Obama administration officials may have pressured government contractors to change job loss estimates associated with coal regulations, audio recordings reveal. Say it ain't so! Not in the battleground states!
The tapes show that unnamed officials with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) asked government contractors to change their calculations of job losses associated with the Stream Protection Rule.
A preliminary draft of an environmental impact statement estimated that up to 7,000 coalminers could lose their jobs under the administrations preferred regulation. After a leaked copy of the report went public, officials asked the contractors to compare job estimates to a model in which another regulation was enforced, rather than the real world numbers.
Its not the real world, this is rulemaking OBAMAWORLD!!!, an OSM official tells a skeptical contractor on the recording.
If were to assume [the 2008 rule] is enforced in the coal-producing states, this is a very small [impact], the contractor replies. But that, as you said, is not the real world, thats pretending I thought we were looking at whats going to change in Kentucky, whats going to change in Pennsylvania, whats going to change in Ohio, whats going to change in Wyoming. That will put Pennsylvania into Romney's win column, which is why the White House is lying.
When a second OSM official makes light of the theoretical discussion, the contractor shoots back that his [the OSM officials proposed criteria] was theoretical, mine was practical.
The agency fired the contractors studying the rule less than one month later. Report to the reeducation camp, peasant!
The House Natural Resources Committee obtained the tapes from an unidentified third party after OSM provided heavily redacted transcriptsthe exchange above, for example, was blacked outand withheld the audio recordings.
Rep. Bill Johnson (R., Ohio) blasted the administrations refusal to cooperate with the investigation.
The tapes validated many of our concerns that the administration went into this with an intent of devastating the coal industry, fully knowing that the provisions in the proposed rule would put 7,000 jobs at risk, he said. And they wanted to get away with it by playing pretend. It's also called Chicago and Dhimocrat politics
The committee has served OSM with two subpoenas since the beginning of the year. Department officials denied any wrongdoing and accused the committee of launching a political witch-hunt.
The documents reflect the fact that there is a lot of analysis, discussion, and input thats needed if were going to have a balanced rule that continues to support the development of important domestic resources, Department of the Interior spokesman Adam Fetcher said. We look forward to the Committees input on the substantive issues at any time, including once a rule is proposed, but the Committees cherry-picking of the documents to manufacture a false narrative shows again that their investigation is about politics, not good policymaking.
Contractors and officials acknowledged in the closed-door meetings that rewriting the rule would be atomic for small businesses and start-up coal operations and worried aloud that spending $200 million per year to protect only 15 miles of stream in high unemployment regions such as Appalachia would be a hard sell. Obama ain't selling it. It is being shoved down your throat in a communist style.
Since 1983, mining companies have conducted operations while maintaining a 100-foot barrier between their activities and streams.
The rule, known originally as the Stream Buffer Zone Rule, was never codified and has been loosely enforced. George W. Bush signed an official Stream Buffer Zone rule in 2008 that maintained the 100-foot restriction, but also included more exemptions for mining companies to conduct operations within the barrier.
When Obama came into office, he ordered OSM to rewrite the rule to please his environmentalist base. OSM has spent more than $5 million studying the impacts of sediment run off and water protection and hopes to release an official rule proposal later this year.
Former contractors who studied the rule told the Washington Free Beacon that such a calculation would have made job losses seem smaller, but also denied that OSM acted inappropriately.
The committee released the tapes on Friday. OSM officials have until May 24 to respond to a second subpoena from the committee. Johnson pledged to continue pushing for transparency at the agency.
Were going to keep marching down this path, he said. Were not going to stop until we get a full accounting of why the administration has chosen to rewrite this rule and why they are going about it in a speedy, haphazard way.
Fetcher said that OSM has fully cooperated with the committee, providing it with more than 13,000 pages of documents detailing the history of the rule.
He did not respond to an email asking if the department would release the recordings before the deadline, however. This is pretty much getting close to a tar and feathers solution, if not more. Vote like your country depends on it people, because it does.
Why? To honor the victims in this way would acknowledge that the radical Islamist perpetrators were domestic terrorists.
The Administration objects to section 552, which would grant Purple Hearts to the victims of the shooting incidents in Fort Hood, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas, the veto threat states. The criminal acts that occurred in Little Rock were tried by the State of Arkansas as violations of the State criminal code rather than as acts of terrorism; as a result, this provision could create appellate issues.
On June 1, 2009, Muslim convert Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who had spent time in Yemen and was an avowed jihadist, killed one soldier and wounded another in a drive-by shooting on a military recruiting office in Little Rock. He pleaded guilty to murder, avoiding trial and the death penalty, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major who had email communications with senior al-Qaeda recruiter and Yemen-based cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, awaits military trial for the Nov. 5, 2009, massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, in which 13 were killed and 29 wounded.
#2
I hate to say it, but Obama is correct in the PH not being applicable to these people. The PH is only given when enemy combatants or through enemy action causes a wound. Traitors and fratricide don't qualify for the awarding of the PH.
Injuries or wounds which do not qualify for award of the Purple Heart include frostbite or trench foot injuries; heat stroke; food poisoning not caused by enemy agents; chemical, biological, or nuclear agents not released by the enemy; battle fatigue; disease not directly caused by enemy agents; accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action; self-inflicted wounds (e.g., a soldier accidentally fires their own gun and the bullet strikes his or her leg), except when in the heat of battle, and not involving gross negligence; post-traumatic stress disorders;[5] and jump injuries not caused by enemy action.
It is not intended that such a strict interpretation of the requirement for the wound or injury to be caused by direct result of hostile action be taken that it would preclude the award being made to deserving personnel. Commanders must also take into consideration the circumstances surrounding an injury, even if it appears to meet the criteria. In the case of an individual injured while making a parachute landing from an aircraft that had been brought down by enemy fire; or, an individual injured as a result of a vehicle accident caused by enemy fire, the decision will be made in favor of the individual and the award will be made. As well, individuals wounded or killed as a result of "friendly fire" in the "heat of battle" will be awarded the Purple Heart as long as the "friendly" projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment. Individuals injured as a result of their own negligence, such as by driving or walking through an unauthorized area known to have been mined or placed off limits or searching for or picking up unexploded munitions as war souvenirs, will not be awarded the Purple Heart as they clearly were not injured as a result of enemy action, but rather by their own negligence.
In this case the fratricide bullets were not discharged with the intent of destroying the enemies of the US on the battlefield.
Special consideration can be given and the award still given, but generally is only supposed to be given on a battlefield. Not to people that were hit by a traitor's bullet.
While Obama may have the letter of the rules correct, he sure as hell doesn't have the spirit for it and is doing this for political purposes, IMHO. I believe some other award is needed for service people that are injured or killed by turncoats and our "paid" advisers (see Afghanistan translator fucktards).
#4
The battle field is here. Since Al Qaeda took down the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and when people said "Let's Roll" and took down the hijackers dieing in a Pennsylvania field. Any where Jihad is implemented by Islamists or by a lone wolf is a battle field. Especially at a U.S. Fort stateside by a former US Soldier that went over to the other side and single handedly massacred dozens of our troops in that fort. Those troops WILL be honored.
#5
The reluctance of the Obama administration to aware the Purple Heart has nothing to do with geography. The issue surrounds the categorical denial of domestic terrorism carried out by Islamic personnel, who also wear the uniform of the United States military.
The archdiocese of New York, headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archdiocese of Washington, D.C., headed by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the University of Notre Dame, and 40 other Catholic dioceses and organizations around the country announced on Monday that they are suing the Obama administration for violating their freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The dioceses and organizations, in different combinations, are filing 12 different lawsuits filed in federal courts around the country.
The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. has established a special website--preservereligiousfreedom.org--to explain it lawsuit and present news and development concerning it.
"This lawsuit is about an unprecedented attack by the federal government on one of Americas most cherished freedoms: the freedom to practice ones religion without government interference," the archdiocese says on the website. "It is not about whether people have access to certain services; it is about whether the government may force religious institutions and individuals to facilitate and fund services which violate their religious beliefs."
The suits filed by the Catholic organizations focus on the regulation that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last August and finalized in January that requires virtually all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives, including those that can cause abortions.
#4
There is a reason they filed suit on this day: Todays Roman Catholic calendar lists May 21st as the feast day of St. Christopher Magallanes, a martyr killed for celebrating Mass during the Cristero War in Mexico.
That's right, the Federal Government executed him by firing squad for saying Mass without the Mexican government's permission.
Pray that this lawsuit comes out in a full win - or pray that November changes this by throwing out Obama and his pack of crooks. Thats the ballot box and jury box. We have tried the soap box, and Obama and Sebelius are deaf. If those fail the remaining box is the ammunition box.
"Darth", Be careful what you ask for. we will go there when its time. Its not time. Not yet. But as a foretaste look up the struggles in Ireland, and especially Google the Cristada (Christero War) for a recent violent armed repression of Catholics by a federal government in North America. Unlike that war, this one will have a lot of trained, albeit old, soldiers in it, including yours truly if it comes down to it. And that means more violence and much more deadly. Such a civil war is something I would not wish on any nation except an enemy one.
"With Russia and China standing firmly behind Assads regime in Syria, it appears increasingly likely that continued violence, and potentially a prolonged civil war, will be the future condition of a country where the opposition is not strong enough to overcome the core elements of the regimes security forces, and foreign parties lack the willpower or capacity to overthrow the rulers in Damascus.
As Tony Karon explains, civil war is an accurate way to describe the ongoing descent into violence in Syria. The countrys ethnic composition and the regimes divide-and-rule political strategy makes the specter of civil war an effective engine of consolidation for the regimes supporters:"
'Palestinian' forces launched a probe into the sale of candy with Hebrew-language wrappers in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp on Sunday, The Daily Star reported.
'Palestinian' authorities ordered a security force to confiscate hundreds of large bags of candy, which were wrapped in fake Syrian and Turkish-language packaging, under which the original Hebrew wrapper could be found.
Police are now investigating where the candy came from and how it entered the camp. The owner of the store is cooperating in the investigation, the Lebanese daily reported.
The head of security forces in the camp, Colonel Ahmad Nasr, said most of the candy was destroyed but some was kept to prove to the public that it was being sold.
"These goods, if sold in our markets, will be supporting the Israeli economy, and we are fighting Israel in all fields," Nasr said.
#4
The head of security forces in the camp, Colonel Ahmad Nasr, said most of the candy was destroyed but some was kept to prove to the public that it was being sold.
Sure. Just like here when the cops used to take your beer and fireworks...
#5
The head of security forces in the camp, Colonel Ahmad Nasr, said most of the candy was destroyed but some was kept to prove to the public that it was being sold.
As he said this he took some ball bearings out of his pocket and rolled them in his hand.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/21/2012 15:02
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#6
"Joooo-cy Fruit? WTH?!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/21/2012 15:51
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VDH
Given that the United States fields the costliest, most sophisticated, and most lethal military in the history of civilization, that should be a silly question. We have enough conventional and nuclear power to crush any of our enemies many times over. Why then did we seem to bog down in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan? The question is important since recently we do not seem able to translate tactical victories into long-term strategic resolutions. Why is that? What follows are some possible answers.
NoWe Really Do Win Wars
Perhaps this is a poorly framed question: the United States does win its warsif the public understands our implicit, limited strategic goals. In 1950 we wanted to push the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel and succeeded; problems arose when Gen. MacArthur and others redefined the mission as on to the Yalu in order to unite the entire Korean peninsula, a sort of Roman effort to go beyond the Rhine or Danube. Once we redefined our mission in 1951 as one more limited, we clearly won in Korea by preserving the South.
In Vietnam, the goal of establishing a viable South was achieved by 1974. Congress, not the president or the military, felt the subsequent peace-keeping commitments and air support were too costly. They allowed a renewed Northern invasion that led to a second and lost war, and then were surprised that the North Vietnamese proved to be not campus radicals but hardcore Stalinists.
