The FATA Reforms Forum (FRF) demanded on Monday the government include true representatives of the tribal people in Pak-Afghan peace jirga taking place in August, who had the influence in tribal areas to implement the jirgas decisions. The FRF also announced its support for FATA Grand Alliance that will hold tribal loya jirga on June 14 in Peshawar. The jirga, which will take place in Kabul this year, will be meaningless if people representing Pakistan are not influential and cannot implement the jirga decisions in tribal areas on this side of the border, FRF President Engineer Zaman Khan Dawar said while addressing a news conference along with Senior Vice President Iqbal Khyberwal, General Secretary Barkat Ali Afridi and others.
Dawar said FATA reforms committee, which was formed in 2000 and converted into FATA Reforms Forum in 2006, had prepared a reform document. He said President Pervez Musharraf approved FATA reforms at an important meeting on January 23, 2002. However, these reforms could not be implemented due to the prevailing international situation and law and order problems in tribal areas, said the tribal leader. Dawar said the 9/11 incidents completely changed the situation on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border.
The FRF leaders said various tribal organisations, ulema, senators, members of the National Assembly, agency councillors, scholars, intellectuals, students, journalists, lawyers and FATA chamber of commerce representatives had formed Grand FATA Alliance to design a joint strategy to solve the tribal peoples problems.
They announced support for the jirga and urged tribesmen to attend the loya jirga in large numbers. The FRF leaders said the proposed loya jirga was the first step towards identifying problems of tribesmen and suggesting their solution. They said the jirga would focus on two issues, security and the political future of tribesmen. The FRF also said it supported Senator Hamidullah and Advocate Karim Mehsud in their efforts for the welfare of tribal people.
Meanwhile, tribal elders and representatives of various organisations in Mohmand Agency had announced their support for the June 14 jirga, which will be organised by the FATA Grand Alliance in Peshawar. At a press conference held at the Ghalanai Press Club, they urged tribal people in the agency to attend the loya jirga to make it a success.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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In what year did this happen? And on what planet...
COPENHAGEN - As Denmark prepares to redeploy troops from southern Iraq to Afghanistan, Defence Minister Soren Gade said Monday he expected that foreign troops should be prepared to remain in Afghanistan for at least ten years. In my view there is no doubt that foreign soldiers will remain in Afghanistan for ten years or more, Gade said in remarks quoted by Danish news agency Ritzau.
Denmarks 450-strong contingent in Afghanistan is due to increase to 650 this autumn after a broad political agreement between the government and main opposition parties.
Gade said that to ensure long-term stability in Afghanistan there would likely be need for agreements between the central government in Kabul, various governors and former warlords. The base would be the legitimately elected Afghan government, Gade said.
Denmark was in August to withdraw its 500-strong contingent from southern Iraq as Baghdad takes charge of security.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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Wimmen and minorities hit hardest.
US warplanes are overflying the northern Somali region of Puntland in preparation for air-strikes against suspected Al-Qaeda fugitives, more than a week after US warships shelled the area, officials said Tuesday.
The semi-autonomous regional government had authorised the overflights to pursue Al-Qaeda members believed to be hiding in the moutainous area, Puntland's security minister Ibrahim Artan Ismail told reporters. "We know that American warplanes are overflying Puntland territory. This air surveillance is part of an agreement reached between Puntland authorities and the Americans," Islamil told a news conference in northern Somali town of Bosasso. "The warplanes are looking for Al-Qaeda hideouts and when they get them, they will bomb them," he said, adding that the air operation covers areas where intelligence shows Al-Qaeda elements are hiding.
Residents told Somali media that US planes have been overfying the area. Ismail asked residents of the inland mountanious areas and the hilly shoreline "not to worry about planes flying over them."
A US navy destroyer shelled the coast on June 2, killing at least 12 Islamist fighters, including foreigners, who were believed to be allied to extremist groups, Puntland officials said. CNN reported that the destroyer was targeting a suspected Al-Qaeda operative believed to have been involved in the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.
A US force is based in Djibouti and patrols the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden as part of the US-led "war on terror". Scare quotes courtey of the Afp.
US intelligence says Al-Qaeda has stepped up operations in Somalia.
KUWAIT - Kuwait said on Monday it would not allow its key ally the United States to use its territory to launch any strike on Gulf neighbour Iran if a row over Teherans nuclear programme escalates.
A little jumpy, are they?
The move comes against a backdrop of rising worries in the Gulf Arab state, which was the launch pad for the 2003 U.S-led invasion of Iraq, about prospects of a war in the Gulf.
The United States has not made a request and we will not agree to (such a request), Defence and Interior Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Hamad Al Sabah told reporters. He was responding a question on whether the US had asked Kuwait, where several thousand US troops are based, to use its territory in case of a military confrontation with Iran.
Kuwait is concerned about any strike on the Bushehr nuclear power station that Russia is building for Iran. The Iranian port city lies 300 km (185 miles) from Kuwait.
What's the prevailing wind direction?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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Please remind me to give a monumental shit the next time Kuwait is invaded.
#9
Tactically, that would hardly ever be Kuwait's purpose anyway. It would be a staging area for US heavy armor to head North up the Iraqi side of the border, if the Iranian army pushed West into Iraq, slicing their lines in half. Followed shortly thereafter by the complete surrender of every Iranian in Iraq, or a massacre of impressive scale.
Coincidentally, we have about a brigade of heavy armor in Kuwait for just that reason. It would not just be like a hot knife through butter, more like a 10 Watt laser through butter.
North Korea purchased some two dozen centrifuges from the Pakistani nuclear supplier network headed by A.Q. Khan and must account for the equipment as part of the stalled nuclear agreement, said a senior Bush administration official.
...
Of the centrifuges and uranium-enrichment goods that are the "central" issue of North Korean denuclearization, the senior official said, Pyongyang must account for the equipment. "We know they acquired ... close to two dozen centrifuges, P-1 and P-2 design, with P-2s being the most sophisticated," the senior official said.
The P-1 and P-2 designs were sold by the Khan network to Libya, Iran and North Korea. Large numbers of the machines are needed to spin uranium hexafluoride gas to produce highly enriched uranium, the fuel for nuclear bombs.
Additionally, North Korean purchasing agents bought special aluminum tubing used for centrifuges and uranium enrichment. "When you put all those pieces together, it spoke to a clear intent to have basically a production-scale capability to enrich uranium," the official said.
Under the first phase of the February nuclear accord, North Korea must shut down its plutonium-fueled reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon and allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country to monitor the program. The second phase calls for dismantling all nuclear programs, including the uranium-enrichment facilities.
