A terrorist suspect on bail for charges linked to an alleged major suicide plot involving mass casualties has gone on the run, Scotland Yard has disclosed. Which way did he go? Which way did he go?
The 23-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is understood to have fled during Friday prayers and left a suicide note at his home. He's on the lam but cannot be named? JEEBUS!
Under strict bail conditions, he was due to report to police at 7am on Friday. It was reported on Friday night that he escaped while at prayers in a mosque near his home, which he was allowed to attend as part of the conditions. His family are said to have contacted police after they found the note. Dear Mom and Pop: I'm off to Off myself and as many Infidels as I can. Don't worry, see you soon in Paradise. Oh, yeah, please take care of Sobotsky, my pet goldfish.
Scotland Yard has launched a massive manhunt, amid fears for the man's welfare. Detectives are playing down the suggestion the note implied he was on a suicide mission to target others Play that down, Muldoon, we don't want to scare people.
Police sources said they are "furious" that another terror suspect has gone on the run after being granted bail. What'd ya expect? He had his fingers crossed.
They have also faced problems with suspects slipping their control orders and at least three others are being hunted by police having absconded in the past year. Dissapeared into thin air. Must be Jinns.
Zeeshan Siddiqui, a former London Underground worker linked to the leader of the July 7 bomb plot, has been missing since September last year.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/28/2008 12:28 ||
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Well, good luck guys. The Scotland Yard has gone piss poor in the past few years and I hope they find him before he kills a lot of British.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week said the Bush administration has obtained recent information about North Koreas covert uranium enrichment program, which Pyongyang continues to deny exists. North Korea is known to have had a plutonium program and to have sold nuclear technology to Syria.
North Korea also pursued a uranium enrichment program, Rice said during a speech to the Heritage Foundation on June 18. But we do not know its full extent or exactly what this effort has yielded.
As we've gotten deeper into the process, we've been troubled by additional information about North Korea's uranium enrichment capability, and this information has reaffirmed skepticism about dealing with North Korea, Rice said in the most recent official expression of U.S. concern about Pyongyang's uranium program.
North Korea will soon give its declaration of nuclear programs to China, the chair of the denuclearization working group, Rice said. And President Bush would then notify Congress of our intention to remove North Korea from the state sponsors of terrorism list and to cease the application of Trading With the Enemy Act.
Even though they're keeping their uranium program? ...
Rice said that before North Korea is removed from the terrorism list its cooperation would be assessed, including help in verifying the accuracy and completeness of the declaration. And so as we consider our current policy, we are saying to ourselves, what if North Korea ultimately violates an agreement we reach? What if it cheats? And this is a legitimate concern.
Rice said North Korea has cheated on its nuclear accord in the past. We will hold North Korea accountable. We will reimpose any applicable sanction that we have waived, and we will add new ones, she said.
The Norks need hold out to January and hope that Obama wins ...
A violation also would mean violating agreements with Japan, South Korea, Russia and China, which also would take action. Verifying an agreement with North Korea will be a serious challenge, she said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION BIGNEWSNETWORK > US TELLS SUDAN: FOLLOW EXAMPLE OF NORTH KOREA.
#2
Seems like they either just got NorK to blow up its cooling tower for free, or they are trying to scare them into revealing more than they might have otherwise.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Thursday that oil executives who secretly met with the vice president in 2001 should be held criminally liable for pushing an illegal war in Iraq.
'In March of 2001, when the Bush Administration began to have secret meetings with oil company executives from Exxon, Shell and BP, spreading maps of Iraq oil fields before them, the price of oil was $23.96 per barrel. Then there were 63 companies in 30 countries, other than the US, competing for oil contracts with Iraq,' the Ohio Democrat said during a speech on the House floor.
'Today the price of oil is $135.59 per barrel, the US Army is occupying Iraq and the first Iraq oil contracts will go, without competitive bidding to, surprise, (among a very few others) Exxon, Shell and BP. ,' Kucinich, who has introduced measures to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, added.