Panama, Grenada, and Serbia were successful small enterprises. In the first Gulf War, the strategic aim was to oust Saddam from Kuwaitor so we said. That succeeded, though it did not solve the problem of what Saddam would in the future do with his vast oil revenues. In the second war, the mission was to remove him, birth a democracy, and then leave Iraq better than before. That more ambitious aim too succeedednot, however, without enormous costs.
Our strategic objective in Afghanistan was to oust the Taliban and ensure that it did not return to host terrorists on Afghan soil. The former mission was done over a decade ago, the latter hinges on the Afghans themselves after we leave. We vowed to rid Libya of Gaddafi and we didand did not exactly promise that what followed would be immediately better than what we removed. In such special pleading, the U.S. has won its wars as it has defined them. Note the great success of the Cold War that ended with the destruction of the Soviet Empire.
#1
"Our strategic objective in Afghanistan was to oust the Taliban and ensure that it did not return to host terrorists on Afghan soil."
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
'Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, said yesterday that he expected moderate Taliban leaders to play a crucial role in any new administration in Afghanistan, and made it clear that US military action against Osama bin Laden should be "short and targeted".
In remarks endorsed by the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, Gen Musharraf said any post-Taliban government in Kabul should be "broad-based" and "multi-ethnic". It could include the "former king Zahir Shah, political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the Northern Alliance, tribal leaders and Afghans living outside their country", he added.'
By October of 2001 the Bush administration's message re US strategic and political objectives had already become contradictory and incoherent.
War is an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will. When one side can't even articulate its will for fear of giving offense to the enemy, it cannot win a war.
The political decision not to win trumps every tactical military advantage.
The was successful military action in Afghanistan.
But the result is that Western troops are stationed in Afghanistan in order to serve the 'Noble People of Afghanistan.'
Mammoth suicide bombing in Yemen Monday is another blow to Obamas attempt to show the Arab world democracy works.
A massive suicide bombing in Yemen Monday morning is another blow to President Barack Obamas attempt to show the Arab world that democracy works for it.
The suicide bomber, wearing a military uniform and presumably linked to Al Qaeda, killed at least 97 people, mostly soldiers, and wounded 300 others practicing for a military parade in the Yemeni capital of Sana.
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by the Obama administration, was scheduled to attend the parade on Yemen's national day on Tuesday.
The suicide bombing came 10 days after the government launched a military campaign against Al Qaeda-linked terrorists who have nearly overwhelmed southern Yemen.
Obama has pointed to Yemen's change in government as a model for Arab countries seeking to adopt democracy, but the results there, as in all of the rebellions, have raised the nearly-century old question, Is democracy safe for the world?
Obama told G8 leaders meeting at Camp David that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must leave power, and pointed to Yemen as a model to enable a Syrian-led, inclusive political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system.
A suicide bomber dressed in military uniform blew himself up in the middle of a battalion of soldiers in the Yemen capital Sana'a on Monday, killing up to 96 people and wounding dozens of others, according to an official.
The military official said that the toll could rise following the attack.
The bomber detonated his explosives in the middle of battalion of soldiers rehearsing for an army parade to mark the 22nd anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen, the official added.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast which according to witnesses was heard across the city, causing panic among residents.
The unidentified bomber detonated his explosives as soldiers from the government's central security forces, commanded by a nephew of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, rehearsed for an army parade to mark the 22nd anniversary of the unification of north and south Yemen, according to the official.
Yemen's defence minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, was present at the time of the explosion but escaped unharmed, the official added.
#1
Ansar al-Sharia (Army of Sharia) has claimed responsibility as of a few hours ago.
Ansar al-Sharia is thought to be mainly comprised of former Al Q in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP_ units who have 're-branded' subsequent to the elimination of some of AQAP's leadership.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/21/2012 9:34
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#2
Al Qaeda by a different spelling, just to keep the infidels confused.
#3
I think the terror business has reached a tipping point. All of those fledgling jihadists AQ was cultivating for their business are out there on their own and AQ doesn't have the leadership in place to hold the reins.
It is ironic, killing off the AQ leadership may actually make terrorism harder to control as it is now completely fragmented with splinter groups and lone wolfs out there plotting. All of those AQ websites that taught bomb making are still there and though no longer maintained, still have enough information to make a junior jihadi a walking weapon.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/21/2012 10:39
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#4
Decentralized execution is a reality, but in the end, I believe "all terrorism is state sponsored" or at a minimum, permitted.
Like the The SS-Übungslager at Dachau, modern day terrorists have countries of origin and training centers. Identify the countries of origin and their training centers. Hold the sponsors or facilitators responsible or destroy them!
The law enforcement approach of hunting down individuals or "eaches" ignores ideological realities and harkens back to the failed "body count" methodologies of the past. Go after the hives, not the heads.
These mini Al Qaedas may get funding from individual Saudis, Kuwaitis, Egyptians, etc. but they, the mini AQs, are in fact enemies of the Saudi, Kuwaiti, etc. govt.
In some sense, the 'hive' of the mini AQs, is the Koran, the Sunna, the Hadith, the Tafsir, etc.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/21/2012 11:29
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#7
I concur Lord Garth. I only wish we could escape the ideological denial and properly take them to task. Pick one, ...any one, and create an example.
#8
Pardon my naivete, but I'm trying to understand the logistics involved in one bomber with a suicide vest killing 90+ in one fell swoop. Even in a tightly packed formation I can't picture enough explosive power and projectiles (ball bearings, etc.) in one vest capable of inflicting this much lethality without some secondary detonations or some sort of single height advantage for the bomber to replicate an airburst...
This is just a layperson's observation, but I'd appreciate if someone in-the-know can testify to a single suicide bomber vest really containing enough lethality to kill 90+ in a single detonation and still be portable and concealable to wear under a uniform.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/21/2012 14:58
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Military grade or commercial explosives (non-home make explosives or HME), have a devasting amount of destructive power. Belted or "vested" charges of Plastic Composition-4 commonly referred to as C4, contain SEMTEX, PETN, and/or RDX. When "belted" and linked in series plastic explosives create a blast that turns the suicide bomber's body and anyone close to him.... bones, and everything else into deadly shrapnel. The vests can be packed with ball bearings or other penetrating objects as well. The fuel tanks of vehicles within the blast radius can also create secondary hazards, as can flying glass from shop windows. Hardened building, shops and offices tend to channelize the blast down streets and sidewalks creating an inferno of destruction. More info here.
#11
Decentralized execution is a reality, but in the end, I believe "all terrorism is state sponsored" or at a minimum, permitted.
I think it's hard to argue that the Saudi royals are sponsoring terrorists who want to rule Saudi Arabia (and indeed, all of Arabia) in their place. Note that Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian. The imams with world-conquering ideologies have generally not been Saudi. That's not to say that Saudi citizens don't have these views - only that they are not tolerated by the Saudi royals, any more than Khomeini was tolerated by the Shah. Because imams with these ideologies don't just want to preach - they want to rule in place of whatever sovereigns are in power.
TRIPOLI, Leb: Lebanese soldiers rubbed out a Sunni holy man and a second member of a Lebanese political alliance against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... in northern Leb yesterday, security sources said.
Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahid and Khaled Miraib, members of the March 14 alliance, were shot in their car as they sped through an army checkpoint without stopping, the sources said.
Residents of the northern region of Akkar said that they had blocked off roads to protest against the deaths.
The army confirmed in a statement that the two men had been shot but gave no details.
"The leadership of the army expresses deep regret for the death of the two victims ... it will immediately form an investigative committee comprised of senior officers and military police under the relevant court," the statement said.
Some troops had pulled out of Akkar to prevent tensions from escalating after sporadic fighting over the past week, prompted by sectarian tensions in neighboring Syria, the sources said.
Many Sunni Mohammedans in Leb's north sympathize with a popular uprising against Assad and say that the Lebanese Army is taking orders from Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... Syrian troops were garrisoned in Leb until 2005 and Assad is an Alawite, while Syria's revolt has been led by the majority Sunnis.
Heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy... , mainly between government troops and gunnies in a Sunni district, has rocked Leb's northern port 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... in the past week.
Khaled Daher, a member of Parliament from the Future Movement party, which is part of the March 14 alliance, said that the incident was a targeted hit.
"If shots were fired at the tires, we would say there was a mistake. But we consider this a direct targeting from the army," he told Rooters.
"Frankly, we do not want to see the army here because it works at the service of the Syrian regime," he said.
The trial of 88 terror suspects dubbed the Al-Khalediya Cell resumed at a special criminal court in Riyadh yesterday.
Charges against them included working as a security guard for the late Al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be alive but now he's not... , and joining the Al-Farouq training camp run under the command of Bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Some of the defendants are accused of committing several other crimes such as attempts to assassinate three senior government officials and poison a water tank at a residential compound, in addition to planning to attack the holy city of Makkah.
At the beginning of the court sitting, the prosecutor general read out the charges against the first 10 out of the 88 defendants, who included 72 Saudis, eight Chadians, two Yemenis, in addition to an Egyptian, Paleostinian, Nigerian, Pak, Bangladeshi and a Niger national.
The court chief presented a copy of charges to each one of the defendants. After this, the judge told the defendants that each one of them has the right to appoint a lawyer to defend him, and that the Justice Ministry would appoint lawyers if he was unable to meet the financial expense for this.
To this, Defendant No. 3 replied that he would appoint a lawyer for himself while the remaining nine defendants indicated their readiness to accept the ministry's lawyers.
The prosecutor general alleged that one defendant worked as a security guard for Osama bin Laden while he was in Afghanistan. The defendant was later nabbed You have the right to remain silent... after returning to the Kingdom.
Another defendant was accused of storming into a Jeddah prison together with other gunnies in a failed bid to release some terror suspects.
The prosecutor general also claimed another defendant allegedly killed a Saudi citizen and robbed his car while fleeing following an encounter with security forces when they raided his hide-out in a residential apartment in Makkah's Khalediya district.
Another defendant was accused of giving shelter to gunnies from Khalediya after leasing a rest house in Bahra, located in between Jeddah and Makkah, in addition to forging passports, and extending media support to Al-Qaeda.
The charges against another defendant included poisoning a water tank at a residential compound for foreigners and planning to carry out terror attacks in Makkah, besides plotting to kill a woman after suspecting that she was an informer for the authorities. Another charge against him was setting up a training camp in Rabigh city.
One of the defendants was accused of monitoring the movement of some police officials with a motive to kill them while others allegedly hatched a plot to assassinate a senior government official. The other charges included carrying out an armed robbery to collect money for Al-Qaeda and doctoring pictures of some key government figures and placing them on websites.
Another defendant was accused of putting 52 locations, including one in Taif, under surveillance with the ulterior motive of carrying out terror attacks there. The charges against one of the defendants included accepting SR100,000 in cash from a wanted terrorist and renting out an apartment for some wanted Yemeni gunnies who fled the neighboring country after carrying out terror attacks.
Representatives of the Human Rights Commission and news hounds attended yesterday's trial proceedings.
Bashir al-Assad's forces are driving away Sunnis from residential districts in Homs to replace them with ethnic Allawites, according to a prominent member of the Syrian National Council (SNC).
The regime forces have combed Homs districts in recent months to track down opponents, he told Arab News yesterday.
The planned cleansing took place in several Sunni districts of the city: Karam Al-Zaitoun, Karam Al-Louz, Adwiya, Mureeja, Wajab Al-Jandali, Tadmur, Bab Al-Dareb and Zahra, the official said, adding that all Sunnis were driven away from some of these districts.
Muhammad Al-Turkawi, a leading member of the Council of Arab Tribes and a member of the SNC, said the regime has thrown out Sunnis as part of its efforts to establish an Allawite state, extending to the Syrian coast, as a last line of defense.
"The Syrian regime wants to deepen racial hatred among people in order to protect itself. At the same time opposition groups demand peaceful coexistence of all groups of people," Al-Turkawi told Arab News.
The Allawites are concentrated in mountains and villages in cities (Tartous, Latakia and Bani Yas) located along the Syrian coasts. About 65 percent of people in these cities are Sunni. Homs is one of the strongholds of Syrian revolution, which witnessed many protest marches during the past months.
