From Der Spiegel via Jerusalem Post
'Der Spiegel' quotes witnesses as saying tanks, helicopters fired shells capable of chemical weapons under observation of IRGC.
Syria tested firing systems for poison gas shells at the country's largest chemical weapons research center at Safira, east of Aleppo, last month, German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Monday, citing statements from various witnesses.
According to the report, Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers were flown in by helicopter to witness the testing.
Several empty shells, designed to carry chemical weapons, were fired by tanks and helicopters in a desert location near the research center, Der Spiegel quoted the witnesses as saying.
According to the report, Syria has reinforced security at the facility and made efforts to safeguard its electricity supply in recent months, in case of rebel attack.
Both the US and Israel have expressed concern over Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons falling into the wrong hands or being used by Syrian President Bashar Assad to quell the uprising in the country.
US President Barack Obama warned last month that any sign that Assad was starting to utilize the weapons, or move them, would constitute a "red line" that could trigger US military intervention in the conflict. A red line, ya say? Will O back up those words? I have my doubts.
"We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people," Obama told an impromptu White House news conference. He acknowledged he was not "absolutely confident" the stockpile was secure.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in July that Israel would take military action if needed to prevent Syria's chemical weapons from falling into the hands of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to Monday's report in Der Spiegel, the Safira chemical weapons research center includes scientists from North Korea and Iran who produce chemical weapons such as mustard gas and sarin which they test on animals.
The German weekly quoted a member of the Free Syrian Army as saying that the rebels are not planning to attack or capture the site.
In from the Cold blog site made these comments: It's also a well-known fact that Iran has been an active participant in Syria's WMD activities. In July 2007 "dozens" of Iranian engineers were killed (along with 15 Syrian military personnel) in an explosion at a research complex in the Aleppo region. According to Jane's Defence Weekly, the incident occurred when rocket fuel caught fire and Iranian and Syrian technicians attempted to load mustard gas onto a SCUD C missile. The blast also released a cloud of mustard, Sarin and VX nerve gas across the compound.
The 2007 disaster was detected--and analyzed--by western intelligence, as were previous tests involving chemical weapons. Syria has a sophisticated denial-and-deception (D&D) program, but there have been only modest efforts to conceal this activity. Indeed, one could make the case that Mr. Assad wants to remind Israel (and other adversaries) that his regime has a large inventory of chemical weapons and is quite prepared to use them.
It is worth noting that yesterday's test did not involve live chemical agents. That may have been a calculated move to avoid so-called "red lines" that would invite outside military intervention.
Another possibility is that the Syrians were testing some type of new binary shell design, perhaps of Iranian origin. Before filling shells with live agent, it's necessary to make sure they function as designed. If the tests were successful, series production of the "new" rounds could begin in as little as a few weeks.
Tehran has long used Syria as a proxy for the development and testing of chemical weapons, largely avoiding the risk (and international condemnation) that comes with conducting such activity on your own soil. Beefing up the Syrian arsenal also provides another benefit for Iran, forcing Israel to contend with a growing WMD threat, literally on its doorstep.
However, the systems tested at Safira are also useful for domestic applications, such as suppressing rebel forces. That's why the recent drill should be viewed as something of a dry run, both literally and figuratively. As the Assad regime continues to crumble, it is facing the choice of using WMD to retain power. And that decision may come sooner rather than later, based on the timing of the recent test.
When Syria recently confirmed its WMD weaponry (perhaps the worst-kept secret in the Middle East), the Assad government vowed they would only be used against "outside" forces. But that's a hollow vow. Collectively, Bashir Assad and his late father slaughtered tens of thousands of Syrians to maintain their hold on power. The younger Assad has no qualms about using chemical weapons against the rebels in Aleppo or other locations.
The recent test was also aimed at gauging outside reaction, particularly from Israel and the United States. Judging from Israeli media coverage, it's clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his advisers are paying very close attention. As for the U.S., it's difficult to say. so far, there's been no public reaction from the White House or the Pentagon, and with President Obama MIA from recent intelligence briefings, there are concerns about how much attention the activity is receiving at the highest levels of our government.
One thing is certain: Mr. Assad is tip-toeing along the edge of Mr. Obama's WMD red line, and appears poised to cross it in the near future. At that point, we'll learn if the red line is real, or just imaginary.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/19/2012
16:56 ||
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#1
"From Saddam - Use as needed"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/19/2012 20:07
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Better late than never, I suppose.
Two days after the Obama administration's top diplomat to the United Nations insisted the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was "spontaneous," the White House opened the door Tuesday to the possibility of other explanations.
"We have provided information about what we believe was the precipitating cause of the protest and violence based on the information that we have had available," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday. "The FBI is investigating, and that investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead."
Carney continued to claim that "we do not have any indication at this point of premeditation or pre-planned attacks," but went on to say: "we're not making declarations ahead of the facts here."
Perhaps significantly, Carney did not go so far as U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice in detailing what the administration thinks happened. In doing so, Carney appeared to acknowledge that the investigation could offer a different version of events.
Rice said on "Fox News Sunday" -- one of several Sunday show interviews she granted -- that the administration believes the attack was not "preplanned" or "premeditated." Instead, Rice said, it was a "spontaneous" reaction to protests in Egypt over an anti-Islam film, and extremist elements "joined the fray" before it "spun out of control."
However, that account clashed with claims by the Libyan president that the attack was in fact premeditated. Other sources, including an intelligence source in Libya who spoke to Fox News, have echoed those claims. The intelligence source even said that, contrary to the suggestion by the Obama administration, there was no major protest in Benghazi before the deadly attack which killed four Americans. A U.S. official did not dispute the claim.
#1
"The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker."
Seems to be a lot of truth in this article .... Pravda. I didn't want to say it. "Chesnaya Slova"
Posted by: Au Auric ||
09/19/2012 15:39
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#2
Marxism has failed everywhere else. It will fail here too despite occasional hiccups in our history such as now. I don't think the author understands America or our history. We don't particularly like jackboots no matter who wears them.
#3
...well, some of us don't. The Left appears to be fond of them and amazingly among the 'intellectually' gifted that roam our institutions of supposed higher learning.
In the six years since the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah has established four new lines. What is this new ground defense plan comprised of, and what challenge does it
#1
Why should Israel fight a ground war to the Litani River. Pound it from the air, cut the corridors for food and material and let it starve sounds workable.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
09/19/2012 11:04
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Seriously, the goal would not be for Israel to seize southern Lebanon. They did that once and came to doubt the wisdom. The goal would be to find that fat rascal Nasrallah and kill him, and as many Hezbies as can be found without risking their own people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/19/2012 13:33
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#4
cut off their power and communications and the water and sewage systems fail as well. Enjoy your own Ein-El-Hellhole, Hezbies!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/19/2012 13:49
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#5
The IDF need only know exactly the hidey-hole of Al-Slobbo Nasrallah
[Breitbart] Mother Jones, the left-wing magazine that released a controversial video of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's remarks to a fundraiser in May, now admits that it has no full tape of what Romney said, and that its video is missing "one to two minutes" at the most important moment.
The Legal Insurrection blog's William Jacobson and The Blaze both raised questions on Tuesday about whether Mother Jones had, as promised, revealed the full video, given an apparent jump cut in the critical section of Romney's remarks.
"Something is missing. Romney's 47% answer was cut off before completed, and is not picked up on the Part 2 audio video," Jacobson noted.
Late Tuesday evening, Jacobson obtained the following comment from David Corn of Mother Jones:
According to the source, the recording device inadvertently turned off. The source noticed this quickly and turned it back one [sic]. The source estimates that one to two minutes, maybe less, of recording was missed.
Corn was forced to update his original post, which promised the "full" video, to reflect the fact that a key portion of the video is, in fact, missing.
There is no way to know, without the missing footage, exactly what Romney said. On Monday evening, Romney called for a complete video of his remarks to be released.
That now turns out to be impossible, either because Romney's remarks were never recorded in full (as Mother Jones now claims), or because some of his remarks--perhaps mitigating some of the controversial effect of his statements--were selectively edited out of the tape by Mother Jones or its chain of sources (including former President Jimmy Carter's grandson).
Not that this will change anything at the macro level. Business Insider linked to CNBC and Yahoo Finance polls showing they agree with Romney's statement as originally portrayed, and are 5 to 3 more likely to vote for him after knowing about it, respectively
#1
I was surprised at the comment itself, but told myself that what was gonna count was not what Mitt said, but what he would do when (not if) he was attacked for stating the truth. Thus, I was very much more surprised, and pleased, to hear him standing by his comment. I'm sending his campaign money shortly after this friday's paycheck comes out, and will add a note specifically stating that it was his backbone that impressed me to send it.
I got caught last night watching ABC News with that disreputable old tart Diane Sawyer last night when they were talking about Romney's remarks. It pissed me off because they were not content to air the remarks but they spent a couple of minutes afterwards spinning, interpreting and wondering about the so called "fallout" that they were certain would follow. The whole tone of it was all about how Romney had made a huge mistake and the clever journalists had caught him at it. I was so upset that Mrs. Uluque sent me out of the room.
#6
Ebbang: the spin was the essential part of the story. The issue isn't what Mittens said, it's what the press can do with it.
We don't have a press: we have Obama cheerleaders with bylines.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/19/2012 13:35
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#7
And in 10 years half of them will be out of jobs. I'll be shocked if the NYT lasts another 5, but phony accounting can last you a long way I suppose.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/19/2012 14:12
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#8
Romney's campaign should be doing its own recordings. Then, the second some bullshit like this comes out, release the unedited version.
#9
Bill Jacobson has been doing yeoman work this year. I comment over at LI occasionally and left a thought on this issue as well --
Im not clever enough to know for certain if the camera moved or not, or whether the source edited the video. But the video we do see shows Mittens as a true conservative, as an excellent dinner speaker, and as someone who is engaging, comfortable and clear-thinking.
We may never know what is in the missing video. But Im comfortably certain that the missing video doesnt hurt Mitt in any way. More important, the video we DO see doesnt hurt Mitt in any way.
If the Romney campaign has any sense theyll make TV and radio ads from these video clips.
Mr. Corn and Mother Jones: thanks for bringing the video to the publics attention. Well-played, gentlemen, well-played.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/19/2012 17:04
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#10
My gawd the RoseMary Wood Virus is back in the wild!
#13
I'm not sure who this blogger is, other than tht the Instapundit linked to this post, but he has done a LGF analysis on the gap between the two vidoe segments put up by Mother Jones. Link
#14
Not sure it matters. The lies are in the context of framing the story. They pretend as if he only wants to govern the 53% instead of saying he won't waste time campaigning trying to convince the 47% to vote for him which would be a waste of time and money. I think most Americans would agree that's sensible and further one might quibble with the 47% being the right number for those addicted to the government cheeze but certainly those that are would be unlikely to vote anyone else in power.
#1
In sum, Islamists want to impose Shari'a, Westerners are divided, and the battle of wills is just getting started.
As Roger Scruton tell us, there is "The West and The Rest": Globilization and the Terrorist Threat.
If we fail to recognize the spell blinding myth of multiculturalism and diversity we will join the long list of doomed civilizations that litter the ash heap.
#3
You cannot have a president and various other government officials cave-in on our first amendment and not have allowed Sharia Law to creep into our culture and country. The time is over-due to have a good house-cleaning in Washington.
#1
During the Vietnam period, it was proposed to launch a geosynchronous sat of such size as to be able to direct reflected sunlight during the night to an area of military operations. Employing mylar similar to the earlier Echo satellites, it would create a reflective surface large enough to create an artificial moonlight. The usual suspects raised a ruckus that it would interfere with 'natural' cycles of the flora and fauna of any region [and nighttime ops of the enemy who they sided with].