Oil was about $55 a barrel when Nancy Pelosi became Speaker ...
The New York Times reported last week that those companies, Chevron, Total and some smaller companies were set to receive no-bid contracts from Iraq's Oil Ministry. According to the paper, such deals 'are unusual for the industry,' and the companies prevailed over more than 40 others, including some from Russia, China and India.
In March 2001, two years before Iraq was invaded, Cheney met with top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell Oil Co., BP America Inc. and others on his infamous secret Energy Task Force.
Kucinich seemed to accuse participants in that meeting of plotting the invasion of Iraq. There's no indication that the participants discussed military action, although documents later released showed they did eye Iraq's oil fields.
Kucinich accused the US government of forcing Iraq to privatize its oil fields, which are estimated to hold more than 100 billion barrels of oil, and keeping US troops at war to protect the oil reserves. 'Our nation's soul is stained because we went to war for the oil companies and their profits. There must be accountability not only with this Administration for its secret meetings and its open illegal warfare but also for the oil company executives who were willing participants in a criminal enterprise of illegal war, the deaths of our soldiers and innocent Iraqis and the extortion of the national resources of Iraq,' he said.
'We have found the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. It is oil,' Kucinich continued. 'As long as the oil companies control our government Americans will continue to pay and pay, with our lives, our fortunes our sacred honor.' Kucinich: ''We went to war for the oil companies.'
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
did he think of that himself? Or from the thoughts randomly beamed into his brain? Perspiring minds wanna know?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2008 0:28 Comments ||
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#2
Costs that have accrued couldn't have been made up by oil revenues. However, the entire Persian Gulf was a British ditch until the 20th century. The area didn't even support much fishing. It was Anglo-American interests that developed it and commenced the futile efforts at civilizing locals. The Arab and Persian presence centred around the Stait of Hormuz (Arabs live on both banks). Oman has been settled for at least 3 millenia. Otherwise, the Arabian Peninsula was desert other than the once barely populated Tigris and Euphrates marshes. Locals claim sovereignty only because the post WW1 political climate allowed tribes to be deemed nation-states. That can all change with a commitment to realism in foreign policy.
#3
The British should have made the Kuwaiti colony larger, include most of the oil, and made it a crown colony similar to Hong Kong rather than locally run. The Middle East would be very different today if they had. Bediuin would still be doing there thing oblivious to the modern world and we'd all be happier.
#4
I am for water blackmail. Blow up the Saud's water supplies and they will pay off the US deficit. Seriously, what kind of moron would respect their sovereignty after their terror financing? The Sauds have roots only in the Negd section of their territorial-demographic cess pool. It is a fake country, manufactured by Anglo-American interests, in deference to anti-colonialist ideas. Ideas can revert.
#5
Cause Dennis if it does turn out we made another successful democracy like Germany or Japan, then you and yours who claim to represent the 'people' will be among the great betrayers of human rights and you just couldn't face that could you, you little Wormtongue.
#8
Alalam Iran sure seems impressed with him. Are they aware that over here he's seen as some kind of a midget clown good only for comic relief? That most folks outside of his district see him as an object to point and laugh at?
#9
Dennis believes that Dick Cheny's people live in vast underground cities spewing forth extra rich carbon every night so as not to be detected.
I know this because I'm a Carbon Person myself. Don't tell Dennis tho because we've tunneled under his house and we're gonna GAS HIM with Special Carbon real soon!
/coo coo
Srinagar (PTI): The Congress-led coalition government was on Saturday reduced to a minority with its junior partner, People's Democratic Party (PDP), pulling out over the issue of transfer of land to Amarnath shrine board.
"There was lot of trouble going on over the issue of land transfer to the shrine board. We could not wait till the June 30 deadline," PDP President Mehbooba Mufti told reporters after a two-hour meeting of party legislators.
"We have pulled out of the government and submitted a letter to the Governor in this regard," Mehbooba said.