According to Saleem Al-Qabbani, a member of the coordination committee in Homs, the regime's security forces were executing a programmed plan to drive out Sunnis from the city.
"People in Shumas were facing pressure to leave the district." Most Sunnis have taken refuge in Al-Waar district.
I have learned that Florida election officials are set to announce that the secretary of state has discovered and purged up to 53,000 dead voters from the voter rolls in Florida. It's a good start. But only for this one state.
How could 53,000 dead voters have sat on the polls for so long? Simple. Because Florida hadnt been using the best available data revealing which voters have died. Next question: How come any state would avoid switching over to the best available data for so long?
Florida is now using the nationwide Social Security Death Index for determining which voters should be purged because they have died.
Here is the bad news. Most states arent using the same database that Florida is. In fact, I have heard reports that some election officials wont even remove voters even when they are presented with a death certificate. Get a rope their pink slips ready.
That means that voter rolls across the nation still are filled with dead voters, even if Florida is leading the way in detecting and removing them.
But surely people arent voting in the names of dead voters, the voter fraud deniers argue. Wrong.
Consider the case of Lafayette Keaton. Keaton not only voted for a dead person in Oregon, he voted for his dead son. Making Keatons fraud easier was Oregons vote by mail scheme, which has opened up gaping holes in the integrity of elections. The incident in Oregon just scratches the surface of the problem. Massachusetts and Mississippi are but two other examples of the dead rising on election day. Or when 5:00 rolls around and it's time to go home from your government job.
Florida should be applauded for taking the problem seriously, even if Eric Holders Justice Department and many state election officials dont. That's going to make the unions have to work that much harder to play games with the locations of their hidden and pre-loaded voting machines.
I worked on the Los Angeles County election system. The big problem was people were not purged when then moved out of the county. The head of IS had moved to Orange County 4 years ago and was STILL a registered voter in both counties.
This doesn't count the felons, illegal aliens and cartoon characters who vote. Sen. Al Franken (D-Felons) is known as the "Mickey Mouse Senator" because that's whose vote got him elected.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/21/2012 9:51
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#7
The 2000 presidential election was decided by 537 votes in Florida.
#9
Hey, Al - I don't know how recently you worked for the LA election system...but if it's been awhile, you might be amused to know that LA County's current Registrar is a gent named Dean Logan. He held the same position in King County, WA, and back in '04 he likely stole the governorship for Christine Gregoire (Name That Party!) by "unexpectedly" finding bags of absentee ballots behind cabinets, in car trunks, etc.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
05/21/2012 22:53
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While the Mexican political week was relatively quiet, a new event was revealed which could potentially cost the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) its commanding position atop the polls ahead of the July 1st national elections.
Two Mexican army commanders, one retired and one active duty were detained and then subsequently ordered into 40 days preventative detention after alleged links of organized crime were discovered by the Mexican Procuradura General de la Republica (PGR), or attorney general last week.
General Tomas Angeles Dauahare and General Brigadier Roberto Dawe Gonzalez were both detained by order of Subprocuraduría de Investigación Especializada en Delincuencia Organizada (SIEDO), an anti-organized crime unit of the PGR last Wednesday and then subsequently ordered in to preventative detention. The preventative detention order is a virtual guarantee by the PGR that the two military commanders will be convicted.
General Thomas Dauahare Angeles was an aide to former Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) Enrique Cervantes Aguirre during the term of president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, and at one time had been considered for the top army job before current SEDENA chief General Guillermo Galvan Galvan was appointed SEDENA by president Felipe Calderon.
For the PRI, General Thomas Dauahare Angeles's arrest was most problematic, as he was in a slate of legislative candidates for the PRI.
The detentions and revelations forced PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto to cancel a public event in Campeche state, while he and his advisors huddled to determine their next step.
Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota wasted no time in her response as she said, as she has numerous times when PAN finally figured out just how much trouble they were in in the polls, that a Vazquez Mota presidency would never make pacts with organized crime.
That deft twist of the blade by Senora Vazquez Mota is a clear reference to an unfortunate statement made by a former governor of Nuevo Leon state, Socrates Cuauhtemoc Rizzo Garcia last year. In a talk with university students, Rizzo Garcia told them PRI state governors made deals with organized crime to allot territory for control and shipment of illegal drugs in exchange for a reduction of organized crime violence.
Disgraced PRI president Humberto Moreira Valdes spent several days putting out numerous political fires from that statement, but it was ultimately too late. Subtle references to Rizzo Garcia's remarks have been made by PAN politicians since then, at least three times this author has seen in Mexican press since the campaign for president began.
The detention of General Thomas Dauahare Angeles is an especially poignant element to the story since he was involved in investigating the late General Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, who had been convicted and then later exonerated of the same charges General Dauahare Angeles now faces. General Acosta Chaparro was shot to death last month in Mexico City.
PRI has to be careful. Under Mexican electoral law, none of the opposition candidates can speak of the nexus between organized crime and General Dauahare Angeles and the PRI unless the candidate himself brings it up.
The next Mexican Presidential debate is set for the first week in June, and the question and countercharges relating to PRI's past are bound to come up. At this point, it is far from certain that even were the PRI to deal openly with this new potential disaster, it might not be enough to knock PRI out of its comfortable 15 point lead in nearly every nationwide poll.
Speaking of electoral disasters, Senora Vazquez Mota received the good news late in the week that a lawsuit filed in early April challenging her candidacy as president was dismissed by the Instituto Federal Electoral (IFE). Under Mexican federal election law Mexican deputies must obtain permission to leave their posts to run for another office. The requirement is understandable but because Senora Vazquez Mota was a plurinomonal deputy, which means she was at large and not a geographical representative, her departure would not have imposed an undue hardship on her constituents.
The second bit of news is the presumptive return of Vazquez Mota's campaign manager Roberto Gil Zuarth, who had been away from the public since the debates two weeks ago. Gil Zuarth surfaced at a campaign event in Cuautla, Morelos last Saturday. It had been rumored that Gil Zuarth was to be replaced, since the Vazquez Mota campaign appeared to have all signs of an imploding campaign.
Closing out the week was an "Anti-Pena Nieto" protest march in Mexico City Saturday led by the radical leftist Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas (SME) or electricians unions. The protest only gathered 22,500 participants, and was intended to show negative support for Pena Nieto and the PRI.
But Pena Nieto would have none of it. Leading in every major poll by 15 points, he hammered on the themes of unity and his own staying above the fray.
That message resonates in the polls, but PRI is taking no chances.
Last week it was reported that several high school students in Guerrero state were induced to attend a PRI rally dressed as PRI party members in exchange for a soda and a photo op with Pena Nieto.
Mexican old timers would probably tell you that is a strong sign that PRI is returning to power, and no one is better at co-optation than PRI.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Mohammed Abdul Khaja alias Amjad, an accused in the 2005 Begumpet Task Force office blast case, had told his interrogators in 2010 that Najeehullah who was receiving training in the handling of arms and ammunition in Pakistain was smuggled by his handlers into Jammu and Kashmire from the side of occupied Kashmire. He was allegedly helped by a Pak national Pervez in crossing the border. Amjad also told the police at that time Najeehullah, after completion of his training, had stayed at the residence of Abdul Shahed Bilal, another Hyderabadi. Bilal and his brother who were living 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... at that time were reportedly bumped off by Pak agents later. It is not known what task was given to Najeehullah when he was first pushed in to India.
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The Shin Bet placed in durance vile I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! a terrorist cell from Ramallah on suspicion of being involved in an attempt to kidnap Israelis to negotiate their release in return for security prisoners. The arrest was made in March and was released for publication on Sunday.
Earlier May, the Death Eaters were indicted at the Military Court in Judea.
[Yemen Post] Fighters flew over some Yemeni towns and villages around the Capital Sana'a at low altitudes on Saturday, but they did not carry out any strikes, MENA said.
According to MENA, the war fighters flew over Sana'a to determine areas to which Al-Qaeda bully boyz escaped after the escalation of festivities against them in some areas of Abyan. ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... Military sources of the Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the army backed by the local committees killed 10 Al-Qaeda operatives in areas close to Jaar.
Yemeni military sources have denied any involvement of US land forces in fighting Al-Qaeda in several areas Abyan, pointing out that the Yemeni army backed by local committees made great advances.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, the Pentagon announced that it has begun sending US troops into Yemen.
The sources told the Middle East News Agency (MENA) that violent festivities continued between the army and Al-Qaeda bully boy nearby by the town of Jaar.
Yemeni Media sources had stated that military US experts were brought in to train anti-terrorism forces tasked with fighting al-Qaeda in some southern governorates.Sources told Yemen Post that the United States sent nearly 45 counter-terror trainers to Yemen this week in an effort to strengthen the Yemeni government's ability to fight al-Qaeda. Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... Chief of General Staff Ahmed Ali Al-Ashwal met on Saturday with the head of the U.S. Special Operations Forces Maj. Gen. Ken Tovo who is currently visiting Yemen.
They discussed fields of joint cooperation between the two countries' armies, in particular training, qualification, exchange of experiences and information and counter terrorism.
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Speaking to mediapersons, Superintendent of Police (SP) Shamsheer Hussain said the set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! faceless myrmidons were involved in the transportation of weapons, ration and other logistics for LeT.
"This turban cell was active in the region for a long time and this module provided logistics for the faceless myrmidons in the region and it also used to transport weapons and also provide ration. This was a Lashkar-e-Taiba cell," Hussain said.
He added that that more faceless myrmidons would be nabbed soon
"We have jugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! four people as of now and we have seized a cache of arms as well. Investigations are still on into the matter and its expected that some more people will be tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! soon," said Hussain.
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An 18-year-old Paleostinian terrorist attempted to stab an IDF soldier who was standing at the Gush Etzion Junction on Route 60 on Sunday. The soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Matan Solomon, was not maimed, but the terrorist was seriously maimed in the struggle that followed.
The terrorist, a Hebron resident, hid among Israeli bicycle riders who were at the junction, walked up to the soldier and tried to stab him. After a struggle which ended with the Paleostinian at death's door, the terrorist received initial medical care at the scene and was then evacuated to the Hadassah Medical Center for additional care.
[Tolo News] Afghanistan's Parliament on Saturday voted to make September 9 a new national holiday to honour national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud and those who die fighting for the country.
September 9 is the anniversary of Massoud's liquidation in 2001.
The politicians said observing a national holiday in the name of those who are "martyred" for Afghanistan is in the nation's interests and could prevent tribal conflicts in the embattled country.
"September 9 should be named as the day of the martyrdom of the national hero of Afghanistan - this will benefit our national interests," Kabul MP Mohammad Younus Qanoni told TOLOnews.
Massoud was born in 1953 in the Bazarak district of Panjshir province. He became a political and military leader in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation when he returned after a brief stin t in Pakistain to fight against the invasion. The Panjshir valley is known for having never fallen to Soviet control.
He went to Kabul after successfully driving out the Soviet's in 1989. But after several years of civil war in Kabul and other provinces, he returned to Panjshir when Kabul fell to the Taliban and formed a resistance front.
He fought the Taliban for almost five years but was eventually assassinated by two Arab jacket wallahs allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda in northern Takhar province on September 9 2001, just two days before the attacks on the US World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
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[An Nahar] The muftis and holy mans of Akkar on Sunday stressed that they will not allow any side to stir a strife between citizens and the military institution and called for a general strike across Leb, following the shooting death of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed at an army checkpoint in the Akkar town of al-Kweikhat.
"We call for a general strike tomorrow across Leb and for three days of mourning over the slain sheikh," said a statement issued by Akkar's muftis and holy mans.
"The department (of Islamic endowment in Akkar), which is known for its support for the state and which has all respect and appreciation for the military institution in all its components, will not allow any side to stir a strife between citizens and the military institution," said the statement.
"The department of Islamic endowment in Akkar calls for a probe to prevent the recurrence of such an abhorrent act and for slapping the culprits with the severest punishment possible," added the statement.
The department said Abdul Wahed and his lover companion were killed at the hands of "those who are supposed to protect people's lives and security," describing the incident as a "dangerous precedent."
