[DAWN] The Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... political chief, who headed the bad boys’ delegation during the most recent round of peace talks with the United States, said on Thursday that he was optimistic and assured Afghans that they had no reason to fear a settlement.
The latest round of talks in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... lasted 16 days and finished on Tuesday, with officials from both sides saying that progress had been made, but there was no agreement on when foreign troops might be withdrawn.
"We are very hopeful for the peace talks, because the latest round had some good dialogues which paved the way to more progress regarding peace in the future," Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said in an eight-minute audio tape of an interview conducted by the Taliban and posted online.
Making his first public comments since his release last year from a Pak prison, Baradar sought to reassure Afghans who have worried that peace with the Taliban could herald the return of its strict values.
"If [Afghans] think of us like brothers I trust in God that all the problems will be solved," he said, speaking in Pashto.
"I ask all our countrymen to be sure there is no need to worry. Everyone will be treated very well," he added.
During their time in power from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned music and girls’ education and carried out public executions in Kabul’s football stadium. Fatefully, they also allowed the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... ’s Al Qaeda to establish a base in the country.
The Taliban’s role in Afghanistan after a possible peace settlement has not been defined and the group has refused to meet representatives of the government led by President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. , regarding it as illegitimate.
At the end of the latest round of talks, US negotiators said progress was made over the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops, and on assurances from the Taliban that they would not allow their homeland to be used again by foreign bad boy groups to mount attacks in other countries.
"We assure the neighbouring, regional and other countries that the upcoming system will not be against anyone; we are not under the influence of anyone, and have no aim of harming anyone," Baradar said.
He also offered a message to Taliban fighters, saying that even though he felt the group had achieved political and military victory, they should remain composed and not become arrogant.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2019 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Sharif has taken office as the Chief of Staff of the Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which 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... -based Presidential Council's (PC) government replacing Brigadier General Abdelrahman al-Taweel.
The dismissed chief of Staff al-Taweel handed over the office and tasks to al-Sharif, according to the media office of the General Staff of the PC.
Al-Sharif was appointed by the PC last February as the Chief of Staff and General Salim Juha as his deputy.
In the same month, the dismissed chief, al-Taweel, refused the order of his replacement, saying the decision was void as Fayez al-Sirraj had taken it individually without consultation with other PC members.
Later after that, al-Sirraj reduced al-Taweel's military rank to a Brigadier and ended his military career.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2019 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] The front man for al-Bunyan al-Marsous operation Mohammed al-Ghasri warned in a presser on Thursday against plunging Sirte into a new war which will be a lose-lose to all, adding that the city has been secure since the control of the operation forces on it after they had defeated ISIS terrorists.
Al-Ghasri also warned that any attacks on Sirte will be a declaration of war whose results will be catastrophic, adding that the operation forces are ready to foil any assaults.
"We are against any party that uses the army as a means to political ends and isn't logical to talk about having a nonexistent military institution committed to a civilian authority. This issue is best resolved by the constitution." al-Ghasri added.
He also said that the emergency state is still in place and that all military units had been summoned amid advances by the forces under the command of Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... "We have patrolling the city and its surrounding and all forces are in place." al-Ghasri indicated.
Sirte Protection Force announced days ago the state of high alert amid the news about the movements of Haftar's forces toward Sirte.
Haftar's forces announced earlier that they had sent military might to "the targeted place," and many observers say the true motive of Haftar could be advancing on Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which 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... , while others say his movements are maneuvers to achieve political gains as the Libyan National Conference's date approaches.
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03/16/2019 00:00 ||
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[Guardian] An Australian senator has been strongly criticised after he blamed the New Zealand shooting on Muslim immigration.
Following the attack, which left 49 people dead at two mosques in Christchurch, Fraser Anning tweeted: "Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?"
In a statement shared by an Australian journalist on Twitter, the Queensland senator also wrote: "As always, leftwing politicians and the media will rush to claim that the causes of today’s shootings lie with gun laws or those who hold nationalist views, but this is all cliched nonsense.
"The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place."
The remarks were denounced by the UK home secretary, Sajid Javid, who accused the senator of stoking extremism.
#2
The entire quote: "I am utterly opposed to any form of violence within our community, and I totally condemn the actions of the gunman," he wrote. "However, whilst this kind of violent vigilantism can never be justified, what it highlights is the growing fear within our community, both in Australia and New Zealand, of the increasing Muslim presence."
“The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place. Let us be clear, while Muslims may have been the victims today, usually they are the perpetrators.”
Usually, when some nutjob pulls off a terror attack, there is some mention of how he was a "known wolf". Not seeing any of that here. Don't know if it because he was under the radar or because it doesn't fit The Narrative.
#6
Maybe the shooter read too many articles like this.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/16/2019 12:01 Comments ||
Top||
#7
"Sure, a mosque is a lot like a church
Once your Christ has been knocked from his perch!
Hard to tell us apart
('cept for art, tunes, and heart),
If your creed were re-written by SMERSH."