The senior official said U.S. intelligence agencies assess that the first phase of the accord can be completed and that "the North Koreans would abide by that commitment." However, U.S. intelligence assessments indicate problems in getting North Korea to abide by the second phase of the accord. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2007 08:39 ||
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#1
"Or what? Its not like we're getting our $25 mill already.... FOAD U.S."
/channelling kimmie
#1
Same shit, different day. Just another turd in the swimming pool. Slingshot this Muslim asshole back to whatever Islamic cesspit he slithered out of.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected on Monday another prominent senator's call for a military strike against Iran, saying a U.S. attack would destabilize the Middle East.
I'm trying to visualize a destabilized cess pool. It's not quite working.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said over the weekend the United States should be prepared to use military force to stop Iran from training and equipping Iraqi militants blamed for the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Iran has denied supplying Iraqis with armor-piercing munitions and U.S. officials say they cannot prove complicity on the part of the Tehran government. But Lieberman, appearing on CBS' Sunday program "Face the Nation," said the United States had "good evidence" that Iraqis were being trained to use the weapons at a camp inside Iran. He advocated a military strike in retaliation, saying much of the job could be done with air strikes.
"The invasion of (Iran) is only going to destabilize that part of the world more," Reid said on Monday after speaking at a forum hosted by the Center for American Progress think tank.
Who said anything about invading? Just turn it into a parking lot.
"I know Joe means well, but I don't agree with him," the Nevada Democrat added. He advocated continued diplomatic efforts with Iran instead.
They've been working so well, after all...
Reid's comments appeared on thinkprogress.org, a Center for American Progress blog, and were confirmed by his Senate staff.
Analysts described Lieberman's comments as an escalation of official U.S. rhetoric. Up to now, officials including President George W. Bush have vowed to confront any Iranian networks found inside Iraq. "This takes it across the border," said Ray Takeyh, an Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 08:57 ||
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#1
Hey, Harry, you're destabilizing but I don't see you goin anywhere...
#2
What I find interesting about this is that we are starting to see The Usual Suspects(TM) coming out from under their rocks to denounce an attack on Iran. What that says to me is that the fuse has already been lit for the attack on Iran.
#7
Harry "We Lost" Reid is kinda shaky. You have to destabilize the enemy before you can win--but then winning scares Reid and doesn't fit into a good dhimmi way of thinking. Stick to the under- the-table land deals Harry and please STFU for once.
#8
He advocated continued diplomatic efforts with Iran instead.
Isn't one definition of insanity doing something over and over again while expecting a different result? Just goes to show the term liberal looney is right on the mark.
#11
Reid says U.S. strike on Iran would be destabilizing
Horseshit! Room temperature mullahs are incredibly "stable".
He advocated continued diplomatic efforts with Iran instead.
After all, it's been working so well for the Europeans. MORON! It's defeatist assholes like Reid that will lose us the war against Islam. I'm beginning to agree with fellow Rantburgers that the American left is our biggest obstacle in defeating Islam.
#12
Even the threat of bombing has the Ayatollahs squirming. What is it doing to Ayatollah haters in Iran? Let's do the surgical strikes, and let Iranians do the rest.
#14
It is obvious that the 'unstable' part is senator H. Reid, D-Searchlight. (Maybe he doesn't have real estate futures in Iran yet and is just buying time to close the deals....) Should be looking at glass futures though.
Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times. The number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to fewer than 1,700 in 2006. As a result, the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues dropped from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.
The organization instead is relying on about two dozen donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year. Asked about the decline, Parvez Ahmed, CAIR's board chairman, pointed to the number of donors. "We are proud that our grass-roots support in the American Muslim community has allowed CAIR to grow from having eight chapters and offices in 2001 to having 33 today," Mr. Ahmed said.
M. Zuhdi Jasser, director of American Islamic Forum for Democracy, says the sharp decline in membership calls into question whether the organization speaks for American Muslims, as the group has claimed. "This is the untold story in the myth that CAIR represents the American Muslim population. They only represent their membership and donors," Mr. Jasser said.
"Post-9/11, they have marginalized themselves by their tired exploitation of media attention for victimization issues at the expense of representing the priorities of the American Muslim population," Mr. Jasser said.
CAIR listed contributors in its Form 990 filings with the Internal Revenue Service, but the IRS redacted all the names before releasing the documents. In 2001, 26 contributors gave more than $1.6 million; in 2002, 26 gave more than $2.6 million; in 2003, 24 gave more than $2 million; in 2004, 20 gave more than $1.4 million; in 2005, 19 contributed $1.3 million.
The Washington Times requested from the IRS all the 990 Forms that CAIR has filed since its inception in 1994 under the law regulating tax-exempt organizations. The first two annual forms are no longer on file pursuant to agency regulations. Tax forms for 1997 and 1998 were "unavailable" either because the group's income was less than $25,000, was filed under a parent corporation or "the return may have been requested by another department of the Internal Revenue Service," the IRS said.
CAIR's papers were provided by the government agency for tax years 1996, 1999, and 2000 through 2005. Revenue from those periods totaled more than $17.7 million, while program expenses totaled $8.5 million.
CAIR constantly notes in its press releases that it cooperates with federal law-enforcement activities and claims to conduct sensitivity training for Homeland Security officials. A February press release from CAIR's Chicago office says it met with Homeland Security immigration officials and made an agreement to "conduct sensitivity training to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers and possibly prison personnel."
Homeland Security officials deny such claims and a check of the Office of Management and Budget Watch database of government contracts since 2000 shows CAIR has never been awarded a grant or a government contract. "The department does not have a formalized relationship with that particular organization," said one Homeland Security official speaking on the condition of anonymity. "We do have formalized relations with other community groups with whom we do contracts for training and consultation on matters that are specific to a given community."
"It is not uncommon for that particular organization to issue a press release attempting to overstate their interaction with the department," the official said.
#2
I'd love to see the redacted donor list. Might be interesting to see just who is funding this nest of vipers.
Oh, and when is the Major Subversive Media going to stop using quotes from this splinter organization as gospel truth?
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/12/2007 8:26 Comments ||
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The usual suspects, Saudis and other Gulf muslims.
The United Arab Emirates recently announced that it has set up an endowment serving as a source of income for CAIR. The amount of the funding is undisclosed, but sources say it will be enough to help CAIR finance the construction of a new $24 million office building and a planned $50 million public-relations campaign aimed at repairing Islam's -- and the UAE's -- image in America.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2007 9:02 Comments ||
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#4
This fits with what I've read on FrontPage: twice this year Patrick Poole has written articles on CAIR's membership and how their rhetoric is light-years ahead of their numbers. I know that to some extent every organization likes to claim that it speaks for a portion of the population larger than the segment that actually subscribe to it (via memberships or donations or volunteers or whatever), but CAIR is ahead of them all. Scary, really.