It warned of "some hard boy members inside the military institution who are harming the military institution through their acts and seeking to create a rift between the military institution and citizens."
A security official said army troops rubbed out Abdul Wahed when his convoy failed to stop at the checkpoint in al-Kweikhat. He told Agence La Belle France Presse that another religious figure in Abdul Wahed's car, Mohammed Hussein Merheb, was also killed.
Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... bloc MP Khaled al-Daher meanwhile said that army troops deliberately shot up the clergyman, reported LBC.
Abdul Wahed was scheduled to make a speech at a rally that was scheduled to be held at Halba in the North. The event has since been called off. The Jamaa Islamiya later issued a statement denying its involvement in the rally.
The Army Command issued a statement saying "state commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr inspected the shooting scene and the available evidences and started interrogating the members of the army checkpoint to unveil the incident's circumstances and take the necessary legal measures."
And following an emergency meeting for Akkar's politicians, the MPs called on 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... , Prime Minister Najib Miqati and the Army Command to "take all the relevant measures against the officers and soldiers who committed this crime."
"The government bears the moral responsibility for the incident and we demand an instant probe into this crime. Any probe conducted by army personnel is rejected because they are accused of this crime," said the MPs in a statement recited by Daher.
The politicians called on the residents of Akkar and the North to "practice self-restraint in order to prevent civil strife."
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[Bloomberg] A Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... n court began the trial of 16 suspected al-Qaeda gunnies accused of kidnapping and killing a foreign national and trying to murder expatriates with poison, al-Riyadh reported, citing the court hearing. The group filmed the killing of the unidentified foreign national, the newspaper said. They're also being tried for participating in fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, it said.
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Ah, but she was half-crazy after Albert croaked. Wouldn't let Bertie (Later Edward VII) do squat of an official nature, which led to his embarrassing playboy antics.
[Iran Press TV] Police in the Midwest US city of Chicago have attacked anti-NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... protesters as a two-day summit of the Western military alliance kicks off.
The 25th NATO summit began on Sunday while thousands of demonstrators protesting against the Western wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere marched through downtown Chicago.
Some of the protesters called for the dissolution of the 63-year-old military alliance while others carried placards and posters reading "War (equals) Debt" and "NATO, Go Home."
The summit opened with the slogan of peace and a minute of silence for all those who have been killed in NATO's military operations around the world.
Heads of NATO's 28 member states are attending the summit, which generally features more than 50 world leaders who have been invited for the event.
Police have tossed in the slammer You have the right to remain silent... 14 anti-war activists since last week to quell the protests.
On Saturday evening, Chicago police tossed in the slammer You have the right to remain silent... over a dozen anti-NATO protesters after scuffles broke out between the two sides.
Anti-Wall Street demonstrators are also using the opportunity to protest against the grim economic situation and excessive corporate influence in the country.
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For a map, click here. For a map of Zacatecas state, click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A Policia Federal (PF) road patrol killed six armed suspects in a firefight in Zacatecas state Saturday afternoon, according to Mexican news sources.
According to a news item posted in the website of El Sol de Zacatecas Sunday, a detachment of Policia Federal was on patrol on Mexico Federal Highway 54 near Concepcion del Oro municipality, when suspects travelling aboard three vehicles were signalled at around 1530 by the unit to stop. Instead, armed suspects opened fire on the unit. PF return fire killed six armed suspects.
A news item posted on the website of Vangardia news daily said the dead were members of Los Zetas criminal gang. Six guns characterized in reports as heavy weapons, which usually means assault rifles were seized in the aftermath along with ammunition and the three vehicles.
Reports also said a unit of the Mexican 52 Infantry Battalion along with an undisclosed number of Zacatecas state police agents were subsequently dispatched to the area to add security.
Mexico Highway 54 is a direct route between Zacatecas city, the capital of Zacatecas state and Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila state. The site of the armed encounter was close to the extreme northeastern border of Zacatecas.
Meanwhile, the bodies of two transit police agents were found dead in their abandoned vehicle in the village of Gualterio in Chalchihuites municipality, according to a news item posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas.
The two victims were identified as Transit police agent Eduardo Zapata Perez and an assistant, Policia Preventativa agent Faustino Flores Ayala. Both men had been shot to death.
According to official reports related by the news post, the two officers had been dispatched to Sombrerete municipality to settle a dispute, but were instead attacked by a mob and shot to death. The report also added that transit officers do not engage in any other state business but traffic matters.
Sombrerete and Chalchihuites municipalities are in the westernmost area of Zacatecas state.
Mexico Federal Highway 45, which connects Durango city with Fresnillo, Zacatecas, is one of the most dangerous stretches of road in Mexico, as several instances of armed robberies of travellers have been reported, including two against local Catholic priests.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[Yemen Post] An American training team was subjected to an attack in the western impoverished-hit province of al-Hodeida, leaving a trainer maimed, al-Masdar online newspaper said on Sunday citing a security official.
Unidentified gunnies opened fire from their rifles on a car that belong to an American military trainers when they got out of the tourist al-Hodeida Land Resort, the official said.
The unnamed official said that the maimed trainer was injured by the glass of the car which have been shattered by the barrage of bullets, hinting that the injury is not serious.
The three US citizens who were attacked today work as trainers in the Yemeni Coastal Guards in al-Hodeida, according to the official.
The assailants managed to escape after they launched their attack, but the police forces managed to arrest one of them after they raided many houses suspected of being involved in the attack.
The official noted that the suspect who was tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! confessed that they carried the attack and they belong to the terror network of al-Qaeda.
Following the attack, the security forces intensified its security measures and presence across the province, especially around the main entrances to the port city.
The cooperation between Yemen and US on training the military personnel has been resumed this month after almost more than a year of suspension due to the unrest which hit Yemen
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Host nation deployments, Yemen. An informative link.
Part 1 of analysis: Ron Ben-Yishai explains why Hamas maintains de facto Gaza truce so strictly
Regardless of how one refers to it, we have seen a sort of ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, for some eight months now, since August 2011. The group fired a few Grad rockets ...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km.... at Israel for the last time during the round of escalation following the terror attack near Eilat. Since then, Hamas has adhered to the rule it set for itself -- no attacks initiated against Israel. The group only responds when IDF troops cross the fence.
And so, for example, during the last round of Gazoo escalation in March, after Israel assassinated the Popular Resistance Committees' secretary general and other group activists, Hamas did not join the retaliatory attacks, but rather, sought a way to calm the tensions. Here and there we saw "private initiatives," but the Hamas establishment showed disciplined restraint.
According to recently published and apparently credible reports, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, formed in Gazoo a special police force tasked with thwarting rocket fire by various "rogue organizations." The force has already started to operate, and according to rumors its members are adopting a firm hand and working effectively.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Alamo, Davy was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results... on the civilian-economic front, we have recently seen a gradual increase in the number of trucks transporting goods and fuel from Israel into the Strip as well as Gazoo goods exported via Israel's ports.
The days of the Messiah have not yet arrived. The Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement constantly states that it has not renounced the "liberation of occupied land via armed struggle." Israel too has not changed its declared policy, which rejects contacts with Hamas as long as the group does not accept the principles set out by the International Quartet ... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... . However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... direct contacts are taking police in the field, among low-level officials, while indirect negotiations are occasionally held in Cairo with Egyptian mediation.
In fact, this is a classic hudna (temporary ceasefire) in line with the principles of ancient Islam. It will continue as long as Egypt, Hamas' new patron, will want it, and end once Hamas' leadership will decide that renewing the violence against Israel serves the organization's objectives more than the lull does.
The Iron Dome factor However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... Hamas is not the only player in town. The large "rogue organizations," headed by Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... in the Strip, have complied with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' and Egypt's orders, but have also attempted to carry out attacks via the Sinai. Yet Hamas usually refrains from Sinai activities that anger the Egyptians.
In their talks with Gazoo groups, one of the most powerful arguments used by Hamas officials in favor of the lull is the success of the Iron Dome anti-rocket system. According to a well placed source, Hamas argues that every round of fighting boosts Iron Dome's efficiency and the public pressure in Israel to acquire many more batteries. Hence, says Hamas, it would be better to minimize the fighting and accumulate very large quantities of rockets and launchers of various types. The group believes that mass fire will "flood" the Iron Dome systems and neutralize them (or at the very least, impose a heavy financial burden on Israel.)
In any case, there is almost no doubt that Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, at this time has a strong interest in maintaining the hudna, for the following reasons:
A lull enables Hamas to improve the economic and security situation of Gazoo residents. This allows the group to boost its popularity and reinforce its rule in the Strip vis-à-vis organizations that are challenging it with Iran's assistance. The sympathy for the Gazoo government also constitutes a step towards taking over the West Bank, if and when general elections are held in the Paleostinian Authority.
The urgent need to win international and Western diplomatic recognition. Hamas needs it in order to receive more money, and also in order to make it harder for the IDF to operate. Firing rockets at Israeli citizens certainly does not promote this objective.
The main reason: The loss of support and operational bases in Syria and Iran, as well as the fear of popular unrest in Gazoo.
[Iran Press TV] Fighting continues between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and a group of mutineers in the province of Nord-Kivu in the east of the country.
"We're on the ground. We've been confronting the FARDC since this morning three kilometers from Bunagana...where we were yesterday," Vianney Kazarana, a front man for the rebels' March 23 Movement, told AFP by telephone on Sunday.
"The FARDC are using combat tanks. We're resisting. We're at the front, we're facing the enemy," he said.
Earlier in the month, the mutineers, who are former members of rebel group the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), established a separate group, the March 23 Movement.
More than 10,000 people have fled to neighboring Rwanda and Uganda over the past few days.
Led by General Jean Bosco Ntaganda, hundreds of former members of the CNDP rebelled against Kinshasa last month in protest over mistreatment in the FARDC.
The CNDP was a rebel militia group that split from the FARDC. In 2009, a peace treaty was signed by the rebels and the Congolese government, which integrated the CNDP into the FARDC.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Four UN deminers incarcerated You have the right to remain silent... by the Sudanese army along the country's tense southern border were released Sunday and turned over to chief African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... mediator Thabo Mbeki ...former president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela. He now pops up periodically as a mediator when something catches fire in Africa... , the defence minister said.
"We release them to president Mbeki," Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein said in a ceremony at Sudan's military headquarters in Khartoum, more than three weeks after the men were nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! The former South African president has been in the Sudanese capital since Thursday meeting officials, including President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. , in an effort to push Sudan and South Sudan back to negotiations which were suspended after border fighting last month.
"I raised your issue with President Bashir and the government explained to us the circumstances of your arrest, and then we asked President Bashir to release you," Mbeki said addressing the four men: a Briton, a Norwegian, a South African and a South Sudanese.
"All of us will go together," he said before the freed men got into a minibus to leave as part of Mbeki's motorcade.
"We thank the government of Sudan and we appreciate the effort of president Mbeki. We are so happy now that we are going," the Norwegian, John Sorbo, said on behalf of his three colleagues.
The captives appeared to be in good condition but their shoes were dirty.
They smiled and shook hands with the defence minister and Sudanese military officers.
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[Dawn] A judicial magistrate on Saturday released 11 IJT activists on furnishing bail bonds of Rs5,000 each.
Civil Lines police had nabbed Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! them on Friday for staging a rally on The Mall. The investigating officer produced them before the court and sought their physical remand.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... the defence counsel opposed the police request and argued that the students were holding a peaceful protest, but the police resorted to baton charge and locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... them. He pleaded that all the incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! students be released on bail.
Magistrate Rizwan Hanif Sheikh admitted the plea and released IJT activists on bail.
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[Dawn] A young builder was bumped off outside his home off Shaheed-e-Millat Road on Saturday, police said.
They said a man on a cycle of violence spotted Salman Azam, in his early 30s, when he was sitting in his car outside the Arsal Apartment in New 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... Housing Scheme of PECHS block 2.