PDP has 18 MLAs in the 87-member state assembly while Congress has 21 members. The coalition has the support of eight independent MLAs and two CPM legislators.
She said the the decision was taken by the party as it cannot be insensitive to the problems and crises being faced by the people.
"In view of the ever deepening crisis, it is our moral duty to disassociate from the government," Mehbooba read from a letter written to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Resignations of PDP ministers from his council of ministers were also handed over.
She said her party did what it felt was right as "our people were getting killed" in protests over the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
"We fail to understand why Azad passed the order in the cabinet despite opposition by (PDP patron) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. There were several fights during cabinet meetings over the issue and the chief minister just kept on watching," she said.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/28/2008 11:01 ||
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Moderate Kashmiri Sufi Islam at work...
Posted by: john frum ||
06/28/2008 11:40 Comments ||
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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have agreed on closer interaction to combat militants. It was agreed in a meeting between ISAF Commander General McKiernan and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani at Army General Headquarters on Friday. It was the first interaction between the COAS and the ISAF commander following the killing of 11 Pakistani troops in a United States airstrike on June 11.
They also agreed on more intelligence sharing between Pakistan and the ISAF to combat militants on both side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, besides discussing co-operation in the ongoing war on terror.
The ISAF chief also met Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid. A stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan as well as South Asia, General Majid told the ISAF chief. Pakistan is following a comprehensive strategy based on political engagement and socio-economic development [of the Tribal Areas], backed by essential military force to combat militancy, the CJCSC was quoted as saying by the ISPR.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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NEW DELHI: Pakistan wants a more liberal visa regime and improved people-to-people contacts and economic co-operation with India, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday. During a joint press conference with Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Qureshi announced that it was time to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue.
On Pakistan's terms, of course ...
I have come representing the coalition of political parties that feels that a positive movement toward peace and security and normalisation is in our mutual interest, AP quoted him as saying. During his visit, Qureshi held meetings with Mukherjee, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora.
He told reporters that he and the Indian external affairs minister had discussed the composite dialogue process. He also extended a fresh invitation for Singh to visit Pakistan.
Both ministers announced that India and Pakistan sought to build a mechanism of co-operation between their planning commissions to address inflation and poverty. They said terrorism was a common threat and the joint anti-terror mechanism would strive to achieve results through the exchange of information.
Sure, I can see the Paks giving up the high rollers in LeT, etc to the Indians, can't you?
The ministers also expressed a need for improved cross-Line of Control (LoC) confidence-building measures, including increased trade, bus and truck services. They also announced that they would co-operate in the fields of wind and thermal power generation, APP reported.
Qureshi, who also holds the petroleum portfolio, discussed the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline with Deora during a separate meeting on Friday. Following the meeting, both ministers announced that they had resolved the commercial differences holding up the pipeline. I am happy to report that as far as Pakistan and India are concerned, we have resolved all bilateral issues, Qureshi was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India, AFP reported. We have reached an agreement on the principles of charging transit fee. India remains fully committed to the project, Deora added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Terrorism must be combated with full force and all available resources, President Pervez Musharraf told Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani on Friday.
During a briefing by Kayani on the role of the Pakistan Army in combating terrorism and extremism in FATA, Musharraf said he fully supported the governments policy to deal with terrorism through a multi-pronged strategy combining political interaction, socio-economic development and selective use of military might. He also agreed with the federal governments decision to allow the army to conduct a final military operation to crush rising militancy in NWFP and FATA.
The COAS also briefed Musharraf on security along the Pak-Afghan border and FATA. The president expressed appreciation for the services and sacrifices being rendered by the Pakistan Army to eradicate terrorism and extremism and noted the global communitys acknowledgement of the armys role in fighting militants and terrorists along the countrys border with Afghanistan.
How they've surrendered so well ...