"CAIR By the Numbers" - http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=28394
Posted by: The Doctor ||
06/12/2007 9:11 Comments ||
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The quote in #3 is also from a FrontPage article: The CAIR-U.A.E. Connection. It is definitely worth reading: Before 9-11, the UAE sponsored hunting camps in Afghanistan attended by Osama bin Laden. In fact, according to U.S. intelligence, UAE Defense Minister Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum requisitioned a C-130 cargo plane to deliver Toyota Land Cruisers, weapons and other supplies to bin Laden at one of the camps a year after the terrorist kingpin attacked U.S. embassies in Africa.
Sheikh Mohammed, now the ruler of Dubai, knew bin Laden was wanted by the U.S., but provided him material support nonetheless. His Al-Maktoum Foundation, which holds telethons to support families of Palestinian suicide bombers, holds the deed to CAIR's headquarters in Washington.
...
The memo also determined that Dubai officials had lied to U.S. officials about visiting the camps. And they were believed to have even tipped off bin laden about U.S. plans for additional strikes on his terror-training camps.
Hunting with prized falcons is popular sport in the Middle East. The late president of the UAE, Sheik Zayed, reportedly introduced his top falcon trapper to bin Laden during a hunting trip in Afghanistan before 9-11. The trapper, Mohamed al-Qahtani, then signed on as the would-be 20th hijacker, according to recently disclosed detainee interrogation logs from Gitmo.
...
U.S. intelligence officials say the secret hunting expeditions were a way for al-Qaida to safely meet with top officials of purported U.S. allies in the region, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. While there is no evidence to suggest they discussed the 9-11 operation as they sipped tea with bin Laden at the Afghan camps, bin Laden nonetheless chose to use Dubai as the final staging ground for the operation and the launching point from which to deploy most of his 9-11 hijackers to hit America.
Two of the hijackers, in fact, were UAE citizens, and one of them -- Marwan al-Shehhi -- served under Gen. Sheikh Mohammed as a sergeant in the UAE army. Al-Shehhi was the pilot who crashed the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Dubai also served as the transit point for 9-11 cash. More than $100,000 in al-Qaida funds were funneled through Dubai banks to the hijackers.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2007 9:19 Comments ||
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#6
I've read about how big the Bund was here back in the 30's. Ever hear of Fritz Kuhn, Parvez?
#7
I have seen videotapes of UAE personnel landing in Taliban controlled Afghanistan, days before 9-11, for the noted hunting trips. The gift of 400 Toyota vehicles - it was trucks and not land cruisers - has also been confirmed. Taliban officials gave some to Al-Qaeda, of whom there are numerous videotapes of same in Toyotas.
The Koran tells Muslims, "jihad is prescribed to you." Jihad is like breathing to a Muslim. Even peaceful contacts are jihad in another form.
#9
If memory serves me correctly, both Bill Clinton and Ms Maddy Albright both serve (for a fee, I'm sure) as some kind of liaison between UAE and USA.
#10
CAIR was inflating the number of US muslim numbers in the USA prior to Sept 11, I don't doubt they inflated their own numbers as a force multiplier in their dealings with politicians.
I also suspect that many of the questionable folks within their numbers dropped off because they were unsure how effective the US government would be in rooting them out.
#11
When federal investigation of CAIR begins, they'd better be sure to use membership lists from the period of peak enrollment. Who knows how many terrorist operative members were intentionally warned away from further participation after 9-11 by CAIR's own executives. CAIR is rotten to the core and must be dissected cell-by-cell before its executive staff and select members or donors are all deported from America. They are nothing but a terrorist organization. Anyone who is not a citizen that ever subscribed to CAIR should be deported.
It was a small item in that day's newspaper. But to Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri, the news about peasants killing a policeman in Naxalbari in north Bengal on May 25, 1967, literally leapt out of the page. Rai Chaudhuri, then a 23-year-old student at Calcutta University, was part of a growing number of youth in elite colleges who were fired by revolutionary ideology but were increasingly getting disillusioned with mainstream Communist parties.
Naxalbari was like a clarion call to Rai Chaudhuri who retired as head of the department of physics in Presidency College in 2004 and was one of those who featured in V S Naipaul's India: A Million Mutinies Now and many of the best and brightest of his generation. "We were elated. We had only read about the armed peasant struggles in China and Vietnam. Now it was actually happening here in our land," says Rai Chaudhuri. Soon posters supporting Naxalbari appeared in College Street and elsewhere. Slogans such as 'China's Chairman is our Chairman' suddenly sprouted on Kolkata walls. The lawns of Presidency College became a meeting ground for students from Calcutta and neighbouring areas, and the informal group came to be known as the Presidency Coalition.
By April 1969, a Maoist party the CPI(ML) had been formed and Naxalite leader Charu Majumdar's call to liberate the countryside was finding ready takers among students. The rules as framed by Majumdar himself a college dropout from Siliguri and a veteran of the Tebhaga movement for the young organisers were clear: Stay only in the house of a landless or poor peasant; stay secretly right from the first; and never expose yourselves. The rural stint did not always go down well with city-bred students. Dipesh Chakrabarty, a Presidency College student of the 1960s who now teaches in University of Chicago, recalls: "Many of the urban youth who went to liberate villages came back within weeks with acute bowel problems."
For those like Rai Chaudhuri, who decided to stay on, life was hard. "The CPI(ML) had been formed by then, and the line of 'annihilation of class enemies' had taken shape. The idea was that after killing a hated landlord in an area, the action would itself act as an 'organiser'. After one or two circuits, I was sent to a new area where there had just been an annihilation. I tried sincerely but could not reap any organisational harvest from that action," he says. This was also the time brutal killings became part of life in Bengal. Indeed, one of Majumdar's favourite dictums was: "One who has not smeared his hands red with the blood of the class enemy is not fit to be called a Communist." Calcutta, in particular, lived in daily fear of Naxalite violence.
The violent turn to the movement and the subsequent police brutality alienated some of the urban youth. "While I supported Maoism, I did not have a taste for the cult of violence that Charu Majumdar preached. Also, I did not have the courage to face the prospect of police torture," admits Chakrabarty. The distaste for violence among some students is confirmed by Arun Mukherjee, who had an intimate knowledge of the psyche of the young activists. As deputy commissioner of police in the special branch from 1969-72, he was in charge of interrogating arrested Naxalites. Mukherjee, who has just released a book on the period, believes that the egregious violence propagated by Naxalite leaders deeply unsettled many students from middle-class families. He cites the case of a Presidency College student who developed "serious mental aberrations" after committing an act of brutal annihilation.