#2
One frightening passage: Our UAVs over Afghanistan fly with their strobes flashing to avoid collisions. If a Predator or Reaper crashes into a commercial airliner because it was flying blacked out while staring at the ground, that is a problem. The enemy can see our UAVs from miles away.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/19/2012 14:34
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#3
Our UAVs over Afghanistan fly with their strobes flashing to avoid collisions. If a Predator or Reaper crashes into a commercial airliner because it was flying blacked out while staring at the ground, that is a problem. The enemy can see our UAVs from miles away.
Air Tasking Orders (ATO's) are issued and parameters (altitudes and operational boxes) are well defined. There is quite a lot of planning and safety involved in this process. "Seeing" a UAV aloft from the ground is very difficult if not impossible.
#1
Good for them. Where can I buy a copy. Mean while, MSM bashes Christian with big story on Jesus's wife has been found. (Maybe hoping that will make the Mohammedans happy?)
Expect "spontaineous" extremely violent orgies of savagery from Christians? Nah. Trying to break rock is no fun and never lasts long.
#3
I can see it now, the first phase of the war with Iran will not be a strike on their nuclear facilities, it will be an all out cartoon assault by Western countries. The islamists' will seethe, rage, go more nutser, and their heads will explode.
A senior adviser to the Chinese government has called for an attack on the Japanese bond market to precipitate a funding crisis and bring the country to its knees, unless Tokyo reverses its decision to nationalise the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea.
#5
Chinese are going after Japanese web sites too. But that's nothing new. They come after the server I administer every day. You gotta keep up with your computer security when there is an entire division of the PLA dedicated to hacking. It just goes to show the kind of people they are.
#7
FYI see also CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Russia Today] cCHINA TO CRIPPLE JAPAN WID FINANCIAL WAR OVER ISLES ROW.
* Also, TOPIX > CHINA DECLARES ECONOMIC WAR ON JAPAN.
-------------
LOOKS LIKE "FISH/FISHBOAT DIPLOMACY" IS SLOWLY DEVOL INTO DE FACTO "FISH/FISHBOAT WARFARE"???,
as at last check, the Japan Coast Guard is repor sending up to 50 JCG Cutters to the Senkakus - on its part, China has approximately 11 CMS vessels + one processing ship in same. AFAIK A TOTE OF 14 CHINESE + JAPANESE STTAE VESSELS ARE IN DAOYUS/SENKAKUS WATERS - 12 CHINESE AS DESCRIBED, + 2 JAPANESE COAST GUARD.
OTOH, as per WORLD MILITARY FORUM, CHINA = repor detached two PLAN FRIGATES to widin 80 nautical miles of the Daoyus/Senkakus. * unconfirmed*.
* WORLD NEWS > [Japan Coast Guard] JCG: 11 CHINESE SHIPS [CMS] NEAR DISPUTED ISLES.
* SAME > [Daily Yomiuri] CHINA TIES SENKAKUS ROW TO HISTORICAL CONFLICTS [Colonial + Wartime], PROTESTS AT KEY SITES AIMED AT STIRRING ETHNIC SENTIMENTS [Nationalism], ISLAND PURCHASE COUNTS AS OBSTRUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL ORDER.
A French magazine ridiculed Mohammad on Wednesday by portraying him naked in cartoons. The French government, which had urged the magazine not to print the images, said it was temporarily shutting down premises including embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday.
Riot police were deployed to protect the Paris offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo after its latest cover showing an Orthodox Jew pushing the turbaned figure of Mohammad in a wheelchair. On the inside pages, several caricatures of the Prophet showed him naked.
Essam Erian, acting leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said, "We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people's beliefs."
Calling for a U.N. treaty against insulting religion, he added, "We condemn violence and say that peaceful protests are a right for everyone. I hope there will be a popular western and French reaction condemning this."
One of the cartoons, called "Mohammad: a star is born", portrayed a bearded figure crouching over to display naked buttocks and genitals, a star covering his anus.
A second cartoon, in reference to the scandal over a French magazine's decision to publish topless photos of Prince William's wife, showed a topless, bearded character with the caption: "Riots in Arab countries after photos of Mrs. Mohammad are published."
Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier,said, "We have the impression that it's officially allowed for Charlie Hebdo to attack the Catholic far-right but we cannot poke fun at fundamental Islamists. It shows the climate - everyone is driven by fear, and that is exactly what this small handful of extremists who do not represent anyone want - to make everyone afraid, to shut us all in a cave."
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the authorities had rejected a request to hold a march against the Mohammad film in Paris. He said, "There is no reason for us to allow conflicts that do not concern France to enter our country."
Front page WaPo, again.
As Mitt Romney struggles to put a cascade of missteps behind him, the Republican presidential nominee faces a twofold challenge: first, to steer the conversation back to the economy, and second, to prevent his recent difficulties from curdling into a perception that the race is becoming unwinnable.
"The challenge to the Romney campaign is how do you make the number one issue the number one issue," said David Winston, a pollster who advises GOP congressional leaders. "Any day there are other things going on that do not allow them to make the number one issue the number one issue is not a good day for the campaign." We that's it then. The MSM keep finding distractions and staying away from perspectives that make The One look less than optimal. "My expectation is that if you want to be president, you have to work for everyone, not just for some," Obama said during a taping Tuesday of "The Late Show With David Letterman." And that has been ALL OVER the radio for the past few days, along with the ensuing cheers. But I'm not sure how to tell you this, Mr. President - as far as I'm concerned, you have not been working for everyone for any given day of the last four years.
But Obama also noted that presidential candidates slip up on the campaign trail. He expressed regret over an episode in 2008, in which a recording device caught Obama telling wealthy donors in San Francisco that some small-town Americans become bitter and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."
"The danger date for Romney is October 4, the day after the first and most important debate," said one veteran GOP operative, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about Romney's prospects. "And he needs to keep an eye on Capitol Hill, because members of Congress are always the first rats off the ship." Too candid an opinion to name names, unless you're caught on a secret recording.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/19/2012
06:23 ||
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#1
Willard has got to get off the apology tour, take the 47% issue, sort out valid recipients, flesh it out with skyrocketing Food Stamp increases, Social Security disability fraud, unemployment facts, and drive it home!
This is a winner if he can craft the argument properly and STOP using terms like "inelegant".
#2
I saw the Mother Jones 52 minute video or at least most of it. The video gave a good look at the Romney that doesn't come across in the 24/7 news cycle sound bites. Mother Jones was probably hoping for red meat that just wasn't there. The 2 min they thought was going to be harmful is only so in the minds of the donks who will vote for "O" even as he fiddles or the Titanic is sinking. Another distraction--time to move on--nothing to see.
But, Mittens is a lousy campaigner. I worked on his '94 Senate campaign. He sucked then and hasn't gotten any better. Running against Obama should be easy. Mitten just isn't the guy to do it.
I don't think Mitt can win, but I do think Obama might lose.
#4
I can envision a worst case scenario where this muslim outrage thing graduates from burning US Embassies to hostage taking, beheadings, and domestic violence here at home. Champ's alleged handling of foreign policy is rapidly being revealed for what it is. He knows he can't pick the turd up from the clean end, so he's attacking Willard with everything he's got.
#5
But, Mittens is a lousy campaigner. I worked on his '94 Senate campaign. He sucked then and hasn't gotten any better. Running against Obama should be easy. Mitten just isn't the guy to do it.
If Romney loses, I think the post-mortem will be that Romney didn't have the political skills to win the presidency, due to his inexperience in politics. He overpowered his GOP opponents in 2012 because (1) he spent more money than all the other candidates combined, thanks to business sector support and (2) he had one liberal opponent who dropped out early, whereas the conservatives stayed in till the end. If the trailing conservatives had made a pact to pull out a little earlier, there would have been a united front against Romney. I almost want to say that if there's a place for campaign finance limits through Federal funding, it's in the GOP nominating process, so that guys like Romney can't simply pummel his opponents into submission with unlimited amounts of money.
Look - I don't blame the losing conservatives for sticking it out until the last minute - many gave a year or more of their lives seeking the nomination. At the same time, I think the most experienced politicians are also the ones with the best political instincts, in the sense that they have a better feel* of what wins votes and what doesn't. Romney's single term as MA governor is nowhere near enough political experience to give him an understanding of how to win elections.
Even Obama had more political experience than Romney when he ran for the presidency. Despite being an arriviste from Hawaii who parachuted into Chicago politics, he managed to win an Illinois State Senate position against authentically black race hustlers, and then won a Democratic Senate primary against significant Democratic opposition, thereby catapulting him into federal office. All told, he spent 12 years in politics before running for the presidency. But in a sense, he's been running for the presidency all his life, with his book-length musings on the strategic and tactical aspects of getting political power. Bottom line is that Obama has sunk 20-30 years of his life figuring the practical ins and outs of winning elections. Romney has 4. In retrospect, it's not entirely surprising that Obama steamrolled Hillary Clinton *and* John McCain.
* The reason I use the word "feel" is because vote-winning strategies change. Goldwater's use of defense issues failed miserably, even though Kennedy's myth-making about the "missile gap" worked for him.
#6
If this episode leads the Romney campaign to loosen the bonds on Ryan it could get interesting. Mitt is a manager, not a leader. Ryan has leadership/motivation potential. That is why his nomination reconciled the base. Free Paul Ryan.
#7
Please, please, Mitt. Do not go John McCain on us. Embrace your 47% remark. It was the best thing I've heard you say so far. WAPO is gonna hate you anyway. Run with it. Go for it.
#8
Well, IMHO, for the past four years I've watched all the Karl Roves and their ilk in the commentariat say, "If it only weren't for Sarah Palin we'd have prevailed against Obama; please give us a more professional candidate and we PROMISE we in the rest of the party will actually act professional this time."
Well, they got their dream "act professional" candidate, but PROFESSIONALISM DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT.
The Press is going to play the same damn gotcha games against Romney they did against Palin, and guess what? It's a little too late to actually start learning the rules of the game and to start fighting back, there's basically only a month left in the campaign.
#12
You shouldn't worry about the "47" video for much longer. It's already been proven the tape was cut out during that part of the speech he gave. Scumbag who posted it claims it was "a mistake of 1-2 minutes but the context was already shown". Yeah, sure it was. And the damn video-camera, angle and all, didn't move an inch in the before and after part that was cut off. LegalInsurrection is all over it.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/19/2012 14:08
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#13
Zhang:
One nit to pick. Romney is not an inexperienced politician. He's been running for one thing or another for 17 years, give or take. It's just that, with the exception of one term as governor of MA, he always loses.
I don't want to be the dark harbinger of doom here. I still think Champ will lose. If any incumbent president is beatable, this is the guy. I'm just really disappointed that we went with Mitt. We had much, much better options. It will be nice to see Champ retreat to his Hawaiian paradise in January, but I'm not looking forward to spending the next 4 years fighting the same battles against a president of our own party.
#15
Don't forget about the Congress. If we elect another 20 Reps and 10 Senators with Tea Party leanings, Mitt will be more malleable in that direction.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/19/2012 15:05
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#16
The missus is Jewish and said she would vote for a ham sandwich so long as it's not Obama. I figure that's pretty serious.
There just may be a lot of people in the 47% who don't count themselves as living off the government--they just want a job and don't want to be in the position they are in. Romney stacks up fairly good when compared to Obama. Obama is a fraud, an empty suit, an empty chair. He doesn't do well without a teleprompter. A skillful debater could make him crumble. There is so much low-hanging fruit surrounding this guy and his administration just waiting to be picked for the debates. His record is terrible. His administration is not good on the issues of the day. He is good on promises and give-aways. His ideology sucks. He just might crumble in a withering debate or resort to lying. If he resorts to manipulation of the truth and Romney is prepared, he should be able to handle that. He is aware of this tendency in Obama and mentioned it on TV--I'm surprise the media didn't go ballistic--they are nearly as bad as the islamists who see cartoons that make them crazier.