According to sources privy to the development, the COAS and the president also discussed the possible operation against the terrorists in NWFP and FATA.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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LONDON: Pakistan should foster peaceful ties with India on the basis of equity, justice and mutual respect, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said.
It's just that the Paks never get enough 'mutual respect' ...
Nawaz said this in a videotaped message to a two-day Indo-Pakistan conference held in London from June 26-27. Pakistan has always viewed relations with India as extremely important, not only for the peace of the region but also for the world peace, he said.
Nawaz said both countries should seriously consider abolishing visas for most categories of visitors allowing frequent exchanges between the people of the two countries.
Think how much easier it would be to get the boomers into India ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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As long as Saudi Arabia exists, there can be no peace among East Indians. Wahabi websites have Hindus in their gun sights.
WASHINGTON: The United States and the European Union are nearing completion of an agreement that would allow law enforcement and security agencies to obtain private information - including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits - about people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Seeking to improve information-sharing to fight crime and terrorism, government officials have been meeting since February 2007 to reach a pact. Europe generally has more-stringent laws restricting how governments and businesses can collect and transfer personal data, which have led to high-profile disputes over American demands for such information. Negotiators have largely agreed on draft language for 12 major issues that are central to a 'binding international agreement' making clear that it is lawful for European governments and companies to transfer personal information to the United States, and vice-versa, according to an internal report obtained by The New York Times.
But the two sides are still at odds on several other matters, including whether European citizens should be able to sue the United States government over its handling of their personal data, the report said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 13:37 ||
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I don't want to see our security breached like this. We need to have some integrity to our citizens that our personal information won't be shared in this manner. Only a few short months ago I read this passport story that all I could do is shake my head. Unf***ingbelievable. Our security is becoming quite the joke, we need to recapture our ability to protect and not have ourselves open to so many.
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009, The Associated Press has learned. The deployments would replace troops currently there. But the decisions could change depending on whether Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, decides in the fall to further reduce troop levels in Iraq.
Several officials familiar with the deployments spoke on condition of anonymity because the orders have not yet been made public.
According to the officials, three active-duty Army brigade combat teams, one Army National Guard brigade and two Marine regimental combat teams are being notified that they are being sent to Iraq in early 2009. Officials would not release the specific units involved because the soldiers and Marines and their families have not all been told.
The Guard unit, however, is the 56th Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, from the Pennsylvania National Guard. Members of that unit a large brigade with heavily armored Stryker vehicles were told last October that they should be prepared to deploy to Iraq early in 2009. The order this week is the formal notice that includes a more specific time frame.
Currently, the final brigade involved in the military buildup in Baghdad last year is pulling out of Iraq. That departure will leave 15 combat brigades there compared to a high of 20 for much of the past year. Other smaller units are also there, including troops doing security, logistics, air assaults, intelligence and medical aid.
Overall, there are about 146,000 forces in Iraq, and that number is expected to dip to about 142,000 by mid-July when that last unit is all out. That total is at least 7,000 more than the number of troops in Iraq before the buildup began early last year. Petraeus told Congress in May that he is likely to recommend further troop reductions in Iraq, but he did not provide any details. If he decides in the fall that fewer brigades will be needed in Iraq during the next year, there is the chance that brigades could simply be directed to the war in Afghanistan instead.
There is a broad consensus that more troops are needed in Afghanistan, to both train the security forces and fight the insurgents. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Bush, earlier this year, told NATO allies that they would increase troop levels in Afghanistan in 2009 in response to the growing violence.
#1
Iff there is an ISLAMIST HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI,it shouldn't be too difficult for such Divine same as a Servant Of Allah-Heaven to defeat 30,000, or perhaps more.
SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG IFF SAID IMAM-MAHDI + RADICAL ISLAM CAN'T WIN WID POTUS OBAMA, IRAN GOING NUKULAR, LACK OF SUNSPOTS, BINARY DEATH STARS, ASTEROIDS, MELTING ICE, 2012, ......@etc.
