As much as I'd like to help the average, ordinary people of Afghanistan, I have my limits, and Karzai is seriously testing them. Perhaps it's time for the north and west of that country to secede and let the Pashtuns sink on their own.
President Karzai of Afghanistan provoked international outrage yesterday with draconian Taleban-era restrictions on women and laws that explicitly sanction marital rape.
A leaked copy of the laws obtained by The Times details new strictures for Afghanistan's Shia minority. Women are banned from leaving the home without permission. A wife has the absolute duty to provide sexual services to her husband, and child marriage is legalised.
Details of the legislation emerged as President Obama and other world leaders wrapped up the G20 summit to fly to a Nato summit marking 60 years of the alliance. Mr Obama is pushing for an increase in Nato troop numbers in Afghanistan, but many allies have already rebuffed his calls. The new laws may provide an excuse for remaining waverers to join them.
Canada, which is the third largest contributor of forces to the Nato mission in Afghanistan, has already warned that it may rethink its troop contribution if the law was not repealed.
Opponents of the Afghan President accused him of selling out basic human rights for women in return for the votes of hardline Shia conservatives for the presidential election in August. Although the Shia minority, which comprises 20 per cent of the population, is considered religiously moderate, their political leaders are conservative. Community leaders are relied on to deliver their people's votes and women are presumed to vote in accordance with their husband.
International reaction has been slowed by secrecy surrounding the law, which was passed without a formal debate and signed off by President Karzai this week, but is yet to be made law.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, became aware of it only when it was raised by her Finnish counterpart at the Afghanistan conference in The Hague on Wednesday. She is said to have raised the issue with him but without the full text President Karzai was spared her opprobrium.
Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, said he was troubled by the law and would lobby other leaders to support him in seeking to have it repealed. "This is antithetical to our mission in Afghanistan," he said. Stockwell Day, the Canadian Trade Minister, who is chairman of the Cabinet committee on Afghanistan, warned that if Kabul did not back down Canadian support for the Government could be imperilled. "If there is any wavering on this point, this will create serious difficulties, serious problems for the Government of Canada," he told reporters in Ottawa.
Canada has 2,800 troops fighting in southern Afghanistan and has suffered the highest relative number of casualties of any contingent with 116 of its soldiers dead. Britain, with 8,000 troops, has lost 152 in Afghanistan.
Mike Gapes, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, called the law deplorable. "We did not go into Afghanistan to remove the Taleban only to have Taleban-style policies reimplemented by the Government," he said. "But this raises big question marks about the nature of the Afghan Government."
The Afghan Government refused to comment until Saturday, which is after the Nato summit. Speaking yesterday both Mrs Clinton and General James Jones, Mr Obama's national security adviser, denied that they had given up on getting more Nato soldiers for the fight against a Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan.
The legislation is based on the Shia family code first brought before Parliament two years ago, to the horror of women legislators who make up more than a quarter of the assembly. Under the same constitution, each religious group is to have its own family law. Opponents said that it contravenes the founding charter in many ways -- not least Article 22, which enshrines equality of the sexes before the law.
One of the most controversial articles stipulates that the wife "is bound to preen for her husband as and when he desires".
Later it explicitly sanctions marital rape. "As long as the husband is not travelling, he has the right to have sexual intercourse with his wife every fourth night,"
Article 132 says. "Unless the wife is ill or has any kind of illness that intercourse could aggravate, the wife is bound to give a positive response to the sexual desires of her husband."
How old were the 'men' who wrote this?
Article 133 reintroduces the Taleban restrictions on women's movements outside their homes, stating: "A wife cannot leave the house without the permission of the husband" unless in a medical or other emergency.
Article 27 endorses child marriage with girls legally able to marry once they begin to menstruate.
Sayed Hossain Alemi Balkhi, a Shia lawmaker involved in drafting the law, defended the legislation, saying that it gives more rights to women than even Britain or the US does.
#4
When the Pashtuns Taliban were in control of the country they applied islamic law in such a way as to virtually enslave the non-Pashtun less than compliant northern parts of the country and enrich themselves.
After 9/11, we came in, kicked butt, and kicked the Taliban out into the Pashtun parts of Pakistan.
Then we went and built a new government in Afghanistan, out of whatever Pashtuns we could round up.
#5
Important rule for future endeavors of this kind. Every native institution should be abolished and replaced with a working western equivalent. This doesn't mean just American, but western.
Every damn part of their damned country was utterly dysfunctional, archaic, stupid and vicious.
They needed a rebuild, and we gave them bubble gum and duct tape to try and salvage their unsafe wreck.
Why? They might say "out of respect of their culture". But that is just stupid. Their culture has failed. Utterly.
[ADN Kronos] A new law in Afghanistan seriously curtailing women's rights, even explicitly permitting marital rape, is a "huge step in the wrong direction," the United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday, calling for its repeal.
Not yet published, the law, which was passed by the two houses of Afghanistan's parliament before being reportedly signed by president Hamid Karzai earlier this month, regulates the personal status of the country's minority Shia community members, including relations between men and women, divorce and property rights.