This was also the time when members of the underworld joined the Naxalite movement sometimes actively encouraged by the police leading to an upsurge of violence. There were many students who were shot in cold blood and several more put behind bars. In end-1971, Rai Chaudhuri who by then was married and had a daughter was arrested with another prominent Naxalite leader, Asim Chatterjee better known as Kaka in Deoghar. After having spent 11 months in jail, Rai Chaudhuri was released on the condition that he and his family leave the country. In August 1972, Rai Chaudhuri was taken straight from jail to Dum Dum airport to board a flight to London where he went on to complete his PhD.
Not everyone was as fortunate as Rai Chaudhuri. For some students, their careers were virtually finished. There were, however, many who picked up the pieces of their lives and moved on. There was, for instance, Amal Sanyal who sat for his university exams from prison and later settled down in New Zealand. Chakrabarty joined IIM Calcutta in what he says was a "peculiar mood that combined elements of self-denial with those of self-affirmation". Some like Kaka stayed in active politics and even contested elections.
But for most of the youth from elite colleges who dedicated the best years of their lives to the cause of revolution, the Naxalite movement fundamentally changed their lives. Rai Chaudhuri recently took to the streets to protest the police firing in Nandigram. Chakrabarty's involvement with the Subaltern Studies project would never have happened without the Naxalite movement. While the fires of revolution sparked by Naxalbari have spread and taken on a different character, the events that happened 40 years ago still remain a source of inspiration for the 1960s generation.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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the events that happened 40 years ago still remain a source of inspiration for the 1960s generation
Just like Kennedy, Kerry, Pelosi, nearly all journalists, Sean Penn, even Mikey Moore, and soooo many others - lefties, commies, and other hopeless idealists.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/12/2007 6:33 Comments ||
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ISLAMABAD - Pakistans suspended chief justice won the first round in a lengthy legal battle with the government on Monday, as the Supreme Court decided to consider his challenge against accusations of misconduct.
President Pervez Musharrafs suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9 sparked protests by lawyers and the opposition that have turned into a broad campaign for the restoration of democracy. It is the most serious challenge to the authority of Musharraf since he seized power in a 1999 coup, and threatens stability in a nuclear-armed country on the front line of a global battle to defeat terrorism.
While political tension has mounted, the Supreme Court has for nearly a month been listening to complex legal arguments aimed at determining which judicial body should rule on the misconduct charges against Chaudhry. Chaudhry had challenged the impartiality of a panel set up to conduct the inquiry, and its hearings were halted pending the outcome of the Supreme Courts deliberations.
The court on Monday brushed aside a government attempt to block Chaudhrys challenge said it would get on with considering the case. We are very happy and satisfied that the court has begun regular proceedings, Aitzaz Ahsan, the lead counsel on Chaudhrys legal team, said.
A government lawyer rejected the notion that it was a setback. Nothing has been said against the government. There is nothing adverse, said government lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri.
"just a flesh wound!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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There may be an unlimited supply of explosives in Iraq, but there is not an unlimited supply of people who know how to wire the detonators. In 2004, CIA operatives in Iraq believed that they had identified the signatures of 11 bomb makers. They proposed a diabolical -- but potentially effective -- sabotage program that would have flooded Iraq with booby-trapped detonators designed to explode in the bomb makers' hands. But the CIA general counsel's office said no. The lawyers claimed that the agency lacked authority for such an operation, one source recalled.
#4
the agency lacked authority for such an operation
WTF?! It's a WAR you idiots! Another example of the bureaucratic mindset. CIA (or DoD) leadership should have said "thanks for your recommendation" and then have had the balls to go ahead with it. But no, we have to be sensitive to the needs of the terrorists. After all, they're vermin human too.
#5
Ok, if the pansies at CIA won't do it then it's time to contract some manufacturing and give the resulting ordnance to Iraqis willing to risk getting them into the proper hands.
Not everyone is as constrained as our own folks.
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/12/2007 8:24 Comments ||
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#6
Drop the lawyers off in downtown Baghdad. See how many manage to talk their way out.
Posted by: ed ||
06/12/2007 8:50 Comments ||
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#7
I've worked with attorneys. Their mindset is really, well different. You really don't want them waging a clandestine war.
#8
BS. Half the lawyers are proved wrong everyday. If one lawyer says no, the chances are there is another one who will say yes. Its an adversarial system. If the CIA really had a plan, then it would have found a way to make it happen. I think this is more like finding and IDing a "goat' to make up for some ops deficiencies.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/12/2007 10:18 Comments ||
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#9
We wrote the book for the insurgents, in a sense. By arming and training the mujaheddin in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets in the 1980s, we created the modern dynamics of asymmetric warfare. That extends even to the fearsome armor-piercing "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs, that we have accused the Iranians of supplying to Iraqi insurgents. The CIA referred to these tank busters as "platter charges" in the days when we were covertly helping provide them to the Afghan rebels.
Aha! So it IS our fault. This is, after all, the WaPo. But wait!
The simple, low-tech answer to the IED threat is to reduce the number of targets -- by getting our troops off the streets during vulnerable daylight hours, to the extent possible. It's an interesting fact that very few IED attacks have been suffered by our elite Special Forces units, which attack al-Qaeda cells and Shiite death squads mostly at night, with devastating force. They blow in from nowhere and are gone minutes later, before the enemy can start shooting. That's the kind of asymmetry that evens the balance in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So the answer is to bring home all the troops except the Special Forces guys? Or is this the intelligent recognition in WaPo that we need to fight the enemy asymetrically?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/12/2007 10:29 Comments ||
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#10
Lawyers; why do they hate us?
Well. Most Lawyers are Liberal (Leftists), and as such they are not on our side. Lawfare is just another tactic in the Leftist arsenal, and they are using it to great effect in working to defeat us.
We are not going to survive as the society our founders envisioned as long as we continue to play by the rules the other side has created for our defeat. It is going to be necessary to tear their throats out, and yes, Matilda, that means extra-judicial warfare.
Our government has been suborned by the very ideology that wishes to destroy us, they are not on our side. I think a lot of people that have been asleep are starting to realize this. If they don't now, they will as soon as the effects of the (Sh)Amnesty Bill (if it passes) start kicking in.
I saw Tony Snow lying through his teeth on Fox this early AM, what a douche! His eyes and facial expression revealed that he did not buy the crap he was peddling, but peddle it he did.
Heat up the Tar, and sack the feathers, the time is near.
Posted by: Natural Law ||
06/12/2007 12:23 Comments ||
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#11
Yes, the legal system is adversarial, i.e. one side is pitted against the other side. if you think "billable hours" then it makes complete sense that movement is slow and that there is little interest in getting to an end result too quickly.
#12
We are not going to survive as the society our founders envisioned as long as we continue to play by the rules the other side has created for our defeat. It is going to be necessary to tear their throats out, and yes, Matilda, that means extra-judicial warfare.
