi... i think that is the most binding link in scripture for women not being established in the priesthood.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/21/2008 15:25
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#12
Just following in the footsteps of the Anglican Church of England. That works so well, doesn't it?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2008 15:40
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#13
"Ring the bell, quench the candle, close the book."
#15
Allahateme, you could not be more wrong in your reasoning and theology regarding the male-only priesthood.
As I wrote earlier this month:
The issue is twofold - first some say jesus was bound by the prejudices of His society that he was in, and would have appointed females if he could have gotten away with it. The second follows my examination of that.
First off, Jesus had ample opportunity to appoint women as disciples - and he was definitely not bound by the cultural norms of his day. Eating with tax collectors, healing lepers, praising a Samaritan in a parable, etc. He was not inhibited by cultural norms of his society if they were in the way of working God's will.
Now to the case of women:
Women are constantly in His company, on one occasion even privately-to the surprise of His returning disciples (John 4:27). He heals them, ignoring if necessary the ritual purity laws (Mk 5:25-34) and the inhibition against touching women (Mt 8:14-15). The story of Martha and Mary shows that the Gospel is for women, too, and that there is no separate or distinct teaching for them. When He teaches, His parables contain examples from women's lives (Lk 13:16); and in the end, at the great climax of the Christian story, as the male authors of John (Jn 20:11-18) and Matthew (Mt 28:1-10) record, it is to women that Jesus first appears after His Resurrection: they are the first witnesses (a role given them by Jesus, which they would have been denied in a Jewish court).
He even challenged the chauvinism in Jewish law that allowed men to divorce their wives. He does not hesitate to depart from the Mosaic law in order to affirm the equality of the rights of men and women with regard to the marriage bond (Mk 10:2-11; Mt 19:3-9).
Note there is no sexual connotation to these events either. Rather there is a deep contrast to his actions and those allowed him by his society. Jesus, as the Divine physician, either healed or evangelized women on a public street as with the Samaritan woman, and those acts were considered "blasphemous" according to the customs of that era.
Jesus clearly called only 12 men to be His apostles. Judas abandoned his call; when he was replaced, as described in Acts 1, it is interesting to note that no women were considered for his position, even though there were many women who would have fit the bill as faithful followers. Instead, Matthias was chosen.
One aspect of this issue that mustn't be overlooked is the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary was not chosen to receive either the mission proper to the Apostles nor the ministerial priesthood. As Christ is the New Adam, the Blessed Virgin Mary has, as one of her many titles, the distinguished title of the "New Eve." She is a sinless creature, "full of grace" (Lk 1:28-31), who certainly was more qualified to be a priest than any man in the history of the world. However, Jesus came to fulfill the will of the Father, and this certainly did not include given priestly faculties to women, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, His very own mother!
So that eliminates the issue of society and choice - Christ deliberately selected men and there were ample opportunities for Him to do otherwise. So that sets forth a huge Tradition (and is documented well in the Catechism and in the Bible), along with the other sacraments, that we follow even today in the Catholic Church.
The second line of rerasoning is that most who advocate women priesthood see the priest as a leader, and a position of power and guidance, and that those are the primary function of the preisthood. This is your apparent argument, "ahm". And its simply wrong and proceeds form faulty asusmptions.
If this were the case, that its leadership and power that were primary concern of a priest, then a credible and powerful argument could be made for women as priests.
Unfortunately, that is a demonstrably wrong functional view of the priesthood in the Catholic Church and its nearly 2000 years of tradition.
The priest has a special charism, and a primary function that differs greatly from the "social" description above (and what you wrongly believe are the functions of the priesthood)- the description above are ancillary and peripheral, not primary functions of an ordained Catholic priest.
The primary function for the Priest is to be a direct representative of God, configured to God the Father and Son, and attended by the Holy Spirit.
Christ is the Bridegroom and His Church is His Bride, and only a validly ordained man can truly represent Christ the Bridegroom. And its not just any man that can fulfill this role and assume this symbol and relationship. Only those chosen by the God, joined to his Church and ordained through apostolic succession can take up this role.