It denies Afghan Shia women the right to leave their homes except for 'legitimate' purposes; forbids them from working or receiving education without their husbands' express permission; weakens mothers' rights in the event of a divorce; and makes it impossible for wives to inherit houses and land from their husbands, even if husbands can inherit property from their wives.
"This is another clear indication that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is getting worse, not better," said Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Respect for women's rights -- and human rights in general -- is of paramount importance to Afghanistan's future security and development."
That such a law has been passed in 2009 targeting women in this manner is "extraordinary, reprehensible and reminiscent of the decrees made by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s," she stressed.
Afghanistan's Shia community, composed mainly of the Hazara minority, comprises some 10 per cent of the country's total population, and the new law has the strong support of the Hazaras' male leadership, even though it has been vigorously opposed by others in the group as well as Afghan human rights campaigners.
There are concerns that the law will set precedents adversely affecting all Afghan women.
In addition to women's rights, there have been other setbacks to the country that have been undermining efforts to consolidate the rule of law in Afghanistan, such as both freedom of expression by the media and civil society activists being increasingly threatened, Pillay said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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So the UN human rights dept has finally had their morning coffee. Of course, they'll go right back to sleep after making their pronouncements.
They've been sleeping through the attacks on girls schools for years.
Q ship?
Drink!
MOGADISHU (AFP) At least one Somali pirate was killed and two others wounded after a naval vessel patrolling the Indian Ocean fired on their boat and destroyed their mother ship, witnesses said Thursday. Local fishermen in the pirate den of Harardhere in northern Somalia said the incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, but the naval vessel was unknown. Keep it that way. A pirate killing ghost ship. That'll spook em...
"One pirate died and three others were injured after they approached a navy ship. They were given warning signals but they ignored and kept approaching and their mother boat was destroyed," local fisherman Abdullahi Isa Mohamed told AFP. Other residents who confirmed the incident said the men were on board small boats hunting for ships to attack. Should we stop, Mahmoud?
Nah. What can they... But the US Navy Fifth Fleet command and the European naval mission off the pirate-infested Somali coast said they had no information regarding the sinking of a pirate mother ship. Ummmmmmm...nope. Must've been that Pirate Killing Ghost Ship we've been hearing about...
[Maghrebia] Four repentant leaders of Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) issued a fresh appeal to Islamist militants to surrender under the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation. The statement joins a series of appeals coming to light in the run up to the April 9th presidential elections.
The call, appearing in Algerian newspapers on Wednesday (April 1st), is signed by four former leaders of the GSPC/al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb who have already sought amnesty: Abu Omar Abdelbari, a former communications cell official, Abu Zakaria, former leader of the medical division, Moussaab Abu Daoud, former leader of Region 9 (Sahara), and Abu Amar Hadhifa El Maréchal, former leader of Region 5 (east).
Inspired by recent calls from religious leaders and former GSPC commander Hassan Hattab, the four leaders came forward to ask their former comrades in arms to renounce armed struggle and benefit from the reconciliation programme.
"Days, months and years have gone by, and each of us is waiting for the day when this tragedy can come to an end," their statement reads. "The era of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is over."
"We were your comrades-in-arms in the past, and your leaders... We ask you to rejoin us and return to your lives among your families, who are waiting for you. You will also have the support of the faithful. They will be the first to greet you on your return."
"How can you stay in the mountains, trying to change what you cannot change?" The four say in the statement. "How can you contradict the ulemas, who are the heirs of the prophets?"
A number of terrorists have already surrendered as a result of the building pressure.
On March 31st, three armed Islamists surrendered to security forces in Benchoud, 90km east of Algiers. They were working within the Al Ansar military wing, whose former leader Ali Ben Touati (aka Abou Tamim) surrendered in Tizi Ouzou in January.
Madani Mezrag, the former leader of the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), the armed wing of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), said on Wednesday in the Echourouk forum that the GSPC and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are in fact two manifestations of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which adopted the doctrine of takfir [declaring Muslims unbelievers].
Mezrag also criticised al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri for calling on terrorists to "liberate" Algeria just as the country returned to stability.
Armed activity is not the best means to achieve political objectives, he continued. "We shall never agree to the State being broken and we are not working to that end."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A Dhaka court adjourned the hearing of the August 21 grenade attack case till April 7, as 14 Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji) men including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan were not produced before it yesterday.
Judge Mohammad Masdar Hossain of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 passed the order after prosecution lawyers told the court about non-production of the accused. Nevertheless, the lawyers did not mention any reason behind it.
The grenade attack was carried out on an Awami League (AL) rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. In the attack, 23 people including Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman, were killed and a large number of people were injured.
Meanwhile, 23 prosecution witnesses had given their statements before the court and they were cross-examined by defence lawyers.
The prime accused of this case, former deputy minister and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, Mufti Hannan and 12 others, are now in jail custody. Eight others, including Pintu's younger brother Maulana Tajuddin have been absconding since the cases were filed.