Posted by: Andy Turkeyneck8230 ||
03/16/2019 13:47 Comments ||
Top||
[VOE] The problems with migrants have escalated recently at the school ’Österledskolan’ outside Halmstad in southern Sweden.
Swedish independent journalist Joakim Lamotte has been contacted by parents of children at the school and according to them it is a group of newly arrived migrants who harass their daughters.
The parents argue that the failed integration of the newcomers has led to groupings at the school.
"There are daily threats and violations at the school. Our daughter, who’s in eighth grade has been harassed since the second week of seventh grade. She has been called "Swedish whore" and threatened with violence several times."
"The police have been called many times. Last week, they were called on three occasions. And an ambulance has been called to the school during assaults," says one parent.
"The situation at the school went out of control last week after several major fights, and now parents choose to keep their children at home because of the insecurity."
"Weapons and drugs are common at the school, and the confrontations continue after the school day ends," says another parent.
The parents are highly critical of the school management and believe that they don’t take the problems seriously.
"Right now it is anarchy at the school and they have lost control completely. At the same time, the school management wants to silence what is happening, and blame the events on racism. Racism may occur, but I and many others don’t see that as the problem."
"The reason for this is a difference in treatment, and not integrating the newly arrived young people. On Friday, two girls were subjected to blows and kicks by the newcomers," says a third parent.
According to conversations on various internet forums, some adults mean that the students get into arguments because of racism and that it has caused the conflict between Swedes and newcomers to escalate.
[DW] The number of first-time asylum applications in the European Union has fallen to 580,845, Eurostat has reported. At the height of the migrant movements into Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... in 2015, asylum applications exceeded 1.2 million.
European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... states received 580,845 first-time asylum applications in 2018, about half the number received during the 2015 migrant crisis, the EU's statistics agency reported Thursday.
The 2018 figure marks an 11 percent fall from 2017.
The number of pending asylum applications in the EU totaled 878,600 at the end of 2018, down slightly from 927,000 a year earlier.
The findings confirm a downward trend of people entering the EU through irregular crossings. The EU border and coasties agency Frontex estimated around 150,000 people made this type of voyage in 2018, the lowest number in five years.
The number of asylum applications drastically increased in 2015 and 2016, when conflicts in Syria and other Middle Eastern nations escalated and caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
At the peak of the migrant movements, the number of first-time asylum-seekers in the EU exceeded 1.2 million. It was Europe's biggest spike in migration since World War II.
The countries of origin for first-time asylum-seekers in the EU in 2018 were:
Syria with 80,920 applications
Afghanistan 40,990 applications
Iraq 39,595 applications
Together, the three nations accounted for almost 30 percent of the total number of people claiming asylum in Europe in 2018.
GERMANY REMAINS PRIME DESTINATION
In percentage terms, the migrants colonists' destinations in 2018 were:
Germany ‐ 27.9 percent of migrants colonists
La Belle France ‐ 19 percent
Greece ‐ 11.2 percent
Spain ‐ 9.1 percent
Italia ‐ 8.5 percent
Rome, which now has an anti-immigrant party sharing power in a coalition government, recorded the biggest drop in applications last year.
Some politicians and judges in Germany have complained that asylum applications are not made in their first EU state of entry. "Neither European nor national asylum law works. The whole system is dysfunctional," said Dusseldorf Administrative Court President Andreas Heusch earlier this month.
"We do not even manage to return asylum-seekers in the border town of Niederkruchten just a few kilometers to the Netherlands or to Belgium within six months," Heusch said. "Our decisions are without consequences."
LOWEST APPLICATION RATES
Both Hungary and Poland currently have right-wing, populist parties in government, and Hungary has taken a hard-line approach to migration and asylum. They stood out with the lowest number of asylum applications per million residents in 2018:
EU-wide average was 1,133 applicants per million population
Hungary received 65 applicants per million population
Poland received 63 applicants per million population
[IsraelTimes] Pompeo says Trump administration ’determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution’.
The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel who try to investigate or prosecute alleged abuses committed by US forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seeking action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.
The Hague-based court, the first global tribunal for war crimes, said it would continue to operate "undeterred" by the US action.
Pompeo made good on a threat delivered last September by US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s national security adviser, John Bolton. The US had already moved against some employees of The Hague-based court, Pompeo said, but he declined to say how many or what cases they may have been investigating.
"We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation," Pompeo said.
He said any wrongdoing committed by American personnel would be dealt with in US military and criminal courts.
The visa restrictions would apply to any ICC employee who takes or has taken action "to request or further such an investigation," Pompeo said.
"These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without allies’ consent," he said.
The ICC prosecutor has a pending request to look into possible war crimes in Afghanistan that may involve Americans. The Paleostinians have also asked the court to bring cases against Israel.
Speaking directly to ICC employees, Pompeo said: "If you are responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of US personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan, you should not assume that you still have or will get a visa or will be permitted to enter the United States."
