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Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia
Today's Headlines
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Science & Technology
The amazing USS Wasp
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 16:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's pretty cool, but I wonder what one of those things would do on landing after taking some holes in those fancy elvrons after some triple-A.
I remember seeing a A-10 that took so much fire, one wing was essentially more air than metal, but it still made it back to base.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 02/13/2012 16:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Doesn't look like much room for error on that takeoff.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/13/2012 17:01 Comments || Top||

#3  "Well, I'm a King Bee..."
Posted by: mojo || 02/13/2012 17:08 Comments || Top||

#4  The advantage is you can use a smaller carrier. The disadvantages are that VTOL sucks down a lot of fuel. The combat radius of a AV-8B Harrier II Plus is only 350 miles (300 nmi). That's about the same as an F-16C Block 30, carrying 6 - 1,000lb bombs.

According to the specs, however, they claim that the F-35B has a combat radius of 679 miles (590 nmi). This means there must have been a huge leap in fuel efficiency while still maintaining engine performance.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 17:54 Comments || Top||

#5  I really don't like that aircraft and believe it is one huge waste of money. We tried to build a Swiss Army knife aircraft. Have you every tried to cut a side of beef with a Swiss Army knife?
Posted by: crosspatch || 02/13/2012 18:08 Comments || Top||

#6  I take it that it cannot take off vertically - still pretty cool. On one of those landings the aircraft looked a lot like a wasp coming in to it's home.

The media and the program critics had predicted that we would burn holes in the deck and wash sailors overboard.

Sure did.....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/13/2012 18:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Why not just have a ramp like the harriers did?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/13/2012 18:45 Comments || Top||

#8  It takes away 1 or 2 helo landing pads. In my opinion, it's colossal misuse of money. 2 LHDs buys one Nimitz. In any military action against a country with even a squadron of fighter/bombers, the carriers, with 4 times the, and better, aircraft, or the Air Force will be providing the striking power and protection. The LDHs will be be useless in a Pacific war and too slow to run away. Spend the money on aircraft carriers and let the Marines have LPDs with amphibious craft and helicopters on the flight deck.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/13/2012 19:25 Comments || Top||

#9  The incredibly expensive wasp that delivers only 30% of what it was to deliver and only has 180 rounds of ammo, 14 of which is in the Aviators service weapon.

This has been and still is a disaster. I even makes me long for the days of the Osprey.

The LCS is not working out too well, either.

High minded complex ideas mean systems that will never deliver and too expensive to maintain.
Posted by: newc || 02/13/2012 20:45 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Israel Getzler obituary
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 15:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Wes Shermantine, drug use, and victimless crimes
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 15:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Seems analogous to hoplophobia. Banning a substance only cedes it's ownership to criminals.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/13/2012 18:48 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Binyamin Netanyahu accuses Iran over bombs targeting Israeli diplomats
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 15:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336086 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, of course they did it. But the Iranians' nuclear and missile scientists aren't exactly tripping down stairwells.
This game is being played at Boss Level. No sense whining about it too much.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 02/13/2012 16:30 Comments || Top||

#2  But Israel will retaliate and probably escalate.

In my crystal ball I see mysterious explosions in Iranian oil refineries.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/13/2012 18:49 Comments || Top||

#3  and Iranian Diplo-Spies are now fair game, world-wide. I expect the Mossad will prove a bit better at this
Posted by: Frank G || 02/13/2012 19:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh, heck yes. Remember that Israel and Israelis have been attacked by Muslims all over the world for decades, so they are very 'up' for self defense. They have also compiled quite a list of known Iranian agents over the years, including many known 'sleepers', that would never see it coming.

They also get intelligence feeds from western countries that identify Iranian agents, so if they want to go on a Smert Shpionam, I know who is going to get burned worse.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 19:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Iran is countering by j'accusing Israel + MOSSAD of actually doing the boom, ala anti-Iran "FALSE FLAG" OP???

* FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN WARNS AZERBAIJAN TO KEEP MOSSAD [ + Israel = IDF MilForces] OUT, or Else???

Demands no Azeri staging areas to be used by Israeli MOSSAD + IDF for mil attacks, subterfuge Ops agz Iran.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 23:06 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Project Gunwalker: Issa Blinks on Holder's Deadline, to No Date
For nearly a year now, House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R=CA) and Attorney General Eric Holder have locked horns over Operation Fast and Furious. Throughout this time we have seen heated exchanges between the two during Congressional hearings, watched the DOJ’s narrative change more than once, and wondered why Holder has thus far been allowed to dictate the speed at which the committee can investigate him.

As of late, when Holder dug in and simply refused to the turn over the documents the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed, the contest between he and Issa turned into nothing less than a battle of wills. And Issa upped the ante when he drew a line in the sand and gave Holder until 5 pm on February 9th to comply with the subpoenas or face charges of contempt of congress.

And so they squared off, and for any of you who wondered which man would blink first the answer has been revealed—Issa blinked, and gave Holder & Co. a time extension for turning over the documents.

Keep in mind, that throughout the time the back and forth has been taking place, the DOJ has given the House Oversight Committee just 6,000 documents, but they’ve provided their internal IG with 80,000 plus. The bottom line: time hasn’t been the issue, rather, the refusal to comply has. Nevertheless, Issa has given in and provided Holder with more time anyway.

And to make matters worse, as of today the extension has no time limit on it.

So as it stands, Holder has from now till the cows come home to play it his way.
Posted by: Sherry || 02/13/2012 14:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336101 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Issa doesn't have the votes in the Senate for contempt of congress. The donks will circle the wagons and that'll be the end of it. Unless, of course, Issa finds some other way to prove that Holder was involved. What would the cops do? Start with the little fish and work their way up the food chain, right? Or do I watch too much TV?
Posted by: Chesney Spusoth9331 || 02/13/2012 16:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Issa won't bring this to a head until the trunk nominee is decided. Then he'll do everything possible to make it a general election issue.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/13/2012 16:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Got to agree with Nimble on this one.....
Posted by: Sherry || 02/13/2012 17:20 Comments || Top||

#4  ...just remember that timely due process enjoyed in America has no counterpart in other places of the world, like Mexico. Delay all you want, it just moves the future venue to another jurisdiction. Holders best protection is to hope that a conviction in the US that is not pardoned is good enough to appeal for protect from extradition under the double jeopardy proviso of the Constitution [of course being a living breathing document, that might not apply]. Though a trade-in-kind in exchange for some cartel bosses for prosecution here might be worked out.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/13/2012 18:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Though a trade-in-kind in exchange for some cartel bosses for prosecution here might be worked out.
Heck - I'll be willing to trade Holder for a jaywalker to to named later!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/13/2012 18:20 Comments || Top||

#6  I'd trade Holder for a good bottle of mescal, or an Elvis painting on black velvet....even the fat Elvis
Posted by: Frank G || 02/13/2012 19:03 Comments || Top||

#7  One important thing. While impeachment and conviction takes both houses, citations for contempt of congress only take place in one house.

First the committee votes, then the house or senate votes. Then, if the contempt citation rises to the level of a criminal act, it is forwarded by that body to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Since in this case it would be an obvious conflict of interest, the House would have to create a special prosecutor by authorizing a federal judge to appoint him.

Importantly, the president *cannot* pardon someone cited for contempt of congress.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 19:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Give Issa some credit. He'll do what he can, when he can, as powerfully as possible. He's no dummy, and no lapdog for Obama/Holder
Posted by: Frank G || 02/13/2012 20:31 Comments || Top||

#9  As for the double jeopardy issue, it seems to me that there is the concept of separate sovereigns. For example, the cops in Rodney King case were acquitted on state charges, but retried in federal court. Since the state and the federal government are separate sovereigns, it was not considered double jeopardy. So it would seem to me that if Holder is tried and acquitted in the US, he could still be tried in Mexico.

IANAL. Your mileage may vary.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/13/2012 21:09 Comments || Top||

#10  Rambler: IAAL, and correct, that's the separate sovereigns doctrine. The protection against double jeopardy is actually quite narrow. It doesn't come into play at all unless and until an accused has been acquitted, and then only within the same "sovereign" (state or federal). It has zero applicability with respect to foreign jurisdictions and extradition treaties.

Doesn't matter what happens to Holder in the US. I hope the Mexican government hires Dog Chapman to drag his ass to trial in a country with a lot more experience meting out his brand of "justice."
Posted by: RandomJD || 02/13/2012 21:51 Comments || Top||

#11  Testing...
Posted by: Ralphs son Johnnie || 02/13/2012 22:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
FS President proposes Arab Spring Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 13:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt

Does that ransom for both NDI & IRI personnel, or just NDI?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/13/2012 14:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Why?
We are broke.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/13/2012 17:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Meanwhile, Pirate fans, ...

* TOPIX > SOMALI PM WANTS "MARSHALL PLAN" AT LONDON MEET, for Somalia + West Affriqque' Region.

D *** NG IT, I WAS EXPECTING THIS BEFORE THE 2012 NEW YEAR!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 23:19 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Police arrest two Afghan boys for suicide bomb plan
Police arrested two 10-year-old would-be suicide bombers in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, months after President Hamid Karzai pardoned the pair over a similar incident.

"The two ten-year old would-be bombers were arrested along with three other militants last week, while planning an attack on Afghan and international forces in Kandahar", Zalmai Ayubi the provincial spokesman told AFP.

The children had two vests full of explosives when they were detained, he added.

They had previously been arrested by security forces, again wearing explosive vests but were reportedly released last August, along with 18 other children, after receiving a pardon from the Afghan President.

The two boys had gone to Pakistan after their release but were sent back to Afghanistan after being trained to conduct suicide attacks.

"They told me I would be safe after conducting a suicide attack," one the boys Azizullah was quoted in a statement sent by Kandahar media office.

The boy said he was persuaded to carry out the attack at a training camp by militants who told him when "Americans fire at you... they will not be able to hit you".

The second boy, named as Nasibullah in the statement, said he had been forced to join a militant team who handed him over to the Taliban.

"The Taliban forced me to fire a Kalashinkov... I was scared at first. They also taught me how to blow my vest, they showed me how to press the button in my hand," he said, according to the statement.

"They then brought me to the city, asked me to sit on the side of the road and wait for foreign forces to come... I was there when two police came and arrested me.

"I ask all my madrassa teachers not to teach kids to become suicide bombers."
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 12:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The boy said he was persuaded to carry out the attack at a training camp by militants who told him when "Americans fire at you... they will not be able to hit you".

The real goal was not a suicide attack but to score a PR victory by getting the Americans to kill a couple of children. Curious how the kids managed to not get themselves killed. Twice.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/13/2012 14:01 Comments || Top||

#2  "I ask all my madrassa teachers not to teach kids to become suicide bombers"

Do you think Pakistan or Saudi will listen?
Posted by: Whutch Throsh4701 || 02/13/2012 14:25 Comments || Top||

#3  The report also quotes a senior al-Qaida detainee as saying: "Pakistan knows everything. They control everything. I can't [expletive] on a tree in Kunar without them watching." He added: "The Taliban are not Islam. The Taliban are Islamabad."
Posted by: Whutch Throsh4701 || 02/13/2012 17:15 Comments || Top||


Taliban: Mullah Obaidullah died in Pakistan in 2010, Paks maybe dunnit
Former Taliban Defence Minister, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, had died on March 5th 2010 due to a heart attack in one of the Pak prisons 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...
, Taliban confirmed on Monday.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund was captured on January 3rd 2007 by Pak security forces in Quetta city of Pakistain.

He served as the Taliban's Defence Minister from 1996 to 2001. Taliban's government was toppled by US-led operation in 2001 after deadly attacks targeted World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

Details of the controversial death of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, are still unclear, Taliban said in a statement. The statement called on Pak officials to provide full details about the death. His death might have occurred due to torture at the prison or an heart attack, the Taliban added.

Several high ranking Taliban officials have been captured by Pak security forces which made landmarks in the fight against insurgency.

Taliban who are accused of having strong ties with al-Qaeda have lost their key leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistain since the start of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
-led mission in Afghanistan. Most of the Taliban leaders have been killed in US drone strikes in Wazoo area of Pakistain where hideouts of most of the Taliban and other beturbanned goon groups exist.
Posted by: || 02/13/2012 12:16 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's so much simpler to just make them disappear, then shrug and say you have no idea where they are.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:29 Comments || Top||

#2  He knows too much!

The Paks fear loss of control over the Taliban going forward especially with doing deals with US or Karzai.
Posted by: Whutch Throsh4701 || 02/13/2012 14:59 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Navy Puts More Bang Into Unmanned Fleet
From the comments: "can't we just get a shark with a frickin' laser on its head?"
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/13/2012 11:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336088 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Long range" is relative. Spike is an ATGM, of which there are several versions.

According to its specs, its max range is "800 to 25,000m".

Picture of the Spike NLOS.