On June 11 last year, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) pressed charges against Pintu, Hannan and 20 others for carrying out the grenade attacks on the rally.
This article starring:
Abdus Salam Pintu
Mufti Hannan
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The government will bring the country's registered, non-registered NGOs and other volunteer organisations under one authority to monitor them and prevent their illegal operations, including patronisation of militancy. Sounds like one-stop shopping in a country where bribery is a part of the culture.
A single high-powered authority comprised of representatives from the social welfare ministry, foreign ministry, home ministry, Bangladesh Bank, Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms and the NGO Bureau will be formed for this purpose. I'd suggest -- though nobody listens to me because I'm an old crank -- that they hire two Canucks, a couple Hungarians, and three guys from Tonga, pay them a decent salary, and give them a non-renewable contract for five years. Have each of them submit a statement of net worth at the start of the contract, each of them submit a statement of net worth at the end of the contract, and shoot any of them whose net worth or that of their wives and/or children has grown by more than the amount of their salaries and allowances plus an agreed upon up-front percentage. Don't hire any natives, don't hire anyone from a society with a tradition of official brigandage, and don't hire anyone with connections within the country.
A proposal will be soon prepared and placed before the cabinet for its consideration, sources in the social welfare ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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I too have a plan for streamlining NGO---shoot the 10 people on the top of each.
[Iran Press TV Latest] President Hugo Chavez has expressed Venezuela's readiness to accept prisoners held at the Guantanamo bay detention center in Cuba.
The Venezuelan leader said on Wednesday that Caracas "would have no problems in receiving" the detainees -- whom the US calls terror suspects -- from the notorious US prison.
"We would have no problems in taking human beings," Chavez told Al-Jazeera at a summit of Latin American and Arab countries in the Qatari capital of Doha.
US President Barack Obama has ordered the closure of the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp within one year.
Hundreds of prisoners are still in US custody, most of them without a charge.
Chavez expressed hope that Obama would release all Guantanamo prisoners and "return Guantanamo Bay to Cuba and do away with that miserable prison".
The Venezuelan leader, meanwhile, said he was hopeful that Obama would yield to the requests of his people and strive to become the first "democratic" US president but added, "I don't have much hope."
Presidents Chavez and Obama are to attend a summit of the Americas set to be held in Trinidad and Tobago later this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#5
I'm thinking Gitmo should be the first destination for Somali "refugees". Then Mexicans caught by ICE. Won't they be surprised to learn they are being resettled/deported to Hugoland.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2009 13:46 Comments ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso suggested Thursday that a rocket which North Korea is planning to launch will ŽŽfly over JapanŽŽ on Saturday. Aso made the remark to reporters in London concerning the rocket, which Pyongyang claims is to put a satellite into orbit. Japan and some other countries see it as a cover for a ballistic missile test.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder what the satellite's function will be.
[Kyodo: Korea] U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed Thursday to seek a tough global response to a planned rocket launch by North Korea and to coordinate closely in dealing with the matter, South Korean officials said. During bilateral talks in London, the two presidents ŽŽconcurred that the international community would need to adopt a stern and united response if the North launches a long-range rocket,ŽŽ SeoulŽs presidential office said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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agreed Thursday to seek a tough global response
#8
"Unified world response ....international community" > hard to argue with NORTH KOREA's = KIMMIE'S GEO-STRATEGIC LOGIC, i.e. iff the US-World didn't stop IRAN why should they stop North Korea???
[Bangla Daily Star] North KoreaŽs military threatened yesterday to attack ŽŽmajor targetsŽŽ in Japan if Tokyo tries to shoot down a satellite it intends to launch as soon as this weekend.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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No. But we know they take days to setup, though he pulled off some hidden launches of smaller missiles a couple years back.
Worst case sequence of events could be:
1. NK shoots Dong towards Japan and it actually flies straight.
2. Japan shoots it down.
3. NK seethes and preps for more shots.
4. Japan destroys rockets on launch pad by air.
5. All hell breaks loose.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/03/2009 14:24 Comments ||
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#10
Works for me, JAB.
I'll order more popcorn. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/03/2009 15:03 Comments ||
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#11
suspect the US military pretty much killed off that gene line 64 years ago. Not there to wake up anymore.
Oh it is still there, just dormant. They focus it into business and other pursuits.
Their films have been becoming more and violent and more... um... western. Less defense and "woe is us for doing this" to more attack and kill 'em all and ask questions later. I suspect we will see Japan drop the pacifist angle in a decade or two.
#12
...so we wish. However, that nasty little part about while the Germans admit their 'error' of behavior and have had generations handed the record, the Japanese have been very evasive about the 'truth' of WWII activities. From the moment the Japanese accept surrender, their now declassified diplomatic communications show a full blown effort to obscure their actions and [a very early example] play the victim card with the atomic bombs. They are still a very closed and racist society with the veneer of high tech cuteness to mask it all. It wouldn't take that much to return to the 'old ways', though I hope that its towards the ideal rather than the reality of what it really was.