#2
spoke on condition of anonymity because the orders have not yet been made pub
Jeez-- Op-sec, not just a good idea, it's the law!
I realy wish someone (hello, CID?) would track down these "officials" and muzzle them. Or make a bloody example.
Yes, I know the usual counter-arguments. Dosen't matter. You have to start enforcement somewhere.
Posted by: N guard ||
06/28/2008 7:23 Comments ||
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#3
Wait a minute! The SOFA deal expires on July 31. At that time UN would be in nominal control of the intervention.
It is my opinion that Iraq's duplicitous leaders will scuttle SOFA and indulge at least a minor terror offensive. Purpose: to elect a surrenderist Obama government. Why did President Bush time an inevitable fiasco, to occur during an election? His aids told him that it was a piece of cake because Iraqis love Americans.
Its his neck on the chopping block - and his family as well, should the Sunnis decide to go terr and the Saudis and Syrians bankroll and back them -- and thats exactly what happens if we bail too soon.
The cabinet will apparently not vote on the prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah, aimed at securing the release of two kidnapped Israeli reservists in exchange for five Lebanese prisoners, including murderer Samir Kuntar.
Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were captured in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerrillas in July 2006, sparking the Second Lebanon War.
The cabinet will only discuss the deal, despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's public vow at the Knesset podium last week to achieve a decision on the matter. A senior official at the prime minister's office said Thursday that 'the aim is to make a decision, but that may not be possible, because ministers will ask for more time to think, or because we may not have all the information before us.'
Sunday's discussion will be the first time that the cabinet is meeting to discuss the matter, and Olmert has not made his position on the deal clear yet. However, two months ago Olmert promised the abducted soldiers' families that he would act to approve this deal in the cabinet.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday appealed to Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to honor the week-long truce with Israel, and stop firing at the Negev, for the good of the Palestinian civilian population.
Two mortar shells from Gaza hit the western Negev on Friday, exploding in open areas, despite the cease fire agreement. No damage or injury were reported. "We expect everyone to respect the agreement so that the Palestinian people achieve what they look for, an end to this suffering and breaking the siege," he told reporters outside a Gaza mosque after Muslim prayers.
The attack on Friday came one day after two Qassam rockets were fired from the Strip into Israel. The militant Fatah offshoot Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack and demanded that the cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which currently includes only the Gaza Strip, be extended to include the West Bank as well.
At a high-level security meeting late Thursday, Israel decided to keep the border crossings into the Gaza Strip closed on Friday because of the latest rocket attack defense officials said. They added that a limited amount of fuel would be transferred into the Strip despite the closure.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
here's an idea, you lying asshole:
you're the government. Stop the firing by force if need be. Otherwise, we'll continue to consider you an ineffectual mouthpiece for a gang of thugs and a target.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2008 10:31 Comments ||
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Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin has somewhat softened his position regarding the prisoners who could be released in return for Shalit. Diskin is now prepared to release some prisoners "who have the blood of Israelis on their hands," so long as the risk they pose is lessened.
The government's coordinator for hostage negotiations, Ofer Dekel, left for Cairo on Thursday, where talks have resumed over a deal to secure the release of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.
Shalit was abducted two years ago in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants, and has since remained in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Sources in the defense establishment expressed satisfaction at the renewed effort to advance the deal, and in particular at the increased Egyptian role in mediating between the parties.
The resumption of the talks is part of the agreements Israel and Egypt reached in connection with the cease-fire (tahadiyeh) between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Dekel held meetings in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence officials, headed by Egypt's intelligence chief, General Omar Suleiman. Simultaneously, talks are taking place between Egypt and Hamas. Dekel was supposed to talk to his hosts about the procedural aspects of the talks, while gaining an impression as to areas where Hamas might prove flexible.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
With tracking senders and a small bomblet installed near the heart, I sincerely hope.