Spike NLOS - "Non Line Of Sight" is an ultra long range version of the weapon with a claimed maximum range of up to 25 km (16 mi). As a newer, larger missile with an overall weight of around 70 kg (154 lb 5 oz), it can be fired from helicopters.

The Spike NLOS is already operational with a military customer, which is most likely to be Israel Defense Forces. In a deal concluded on 6 September 2011, the South Korean government has agreed to purchase an unknown number of Spike NLOS missiles.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:53 Comments || Top||

#2  This being said, I think what may be needed is an escort "mothership" that can carry a few dozen of these drone boats, which can be quick launched on request, then recovered. Think of a modified fast cargo ship.

I can also imagine another configuration, designed as anti-submarine boats. With different weaponry, of course. Like a 750lb Mark 54 MAKO Lightweight Torpedo.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 15:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Same robot boat can drop and retrieve robot subs.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/13/2012 15:31 Comments || Top||

#4  This being said, I think what may be needed is an escort "mothership" that can carry a few dozen of these drone boats

This is a follow-on/modification to an anti-submarine package designed for the Littoral Combat ship.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/13/2012 15:55 Comments || Top||

#5  As per the #2, the US Navy's new MPS Ships are roughly the right "fit" for a "Mothership" - the ENTERPRISE, NIMITZES, + new FORD-Class CVNS may be too oversized + powerful for Navy-DOD requirements, espec given that the US is formally not antipating the breakout of any major mil conflicts [World Wars, Multi-National]at least thru Year 2050 iff not beyond. IOW, UN-APPROVED MINOR "POLICE ACTION(S)" + "PEACEKEEPING".

US Navy-DOD PLanners may not like the concept of "ARSENAL/FIRE SHIPS", but wid the new MPS design it appears they are moving in that direction anyway.

* 1990's RUSH LIMBAUGH [paraph] > "ITS A TERRIBLE BURDEN TO BE RIGHT = RIGHTIST ALL THE TIME"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 19:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Joe, its always the wars you don't anticipate breaking out that get you, at least that's been my experience.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/13/2012 21:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Thankfully, the Israeli's "Own" the Unmanned universe.
Posted by: Chesh Squank6666 || 02/13/2012 22:49 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
The Forgotten Man
We don't often have an explanation of his intention from the artist himself.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 11:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Media Matters: erratic behavior, close coordination with White House, news organizations
David Brock was smoking a cigarette on the roof of his Washington, D.C. office one day in the late fall of 2010 when his assistant and two bodyguards suddenly appeared and whisked him and his colleague Eric Burns down the stairs.

Brock, the head of the liberal nonprofit Media Matters for America, had told friends and co-workers that he feared he was in imminent danger from right-wing assassins and needed a security team to keep him safe.

The threat he faced while smoking on his roof? "Snipers," a former co-worker recalled.

"He had more security than a Third World dictator," one employee said, explaining that Brock's bodyguards would rarely leave his side, even accompanying him to his home in an affluent Washington neighborhood each night where they "stood post" to protect him. "What movement leader has a detail?" asked someone who saw it.

Extensive interviews with a number of Brock's current and former colleagues at Media Matters, as well as with leaders from across the spectrum of Democratic politics, reveal an organization roiled by its leader's volatile and erratic behavior and struggles with mental illness, and an office where Brock's executive assistant carried a handgun to public events in order to defend his boss from unseen threats.
Posted by: Beavis || 02/13/2012 08:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Breaking: Iran's 'Fordow' Nuke Plant Now Fully Operational
According to Mehr News Agency, sources within Iran revealed that there will be an announcement in a few days that the previously secret nuclear site, the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, is now fully operational and enriching uranium at a 20% level.

The world learned about the existence of this site in 2009 when the Iranians disclosed it to the IAEA right before President Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France made statements at the G-20 summit in Pittsburg that referenced the secret Iranian site.

The site is built deep into a mountain on a Revolutionary Guards' base near the city of Qom.

The Iranian leaders had intended to transfer much of their low-enriched uranium stock from Natanz to Fordow and to start the process of enrichment at a much higher level with protection against any attack.

It is reported that the site cannot be destroyed even with the current bunker-buster bombs kept in the U.S. military's arsenal.

It should be noted that the Fordow facility can only house 3,000 centrifuges, and is therefore useless for providing fuel for a nuclear power plant. The only purpose is for clandestine use or for making a nuclear bomb. It is also important to note that enriching uranium to the 20% level is 9/10 of the way to weaponization.
Posted by: Beavis || 02/13/2012 08:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lessirree ...

> ISRAEL + Iran can have Nukes by or very shortly after January 2013.
> VARIOUS NET PERTS > Ditto 2012 NLT 2015.

Taken collectively, iff there is going to be a de facto US-Israel-Iran War, IMO casualty-conscious/mindful US Govtcritters will likely go for milstrike + dedicated ground invasion of Iran ASAP later this year while Iran seemingly still has very few NucMats andor alleged NucBombs.

EITHER THAT, OR [grudgingly] ACCEPT A NUKE-ARMED IRAN [+ by extens Radical Islam].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 23:29 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli diplomat's car bombed in India; 2 hurt
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 08:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pak ISI involvement?
Posted by: Whutch Throsh4701 || 02/13/2012 14:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Hizb'allah is being spoke of, Whutch Throsh4701, as Iran's arm.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 22:34 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia
Bombers targeted staff at Israel's embassies in India and Georgia on Monday, the foreign ministry said, with a bomb going off in New Delhi but a second device in Tbilisi defused.

Indian police said a bomb hit an embassy car and wounded a woman. She was not immediately identified and there was no word on her condition.

"There was one attempted attack, and one successful, as it were," said Paul Hirschson, a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry. "In both cases, the people concerned worked with the Israeli embassies."

He also confirmed that a bomb had been found in a car belonging to a staffer at the embassy in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, which was defused by local police.

Hirschson said the Israeli ambassador to India was not hurt in the New Delhi attack.
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 08:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336106 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
21st century airships may join Navy fleet
A new generation of British-built airships may be bought by the Royal Navy to resupply ships, follwoing their use by the US Army on the front line in Afghanistan.
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 07:56 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336099 views] Top|| File under:

#1  One word, "Hindenburg".
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 10:07 Comments || Top||

#2  These aren't flammable.

It makes for a nice UAV and can stay up indefinitely with radio intercept and triangulation gear. Can also rout communications through for better reception and communication without gumming up a satellite. Think mobile cell tower that could expand coverage to half of Afghanistan.

Pretty neat piece of equipment.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/13/2012 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Hindenburg: 1937.

This is 2012. I'd like to think that we, as a culture, have gone past 1937 as a measure of airships, and can think freely.

Nah, screw that. HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG HINDENBURG
Posted by: gromky || 02/13/2012 10:50 Comments || Top||

#4  There's a video that shows it was the envelope covering that was the cause of the Hindenburg disaster. A shellac containing aluminum powder and iron oxide. Travelling thermite bomb awaiting a fuse. Any geek (takes bow, "Thank you") can tell you that hydrogen burns with a pink, almost invisible flame, whereas thermite goes poof.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 02/13/2012 11:17 Comments || Top||

#5  A very cost effective persistent surveillance tool. Tethered units however, must be returned to their moorings in inclement weather which leaves an obvious collection gap as well as a window of opportunity for nefarious activity.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 11:27 Comments || Top||

#6  The use of airships is pretty irresistible. It is such a multi-role platform that several different classes are hard to beat.

The high altitude giant ship provides a combination AWACS, high bandwidth communication and satellite transceiver, huge area real time surveillance along with highly accurate GPS target identification, national weather service, X-Band radar to detect missiles, etc., etc.

Then there are the heavy lift cargo airships, like the German CargoLifter CL 160 (160 metric tons (176 tons) payload). We would want one that could carry about 200 tons, or three Abrams tanks with ammo.

Medium airships are for cargo transport in high altitude mountainous terrain that is very hard on helicopters, and has no landing area for aircraft. It could also move significant but smaller cargoes in rear areas, in a slow, methodical manner.

Eventually one could be rigged as a gunship with a Metal Storm type weapon (Australian invented, but the Chinese are now developing as well).

Smaller airships, likely unmanned or tethered, have already proven themselves for short to medium range surveillance.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 11:30 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm looking forward to the Great Zeppelin Wars of the 21st century.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/13/2012 12:03 Comments || Top||

#8 
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/13/2012 12:28 Comments || Top||

#9  We mock them at our own peril PB.

Link
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 13:33 Comments || Top||

#10  I imagine a dirigible floating around silently at night with some snipers aboard (or simply spotters) could do a lot of damage. The dirigible doesn't have to be huge, and it doesn't have to use hydrogen.

A dirigible could also make a nice floating air craft carrier for unmanned vehicles. Potentially extending their range and eliminating a lot of the cross-Pakistan problems.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/13/2012 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Iff the USDOD-Navy hope to detect + destroy TLCMS + UW Strategic SLBMS just under, at, or atop the ocean surface or long-distance air strike, espec from origin/break-point to mid-flight stage(s), then NT Dirigibles is what they need.

Again, the Cold War Soviets recognized the potential, + considered same as "destabilizing", i.e. justifying expansion of the Arms Race + various MilStrike Options including Preemptive or Surrogate Strike - they demanded the US-NATO never dev such advanced-design Dirigibles = AirShips.

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 19:24 Comments || Top||

#12  Sealing compounds are simply too heavy, a good Machine gun could easily put enough holes in It to leak down to the ground.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 19:46 Comments || Top||

#13  Redneck Jim, care to tell me how a) you find a HMG with a range of 10,000 ft, roughly straight up and how to get it within range of the sensor platform before a strike is ordered in on it? Seconly, these are for rear echelon, not front line. They are not "combat zeppelins". I still have my doubts as to the efficacy, but those points are not amongst them. Right tool for the job - low threat environment only, save the expensive stuff for where its really needed.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/13/2012 21:33 Comments || Top||

#14  US is working on an unmanned airship that is solar powered & can stay at 60,000 feet - indefinitely. First test flight crashed in PA last summer.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/13/2012 22:51 Comments || Top||

#15  These things are not combat survivable. However, 99% of the time we are not in combat. So then they are a huge advantage. And even in combat they soak up a bunch of attacks that otherwise might affect a real combat platform.

Are these things a wartime winner, no.

Are these things a deterrent, oh yes.
Posted by: rammer || 02/13/2012 23:39 Comments || Top||


Arabia
'Arab Spring? That's the Business of Other Countries'
One year ago, Arab Spring protests briefly gripped the tiny Gulf country of Bahrain. Just as quickly, however, they were crushed. SPIEGEL spoke with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa about the need for reform, whether democracy is right for his country and what exactly a king does.
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 07:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Vladimir Putin vows to reverse Russian population decline
Donations of Viagra will be appreciated.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed to reverse Russia's demographic decline and boost its population to 154 million, as he ramped up his re-election campaign in the face of protests.
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 07:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's he gonna do? Personally impregnate hundreds of thousands of women?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/13/2012 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Any connection to ll million grandmothers ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Request Bill Clinton be appointed Ambassador-at-Large?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/13/2012 8:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Beat me to it, Rambler.

I was going to say "By himself?"
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 02/13/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Caption below is supposed to mean, "One more generation, and it's over"
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/13/2012 8:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Make love, not war.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/13/2012 10:11 Comments || Top||

#7  What, personally?
Posted by: mojo || 02/13/2012 10:45 Comments || Top||

#8  What's he gonna do? Personally impregnate hundreds of thousands of women?


Last I heard, abortion was the birth control method of most women in that part of the world. Perhaps that's changed, but of not, getting them pregnant was never the issue.

Putin will have to start by paying them to have babies. They have been doing that in Western Europe, with absolutely no effect, even though it,s completely indiscriminate -- after trailing daughter #2 was born in Germany, the checks came automatically, and we had to fight hard to make them stop. Even the argument that we were non-citizens with no plans of staying long term did not sway the petty bureaucrat in charge of such things. I don't remember the final argument that made them cancel it for us, but it must have been a doozy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 12:00 Comments || Top||

#9  ...maybe relying upon the family for support in your later years rather than the state might have an effect?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/13/2012 12:17 Comments || Top||

#10  (The) Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Reagan (PBUH)

If you have to pay people to have sex, there's something wrong with your country (like all welfare states).
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/13/2012 12:34 Comments || Top||

#11  What does his wife (and presumably mistresses) think of the idea?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/13/2012 13:33 Comments || Top||

#12  Fairly primitive abortion techniques from what I've heard, TW, which might well produce difficulties with wanted pregnancies after multiple bouts of uterine scarring.
Posted by: lotp || 02/13/2012 13:47 Comments || Top||

#13  But I suspect the real decline is cultural and environmental. Russian men die young, really serious alcoholism is rampant, as is environmental pollution on a massive scale in parts of the country. And there's a strong sense of futility among many Russians.
Posted by: lotp || 02/13/2012 13:48 Comments || Top||

#14  China massively increased their population at the start of the cold war. Not sure exactly what the policy was but its worth looking into.