"As told by witnesses the man got off the motorbike, came close to Azam and fired three shots at him and rode away," said DSP Murtaza Malik, the area's sub-divisional police officer (SDPO). "The people around said that the attacker also threatened them when some of them advanced towards him. Azam suffered serious wounds and was moved to a private hospital, where he died during treatment."
He said the spent bullet casings found from the crime-scene suggested that a 9mm pistol was used in the attack.
The DSP suspected personal enmity as a probable motive behind the killing.
"We have talked to the victim's family, which has confirmed that Azam had a dispute with someone, who is unknown to them. The family is in a state of shock and we would take our time to gather more facts about this particular issue," said Inspector Ejaz Khawaja, the SHO of the Ferozabad cop shoppe.
City builders having stakes of billions of rupees in Bloody Karachi's real estate industry, however, took the incident differently. They linked the killing with threats being received by builders in Bloody Karachi.
"This cold-blooded murder has created panic among the builders and it is becoming very difficult for them to continue their business in these conditions," stated Mohsin Sheikhani, the chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers (Abad), in a letter to President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... and Prime Minister Gilani as well as high-ups of the security administration.
"It is pertinent to mention that recently the incidents of land grabbing and encroachment have increased to an alarming level. When these cases are brought to the knowledge of police authorities with the names of culprits, the builders receive threats and today one of our members has been murdered."
Man found rubbed out in Lyari
A young man was found rubbed out in the Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... area on Saturday.
Police said that the body of the man was found in the early hours of Saturday on Mirza Adam Khan Road within the remit of the Kalakot cop shoppe.
"He is identified as 24-year-old Babar," said DSP Muhammad Azam Khan, the area's SDPO. "The victim had been missing since Friday and we are sure that he was kidnapped and tortured before being rubbed out. The murder seems a part of rivalry between two gangs, as a member of the victim's family was also rubbed out earlier this week."
Body found
The body of an unidentified young man was found in Mowach Goth. The Mauripur police said the young victim was shot twice.
"The body has been shifted to the Edhi morgue after medico-legal formalities at the Civil Hospital for want of identification. We have lodged an FIR (174/2012) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code against unknown persons on behalf of the state."
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[Iran Press TV] Yemeni protesters have held a demonstration in the southern city of Taizz to demand the prosecution of former dictator President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , Press TV reports.
Demonstrators erupted into the streets of Taizz on Sunday, blaming Saleh and his aides for the killing of anti-regime protesters during the popular uprising that began in January 2011.
Over the past weeks, Yemeni protesters have held several similar demonstrations in Taizz.
Saleh formally stepped down and handed over power to his deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi on February 27. The power transfer occurred under a Saudi-backed deal brokered by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ... the Medes and the Persians are very sensitive on the subject of the Persian Gulf, which the Arabs refer to as the Arabian Gulf... in April 2011 and signed by Saleh in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on November 23, 2011.
The new Yemeni president, who is a UK-trained field marshal, was sworn in on February 25 following a single-candidate presidential election, which was supported by the US and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... The latest demonstration in Taizz was held a day after Yemeni military officials said two people were killed in a US liquidation drone attack in the central province of Bayda on Saturday.
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[Emirates 24/7] Lebanese soldiers rubbed out two members of an alliance against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in northern Leb on Sunday, security sources said, in the latest incident to raise fears Syria's turmoil was spilling over the border into its neighbour.
Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahid, a holy man, and Khaled Miraib, both members of the Leb-based March 14 political alliance, were shot in their car as they sped through a Lebanese army checkpoint without stopping, the sources said.
Residents of the northern region of Akkar blocked off roads to protest against the deaths. The main coastal highway north 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... had also been blocked by enraged residents.
Many people in Leb's north sympathise with Syria's uprising against Assad and say that the Lebanese army is taking orders from Damascus. ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... Leb's army released a statement confirming the deaths but not giving any information on who was responsible or what led up to the shootings.
"The leadership of the army expresses deep regret for the death of the two victims ... It will immediately form an investigative committee comprised of senior officers and military police under the relevant court," the statement said.
Some troops had recently pulled out of Akkar to prevent tensions from escalating after sporadic fighting over the past week, prompted by sectarian tensions in neighbouring Syria, the security source said.
Khaled Daher, a member of parliament from the Future Movement party, which is part of the March 14 alliance, said the two men had been assassinated.
"If shots were fired at the tyres, we would say there was a mistake. But we consider this a direct targeting from the army," he told Rooters.
"Frankly, we do not want to see the army here because it works at the service of the Syrian regime," he said.
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Israel plans to deploy 20,000 commandos in Greek Cyprus in order to protect its energy projects in the area, Anatolia news agency reported Sunday. According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Demetris Christofias, met
in February in order to discuss the two countries' joint ventures.
Netanyahu reportedly offered to undertake all the expenses required to construct a gas plant needed to extract the natural gas found in the Mediterranean Sea and in exchange, he asked that all the 10,000 personnel that would work at the plant be brought in from Israel with their families.
Golly, you don't think this will make Turkey feel surrounded or anything, do you? Especially if he starts to wonder how many of said personnel and their spouses are IDF-trained? And then there's the horrid idea that Greece might yet have an income and be able -- somewhat -- to support itself or pay down outstanding debts...
#1
Many of the 10,000 Israeli Civilian Managers will prob be active or inactive reserve members of the IDF - basically, 30,000 Israelis to par agz 30,000 Turkish troops already on Cyprus.
SHADE OF CHRISTINA-VS-DAVE VEE THE FALKLANDS - two of the US' most mil proficient allies to face off across the Cyprus DMZ, or perhaps to check Iran's stated future mil power in the Med [ + Atlantic]???
We hoped the Russian could it, but it turns out their Fleet Tugs needs Tugs needs Tugs of their own just to make it home.
#2
Even the US couldn't scrape up 20k commandos without drafting the more belligerent video gamers.
Got to be ordinary Israelis--those not adverse to a little adventure--who, as has been pointed out, have some familiarity with bangsticks. Problem is, getting 20k weapons and sufficient ammo into the country along with them. I guess that's what container shipping is for.
Think about 20k M4, for example. How many truckloads is that?
Or you could send them with no provision for self defense. The US would do that. Would Israel?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/21/2012 7:59
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#3
Think about 20k M4, for example. How many truckloads is that? Posted by Richard Aubrey
I have no idea. I recommend we ask the "Fast & Furious" experts at the US State and Justice Departments.
#5
Israel plans to deploy 20,000 commandos in Greek Cyprus in order to protect its energy projects in the area, Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.
Anatolia = Turkey. Turkish media trying to get its audience riled up about the arrogant (not to mention greedy) Jews. The Turkish media is a mild version of its vitriolic Arab brethren.
#7
I posted the article from Ynet, an Israeli news outlet. The Jerusalem Post article also quotes he same Anatolia news agency story; Ha'aretz does not seem to be carrying the story.
Zhang Fe may have nailed it -- let's look for other sources to confirm or deny.
Israel denies claims of troop deployment to Greek Cyprus
Israel's Foreign Ministry has denied a report that claimed the country hoped to deploy as many as 20,000 commandos to Greek Cyprus to protect nationals working on energy projects.
Anatolia news agency reported yesterday that Israel had proposed to Greek Cyprus that it deploy soldiers on the island to protect future energy projects and Israeli citizens who would work on the projects.
Israel denied the report in a written statement, saying the claims were "baseless and disconnected from reality."
"Israel has never sent troops to any other country in its history," the statement said, adding that it should be questioned why such a report was prepared by Anatolia in the first place.
#12
Actually, Israel didn't send any troops to Syria a couple of years ago where they didn't blow up a reactor the Syrians didn't have, which wasn't being maintained by a bunch of techs from Nork.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/21/2012 15:17
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[An Nahar] Sri Lanka's president has ordered the release of his jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! electoral rival, ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, bowing to U.S.-led international pressure three years after the end of the island's long ethnic war.
The 61-year-old former four-star general could leave prison on Monday following legal formalities, an official said Sunday, after President Mahinda Rajapakse marked the third anniversary of the Tamil Tigers' crushing defeat.
Fonseka was placed in durance vile Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! two weeks after he unsuccessfully challenged Rajapakse's re-election in January 2010.
The president signed the papers ordering Fonseka's release on Friday evening before leaving for Qatar on Saturday, front man Banda Jayasekera said.
"Papers will be sent to the Ministry of Justice on Monday," he said.
Fonseka's wife Anoma Fonseka said she welcomed the decision to release her husband but was unaware of the terms of the presidential pardon.
"I welcome the announcement (of the release)," she told news hounds outside a private hospital where prison authorities took her husband for treatment for a respiratory problem two weeks ago.
"I hope the president will keep his promise to release him unconditionally," she said, adding that she hoped there would be no legal impediment for him to engage in politics.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... official sources said the pardon only cancels out the sentence and Fonseka may not have his civic rights to participate in elections for seven years from the time he walks out of jail.
Fonseka's Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party politician and chief negotiator Tiran Alles said they will campaign for a complete pardon.
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#1
He was threatening to win the election for president. Can't have that. The fact that he broke the Tamil Tigers was irrelevant.
[An Nahar] Two high-ranking Syrian officials denied in interviews with state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
on Sunday reports by pan-Arab channels that they along with four other regime stalwarts had been assassinated.
The interviews came after satellite channels Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... and Al-Arabiya broadcast an amateur video showing an unidentified man claiming a rebel group's responsibility for killing the six officials.
Those named are part of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's inner circle and members of the regime's "crisis management" team.
The unidentified man in the video claimed to be speaking on behalf of the Brigades of the Sahaba, or friends of the Prophet Mohammed.
He claimed the liquidation was carried out by one person, after two months of surveillance.
The officials named included Assef Shawkat, Assad's son-in-law and military intelligence chief; ministers of interior and defense Mohammad al-Shaar and Daoud Rajha respectively; and national security chief Hisham Bakhtiar.
Also named were Hassan Turkmani, assistant to the vice-president, and Mohammad Said Bakhtian, assistant to the Baath Party chief.
"What the disgusting Al-Jazeera is broadcasting is completely false," Shaar told Syrian state TV by telephone. "We are used to this kind of news, and to these campaigns of lies and slander."
Turkmani too denied he had been killed in an on-screen interview during which he also slammed Al-Jazeera's report as being "packed with misinformation."
Meanwhile the opposition expressed doubts about the veracity of the claims.
One member of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition coalition, said the goal of the video was to "sow doubts."
"There is a war that aims to demoralize people" who support the anti-regime revolt, according to SNC member Jabr al-Shoufi.
The Syrian regime has accused Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya of inciting "discord" in Syria ever since a revolt broke out in March 2011.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Pakistain blocked Twitter on Sunday, saying the website had refused to remove posts promoting a Facebook competition involving caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
"The website has been banned by the Ministry of Information Technology and the decision was conveyed to us," said Mohammad Younis Khan, front man for Pakistain Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
"There was blasphemous material on Twitter.
"Both Facebook and Twitter were involved. We negotiated with both. Facebook has agreed to remove the stuff but Twitter is not responding to us."
Twitter had been blocked but Facebook was still available, he said, adding that those responsible for the competition were "trying to hurt Moslem feelings".
The poor, sensitive darlings!
Twitter and Facebook were not immediately reachable for comment.
Responding to the furore around the ban, one Twitter user, @vinodvyas, wrote: "Now billions of ppl know there exists a competition to draw Prophet."
Twitter is widely used in Pakistain, including by prominent public figures such as celebrities, cricketers, cabinet ministers and members of parliament.
And now they all have a reason to disagree with the religious idiots and the government idiots who pander to them.
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After decades of shying away from ancient pilgrimage route, and despite Arab leaders' opposition, increasing numbers of Moslems visit Jerusalem to pray at Al-Aqsa mosque
[Tolo News] Iran is working with Pakistain's intelligence agency to stoke violence in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Interior's Deputy Minister of Security Abdul Rahman Rahman said Sunday.
Afghanistan's Senate summoned Rahman and Deputy Head of Operations at the National Directorate of Security Mohammad Yasin Zia to answer questions on the liquidation of former senator and top peace envoy Arsala Rahmani, who was rubbed out by unknown gunnies last week in Kabul.