#17
The MSM and the WH are trying to push the fiasco in Bengazi, etc.,below the fold. So just about anything Mitt did would be a "campaign misstep"
Heck, he could have spilled catsup on his tie at a Micky D's and they would have made a front page story out of it.
The bigger issue is they are just wagging the dog to get attention diverted from the complete disaster brewing in the ME and how screwed up BO's foreign policy is.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
09/19/2012 15:41
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#18
Does anyone remember how many people showed up and waited in long lines, FOR A CHICKEN SANDWICH? All across the nation, wherever there was a Chick-fil-A!
That is what is coming on election day. I'm not voting for Romney, I'm voting the Commie off the island.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
09/19/2012 16:49
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#19
I will low crawl to our polling place if I have to.
#21
I would vote for a syphalic camel before I'd vote for Bambi.
Syphalis can be cured - socialist stupidity can't.
So I'm supporting Romney and donating to his campaign, and to the House/Senate campaigns of fiscal conservatives (I think the federal gummint should butt OUT of social stuff - leave that to the individual states).
I will admit I hadn't donated to Mitt before he named Ryan as his running mate; intended to, but just hadn't gotten around to dipping into the war chest yet. He got a very large donation from me the day after he named Ryan. That's when I got excited.
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/19/2012 18:49
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#22
Shipman, "below the fold" is newspaper-speak for pushing articles to lesser places within the paper so that they do not assume any importance and are consigned to irrelevancy. Other variant sayings are "put on page 10" or "with the obituaries".
The argument then can be made that "we published it". Yes, but it's like a Congressman addressing the House floor after the day's session is over. It's for the record only.
#23
Iblis: One nit to pick. Romney is not an inexperienced politician. He's been running for one thing or another for 17 years, give or take. It's just that, with the exception of one term as governor of MA, he always loses.
Would you call someone who's failed the police exam 12 years an experienced cop? An experienced politician is someone who has held elected office. Romney has repeatedly run for elected office, but only served in elected office for 4 years. This means that he has only spent 4 years thinking about the art of winning office. Someone who was serious about politics would have moved to a solidly red state where he could have (1) done more good and (2)spent years in office working with the legislature and getting re-elected. Romney is a dilettante who thinks winning office is just another consulting gig you can parachute into. This is why Obama will probably defeat him in November. Relative to Obama, Romney knows everything about running a business and nothing about politics. The art of winning political office is probably no different from anything else - the more you do it, the better you get at it. Romney's been spending too much time doing things other than politics - he hasn't been willing to make the sacrifices needed by moving to a red state and holding office, and is now paying the price for his lack of attention.
#24
Why was Bush a much more effective politician than Romney? Because he managed his dad's campaigns and was a GOP governor in a conservative state for 8 years, a position where you can do a lot more than being the GOP governor of a liberal state like MA.
Romney is an experienced campaigner. Is that better?
Experienced, but not skilled.
And prior to being elected president, Obama had held public office for 4 years, exactly the same as Romney.
One last point. I am sick unto death of hearing about how Romney's hands were tied because MA is a blue state. Rubbish. Pawlenty managed to run a blue state as a conservative, more or less. Romney ran in MA to Ted Kennedy's left.
#26
And prior to being elected president, Obama had held public office for 4 years, exactly the same as Romney.
The number is 12 years, 8 of them as an Illinois state senator.
One last point. I am sick unto death of hearing about how Romney's hands were tied because MA is a blue state. Rubbish. Pawlenty managed to run a blue state as a conservative, more or less. Romney ran in MA to Ted Kennedy's left.
While in office, Romney dealt with a legislature that was 80% Democratic. When he ran against Kennedy in 1992, the legislature was also 80% Democratic.
As MN governor, Pawlenty came into office with one house that was majority Republican and another that was evenly balanced. Having said that, I think Pawlenty was an excellent candidate. Although he's as colorless as Romney, I don't recall him making any gaffes. The guy simply did not have the resources to get the GOP nod. If he had Romney's money, he'd have won the nomination and be polling ahead of Obama today. The guy's been in some political office or other since 1989. I think if he runs again in 2016, he's got a solid shot at the nomination, assuming Romney loses this year.
Female soldiers from Fort Campbell deploying to Afghanistan will field the first U.S. Army body armour that is shorter and better tailored specifically to fit women's physiques.
#3
...not likely B. Pregnancy is all too often used to get out of the theater of operations. Remember last year or so when the Commander in Iraq threaten courts martial for females getting preggy [as male soldiers/grunts were punished for thousands of years for 'self inflicted' wounds or disability to avoid combat or hardship] creating the highly expected righteous political fire storms in the Beltway. Its one of the unspoken politically incorrect slow burning fuses in the service that generates animosity and highlights the PC higher ups divergence from the ranks.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced it will close its offices in Russia following an order from the authorities there to cease operations.
The Russian government gave the US until 1 October to close the mission, accusing it of meddling in politics.
USAID has worked in Russia for two decades, spending nearly $3bn (£1.8bn) on aid and democratic programmes. Worked well, didn't it. Maybe the Rooskies are right and it was all a waste of money...
The expulsion follows a government crackdown on pro-democracy groups.
"The decision was taken mainly because the work of the agency's officials far from always responded to the stated goals of development and humanitarian cooperation. We are talking about attempts to influence political processes through its grants," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Fake gold bars turn up in Manhattan - A 10-ounce gold bar costing nearly $18,000 turned out to be a counterfeit.
The bar was filled with tungsten, which weighs nearly the same as gold but costs just over a dollar an ounce.
Ibrahim Fadl bought the bar from a merchant who has sold him real gold before. But he heard counterfeit gold bars were going around, so he drilled into several of his gold bars worth $100,000 and saw gray tungsten -- not gold.
What makes so devious is a real gold bar is purchased with the serial numbers and papers, then it is hollowed out, the gold is sold, the tungsten is put in, then the bar is closed up. That is a sophisticated operation.
#4
When precious metals are once again outlawed in the Obama Nation, and Food Stamps finally become the coin of the realm, this problem will not exist.
The armys defences on the China border will get a major offensive boost with the impending deployment of two tank brigades, one each in Ladakh and north-east India. This is the first time that India will deploy armoured formations on the China border. Such formations, equipped with main battle tanks and BMP-II infantry combat vehicles, are traditionally used for striking into enemy territory. How refreshing, a journalist who read a book about military affairs.
Authoritative MoD (Ministry of Defence) sources tell Business Standard that the plan, cleared by the MoD, involves raising six new armoured regiments, equipped with 348 tanks (58 tanks per regiment, including reserves). In addition, three mechanised infantry battalions will be raised, amounting to about 180 BMP-IIs. Think of all that graft. Indians are salivating.
The decision to deploy tanks to beef up Indias light, mountain infantry divisions was taken due to doctrinal changes in Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). The PLA has deployed armoured and motorised formations in both their military regions across the Line of Actual Control, as the de facto Sino-Indian border is called. According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Lanzhou Military Region, which faces Ladakh, has 220,000 PLA troops, including an armoured division and two motorised infantry divisions (a division has three brigades). The Chengdu Military Region, opposite Indias north-eastern states, has some 180,000 PLA troops, including two armoured brigades and four motorised infantry divisions.
The Ladakh-based 14 Corps will be allocated an armoured brigade to cover the flat approaches from Tibet towards Indias crucial defences at Chushul. In the Sino-Indian war of 1962, six vintage AMX-13 tanks that the Indian Army had airlifted to Chushul inflicted serious losses and delay on the advancing Chinese.
The second armoured brigade will be located in the Siliguri corridor in Bengal, covering the approaches from Sikkim to the plains. One regiment will be located on the flat, 17,000-feet-high North Sikkim plateau, on which border areas are hotly disputed between China and India.
As first reported in Business Standard, India is also raising a mountain strike corps in the northeast, consisting of two mountain divisions with about 40,000 soldiers. The addition of an armoured brigade would add real teeth to the strike corps.
The army demanded such capability because Chinas infrastructure build-up in Tibet allows it to rapidly concentrate forces in a sector, overwhelming the Indian defenders there. If China manages to capture a chunk of territory, India will no longer be forced into bloody, Kargil-style, counter-attacks to recapture it. Instead, an Indian strike corps could launch an offensive in an area of its choosing, capturing Chinese territory.
The north-east has already seen a vastly strengthened Indian Air Force (IAF). Sukhoi-30MKI fighters are flying from new IAF air bases in Tezpur and Chhabua, with additional air bases coming up in Jorhat, Guwahati, Mohanbari, Bagdogra and Hashimara. Six squadrons of the anti-aircraft Akash missile will defend north-eastern airspace. The IAF is modernising eight Advanced Landing Grounds, which would support offensive operations in the sector.
The Iranian government recently conducted a major cyber attack on a major U.S. financial institution that a military intelligence report said is a sign Tehran is waging covert war against the West.
The cyber attack was not successful but was one of several Iranian-backed electronic strikes detected in recent months that highlights the growing threat from Tehran, a major backer of international terrorism, according to a recent report by the Joint Staff intelligence directorate, known as J-2.
"Iran's cyber aggression should be viewed as a component, alongside efforts like support for terrorism, to the larger covert war Tehran is waging against the west," the report, dated Sept. 14, concluded.
Iran's hostile posture against the United States is well known. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the Joint Staff J-2's hawkish assessment of the Iranian threat contrasts sharply with the more conciliatory policies of the B.O. regime, a defense official familiar with the report said. For Pentagon's J-2 to acknowledge in the internal report that a covert war is underway was unusual, the official added.
No other details were available on the previously undisclosed attempted Iranian financial cyber attack.
Last year China was accused of a number of cyber attacks of espionage and Intelligence gathering and now they are transferring that hacking knowledge to the Iranians. The Iranian Cyber Army had hacked a few popular social networking site and claimed their dominance in the cyber world but this was mainly a few Iranians militants now with the purchase of the new equipment the real Iranian Cyber Army is getting its feet wet.
#9
As of last weekend ... Israel has mobilized its reservists and deployed them as major reinforcements to its northern border and Golan Hights. Official word is that this is just an exercise ... but there was no early announcement to the reservists.
#12
OK fair response. So the next question is - do those reservists go home again in a few days?
Meanwhile ... where do Islamic terror groups strike next? Obvious response is French embassies and companies. But maybe also locations that are symbols of western religion ... Notre Dame Cathedral (France), Pope & Vatican (Italy), St Pauls Cathedral (London), Saint Patricks Cathedral (New York).
A judge in Arizona ruled Tuesday that police can immediately start enforcing the most contentious section of the state's immigration law, marking the first time officers can carry out the so-called "show me your papers" provision.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton is the latest milestone in a two-year legal battle over the requirement. It culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that upheld the provision on the grounds that it doesn't conflict with federal law.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/19/2012 8:16
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The decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton...
...reflects getting her hands slapped by SCOTUS with enough face saving space not to have any further reviews by her immediately referred to a alternate impartial bench.
At last, the violent rallies against the U.S. embassy in Cairo, in reaction to an anti-Islam video, and Egypt's laxidasical efforts to defend American assets, have yielded a real result: talks about $1 billion in debt relief and millions more in aid to Egypt are suspended, according to U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
There will not be new aid approved for Egypt until after the November elections, and talks intended to ease to payment of funds that have already been approved are stalled, the officials said.
If Romney wins there may not be aid after the election, either, at least aid without strings...
The U.S. annual aid to Egypt comes to about $1.6 billion,
Borrowed from China...
and the Obama Administration was fully prepared to continue providing this aid, despite the election of a new government in Egypt run by the Moslem Brüderbund. Indeed, President B.O. has proposed an additional $1 billion in debt relief for Egypt, whose debt to America stands at about $3 billion.