Also Russia might want to create incentives for folks to move into Russia/Siberia. Folks not of Chinese or Turkemon decent so they won't dillute the Russian claims to the areas. Perhaps Indians as they have population to spare.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/13/2012 14:41 Comments || Top||

#15  First of all Russia needs some place for breeding parents that is not Moscow, and is a healthy, family friendly place, with non-breeders kept out.

No abortion. No birth control. Strict limits on alcohol and tobacco. Boring 9 to 5 administrative jobs for them men. Women are almost all bored homemakers, with hobbies and a few home based businesses.

Very friendly place, with smiling but forceful police who do not tolerate anything that interferes with the mission. Bring in a lot of young, Russian Orthodox priests with instructions that their sermons emphasize "being fruitful and multiplying", and good parenting.

Public schools with an emphasis on patriotism and pride in Russia. Lots of healthy outdoor, Boy Scout recreation for the kiddies.

Housing is set up with an octagonal pattern of homes sharing a "commons" large play area, each home having a small, fenced private yard, and several bedrooms.

Men get promoted (subtly) based on the number of children they have. When the children are teens the family is moved out so a new family can start in their place.

With a few new cities created as breeding factories, Russian demographics would skyrocket.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 15:11 Comments || Top||

#16  'moose, why wouldn't that work here as well?
Posted by: no mo uro || 02/13/2012 15:19 Comments || Top||

#17  Men get promoted (subtly) based on the number of children they have. When the children are teens the family is moved out so a new family can start in their place.

What!!! No mention of celestial marriage?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 15:27 Comments || Top||

#18  Lets start by abolishing no fault divorce.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/13/2012 16:28 Comments || Top||

#19 
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 02/13/2012 16:32 Comments || Top||

#20  #5
Its a strong picture and point taken, but only guys in the background.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/13/2012 17:00 Comments || Top||

#21  For China - Madam Mao said: "Sex is no different than drinking a glass of water".
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/13/2012 17:03 Comments || Top||

#22  g(r)omgoru, that's a double-edged sword. No-fault divorce made it a lot easier for me to cut loose from a 37-year-old man-child, so I could go find a guy (a) firing live ammunition and (b) not afraid of the responsibility. Would've been a protracted, expensive hassle to have to document the affairs, and not even remotely worth it to argue over our minimal assets.

As I hoped/expected, I've found many men who are up to the challenge. I believe the problem is the culture. In particular, women's lib, which did a lot more to "liberate" men than women.
Posted by: RandomJD || 02/13/2012 17:05 Comments || Top||

#23  that's a double-edged sword

Yea, cuts me every time I've to take leave from my 6.5 years old son
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/13/2012 17:20 Comments || Top||

#24  It's a thankless job but someone's got to do it. Now brace yourself Lana, Putie is coming.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/13/2012 19:30 Comments || Top||

#25  And there's a strong sense of futility among many Russians.

That along with it's twin, hopelessness, is the killer.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/13/2012 19:34 Comments || Top||

#26  "Sex is no different than drinking a glass of water".

She was doing it wrong then.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/13/2012 19:44 Comments || Top||

#27  or she gets awesome glasses of water
Posted by: Frank G || 02/13/2012 19:53 Comments || Top||

#28  Scratch a "conservative" find a near-socialist "organiser" other other people "for their own good"...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/13/2012 20:01 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
34 years after raid, Cassinga terrorist veteran gets new digs.
Socialist government ties terrorist rewards to those "who want to engage in income-generating projects, and will not be paid out in cash." Now I really am confused!
Veterans can't be trusted with cash. They might do silly things like build houses and support families. The bonuses go to proper socialist 'income generating projects' -- they generate clean, non-taxable (indeed unrecorded) income for the bosses.

Glad I could help clarify that for you.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 07:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Habitat for Humanity by another name ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 11:41 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran moves to ban stoning
Iran has issued major reforms to its penal code that ban death by stoning and forbid the execution of minors.
Local Iranian media reports that the changes were approved by the guardian council, a body tasked with ensuring that the country's judicial laws do not contravene Islamic law.

The legislation now requires only the signature of the president to be enshrined into law.

Prior to the reforms, Iran has the record for executing more juveniles than any other country in the world. A report published human rights group Human Rights Watch earlier this year stated that more than a hundred children are currently on death row. Most are not executed until they turn 18.

Stoning is usually reserved for men and women found guilty of adultery. At least 99 people have been stoned to death in Iran since 1980.

Drewery Dyke, an expert on Iran at Amnesty International, warns that due to quirks of the Iranian legal system, the reforms are not as clear cut as they appear.
"Execution is a specific legal concept in Iran. Punishment for murder in Iran under Islamic law is termed 'retribution of the soul'," Mr Dyke explains, adding that children may still be killed if charged with murder.

"Similarly with stoning, they have removed the punishment of stoning for adultery but we still don't know what manner of punishment will be proscribed in the new law. There is more to his than meets the eye – the reforms do allow for a backdoor application of stoning."

Execution sentences are routinely meted out for crimes of murder, homosexuality, adultery, drug smuggling, espionage and any perceived disruption to the economic and civil wellbeing of the country.
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 06:59 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They'll stone you when you're trying to be so good
They'll stone you just like they said they would
They'll stone you when you're trying to go home
They'll stone you when you're there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

They'll stone you when you're walking on the street
They'll stone you when you're trying to keep your seat
They'll stone you when your walking on the floor
They'll stone you when your walking to the door
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

They'll stone you when you're at the breakfast table
They'll stone you when you are young and able
They'll stone you when you're trying to make a buck
They'll stone you and then they'll say good luck
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned

Well They'll stone you and say that it's the end
They'll stone you and then they'll come back again
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car
They'll stone you when you're playing you guitar
Yes But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
Alright

Well They'll stone you when you are all alone
They'll stone you when you are walking home
They'll stone you and then say they're all brave
They'll stone you when you're send down in your grave
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Just change the name to "Rocking".
"Everybody rock on."
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 10:16 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Risks of Afghan War Shift From Soldiers to Contractors
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 06:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336084 views] Top|| File under:

#1  please warn us when it's NYT.. ty
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 02/13/2012 22:42 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Raids on Offices of American NGOs Reveal Scheme to 'Partition' Egypt
By Muhammad Dunia

Translated By Nicolas Dagher


Over the past few days, some Western media have begun to revisit the old idea of a plan to partition Egypt based on the American-Zionist project to divide the country into four states.

The first would be in the Sinai, east of the Nile River delta, under Jewish influence. The second, with Alexandria as its capital and extending South to Asyut, would be Christian. The third would be in the Nubia region, and the fourth would be a Berber state with Cairo as its capital.
And there is no fourth!
Up to now, some thought the ravings about this suspicious plot were for domestic political consumption only. But during the investigation into illegal funding of non-governmental organizations by Egyptian justice, maps were found inside an American non-governmental organization [the International Republican Institute] laying out plans to partition the country.

The subject wasn't really a secret, as a scheme to divide Egypt into an Islamic State in the North and a Christian one in the South was leaked on the Internet not long ago. This is particularly dangerous because some international media have exploited the protests at the Maspiro TV station [by Coptic Christians - 27 were killed]. Certain analysts and researchers of Middle East affairs sought to revive the notion by posting partition maps on the Web. This demonstrates both foreign and domestic hands behind what is happening now in Egypt.

Let us return to the partition maps, which confirm the existence of the scheme, and which turned up during a raid on the American NGO headquarters.
Planted by the local leader of the Muslim Brotherhood...
The plan can be traced back to a British Middle East scholar of Jewish origin, Bernard Lewis. It was Lewis who came up with the most detailed plan for partitioning the Arab and Islamic world from Pakistan to Morocco. The plan was published in the U.S. Defense Department magazine. So who is Bernard Lewis?
Someone the Islamicists hate with a particular passion, as you'll read...
An expert on military strategy, General Sameh Sayf al-Yazal, says that according to the information available, Lewis was born in London in 1916, is a British Middle East researcher of Jewish faith, and a Zionist. He is a U.S. citizen who graduated from the University of London in 1936, where he taught Oriental and African studies. He delved deeply and frequently into the history of Islam and Muslims, writing negatively about it - and became a recognized expert on the subject.

In 1980, when the Iran-Iraq War was raging, U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Bzerzhinsky said that the dilemma for the United States would be how to correct the borders agreed to under the Sykes-Picot Agreement by triggering a second Gulf War. This would be waged along the sidelines of the first one - the Iraq-Iran War. After Bzerzhinsky made this statement, the U.S. Defense Department commissioned Zionist conspirator Bernard Lewis to draw up his now famous scheme to individually dismantle the constitutional unity of Arab and Muslim states, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states and the nations of North Africa. The new nations would be partitioned along ethnic, religious, sectarian and tribal lines. He included detailed maps with his plan, which were drawn up under his direct supervision.
The maps exist alright. They're a model of clarity. It makes for entertaining thoughts on how the world would be. Lewis recognized that the entire region was unstable in part because various minorities had been thrown together by history; be that history Islamic conquest, Byzantine adventurism or British imperialism. Lewis believed that you wouldn't get peace until each of the ethnic and religious subgroups had a homeland of their own with defensible borders. Call the man crazy...
Regarding the details of the U.S.-Zionist project to partition the Muslim world, General Sayf al-Yazal adds that according to Bernard Lewis, Egypt is destined to be divided into four states. The first would be comprised of the Sinai and east of the Nile River Delta and be under Jewish influence in order to achieve the Jewish dream of a land spanning from the Nile to the Euphrates. The second would be a Christian state with Alexandria as its capital. Its area would extend south of Bahr Yusuf to southern Asyut, stretch westward to include al-Fayum, and follow the line of the desert through Wadi al-Natrun to make the new nation contiguous with Alexandria. It would also be widened to include part of the coastal area stretching to Mersa Matruh. The third state of Nubia, which would run along the border with North Sudan and the Sahara Desert, would have its capital in Aswan and would connect up with the southern part of Egypt, also known as Upper Egypt. Nubia would share a border with the Berber state, which would extend from southern Morocco to the Red Sea. This would essential comprise Islamic Egypt with Cairo as its capital, and would include all the remaining parts of Egypt. This nation, too, would be destined to be under Israeli influence, and would be within the purview of the Greater Israel coveted by the Jews.
And notice: no state for Arabs! Bwha-ha-ha-ha. What evil genius!
Posted by: tipper || 02/13/2012 04:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Arab Mind
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/13/2012 6:12 Comments || Top||

#2  "The Nubia region" is usually knows as the Sudan. Nuba being the old Egyptian word for "slave"
Posted by: mojo || 02/13/2012 10:48 Comments || Top||

#3  I haven't been able to find a copy of this proposed Lewis map of a divided Egypt - the ones floating around conspiratorial anti-neocon sites are all variants on breaking up Southwest Asia, not North Africa. It's all "how do we break out Kurdistan and an autonomous Alawi state" and how to chop up the Iranian empire - what the hell is Quashqaistan?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 02/13/2012 12:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Here it is.
Posted by: newc || 02/13/2012 15:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds like a Biden plan
Posted by: Frank G || 02/13/2012 15:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Drat, uncovered Operation Biden Time. Still, don't see what is wrong with newc's map...

Quashquai are nomadic horse people, time of the Khans, as I understand no friends of tehran, and you want on your side.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/13/2012 15:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Used to be, when I was in college, forty-plus years ago, the anthro people, the poli sci people, and the history people, all bitched about how yurps drew lines on maps without regard to the people, or The Peoples, through whom the lines went.
Now, not so much.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 02/13/2012 16:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Good old Arab nutbaggery and paranoia. It never seems to go out of season.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/13/2012 21:14 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
HRW and Amnestia Intl denounce Malaysia for deporting tweeter
Malaysia's government on Monday defended its decision to deport a young Saudi journalist
23 year old Hamza Kashgari, a muslim of Uyghur descent who, on Feb 10, tweeted the following,
"On your birthday, I will say that I have loved the rebel in you, that you've always been a source of inspiration to me, and that I do not like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you.
On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more.
On your birthday, I shall not bow to you. I shall not kiss your hand. Rather, I shall shake it as equals do, and smile at you as you smile at me. I shall speak to you as a friend, no more."

who may face persecution at home for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter.
HRW view
Human Rights Watch slammed Malaysia's failure to respect human rights. It said Kashgari was kept incommunicado and denied access to lawyers and the U.N. refugee agency. Police also told lawyers that Kashgari was still being held after he already had been forced on a plane, it said.

"By its actions, the ministry of home affairs once again showed that it believes rule of law is whatever it says and that it is more than willing to be totally opaque in its operations to maintain its flexibility to do what it wants when it wants," said Phil Robertson, its Asia deputy director.