#13
To be clear, I am not hoping for a war to occur as long as we have people there. We should have been able to work with SK and China to bring this awful regime down as softly as possible, but they seem unconcerned about the mass starvation, torture and nuclear saber rattling as long as they are getting rich. Our current president now shares their views and seems to believe that NK is acting out because of how we treat them, not because they are evil and crazy.
But I think the scenario I outlined is plausible and agree with other commentors that Japan will become less pacifist in the near future. It is not completely a bad thing. Their government has a duty to prepare for the defense of their nation and that needs to involve some sort of offensive capability as well as ABM, ASW, etc.
#14
WORLD MILITARY FORUM > USA COVERTLY SUPPORTS SOVEREIGNTY IN THE CHINA SEAS FOR JAPAN, PHILIPPINES, VIETNAM, MALAYSIA, AND TWO KOREAS AGZ CHINA. US DESIRES TO BREAK CHINA'S PAN/EAST-ASIA CONTAINMENT AND DOMINATION STRATEGY TO PREVENT THE RISE OF A POWERFUL CHINA???
Also on WMF > [OTOH] CHINESE GENERAL: THE STATUS OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA MUST NEVER CHANGE. THE KOREAS ARE A VITAL "FACE OF CHINA" IN ASIA-PACIFIC. CHINA, RUSSIA DO NOT WISH TO SEE A US-CONTROLLED UNIFIED KOREAN PENINSULA; + CHINA ONLY HAS A POWERFUL LAND ARMY, AND NOT YET A STRONG NAVY OR AIR FORCES. THE CHINESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER, IMPROVED LONG-RANGE BALLISTIC AND SUBMARINE MISSLES, AND SPACE BOMBERS ARE A STRATEGIC PRIORITY FOR CHINA.
#15
"The status of the Korean Peninsulas must never change" > As per the above, METHINKS IT SHOWS ONCE AGAIN WHY TH DPRK = NORTH KOREA WOULD WANT NUCLEAR WEAPONS. The KOREAN PEOPLES INCLUD NORTH KOREA recognize that iff "GREAT POWER" WARFARE DOESN'T WIPE OUT NORTH KOREA + TWO KOREAS IN GENERAL, LOCAL STARVATION = PERMANENT ECON MORASS + NORTH KOREA'S LACK OF CONTROL OER ITS OWN STATE DESTINY VEE CHINA + WORLD POWERS WILL.
E.G.for NOKORS, WAFF/TOPIX > MULLEN: US MUST PREVENT IMPLOSION OF NUCLEAR-ARMED PAKISTAN, as potentially controled by Radical Islamists-MilTerrs.
A former Navy sailor faces sentencing in Connecticut for leaking details about ship movements. Prosecutors want Hassan Abu-Jihaad of Phoenix to get the maximum 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Friday in federal court in New Haven. Prosecutors label him a traitor who was trying to help foreign terrorists replicate the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors. Abu-Jihaads attorneys had not filed sentencing papers as of Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz last month overturned last years conviction of Abu-Jihaad on a charge of providing material support to terrorists, citing the language of the law. He upheld his conviction for disclosing classified national defense information.
A video showing a teenage girl being flogged by Taliban fighters has emerged from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, offering a shocking glimpse of militant brutality in the once-peaceful district, and a sign of Taliban influence spreading deeper into the country.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/03/2009 08:19 ||
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"She came out of her house with another guy who was not her husband, so we must punish her."
Her brother was one holding her down, thus redeeming his family 'honor'.
One suspects these men' need to wear loose clothing to conceal how excited these floggings get them.
"This video is being widely circulated because the Taliban want people to see it. They want to give the message that this is taking place after the peace deal because this is something they ideologically believe in,"
#5
Nothing new here. This isn't because of more or less radicalism, sunspots or the price of tea. This is what Muslims do, and have been doing for 1300 years. Welcome to the religion of submission. Hope you like it.
Depends on what tourists and how you market. Ya got your kiddie pr(0)n tourist markets some places, your same sox pr(0)n tourist markets. Swat could solicit the swatting - er, beating - pr(0)n tourists.
Usha Pandita, 45, feels tired even after the smallest of chores. But that's not unusual for her. She suffers from Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID).. For her, it all began with abdominal pain, which she initially disregarded as routine until it steadily increased. Usha then started to notice a heavy discharge and the feeling of being perpetually run down. That was when she visited the doctor. Tests confirmed she was suffering from PID - the inflammation of the organs in the pelvic region because of infection. It is during menstruation particularly that the uterus becomes more susceptible to this condition caused by unhygienic conditions.