Of course Champ did. He's favored the Muslim Brotherhood all along...
The major hurdle in the path of U.S. funds to Egypt is the Republican House of Representatives which last year attached conditions to U.S. aid, most notably a requirement that the State Department certify that Egypt is abiding by its peace treaty with Israel.
Several Congress members have been proposing additional conditions. And there's been some pushback on the part of the State Department. For instance: this week, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wanted to hold a hearing on U.S. relations with Egypt, but it was canceled because the State Department refused to send witnesses. DOS instead offered a private briefing for politicians, a congressional aide told Rooters.
According to the Washington Post, American and Egyptian officials were in the final stages of negotiating hundreds of millions of dollars in aid just as the protests went kaboom! outside the embassy and American flags were being set on fire.
And a delegation of 120 U.S. business leaders was in Cairo at the same time as well, as the State Department was trying to encourage foreign investment in Egypt.
Here's a heretical thought: let Egypt collapse. Let the Egyptians see the result of 50 years worth of knavery, thuggery and foolishness on the part, not just of their political leaders, but of the entire country. Let Egypt go thud, let Israel be prepared in case the Egyptian leaders have a death rattle within them, and let the Arab world see what happens when the most powerful country in the world turns its back on them. Might be rather instructive.
#1
And a delegation of 120 U.S. business leaders was in Cairo at the same time as well, as the State Department was trying to encourage foreign investment in Egypt.
How is that encouragement of "foreign investment" in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania coming along ?
#1
They stole their kings ford no chili cook off this fall damn I am po'd now! I raised a camel just for this year to take the blue ribbon from the french!
[Washington Post] YouTube said Tuesday that it was stopping users in Saudi Arabia from viewing an anti-Islam video that has sparked protests across the Muslim world, after the kingdom's press agency reported that the ruler had banned all access to the film and the site appeared to be blocked there.
The online video sharing site said that it was preventing "Innocence of Muslims" from being seen on its site in Saudi Arabia after being notified by the government there that the clip is breaking the country's laws.
The Saudi Press Agency said that the kingdom had sent a request to Google to "veil" all links containing the video, which was produced in the United States and which ridicules the Prophet Muhammad.
The agency said King Abdullah had directed that all websites and links that accessed the video should be blocked. An Associated Press reporter in Saudi Arabia reported that the online video sharing site was inaccessible that evening.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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#1
Y'all really love "Mouthy Man" 17 yesterday and ??today.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/19/2012 0:50
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[Dawn] The driver of a trailer, supplying goods to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces in Afghanistan, was killed and his assistant received critical injuries when their vehicle was targeted by an bomb on Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. -Torkham road on Monday.
Officials said that unidentified forces of Evil targeted the vehicle, carrying two Humvee jeeps to Afghanistan, with an improvised bomb planted along the roadside near Shahgai Fort in Jamrud.
The blast caused serious injuries to driver Nazar Mohammad and his assistant Gul Mohammad besides damaging the front portion of the vehicle. Officials said that the driver later departed this vale of tears in a hospital. The blast also caused suspension of traffic on the main road for at least an hour.
The incident was second of its kind during the last three days. Officials said that they had beefed up security along Peshawar-Torkham road by increasing patrolling of Khasadar Force and establishing temporary checkposts.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed this guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... unidentified forces of Evil blew up a jewellery shop in Bara on Sunday.
Sources said that forces of Evil planted explosives outside the jewellery shop of Abdul Akbar at Niazi Market and blew it up on the night between Saturday and Sunday. The shop was closed for the last six months. The reason behind its blowing up could not be known.
Also in Bara, forces of Evil blew up the house of Dr Najib, a resident of Mandi Kas in Sipah area.
The house was empty at the time of kaboom as the family had moved out of Bara when a military operation was launched in the area in November last year.
Reason for destroying the house could not be ascertained nor had anyone grabbed credit for the incident.
In Alamgudar area of Bara, a young man identified as Shakirullah was electrocuted on Sunday. Family sources said that he touched naked wires of electricity while repairing an electricity fault outside his house.
Also in Bara, a teenage nephew of PPP leader Wilayat Shah was burnt to death when a fire broke out due to kaboom in a power generator.
It was learnt that Irfanullah was trying to start the generator when the kaboom occurred that caused a fire. He was rushed to Peshawar in a critical condition where he succumbed to burn injuries.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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[Dawn] A rally against the anti-Islam film produced in the US turned violent in Wari area of Upper Dir district on Monday, leading to the torching of the press club building and government offices by protesters and the killing of a local resident in police firing.
Students of two local colleges staged a rally and asked journalists to cover it.
The journalists' refusal enraged them so much that they set the tehsil Wari press club building on fire. Police later tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! some protesters and took them to the local cop shoppe. Protesters marched to the cop shoppe and demanded the release of their colleagues.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... police refused, promoting angry mob to throw stones at the cop shoppe.
Police opened fire on protesters, killing Mohammad, of Wari, and injuring two.
Angered by the killing, protesters torched sub-divisional magistrate and tehsildar offices and many vehicles.
Later in the day, the district coordination officer announced closure of educational institutions in the district for three days in light of possible protest against the student's killing.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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[Al Ahram] A Coptic Christian schoolteacher, Bishoy Kamel, has been sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons on Facebook deemed defamatory to Islam and the Prophet Mohamed, and for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and his family.
The Sohag Misdemeanour Court imposed the following sentences on Kamel: three years for defaming Islam and the Prophet Mohamed, two years for insulting the president, and one year for insulting Mohamed Safwat who made the allegations against him.
The prosecution said Kamel had used Facebook to deliberately defame the Prophet Mohamed. He had also insulted the president and shown contempt for society's sacred symbols, the prosecution said.
Members of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya and various Salafist groups attempted to attack Kamel when he was led out of the court after receiving his sentence. They pelted with rocks the police car used to transport him away from the court.
Kamel's lawyer has filed an appeal which will take place on 27 September at a different court.
The defendant said he did not post the cartoons, claiming his Facebook account had been hacked two days before. He was locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! on 30 July.
In June 2011, Naguib Sawiris, a Coptic billionaire and founder of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, was severely criticised after posting a cartoon of Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Islamic garb. Several Islamist lawyers subsequently lodged a complaint with Egypt's attorney-general against Sawiris, whom they accused of offending Islam.
"It is really scary that someone could be sentenced to two years in jail for writing comments about the president on social media, no matter how offensive these comments were," Emad Mubarak, a lawyer who represents human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. activists, said.
Mubarak added that Kamel's case reminded him of the Kareem Amer case that stirred much criticism during the last years of the Mubarak era.
Amer was sentenced in February 2007 to three years imprisonment for insulting Islam and one year for insulting President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... . He was the first person in Egypt to be jugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! due to a blog post. The case raised fears of a crackdown on bloggers.
On Thursday, Albert Saber, a 25-year-old activist, was locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! for insulting religion after allegedly posting on his Facebook page the controversial anti-Islam film that has sparked angry protests across the Moslem word in recent days.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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#1
The ultimate weapon--cartoons! Who would have thought?
[Al Ahram] Imbaba Misdemeanour Court has given former Nour Party parliamentarian Anwar El-Balkimy, who claimed that facial injuries from surgery were in fact caused by a violent robbery, a suspended sentence of three months, on charges of filing a false police complaint.
El-Balkimy, who at the time of the claims was an MP in the now-dissolved parliament, became known as the "nose job" parliamentarian when in February his claims that he had been beaten and robbed of LE100,000 were discovered to be false, and the facial injuries he had attributed to the attack were the result of cosmetic surgery.
The manager of a cosmetic surgery clinic revealed that El-Balkimy had undergone rhinoplasty on 28 February, the day before the alleged attack, and had insisted on discharging himself immediately after the operation.
In March, the lower house lifted El-Balkimy's parliamentary immunity, allowing the case to proceed.
In April, El-Balkimy apologised in a parliamentary session for lying about his injuries. The apology came after the speaker of People's Assembly, Saad El-Katatni, announced that a hundred MPs had requested that El-Balkimy's membership of parliament be withdrawn.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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#2
Interesting how the Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were delayed by the gov't for months, and then only answered well after Holder's congressional hearings and meaningless contempt charges involving Operation Fast and Furious.
#5
Freedom of the press in the United States is 1st Amendment is generally understood as prohibiting the government from interfering with the printing and distribution of information or opinions.
...more like aiding and abetting a crime or akin to p0rn what they do. Soros at work again.
#6
Freedom of the press in the United States is 1st Amendment is generally understood as prohibiting the government from interfering with the printing and distribution of information or opinions.
Which reiterates the principle of the free flow of information. Of course this piece amply demonstrates that 'professional' or MSM is not concerned, if not in fact antithetical, with the free flow of information. Never confuse 'free press' [the media of distribution of information] with the institution generally referred to as the 'Press' [which is engaged in the distortion and suppression of the free flow of information].
Brutal Syrians are brutal It's what thugs do...
The Syrian government has carried out indiscriminate air bombardments and artillery strikes on residential areas that do not target opposition fighters or military objectives, and instead appear aimed solely at punishing civilians seen as sympathetic to rebel forces, Amnesty International said Wednesday. Ya think?
Much of the recent fighting has centered on the contested city of Aleppo, but the London-based group said hundreds of civilians in other parts of northern and central Syria have been killed or injured in recent weeks, many of them children, in attacks that struck people in their homes, in the street or while trying to shelter from the bombings.
[Dawn] A roadside kaboomdestroyed a passenger bus carrying Shia Mohammedan pilgrims in southwestern Pakistain on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding about a dozen, officials said.
Earlier security sources said that four people killed by the attack but Deputy commissioner Mastung confirmed the killings of two people.
Six security personnel who were assigned to provide security to the bus also received injuries.
The blast took place in Mastung district, about 25 kilometres south of Quetta, the capital of insurgency-hit Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province.
"It was a roadside kaboom which targeted the bus," senior administration officer Irfan Shah told AFP.
"The bus caught fire after the blast," he said adding that initial reports said "at least two people were killed and about a dozen maimed".
The injured, some of them at death's door, have been taken to hospital in Quetta.
Officials said the bus, carrying up to 40 pilgrims, was returning from Iran after taking pilgrims to Shia holy place
No one immediately grabbed credit for the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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#1
for a second there I thought somebody blew up a classic Mustang. That would have been a shame.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
09/19/2012 12:55
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[Jerusalem Post] US Republican presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney ...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney has a record as a successful businessman, heading Bain Capital, and he rescued the 2002 Winter Olympics from the midst of bribery and mismanagement scandals. More to the point, he isn't President B.O... questioned the feasibility of the establishment of a Paleostinian state in the West Bank in video footage published on Tuesday by US magazine Mother Jones.
"The idea of pushing on the Israelis to give something up to get the Paleostinians to act is the worst idea in the world," Romney said.
"I'm torn by two perspectives in this regard," he said at a $50,000-per-plate fund-raising dinner in Boca Raton, Florida, on May 17. "One is the one which I've had for some time, which is that the Paleostinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish."
Romney then launched into a hypothetical scenario in which Israelis allow the Paleostinians to establish a state in the West Bank and are then forced to contend with unsolvable security and border issues.
It is "maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank," he said, repeating an oft-cited Israeli security concern that an Arab army in the West Bank could cut Israel in half in a matter of minutes.
"And now how about the airport?" he asked.
Romney said that the Paleostinians would demand full control over their borders, and suggested they could open access to military armaments.
"And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Leb, what they did near Gazoo. Which is that the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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#1
Once again, Willard is correct. The only "solution" the Palestinians and the Arab community desire is to see Israel pushed into the sea.