In the New Testament, we know that Christ is called the Bridegroom for His union with His Church is compared to the union between a man and a woman (Mt 9:15, 25:1ff; Jn 3:29). This same comparison is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (Ps 45ff). Using Byzantine theology we learn that as Jesus is the icon (i.e., image) of God the Father, the priest is the perfect icon (image) of Jesus.
Bottom line is that when a priest is ordained, he is ontologically configured to Jesus. A priest represents the same Jesus Who through His Incarnation became man. Therefore, only a validly ordained man can truly represent Christ the God-man. It is physically impossible for a woman to become a priest as it is physically impossible for a man to become a mother!
The Eucharist is involved as well, making thuis a fundamental core faith issue. In saying, "This is My Body...This is My Blood..." the priest cannot integrally be a woman... a woman is not a credible representative of Adam, the man, the one who finalized original sin and from whose finality the New Adam, as a priest on the Cross, liberated us. He did so according to the order of Melchizedek, the ancient priest (Gen 14:18) who prefigured Jesus offering His Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine. This prefiguring indicates that a special resemblance is essential to the sacramental character of the priesthood. The figure, or sign, is not a coating that can be removed and replaced by a woman.
This is not to say women are not holy enogh, for certainly they are. Remember in Catholic Theology, the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven are not the ministers and priests, but the saints. Charity and personal holiness are key essentials for entrance into the kingdom of God. Catholic women such as Eternal Word Television Network founder Mother Angelica, Fatima's Sister Lucia, and the late Mother Teresa exemplified and continue to exemplify this fact quite well, as do a multitude of women who were Saints. The ministerial priesthood is not a prerequisite for entrance into Heaven, and it is not uncommon for special graces that Saints exhibit to occur far outside the priesthood.
It all comes down to Christ's teaching by example, and the apostolic succession and continuity from Jesus and the Apostles to this very day, a two millienia continuity of this holy Catholic fundametnal beleif and core Sacrament to reserve the Priesthood to men as Christ did, not "traditionalism" to deny women status arbitrarily.
#16
The primary function for the Priest is to be a direct representative of God, configured to God the Father and Son, and attended by the Holy Spirit.
And I also note the fact that so many have departed so wildly from the above is a source of shame and disgrace to the current Catholic Church, be they the pedophile predators who used the priesthood as a tool to prey on the innocent, or be they that nutbag hate monger racist Obama backer in Chicago.
But these are very notable exceptions to the above - and thank God, they are few and far between, with the vast majority of priests adhering to the description as given.
Plus, it has been said that the floor of hell is paved with skulls of bishops, so the Roman Catholich Church is certainly aware of the costs of deviation from its core.
Also, be sure to NOT confuse this with priestly celibacy. This was imposed oafter sxual scandals and nepotism trheatened the very existence of the Church long ago. Unlike women priests, celibacy in not an unchangeable sacrament, its is a general rule.
For instance, married Anglican priests can convert AND remain married and still be priests in the Roman Catholic Church, so long as the marriage is their one and only, and they agree to "remain chaste within their station" (i.e. if their wife dies before they do, they will be celibate and will not remarry).
That's where the few married priests in the US Roman Catholic Church come from. Also Eastern Orthodox who are allowed to marry prior to ordination can convert to the RCC and still remain married as above.
Personally, I beleive that eventually the RCC will roll back the convention for celibacy adopted long ago. What I've heard is that the Church might allow married "permanent deacons" (who are already validly ordained and under the same vows on chasitity) after 7 years to assume the full priesthood, but limit them to being parish priests, and will not elevate them to the rank of Bishop - that being reserved for those who are married to the Church.
Certainly will that issue will be interesting, and might cut down a lot of the gay/pedophiles being able to operate inside the church.
But as far as ordanation of women?
Its simply not going to happen. There is no theology for it, and plenty against it.
#17
What I've heard is that the Church might allow married "permanent deacons" (who are already validly ordained and under the same vows on chasitity) after 7 years to assume the full priesthood, but limit them to being parish priests, and will not elevate them to the rank of Bishop - that being reserved for those who are married to the Church.
Interesting news, OS. Hadn't heard about that scenario, but it sounds kind of similar to what some Eastern Orthodox churches practice (married men can be priests but cannot rise in the hierarchy).