"If he (Kashgari) faces execution back in Saudi Arabia, the Malaysian government will have blood on its hands," he said.
Amnesty Intl view
Amnesty International has called Kashgari a "prisoner of conscience."
Posted by: lord garth || 02/13/2012 04:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:31 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
IntelCenter Terrorist video Guide
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 03:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What a marvelous resource. Thanks B.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/13/2012 5:22 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Bahraini Forces Tear-Gas Protesters ahead of Uprising Anniversary
[An Nahar] Security forces in Bahrain used tear gas on Sunday against hundreds of protesters trying to approach Manama's former Pearl Square, the focal point of a month of Shiite-led protests last year, witnesses told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Trying to get ahead on the To Do list before taking a break for the festivities...
Several small groups of demonstrators numbering several hundred people tried to march from Shiite neighborhoods around the capital to the square ahead of Tuesday's first anniversary of the outbreak of the 2011 protests.

But the witnesses said police used tear gas and sound grenades against the protesters, who were chanting slogans demanding reform, and prevented them from reaching the square.

It was not immediately known if there were any casualties.

Security personnel had deployed in force on Sunday after calls by the opposition and activists for protests marking the anniversary, activists and witnesses said.

Activists had called for demonstrations on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday towards Pearl Square, epicenter of the protest that erupted on February 14 last year and was crushed a month later, said Mohammed Maskati, head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights.

Witnesses reported a heavy security presence at main junctions in Manama from Sunday morning, especially at the al-Farook interchange that was built on Pearl Square, which was razed a day after the protest was crushed.

Several checkpoints were set up and caused traffic jams, especially around the afternoon rush hour, they added.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Accused brigadier's father urges govt to release him
[Dawn] The father of an army brigadier against whom the army initiated court martial proceedings has requested the government to hold an inquiry into his son's arrest and direct the concerned authorities to release him.

Brig Ali Khan and four other officers were jugged in May, 2011 for suspected links to Hizbut Tahrir.
...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate...
Brig Khan was working at the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi at the time of his arrest.

Former army official Mehr Khan in his letter written on Feb 11 to Defence Secretary Nargis Sethi expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
s for his son's life and requested the concerned authorities to issue his release orders.

The letter said that Brig Khan was perturbed over the May 2 attack in Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
and during a meeting at the General Head Quarters (GHQ) raised serious questions over the incident.

He also suggested during the meeting that all senior officers of the army should return plots and agricultural lands, it added.

The letter claimed that he was placed in long-term storage after the meeting and kept in solitary confinement.

The letter further indicated that he suffered a heart attack and alleged that he was not given proper medical treatment.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Arab League Backs Palestinian Call for Peace Conference
This is like a tree falling in the forest, but nobody hears.
[An Nahar] Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Sunday supported a Paleostinian request for an international peace conference aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.

In a statement after talks, they stressed "the importance of holding an international peace conference on the Paleostinian issue."

The international meeting would seek "an end to the occupation of Paleostinian territories and to reach a comprehensive solution to the issues of borders, security, Jerusalem and refugees based on the Arab peace initiative."

The statement came after Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
addressed the 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...
's Follow-Up Committee, which tracks Israeli-Paleostinian peace efforts.

The League statement also called on its members to contribute financially to support the Paleostinian Authority with $100 million a month.

The 22-member body said the funds were needed "in light of the financial strain on the Paleostinian leadership and Paleostinian people, with Israel not transferring the rightful money of the Paleostinian Authority."
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran vows to crack down on election protests
Parliamentary elections on March 2nd mark first national poll since disputed 2009 election that ignited 8-months of street protests.
Posted by: || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:


Iran blocks email, restricts net access
TEHRAN - Iran has further restricted access to the Internet and blocked popular email services for the past few days, in a move a top lawmaker said could “cost the regime dearly,” media reports said on Sunday.

Millions of Iranians have been unable to log onto their accounts on popular email websites such as Google’s Gmail, Yahoo’s Mail and Microsoft’s Hotmail since Thursday without any official explanation, the Arman newspaper reported.

But the Mehr news agency said the restrictions were not related only to email.

“It has been a while that Internet users have had difficulty accessing domestic and news websites as well as foreign search engines and email services,” it said on its website. These difficulties include “low speed, outage and blocking” of websites, Mehr said.

A top conservative lawmaker, Ahmad Tavakoli, criticised the new “annoying” filtering and said it should be explained.
The explanation is obvious...
“The new filtering measure and cutting of access to the services used by most people without prior notice... will raise the ire of educated” people, he told Mehr. “Such annoying filtering will cost the regime dearly.”

Control over the flow of information is a key issue for Iran — home to most Internet users in the Middle East with more than 36 million people out of the 75-million populace online. Access to many globally popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, is blocked in the Islamic republic.

The Internet played a major role in the wave of anti-government protest that rocked the country after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Tehran also blocks most foreign news websites, accusing the Western media of taking part in a plot against it by the United States, Israel and Britain-led Europe.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:


Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf
Check the pic at the link. Iranian patrol boats can't get into a straight line on a calm sea.
MANAMA: Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the US Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of US naval forces in the region said on Sunday.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike US forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack.

“They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft,” Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. “Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory.”

“We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear program,” Fox, who heads the US Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet’s base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet patrolling the Gulf — which always has at least one giant supercarrier accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers — is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran’s navy.

But ever since Al-Qaeda suicide bombers in a small boat killed 17 sailors on board the destroyer USS Cole in a port in Yemen in 1996, Washington has been wary of the vulnerability of its huge battleships to bomb attacks by small enemy craft.

Asked whether the US Navy was prepared for an attack or other trouble in the Gulf, Fox said: “We are very vigilant, we have built a wide range of options to give the president and we are ready... What if it happened tonight? We are ready today.”

Asked if he took Iran’s threats seriously, Fox Said: “Could they make like extremely difficult for us? Yes they could. If we did nothing and they were able to operate without being inhibited, yeah they could close it, but I can’t see that we would ever be in that position.”

He added that diplomacy should be given priority in resolving the tension.

“So when you hear discussion about all this overheated rhetoric from Iran we really believe that the best way to handle this is with diplomacy... I am absolutely convinced that is the way to go. It is our job to be prepared. We are vigilant.”

Contacts between the US Navy and Iranian craft in the Gulf region were routine, Fox said, referring to cases where his sailors helped Iranian ships that were in distress or threatened by pirates.

In addition to commanding the Fifth Fleet, Fox is also the commander of a multinational naval task force charged with ensuring Gulf shipping routes stay open. Although most of its firepower is American, the task force also includes other Western countries and the Gulf Arab states.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some Bloggers believe or suspect that CHINA may had covertly sold the Iranians a reliable + possibly improved DF-21 ASBMS, which may explain Iran's bravado???

May hurt the USN, but won't defeat the US, which could be just enough to make casualty-mindful US Politicos back in Washington, DC all twitchy.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > [Defense News] PAKISTAN PLANS TO BUILD NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINES [SSNS].

Iran's almost-BFF Pakistan.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 1:38 Comments || Top||

#3  In an all-out naval engagement, most of the Iranian Navy will consist of suicide boats, just not intentional
Posted by: Frank G || 02/13/2012 12:58 Comments || Top||

#4  ROOTERS has a article about China scrambling for other oil sources to replace Iran. 20% of China's oil comes from Iran. The Saudis have some excess capacity, about 2.75 million bpd for emergencies, and by the way, Iran puts out 3.5 million bpd.

I may be full of it, but Iran may be just posturing or creating a large game of chicken. The Saudis and others are not going to just stand by and let the Iranians close the straits. It comes down to pocketbooks of gulf states. If Iran attempts to pull that stunt, they are going to get their a$$es kicked. The Saudis will tell O what to do if he cannot figure it out.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/13/2012 15:03 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Paleo unity deal faces big hurdle
RAMALLAH, West Bank - A mounting rebellion by Hamas leaders in Gaza against a breakthrough power-sharing agreement with ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas highlights a potentially fatal flaw -- the deal never spelled out how the Western-backed leader can take charge again in Gaza, the territory he lost to a violent takeover by the Islamic militants.

Former bitter foes Abbas and Khaled Mashaal, Hamas' top leader in exile, signed the Qatar-brokered deal in Doha last week, saying they are committed to a true partnership. As part of the agreement, Abbas is to head an interim unity government that replaces rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza and leads the Palestinians to general elections.

Abbas needs to strike a delicate balance to make it work. The Palestinian leader has to satisfy international demands that the interim government -- to consist of politically independent technocrats -- not be a front for Hamas, shunned by the West as a terror group. If it is seen as too close to Hamas, the Palestinians would likely lose hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid.

At the same time, he risks sabotage from Hamas leaders in Gaza if he tries to strip them of too much of their power. In the nearly five years it ruled the territory, Hamas hired some 40,000 civil servants and security forces, many of them supporters of the movement, while 62,000 troops and civil servants forced out by the 2007 takeover -- many of them pro-Abbas -- are waiting to return to their old government jobs.
Sounds like you boys can't work together. Too bad, so sad. Might as well go back to killing each other. The Zionists can help with that...
They'll take it in turns to go without pay? Because there isn't the funds to meet current expenses -- donor fatigue and the fragile situation in Europe, donchaknow.
Gaza leaders of Hamas have voiced their misgivings in increasingly strident tones. The Hamas bloc of legislators last week said the deal is illegal because Abbas cannot serve as both president and prime minister.

On Saturday, the Hamas strongman in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, complained that Mashaal did not consult with other leaders in the movement before signing the deal and that the decision-making Shura Council should meet to correct what he termed a mistake.

"We feel there is a real crisis concerning the Doha agreement, and that this problem should be resolved within the institutions of the movement," he said in comments published by the Egyptian news agency MENA.

Across the board, Hamas lawmakers in the Abbas-run West Bank rushed Sunday to support the agreement, siding with Mashaal against the Gaza rebels. "Reconciliation is our strategic choice and we should go for it without hesitation." said Hamas legislator Mona Mansour.

Such public airing of disagreements is rare for tightly organized Hamas, a Gaza offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the pan-Arab movement that scored post-Arab Spring election victories in Egypt and Tunisia. It is still unclear whether the internal dispute is only about protecting Hamas' interests in Gaza or also the change in direction recently advocated by Mashaal.

The unity deal, first reached in principle last year, was made possible by a narrowing of the political differences between Hamas and Abbas, said Mustafa Barghouti, an independent from the West Bank who has played a key role in reconciliation.

Mashaal, while not formally renouncing violence, has embraced the idea of "popular protests" against Israeli occupation as a gesture to Abbas, Barghouti said. And while Hamas has long opposed Abbas' talks with Israel on the terms of a Palestinian state, Abbas now seems to have given up hope he can reach a deal with the current rightist Israeli government.

Israel, which has refused to halt construction, has condemned the reconciliation. A text message statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Abbas' insistence on a settlement freeze meant he was "turning his back to peace."

"Instead of entering a negotiation that will bring an end to the conflict, (Abbas) prefers to align himself with the Hamas terror group, the same Hamas that embraces Iran," it said.

Progress on reconciliation has been slow, a sign of continued distrust. Hamas complained that West Bank security forces loyal to Fatah have reneged on promises to release dozens of Hamas prisoners, and that only a few were freed. Election officials say that in apparent retaliation, Hamas in Gaza prevented them from trying to update voter records ahead of the planned votes for president and parliament.

Following last week's agreement, Abbas is to put together his transition government. He says however he does not want to announce the composition of his government until he is sure he can hold elections -- a task complicated by ensuring his elections commission can work in Gaza and in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Once a unity government is in place, Abbas' biggest challenge would be to establish a single security service out of two rival forces. In the West Bank, many of Abbas' forces have undergone training by the U.S. and have cooperated with Israel in reining in Hamas, while the Hamas government in Gaza, with a force of 18,000, receives funding from Iran. Last year's initial unity deal called for a gradual blending of the security forces, but did not say how much of that would take place before general elections. However, the West might balk if troops closely linked to Hamas continue to control Gaza.

Abbas might also be held responsible by Israel if smaller militant groups tolerated by Hamas continue to fire rockets from Gaza at Israel from time to time. In recent years, Israel has praised the level of security cooperation it has received Abbas in the West Bank, and a loss of a good working relationship with Israel could make it very difficult to run a Palestinian entity that is still very dependent on its neighbor.

The delicate reconciliation arrangements seem to require an extraordinary amount of good will from Hamas leaders in Gaza -- and that seems in short supply.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Paleo unity! Man, every time I hear that it cracks me up.
Once a unity government is in place...
Good luck getting that camel inside the tent.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/13/2012 9:49 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Benazir killed for backing Lal Masjid operation
ISLAMABAD — Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed because she supported the Lal Masjid operation, an anti-terrorism court was told in Rawalpindi on Saturday. Magistrate Taufiq Ahmed, who had recorded confessional statements of accused Rafaqat Hussain, Husnain Gul and Aitzaz Shah on February 13, 2008, said they told him that they wanted to kill only Benazir and because of the deaths of 23 other people in the attack, which they regretted, they would accept any punishment awarded to them.