(AGI) Benghazi, 18 Sept. - A week after the death of U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens, an amateur video showed Libyans trying to rescue him at the U.S. Consulate. A young man appears to be shouting " Is there a doctor? Can anybody call a doctor?" while another one bends on the Ambassador to check his pulse.
Just before that the footage shows a group of people dragging the ambassador's body out of the room where he was found lying.
A man says "he is dead," while another states, "he is alive, alive. Let's take him out of here." Chants of "Hallah hu Akbar" can be hear in the background. The video, which appeared on the internet and a copy of which was obtained by Reuters in Benghazi, confirms reports that suggested the U.S. envoy died of asphyxiation after the building caught fire. The footage also sheds new light on the circumstances of the ambassador's death, apparently showing for the first time that some of the people who forced their way into the U.S. compound later tried to rescue Stevens after they found him lying alone, with no security detail, in one of the rooms in the building.
[Dawn] Eight people including a young girl were killed when two bombs went off in a busy commercial area in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on Tuesday, police and hospital officials said.
The bombs went off in quick succession in the usually crowded Hyderi Market in central Bloody Karachi during the evening rush hour, police officer Azam Khan said.
One bomb went kaboom! near a dustbin and three minutes later another went off at the main parking lot in which about a dozen vehicles were damaged, he said.
"We suspect the bomb was planted in a car or a cycle of violence parked in the area.
"Casualties were caused by the second blast," he added, confirming that the dear departed included a nine-year-old girl. More than 18 others have been maimed.
Bloody Karachi city police chief Iqbal Mehmood said: "The blast occurred at a place from where we had recovered and safely defused a heavy bomb last month.
"I can't say which terrorist organization or individuals are behind this at this point of time," he said, adding that investigations were ongoing.
The powerful blasts were heard several kilometres away, residents said.
The casualties were taken to the local Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Doctor Mohammad Shafqat, confirming the toll, said: "We have received bodies of six blast victims." He added that there were 18 injured, including three women and one child.
"We are compiling the figures of deaths and injured," Provincial Health Minister Saghir Ahmed said, adding that emergency has been declared in all state run hospitals in the city.
One victim later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital during treatment.
"The blast was caused by an improvised bomb carrying at least eight kilogrammes of explosives," bomb disposal squad official Abdul Hameed said.
"Both bombs were planted, one was on a cycle of violence and another on a pushcart abandoned nearby," provincial police chief Fayyaz Laghari said.
Nobody immediately grabbed credit for the bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2012
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[Dawn] Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed, has pleaded for mercy in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case in a final bid to avoid the gallows. His mercy petition has been sent to the President's office, Indian media outlets reported.
Pakistain-born Kasab sent his petition through officials at the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai where he is being held, the Press Trust of India said.
"We have sent a mercy petition to the president filed by Kasab," the news agency quoted a bigwig at the high-security prison as saying.
Earlier in August, Indian Supreme Court rejected a plea by Kasab to convert the death sentence handed to him by the Bombay High Court to life imprisonment.
"We are left with no option but to award death penalty," the two judges said in a court order on August 29. "The primary and foremost offence committed by Kasab is waging war against the government of India."
Kasab, who is currently held in a maximum-security prison in Mumbai, was found guilty on charges, including waging war, murder and terrorist acts, and was sentenced to death in May 2010.
Only one execution has taken place in India in 15 years -- that of a former security guard hanged in 2004 for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.
However public demands for the hanging of Kasab have been growing ever since the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against the death sentence.
During the November 2008 attacks, heavily armed gunnies stormed targets in Mumbai, including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, a hospital and a bustling train station.
India blames the Pakistain-based Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) jihad boy organization for training, equipping and financing the gunnies with support from `elements' in the Pakistain military.
Kasab initially pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." but later confessed, admitting he was one of the gunnies sent by LeT.
At his trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eyewitness and TV footage evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades at Mumbai's main railway station in the bloodiest episode of the attacks.
"I was denied a fair trial," Kasab said in a statement when his appeal hearing began in January. "I may be guilty of killing people and carrying out a terrorist act but I am not guilty of waging war against the state."
What on earth does he think committing a terrorist act at the behest and expense of a foreign government is?
He said that he was denied proper legal representation and that some charges against him were not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who took office in July, is currently considering 11 other appeals for clemency from death row prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The Magic 8 Ball says: "No"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/19/2012 9:58
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#2
Was he sentenced to death only for waging war? If not, then the multiple murder charges should be enough to hang him.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/19/2012 15:18
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#3
Sure thing, announce the time, date and place. Then turn him loose and the Indian citizens will take care of him and the dogs will eat whatever is left.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
09/19/2012 16:37
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#4
So much for all that Brave Lion of Islam(tm) We Love Death crap, eh? Yeah, it's all fun & games until you're headed for the noose.
[NY Times] In a significant blow to a core element of the Western exit strategy from Afghanistan, the American-led military coalition said Tuesday it has temporarily curtailed joint operations with the Afghan Army and police forces. The new limits were a sign of how American priorities were being drastically reordered amid a wave of anti-American sentiment brought on by an anti-Islam movie, which has sparked riots across the Mohammedan world and on Tuesday was the motive behind a suicide kaboom here that killed 14 people, 10 of them foreigners.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The Afghan government made clear on Sunday that it wants the Americans to immediately turn over another 600 prisoners they are still holding.
We're overdue for a big Sarapoza-III jailbreak. I'd guess sometime well before next years Spring Offensive.
#2
"American priorities were being drastically reordered amid a wave of anti-American sentiment brought on by an anti-Islam movie."NY Slimes AKA State Run Media
Has nothing to do with the cold blooded murder of many of our people in uniform implementing Hussein's deadly exit strategy, ya see. Also has nothing to do with the attack on the United States Constitution (free speech) or the establishment of religion (sharia law) upon the free speech by the Democrat Socialist Party USA, allies of all things evil, including 6th century Mecca/Kaaba.
#3
Our relationship with the ANSF appears to be......"evolving". SAF (small arms fire) between ISAF and ANSF platoon and company size elements soon to come.
Iran is holding three suspects who entered the country from Azerbaijan under intense grilling to discover their role in the mid-August explosion of the power lines to the underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, DEBKAfile's exclusive Iranian sources reveal. Tehran is also questioning the engineers, planners and company heads who built the facility to find out why it was not provided with an independent power generator.
Fordo was forced to be idle for several days until the Revolutionary Guards were able to set up an alternative electrical network at top speed. Iranian investigators suspect that local builders of Fordo may have been bribed by Israeli and American agents to omit this back-up system and so leave the enrichment plant vulnerable to external attack that would interrupt its continuous operation. Their inquiries have even reached the Atomic Energy Commission inspectors who supervised construction, some of them very close to the commission's chairman Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, and demanded explanations for letting the omission stand.
The act of sabotage showed Iran how simple it would for aggressors to bring the Fordo plant to a total standstill simply by cutting its 40- kilometer power link to the Qom power station. An electricity cut would additionally disarm the facility's security system, including the radar and air defense batteries guarding it.
According to DEBKAfile's sources, the Iranians have kept the three arrests under tight blackout in the hope of rounding up the rest of the team suspected of responsibility for the explosion and, above all, identifying the hand behind it. Their main suspect is Israel.
Our Iranian sources have discovered that the three detainees hail from Tehran, Tabriz in the north and Zahedan in the southeast. They are all in their twenties. According to our intelligence sources, the Iranian inquiry so far points to their having trained at a secret military base in Azerbaijan 25 kilometers south of Baku and infiltrated Iran shortly before the operation.
It was to this attack Abbasi referred Monday, Sept. 17, when he stood up at the nuclear watchdog's annual meeting in Vienna and flatly accused the IAEA of being infiltrated by "terrorists and saboteurs" and of foreknowledge of the explosion.
Already, Iranian officials have turned the incident into a propaganda tool.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi used his first ever Egyptian television interview Tuesday, Sept. 18 to comment: "Israel can't carry out an attack against such a big country [like Iran], and it knows that." He called Israeli warnings about a possible strike "empty."
Salehi also said (apropos of nothing) that his "country's neighbor, Azerbaijan, would not assist Israel in carrying out any attack on Iran."
DEBKAfile: The Iranian foreign minister's show of contempt for Israel was meant to dull the huge impact the explosion at the Fordo plant has had inside Iran and across the Arab world, whereas his remark on Azerbaijan was a signal to Baku that it is under heavy Iranian suspicion of complicity in the blowing up of the power line.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: Seven Turkish troops were killed and almost 60 others were wounded yesterday in a rocket assault on their military convoy in Turkeys southeast, according to local security sources. The military convoy was hit by Kurdish rebel rockets on the highway on the outskirts of southeastern Bingol province, sparking a fire that wounded 58 soldiers aboard an army bus.
The number of dead soldiers was initially announced at four and the wounded at 48 by the local governor. Dozens of wounded soldiers are being treated at nearby hospitals and the death toll may still rise, according to the sources.
The Turkish army retaliated with an immediate operation backed by air power in the larger Bingol area to capture the members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who staged the attack, Anatolia news agency reported.
The assailants are identified by witnesses as three men who drove away in a car after the attack, and they are believed to be traveling with heavy explosives on board, NTV private news channel reported.
PKK attacks against Turkish security forces have become almost daily events in the Kurdish-majority southeast, but a powerful rocket ambush carried out in daylight marks a rare incident.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Danish police said on Tuesday that they have arrested eight people suspected of financially supporting the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Today`s Zaman reported.
Investigator Jens Moeller Jensen said a total of 140 million kroner ($24.6 million) were shipped from Denmark to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union. He said some 67 million kroner ($11.8 million) were raised in the past three years alone among Kurds in Denmark.
Tuesday's arrest is linked to a court a case where a Kurdish-language TV station broadcasting from Europe was found guilty of breaching Denmark's anti-terror laws.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Red meat analysis from Spengler with his own special pepper rub, seared and sizzling straight off the grill. Yum!
If a contrarian thought might be permitted, consider the possibility that all-out regional war is the optimal outcome for American interests. An Israeli strike on Iran that achieved even limited success - a two-year delay in Iran's nuclear weapons development - would arrest America's precipitous decline as a superpower.
Absent an Israeli strike, America faces:
A nuclear-armed Iran;
Iraq's continued drift towards alliance with Iran;
An overtly hostile regime in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood government will lean on jihadist elements to divert attention from the country's economic collapse;
An Egyptian war with Libya for oil and with Sudan for water;
A radical Sunni regime controlling most of Syria, facing off an Iran-allied Alawistan ensconced in the coastal mountains;
A de facto or de jure Muslim Brotherhood takeover of the Kingdom of Jordan;
A campaign of subversion against the Saudi monarchy by Iran through Shi'ites in Eastern Province and by the Muslim Brotherhood internally;
A weakened and perhaps imploding Turkey struggling with its Kurdish population and the emergence of Syrian Kurds as a wild card;
A Taliban-dominated Afghanistan; and
Radicalized Islamic regimes in Libya and Tunisia.
...There is no reason to expect most of the Muslim countries to go quietly into irreversible decline. All-out regional war is the likely outcome sooner or later. We might as well get on with it.
#1
I've been wondering the same thing....
Except I don't see Obama protecting the strait of Hormuz.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
09/19/2012 2:59
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#2
Islam is the fastest growing religion on the continent of Africa. Radical Islamic groups have been working quietly with the African National Congress (ANC) for decades. When you see the term "Iraeli Apartheid" that is where it originates.
I think this is pretty likely, Egypt is dirt poor and will get poorer, but it does have a decent military, which Libya doesn't at the moment. Egypt could annex the southern oilfields in a week.
#5
I don't see Turkey imploding, I see Turkey taking advantage of the situation to gob-smack its Kurds, hold down the Syrian Kurds, and maybe even reestablish some de-facto hegemony over northern Syria.