Usha is one of the 10,000 residents of the Purkhoo migrant camp, one of the several camps set up on the outskirts of Jammu for the Kashmiri Pandit community forced to flee the Kashmir Valley when militancy gained ground in the 1990s. From Kupwara, Usha and her family made their way to Purkhoo, which they have called home since 1990. Years have gone by and even militancy is on the wane, yet time seems to have stood still for the inhabitants of the camps. Living in a one-room pigeon hole with a family of four can be trying in itself but the lack of sanitation has only added to the woes. For women, in particular, it is horrifying.
The Purkhoo camp has four phases and each phase has around 300 to 500 rooms. There are 10 toilets each for men and women. So there is one toilet per 150 men/women. The water supply lasts only an hour each day. Every time Usha, who lives in Phase I, goes to the toilet, she walks about 150 metres. What's more, she has to carry her wash water along. But there is only that much water she can carry. On numerous occasions the water is found insufficient to keep both herself and her surroundings clean. It is because of these abysmal facilities that she ended up with PID.
Veena Pandita, 40, also lives in the same deplorable environs of Purkhoo. She too has acute PID. Dr Indu Kaul, a well-known Jammu-based gynecologist treating these women, explains that the symptoms for PID include abdominal pain accompanied by heavy discharge and backache. She finds that in the case of women like Usha and Veena, PID continues for years. Usha, for instance, has been suffering from it for the last four years. The medicines don't really help, as the toilet she visits roughly four times a day continues to be poorly equipped.
Unfortunately, even the medication includes heavy doses of antibiotics, the intake of which has major side effects. When PID is deep rooted then surgery is usually the final recourse. Usha has been recommended surgery but her financial condition doesn't permit the procedure. "We still have four 'kanals' (one kanal equals 605 sq. yards) left in Kupwara. We had our own 'chashm' (well) there," she recalls wistfully. She adds, "I did not have to go to a toilet that was used by hundreds of others there."
Purkhoo's water supply, too, is contaminated. Residents complain that they have to replace their utensils every few months as they get coated with a white sediment. The pipes leak at multiple locations and so germs and dirt merge with the water. Near the toilets at Phase I, there is a water hole from which people draw out water to flush. But not only is the water filthy, it is even difficult to draw it out, especially when there is a long line of people waiting for their turn to use the toilet. Although help has been hired to clean the facilities once every two days, because of insufficient water and the sheer number of users, it is impossible to maintain a basic level of hygiene. Moreover, there is no electricity in the toilets, so going after dark is another hazard, especially for the women.
That's why the maximum number of cases of PID in the city come from these camps. In fact, according to Dr Kaul, while the national average of PID is six to eight per cent, the cases reported from the camps can be 15 to 20 per cent, which is extremely high. The most affected age groups are the adolescents and those above 35 years. In adolescents, chronic PID can lead to a loss of fertility, so the increasing trend is cause for alarm.
Sarla Kaul, 28, who lives in the Mishriwalla camp, a kilometer from Purkhoo, suffers from Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). The sanitation situation at Mishriwalla is worse than at Purkhoo as toilets for both men and women are common here and no one comes to clean them. Many toilets are simply holes in the ground. Sarla has UTI, caused by poor hygiene and unsanitary conditions that make her vulnerable to other infections too. Lately, she has been suffering from menstrual dysfunction, with heavy blood loss and pain around her abdominal area.
Expectant women are particularly vulnerable to UTI, as pregnancy causes hormonal changes that lead to the relaxation of the urethra, which if exposed to poor sanitary conditions is quick to contract infection. UTI leads to anemia, itching and swelling, which could eventually endanger the life of the child. It also often retards the growth of the fetus and results in stunted babies or those with low birth weight. That was the case of the baby Rajni Raina, who is in her mid-twenties and lives in Purkhoo Camp's Phase II, gave birth too.. Not surprisingly, Rajni had chronic UTI during her pregnancy. Once again, Dr Kaul points out that while the national average of UTI is about 10 to 15 per cent, it is about 20 to 30 per cent in these camps.
Besides this there are other water-borne diseases prevalent here. Shetu Pandita, 17, of Purkhoo, has been ailing from a recurring hepatitis for the last five years. As has Puneet Bhatt, 16, of Mishriwalla - since he was 10, in fact. According to the World Health Organization, 80 per cent of such cases are caused by lack of safe water and sanitation. Five of the 10 top diseases of children are also related to water and sanitation. According to Dr K.L. Chowdhury, of Jammu, Hepatitis A and E are common in the camps. Again, in pregnant women, Hepatitis is particularly dangerous as it can put the lives of both the mother and child at risk.