During the hearing of the Benazir assassination case in Adiala Jail, the magistrate read out the confessional statements before ATC Judge Shahid Rafique. According to the statements, the accused received Rs360,000 from Baitullah Mehsood while his associates, Abdullah alias Saddam and Qari Ismail, provided them two suicide bombers Saeed alias Bilal and Ikramullah. They purchased a pistol to be used by the suicide attacker because the plan was to kill Benazir near the stage during her rally in Liaqat Bagh on December 27, 2007. The accused, along with the suicide bomber, visited the venue on the night before the rally and took him to their residence in Quaid-i-Azam Colony in Rawalpindi.

The accused brought the bomber to the venue early in the morning only to learn that because of tight security arrangements, it was difficult to get inside and near the stage. Then they deployed the bomber in front of the gate of Liaqat Bagh and another attacker Ikramullah at another exit point.

After carrying out the crime, the accused reassembled near Fawara Chowk, Raja Bazar, and later went to their residence.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Background on Lal Masjid.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/13/2012 15:15 Comments || Top||


Kidnapped khasadar found dead in Mohmand
The body of a kidnapped official of Khasadar Force was found in Khwezai area of Mohmand
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
Agency on Saturday, officials said.

They said that the slain khasadar
...a rural policeman in Pakistain or India...
, Toor Gul Khan, a resident of Atta Khewazai, was kidnapped by unidentified hard boyz along with three other people a couple of days ago.

The other kidnapped persons were identified as Khalid, Ajmir and Mohammad.

Mohmand Taliban front man Mukarram Khurasani has grabbed credit for the killing of the kidnapped security man, saying other people in their custody are relatives of khasadars.

In Khyber Agency, one person was injured and a vehicle was partially damaged when a roadside kaboom went kaboom! in Tirah valley on Saturday.

Sources said that a pick-up truck loaded with timber was on its way to a local market when it was hit by an bomb planted along roadside in Khayest village.

They said that the driver was critically injured while his vehicle was partially damaged. The injured driver, whose identity could not be established, was shifted to a local dispensary for treatment.

In Kohat, police claimed to have set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock nine hard boyz including a local commander after fierce shootout in Mando Khel area on late Friday night.

The hard boyz hurled hand grenades at a police van during a search operation and injured a constable identified as Syed Hussain. He was admitted to a hospital.

Bilitang police, backed by armoured personnel carriers, had launched a search operation in the area after getting information that hard boyz were hiding there.

Militants attacked a police vehicle with hand grenades. An APC was also partially damaged in the attack. After the incident, Elite Force and commandoes were sent to the area to help the police party busy in search operation.

The law-enforcers besieged the entire area and set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock a local turban commander identified as Mullah Yousuf Ali along with his eight accomplices.

The set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock hard boyz were shifted to Bilitang cop shoppe where a case was registered against them under Terrorism Act.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion...
the commissioner of Kohat has claimed that hard boyz have been wiped out from most of the areas in frontier region and peace will be restored after the expulsion of their remnants.

He was speaking after inaugurating polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
vaccination campaign in the office of the assistant political agent by administering drops to a child.

He said that the semi-autonomous tribal area of Kohat had been made safe by security forces and the remaining hard boyz would also be eliminated soon.

The commissioner said that government would form peace jirgas throughout the Frontier Region of Kohat to ensure lasting peace in the areas.

He said that government would set up a university in Darra Adamkhel that would play a major role in educating rustics and bring them at par with other areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran won’t forgive Gulf nations if they side with US
TEHRAN: Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani warned Iran will not forgive Gulf Arab nations if they continue backing US “plots” against Tehran, local media reported on Sunday.

“We recommend to some of the countries in the region who were siding with (Iraq dictator) Saddam (Hussein) and now are siding with the US plots against the Iranian nation to give it up,” he was quoted as saying. “Iran will not forgive them again. There will be consequences in the region if new plots against our nation are carried out,” Larijani said.

Larijani was referring to the generous financial aid and political support provided by Gulf Arab states, to the Iraqi regime during the 1980-1988 war against Iran.

His comments come at a time when the United States and the European Union have imposed new sanctions on Iran’s central bank and oil exports in January over its controversial nuclear program.

The Gulf Cooperation Council comprising of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have called on Iran to “stop interfering in the internal affairs” of their nations. The worsening ties continued after the six Gulf nations ordered their envoys home from Syria and expelled Damascus’s ambassadors, joining mounting pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad over the killings of civilians.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In related news, Iran promises to harass Gulf nations as long as Mad Mullahs run Iran.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/13/2012 8:24 Comments || Top||

#2  And the Russians said it would never forgive eastern Europe if they sided with NATO.

They did, anyway.

The Russians were highly upset with their lack of gratitude, after all they had done for to eastern Europe.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:33 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Voting with their feet
In the midst of a triumphal Ynet editorial going on about how current events around the Middle East demonstrate that it never was about Israel, comes this tidbit
:When the entire Mideast is burning, the Palestinian issue comes off the agenda. This is the reason why international networks such as CNN or France2 are leaving Israel at this time or closing down their offices. The Israeli conflict is not longer a story, with the focus shifting to Damascus, Cairo and Tripoli.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Palestine is soooo important"

Snark
Posted by: newc || 02/13/2012 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  There may be more to it than that. CNN isn't shutting down its Israeli office, but it laid off all of its Jewish and Israeli workers there, some who had been with the network for a decade or more. Yet they retained all of the Arab Muslims in the Israeli office.

To report on Israeli and Middle East affairs. In an unbiased fashion.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:38 Comments || Top||

#3  There is a chance that middle eastern madmen will launch at Israel. Of course the brave folks in the press corps are getting out of there. Has little to do with Palestine, they'll be back to beat that dead horse when they feel safe.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/13/2012 14:55 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Mutiny In Townsville, 1942
Posted by: Grunter || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Kashghari detained on arrival in Riyadh
RIYADH: Saudi blogger Hamza Kashghari, who had fled to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday after tweeting insulting comments about Prophet Muhammad, was taken into custody as he arrived in Riyadh on Sunday night.

It followed Kashghari's deportation by Malaysian authorities. The 23-year-old man will face charges of blasphemy, informed sources told Arab News.
Bet he's not feeling so good right now...
The sources said Kashghari was accompanied by Saudi officials on his flight to King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh. The sources explained that it was a standing rule in Malaysia to deport people wanted to face justice in their countries. Kashghari escaped the Kingdom after realizing that the deletion of his tweets and a subsequent tweet apologizing for the statements were not enough to stop leveling of charges against him.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has issued orders to arrest Kashghari and bring him to justice.

A large number of male and female bloggers from Saudi Arabia and abroad have called for Kashghari's trial on charges of apostasy. Kashghari's tweets stirred an angry response in Saudi society and were met by denunciation and condemnation by a section of the Twitter community.

The Permanent Committee of Scholarly Research and Islamic Edicts (Ifta) in an official statement said anyone who dares to mock Allah, His Prophet or the religion should be tried on charges of apostasy.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He's dead, Jim.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/13/2012 20:17 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
TV bomb kills seven in Peshawar: police
[Dawn] A bomb hidden in a television set went kaboom! in a house in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar early Sunday, killing at least seven people, in an attack police believe was part of a local feud.

The blast took place in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of the capital city.

"At least seven people, two children, one woman and four men, were killed in a kaboom which took place inside a house," senior police official Kalam Khan told AFP.

Three others were maimed in the blast, he added.

Initial investigations showed the bomb was planted in a rented television set which went kaboom! in a guest room of the house, Khan said.

"The attack appears to be motivated by some personal dispute or enmity," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under: TTP


The Grand Turk
Erdogan discharged after second surgery
ANKARA: Turkey’s state-run news agency says Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been discharged from hospital a day after undergoing what officials said was a “second and final” intestinal surgery.

The Anadolu Agency said Erdogan left hospital late on Sunday and was expected to rest at his home in Istanbul.

The 57-year-old Erdogan vanished from public life for nearly a month after an initial surgery on Nov. 26 for non-cancerous intestinal polyps. His office said he had a second, successful half-hour procedure on Saturday but gave no other details.
Sounds like a reduction and internalization of a colostomy.
It said Erdogan was well and was expected to resume work within the next week.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Prince Harry's Apache helicopter vs. Prince William's Sea King
Posted by: ryuge || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is the King of England.
Posted by: newc || 02/13/2012 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  At least they perform a real job for a number of years, which is more than you can say for most politicians on the left.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/13/2012 4:25 Comments || Top||

#3  I think of this conditioning as an effort to rebuild the stature of British might across the world.

Then I remember George and the Texas Air Force.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/13/2012 6:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Beats opening supermarkets. More seriously, there was a discussion ref the Falklands War, the last one, not the next one. The Argie generals, bashing about in their snappy uniforms and spit-shined stomping boots, with their mistresses and servants, figured two women, Thatcher and Elizabeth, were no match for such studs as they.
They were wrong, but the price was high for the rest of the folks. Them, too, come to think of it, but that was only fair.
Maybe having a couple of combat-experienced guys in highly visible and influential places in UK government might deter the next clowns trying to look macho by starting a war.
Can't hurt.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 02/13/2012 8:16 Comments || Top||

#5  That's like comparing a Ferrari to a delivery truck.
Posted by: mojo || 02/13/2012 10:44 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Arab League Syria Mission Chief Resigns
[An Nahar] The head of a controversial 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...
observer mission to Syria has resigned, an Arab League official told Agence La Belle France Presse on Sunday.

The resignation of General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi was due to be officially announced at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo later in the day, the official said, without saying why the Sudanese former military intelligence officer had quit.

Arab countries were meeting in Cairo in a renewed push to end Syria's bloody 11-month crackdown on dissent, as fighting escalated.

The resignation comes as the ministers discuss the possibility of sending a joint U.N.-Arab mission to Syria, the official said.

He added that Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi also met with former Jordanian PM Abdel Ilah Khatib, who has been proposed as the next Arab envoy to Syria, the official said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1 
Posted by: Fat Bob Unotch3711 || 02/13/2012 5:18 Comments || Top||


Arabs agree Syria opposition contacts, peace force
[Dawn] The 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...
said it agreed on Sunday to open contacts with Syria's opposition and to ask the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
to form a joint peacekeeping force to the unrest-swept country.

Arab diplomats "will open channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and offer full political and financial support, urging (the opposition) to unify its ranks," it said in a statement obtained by AFP.

They would also "ask the UN Security Council to issue a decision on the formation of a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping force to oversee the implementation of a ceasefire," it said.

After marathon talks in Cairo, the 22-member bloc also announced it had formally ended its own observer mission to Syria, which was suspended last month because of an upsurge in violence.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syria Draft Constitution Submitted to Assad
[An Nahar] A commission tasked with drafting a new Syrian constitution submitted a draft charter to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
on Sunday, the official SANA news agency reported.

"Assad on Sunday received a copy of the new draft constitution from the head of the national committee charged with drafting a new constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic," SANA said.

"Assad is to review the draft constitution and refer it to the People's Assembly before putting it to referendum," it added.

In January, Assad said a new constitution was being drawn up by a committee set up in October to replace the current one, which enshrines his Baath party's dominant role, and that it could be put to a popular vote as early as March.

Syria's government lifted a state of emergency in April last year and in July adopted a law allowing a multi-party political system.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Caribbean-Latin America
Dupe URL: Comrade Artemio's capture marks end of Peru's Shining Path rebels
PERUVIAN troops have captured the badly wounded leader of a remnant of the once-powerful Shining Path rebel group that lives off the cocaine trade, the defence minister says.

"His right arm is practically lost and at the moment he's receiving medical attention," Defence Minister Alberto Otarola has said in a TV interview.

He provided few other details, including when the rebel, Comrade Artemio, was found.

President Ollanta Humala said in a radio interview that he was headed to the Upper Huallaga Valley, the remote coca-growing region where authorities said Comrade Artemio was wounded early Thursday.

The 50-year-old Artemio commanded about 150 rebels, and the circumstances of his wounding remain unclear.

Mr Otalora said on Friday that it was in combat with government forces in the village of Puerto Pizana, but local journalists have reported that at least one of his own men may have turned on him.

The mayor of the La Polvora district encompassing the village, Nanci Zamora, said that Artemio had been brought before dawn on Thursday to an emergency medical technician in the nearby town of Santa Rosa de Mishoyo. Ms Zamora said Artemio had also suffered a chest and leg wound.

She said that after he was treated, subordinates took him down the Mishoyo river, a tributary of the Huallaga.

The United States had offered a $US5 million (A$4.65 million) reward for information leading to his arrest. Such rewards have proven highly effective in neighbouring Colombia in persuading some rebels to turn against their leaders.

Comrade Artemio's group represents about half of what remains of the Shining Path, which killed thousands during the 1980s and 1990s. The other, also involved in the drug trade, is centred further south.