Also recall that Algeria is none too stable and that radical elements are just barely controlled in Morocco.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/19/2012 8:56
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B. My understanding is that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Africa. Though there is no doubt that radical muzzies are working with radical ANCers.
#7
A strike by Israel would likely draw the U.S. into the fray even if "O" does not want to protect the Straits of Hormuz. Iran said it would attack us and our interests if Israel attacks their nuke facilities. I'd worry that Obama might attack Israeli forces in an attempt to stop an attack on Iran.
#8
The Soodies appear to be pumping oil rather vigorously of late.
They probably need the cash. After all they're going to have to buy a large slice of Manhattan to house those thousands of princes & princesses that will be bugging out just as the shooting starts.
#10
Either Bandar has left the country to take up surfing on some remote beaches ... or as you say (Besoeker) he has failed to collect the company benefits.
I think this is pretty likely, Egypt is dirt poor and will get poorer, but it does have a decent military, which Libya doesn't at the moment. Egypt could annex the southern oilfields in a week.
You don't know how lucky you are, boy...
Back! In the U.A.R.!
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
09/19/2012 17:20
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#16
It is the second best they wanted to film a new television series called Flip That Country since the housing market bust which was all fraud by the way they couldn't get Hildi and Jen to do the shows though! So all out slaughter will have to do!
Kidnapping as a business enterprise
A Lebanese military court has charged members of the powerful Shia clan behind a spate of Syria-linked kidnappings, Lebanon's official news agency said on Tuesday.
Six members of the Mikdad family were charged with "establishing an armed group for terrorist purposes", the agency reported.
KABUL: A female suicide car bomber attacked a van in Kabul yesterday, killing 12 people, including eight South Africans, in an assault insurgents said was revenge for an anti-Islam film made in America.
The bombing on a highway leading to Kabul international airport was the second suicide attack in the heavily fortified city in 10 days, reviving questions about stability as NATO accelerates a troop withdrawal and hands over to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.
An AFP photographer saw at least six bodies lying among the wreckage of a gutted minivan, and another vehicle destroyed by flames still burning in the middle of the highway, with debris flung all around.
At around 6:45 a.m. (0215 GMT) a suicide bomber using a sedan blew himself up along the airport road in District 15. As a result, nine workers of a foreign company and three Afghan civilians are dead, and two police are wounded, police said in a statement.
The South African foreign ministry said eight of its citizens working for a private company at the airport were among the dead.
The Afghan presidency later confirmed that three Afghans, believed to include the bus driver and an interpreter, and one citizen from Kyrgyzstan were also killed. Eleven other people were wounded, it said in a statement.
Afghanistans second largest terrorist insurgent group, Hezb-i-Islami, said they done it claimed responsibility, saying it was carried out by a woman to avenge the Innocence of Muslims film, which has sparked a week of furious anti-US riots across Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
The bombing was in retaliation for the insult to our Prophet, spokesman Zubair Sidiqi said in a telephone call to AFP from an undisclosed location.
It is extremely rare for the faction to claim a suicide attack in Afghanistan. It is also rare for women, few of whom drive in Afghanistan, to carry out suicide attacks. A police investigator said he believed the bomber was female, after finding parts of a womans leg. Womens' legs are covered throughout Afghanistan. How would he know?
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[Reuters] Syrian rebels battled government forces near a Turkish border crossing on Tuesday and bullets flew into the northern neighbour that has backed the 18-month-old uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Leveler of Latakia...
The revolt, which began as peaceful street protests cracked down on by Assad's military, has escalated into a civil war in which over 27,000 people have died. Daily corpse counts now approach 200 and the last month was the bloodiest yet.
In another bid to stem the bloodshed, Iran's foreign minister proposed a new regional monitoring mission ahead of talks with President Bashir al-Assad in Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... on Wednesday, Iranian state media said. Two previous missions have collapsed.
From the Turkish side of the crossing with Tel Abyad, a Rooters witness heard sporadic, heavy machinegun fire and saw an ambulance nearby. A Turkish official said stray bullets hit some houses in the town of Akcakale, wounding at least one person, a woman.
He said the rebels were trying to gain control of Tel Abyad, which was a major crossing for Turkish-Syrian commerce in peacetime, and which rebels were rumoured to have used for weapons smuggling in the past year.
It appeared to be the first attempt by bully boyz to assert their grip over a border zone in al-Raqqa province, most of which has remained solidly pro-Assad.
Rebels hold two other crossings on the northern border with Turkey. A third border point would help strengthen their control in the north and put more pressure on the army as they battle for control of Syria's largest city Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... not far away.
Residents say only one town near the border has welcomed rebels in al-Raqqa province. The town held an anti-Assad protest on Tuesday, prompting government shelling, wounding several people, and fighting later erupted.
Parts of Syria's frontiers with Turkey, Leb and Iraq have become porous as the conflict spread. More than 200,000 refugees have poured into Turkey and Jordan to escape bombardment by pro-Assad forces in pursuit of rebels.
Shell fire has occasionally crashed over the borders, and the fighting has sometimes come so close that the armies of neighbouring states have gone on high alert.
Syria's second and third cities, Aleppo and Homs, have been shattered by fighting. With the army relying on fighter jets and helicopter gunships and the rebels on makeshift bombs, neighbourhoods in both cities have been levelled.
Damascus, once seen as an impregnable Assad stronghold, has also suffered near daily shelling and festivities on its outskirts.
At least five fighters and four soldiers died in the latest festivities on the capital's southern outskirts, the London-based Syrian Observatory or Human Rights said.
Security forces are trying to stamp out a rebel foothold in Damascus's southern and eastern suburbs.
Heavy army shelling battered rebellious towns in the southern Deraa region, fount of the uprising, and Idlib, in the north near the Turkish border. More than 60 people were killed nationwide before evening on Tuesday, the Observatory said.
IRAN PROPOSES NEW MONITORING MISSION
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi pitched his proposal for an observer force when a regional "contact group" met in Cairo on Monday, Iran's state news agency said. ... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe? He said observers should come from the group's four member countries - Iran, Egypt, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... and Turkey.
Given mutual mistrust within the quartet, it was unclear whether Salehi's proposal had much prospect of success. The new grouping is an awkward combination of supporters and opponents of the uprising. Iran has stuck by Assad while Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have demanded the president step down.
"Salehi suggested the sending of observers from the four countries to monitor the cessation of violence, the conducting of dialogue, emphasising the need for a sense of integration and national unity and Syrian territory," IRNA news agency reported.
Two monitoring missions in Syria have already unravelled. The first, a regional Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... group of observers, left in protest at a continued escalation of violence with little sign of political reform pledged by Assad. A United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... mission pulled out most of its observers for similar reasons.
Violence has intensified and spread across this large, pivotal Arab country and more than 200,000 refugees have flooded into neighbouring states.
Iraq, which in August closed its border crossings, reopened them on Tuesday to allow in 100 Syrian refugees per day. But Iraq will refuse entry to young men, officials said, citing security reasons, as many young men are believed to be rebels.
REGIONAL RIVALRIES POSE OBSTACLE
Western officials and diplomats are sceptical that the new Middle East contact group that convened in Cairo could reach any deal to draw down the spiralling violence in Syria.
The four countries have differences with sectarian and strategic dimensions that seem insurmountable.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are actively supporting Syrian rebels and are believed to be training them as well. Other Sunni Mohammedan countries in the region are also throwing their weight behind the mostly Sunni-led uprising in Syria.
Shi'ite Mohammedan power Iran has supported Assad, whose Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has dominated the country for decades. Tehran has acknowledged having members of its security forces there, but only in an advisory role. Rebels say that Iranian forces are helping Assad militarily.
Underlining the inherent tensions, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister stayed away from the Cairo meeting of the contact group on Monday. Egyptian officials did not say why no one else came in his place.
International powers seem to be equally deadlocked along old Cold War lines, with Western powers backing the Syrian opposition, and Russia and China blocking any U.N.-mandated intervention aimed at dislodging Assad.
Iranian state media said that Salehi, who like Moscow and Beijing has called for an internal resolution without foreign interference, was to meet Assad in Damascus on Wednesday and propose ways to resolve the Syrian crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Screw the Levant game and screw the French and the rest of the inbreds!
Site contains DRM infested crap. It is really a roundup, save for the mention of the 50 busts
Libya announced on Sunday the arrest of 50 suspects over the killing of the US envoy and three other Americans, blaming the Benghazi attack on foreign extremists and claiming it was pre-planned.
[Al Ahram] Suspected members of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamist sect killed the attorney general of Nigeria's northeast state Borno overnight, the state's justice ministry said on Tuesday, a day after the sect's front man was reportedly killed in a shootout.
Boko Haram, which models itself on the Afghan Taliban, is fighting to create an Islamic state in largely Mohammedan northern Nigeria, a battle in which the sect has killed hundreds of people in gun and kabooms. Its headquarters is in Borno.
Zanna Malam Gana was rubbed out in his home town of Bama, in Nigeria's remote northeast, on the threshold of the Sahara Desert, the justice ministry said in a statement to local journalists. It said his burial would take place on Tuesday.
On Monday, a Nigerian security source said its forces had killed Abu Qaqa, the main front man of the Boko Haram sect, which has become the biggest threat to Nigeria's security, as well as another senior jihad boy.
There has been no response from the sect on the claim. Nigerian forces have claimed to have killed or captured him before, only for the jihad boy to issue a statement denying it.
Boko Haram traditionally targets authority figures or security sources, although it started attacking mobile phone installations across the northeast two weeks ago, saying phone companies were helping authorities to track down its fighters.
They have already destroyed around 30 phone masts.
MTN Nigeria said in a statement on Tuesday that due to sabotage it had also "experienced multiple cuts to its fibre cable in the same region, which has impacted service in the eastern part of the country".
"Current security concerns have prevented not only repair work to damaged equipment, but routine maintenance, causing disruption to the lives of millions of Nigerians," MTN Nigeria's general manager of corporate affairs, Funmi Omogbenigun, said.
A military crackdown in the north appears to have damaged Boko Haram's capabilities, although it remains deadly in many parts. At least 186 people died in coordinated attacks in the north's main city of Kano in January.
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#1
It's a retaliation for the death of their spokesman Abu Qaqa. But there have been suspicions for some time that Boko Haram would shift to a pattern of assassinations against top leaders in Nigeria. This could be the start of that shift in strategy. Time will tell.
[Al Ahram] US officials Tuesday denied that protests in Cairo over an anti-Islam Internet video have stalled talks on relieving $1 billion worth of Egypt's debt to the United States.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said a report in the Washington Post that talks on wiping out the debt had been delayed was "wrong."
"We are working with the Congress now on how we will move forward on this. We've made an initial budget request," she told news hounds.
The debt relief is intended to provide crucial economic aid to Egypt's newly elected government as it grapples with daunting economic challenges in the wake of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... The Post cited US officials as saying Egypt can expect little relief -- at least until after the November 6 US presidential vote -- after Cairo's delayed response to last week's violent protest outside the US embassy in Cairo.
"Folks are going to wait and see how things materialize both with the protests and on Capitol Hill," it quoted a congressional aide as saying.
But Nuland stressed: "We have worked with the Egyptians on precisely how we see breaking down this support, and now we have to work with the Congress on ensuring we can move forward."
The Post said any delay was likely to be temporary, and that there was no major reconsideration of US aid to Egypt, which amounts to some $1.5 billion per year.
Egyptian forces were slow to react when demonstrators attacked the US embassy last Tuesday, scaling the walls, tearing down the American flag and hoisting a black Islamist flag in its place.
US President Barack Obama Because I won... called his newly elected Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsi to express concern about the incident and told an interviewer that Egypt's new government was neither an ally nor an enemy.
Egyptian security forces later moved in, clashing with the demonstrators for several days but keeping them away from the embassy.