The Third South Asian Conference on Sanitation held in New Delhi recently called for according priority to sanitation and reiterated that sanitation and safe drinking water are basic rights. Such declarations need to be translated into a reality if life is to improve for women like Usha and Veena, who are rendered without proper homes because of the politics of division and hate.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/03/2009 06:39 ||
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A rare report on the plight of Kashmir's Hindus, ethnically cleaned from the valley.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/03/2009 6:43 Comments ||
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[Geo News] The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani said on Thursday that the provincial government was committed to engaging nationalists so as to address their problems through a dialogue process. Talking to journalists in his chamber after Balochistan Assembly session, the chief minister said the reinstatement of Shahbaz Sharif government in Punjab helped resolve the political imbroglio and remove atmosphere of uncertainty. He directed the concerned officials of all law enforcement agencies to put the security on high alert and ensure protection to life and property of the people across the province. Raisani said that a delegation of the United Nations met him today and discussed steps the provincial government had taken for safe recovery of abducted UNHCR official, John Solecki. Balochistan CM said that Pakistan Steel Mills has not been procuring Balochistan's raw iron and coal since long and he intends to talk to President Asif Ali Zardari in this regard soon. Raisani said relief package worth Rs. 2.3 billion has so far been distributed among Balochistan earthquake affectees.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] Religious extremists operating along the Pakistan-Afghan border pose a direct threat to Pakistan's existence, the commander of US forces in the region, David Petraeus, has warned Good call, Dave.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on US president Barack Obama's new strategy to defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Petraeus on Wednesday also vowed to take the fight to insurgents in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Good idea. First break the problem into manageable parts: north and south, with north getting lotsa development aid, south getting lotsa heavy ordnance. Then get some pretty murderous proxies going within Pakistain, the while piously denying any involvement.
He did not explain how he planned to do so. He may still be figuring it, or he may have it all figured already and not want to tell the enemy what he's gonna do, or he may have part of it figured and he's still filling in the remaining blanks but still doesn't want to discuss it with the enemy.
However, Obama said last week that the United States would pursue 'high-value' terrorist targets inside Pakistan but would consult Islamabad before doing so. What if they're in Islamabad? Can we discuss it after we kill them?
Also last week, Obama's national security adviser James Jones indicated that the US would continue drone attacks inside Pakistan as they had proven 'effective' against the militants. Despite the bitching, moaning, and claims of ineffectiveness of the Paks.
Taliban and Al-Qaeda groups based in the border area were "an ever more serious threat to Pakistan's very existence," Petraeus told the Senate panel. And a horse has four feet.
The Pakistani military, he said, had stepped up operations against the militants but more action was needed. The Pak military has revealed itself pretty much inept when it comes to anything more complicated that running a bakery or providing covering fire for jihadis.
Petraeus noted that the situation in Pakistan was closely linked to that of Afghanistan. Its a dog with two tails that take turns wagging the dog.
He praised Obama's new plan for developing a regional approach to resolve the issue of militancy, describing it as a step in the right direction. Petraeus acknowledged that militants in Afghanistan were growing in strength and audacity but vowed to fight them "relentlessly and aggressively." He's toast. He'll be replaced by the ghost of William Westmoreland any time now.
But Petraeus and top US defence department official Michele Flournoy were greeted with sceptical questions from senators about how willing the Pakistani government is to fight extremists hiding in the country's lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Not all skepticism is honest, is it?
Committee chairman Carl Levin warned that he did not agree with the administration's claim that progress in Afghanistan depended on success on the Pakistan side of the border. He knows of another way to get supplies into Afghanistan?
Afghanistan's future should not be tied totally to the Pakistan government's decisions, he said, adding that he remained doubtful about Pakistan's ability to secure its border. "I remain sceptical that Pakistan has either the will or the capability to secure their border," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
We cannot have it all,but we do have Patraeus, and that may make the difference.
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Lobbying from advocacy groups could undermine next month's world racism conference, the UN's top human right official said Thursday.
Jewish and Muslim groups have taken offense at draft statements being prepared for the meeting, pushing governments to demand changes before the April 20-24 conference in Geneva. A fresh draft circulated last month drew cautious welcome from most sides, though key countries including the United States have yet to say whether they will attend the meeting.
"I have a healthy fear for the way states sometimes operate," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told reporters in Geneva. "I am quite wary of the fact that someone or other may attempt to revisit the issues that were dropped in this last document."
Dozens of Arab rights groups called Wednesday for specific references to Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be reinserted. The Arab Lawyer Union, the Arab Commission for Human Rights and others accuse Israel of "daily war crimes" against Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the World Jewish Congress said it was lobbying European nations to prevent a repeat of a 2001 global racism meeting in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel walked out of that meeting because of a campaign by some delegations to single out Israel for criticism.
Pillay defended the conference, saying it ended with a balanced statement that was welcomed by then-foreign minister Shimon Peres.
Emotions at next month's meeting are likely to run high if activists are permitted to take the floor, Pillay acknowledged. "We do expect tensions, and victims should be allowed to speak loudly," she said. "I would not regard any of that as disrupting the conference."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A pity. And I'm serious. The more Tranzis allowed to run free---the sooner true humans turn on them.
The man who forgets nationality instantly becomes less human and less European. He seems somehow to have turned into a walking abstraction, a resolution of some committee, a programme of some political movement, and to be by some unmistakable transformation, striking chill like the touch of a fish, less of a living man. The European man is a man through his patriotism and the particular civilization of his people. The cosmopolitan is not a European, still less a good European. He is a traveller in Europe, as if he were a tourist from the moon. In other words, what has happened is this; that for good or evil, European history has produced European nations by a European process; they are the organs of the organic life of our race, at least in recent times; and unless we receive our natural European inheritance through those natural organs, we do not really receive it at all. We receive something else; a priggish and provincial abstraction, invented by a few modern and more or less ignorant men.