Rahman said that Death Eaters, with the full support of Pakistain's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have launched operation 'Al-Farooq' which called for the targeting of high-ranking government officials, namely the members of Afghanistan's High Peace Council.
He claimed Iran was also involved following its pressure on the country's politicians to not approve the long-term agreement Afghanistan had made with the US.
Zia said that members of the Mullah Dadullah Front Death Eater group members were newly-trained in both of the neighboring countries and were involved in propaganda against the Afghan government.
He said Afghan government officials had been sent phone messages threatening them to not approve the Afghan-US strategic agreement signed on May 2.
He also said that forces of Evil are trying to destabilize the country because of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... summit and Afghan-US deal.
"Both of the neighboring countries are trying to cause unrest among Afghan people by launching propaganda against the national interests of Afghanistan," Zia said.
He also accused Pakistain's ISI for being involved in the liquidation of Rahmani, saying that ISI had asked Rahmani several times to leave Afghanistan and live in Pakistain.
"ISI had repeatedly requested Arsala Rahmani not to work with this government and leave Afghanistan and live in Pakistain," Zia told the MPs Sunday.
This comes as the NDS said Saturday that three members of the Mullah Dadullah group were cooled for a few years Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in Kabul yesterday in possession of boom jacket and rifles.
The Mullah Dadullah Front claimed the responsibility of Rahmani's liquidation, according to Pak newspaper Express-Tribune.
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#1
NATO is repor interested in [post-2014]
"strategic alliance" wid Pakistan, whcih should worry Tehran as BFF Islamabad = Pakistan has the LRBMS + NucWarheads Tehran would like to have.
Lest we fergit, US-WORLD PERTS = Iran doesn't need Nuclear Weapons due its level of national or domestic Oil Reserves, thus the only reason for Iran to want + maintain a reliable NucProg is to de facto dev Nuclear Weapons.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zim-bob-wean President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... reportedly told a former minister in his government that he wants to retire but fears his party would disintegrate, an independent weekly said Sunday.
"From what we discussed, Mugabe said he is tired and wants to retire but he cannot do so now because ZANU-PF would die," Enos Nkala, a former minister of defence in Mugabe's late-1980s government, told The Standard newspaper after meeting with the 88-year-old president Friday.
"He cannot leave when the party is in such a state. What is holding him now is managing and containing ZANU-PF to prevent it from disintegrating," Nkala added.
Mugabe's spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on Nkala's statements.
Nkala, who has been a staunch critic of Mugabe in recent years, met with him privately for an hour in Bulawayo, 430 kilometres (270 miles) southwest of the capital Harare, The Standard said.
Nkala warned that Mugabe's succession remains a delicate issue that if not handled carefully might result in "chaos or civil war".
"It's easy for people to say Mugabe must go, Mugabe must go, but most don't know that he is the glue that has been holding this country together," he said.
Mugabe, who has ruled the southern African country since independence in 1980, has already been endorsed by his party to stand as a candidate in elections expected after the end of a power-sharing government formed in 2009 in the wake of disputed elections.
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#1
He says he fears the party would die? I think it's more likely that he would die. Or live in fear, at least.
[Dawn] The NATO's ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... chief urged Pakistain on Saturday to back efforts to stabilise Afghanistan as President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... arrived in Chicago to attend a NATO summit which aims to finalise a transition plan for the war-torn country.
Leaders from 61 countries, including the US, Pakistain and Afghanistan, are attending the May 20-21 conference in US President Barack Obama's I inhaled. That was the point... hometown, Chicago.
Although no bilateral meeting between President B.O. and President Zardari is on the card, media representatives were seen speculating about a trilateral meeting, which may include their Afghan counterpart Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai. ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... US Defence Secretary Leon E. Panetta, meanwhile, told L.A. Times that he planned to confront Pakistain over what he considered price gouging for transport of supplies to Afghanistan and hoped for a 'consensus' among allies over the war effort.
Mr Panetta ruled out paying Pakistain $5,000 for each truck carrying supplies across its territory for NATO troops in Afghanistan. Pak officials have demanded that amount as a condition for reopening supply routes that have been closed to the alliance since fall.
"Considering the financial challenges that we're facing, that's not likely," Mr Panetta said of the demand.
But Pak officials say that their schedule does not include a Panetta-Zardari meeting, which further strengthens the possibility of trilateral talks, although both US and Pak official say that no trilateral meeting is planned either.
"We can't solve the problems in Afghanistan without the positive engagement of Pakistain," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a policy forum in Chicago.
He also referred to the alleged terrorist safe havens in Pakistain's tribal areas and said NATO was looking forward to work with Pakistain to eradicate those bases.
"We have to solve these problems," he said.
Mr Rasmussen, who is scheduled to meet President Zardari on Saturday evening or early Sunday, said he would "convey a couple of clear messages" to the Pak leader. He did not elaborate the messages.
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#1
Bakeesh, or just "Sheesh"Fees, as in "Gee Whizz"???
#2
The Pakistanis probably figure that they might as well try to squeeze us for the money while Pres. Obama & Sec. Clinton are still in office & the foreign aid spigot is wide open.
Posted by: American Delight ||
05/21/2012 12:18
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[Iran Press TV] Democratic Leader Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of politicians. Formerly Speaker of the House, but it's not her fault they lost. Really. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace... (D-Calif.) accused House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... on Sunday of "want[ing] to go over the edge" when it comes to negotiations to keep the government from defaulting on its debts.
The federal government will hit its debt limit sometime around the November election, but extraordinary measures, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner ...President B.O.'s snotty-looking treasury secretary, noted neither for his honesty nor for his competence, though he does wear natty suits... has said, can keep the government paying its bill into the new year, when a new Congress is sworn in.
Boehner, however, began negotiations on the debt ceiling last week, saying that new tax revenues were off the table and that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by an equal number of cuts.
Pelosi described Boehner's approach to coming debt-ceiling negotiations as immature and irresponsible. "Last year, just the threat of not lifting the debt ceiling caused our credit rating to be lowered. This is not a responsible, mature, sensible place for us to go. We all know we have to reduce the deficit. We have to do it in a balanced way," she said on ABC's "This Week." "The speaker wants to go over the edge."
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," said that Boehner's approach was "incredibly irresponsible" and risked the global economy.
If the speaker was serious about moving forward, Pelosi said, he should bring the middle-class tax cuts to the floor now so that they are not held hostage during negotiations after the election. "I challenge the speaker right now to bring the middle income tax cuts to the floor," she said. Pelosi praised the defense cuts that are scheduled to take effect in 2013 as a result of the previous debt ceiling deal.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pushed back against the Pentagon cuts, an indication of how hard it will be to come to a deal. "I don't think we ought to cut a penny less than we ought to cut. I'm perfectly open to how we arrange those reductions," he said on "Face the Nation."
"I happen to be among those who think it's much too tough on the Defense Department," he said.
Pelosi, while battling Boehner, has also been taking fire from her progressive flank, with former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) challenging her to reject benefit cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that are included in the so-called Simpson-Bowles plan.
ABC's George Stephanopolous asked Pelosi about the feud with Feingold.
"I don't think he understands what that is," she said, referring to Simpson-Bowles. "What I said was -- and what I believe -- is that the framework of Simpson-Bowles was a very important one. It assumed the expiration of the high-end tax cuts. It took a harsh look at all of our spending, including defense spending ... What I didn't like about it was what it said about Social Security. But I said that can be handled separately."
She added that she had backed the president while he tried to reach a deal with Boehner. That deal included major cuts to social insurance programs. "We stuck with the president on the grand bargain that he had last year, that he and the speaker agreed to, and then the speaker walked away from," she said.
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05/21/2012
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#1
"Last year, just the threat of not lifting the debt ceiling caused our credit rating to be lowered."
Can't say I'm shocked that our credit rating didn't go back up after the debt ceiling was raised.
#2
Maybe we'll be like Greece + start imploding only when mainstream Amer voters are finally formally asked to vote on joining the NAU that Politicos keep denying.
#3
Seems... responsible of Boehner to start the negotiations now rather than wait for the last minute.
Anyway, the debt limit hit around November is fitting because it is a huge part of what this election and the vision for the future of America is all about.
[Yemen Post] In a statement posted on the jihadists' websites, al-Qaeda leader in the Arabian Peninsula Abu Baseer Nasser al-Wahishi urged the snuffies fighting the Yemeni army in southern Yemen to fight until the last breath, saying death is inevitable. That's a comforting message...
"Death is inevitable and we all are going to die even if we don't want that. Hence, choose how you will die and opt for martyrdom," he said. "You won't accomplish anything, but you'll be dead, so it won't matter, will it?"
Al-Wahishi linked the blood and the sacrifices with victory and defeating enemies, citing an Islamic holy man who said Islam is a tree that doesn't live except on blood. "Because this religion is precious it requires the blood of deaders," he said.
He said the war that President Hadi is waging against Ansar al-Sharia ...a Yemeni Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... , al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen, in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... is not in his nation's, nor in his people's favor.
His comments were largely perceived by many analysts as an admission of defeat in the southern war-torn province of Abyan.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown, Bob finally got to dance with Sally... the Yemeni army assisted by tribal militias were reported to have been deployed today around Ja'ar, al-Qaeda stronghold and the second biggest town in Abyan, as they prepare to launch a comprehensive military campaign to storm the town and drive the snuffies out.
In the past couple of weeks, the army troops delivered painful strikes against the hard boyz and managed to kicked them out of some towns in Abyan. Dozens of snuffies were reportedly killed since the latest expansion of military operations.
This article starring:
Abu Baseer Nasser al-Wahishi
al-Qaeda in Arabia
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#1
Looks like somebody is hoping the Yemeni Army will find itself suddenly outflanked iff new "Core" AQ#1 Ayman's call for overthrow of the Saudi ruling family proves successful???
And lets not fergit about Jordan also being under pressure.
#2
It appears that AQAP is getting a hammering. Not the words of military leader in a winning position, more the last words of a leader cowering in a bunker.
[An Nahar] Lawyers for Iraq's runaway Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni who is accused of running a death squad, on Sunday withdrew from the case, on the grounds their appeals had been rejected.
The vice president, last known to be in Turkey, is the subject of an Interpol red notice calling for his arrest but says he fears for his life in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... . He is being tried in absentia on charges he says are politically motivated.
"We decided to withdraw from the case as the appeals commission did not review the appeals we presented to it," Muayad al-Izzi, the head of Hashemi's defense team, told news hounds.
The Central Criminal Court of Iraq, which held the fourth hearing on the case on Sunday, responded by appointing two new lawyers to replace those who withdrew.
Hashemi had said in a May 17 statement on his website that he was considering withdrawing his lawyers due to "legal violations."
These included the trial not being transferred to another venue and Hashemi's lawyers not being permitted to meet with accused members of his staff or witnesses individually, the statement said.
Hashemi, one of Iraq's top Sunni Arab officials, was accused in December of running a death squad and, along with his staff and bodyguards, faces around 150 charges.
The accusations were first leveled in December after U.S. troops completed their withdrawal, during a political crisis in which his bloc boycotted cabinet and parliament, accusing Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... of monopolizing power.
After the initial charges were filed, the vice president fled to the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, whose authorities declined to hand him over to the central government.
They then allowed him to leave on a tour of the region that has taken him to Qatar, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... and now Turkey. Ankara has said it will not extradite him to Iraq.
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[An Nahar] A rocket-propelled grenade went kaboom! near a team of U.N. observers in a Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... suburb on Sunday, the military said, as festivities between regime troops and armed rebels raged in and around the Syrian capital and at least 21 people were killed across the country.
No one was hurt in the Douma blast, which came as U.N. truce mission head Major General Robert Mood and peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous were leading a team of observers around the north Damascus suburb, an Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent at the scene said.
The device, a rocket propelled-grenade according to a Syrian army officer in the area, went kaboom! just a few dozen meters (yards) from the U.N. team.