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
07/21/2008 18:55
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Swamp Blondie, that's probably where the RCC idea is coming from, the Eastern Orthodox.
It certainly would go a long way toward solving the shortage of parish priests.
#19
Wow, OS. Unfortunately I can't do your post justice tonight. My first take from a quick read is that you are still making assumptions as to the will of God. Sure he deliberately chose men for his disciples. But why? Can that question be answered without making assumptions?
However, Jesus came to fulfill the will of the Father, and this certainly did not include given priestly faculties to women, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, His very own mother
Where does it say this in the bible?
I'm certainly not trying to argue with you, you definitely know the Bible better than I. I do want to seperate Catholic dogma and interpretation from the actual content. Anyways,
hopefully tomorrow I'll have more time to read and digest your lengthy commentary. Thanks.
#21
Did you go to Mass this weekend? I was a lector, and this was the reading (second reading). It seems appropo to the items at hand:
For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
(St Paul's letter to the Romans)
Basically, you need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you (one of the saints) to the will of God - our minds are not sufficient in many situations and our own wills may guide us to contrary positions. "Let go and let God" per part of the homily (the rest being about the mustard seed, etc).
AHM, read up - if you are a Catholic, every single one of these is laid out in the Catechism, with scriptural references.
By the way, Catholic dogma and interpretation is what preceded and grew with the Bible from the days of the "upper room" onward.
Catholic dogma informed the canonical formation of the Bible in the various Catholic Biblical councils of Bishops between 300-425 AD. The Bible is the Word of God as "infallibly certified" by the Catholic Church in the early centuries of Christianity.
Trying to seperate Church dogma and traditions form the Bible, especially things that go back before the canonization of the New Testament, is nearly impossible and foolish, except if you reject the dogma and catechism and traditions and Sacraments of the Catholci faith - in which case you are not a Catholic, and this is a moot argument.
The apostolic succession and apostolic traditions are what formed the Church and the Bible, and have formed the Church since then - intertwined as God's way to guide the Church and the faithful. The dogma and traditions were directly carried on from Christ via Saint Peter and St Paul and their successors.
So stop trying to use one to refute the other - they come from the same wellspring, especially fundamental sacraments like baptism and the priesthood.
As for making assumptions about the will of God, its is you who is doing so. I am going off the recorded actions of Christ, and their context, and not trying to project some moderist alteration onto them.
I do not claim to know the will of God, only what I have seen and read. The Bible warns against attempts to do otherwise.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your way and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Its YOU who are making assumptions about God's will in ordaining women as priests. I am quoting the actions of Christ and two millenia of faith, tradition and scholarship behind it, instead of projecting bad modern mush-headed "feel good" "everyone is equal" pseudo-theology onto them.
Everyone is NOT equal, get that into the worldview. The thing you have confused in terms of "equality" is that God loves and forgives us, and will save us equally. But we are not all equal - each of us is given according to what God's will is for us, assuming we bend to His will. Sometimes its nice, sometimes its hard. But its the narrow gate by which we enter the Kingdom.
Finally I object to you requiring me to "prove" things while you sit back and only question.
That's an old propaganda trick, with you presuming your (false) position is true and pushing the accusation and burden of proof (wrongly) onto the other party.
Sorry, I see through it. And I reject it.
Recall that it is not me challenging you - its YOU bringing your challenge to two milleniia of apostolic succession and truth.
So its up to YOU to first refute Christ's actions and the arguments presented.
How about this: Start with trying to refute the dogma of "in persona Christi" which is fundamental to Catholicism and several Sacraments, including Holy Orders (preisthood), Baptism, and Eucharist. Its also only one of the many theological bases I presented for a male only priesthood.
When you finish with that then proceed to the other parts of the argument.
Again, its up to YOU to first refute Christ's actions and the arguments presented.
When you do that credibly, then come back to and tell where it says to ordain women as priest in word and deed in the New Testament.
Lotsa luck trying to do what hasn't been done in 2 millinea.