Word, Natural Law! We need to nail these eleven bomb makers and then move on to the top 30 Islamic terrorist players, including a few Saudi Princes. I fear that even our military does not fully comprehend how high context cultures, like those in the MME (Muslim Middle East), rely upon a select few well connected big wigs and highya-mucky-mucks to make the wheels turn.
if you think "billable hours" then it makes complete sense that movement is slow and that there is little interest in getting to an end result too quickly.
Perhaps the solution is to compensate all lawyers on a contingency basis. Losing side must pay all court and attorney's fees. Lawyers would be far less inclined to run up huge bills if there was a risk that they might not be remunerated for them.
#13
We need to nail these eleven bomb makers and then move on to the top 30 Islamic terrorist players, including a few Saudi Princes.
Well Zenster, I could certainly go for some of that. However, when I said:
It is going to be necessary to tear their throats out, and yes, Matilda, that means extra-judicial warfare.
I was thinking about our domestic battle-space.
Perhaps the solution is to compensate all lawyers on a contingency basis.
Perhaps the solution is to line all the lawyers up and go: eenie, meanie, minie, moe everyone that gets tagged with "meanie & moe" gets a .45 ACP to the forehead.
These people (politicians/lawyers) have deliberately gamed the system, time for them to collect their just rewards.
Posted by: Natural Law ||
06/12/2007 21:25 Comments ||
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#14
Can we use the technology in Law books at Harvard and Yale?
#15
There are lawyers who are good people out there; some of them read and post at Rantburg. ;-) Certain of those with executive responsibility simply need to put their legal sections back in their place as advisers, not deciders.
#16
There are lawyers who are good people out there; some of them read and post at Rantburg. ;-)
Yes, TW, there are lawyers out there that are good people, no doubt. But the whole legal system has been corrupted, and too many people that should be the decision makes are too willing to delegate their responsibility to their counsel.
And then there are all the lawyers that have gamed the system out of greed. I'll have a better opinion of the profession when I see the good lawyers cleaning up their profession. Until then, some of them are going to have to be slapped down.
Posted by: Natural Law ||
06/12/2007 22:56 Comments ||
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too many people that should be the decision makes are too willing to delegate their responsibility to their counsel. Until then, some of them [lawyers] are going to have to be slapped down.
I quite agree, Natural Law. The bad decision makers and lawyers, both.
WASHINGTON - The government of Sudan, regularly accused of backing atrocities in Darfur, has secretly allowed its spies to gather information about the insurgency in Iraq for the United States, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Great. Thanks for blowing another secret.
Citing unnamed intelligence officials, the California newspaper said Sudan has become increasingly valuable to Washington since the September 11, 2001, attacks because the Sunni Arab nation is a crossroads for Islamic militants making their way to Iraq and Pakistan.
Of course they wouldn't cite a named official, now would they.
That steady flow of foreign fighters has provided cover for Sudans Mukhabarat intelligence service to insert spies into Iraq, the report said. If youve got jihadists traveling via Sudan to get into Iraq, theres a pattern there in and of itself that would not raise suspicion, the paper quoted a former high-ranking CIA official as saying. It creates an opportunity to send Sudanese into that pipeline.
As a result, Sudans spies have often been in better position than the US spy agency CIA to gather information on Al Qaedas presence in Iraq, as well as the activities of other insurgent groups, the paper said. Sudanese can go places we dont go. Theyre Arabs. They can wander around, the paper quoted another former CIA official as saying.
The officials declined to say whether the Mukhabarat had sent its intelligence officers into the country, citing concerns over protecting sources, according to the report.
Which didn't stop them from running their yaps at the LAT.
However they said that Sudan had assembled a network of informants in Iraq providing intelligence on the insurgency.
Sudan has helped the United States track the turmoil in Somalia, working to cultivate contacts with the Islamic Courts Union and other militias in an effort to locate Al Qaeda suspects hiding there, the paper added. Its relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency has given Sudan an important back channel for communications with the US government, the report said.
And although President George W. Bush has recently slapped new sanctions on Sudan over Darfur, some critics accuse the administration of not going far enough for fear of jeopardizing the counter-terrorism cooperation.
In an interview, Sudans ambassador to the United States, John Ukec Lueth Ukec, suggested that the sanctions could affect his countrys willingness to cooperate on intelligence matters, the paper reported. The decision to deny 31 businesses owned by the Sudanese government access to the US financial system was not a good idea, Ukec said. It diminishes our cooperation, the paper quoted the ambassador as saying. And it makes those who are on the extreme side, who do not want cooperation with the United States, stronger.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This could well explain why left-beasts who normally oppose even the US's right to self-defense are so eager to have our troops intervene in Darfur.
The objective is not to prevent genocide- the quislings wouldn't want surrender in Iraq if they cared about genocide- but to sabotage an important clandestine relationship.
#2
This is bullshit, the libs are laying the groundwork to blame the Darfur situation on us. i.e. "we let them carry out a genocide because we are hooked up tight with the govt. in Khartoum". This is another EX-CIA asshole with an ax to grind with the current admin.
To understand what is happening between Israel and the Palestinians now, you have to understand what happened in the Middle East war of 1967. Finally, some sensible, honest, balanced reporting on root causes from the BBC...
It took only six days for Israel to obliterate smash the armed forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria but over the last 40 years, the legacy of the war has shaped the whingeing conflict into what it is today. The war made 250,000 more Palestinians - and more than 100,000 Syrians - into refugees. No peace is possible in the Middle East without solving their problems. ...Then again, maybe not.
Israel became an occupier. It captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. Israel had another, very serious, war with Syria and Egypt in 1973, but increasingly the main Arab thrust against Israel came from Palestinian groups, led by Yasser Arafat's PLO. Those slowest of slow learners
For Palestinians, the lesson of the humiliating defeat suffered by the Arab frontline states in 1967 was that no-one else was going to do their fighting for them. The failure of Arab nationalism in 1967 was also a major factor in the early development of political Islam. The mosques began providing the answers to questions that the secular strongmen could not convincingly answer. If only Al-Auntie was around back in Yathrib 627 AD to give their dialectic materialistic spin on how the rise of political Islam was caused by "failed nationalism", peace would be upon all of us.
Spoiling for a fight More neutral tag-lines from our state sponsored BBComintern
The myth of the 1967 Middle East war was that the Israeli David slew the Arab Goliath. It is more accurate to say that there were two Goliaths in the Middle East in 1967. The Arabs, taken together, had big armed forces, but they were not ready for combat. Yes, the David and Goliath analogy really falls apart there, doesnt it?
The Jewish Goliath had never been in better shape, and knew it, or rather its leaders did. In 1967 Israel was a fortress society in a way that it is no longer. There was no television, and generals and politicians did not leak their business to their favourite journalists as they do today. Do I detect a hint of bitterness there, Jeremy?