Comrade Artemio, whose given name is Florindo "Jose" Flores, told visiting journalists in December that his cause was lost and he was seeking a truce with the government.

The self-described Marxist said he wrote Mr Humala twice but received no response. Previous Peruvian governments refused to negotiate a truce, he said, adding that he'd also proposed one in 2003 through the Roman Catholic Church and the International Red Cross.

He said the only way to change the capitalist system was through a socialist government, "but at this moment that is not possible".

Peru is the world's No. 2 producer after Colombia of coca, the basis for cocaine, although the US Drug Enforcement Administration says it has now surpassed its Andean neighbour in potential cocaine production.

DEA officials say that's because comparatively little coca crop eradication occurs in Peru, where plantations tend to be more mature and higher-yieldling.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336062 views] Top|| File under:


Venezuelans vote to choose Chavez’s challenger
CARACAS: Venezuelans lined up to vote on Sunday in the country’s first-ever opposition presidential primary, choosing a single challenger they hope will have what it takes to finally defeat President Hugo Chavez after 13 years in office.

Opposition supporters seemed less interested in the proposals put forth by the five candidates competing in Sunday’s vote than their chances of defeating Chavez in October’s looming presidential election. The outcome will set the stage for what many are billing as the most anticipated presidential vote since Chavez’s first triumph in 1998, and Venezuelans on both sides of the nation’s political gap are eager to see who will emerge as the challenger.

For government foes, the primary results are vital to their efforts to unseat Chavez, an aim for which many have been yearning for more than a decade, and it appears to be a daunting task.

Chavez, however, proved himself a tireless campaigner as he easily sailed to election victories in 1998, 2000 and 2006. As the election season heats up, Chavez has said he’s itching for a fight. During public events and marathon televised addresses, Chavez insists it doesn’t matter who emerges as the opposition’s candidate because he’s confident none of his rivals are capable of beating him. He repeatedly taunts would-be challengers, portraying them as agents of Venezuela’s wealthy elite and Washington.

“These candidates are the empire’s candidates,” Chavez told thousands of supporters at a rally this month in Catia, which is a government stronghold. “We are going to give the unpatriotic bourgeoisie a beating.”

Many in Catia have benefited from Chavez’s social programs, which the government says are improving living conditions for the country’s poor majority.

Capriles has narrowed the gap behind Chavez to single digits in recent polls and is leading the opposition pack with about 40 percent support. Perez was trailing Capriles by about 10 percentage points in pre-election polls, with three other candidates garnering modest support.

Several voters said they’re optimistic the primary winner will have a strong shot at beating Chavez because the opposition is more united than in the past.

Presidential contender Maria Corina Machado, a congresswoman who has taken a hard line against Chavez, said she had heard from some government employees that they were afraid of possible repercussions if they vote.

“Don’t be afraid,” Machado said on television as she arrived to cast her ballot. “The government isn’t going to know how you voted, but your children will and you will know for the rest of your life.”

Despite lingering differences, the opposition candidates, along with many of their supporters, will likely throw their support behind whoever the winner is, driven by the conviction that Chavez’s challenger will need an active, unified opposition movement backing him, said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank.

“The opposition is more unified than it has been in many years,” Shifter said. “To have a good chance of defeating Chavez, the losers in the primary election will not only have to unite behind a single candidate, but will have to do so enthusiastically and energetically.”

Nonetheless, even some of Chavez’s most fervent foes are skeptical a unified opposition movement will be enough to oust Chavez. Many voters said they think it will be key for Chavez’s challenger to target poor voters and also not to take an overly hard line against Chavez, because such an approach hasn’t worked well in the past.

Chavez endears many Venezuelans with his folksy, humorous personality, and gained millions of backers by starting social programs for the poor, building low-income housing, offering low-interest loans to cash-strapped farmers and confronting the United States — a proven means of boosting nationalistic sentiment among citizens and the country’s leftists.

But he’s also given adversaries many reasons to loathe him: His government’s expropriations of buildings, parking lots and farmland have angered many Venezuelans who claim private property rights have been violated. The president’s failure to tackle rampant crime has angered relatives of tens of thousands of murder victims. Others accuse Chavez of wasting this oil-rich country’s wealth during years of high world prices on populist programs and regional efforts to win political support, rather than helping the country develop.

And his crude manner of dealing with critics irks Venezuelans who recall the days when political opponents were seen as rivals rather than enemies.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336082 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Painkillers and amphetamines will only take little 'c' so far. "Big C" will win in the end. The best sign will be when he starts looking like a bag of deer antlers.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:35 Comments || Top||

#2  He's not dead yet?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 20:13 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
German Defence minister not worried about Israel attacking Iran
Says 'Israeli attack on Iran unlikely to succeed'

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said he is not worried about an Israeli military strike against Iran because the chances of an attack succeeding are highly unlikely, in an interview with German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine published Saturday.

In addition, the potential political fallout of launching an attack would likely prevent a strike, according to the report. European sanctions will begin to work in July when an oil embargo takes effect, he added.

The German defense minister also cast doubt on comments attributed to US Defense Minister Leon Panetta
...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
, in which he reportedly said Israel would attack Iran in the coming months. "I have personally spoken with Mr. Panetta," de Maiziere said, adding that the prediction was only reported by a journalist and did not come directly from the US defense minister.

On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also warned against an attack on Tehran, saying it would be catastrophic for the region.

"A military strike is a disaster. It should not be an option," he said during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Especially at a historic turning point in our region, we do not want to see another huge tension."
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Especially at a historic turning point in our region, we do not want to see another huge tension."

I believe he may have misread the intent of the regional "turning point."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 7:52 Comments || Top||

#2  So the German feller says that the Jews succeeding in defending themselves would be a bad thing...
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 02/13/2012 14:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Please note that when they use the expression "catastrophic for the region", and war happens, it *isn't* catastrophic for the region.

I remember they using that expression prior to Gulf War I, and Gulf War II. I think the original Afghanistan invasion was too fast for anyone to say so.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 14:42 Comments || Top||

#4  See Führer, this is Normandy, the Allied Forces would never land here.
Posted by: jack salami || 02/13/2012 15:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Afghanistan invasion was too fast for anyone to say so.

I seem to recall a lot of breathless rhetoric about "Brutal Afghan Winter" and "MILLIONS WILL DIE!!!!!!".

We know how that turned out.
Posted by: Squinty Fillmore6479 || 02/13/2012 15:45 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Comrade Artemio's capture marks end of Peru's Shining Path rebels
PERUVIAN troops have captured the badly maimed leader of a remnant of the once-powerful Shining Path rebel group that lives off the cocaine trade, the defence minister says.

"His right arm is practically lost and at the moment he's receiving medical attention," Defence Minister Alberto Otarola has said in a TV interview.

He provided few other details, including when the rebel, Comrade Artemio, was found.

President Ollanta Humala said in a radio interview that he was headed to the Upper Huallaga Valley, the remote coca-growing region where authorities said Comrade Artemio was maimed early Thursday.

The 50-year-old Artemio commanded about 150 rebels, and the circumstances of his wounding remain unclear.

Mr Otalora said on Friday that it was in combat with government forces in the village of Puerto Pizana, but local journalists have reported that at least one of his own men may have turned on him.
Fortunately for the defence minister's honour, the second does not preclude the first.
The mayor of the La Polvora district encompassing the village, Nanci Zamora, said that Artemio had been brought before dawn on Thursday to an emergency medical technician in the nearby town of Santa Rosa de Mishoyo. Ms Zamora said Artemio had also suffered a chest and leg wound.

She said that after he was treated, subordinates took him down the Mishoyo river, a tributary of the Huallaga.

The United States had offered a $US5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Such rewards have proven highly effective in neighbouring Colombia in persuading some rebels to turn against their leaders.

Comrade Artemio's group represents about half of what remains of the Shining Path, which killed thousands during the 1980s and 1990s. The other, also involved in the drug trade, is centred further south.

Comrade Artemio, whose given name is Florindo "Jose" Flores, told visiting journalists in December that his cause was lost and he was seeking a truce with the government.
It seems, however, that the government insisted on total surrender. Oh well.
The self-described Marxist said he wrote Mr Humala twice but received no response. Previous Peruvian governments refused to negotiate a truce, he said, adding that he'd also proposed one in 2003 through the Roman Catholic Church and the International Red Thingy.

He said the only way to change the capitalist system was through a socialist government, "but at this moment that is not possible".

Peru is the world's No. 2 producer after Colombia of coca, the basis for cocaine, although the US Drug Enforcement Administration says it has now surpassed its Andean neighbour in potential cocaine production.

DEA officials say that's because comparatively little coca crop eradication occurs in Peru, where plantations tend to be more mature and higher-yieldling.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Take that, Lori Berenson.
Posted by: gromky || 02/13/2012 5:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Lori Berenson was with Tupac Amaru, a different terrorist group. Shining Path were so totally murderous that their closest comparison is to the Red Khmer.

The rural peasants begged the government to take out the Shining Path, because they would go into a village and slaughter everyone.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/13/2012 15:16 Comments || Top||


Europe
Thousands rally to support disbarred Spanish judge
MADRID: Thousands of people rallied Sunday in Spain’s capital in support of the disbarred judge famous for taking on international human rights cases. Baltasar Garzon, 56, was convicted Feb. 9 by the Supreme Court, marking a spectacular fall from grace for the nation’s most prominent jurist. The seven-judge panel disbarred him for 11 years, effectively ending Garzon’s career unless he can have their decision reversed on appeal.

A large square outside the main gates of the Supreme Court filled with around 10,000 people, many carrying placards and banners calling for justice for the former judge and chanting, “Garzon, friend, Spain is with you.”

In Thursday’s verdict, the court ruled that Garzon acted unlawfully in ordering jailhouse wiretaps of detainees talking to their lawyers, the court said, adding that his actions “these days are only found in totalitarian regimes.”

The case was just one of three against Garzon, who is still awaiting a verdict in another trial on charges of initiating a probe in 2008 of rightist atrocities committed during and after the Spanish civil war of 1936-1939, even though the crimes were covered by a 1977 amnesty.

Garzon is best known internationally for indicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998, and trying to put him on trial in Madrid for crimes against humanity. He also indicted Osama Bin Laden in 2003 over the Sept. 11 attacks and oversaw many rulings against Basque separatist group ETA and its political wing, Batasuna.

As a judge at Spain’s National Court, Garzon took on cases using the principle of universal jurisdiction — the idea that some crimes are so heinous they can be prosecuted anywhere. He attempted to apply this legal doctrine to abuses committed in far-flung places like Rwanda and Tibet.
Strangely, he never prosecuted the King Leopold over the Congo...
Garzon was a hero to many left-leaning human rights activists, but was viewed with suspicion by conservative sectors of Spanish society, including many senior judges who saw him as attention seeking and egotistical.

Garzon faces more legal woes over ties with a big Spanish bank that financed human rights seminars he oversaw while on sabbatical in New York in 2005 and 2006.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Fordo nuclear enrichment facility fully operational soon
Informed sources in Tehran say that the Fordo enrichment facility will become fully operational over the next few days, Mehr news reported.

In early January, the news agencies reported that Iran has started enriching uranium at the subterranean Fordo nuclear site.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Saturday that new nuclear achievements will be unveiled in the coming few days.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Read, US-IRAN ASAP THIS YEAR, OR ELSE IRAN GETS ITS NUKES.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  shouldn't they be throwing that stuff into the fires of Mt Doom
Posted by: lord garth || 02/13/2012 4:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Who is keeping track of Tehran's underground testing program?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/13/2012 5:45 Comments || Top||

#4  I imagine the Israelis are keeping track, Skidmark.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/13/2012 22:40 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Imran challenges political parties to unite and contest against his party
[Dawn] Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
chief Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
has challenged all the political parties to unite and contest against his party.

"Tehrik-e-Insaf cannot be defeated even if all the political parties jointly contest against it," he claimed while addressing his party workers 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 Sunday.

"Nobody can withstand the Tsunami of Tehrik-e-Insaf," he said.

The PTI chief said he would transform Pakistain into such a country where people from other nations would come in search of employment.

He also claimed that his party will bring an end to drone attacks "The new Pakistain will not bow to any superpower," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Saniora: Those Accusing Mustaqbal of Armament Trying to Justify Their Own
[An Nahar] Head of the Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
parliamentary bloc, ex-PM Fouad Saniora, on Sunday strongly condemned the latest deadly festivities in the northern city of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, stressing that the Mustaqbal Movement rejects "any act that could lead to unrest or a civil strife among the Lebanese, from whichever side it comes."

Hitting back at those accusing Mustaqbal of arming itself, Saniora said "those voicing these remarks are trying to justify their armament and possession of arms," noting that the movement is "against any form of armament" and that it wants the state to be in full control of security in the country.