Follow the agreement to the letter, when thiusands of folk gather to worship these murderers Relay the position to a flight of A-10's Standing by (Wait on the bomblet, he "May" survive and be of further use later)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/28/2008 14:00 Comments ||
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Foreign Ministry Director General Aaron Abramovich secretly visited the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna Wednesday and briefed a group of ambassadors from countries involved in the agency's efforts to stop Iran's nuclear project. Abramovich emphasized that the IAEA must act more quickly and efficiently to block Iranian nuclear ambitions.
The unusual visit was the first senior Israeli briefing of IAEA member ambassadors in several years. The IAEA is considered relatively hostile to Israel, a tool in Arab world attacks on Israel for rebuffing efforts to monitor the Dimona nuclear reactor.
Abramovich presented Israel's concerns about a continued nuclear program in Tehran. He noted that Iran continues to enrich uranium undisturbed and that Israel believes it is developing a secret military nuclear program. "The Iranians are buying time and are not cooperating with UN Security Council demands and the recommendations of the international community," Abramovich told the ambassadors. "This must be addressed, and the IAEA is one of the entities that can do that."
About six months ago Abramovich criticized IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei for what he called a lack of determination against Tehran. "Instead of contributing to the international efforts against Iran IAEA is undermining them, with positions that provide excuses for countries not to join thses efforts," Abramovich said at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Why not give the info directly to the Iranians?
Hezbollah is alarming its Lebanese opponents by expanding its territory through the purchase of property outside Shia areas in Lebanon. Former civil war-era President Amin Gemayel went on television Thursday and said what many Lebanese have feared for months now while this has unfolded.
There is some sort of military preparation starting from Niha in Jezzine all the way across the entire Western mountain range with military surveillance posts set up from Jezzine to Sannine all the way up to Laqlouq, he said.
If he werent talking about an army that really does build massive and sophisticated military infrastructure including deep tunnels and a high-tech surveillance system in Beiruts international airport, of all places I might suspect he was paranoid or exaggerating.
Amins Phalange Party is a vehicle for mostly parochial and sectarian Christians, and it has a dark past, as most do most parties in Lebanon. His concerns, however, are echoed at the more broad-based and mainstream online magazine NOW Lebanon. These are preparations for war, says an editorial earlier this week, or rather preparations to ensure that if there is a war, Hezbollahs adversaries wont be able to fight one. The party knows better than to enter Christian, Druze or Sunni areas. So it has opted for control of the high ground high ground overlooking the territories of its foes but also controlling lines of communication between mainly Shia areas in the northern Bekaa Valley, the southern Bekaa, South Lebanon, and Beiruts southern suburbs [W]hat is taking place today has so transgressed the red lines of all communities that what we will almost certainly see in the near future is a dangerous logic of communal self-defense taking over.
Even if these moves by Hezbollah are being misinterpreted by the overly anxious, NOW Lebanon is correct to point out the danger for the simple reason that they are perceived as threatening. Everyone in Lebanon knows all too well why the logic of communal self-defense is an ominous development.
Communal self-defense means sectarian self-defense, and sectarian self-defense means exactly the same thing in Lebanon that it means in Iraq: militias. If the police and the army cannot or will not disarm Hezbollah and they cannot and will not then the only self-defense options remaining are personal and communal. Robert Heinlein famously wrote that an armed society is a polite society, but he didnt know the Middle East very well. go read the whole thing - and check out his other stuff
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2008 17:07 ||
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The Revolutionary Guards said Iran would impose controls on shipping in the vital Gulf oil route if Iran was attacked and warned regional states of reprisals if they took part, a newspaper reported on Saturday. well, then, Uncle says we will guarantee free shipping channels. I bet we can back our promises up better than you can
Fear of an escalation in the standoff between the West and Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, have been one factor propping up sky-high oil prices. Crude hit a record level on international markets near $143 a barrel on Friday.
Speculation about a possible attack on Iran because of its disputed nuclear ambitions has risen since a report this month said Israel had practiced such a strike, prompting increasingly tough talk of retaliation, if pushed, from Tehran.