If you cannot do so, then you are faced with a dilemma. Either "let go and let God", and have faith in the Catholic Church, or abandon Catholicism because you cannot bend to the things required of faithful Catholics, namely being well catechised (read the catechism), and having faithin God and fiath that He guides His Church, the one, holy,catholic and apostolic Church (remember your creed you say every Sunday in Mass).
Lest you think I came up with all this on my own, I didn't. Its the result of some good teaching in catechetics and bit of basic apologetics form a Capuchin Monk who was one of my best friends on this world (and in the next, God willing).
I'm not all that smart, I just have shoulders of two millenia giants to ride upon.
You might want to consider the following from Proverbs. Sure, its easier said than done, but still a worthwhile activity to attempt.
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5, 6)
#22
TW, thats very true - our belief is that Protestants have each taken the fragments of Christianity they liked when they split from the mother Church. We, on the other hand, still have the whole of the faith.
Others disagree with that, but that's stuff for theology school.
Ecuminism is one of the bigger objectives of the modern Catholic Church. That means the Protestants are not condemned, as long as the basic Christian precepts are met.
Its not that high a wall for most denominations: the birth life death resurrection and divinity of Jesus, the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (the Trinity), baptism, profession of faith, regular prayer, regular worship of God, personal confession of sins and reconciliation with God, and over-all a willing submission to the will of God.
Those are pretty much the core of any truly Christian denomination, and they do share that with Catholicism.
The other differences and errors (such as sola scriptura, and sola fide) are what the doctrine of purgatory solves.
(I'll not get into the relationship with non-Christian religons, and those who never got the chance to "hear the Gospel" - those are intricate theological arguments and not really germane to this topic)
Hundreds of thousands of shouting, weeping and flag-waving Colombians marched on Sunday, calling for an end to the kidnappings that have plagued the country during its 44-year-old guerrilla war.
Declaring that this year's Independence Day should be renamed "Freedom Day" for the 2,800 captives held in secret jungle camps, Colombians rallied throughout the country and voiced growing hope for an end to the conflict. They called on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, and other illegal groups to stop taking hostages and enter peace talks.
The march further pressured the rebels, who have suffered recent severe setbacks as a result of President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed military offensive.
Declaring that this year's Independence Day should be renamed "Freedom Day" for the 2,800 captives held in secret jungle camps, Colombians rallied throughout the country and voiced growing hope for an end to the conflict.
It was the first such protest since two top rebel leaders were killed in March, one in a bombing raid and the other betrayed and dismembered by his own bodyguard in return for a government reward. The state had never before hit the FARC's governing secretariat.
"For the first time in my lifetime we are really starting to believe that peace is possible," said Adriana Correa, 30, a public employee who participated in the demonstration.
Uribe is seen as a hero by many Colombians for going on the attack against the leftist guerrillas who have been fighting since the 1960s. His popularity topped 90 percent after the dramatic rescue of 15 high-profile hostages on July 2.
Left-leaning opposition leaders marched alongside Uribe supporters, some of whom shouted, "No more FARC. Free hostages now."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
See how that works, you show some cajones and people stand up and cheer. (U.S. politicians take note)
#2
Isn't taking hostages against the Geneva Conventions?
Posted by: bruce ||
07/21/2008 10:59
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#3
Silly Bruce! The Geneva Convention only applies to western armies, which are cruel heartless death machines. Noble revolutionary movements like FARC, the Palestinians, and other great causes are exempt.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/21/2008 17:23
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#4
Meanwhile back in Paleoland thousends take to the streets to encourage kidnapping.
Afghan counter narcotics police have seized 44 tonnes of heroin and opium in the last three months, a big achievement in the fight against record-breaking drug production, a top government official said on Sunday.
Afghanistan's poppy fields produced 93 percent of the world's opium last year, with more land under drug cultivation than Colombia, Bolivia and Peru combined, the United Nations says. But Afghan authorities say they are making some progress in cutting drug production, with more provinces expected to be declared poppy-free this year. A poor poppy harvest and high wheat prices are also expected to discourage drug production.
"We have seized more than one tonne of heroin, 43 tonnes of opium and 256 tonnes of cannabis in the past three months from all over Afghanistan," Deputy Interior Minister General Dawood Dawood told reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul.