BAGHDAD - The US army on Thursday handed over to Iraq control of the last former anti-Qaeda fighters credited with bringing calm to many strife-ridden areas of the country at the height of the insurgency.
Some of the Sahwa or Awakening militia, made up mostly of Sunnis, and who were financed and trained by the US military in 2007 to battle Al-Qaeda, will be integrated into the security forces. Others among them have been promised government jobs.
Everyone in the government understands the importance of the Sons of Iraq and their sacrifices for the good of the nation, said official Zuhair al-Chalibi, referring to the former fighters by their other name. He said the government, which has promised that 20 percent of the 92,000 strong Sahwa will join the army or police, would continue to support the vital project and give it the attention it deserves.
The US army said a ceremony was held on Thursday morning to mark the transfer of 10,000 Sahwa to the Iraqi Armythe final group to be handed back to Iraqi controlfrom Salaheddin province north of Baghdad.
The handover, in the provincial capital Tikrit, comes days after the government paid 30 million dollars to Sahwa members who had not received their salaries, even though the 2009 budget has not yet been approved.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure this step will make USA a lot of friends in Iraq.
The Hamas regime acquired U.S.-origin air defense systems but was unable to use them in combat. Hamas sources said the Islamic military has acquired the Stinger man-portable air defense system. The sources said the Stingers were acquired from smugglers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in 2008 and deployed in the 22-day war against Israel in January 2009.
"We were disappointed by them, and they were found to have been useless," a Hamas source said. Hope you paid top dollar for them ...
The source said Hamas smuggled four Stinger systems in 2008. The source said the Hamas military deployed the Stingers against Israel Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopters during strike missions in the northern Gaza Strip.
"Our gunners couldn't fire the weapon," the source recalled. "A notice came up on the display saying 'friendly aircraft.'" Real friendly, in fact. Say hello ...
Industry sources said Raytheon, producer of Stinger, installed identification friend/foe capabilities more than a decade ago. The sources said this would prevent Stinger from being fired against any aircraft used by the U.S. military.
Another Hamas source said gunners deployed Stinger along with heavy machine guns in attacks on Israeli helicopters during the war in the Gaza Strip. The source said one Stinger surface-to-air missile was launched, but the projectile veered off course and struck a Hamas gunner squad. Bwha-ha-ha!
"The Stinger was drawn by the heat of our guns rather than the engines of the Israeli helicopters," the source said. "At that point, we stopped using this weapon." So someone learns from experience ...
The sources said Hamas has abandoned plans to acquire additional Stingers. Instead, the Islamic army has been ordering the Russian-origin SA-16, or Igla-1, surface-to-air missile system, with a range of five kilometers.
#8
Outsmarted by 3 cents worth of silicon. Way to go Lions of Ignorance.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2009 13:53 Comments ||
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#9
"one Stinger surface-to-air missile was launched, but the projectile veered off course and struck a Hamas gunner squad"
Allen is displeased with you clowns. He keeps giving you signs, but you're too blinded by Jew-hate stupid to see them....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/03/2009 15:13 Comments ||
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#10
As long as they don't figure out that they can defeat the IFF system by hammering on the tip of the warhead or heating it up with a blowtorch, that's fine.
CAIRO - Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah on Thursday adjourned Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks until later this month without reaching agreement, Palestinian officials said. A Palestinian official said the round of talks had ended inconclusively and would be resumed on April 26.
"There were new ideas addressed that will need more consultations within the institutions of each party," Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told Reuters by phone. "The talks were adjourned for two weeks."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has launched a warning to Israel, saying the disputed Golan Heights will be liberated by "peace or through war". Not much gets by old Pencilneck, does it?
"There is no escaping the fact that the day will come when we will free the Golan, through peace or through war, said Assad in an interview with Qatari daily al-Sharq, in light of the swearing in of Israel's new right-leaning government led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Unless ou don't, of course. To date you haven't.
"From the war of Palestine (in 1948) to the occupation of the Golan (in the Six Day War in 1967) people are becoming more hostile towards Israel. There may come a generation that is unwilling to talk peace." Every one since 1948...
Assad also said that Israel does not want peace, and instead said 'resistance' was the alternative. "This enemy does not want peace. What is the alternative? The parallel route to the peace process is resistance. The Israeli will not come by his own will, so there is no alternative but for him to come from fear." And hasn't that worked well, lo, these 61 years?
He also accused all Israeli governments, both from the liberal left and the conservative right of carrying out violent policies against the Palestinians. "All Israeli governments are the same: Ariel Sharon carried out a massacre in Palestine, and [Ehud] Barak aided the war in Gaza in that there is no difference between the right and the left in Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
On the other hand, maybe Israeli Gov. won't let our dear friends stop IDF midway through the job this time.