That comment suggested that action may have already been taken against the ICC prosecutor who asked last year to formally open an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by Afghan national security forces, Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... and Haqqani network krazed killers, as well as US forces and intelligence officials in Afghanistan since May 2003.
The United States has never been a member of the ICC. The Clinton administration in 2000 signed the Rome Statute that created the ICC but had reservations about the scope of the court’s jurisdiction and never submitted it for ratification to the Senate, where there was broad bipartisan opposition to what politicians saw as a threat to US illusory sovereignty.
When president George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration promoted and passed the American Service Members Protection Act, which sought to immunize US troops from potential prosecution by the ICC. In 2002, Bolton, then a State Department official, traveled to New York to ceremonially "unsign" the Rome Statute at the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... The ICC said in a statement it was established by a treaty supported by 123 countries and that it prosecutes cases only when those countries failed to do so or did not do so "genuinely." Afghanistan is a signatory.
The court has been hobbled by refusal of the US, Russia, China and other major nations to join. Others have quit, including Burundi and the Philippines.
[IsraelTimes] Reports of live fire as residents of Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",-ruled enclave burn tires in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in rare show of dissent to terror group’s rule.
Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip erupted into the streets on Friday for the second successive day to protest against Hamas and the dire economic condition in the Strip, with some reports saying the terror group used live fire to put down the demonstrations.
The protests came after a night of violence surrounding the Strip, that was sparked when two rockets were fired at Tel Aviv. In response Israel hit more than 100 Hamas targets and Hamas fired seven more rockets into Israel before the two sides reportedly reached a fresh ceasefire.
The center of the demonstrations was in Deir el-Balah, where Hebrew media reports said protesters burned tires and blocked one of the central Gazoo city’s main roads.
Similar protests were also taking place in Khan Younis in the south of the Strip.
In video from the demonstrations, protesters could be seen throwing rocks as the sound of apparent gunfire is heard in the background.
Quoting the demonstrators, the Ynet news site said they were beaten by security forces loyal to Hamas, the Islamist terror group that rules Gazoo. The Hamas members also reportedly used live fire to disperse the protests. "Tough love"
There were no immediate reports on the number of injured.
The rare public show of dissent in Gazoo began Thursday as demonstrators erupted into the streets in a number of locations throughout the Strip to protest the cost of living and Hamas rule.
Friday’s protests came after the firing of two rockets from Gazoo late Thursday toward Tel Aviv threatened to spark a serious military escalation between Hamas and Israel before a reported ceasefire was reached, and weekly festivities with Israeli troops along the border were called off for the first time since they began last March.
Channel 12 said many of the those who took part were the same people who normally go to the border protests.
According to Ynet, photographer Osama Kahalut was locked away Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! by Hamas for taking a picture of Friday’s protests. An AFP news hound had said Thursday that journalists were prevented from filming or taking pictures at one of the demonstrations.
The protests had been organized to call for an improvement in the quality of life in Gazoo, which suffers from high unemployment, widespread poverty and poor electricity and water infrastructure.
They were also seen as a challenge to Hamas, an Islamist terror group which has ruled the Strip since 2007.
A statement purporting to be from the organizers said the protests were non-political and against the rising cost of living and taxes in the Strip.
The Paleostinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, which includes more than 100 charities, said in a statement it "strongly condemned the campaign of arrests and aggression that the security forces launched in Jabaliya in northern Gazoo against the right of dozens of citizens."
It said the protesters were "gathering peacefully to demand an improvement in the life quality in the Gazoo Strip."
Hussein al-Sheikh, a close confidant of Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , expressed support for the protesters.
"Gazoo is rising up in the face of oppressors," he wrote on Twitter.
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is preparing to launch a large-scale military operation inside the Daraa Governorate, a source in Damascus told al-Masdar this morning.
According to the military source, the Syrian Elite Republican Guard is preparing to deploy to several areas in the Daraa Governorate that are currently under reconciliation deals with the Free Syrian Army ... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund... (FSA).
The source said Elite Republican Guard units from the 104th, 105th, and 106th brigades, alongside the Syrian Arab Army’s 5th, 7th, and 9th divisions, will deploy to Daraa from Damascus and al-Quneitra if the Free Syrian Army’s sleeper cells do not halt their attacks.
He added that while the Daraa Governorate is technically under the control of the government, many towns currently have no Syrian Arab Army presence.
When the rebel forces surrendered their territories in the Daraa Governorate, they agreed to a reconciliation deal that would allow them to keep their light weapons and patrol their towns.
However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... since early January, the Free Syrian Army’s sleeper cells have been carrying out sporadic attacks against the Syrian Arab Army; this has prompted the latter to threaten to launch a new military operation to clear out these cells from the Daraa Governorate.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/16/2019 00:00 ||
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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.
[DAWN] The 
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
[Guardian] An Australian senator has been strongly criticised after he blamed the New Zealand shooting on Muslim immigration.
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
[IsraelTimes] Pompeo says Trump administration ’determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution’.
[IsraelTimes] Reports of live fire as residents of 