"Around 463 cases of people involved in drugs issues have been finalised. That includes foreign and Afghan drug traffickers," he said. Illegal drugs are estimated to be worth more than $3 billion a year to the Afghan economy. That money helps fuel official corruption and also helps the Taliban insurgency through a 10 percent tax the militants impose on poppy farmers.
Western officials complain Afghan authorities have failed to act against high-profile officials involved in the drugs trade, but Dawood said those arrested included senior officials. "We have arrested people involved in the drug trafficking business up to district governors and police chiefs and handed them over to the court," Dawood said. There are currently some 4,000 police officers in the campaign against drugs in Afghanistan, a small number considering the scale of the problem.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
It's a good start, and will get easier so long as wheat prices remain seductively high.
#2
Letting the troops put a torch to ANY poppies they find would also help. I dunno who came up with the ridiculous policy we have now, but they should be brought up to answer for it.
#6
Agent Orange kills EVERYTHING, and takes about six months or more to wash out of the environment. It's also not safe for children or other living things. Better to use RoundUp or some other, less toxic system. Have the Afghans plant corn, and build an ethanol plant or two. That'll help them, since they have to import all their gasoline, and put a crimp in the poppy cultivation at the same time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2008 12:06
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#7
Also, if more Afghans aquired the habit of drinking ethanol, they might start to call bullshit on the taliban's holier than thou crap...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/21/2008 12:56
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#8
Rodeo works as well as Roundup, without the wetlands effects. Shuts up the eco-whiners
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/21/2008 19:15
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Chief of Jamiat Ahle Hadith (JAH) Professor Sajid Mir has said that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led government's 100 days in office was a total failure. "The PPP government could do nothing in its first 100 days to the dismay of people, who had pinned high hopes on it after the Feb 18 elections," Mir told a news conference here on Sunday.
He said it's unfortunate that since the government's formation three months ago, law and order had deteriorated, prices of goods and joblessness had increased and the deposed judges had not been restored.
He said it's unfortunate that since the government's formation three months ago, law and order had deteriorated, prices of goods and joblessness had increased and the deposed judges had not been restored.
Sajid Mir said that people had rejected the PML-Q because its government had risked the country's sovereignty during the last five years but the current government was doing the same by ignoring frequent US interference in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
He said the November 3 emergency, dismissal of judges for refusing to take oath under the provisional constitutional order (PCO), military action in Balochistan and the killing of Baloch nationalist Akbar Bugti and the Lal Masjid operation were some of the many misdeeds of the previous government.
The JAH chief praised the Awami National Party-led government in the NWFP for starting negotiations with the Taliban to restore peace in the province. He, however, said that some secret forces seemed to be at work to fail the peace process. "In my view, the US is to blame for this situation," he said. He suggested that the government tell the US that the FATA issue could be resolved through peace and not use of force.
This article starring:
Akbar Bugt
SAJID MIR
Jamiat Ahle Hadith
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
US interference in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
The root of all their probs?
Damn my eyes, but I think it is a little more complicated than that.
Holding a poster of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, recently released Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt joined demonstrations around the world on Sunday urging an end to kidnappings.
Good for her.
Shalit has been in captivity in the Gaza Strip since being abducted by Palestinian militants in a June 2006 cross-border raid. Negotiations for his release have been slow, particularly amid a fragile Gaza cease-fire now in place between Israel and Hamas.
Thousands gathered near the Eiffel Tower to hear Betancourt, a Franco-Colombian politician rescued from captivity this month after spending more than six years as a hostage of Colombian rebel forces.
Betancourt was addressing a rally in the French capital as part of a series of demonstrations around the world to protest kidnappings. "We want freedom for everyone," said Betancourt, drawing loud applause from the crowd, many of whom chanted the Spanish word for freedom "Libertad!"
Betancourt's speech, delivered in Spanish, was shown on television in Colombia, which is also preparing to hold a mass anti-kidnapping rally on its national day. Hundreds of Colombians gathered in Madrid's Plaza Mayor over the weekend to call for peace in Colombia and to celebrate Betancourt's liberation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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Troops and helicopter gunships killed 15 pro-Taliban militants and captured 60 others while clearing Turawari -- a restive northwestern town near the Afghan border -- the military said on Sunday. "15 militants have been killed in the operation so far, while 60 others have been captured," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. Abbas said helicopter gunships were providing cover for troops on the ground.