"The possession of arms must be exclusively limited to the Lebanese state, and when we demand that we are also practicing it ourselves and we call on others to practice it," Saniora told a Mustaqbal delegation at his Sidon office.

A ceasefire was announced on Saturday between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen under the army's sponsorship after fierce festivities that erupted Friday killed and maimed a number of civilians and troops.

The Sunni-majority coastal city has in the past few years been the scene of intense festivities between Sunni supporters of the anti-Syrian opposition and Alawite Moslems loyal to a Hizbullah-led alliance backed by Iran and Syria.

Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
, who is fighting an unprecedented revolt against his regime, hails from the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Also on Saturday, Rifaat Eid, deputy head of the Arab Democratic Party which is politically and militarily in control of Jabal Mohsen, accused Mustaqbal of operating an arms depot in the Tripoli neighborhood of Abi Samra which saw a deadly accidental blast on Friday.

In remarks to An Nahar daily on the seventh anniversary of ex-PM Rafik Hariri's 2005 liquidation and a year after former PM Saad Hariri
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
's government was toppled, Saniora said: "The March 8 experience in power led to a failure after another."

"The experience with the government of Hizbullah says that it succeeded in spreading misery, poverty, confusion, economic regression, political failure and nothing more," he said, adding "the Lebanese want results."

He also accused the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition of being involved in several scandals such as alleged violations carried out by the energy and telecommunications ministries and the rejection of Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas to sign the transportation allowance decree linked to a recent official wage hike.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
Gilani says charges against president 'politically motivated'
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, in an interview broadcast on Saturday, said corruption charges against Pakistan's president were "politically motivated" and that the president had immunity as head of state.

In the wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera television, he also criticized US drone attacks on militants near the Afghan border as counterproductive and said Pakistan never authorized them. Pakistan, he said, backed any Afghan-led peace plan to establish peace in the neighboring country and in no way supported Taleban insurgents.

Gilani's statements were aired on the eve of a hearing at which the premier faces indictment for contempt of court over his refusal to request the reopening of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the premier's Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

"There had been a lot of cases against him, and they were all politically motivated," Gilani said, referring to Zardari. "He has got immunity. And he has not got immunity only in Pakistan, he has transnational immunity, even all over the world."

Asked if he would rather resign for the sake of the president, Gilani said if convicted of contempt, he would automatically lose office, so there was no need for him to quit.

Monday's expected indictment of Gilani pushes Pakistan's political crisis into a new phase. It is unlikely to lead to the fall of the government, but will continue to paralyze the country and further empower its military, analysts say.

"The Court is neither likely to trigger a collapse of the PPP government nor lead to military intervention," wrote Shamila Chaudhary in an analysis for Eurasia Group. "But the judiciary will remain a critical factor in Pakistani politics for the duration of the election cycle that ends in February 2013."

The civilian-judicial confrontation stems from thousands of old corruption cases thrown out in 2007 by an amnesty law passed under former military president Pervez Musharraf. Zardari is its most prominent beneficiary and the main target of the court, which voided the law in 2009 and ordered the re-opening of cases accusing the president of money laundering using Swiss bank accounts.

Gilani and his advisers have refused to ask the Swiss to reopen the cases. The prime minister had appealed the court's decision to charge him with contempt, but on Friday that appeal was dismissed, paving the way for the indictment.

"There's no way Zardari will allow his party to write a letter that will incriminate him in any significant way," said Najim Sethi, editor of the weekly Friday Times. "And that's exactly what the Supreme Court wants."

The continued defiance could benefit the PPP ahead of a widely expected lower-house election in October, said Salman Raja, a Supreme Court lawyer and constitutional expert. Raja said any proceedings against Gilani would likely take until July and result in a short jail sentence -- "no longer than a week or 10 days."

The party could then campaign on the notion of a biased court doing the work of the military and "persecuting an elected prime minister, and that rhetoric gets reemphasized."

But a PPP win could be a Pyrrhic victory. Infighting and confrontations with the military have consumed the nuclear-armed country in recent years, preventing it from addressing poverty and other economic ills or containing a rampaging insurgency that is endangering the US-led war effort in Afghanistan.

"It's a creeping kind of a coup," Raja said. "Effectively they've crippled the government."
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:


Govt warned against restoring NATO supplies
KARACHI — Leaders of religio-political alliance on Sunday vowed that Nato supplies would not be allowed to resume at any cost and urged the masses to lay siege to Parliament House on February 20, during a rally attended by thousands at Bagh-e-Qaid in Karachi.

The speakers also demanded immediate end to drone attacks, have relations with United States on equal terms, release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and measures to solve the worsening situation in Balochistan.
No, no, no, and who cares?
The 44-party alliance top leaders including Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) Syed Munawar Hassan, Jamiat Ulema Islam’s (JUI) Maulana Samiul Haq, Jamaat-ud-Daawa Amir Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, Sheikh Rashid and Ejazul Haq addressed the gathering and all of them condemned ‘foreign meddling’ in the country. They warned against the possible reopening of the Nato supply and PPP-led government’s policies leading to corruption and rampant inflation.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  usual suspects.No doubt Beg and Gul were also there!
Posted by: Squinty and Tenille9588 || 02/13/2012 9:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Taking notes:

Ok, let's see - shoot that crazy Aafia bitch forthwith, and arrange for an air strike around Parliament House on February 20...
Posted by: mojo || 02/13/2012 10:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Whenever the terrorists and their sympathizers complain bitterly, you know it's a very effective tactic for which they have no answer for, except to try and stir up the masses against these attacks.
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 02/13/2012 13:40 Comments || Top||

#4  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz1OpSYxgus
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 20:12 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Second corvette enters sevice with Caspian Flotilla
By Chris Covert

A second Buyan class corvette has entered service with the Russian Caspian Flotilla, according to web reports.

The RFS Volgadonsk entered service with the Caspian flotilla to join her sister ship, the Astrakhan, which entered service September, 2006.

The Buyan class has the tonnage of a corvette at 550 tons, but is classified by the Russian Navy as a small artillery ship. It is the second largest combat ship inn the Caspian Flotilla with one Gepard class frigate, the Tartarstan at 1450 tons, being the largest.

The Buyan class is armed with one 100mm autocannon, two 30mm AK-630 autocannons, one 40 A-215 "Grad-M" artillery rocket system. One more ship, the Mahachkala is slated to join the other two in the flotilla in December, before two modified and heavier Buyan-M Tornado class ships are expected to be complete.

The modified Buyan-M class will be heavier at 950 tons and will replace the artillery rocket launchers with eight SS-N-27 (Kalibr) anti-ship missiles with a vertical launch tube. Two of the newer design, the Uglich and the Grad Sviyzhsk are due to join the Caspian Flotilla, the Uglich this year.

This ambitious launch plan for the Buyan follows the Russian navy program to begun building as many as 30 surface combatants by 2014.

The Buyan carries a heavier armament with the 10mm naval gun, but the addition of the antiship missile system will change its role.

The Buyan class as an artillery ship could be used in counterterrorism and coastal operations, but it would need either air cover or a missile boat for cover against light Iranian missile boats. Both the Russian navy and the Russian air force have an airfield in Dagestan to serve the needs of its ships at sea.

The heavier Buyan-M class should be an effective counter to the newest addition to the Iranian navy in the Caspian fleet, the Moudge class, which entered service in 2010 in the Caspian Sea. The Iranians classify that ship as a light frigate at 1420 tons, although it could be classified as a heavy corvette.

The Moudge ship, named the Jamaran, carries lighter armaments than its Russian counterparts with four C-802 anti-ship missiles, one 76mm Fajr-27 naval gun, one 40mm Fath-40 AAA gun, two 20mm cannons, four SM-1 SAMs and two triple 324mm torpedo launchers.
Posted by: badanov || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But I thought the Russians and Iranians were "buds"!

"The heavier Buyan-M class should be an effective counter to the newest addition to the Iranian navy in the Caspian"
Posted by: tipover || 02/13/2012 2:29 Comments || Top||

#2  "Pirates of the Caspian"tm
Might cut the arms traffic to Georgia.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/13/2012 5:44 Comments || Top||

#3  There does seem to be a quiet arms race in the Caspian. I'm thinking it's for the oil that has to be under the seabed. When I look at various maps, it seems that every square meter of the Caspian is divided up -- Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan each have a piece. But perhaps someone is thinking of moving the lines around.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 8:25 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm thinking it's for the oil that has to be under the seabed.

Exactly. Iran claims 1/5th of the Caspian Sea (5 nations) while it's shoreline is a small percentage. There are huge oil and gas reserves and Iran has already threatened the other (not Russian) Caspian nations.

Oil and gas resources in the Caspian Sea
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/13/2012 19:05 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Maldives President Expands Cabinet as Predecessor Rejects Compromise
[An Nahar] The Maldives' new president expanded his Cabinet on Sunday to strengthen the coalition government that has ruled the Indian Ocean nation since the former leader's resignation last week sparked a political crisis.

Six members from four political parties were sworn in as ministers in the government led by President Mohammed Waheed Hassan.

In a speech after the swearing-in ceremony, Hassan said his government would carry forward the programs initiated by the previous government.

"That is what we have to do to recover from the problems we've had in the last couple of weeks," Hassan said.

His government would work to create a conducive environment in which free and fair elections could be held, Hassan said.

New ministers for health, education, economic development, transport, youth affairs and sports and tourism took the oath of office in a short ceremony at the president's office in the capital, Male.

A new Attorney General for the island nation was also sworn in. Hassan had appointed ministers for defense and home affairs earlier in the week.

Presidential Spokesman Masood Imad said some slots in the Cabinet were being kept open in case former President Mohamed Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party changed its mind about joining the coalition government.

But Nasheed rejected a U.S. call for compromise and dismissed proposals for a unity government to end political unrest.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:


Afghan forces allegedly cross into Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan: A tribal policeman has accused Afghan forces of crossing into southwestern Pakistan and snatching three men allegedly providing safe haven to militants fighting in Afghanistan.
Why all the fuss? It's not as if they're kaffirs.
Mohammed Azim says 13 Afghan security personnel drove nearly 2 miles (3 kilometers) into Baluchistan province Saturday and took the men from Thurkha village. He said Sunday that officials have received unconfirmed reports that two of the men have been killed. Azim is a tribal policeman in Killa Saifullah district, where Thurkha is located.
Pass the word to the jihadis: it's not just Predators that can reach out and touch you...and Predators are probably kinder.
Harder to bribe, tho.
Afghan officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The border in the area is not clearly marked.

Many Taleban militants fighting in Afghanistan are believed to be based in Baluchistan and other areas along the Afghan border.
They may want to reconsider that...
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's a border?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 10:27 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Turkish planes shell Kurdish cities again
ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: Turkish planes resumed their shelling of the Kurdistan region borders, according to military sources in Border Guards Command. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that no exact figures on the casualties were reported.

The shelling was directed against a number of villages following the clashes that took place last Friday between anti-Turkish PKK party and the Turkish army.

Border Guards Command reported that more than 12 casualties were reported during Thursday clashes, while a close source to the PKK said that a great number of casualties fell among the Turkish army. The source added that 4 members from the PKK party were killed, expecting that more tensions and clashes to occur again and charging the Turkish government to continue the policies of oppression against the Kurds and their rights.

Kurdish border areas witness Turkish and Iranian attacks under the pretext of chasing PKK and PJAK parties' members in the area.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
At Least 14 Civilians Killed as Syrian Army Pounds Homs
[An Nahar] Shelling by the Syrian army killed at least 14 civilians in the central protest city of Homs on Sunday, a rights group said.

The Britannia-based group said all but one of them died in Baba Amr, a rebel stronghold in the city which armed forces have targeted for more than a week, killing at least 500 people, according to activists.

It also reported fierce festivities on the northern edge of nearby Rastan, where a woman was killed when a rocket smashed into her home. Elsewhere, snipers rubbed out a child in Daraa, cradle of the 11-month uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Lord of the Baath...
regime.

The Observatory added that another 30 tanks and armored personnel carriers were on the way to Homs.

State television aired live footage on Sunday of an official funeral for the 28 people authorities say were killed in twin car booms that destroyed the northern city of 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...
on Friday.

The authorities blamed "terrorists" for the attacks, but the rebel Free Syrian Army accused the regime of launching them "to steer attention away from what it is doing in Homs, Zabadani and elsewhere."

A U.S. media report citing unnamed American officials said al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch was likely to have carried out the Aleppo bombings, along with attacks in Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
in December and January.

The bombings appeared to verify Assad's charges of al-Qaeda involvement in the uprising against his 11-year rule, said the McClatchy Newspapers chain.

Iraq's deputy interior minister said jihadists were moving from Iraq to Syria, as were weapons for Assad's opponents.

"We have intelligence information that a number of Iraqi jihadists went to Syria," Adnan al-Assadi told Agence La Belle France Presse, adding that "weapons smuggling is still ongoing."

Forty-five people were killed across Syria on Saturday, most of them civilians, the Britannia-based Observatory said.