Israeli civilians, especially in the crisis that led to war, were left to their own fears, which for many people were considerable. It was their OWN fear, see?
The Jewish state was only 19 years old and the youngest survivors of the Holocaust were barely in their 20s. Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul Nasser's radio station Voice of the Arabs fed their anxieties by broadcasting bloodcurdling threats. He was just being a good democratic capitalist & giving the market what it wanted.
Its chief announcer, Ahmed Said, had the best known voice in the Arab world in the 1960s after Nasser himself and the legendary diva, Umm Kulthum. So you see, they were quite the patrons of the arts, at the time, Ahmed Said being way down there in the ratings. Unlike those evil warmongering, Television abstaining Israelis
Said was famous for lines like this: "We have nothing for Israel except war - comprehensive war... marching against its gangs, destroying and putting an end to the whole Zionist existence... every one of the 100 million Arabs has been living for the past 19 years on one hope - to live to die on the day that Israel is liquidated." "...Annihilation.... etc, etc... genocide.... wipe them into the sea... blah blah... jihad.... yaddah yaddah... you know the picture... All the standard stuff... Sabre rattling, probably......
No wonder many Israelis and their friends and relations abroad were scared stiff. The big ninnies!
Reports of what Said was saying, and even the broken Hebrew of broadcasts beamed directly into Israel from Cairo, convinced many Israeli civilians that if they were facing enemies that were prepared to annihilate them, then they needed to fight, and fight hard.
The problem for the Arabs was they believed Ahmed Said and his colleagues too, and convinced themselves that an easy victory was coming. They couldnt have come up with that one on their own, now could they?
The generals' hour
Israel's generals were not taken in. They all knew that the only way that Israel would lose the war would be if the IDF did not turn up. YJCMTSU... (Well, Jeremy can, actually.) According to our well informed friend, these Generals were unanimous about the unimportance of air superiority in this "little battle"
The Israeli generals... had been training to finish the unfinished business of Israel's independence war of 1948 for most of their careers.
So did King Hussein of Jordan, and most of the Egyptian generals - with the exception of the inept and corrupt commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Abd al Hakim Amer. Doesnt stop them blaming the US, though.
The Israeli Air Force destroyed the Egyptian air force on the ground on the morning of 5 June 1967 in a surprise attack.
In the next five days Israel confirmed the intelligence estimates of the British and the Americans. Six weeks earlier, the British cabinet's Joint Intelligence Committee had concluded that an Arab victory was "inconceivable." Around the same time, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Israel would be "militarily unchallengeable by any combination of Arab states at least during the next five years".
The Israeli generals, hugely self-confident, mainly sabras (native-born Israeli Jews) in their late 30s and early 40s, had been training to finish the unfinished business of Israel's independence war of 1948 for most of their careers. When their political leaders, most of whom were cautious immigrants at least 20 years older, tried to use diplomacy to end the crisis that led to war, the top brass were beside themselves with frustration. They believed that delay meant more casualties, and the unnecessary postponement of the inevitable war and inevitable victory for which they had been preparing. How unenlightened of them.
Victors
Nasser's motives for risking war in 1967 are still debated. With a heady mix of revolutionary leftists variously appeasing/crushing/collaborating with the head bumping fundamentalists, who could possibly say?
Another explanation is that Nasser was prepared to take Israel to the brink to reinforce his position as an Arab hero. ...which corresponded, incidentally, with an absence of decent haircuts and beer.
Two Israeli historians have recently suggested that he was egged on by the Soviet Union, which wanted Egypt to destroy Israel's nuclear weapons programme at Dimona. Another explanation is that Nasser was prepared to take Israel to the brink to reinforce his position as an Arab hero. If it went over the brink, he assumed the superpowers would rescue him and deliver a political victory, as they had in the Suez war of 1956.
When victory came, Israeli civilians, who had never been told how strong Israel was, believed that they had escaped a terrible fate. David Rubinger, the Israeli photographer who took the most iconic pictures of the war, was with IDF paratroopers when they captured the Western Wall, and was swept up in the mood: "We were all crying. It wasn't religious weeping. It was relief. We had felt doomed, sentenced to death. Then someone took off the noose and said you're not just free, you're king. It seemed like a miracle." Yippie kay-ay, Moshe.
The conviction that it was a miracle, that God saved the Jewish people and reunited them with their historic homeland in Judea and Samaria, is still the driving force behind Israeli religious nationalism. When the messianic moment of victory combined with Zionism's innate instinct to push out the frontier, the result was the settlement movement.
Occupiers
Israel's reward, apart from victory itself, was a new strategic relationship with the United States. Yet even before the fighting ended, as Israel completed its capture of Jerusalem and the West Bank, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, one of the staunchest friends Israel has ever had in the White House, warned that by the time the Americans had finished with all the "festering problems", they were going to "wish the war had never happened".
Four days after the war ended, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk warned that if Israel held on to the West Bank, Palestinians would spend the rest of the century whineing, seething, blowing up their own kiddies, bitching and fouling their own nests trying to get it back. Forty years on, Israel has settled around 450,000 people on land occupied in 1967, in defiance of everyone's interpretation of international law except its own. Unless you include Sharia law, of course.
The settlers are protected by all the resources of the state, including the IDF, from a rebellious subject people, many of whom believe that ruthless violence targeted at civilians as well as soldiers is a legitimate response to occupation. Wuthless Webels!
For Palestinians, the settlements are a catastrophe, made worse every day by the fact that they are expanding fast.
After 40 years as an occupier, Israel can no longer count on the international support it had in 1967. The settlers see their presence as a national asset, necessity and obligation, but many other Israelis, to varying degrees, believe the settlements, and all the other legacies of 1967 that have deepened the conflict with the Palestinians, are a national disaster. "The tail started wagging the dog," David Rubinger complains bitterly. "Now the tail is so strong the dog can't move." Achh - stop kvetching, David. If you could chop liver like you mince your metaphors, maybe you would find a nice girl; settle down.
Posted by: Admiral Allan Ackbar ||
06/12/2007 04:47 ||
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Nice work, Admiral.
And to think some folks just read the BBC article - without the comments to put it in perspective!
And nice work, Fred! The Burg is back!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/12/2007 6:24 Comments ||
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#2
Cheers, Bobby & yes there is indeed a dearth of civil, well reasoned discourse in the UK, regrettably.
Here is a good explanation of how we can interpret the UN resolution wording (English - not French translation)
"withdraw from territories occupied"
according to the inclusion/exclusion legalistic framework of Al's-Koran.
So, if one was really honest, then a priori the '67 war, it logically follows that both Egypt and Jordan were occupiers. And had been since the failed attempt to destroy Israel in 1948. That they would have remained occupiers if they had not been evicted by Israeli military action as there was no serious political movement domestically or internationally to alter that state at the time.