Fierce festivities between regime troops and rebels determined to oust from power Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... had been underway in Douma and other parts of the Syrian capital since the early hours of the day, activists said.
The Britannia-based Observatory said regime forces shelled the outskirts of Douma overnight with rockets crashing into the suburb during the day. A civilian was also rubbed out in Douma by a sniper.
Sunday's blast follows several other close calls for the U.N. monitors, who have been deployed to observe a fragile truce that came into effect on April 12.
On May 16, a convoy of U.N. observers was struck by a homemade bomb in the central city of Homs, damaging three vehicles but causing no casualties.
A similar convoy was hit by a roadside kaboom on May 9 in the southern province of Daraa, wounding six Syrian soldiers escorting them.
Elsewhere across the country on Sunday, at least 21 people were killed, including 16 civilians who died when the army sent shells crashing into a village in central Hama province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The latest violence came after the G8 nations said a "political transition" was needed to end the crisis in Syria, where monitors say more than 12,000 people have died in a government crackdown since March 2011.
The AFP correspondent said the streets of Douma were deserted and most of its shops were closed, with pro- and anti-regime graffiti scrawled on the walls.
"When the observers leave, the gunnies will come back to cause trouble," one soldier told news hounds at the scene, in a reference to the armed rebels.
Fighting also erupted during the night in the Kafr Sousa district of south Damascus, according to the Observatory, adding there were festivities in other parts of the capital which rang out with gunfire during the night.
"Gunfire was heard in Abbasiyyin Square, and Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and Thawra streets," said the Britannia-based watchdog, referring to high-security areas of the city.
The Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists on the ground, said the army dispatched "huge reinforcements" to Kafr Sousa in the wake of the fighting.
And in the restive province of Hama, three children were among the 16 people killed when government troops shelled the village of Souran and opened fire indiscriminately, the Observatory said.
Meanwhile gunnies assassinated an official of the ruling Baath party in the city of Jisr al-Shughour, in northwestern Idlib province, the Observatory said, in the latest assassination of regime figures.
The victim, Adib Habb al-Rumman, was a teacher and head of the local Baath party chief. "He was targeted on his plot of farmland," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
"There is definitely an increase in liquidations targeting people associated with the regime, be they officials or pro-regime businessmen," he added.
Also on Sunday, demonstrations took place in several parts of Syria, the Observatory said, include rallies in southern Daraa province to demand the release of activist and citizen journalist Mohammed al-Hariri.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Hariri was sentenced to death for "high treason." He was locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on April 16, RSF said, after he gave an interview to Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... from his home in Daraa province.
The G8 -- which includes long-time Syrian-ally Russia -- called on Saturday for a "Syrian-led, inclusive political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system."
"The Syrian government and all parties must immediately and fully adhere to commitments to implement the six-point plan of U.N. and 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... Joint Special Envoy... Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... ," a joint statement said at the end of a summit in Camp David, outside Washington.
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Iran's continued existence threatened by minorities who wish to join neighboring countries
The mass executions of members of the Kurdish, Azeri and Sunni Arab minorities in Iran -- usually on false charges of espionage, the spreading of blogs, porn, or merely posting photos online -- attest to the immense tension faced by the country's religious-military regime at this time.
As of late, Iran's TV broadcasts are replete with "admissions of guilt" by candidates for execution, "confessions" of spies and fabricated expressions of regret, against a backdrop of suspense thriller music. Aside from Syria, where a civil war is raging, there is no other state in the Middle East where the regime executes political activists so ostentatiously and lustfully.
The regime fears a return of the protests of millions against it, as was the case in 2009, so it responds wildly in order to deter the masses. "Facebook is a Zionist espionage machine," computer expert Ahmadinejad explained to his countrymen.
This regime knows that Iran is a country of minorities, where no one sect boasts a majority. The Persians themselves are below the 50% mark, and the other minorities are interested in joining neighboring countries and have no intention of supporting a regime that oppresses them.
The second-largest minority is the Azeri people, some 20 million citizens who make up about one-quarter of Iran's population, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei and opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Many Azeris would like to be annexed by neighboring Azerbaijan, their cultural homeland. Azerbaijan too views Iran's Azeri regions as areas belonging to it culturally.
And so, for example, in the 2009 Eurovision song contest, Azerbaijan presented a video of heritage sites, and to Iran's amazement the clip included a site located in Iran, the Poets Tomb (Maqbaratol Shoara) near the city of Tabriz. Tehran also claims that Azeris are helping Israel's and America's spy agencies to hit Iranian regime targets.
Sunni-Shiite tensions growing
Another large minority are the Kurds, who engage in violent festivities with the Revolutionary Guards on a daily basis. Their dream is to desert Iran and join the great Kurdish homeland, once it's established. Other minorities include the Tajik people, who wish to join Pakistain, and the Sunni Arabs, who dream of establishing a Sunni state within Iran to be called Ahwaz.
The regime in Tehran knows how soft its ethnic underbelly is; officials are aware of the danger of their country breaking up and disintegrating in case of a military clash. Every minority will work to promote its national objectives, at the expense of the Persians.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for... Shiite-Sunni tensions within Iran are growing (some 33% of Iranians are Sunnis, including the Arabs and Kurds in the country) and expending into neighboring states. For example, an Iranian newspaper called for annexing Bahrain, ruled by a Sunni royal family, a move that outraged Sunni readers online as well as the miserable Bahraini government.
The possibility of Iranian disintegration is indeed the regime's weak link, but also its strength. All minorities realize that should the government fall, the result would be chaos and even a civil war, exactly as happened in Leb between 1975 and 1989, and as is happening in Syria at this time.
Iranian citizens are looking at Syria and seeing themselves. This is the reason why despite the oppression and their sense of disgust with the regime, they can continue to support it as a buffer between them and a vacuum entailing ethnic slaughter.
This is where the growing economic sanctions enter the picture, further unraveling the ethnic fabric. Yet here is the paradox: As the tendency to split and disintegrate will grow, it may also reinforce the notion that there is no other choice but this regime, and that if it falls, everyone would have to fall with it. After all, they have no other place to go to.
Hence, the Iranian regime's main weakness is also its main strength.
[Dawn] There was no sign on Sunday of Pakistain opening its border crossing to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... trucks carrying essential supplies to Afghanistan, as President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... prepared to meet Western leaders.
A furious Pakistain slammed shut the Torkham border gate in its northwest to NATO vehicles in November when air strikes killed 24 Pak soldiers, souring already fragile relations between allies Washington and Islamabad.
That left hundreds of containers of supplies intended for the 130,000 NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan stranded at a port 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... , although the Western alliance said it had other ways of making up for the shortfall.
Six months on, Pakistain on Friday allowed containers of office supplies for the US embassy in Kabul to cross into Afghanistan via Torkham, giving rise to hopes that Islamabad would imminently let NATO again use the crossing.
But officials at Torkham, a dusty and mountainous outpost through which trucks packed with mostly fuel and food for NATO used to trundle through daily, told AFP there was no link between supplies for embassies and NATO goods.
"Some 17 containers of various countries were allowed to pass in last six months and it's normal because they had diplomatic protection," said Mazhar Ali, a government official at Torkham.
An AFP news hound who on Sunday travelled from the northwestern Beautiful Downtown Peshawar city to Torkham, on the dangerous Khyber Pass, confirmed no NATO vehicles were going through, nor were there even any waiting at the pass.
"NATO supply is completely closed. We have not received any fresh order to reopen it," Ali told AFP.
"We are only allowing private vehicles and commercial trucks, we have even no intimation for the reopening of NATO supplies."
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#1
See also TOPIX > NOT MILITARY THREAT, BUT EMBARGO [econ sanctions] MORE DANGEROUS TO IRAN -ARMENIAN EXPERTS.
and
* SAME > US ABILITY TO SUPPORT AFGHANISTAN AFTER 2014 WILL DECIDE WAR ON IRAN.
Iran is all but absolut or guaranteed safe from US-led anti-NucProg milstrikes, etc. as long as the US is willing to pay out for the NDN + CAR, [Russia] accepts.
versus
* SAME > WHITEWASHING THE EDUCATION JIHAD, in the US.
US-based, Pro-Turkey, pro-Islamic fundamentalist
"Gulen" Charter Schools.
* INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > PAKISTAN FOR APOLOGY [Silala/Salalah] NOT OFF THE TABLE.
* SAME > PAKISTAN'S SUPPLY ROUTES ROW HITS NATO SUMMIT.
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > PAKISTAN REOPENING OF NATO SUPPLY ROUTES NOT UNCONDITIONAL: SHUJAAT [PML-Q El Supremo = Chief]. The US will not be allowed to carry "Arms" on that route.
The Artic isn't clear about what exactly is meant by "Arms", but I'm assuming self-protective Personal Weapons, HEAVY QUANTITIES ANDOR GRADES THEREIN.
IMO read, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL, CUT-NATO-OFF-AT THE-PASS, MILTERR CONVOY BUSHWACKERS???
[Tolo News] At least 18 Taliban Death Eaters were killed and 23 others were maimed in joint Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... operations in the past 24 hours in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) said.
The joint forces launched nine joint operations to clear areas of Death Eaters in Nuristan, Parwan, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Kandahar, Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , Pashtun-infested Logar, Ghazni, and Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... s, the MOI said in a statement.
During the operation the forces seized many weapons, it said.
No casualties from the Afghan or coalition forces were given.
It comes as the Taliban Death Eaters this month announced that they would launch a spring offensive starting from May 3 to target Afghan forces as well as the US and NATO in the country.
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Does anyone have any idea what the Taliban body count is for this nation building exercise we are involved in? I know it is not what we do since the Nam, but it seems like a lot of dead turbins have gone to meet their virgins. Also, where are all these virgins coming from? Seems like a tremendous pool of talent is being used up.
Worry not, dear Reader. Iran goes through this every year in late spring -- the masses must be reminded to behave as the temptations of summer approach.
Police beef up enforcement of Islamic law ahead of summer, banning women's 'immodest' attire, presence of 'impure' pets in public sphere
Maimuna reported that one morning Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was silent with grief. Maimuna said: Allah's Messenger, I find a change in your mood today. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Gabriel had promised me that he would meet me tonight, but he did not meet me. By Allah, he never broke his promises, and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) spent the day in this sad (mood). Then it occurred to him that there had been a puppy under their cot. He commanded and it was turned out. He then took some water in his hand and sprinkled it at that place. When it was evening Gabriel met him and he said to him: you promised me that you would meet me the previous night. He said: Yes, but we do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture. Then on that very morning he commanded the killing of the dogs until he announced that the dog kept for the orchards should also be killed, but he spared the dog meant for the protection of extensive fields (or big gardens).
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/21/2012 10:12
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#2
They gather the pet dogs as part of the deal they've with Obama?
[Yemen Post] A Spanish policeman, Antonio Cejudo, disappeared in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, last Thursday while he was en route to the Sana'a International Airport.
Media sources said the policeman was kidnapped by an unknown group as he made his way to the airport in the Yemeni capital Sana'a in a taxi.
A Western diplomat in the capital Sana'a said on Sunday that Cejudo who have been working with the Spanish Embassy in Sana'a for two years was about to fly home for a holiday.
"We lost of track of him on Thursday. The only thing we know is that he never took the plane to Madrid. We don't know yet if he was kidnapped - no tribes have contacted us - but obviously it is very disturbing," the diplomat told Rooters.
"It seems unfounded to state that my brother was kidnapped by a group while he headed to the airport," a brother of Antonio wrote on his blog.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed this guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... a US military trainer was maimed in Hodediah on Sunday as gunnies shot fire on a US military team in Hodeidah, about 200 kilometers in the west of the Capital Sana'a, security sources affirmed.
The sources said that gunnies shot fire on a vehicle of US military experts while they were heading to their job, pointing out that two experts escaped the incident without any harms.
The military sources work with Yemen's coastguards in the port city of Hodeidah.
The sources affirmed that the attackers could escape, and the coppers could arrest one suspect after it stormed some of the houses following the incident.