Security forces also advanced into Zabadani, it said, adding that three non-combatants were killed in the town between Damascus and the Lebanese border.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Southeast Asia
Panel approves compensation for victims in southern Thailand
A government-appointed committee set up to compensate and rehabilitate people affected by violence in the strife-torn deep South has resolved to pay up to 7.5 million baht in compensation each to families of those killed during eight years of violence. The committee on rehabilitation of people affected by southern violence yesterday approved a compensation package for affected people, including families of dead victims, the injured and the suspects.
It sounds to me like most of the people getting compensation will be victims of the people fighting the insurgency in southern Thailand.

"Families of authorities killed in the violence are not entitled to compensation this time, but consideration will be made later, under the same framework," according to the article. What does any of this spending do to finish off the insurgency?
Posted by: ryuge || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Gilani says he will lose PM office if convicted
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
said if convicted of contempt of court, he would automatically lose his office so there was no need for him to quit.

"There's no need to step down," he said. "If I'm convicted, then I'm not supposed to be a member of the parliament."

Gilani, in an interview broadcast on Saturday, said corruption charges against President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
were "politically motivated" and that the president had immunity as head of state.

The premier's statements were aired on the eve of a hearing at which he faces indictment for contempt of court over his refusal to request the reopening of corruption cases against his party chief.

"There had been a lot of cases against him, and they were all politically motivated," Gilani told Al Jizz television, referring to Zardari.

"He has got immunity. And he has not got immunity only in Pakistain, he has transnational immunity, even all over the world."
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Qassem Lauds Army Deployment in North, Stresses Government Provides Stability
[An Nahar] Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem
... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies...
on Sunday hailed the army for "protecting the Lebanese border" and rejected alleged efforts to transform Leb into a launchpad for settling political scores.

During a ceremony held in the Ghobeiri neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, Qassem "saluted the Lebanese army that is safeguarding the Lebanese border, particularly in the northern areas."

His comments came amid large-scale criticism by the March 14
Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys...
-led opposition of what it called raids carried out by the army in northern towns and villages.

The coalition says the military leadership decided to deploy troops in the North to arrest gunnies allegedly belonging to the rebel Free Syrian Army which is fighting Syria's government troops.

"We reject to transform Leb into a launchpad for attacks against others, a place where to score political gains or implement the projects of the United States and Israel," the Hizbullah secretary-general said.

Turning to the government crisis, he reiterated that "it was in everybody's interest to continue (the work) of the cabinet that has provided political and security stability to Leb."

He urged it to resume sessions and resolve its problems calmly away from the media glare.

President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
suspended cabinet sessions on Feb. 1 upon the request of Premier Najib Miqati after he bickered with Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
ministers on posts in state institutions.

Miqati is insisting not to call for government sessions unless he receives assurances from the ministers that the cabinet would be productive.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Ross Perot was wrong. That sucking sound wasn't coming from Mexico. It comes from Sheikh Qassem's lips firmly planted on Syrian and Iranian sphincters.
Posted by: Shimble Guelph5793 || 02/13/2012 19:14 Comments || Top||


Jordan Islamists Urge 'Jihad' against Syrian Regime
[An Nahar] Jordan's powerful Moslem Brüderbund on Sunday called for "jihad" against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Trampler of Homs...
regime and support for a rebel army, saying it is "an Islamic duty."

"This duty requires all Moslems to support the (rebel) Free Syrian Army against the aggression of the regime's criminal and brutal forces," Brotherhood leader Hammam Saeed was quoted as saying in a statement on the group's website.

"The Free Syrian Army must continue to defend its nation and face the crimes of the regime."

The crackdown on protests in Syria have killed more than 6,000 people since March last year.

"Jihad against Assad is an Islamic duty," said Mohammad Abu Fares, a member of the movement's fatwa (religious edict) committee.

"The Syrian people have the right to defend themselves. They must not give up."

The Islamists, who demanded Jordan recognize the opposition Syrian National Council, sent letters Sunday to the prime ministers of Russia and China, urging them to reconsider their vetoes used earlier this month to block a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's regime.

"The veto was a green light for Assad's regime to multiply its crimes against the Syrian people," said Hamzeh Mansour, chief of the Islamic Action Front
...Jordan's branch of the Moslem Brüderbund...
, the Brotherhood's political arm, which have urged Moslems and Arabs to boycott Russian and Chinese products.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bake sale, Umberto's Mom's cannoli were a big hit...
Jordan's Hashemite Charity Organization said it will open a camp to host Syrian refugees near the border by the end of next week.

"The 30-dunum refugee camp (each equivalent to 1,000 square meters) will receive Syrian families who are expected to come to Jordan," organization secretary general Ahmad Emyan told the state-run Petra news agency.

"Currently there are 700 Syrian families in the southern city of Mafraq, where the organization has rented houses for them."

Government figures are unavailable on Syrians who have decamped to neighboring Jordan from the deadly unrest in their country, but U.N. head the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said during a visit to Amman last month that the kingdom was hosting 2,500 Syrians.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336100 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Do we want Assad or MB in charge of Syria?
Posted by: Squinty and Tenille9588 || 02/13/2012 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  See also TOPIX > WIDOUT "REGIME CHANGE", FOREIGN JIHADISTS WILL FLOCK TO SYRIA.

The GOOD NEWS is that Baby Assad is equally + unabshedly brutal agz Muslim + non-Muslim as per any perceived threats to Regime power; THE BAD NEWS IS THAT SYRIA'S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, PROTECTED UNDER BABY ASSAD + BIG DADDY BEFORE HIM, FACE RISK OF PERSECUTION + POSSIBLY GENOCIDE ONCE ASSAD IS SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED/DEPOSED FROM POWER, as the pro-"Arab Spring" New Boyz like neither Assad Regime nor non-Muslims wid a passion.

and

* SAME, CHINA DAILY FORUM > NEW UN RESOLUTION UNLIKELY TO CHANGE RUSSIA'S + CHINA'S MIND ON SYRIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/13/2012 23:14 Comments || Top||


Europe
Athens burns
ATHENS - The Greek parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.

Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens as black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament.

State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Shops were looted in the capital where police said 34 buildings were ablaze.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos denounced the worst breakdown of order since 2008 when violence gripped Greece for weeks after police shot a 15-year-old schoolboy. "Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won't be tolerated," he told parliament as it prepared to vote on the new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a chaotic bankruptcy.
Seems like violence and destruction are indeed being tolerated...
Papademos told lawmakers shortly before they voted that they would be gravely mistaken if they rejected the package that demands deep pay, pension and job cuts, as this would threaten Greece's place in the European mainstream.
What place? Greece hasn't had a place in the European mainstream since end of Justinian's reign...
"It would be a huge historical injustice if the country from which European culture sprang ... reached bankruptcy and was led, due to one more mistake, to national isolation and national despair," he said.

The chaos outside parliament showed how tough it will be to implement the measures. The air in Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs. Terrified Greeks and tourists fled the rock-strewn streets and the clouds of stinging gas, cramming into hotel lobbies for shelter.
Ay Pee updates at 8:15 a.m.: the riots are over, fires in 45 burning buildings in Athens have been put out, streets are being swept, more than 170 civilians and 106 police were injured, 74 were arrested and 92 were detained by police, and the austerity bills passed 199 to 74.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  BOP "Protesters" RIOTERS.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 10:09 Comments || Top||

#2  The old place just haven't been the same since Pericles kicked off.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/13/2012 11:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Mainstream = major welfare state, lots of bennies, and we want the same income the Germans have.
Posted by: lotp || 02/13/2012 13:50 Comments || Top||

#4  The state should care and provide for these folks 100%, for at least 5-10 years. Perhaps longer depending upon the jury and the specifics.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 02/13/2012 15:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Don't forget free health care!

Link
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/13/2012 15:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Well burning down your city is probably not in your best effort -
I'd be P.O.ed too if I was working class and they'd cut minimum wage from (US Amounts) $7 to $2.5
- and all my bills and rent went up..???
Posted by: linker || 02/13/2012 20:45 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen's Qaida Executes 2 Members for 'Spying'
[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, strongly active in the south of the impoverished nation, executed two of its members on Sunday accusing them of spying on its operations, witnesses said.

The pair were accused of planting tracking devices in the vehicles of fellow al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Death Eaters and of providing Yemeni authorities, and the Saudi and U.S. intelligence services, with information.

They were publicly rubbed out in front of dozens of residents after the accusations against them were read out, the witnesses said.

The first, identified only by his surname, Yafii, was executed in Jaar, in Abyan province, while Ramzi al-Ariqi, was rubbed out in Azzan, in neighboring Shabwa.

AQAP loyalists control large swathes of both provinces after taking advantage of a decline in central government authority during the anti-government protests that swept the country last year.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  Red on red. They're so paranoid they're shooting each other.
Posted by: gromky || 02/13/2012 5:40 Comments || Top||

#2  More, More.
A pox on both their houses.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/13/2012 10:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Al-Qaida urges Muslims to help Syrian rebels
[Dawn] Al-Qaeda's chief has called on Moslems from other countries to support rebels in Syria seeking to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
, saying they cannot depend on the West for help.

Ayman al-Zawahri, in a videotaped statement released late Saturday, asked Moslems in Iraq, Jordan, Leb and Turkey to join the uprising against Assad's "pernicious, cancerous regime." All four states border Syria.

A senior Iraqi security official also told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Saturday that intelligence over the last four months has revealed a flow of al-Qaeda-linked fighters from the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul into Syria.

The comments by both the Iraqi official and al-Zawahri came a day after two suicide car boomers struck security compounds 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...
a Syrian city that had been relatively peaceful throughout the country's 11-month-uprising. Though there was no claim of responsibility, suicide kabooms are a hallmark of al-Qaeda.

"There is no treatment for (the Assad regime) other than removal," al-Zawahri says in the eight-minute video posted on jihadist websites, according to US-based SITE Intel Group, which monitors Death Eater messages.

"Don't depend on the West and Turkey, which had deals, mutual understanding and sharing with this regime for decades and only began to abandon it after they saw it faltering," he said. "Instead, depend on Allah alone and then on your sacrifices, resistance, and steadfastness."

He urged Syrians to oppose help from the 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...
and "its corrupt agent governments." The League has put forth a plan to try to end violence in Syria but it suspended an observers mission to the country after the regime flouted its agreement to the terms of the plan.

Hours later, a Sunni sheik in Iraq's northern Kurdish region said a group of holy mans in the area is calling for a Moslem jihad, or holy war, against Assad's regime.

"Jihad is the duty of every Moslem against the Assad regime," said Sheik Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Karim Barzanji, describing the edict issued by the Union of the Scholars of Islam in Kurdistan. "Any support from any Moslem or country is forbidden."

Egyptian-born al-Zawahri took over al-Qaeda after the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse...
was killed last May by a US special forces raid on his hideout in Pakistain.

The Iraqi official said at least two Syrian jacket wallahs who trained in djinn-infested Mosul have crossed the border to join the fight in Syria.

Fighters armed with guns and explosives also have headed from Iraq to Syria, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss intelligence.

A US official in Washington, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would not be surprising if Iraqi al-Qaeda gunnies are aiding Syrian rebels, but would not discuss or confirm specific intelligence. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
the official noted that al-Qaeda in Iraq long has had an operational network in Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 02/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  So maybe Obama's meeting$ with ALQ are bearing some fruit.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/13/2012 5:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Zawahiri has made the same sales pitch earlier for Muslims to donate to Somali, Tunisian, and Egyptian rebels...

http://moneyjihad.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/2011-al-qaeda-funding-comes-full-circle/
Posted by: American Delight || 02/13/2012 12:29 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
48[untagged]
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1al-Qaeda in Arabia
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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2012-02-13
  Israel says bombs target embassies in India, Georgia
Sun 2012-02-12
  Uzbek man in US pleads guilty in Obama murder plot
Sat 2012-02-11
  Arrests in Quetta Related to Rabbani Assassination
Fri 2012-02-10
  Zawahiri says Somalia's Shebab Joined al-Qaida
Thu 2012-02-09
  Badar Mansoor Dronezapped in North Wazoo
Wed 2012-02-08
  German Police Arrest Lebanese, Syrian for Spying for Damascus
Tue 2012-02-07
  Blasts Rock N. Nigeria, Police Station Attacked
Mon 2012-02-06
  36 Civilians, 28 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence
Sun 2012-02-05
  Expel Syrian Envoys, Says Arab League Official
Sat 2012-02-04
  Libya's ex-envoy to France dies in custody
Fri 2012-02-03
  Britain Appoints First Ambassador to Somalia in 21 Years
Thu 2012-02-02
  Three top terror leaders killed in the Philippines
Wed 2012-02-01
  US raids kill 15 militants in Yemen
Tue 2012-01-31
  12,000 BNP, Jamaat men charged with violence
Mon 2012-01-30
  Assad's family caught trying to escape the country, returned to Damascus

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