Sorta like those bloody North Americans occupiers who evicted the German occupiers of Western Europe in the mid 40's. Sad state that. Shoulda stayed on their own side of the Atlantic. The Euros wouldn't have all those problems today. /sarcasm off.
#4
Let's face it the Israeli's failed miserably when it comes to public relations and their trust of the Arabs and because of that they were outmanuevered.
After the 6-day War Israel should have made a decision. (a) Keep the occupied territories and thus expel the Palestinian Arabs immediately (b) PLan for the day they'd give up the occupied territories.
For example they could have built fences to limited movement between the territories and Israel.
They could have renamed Sinai-Gaza to Palestine so that if it went back to Egypt it all went back, otherwise it became the Palestine homeland that could be sealed off.
They could have built homes and such to relocate those living in refugee camps the new Palestinae (Sinai/Gaza) to cut off the source of terrorists and propoganda. They could have forced and convinced Arabs to move to Sinai/Gaza and run the thing.
They could have done the same with specific sections of the West Bank, especially those near to Israel. Convincing Arabs to move out and Israeli settlers to move in so that demographically these areas because Jewish/Christian rather than Arab majorities.
They could have killed Arafat.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think they overestimated how long the good will of the world would last.
An attempted Palestinian raid of the Israeli border this weekend, purportedly to kidnap an Israeli soldier, was orchestrated by Syria and Iran, according to security officials associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
"Wudn't us. It wuz them."
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday thwarted an attempt by the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad militants to kidnap a soldier on the Israeli side of a major crossing into the Gaza Strip. Four militants approached the Israeli border in an SUV bearing "TV" signs in an attempt to disguise themselves as journalists. Reporters working in Gaza usually travel in cars with "TV" symbols to identify themselves. Upon reaching the crossing, the militants blew a hole in the border fence and attempted to storm an IDF position. IDF troops rushed to the scene, chasing three of the militants back to the Gaza Strip. One of the militants, 19-year-old Mohammed Jaabari, became separated from the group and hid inside Israel. Jaabari was later shot dead after he opened fire when soldiers approached him, the IDF said.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. "The aim of the operation was to retreat with a prisoner," said Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad. "This was prevented by the use of Israeli helicopters."
This attempted kidnapping took place just before the one year anniversary of the kidnapping by Hamas and two other groups of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza and is being used as a bargaining chip by the Hamas-led Palestinian government to release Palestinian prisoners, including arrested militants, held in Israeli jails.
Palestinian security officials associated with Fatah said this weekend's Islamic Jihad kidnap attempt was "completely orchestrated" by Syria and Iran. They said the operation was directly ordered by Ramadan Shallah, the overall chief of Islamic Jihad who resides in Syria and travels frequently to Iran. The Palestinian security officials said they had information phone calls were made between Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and the group's leadership in Damascus right before, during and after Saturday's kidnapping attempt. "This operation was an Iranian and Syrian way to explode things and have another card on the table," said a Palestinian security official.
The official said Hamas has shown flexibility regarding releasing Shalit, whereas Islamic Jihad is not part of the Palestinian government, answers to Iran and would take a more hardened stance if it has an Israeli prisoner. The official also said a successful kidnapping and raid of the Israeli border was estimated by Syria and Iran to have drawn Israel into a larger conflict in Gaza, thus distracting Israel from its northern border with Syria, where according to Israeli troops Syrian forces have been mobilizing the past few weeks. After Shalit's kidnapping last year, the IDF launched the largest operation it had conducted in Gaza since Israel evacuated the territory in 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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Israel strengthened its foothold in space on Monday by successfully launching a spy satellite that defense officials said provided the IDF "unprecedented operational capabilities."
The Ofek (Horizon) 7 satellite lifted off from Palmahim Air Force Base atop a Shavit missile at 2:40 a.m. and began showing initial operations 55 minutes later, after achieving orbit. Officials said, however, that it would take several days of system tests before it would be declared operational.
The Ofek 7's elliptical orbit reportedly takes it over Iran, Iraq and Syria every 90 minutes. A dose of Zionist mind rays every 90 min
RAMALLAH: The European Union on Monday resumed aid to the Palestinian finance ministry for the first time since the West launched an economic boycott of the government over a year ago. Meanwhile, Palestinian factions reached a new Egyptian-mediated truce deal to halt the recent gun battles that have resulted in six dead and dozens injured since Saturday.
The assistance begins with a 4 million euro project to help ensure that Palestinian taxpayers money is spent efficiently and that expenditures are accounted for. Finance Minister Dr Salam Fayyad and European Commission representative John Kjaer today signed a memorandum of understanding which relaunched European Union assistance to the ministry of finance, the European Commission said. The European Union, one of the biggest Palestinian donors, suspended direct aid to their government after Islamist movement Hamas blacklisted by the West as a terrorist organisation took office in March 2006. The European Commission has now decided to renew direct assistance to the ministry after Hamas formed a national unity government in March.
Under the project launched on Monday, the money would be paid in instalments until June 2009 and training would be provided in both the Ramallah and Gaza City offices of the finance ministry by accountancy firm Ernst and Young. This support for the ministry...will help me ensure that we work in accordance with the best international standards, and that the government can give every Palestinian taxpayer the assurance that their money is being legally and honestly spent, Fayyad said in a statement.
*The Islamist Hamas movement and members of President Mahmoud Abbass Fatah faction continued to trade sporadic gunfire in the streets, as the Trucefire ceasefire formally took effect at 11am. One gun battle erupted after militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a police station in Gaza,
Sporadic gunfire, except for the rocket propelled grenades. I gotta lie down.
police said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Gunmen from both camps also continued to block key Gaza intersections with checkpoints despite the terms of the deal calling for the militants to be pulled off the streets. A key motive behind the new truce was to permit 70,000 high school students in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to take their matriculation exams peacefully.
Musbah Abu Al Kheir, 17, passed several armed checkpoints on his way to school from a refugee camp outside Gaza City. Fatah and Hamas have no appreciation for the fact we are having final exams today, he said.
Among the victims of Sundays intensive gun battles was a pro-Hamas Islamic cleric pulled from his home and shot several times in the street. The shooting of the cleric came after a guard from Fatah was shot and thrown to his death from a high building in Gaza City, officials said.
#1
Among the victims of Sundays intensive gun battles was a pro-Hamas Islamic cleric pulled from his home and shot several times in the street. The shooting of the cleric came after a guard from Fatah was shot and thrown to his death
This onesie-twosie killing-stuff is no way to conduct an internecine war...