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#1
Nuland is married to Robert Kagland of the WAPO and author of "The World America Made". While some are astonished by the recently revealed connection between the Justice Department and Media Matters, here's an article Kagan recently penned.
[Dawn] Alma maters play an exceedingly important role in the development of children who can later on become contributing members of a progressive society. If I have to be honest, I would say that I was never too fond of going to school and my only incentive to wake up early in the morning and make that effort was to meet my friends. I went to a convent where life was just a little too proper for my liking. Chants of "heads straight", "do not slouch" and "do not drag your feet" dictated the order of the day along with a strict curriculum and minimum extra-curricular events.
In retrospect, I now personally believe that attending a convent contributes to some of the best experiences of my life. Students from various religious orientations studied at my school and we coexisted wonderfully; the thought of numerous religious philosophies and how one worshiped never crossed our mind. I clearly remember that one of my favourite teachers focused more on religious harmony than his course outline. His curriculum was customised to ingrain the essence of tolerance within students who belonged to diverse backgrounds. "Regardless of whose teachings you follow, stay close to God and respect humans for who they are as every individual is unique and God's best creation," was one of his most frequently used phrases, and will always be a source of solace for me in today's world.
Unfortunately, the things we were taught in school came to an abrupt end when I left for college -- a different story altogether. The first time I heard the term "Jihad against Kafir" during one of the mandatory course session, I immediately looked around to see how those words affected my non-Moslem friends. Their expressions were a mixture of sheer disgust and hopelessness, and an uncomfortable silence shrouded them.
How can we expect our society to become tolerant when our textbooks are filled with venomous content? How can we expect our children to become progressive when we expose them to violent literature, and at such an early age? By using words such as "Hindus can never become true friends for Moslems" and using adjectives such as goondah for Hindus and fanatic clergymen for Christians, how are we possibly trying to teach our youth to be more compassionate or embrace different religious philosophies?
People professing different faiths are not the only targets of the hateful content that is featured in our textbooks. A handful of countries and their citizens are also treated with overzealous hatred, with India topping the list. Why don't we realise that spreading hatred and intolerance has never brought any positive change in our own society? We corrupt young minds by turning their intrigue into fear and eventually Indophobia.
It is important to understand that by playing with the minds of our children this way we are giving rise to a hopeless society where rights and values of anyone who is not a Pak and a Sunni Moslem are irrelevant. Children are impressionable and by designing curricula which fan hatred and deny the idea of coexistence, we are encouraging them to become religious fanatics.
How about designing a curriculum which emphasises religious harmony, where the role of Jihad is given minimum significance and India is termed as a brotherly nation? What about building the foundation of a society in which Indo-Pak wars do not take precedence over human and civil rights movements? Why can't our curriculum include all the positive aspects of different religions and educate children about the teachings of different prophets, thinkers and philosophers?
I must reiterate that by pumping negativity into our future generations we are neither inflicting any harm to our friends across the border or non-Moslems living elsewhere. The brunt of this so-called "academic fanaticism" is only faced by Moslem and non-Moslem minorities living in Pakistain. Hence, the hatred taught to our children affects only Paks, and harms only our nation.
The statistics show that over 21.5 million Paks, more than half of the population, are illiterate. Whereas, the other half of the country that have the resources and the will to acquire knowledge undergo this hate filled conditioning through the curriculum, and become resentful to people who are different from them, almost by default. Most of us were never taught to appreciate diversity and the difference of beliefs. We were always instructed to consider Hindus, Jews and Christians our enemy but is that truly so? Are we actually so significant and enviable that the whole world is conspiring against us? Why do we need to create fundamentalist soldiers who would defend us from the alleged connivance of other people? Why this paranoia?
Further research and interaction with these so-called enemies of Islam and Pakistain will perhaps help us understand that our basic ideologies remain the same. Most of us are affected and concerned by the same issues of the global state of affairs. We all feel threatened by the presence of radical elements and wish for a peaceful society. The cost of blood and tears of a Hindu are no less than those of a Moslem or Christian. The loss of a Jewish life is as tormenting and saddening as that of a Moslem. Indian children whose parents die in violent attacks are as bereaved as the children of Pak families whose lives are cut short in the event of a suicide kaboom or drone strike. Given the current state of affairs, shouldn't our primary concern be focused more towards promoting a multicultural society?
The government, amid many other commitments, has announced that the curricula will be cleansed of all hate generating material; however, concrete measures to address the issue are yet to be taken. I hope that the literature is changed and redesigned to accommodate the less than two per cent of the minorities and a fairly large percentage of Moslem minorities living in Pakistain. I hope that our curriculum features facts rather than fabricated stories of heroism that gives us a notion of false honour about ourselves.
William Shakespeare once said, "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."
The academia should realise that by disfiguring the actual history and creating a sense of animosity between Pak Moslems and the rest of the world we are truly raising an ignorant generation which will continue to spread hatred if the status quo is not challenged.
Our hope lies in tolerance, unity and religious harmony. In the absence of the aforementioned elements, our society will sooner or later collapse. It is time to replace ignorance and intolerance with eagerness to learn from what other religions teach. It is time to concentrate on the similarities that we all share. And it is indeed time to impart true knowledge to our students -- the knowledge of respect, harmony and tolerance.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
A rather remarkable column out of Pakistan. I hope it doesn't cost her an acid attack or such.
[Dawn] Representatives of non-governmental organizations in Lower Dir on Monday vowed to take every step to ensure that women in Lower Dir are given right to vote in the next elections.
Speaking at a news conference at the Timergara Press Club, a group of NGOs' representatives led by Akbar Khan alleged all political and religious parties had been responsible for barring women from voting in Dir in the past.
They said whenever elections drew near the politicianship in the district inked a deal not to allow women to cast votes, regretting that women formed half the population of the country and participating in political process was their basic human right.
"Women should be allowed to contest and cast votes in election on their own free will," demanded Akbar Khan, saying barring them from the process was a clear violation of their rights.
The group announced it would not remain silent on the issue in future and would take it even to the courts and the Election Commission of Pakistain.
It demanded of the government and ECP to ensure women participation in elections in Dir and declare the results of the polling stations as null and void where women participation proved less than 10 per cent of the total votes cast. It also demanded of the government to form separate polling stations for women in the region.
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SYRIAN troops have shelled several districts in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... and clashed with rebels as Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... ally Iran proposed a simultaneous halt to the violence and a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Clashes erupted in Bustan al-Qasr in the southwest and in nearby Izaa as both districts were shelled, residents of Syria's second city said, also reporting fighting further south in Sukari.
#1
Just wondering will the embassy people be issued herbs and spices in Syria when this cluster phuck ends I would not the UN or such calling our country to task and saying we hurt the people of Syria by not supplying the proper things for a barbeque!
[Al Ahram] A group of Syrian refugees threw stones at UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's convoy on Tuesday as he left the Zaatari camp in Jordan where he pledged help despite the "worsening" conflict.
"Unfortunately, the situation in Syria is not likely to improve," Brahimi said during a brief visit to the camp in northern Jordan close to the Syrian border.
"It is worsening. It is heading towards more deterioration," he said. "I am trying my best to help the Syrian refugees get out of this crisis."
A small crowd of angry Syrian refugees pelted his motorcade with stones as he left.
"Brahimi out! Brahimi out!" they chanted.
A security official told AFP that around 200 refugees took part in the demonstration.
"They said they were angry because he met Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... and tried to give him a chance to kill more people, according to them," the official said.
The envoy, who arrived in Jordan from Turkey, where he also visited refugees, met Assad for the first time on Saturday, warning after the talks that the worsening conflict in Syria posed a threat to the region and the whole world.
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Jordans King Abdullah II has endorsed controversial amendments to the press and publication law seen by online journalists as a threat to freedom of expression.
The king on Monday night issued a decree approving the law in its new form, after parliament passed the amendments that require the countrys 220 news websites to obtain licences from the government, which can censor content and hold journalists liable for posted comments.
The amendments also stipulate that website chief editors must be members of the Jordan Press Association.
Journalists and rights activists have urged the king to reject the law.
We refuse to be terrorised, read a banner carried by journalists during a sit-in on Saturday.
We have high hopes that the king will protect the media in Jordan, read another banner.
Human Rights Watch has also criticised the law. Of course they did, wringing their hands most earnestly as they did so...
The government has long imposed restrictions on how Jordanians may express their thoughts and opinions, the New York-based watchdogs senior Middle East researcher, Christoph Wilcke, said. The state should be rolling back those laws, not extending them to online expression.
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Having a Palestinian pillow mate probably has some enfluence on King Ab's decision making. I believe this is the direction our Champ and Holder would like to move as well. I'm not certain how they might proceed with it, but it could involve prohibitions on alleged incitements to terrorist under a link to Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969).em>
See the 'companion piece' in Election 2012 news, in which Mittens indeed says what Mahmud says he said. Amazing how the dumb, inexperienced Pub gets it instantly and the smart as all heck LightBringer doesn't... Ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas proposed canceling the Oslo Accords with Israel at a recent meeting of the Palestinian leadership, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) told AFP yesterday.
PLO Executive Committee member Wassel Abu Yusef said Abbas raised the idea of "canceling the Oslo agreement as well as the associated economic and security arrangements," at the meeting on Saturday and Sunday. Abu Yusef said that "members of the Palestinian leadership had mixed opinions on the issue, and it was decided to postpone any decision until their next meeting," due to be held after Abbas's return from the UN General Assembly later this month.
"It was the first time the Palestinian leadership put the issue of the Oslo agreement on the table since it was signed in 1993," Abu Yusef added.
His remarks came as a leaked video showed that Mitt Romney told donors the Palestinians "have no interest whatsoever" in peace with Israel and if elected president he would just kick the issue down the road. Mittens speaks truth in public. What a radical idea...
On the West Bank, Palestinians said Romney was wrong to accuse them of not seeking peace.
"No one stands to gain more from peace with Israel than Palestinians and no one stands to lose more in the absence of peace than Palestinians," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters. "Only those who want to maintain the Israeli occupation will claim the Palestinians are not interested in peace." Yes, the Paleos would indeed gain the most in a true peace. It demonstrates how insane the Paleos are that they won't consider peace.
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Senior Benghazi commanders have been summoned to the capital Tripoli today to plan action against Islamist extremists accused of killing the US ambassador as al-Qaeda warned of more attacks on American officials.
The new prime mininster, Mustafa Abushagur, and acting president, Mohammed Magarief, are understood to have called the meeting in response to pressure from President Barack Obama to take action.
The meeting will consider to what extent the attack was the work of local Islamist extremists, and how much it was co-ordinated with the "foreign elements" identified by Mr Magarief in interviews over the weekend, particularly members of Al-Qaeda from other parts of North Africa.
[ABC News] A French satirical magazine is set to publish several cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday, a move that is likely to inflame the Islamic faithful and bully boyz who have already rioted in more than 20 countries over a movie mocking the prophet.
Supplying more sandpaper to the skinless.
Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited and considered blasphemous by Moslems. Cartoons of Muhammad published in Denmark in 2005 and then reproduced in newspapers across Europe triggered riots throughout the Mideast and Africa. Churches and embassies were torched and at least 100 people died in the outbreaks and police crackdowns.
The magazine "Charlie Hebdo" has confirmed that it will publish the cartoons, but has not revealed what they will depict. French newspaper "Le Monde" reports that some of the cartoons show the prophet in "particularly explicit poses," without providing any further detail.
The move comes as Moslems are still simmering after riots in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and nearly 20 other countries over the move "Innocence of Moslems." U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
French government ministers have criticized the magazine's decision and police in Gay Paree have stepped up security around its offices.
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taking the heat off the USA???
first it was the topless pix of Kate, and now this. I had no idea the French were so bold.