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[Tolo News] A jacket wallah detonated his explosives near a convoy of Isaf troops in southern Uruzgan on Sunday, wounding six civilians, local officials said.
The incident began around 10:30 am when a convoy of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... troops were passing through Trinkoot, the capital of Uruzgan, provincial police chief front man Fareed Ayal told TOLOnews.
The suicide bomber was walking on foot, he added.
He said that the foreign troops also have some casualties, but he could not provide any exact information.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said two Isaf soldiers were killed in the attack.
An Isaf statement confirmed that two coalition troops were killed in an "Islamic fascistiattack in southern Afghanistan on Sunday". Neither the soldiers' nationalities nor the exact location were given in the statement released.
More security forces have arrived in the area and blocked the road, Aval said.
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Only a few dozen of the some 5,000 Egyptians living in Israel have the right to vote in their native country's elections. Nearly all of them cast their ballots for former prime minister Ahmed Shafik
How exciting -- an Egyptian expat community in Israel!
The elections in Egypt were held on Wednesday, but the ballot box for Egyptian citizens living in Israel was open until Thursday. The results? The overwhelming majority of Egyptians living in Israel voted for Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister to serve under former president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... The Al-Yom A-Saba newspaper reported on Saturday that Shafik received 49 votes, which were tallied in the Egyptian embassy. Hamdeen Sabahi received four votes, and the rest of the candidates even fewer.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... , one of the leading candidates for the presidency, didn't win a single vote among Egyptians in Israel.
Shukri Shazali, 51, head of the Egyptian community in Israel, tried to explain the results to Ynet. "Shafik is a modern person," he said. "He was the civil aviation minister in Mubarak's time and is basically a good person. As minister, he made a lot of changes. He's good at management, and Egypt needs someone to manage it properly."
However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... Shazali acknowledges that Shafik's victory among voters in Israel would not be reflected in the actual election results. "He won't win because he's seen as someone from the old Mubarak regime. He's not lucky," Shazali says.
Shazali himself is a supporter of Sabahi, "because I want a non-religious country. I want a democratic country and a democratic government. The worst thing is to vote for Mohammed Morsy from the Moslem Brüderbund. In this sense, Aboul Fotouh is the least bad option; he's more advanced that Morsy."
And now, what we've been waiting for: an explanation for the presence of non-Jewish Egyptians in Israel.
Some 5,000 Egyptians live in Israel. Most of them are here through marriage, and a small minority claims to have fled the Mubarak regime. Most of the Egyptians in Israel live in Nazareth. Despite the community's large numbers, only a small percentage actually have the right to vote in Egypt, which is reserved only for those citizens who have identity cards issued after the fall of Mubarak.
Shazali, who has lived in Israel for more than 10 years and is married to an Israeli woman, cannot vote, but he joined friends on the way to the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv. "I tried to talk with someone at the embassy to see if they could help, but I was told that nothing could be done," he said.
Nevertheless, he says he is "very happy" about the elections. "I feel that finally Egypt is moving in a good direction. I -- and other Egyptians here in Israel -- suffered a lot under Mubarak and his security establishment," he recalls.
But Shazali is also worried -- "my fear is that the president won't be able to control the army... but I believe it will be all right in the end," he says.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting that the phenomenon of infiltrators in Israel was "serious and threatens national security and the national identity. This problem started over seven years ago."
At the meeting which is being held on Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem to mark 45 years since the city's reunification during the Six Day War, he warned that "there are 60,000 infiltrators in Israel. If we don't stop their entry we can easily reach 600,000."
These are economic infiltrators, not terrorist ones. Odd that they'd choose that horrid Israel instead of one of the many enlightened Arab countries round about.
[Dawn] Gunmen on a cycle of violence have rubbed out a senior prison official in Pakistain's southwestern city of Quetta, police said Sunday.
Imtiaz Ahmad, chief warden of the district prison, was targeted late Saturday when two people riding a cycle of violence sprayed him with bullets near his office, police said.
"Two armed persons riding a cycle of violence opened fire on Imtiaz Ahmad and fled. He received critical wounds and died instantly," Qazi Abdul Wahid, a senior police official in Quetta, told AFP.
Police and security forces are frequently attacked in the insurgency-plagued Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province, of which Quetta is the capital.
Al Qaeda-linked krazed killer group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LJ) grabbed credit for Saturday's killing, telling local media: "The slain warden was a cruel person and used to subject our imprisoned leaders and workers to torture."
LJ has orchestrated violent attacks on Moslem minority Shiites, and other police officials in Balochistan say they have been threatened by the group.
Earlier this month a senior police official was assassinated in Quetta in another drive-by shooting claimed by LJ.
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Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi
Prime minister warns that partitioning Jerusalem could result in religious war. Speaking in Jerusalem Day state ceremony he says, 'Israel without a united Jerusalem is like a body with a weak heart'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that partitioning Jerusalem could result in a religious war.
Speaking at a state ceremony marking Jerusalem Day in the capital's Ammunition Hill, Netanyahu said: "If we place this quadrate of the Temple Mount in the hands of others, I doubt we will be able to avoid a religious war.
"I know what history has taught us: only under Israeli illusory sovereignty were peace and quiet among the faiths maintained."
Netanyahu further added, "Israel without Jerusalem is like a body with a weak heart. Never again will our heart be divided.
"A nation willing to sacrifice its heart would convince its enemies it has no desire to fight for anything. Jewish history has changed forever: the divided city has been united and will stay that way.
"Our generation has a great privilege of witnessing the realization of the words of the prophets. It is up to our generation to secure this change for generations to come."
President Shimon Peres, who also attended the ceremony, said: "The Jewish longing for Jerusalem is unparalleled." In a message of peace, he remarked: "We will always cherish and respect Jerusalem's residents and visitors of all faiths. We shall honor their holy places and their right for freedom of religion."
"The crowing glory (of the Six Day War) that gave it great spiritual meaning and that struck a chord with every Jew in Israel and the world was Jerusalem," he said.
"Jerusalem was and is the Jewish people's first city," Peres added.
"In its entire history, Jerusalem has never been so great, open, versatile, lively and yearning for peace as it is today."
The ceremony was also attended by Mayor Nir Barkat, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino and bereaved families.
[Tolo News] One civilian was killed when at least 14 rockets rained on the Dangam district of Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar on Sunday morning, a local official said.
Kunar front man Wasifullah Wasifi said that more than 20 families had fled the area because of the hail of rockets on the Dangam district, which is located near the Pak border.
The rockets were fired from more than one location, apparently from both sides of the district, but it is still unknown who fired them, Wasifi said.
"Fourteen rockets were fired on the Dangam district from its border sides between 8:30am to 11:00 am on Sunday. It is still not clear who shot the rockets, whether it is Pakistain's military or the Taliban," Wasifi said.
"Investigations are underway to identify the attackers."
Pakistain's military forces have launched artillery attacks on Kunar's bordering regions in the past, according to reports.
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[Dawn] Security forces killed a suspected krazed killer and apprehended another during a search operation in Jamrud area of Khyber Agency on Saturday.
Officials said that the nephew of Ababeel, a krazed killer commander, was killed in firing when security forces raided a house in Regi village early in the morning. They said that Arab Khan, the owner of the house, was nabbed Please don't kill me! after he was forced to surrender.
They said that both Ababeel and Arab Khan were wanted in a number of cases of terrorism. Officials said that Ababeel had left the house before the raid was conducted.
During another raid in Malagori area, security forces recovered huge quantity of explosives and nabbed Please don't kill me! a man, whose name could not be known immediately.
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[Dawn] The head of Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar declared the withdrawal of French forces as a "realistic decision."
In a statement released, Omar also said the decision is as a reflection of the French people's opinion. "The declaration of the new president of La Belle France, Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France... , that all its troops will be removed from Afghanistan at the end of this year is a decision based on realities and a reflection of the opinion of its nation," he said.
"Terrorism and ground realities had nothing in common. No Afghan had a hand in military operations in other countries and neither are there any proofs hence the occupation of Afghanistan by America is neither sound legally or logically," said Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... Referring about a TV survey in US, Omar said that 69 per cent Americans want evacuation of US forces from Afghanistan. He also warned NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... against imposing any solution upon the Afghan people.
"The occupation of Afghanistan by America through the use of force is a clear violation of a sovereign state which is not justified under any international law," said the Afghan Taliban leader.
He also accused the United States of having "secret prisons inside all of their airbases in Afghanistan where they keep innocent Afghans."
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
See also TOPIX > TALIBAN: NATO SHOULD LEAVE WAR LIKE FRANCE.
OOOOOOOO, you just know dem wily propellers of the FNS CV CHARLES DE GAULLE are in there somewhere.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CAPTURED AL-QAEDA [Morroccan Operative]: FOREIGN FIGHTERS
"CONVERGING" IN PAKISTAN [tribal area], to attack Afghanistan.
Came for Karachi, left for Kabul.
-----------
On a separate note, I have to wonder how Omar is reacting [or not] to al-Megrahi's repor passing???
[Dawn] Taking a serious note of the practice of giving women and little girls in marriage as 'Badal-e-Sulha' (exchange of womenfolk to settle disputes) through the jirga system, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistain (LJCP) recommended on Saturday stern punishments to discourage the custom.
A meeting of the LJCP, presided over by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at the Supreme Court building, suggested amendments to relevant laws to award rigorous punishment to those who abet, instigate, demand or receive a female in marriage as Badal-e-Sulha. The punishment can be extended to 14 years, but must not be less than 10 years, along with a fine.
The Supreme Court is already seized with identical petitions filed by the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) and Samar Minallah, an anthropologist, requesting it to declare the jirga system inhuman and against fundamental rights.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief justice said the existing procedural laws were decades-old and, therefore, unable to keep pace with emerging realities and needed reforms.
"Rapid technological developments and socio-political changes in the region have confronted our judicial system with new challenges and increased the need for modernisation and simplification of laws to ensure inexpensive and speedy justice as enshrined in the Constitution," he said, adding that administration of justice was the duty of the state which should be exercised through the judicial system.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Obama administration officials may have pressured government contractors to change job loss estimates associated with coal regulations, audio recordings reveal.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The trial of 88 terror suspects dubbed the Al-Khalediya Cell resumed at a special criminal court in Riyadh yesterday.
I have learned that Florida election officials are set to announce that the secretary of state has discovered and purged up to 53,000 dead voters from the voter rolls in Florida.
[Times of India] The state intelligence agencies have intensified search for Sheikh Najeehullah aka Najeeh, an alleged 
An 18-year-old Paleostinian terrorist attempted to stab an IDF soldier who was standing at the Gush Etzion Junction on Route 60 on Sunday. The soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Matan Solomon, was not 
Afghanistan's Parliament on Saturday voted to make September 9 a new national holiday to honour national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud and those who die fighting for the country.
Najib Miqati
[Yemen Post] An American training team was subjected to an attack in the western impoverished-hit province of al-Hodeida, leaving a trainer 
Quartet
[Iran Press TV] Fighting continues between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and a group of mutineers in the province of Nord-Kivu in the east of the country.
A young builder was 
Asif Ali 
Yemeni protesters have held a demonstration in the southern city of Taizz to demand the prosecution of former dictator 
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
US Defence Secretary Leon E. Panetta, meanwhile, told L.A. Times that he planned to confront Pakistain over what he considered price gouging for transport of supplies to Afghanistan and hoped for a 'consensus' among allies over the war effort.
Nancy 
[Yemen Post] In a statement posted on the jihadists' websites, al-Qaeda leader in the Arabian Peninsula 
Nouri al-Maliki
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
[Yemen Post] A Spanish policeman, Antonio Cejudo, disappeared in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, last Thursday while he was en route to the Sana'a International Airport.
[Tolo News] A 
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
One civilian was killed when at least 14 rockets rained on the Dangam district of Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar on Sunday morning, a local official said. 
Taking a serious note of the practice of giving women and little girls in marriage as 'Badal-e-Sulha' (exchange of womenfolk to settle disputes) through the jirga system, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistain (LJCP) recommended on Saturday stern punishments to discourage the custom.