#3
ISRAELI MIL FORUM > JANES DEFENCE WEEKLY = [Report]IRAN LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR CW [ChemWar] TRANSFER TO HIZBULLAH [via Syria]. Artic alleges that only select = certain Bigwigs in IRAN + SYRIA + Hizzies Leadership are privy???
A video posted on a jihadist Web site could help the FBI determine how a group of Somali-Americans was recruited to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia.
For several months the FBI has been investigating at least 20 Somali-American men from the Minneapolis area and elsewhere in the United States who traveled to war-torn Somalia to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group known as al-Shabaab, which has been warring with the moderate Somali government since 2006. At a Senate hearing on the issue last month, one top-ranking official said it's "clear" the Internet played a role in radizalizing and recruiting the young men.
The 30-minute video posted this week is a highly polished production, featuring anti-American hip-hop and sporadic images of Usama bin Laden. In much of the video, a man dubbed "The American" purportedly leads a group of al-Shabaab militants in an ambush of Ethiopian forces, which oppose an Islamic state and have backed the new Somali government.
"The only reason we are staying here, away from our families, away from the cities, away from candy bars [and] all these other things is because we are waiting to meet with the enemy," he tells them in the video, first provided to FOX News by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "They're supposed to be coming anytime. We're going to set up the ambush, and by the will of [God] we're going to kill all of them." FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said the FBI is "reviewing" the video.
MEMRI identified "The American" as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, and a law enforcement official said he is originally from the United States, but has been in Somalia "for some time." The official said al-Amriki is in his late 20s or early 30s. The official wouldn't offer any other identifying features, including whether he had converted to Islam.
MEMRI described the video as a "clear appeal to foreign youth, especially in English-speaking countries, to join the jihad in Somalia." In the video, "The American" praises a man killed in the fight, saying, "We want to inform his family that he was one of the best brothers here. ... We need more like him, so if you can encourage more of your children and more of your neighbors, anyone around, to send people like him to this jihad it would be a great asset for us." Another man, with an accent and a wrap covering his face, says at the end of the video, "We're calling all the brothers overseas, all the Shabaab, wherever they are, to come and live the life of a [fighter], and they will ... love it."
The FBI investigation into how young American men were recruited to join al-Shabaab in Somalia is active in Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati, Ohio; Boston; Seattle; and San Diego, according to testimony from counterterrorism officials and others at the Senate hearing last month. But reports from around the world suggest young Muslims from other Western countries, namely Canada, Australia and England, are also being recruited to join the fight in Somalia.
U.S. officials declined to comment specifically on whether officials from those countries have been working with the FBI. But at a State Department briefing today, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said, "Somalia would be one of those areas that we're concerned about with regard to Al Qaeda recruitment. This requires broad cooperation, the United States with other countries not only in the Horn of Africa but outside of that region to try to do what we can to prevent Al Qaeda from being successful in recruiting young people to their cause."
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.
[ADN Kronos] A new law in Afghanistan seriously curtailing women's rights, even explicitly permitting marital rape, is a "huge step in the wrong direction," the United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday, calling for its repeal. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] President Hugo Chavez has expressed Venezuela's readiness to accept prisoners held at the Guantanamo bay detention center in Cuba. 
[Bangla Daily Star] North KoreaŽs military threatened yesterday to attack ŽŽmajor targetsŽŽ in Japan if Tokyo tries to shoot down a satellite it intends to launch as soon as this weekend.
[Geo News] The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani said on Thursday that the provincial government was committed to engaging nationalists so as to address their problems through a dialogue process. Talking to journalists in his chamber after Balochistan Assembly session, the chief minister said the reinstatement of Shahbaz Sharif government in Punjab helped resolve the political imbroglio and remove atmosphere of uncertainty. He directed the concerned officials of all law enforcement agencies to put the security on high alert and ensure protection to life and property of the people across the province. Raisani said that a delegation of the United Nations met him today and discussed steps the provincial government had taken for safe recovery of abducted UNHCR official, John Solecki. Balochistan CM said that Pakistan Steel Mills has not been procuring Balochistan's raw iron and coal since long and he intends to talk to President Asif Ali Zardari in this regard soon. Raisani said relief package worth Rs. 2.3 billion has so far been distributed among Balochistan earthquake affectees.
[ADN Kronos] Religious extremists operating along the Pakistan-Afghan border pose a direct threat to Pakistan's existence, the commander of US forces in the region, David Petraeus, has warned 
The Hamas regime acquired U.S.-origin air defense systems but was unable to use them in combat. Hamas sources said the Islamic military has acquired the Stinger man-portable air defense system. The sources said the Stingers were acquired from smugglers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in 2008 and deployed in the 22-day war against Israel in January 2009.
[ADN Kronos] Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has launched a warning to Israel, saying the disputed Golan Heights will be liberated by "peace or through war". 