#2
I've been checking to see if the French magazine called "Charlie Hebdo" really did go ahead and publish obsecene cartoons of Mohammed. Apparently the answer is YES they did. The French Gov't is supporting their freedom of expression. And 20 French consulates will be closed this Friday - to avoid a backlash after traditional Muslim prayers. My guess is that Friday and Saturday (this week) will be very ugly days for French consulates in Muslim countries.
[Al Ahram] Newsweek's front page about the deadly protests currently sweeping the Mohammedan world has sparked a storm of controversy and derision on Twitter as netizens mock the magazine's headline "Mohammedan Rage."
"Lost nephew at the airport but can't yell for him because his name is Jihad. #MohammedanRage," one Twitter user mocked online.
"Man next to me on subway reading Koran on his Samsung Galaxy tablet just offered his seat to an older lady. #MUSLIMRAGE truly affects us all," another netizen from New York posted on his account.
The front page shows a photo of angry Mohammedan protesters shouting and putting their hands in the air, under the headline "Mohammedan Rage" and a sub-headline "How I survived it, how we can end it."
The cover story is written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well-known Somali-born rights activist and former Dutch politician whose criticism of Islam has earned her death threats.
In it, she describes her own experience of renouncing Islam as well as making a short film with Theo van Gogh about Mohammedan women that saw the Dutch filmmaker shot and stabbed to death.
The article comes as Mohammedans in at least 20 countries have staged angry demonstrations outside US embassies and other American symbols in protest against an anti-Islam film called "Innocence of Mohammedans."
The movie -- believed to have been produced by a small group of myrmidon Christian Americans -- mocks the Prophet Mohammed and portrays Mohammedans as immoral and gratuitously violent.
A trailer for the film appeared on YouTube last week, sparking the violent backlash that has seen more than 30 people killed so far.
Newsweek's cover -- and subsequent attempts on the magazine's Twitter page to encourage netizens to comment using the hashtag #MohammedanRage -- have meanwhile unleashed a different kind of backlash.
"Well done Newsweek, bring a well-known anti-Islam activist and get them to write your cover story titled #MohammedanRage on how to stop it," one netizen responded.
Entertainment and media blog Gawker on Tuesday published 13 widely retweeted photos poking fun at "Mohammedan Rage", such as a picture of teenagers blowing bubbles in a square under the caption "violent, angry Egyptians."
Another Tweeter posted a mock-up version of the Newsweek cover called "Anti-Mohammedan Rage", with photos of crying children under the captions "Iraq War" and "Drones."
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[Dawn] LAHORE: At least 10 protesters were maimed when participants in a rally against the profane film on Monday clashed with the police outside the US consulate at Shimla Pahari near Lahore Press Club.
The rally was arranged by Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Mohammedaneen (MWM).
The clash erupted when a number of protesters tried to march on the consulate. They forced their way through many pickets before being stopped by the police when the consulate building was just less than 50 metre away. As the police baton-charged the marchers, a few participants managed to sneak through the last barrier in a bid to forcibly enter the building.
The place turned into a battlefield after the police tried to stop the protesters from moving on the consulate. Additional police force was called as soon as the mob reached near the consulate's main entrance gate.
Carrying placards, banners and party flags, the rioters rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the US for supporting anti-Islam activities across the world.
As a result of police baton charge, around 10 people suffered injuries.
Some protesters, who succeeded in climbing up concrete barriers, set the US flag on fire. The police also placed in durance vile Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! three rioters.
"We just marched on the consulate to lodge a protest through a written memorandum to the US officials there. We lament police action as they unnecessarily resorted to baton charge," MWM Lahore Division Secretary-General Hassan Hamdani told Dawn on the spot.
He claimed that around 10 MWM protesters had succeeded in entering the consulate building and set the US flag (hoisting on the roof) on fire. They also hoisted their flag bearing slogans `Allahuma Labaik' on the roof of the building.
He said the MWM would continue with its country-wide protests.
Earlier, the protesters staged a sit-in on the spot where the Shia leaders, including MWM's Abdul Khaliq Asadi, also spoke.
"The Pakistain government should not put up with such acts further and take up the issue at international forum," Asadi said.
The leaders asked the activists to end the sit-in after the police released their three workers.
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[Al Ahram] The Egyptian Conference Party was formed in Cairo on Monday with 25 political parties coming together under the leadership of former Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... secretary-general Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... "The initiative aims to magnifying the influence of the 25 parties, and give a voice to the people who support these parties," Moussa said at the party's launch on Monday.
Moussa, who came fifth in Egypt's post-revolution presidential election, added that one of the main concerns of the party was to promote "moderate options that represent the majority of Egyptians and to preserve the civil identity of Egypt."
The Egyptian Conference Party consists of 25 parties and movements representing a spectrum of political ideologies, including a number of prominent parties such as the Democratic Front Party and Ghad El-Thawra Party.
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A Libyan Salafi group which has denied it was involved in a deadly assault on the American consulate in Benghazi said on Tuesday Libya would turn into "an inferno for U.S. troops" if the U.S. military retaliated. Not mentioned: If Barky manages to grow a pair...
Yousef Jehani, a senior member of Ansar al-Sharia, told Reuters that the armed group, which espouses an austere form of Islam, wanted to avoid confrontation but was ready for a showdown if Washington acted "foolishly". Not paying attention to US "Smart Foreign Policy", which until now, we guess, had not been foolish
Any U.S. military intervention could push Libyans to wage a holy war, or "jihad", to defend their nation, said Jehani, whose group is a powerful force in Benghazi, a stronghold for Islamists and cradle of the revolution which toppled Muammar Gaddafi last year.
[Dawn] Target killings in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... continued on Tuesday as another 10 people bit the dust in various acts of violence, DawnNews reported.
A man was killed in North Bloody Karachi while another was rubbed out in PIB Colony after faceless myrmidons opened fire on them.
In Nanakwara, Lyari, firing resulted in the death of one man while two others were maimed. In another incident, a man was killed while another was injured in Malir.
Meanwhile, ...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!... a man was killed near the Governor House after faceless myrmidons fired shots at him. The victim was identified as Abdul Wahid.
In other incidents, the tortured body of a twelve year old girl was found near Bloody Karachi University. The bodies of two faceless myrmidons were recovered from Murad Memon Goth. According to police, the men were kidnapped earlier on and were later rubbed out.
One person was also reportedly killed near Hawkes Bay, while another person was rubbed out in near Ghas Mandi.
Three people were maimed in a grenade attack on a Nadra office, DawnNews reported.
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DAMASCUS: UN/Arab league envoy Lakhdar Brahimi yesterday met representatives of 1,300 Syrians at Altinozu camp in Hatay city, located on the border with their violence-racked homeland, in his first encounter since taking over the mission from his frustrated predecessor.
We hope that their country will find peace again and that they can return to their country as early as possible, Brahimi said at a meeting with Turkish local officials.
The veteran Algerian diplomat said he was visiting refugee camps in Syrian neighbors to brief the United Nations on the gravity of the situation for the homeless Syrians, according to a Turkish official involved in the meetings. He was welcomed into Altinozu by large crowds of refugees, as many marched in groups and chanted slogans against the embattled Damascus regime: Free Syria! We will fight till freedom!
Brahimi was also briefed by Turkish officials at the local governors office on the conditions of the refugees and their needs, an issue raised by Ankara government as needing international support.
The Altinozu camp is one of the first refugee camps set up by Turkey soon after the unrest erupted in Syria mid-March 2011, which has already killed 20,000 according to UN figures and forced 250,000 to flee into neighboring countries.
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[NY Post] In an apparent case of red, white and blue revenge, a Pakistani protester died yesterday after inhaling smoke from a burning American flag during an anti-US rally.
Abdullah Ismail succumbed at Mayo Hospital in Lahore a day after attending the fierce protest at the city's Mall Road, where an estimated 10,000 people rallied.
Witnesses said Ismail had complained of feeling ill after breathing fumes from burning flags, Pakistan's Express Tribune reported.
Another Pakistani protester was killed during clashes with police yesterday after demonstrators set a press club ablaze, apparently angry that their protest of an anti-Islam film wasn't getting enough media coverage.
Hundreds set fire to the club in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Upper Dir area, authorities said. Police said cops charged the crowd, beating them with batons. The mob then set a government office ablaze.
The protester died and several were wounded when police and the demonstrators exchanged gunfire, police said.
Also yesterday, a man died after being shot in the head Sunday during a march in which hundreds of people broke through a barricade to get to the US Consulate in the southern city of Karachi.
There were more clashes in Karachi yesterday as demonstrators from the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party tried to reach the consulate.
Police lobbed tear gas, fired rounds in the air and made 40 arrests. No injuries were reported.
Pakistanis have also held many peaceful protests against the film, which critically portrays the prophet Mohammed. One held in the southwest town of Chaman yesterday was attended by about 3,000 students and teachers.
The chief justice of Pakistan's supreme court ordered the state telecommunications authority to block the film on YouTube because it is considered blasphemous.
Posted by: Fred ||
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That's not toxic smoke. That's the Smell of Freedom. Sniff it and die, you fascist biatches!
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.
"My expectation is that if you want to be president, you have to work for everyone, not just for some," Obama said during a taping Tuesday of "The Late Show With David Letterman."
The Iranian government recently conducted a major cyber attack on a major U.S. financial institution that a military intelligence report said is a sign Tehran is waging covert war against the West.
YouTube said Tuesday that it was stopping users in Saudi Arabia from viewing an anti-Islam video that has sparked protests across the Muslim world, after the kingdom's press agency reported that the ruler had banned all access to the film and the site appeared to be blocked there.
[Dawn] The driver of a trailer, supplying goods to 
A rally against the anti-Islam film produced in the US turned violent in Wari area of Upper Dir district on Monday, leading to the torching of the press club building and government offices by protesters and the killing of a local resident in police firing.
A Coptic Christian schoolteacher, Bishoy Kamel, has been sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons on Facebook deemed defamatory to Islam and the Prophet Mohamed, and for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and his family.
Eight people including a young girl were killed when two bombs went off in a busy commercial area in 
cycle of violence
[Dawn] Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed, has pleaded for mercy in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case in a final bid to avoid the gallows. His mercy petition has been sent to the President's office, Indian media outlets reported.
Iran is holding three suspects who entered the country from Azerbaijan under intense grilling to discover their role in the mid-August explosion of the power lines to the underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, DEBKAfile's exclusive Iranian sources reveal. Tehran is also questioning the engineers, planners and company heads who built the facility to find out why it was not provided with an independent power generator.
Danish police said on Tuesday that they have arrested eight people suspected of financially supporting the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Today`s Zaman reported.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
From the Turkish side of the crossing with Tel Abyad, a 
Suspected members of the 
US officials Tuesday denied that protests in Cairo over an anti-Islam Internet video have stalled talks on relieving $1 billion worth of Egypt's debt to the United States.
[Dawn] Alma maters play an exceedingly important role in the development of children who can later on become contributing members of a progressive society. If I have to be honest, I would say that I was never too fond of going to school and my only incentive to wake up early in the morning and make that effort was to meet my friends. I went to a convent where life was just a little too proper for my liking. Chants of "heads straight", "do not slouch" and "do not drag your feet" dictated the order of the day along with a strict curriculum and minimum extra-curricular events.
Representatives of non-governmental organizations in Lower Dir on Monday vowed to take every step to ensure that women in Lower Dir are given right to vote in the next elections.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
A French satirical magazine is set to publish several cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday, a move that is likely to inflame the Islamic faithful and 
LAHORE: At least 10 protesters 
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
Target killings in 
In an apparent case of red, white and blue revenge, a Pakistani protester died yesterday after inhaling smoke from a burning American flag during an anti-US rally.
Hundreds set fire to the club in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Upper Dir area, authorities said. Police said cops charged the crowd, beating them with batons. The mob then set a government office ablaze.