"Five of our soldiers have been injured," he said, adding that troops had managed to push militants out of the valley and were now targeting them in the mountains. Abbas provided no details of how the militants were killed or captured in the operation, which the army has said will continue until the area is cleared of militants.
More than 100 militants attacked the Turawari fort after midnight, but were held off by the 29 paramilitary soldiers inside until army reinforcements arrived. Army troops destroyed six vehicles belonging to the militants as they fled. An estimated 20 militants were injured. Authorities launched an offensive in the increasingly troubled district of Hangu on Wednesday after Taliban insurgents occupying the area killed 17 paramilitary troops in an ambush.
Pakistan is under intense pressure from the United States and other Western allies to crack down on Taliban forces on its side of the porous border with Afghanistan. The operation in Hangu, which borders the country's militant-plagued tribal belt, is the biggest against extremists since Pakistan's new government took charge. Meanwhile, curfew in Doaba city entered into day 12 while curfew in Hangu continued for the fifth consecutive day.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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(Xinhua) -- A senior Sudanese official said here his country is seeking for legal defenses to refute International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor's call to arrest Sudanese president over alleged war crimes, the Egyptian state MENA news agency reported on Sunday.
Sudan is consulting Arab legal experts in this regard, Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Salman al-Wasilla said at a seminar in Cairo.
Describing the ICC prosecutor's decision as "faulty," Wasilla said an Arab lawyers' delegation would visit Sudan to offer legal assistance to face the ICC allegations.
According to earlier reports, a delegation of the Arab Lawyers Union will arrive in Khartoum on July 21.
The Arab lawyers will meet Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and attend an emergency meeting to lay down a legal mechanism to deal with the ICC prosecutor's accusations.
On Monday, the Hague-based ICC's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo formally requested an arrest warrant against al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
Sudan, which is not a member of the ICC, has rejected the ICC allegations, dismissing them as "null and false" and maintaining the ICC has no jurisdiction over Sudan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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#1
They're EUrocrats, they have jurisdiction over EVERYBODY!!!
ICC is a joke, why don't we just have this guy rubbed out.
Map of the world with the states parties to the Rome Statute (as of June 2008) shown in green
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008 8:10
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Territorial jurisdiction
During the negotiations that led to the Rome Statute, a large number of states argued that the Court should be allowed to exercise universal jurisdiction. However, this proposal was defeated due in large part to opposition from the United States.[37] A compromise was reached, allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction only under the following limited circumstances:
* where the person accused of committing a crime is a national of a state party (or where the person's state has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court);
* where the alleged crime was committed on the territory of a state party (or where the state on whose territory the crime was committed has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court); or
* where a situation is referred to the Court by the UN Security Council.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008 8:11
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#5
The UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the Prosecutor of the ICC in Resolution 1593 (2005)on 31 March 2005. The resolution requires Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate with the Court. It also invites the Court and the African Union to discuss practical arrangements that will facilitate the work of the Prosecutor and of the Court, including the possibility of conducting proceedings in the region.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/21/2008 8:16
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#6
Axed, put down, taken out, relieved of duty, smoked, scragged, scuffed, croaked, stuck like a pig.
There has been a "joining and a syndication of various extremist and terrorist groups" in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which pose an internal threat to Pakistan and cause an increased flow of fighters across the border into Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman (JCSC) Admiral Mike Mullen said on Sunday.
In an interview on Fox Television, Mullen, who recently visited Pakistan and Afghanistan, said there is "no firm evidence that Al Qaeda is shifting its fighters from Iraq to Afghanistan." He said that during his visit to the region, the whole issue of FATA and safe havens for foreign fighters of Al Qaeda and the Taliban had come up. He claimed that the insurgents are now "freely, much more freely able to come across the border. They are a big challenge for all of us and will have an adverse effect on our ability to move forward in Afghanistan." He said the concern is that a safe haven exists in Pakistan where "these fighters, these additional foreign fighters," have shown up.