"Naturally every country under attack by an enemy uses all its capacity and opportunities to confront the enemy," Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari told Jam-e Jam newspaper in some of the toughest language Iran has used so far. What this response would do is guarantee that it would progress from a pinpoint attack on the nuke facilities to an all out smackdown of the IRGC. Go ahead, make our day
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2008 12:09 ||
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OK, suppose Israel attacks Iran. And of course, the Iranians must get revenge by attacking oil shipping according to Mohamhead. That's just going to invite every oil-dependent country to come down on them like a ton of bricks. Or at least to nod in approval as the US and a couple of allies take care of it for them.
#4
This seems like a prime candidate for the Master of the Obvious graphic.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/28/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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#5
Let's see, Iran exports oil.
Iran stirs up the market.
Iran makes more money when they act crazy.
Time to rectify this situation, if I were the big guy, that would have just cost you an oil refinery.
Beirut / Paris - Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a key witness in the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has reportedly returned to Paris, according to a French diplomatic source. The source told the Jordanian foreign ministry that the Syrian witness (Siddiq), who "vanished" in April, had returned to live in a western suburb of Paris.
Wotta coincidence. Bet he has a nice bankroll too ...
He said French authorities are aware of his comeback.
Siddiq has reportedly called a Kuwaiti newspaper to say that he is well but in hiding in Europe for fear for his life, the paper reported last April. Siddiq had been living in France under house arrest until he disappeared. French authorities confirmed the disappearance and said Siddiq was last seen when he left his house March 13.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement leader General Michel Aoun voiced support on Friday for a February 2006 deal between his party and Hezbollah, stressed on the normalization of the bilateral relations with the neighboring Syria.
Speaking to Alalam TV Aoun said that the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Hezbollah served both parties and people's interests. "This is the only true deal which has been signed in Lebanon for the past thirty years."
On February 2006 a MOU was signed between the two most powerful Shiite and Christian political movements in Lebanon, in which protecting Lebanon from Israeli threat, having normal diplomatic ties with Syria, liberating the Shebaa Farms from the Israeli occupation and liberating Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails were included as key points.
"This is kind of a deal which can be signed not only between Christians and Muslims but between all different Lebanese factions and parties," former Lebanese army commander said.
"It is not just a deal," Aoun said, stressing that the move was a longstanding goal to which the both sides are committed.
Stressing on the importance of mutual negotiations as the key solution to be observed in all political problems, he said "All clauses included in the MOU have been discussed thoroughly which helped both parties surpass psychological barriers and discover additional dimensions of other party, not known to other side."
He added, "We have found in Hezbollah commitment, honesty, openness and confidence which was more important than the all."
On the Lebanon-Syria bilateral relation Aoun pointed out that "His views on the future of Lebanon-Syria relations are not consistent with that of Washington and Paris."
"The United States still considers Syria as a source of concern and instability in Lebanon, while we are looking for a good relationship with Damascus."
Aoun also said there were expectations from the Lebanese government to invite Syrian officials to the negotiation table, "But continued accusation of Syria over Rafik al-Hariri's assassination and other attacks after Syrian withdrawal marred hopes for better relations."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 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.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week said the Bush administration has obtained recent information about North Koreas covert uranium enrichment program, which Pyongyang continues to deny exists. North Korea is known to have had a plutonium program and to have sold nuclear technology to Syria.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich said Thursday that oil executives who secretly met with the vice president in 2001 should be held criminally liable for pushing an illegal war in Iraq.
WASHINGTON: The United States and the European Union are nearing completion of an agreement that would allow law enforcement and security agencies to obtain private information - including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits - about people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is preparing to order roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq early next year in a move that would allow the U.S. to maintain 15 combat brigades in the country through 2009, The Associated Press has learned. The deployments would replace troops currently there. But the decisions could change depending on whether Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, decides in the fall to further reduce troop levels in Iraq.