Timetable: A fixed timetable for withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq can jeopardise political and economic progress, the Associated Press quoted Mullen as saying on Sunday.
He said that the agreement between President George W Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to set a "general time horizon" for bringing more troops home from the war was a sign of "healthy negotiations for a burgeoning democracy".
"I think the strategic goals of having time horizons are ones that we all seek because we would like to see US forces draw down and eventually come home," Admiral Mullen said, adding, "This right now doesn't speak to either time lines or timetables based on my understanding of where we are."
The best way to determine troops' levels, the JCSC said, was to assess the conditions on the ground and to consult with American commanders. "Based on my time in and out of Iraq in recent months, I think the conditions-based assessments are the way to go and they're very solid. We're making progress and we can move forward accordingly based on those conditions," he said.
The Iraqi prime minister was quoted by a German magazine over the weekend as saying that US troops should leave "as soon as possible". He called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal". Mullen, asked about the possibility of withdrawing all combat troops within two years, said, "I think the consequences could be very dangerous."
"It is hard to say exactly what would happen. I'd worry about any kind of rapid movement that would create instability. We are engaged very much right now with the Iraqi people," Mullen said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2008
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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.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- A court on Monday barred the disgraced architect of Pakistan's atomic weapons program from speaking about nuclear proliferation, less than three weeks after he implicated the army in the sharing of nuclear technology with North Korea.
BRITAIN'S SAS has revealed plans to cut down casualty rates in Iraq and Afghanistan by parachuting in German shepherds to spy on rebels.
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Electoral Commission said on Sunday time was running out to hold provincial elections this year because of parliament's delay in passing legislation needed for the poll. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has set Oct. 1 as the date for the provincial elections, which will provide early clues on how parties will fare in parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009 -- polls that will determine if Maliki himself will remain in power.
Senator Barack Obama met with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan for nearly two hours on Sunday and "conveyed that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continuing the war against terrorism with vigor," an Afghan presidential spokesman said.
(Xinhua) -- Afghan troops have killed and injured more than three dozen insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the former stronghold of Taliban, the defense ministry said Sunday. 
AMMAN - King Abdullah II was urged on Sunday to pardon a Jordanian soldier who is serving a life sentence for killing seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997. "After around 12 years in prison, Ahmad Dakamseh deserves your majesty's special pardon," a group of 70 Islamists, unionists, lawyers, human rights activists and former officials said in a signed letter to the king.
(Xinhua) -- Four bombs exploded in the northern Spanish province of Cantabria Sunday but cause no injuries, government officials and local media said. 
The militant toll in battles between security forces and militants in the Och area of Dera Bugti rose to 33 on Sunday, while at least 9 security personnel and a Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) engineer had also been killed since the clashes started, Aaj TV reported on Sunday. The FC also arrested nine injured militants, recovering a huge cache of arms from their possessions and was using helicopters and armoured carriers in the search for militants. Meanwhile, a powerful bomb detonated outside the Frontier Corps fort and damaged its wall and two power pylons were blown up when powerful bombs detonated in the in the Kohlu district, sources said. No loss of life was reported as a result of the blasts, the channel said.
ISLAMABAD - Promising "good news soon" Yousuf Raza Gilani in his maiden address on state-run PTV, Yousuf Raza Gilani has said dictatorship is creating problems and sought support of the people to deal with challenges inherited by his government.
An activist group hoping to pressure the Roman Catholic church into dropping its long-standing prohibition barring women from the priesthood says it ordained three women on Sunday. 
Hundreds of thousands of shouting, weeping and flag-waving Colombians marched on Sunday, calling for an end to the kidnappings that have plagued the country during its 44-year-old guerrilla war.
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Holding a poster of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, recently released Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt joined demonstrations around the world on Sunday urging an end to kidnappings. 
Troops and helicopter gunships killed 15 pro-Taliban militants and captured 60 others while clearing Turawari -- a restive northwestern town near the Afghan border -- the military said on Sunday. "15 militants have been killed in the operation so far, while 60 others have been captured," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. Abbas said helicopter gunships were providing cover for troops on the ground.