#3
Hamas and others are being massively funded by Iran, so I don't object as much -- except to the complete lack of morality involved -- to the EU funding Fatah. The parties are so involved in their internal blood feuds now, that I suspect even open war with Israel could no longer divert their attentions... at this point the more they have to fight with the worse it will get for their own.
#5
The assistance begins with a 4 million euro project to help ensure that Palestinian taxpayers money is spent efficiently and that expenditures are accounted for.
Yeah, I'm sure the powers that be were thrilled with that.
Okay, Mahmoud, here's the plan. Here's a hundred grand. Start the project. We'll hold on to the other 3,900,000. For a rainy day. Split evenly. In Switzerland. If ya get any complaints just point and scream, "Hey, look! Jooos!"
#6
The assistance begins with a 4 million euro project to help ensure that Palestinian taxpayers money is spent efficiently and that expenditures are accounted for.
Snipped diplo vapidity
According to unconfirmed reports in the local media, the suspect behind the kidnapping is Abdusallam Akiddin, also known as the Comandante Kiddie, the former commander of the MILF," who was expelled from the group because of his illegal activities. However it is still too early to be sure who is responsible for the abduction and there could also be other local criminals who could have abducted the priest in order to hand him over the the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, known for frequent kidnappings for ransom. Abu Sayyaf has its stronghold on the island of Jolo, which can easily be reached by boat from the area where the Italian priest was kidnapped.
In a recent interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), an Italian priest based in Jolo, Father Romeo P. Villanueva, said that "poverty sometimes pushes men in the area to carry out crimes that they would normally not commit and the presence of the Abu Sayyaf always makes kidnapping possible." The area in which the Muslim population of Mindanao lives is one of the poorest in the Philippines.
Talks on Monday between Iran and the European Union (EU) on Tehrans nuclear programme ended without a breakthrough. Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh confirmed that Tehrans senior nuclear negotiator, Javad Vaidi, had met Robert Cooper, a top aide to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
One western diplomat described the meeting aimed at trying to find ways for Iran to answer key, outstanding questions in the International Atomic Energy Agencys (IAEA) investigation of its nuclear programme as a failure.
Another western diplomat said that the scheduled talks between Vaidi and IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei had been cancelled since it was apparent that the Iranians didnt want to talk substance at this stage.
Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog chief on Monday told the IAEAs 35-nation board of governors that the brewing confrontation between Iran and world powers must be defused.
Stressing that he remained committed to a diplomatic solution to the standoff, he said that the facts on the grounds indicated that Iran was moving to raise proliferation by significantly expanding its uranium enrichment programme while curbing cooperation with IAEA inspectors. The IAEA meeting is scheduled to continue for one week, with ElBaradei due to issue a report on the Iranian nuclear question.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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the Iranians didnt want to talk substance at this stage.
Or any other stage.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/12/2007 6:05 Comments ||
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The outspoken Mt. Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Mouhammad Ali Al-Jozo has criticized the Lebanese opposition, led by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah organization , asking "Does loyalty to the Syrian regime mean disloyalty to Lebanon, igniting Lebanon, and destroying its economy?"
My guess is "yes."
He also asked: "Who can ensure that the sleeper cells amongst those faithful to the Syrian regime, which are like the Fateh Al-Islam gang, will not act as well?".
Yesterday it was reported that the Syrian intelligence has reportedly ordered its sleeper cells in Lebanon to assassinate 4 prominent Lebanese leaders: MP Saad Hariri, parliament majority leader and son of former PM Rafik Hariri , MP Walid Jumblatt, Druze leader and head of Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc and PSP chief, MP Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of communications , who miraculously survived an assassination attempt in 2004, for which Syria was blamed , but denied.any role, Fares Khashan- a prominent anti-Syrian journalist.
Al-Jozo wondered whether there was a connection between the recent explosions in Lebanon and some of the armed opposition elements, and said that he hoped that the Lebanese opposition would ask the Syrian security apparatuses to halt their belligerent activity against Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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'Does loyalty to Syria mean disloyalty to Lebanon?'
Well, yeah.
Dipshit.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/12/2007 17:15 Comments ||
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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he would begin taking steps to create the international tribunal for suspects in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and other political assassinations.
Ban said decisions will be made on the location of the tribunal outside of Lebanon, and the appointment of judges and prosecutors. "Those are very complex, technical and administrative issues, which need the attention and support of all UN member states," Ban told reporters.
The UN Security Council last month voted to establish the tribunal despite objections from five of the 15 members, who said the court lacks the legal and political support to try those responsible for the murder of Hariri in February, 2005, and at least 16 other political assassinations since that year. "I hope that all leaders in the region would cooperate to bring security and peace to Lebanon, and every leader in every country has the responsibility to cooperate (with the tribunal)," Ban said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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MP Walid Jumblatt , the Democratic Gathering leader accused the opposition of trying to blame all the Lebanese problems on failure to form what the Hezbollah led opposition is calling a government of national unity. Jumblatt called the present cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora a true government of national unity.
He said this is the government of resistance, the government that fought for got the tribunal approved by the UN, the government that sent Lebanon's army to the South of Lebanon for the first time in 4 decades and the government that succeeded at Paris 3 summit to maximize the pledges of all friendly nations to help Lebanon in its debt.
In his Newspaper al Anbaa, Jumblatt said if the opposition wants a different government then we need minimum guarantees ,as the veto power the opposition is demanding could wreck havoc to stability in Lebanon. Jumblatt sees the battle for Lebanon's independence as long lasting and as far as he is concerned , the battle for the tribunal is not over yet , but instead he says it has just started , since its implementation requires proper execution to find the killers of former PM Rafik Hariri.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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The Lebanese army was able this evening to take over Shaker Youssef al Absis house , confiscated all his documents and then leveled it . Absi who is the leader of Fatah al Islam terrorist organization is a fugitive and was sentenced to death last week in Amman Jordan, where he has been on the wanted list since 2004. According to National News Agency the documents that were confiscated by the army should help the Lebanese government in tracking down Fatah al Islam. Several reports indicated that Absi and his second in command Abu Hureira were both wounded few days back, but this information was denied by Abu Huriera, who remains holed in at the camp.
In other developments , a bomb exploded this evening in the city of Sidon in south Lebanon , but were no reports on damages and casualties. The Lebanese army announced that three soldiers were killed today. This brings up the total of soldiers killed to 61.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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"The Lebanese army was able this evening to take over Shaker Youssef al Absis house, confiscated all his documents and then leveled it."
Damn! I think I'm in love. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/12/2007 16:24 Comments ||
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Leader of the Islamic Action Front Fathi Yakan declared the collapse of the mediation efforts to broker a peaceful end to the Nahr al-Bared confrontation in north Lebanon as the conflict was now in the hands of al-Qaida with which he had no contact. Yakan, who is among a group of Muslim clerics shuttling between Fatah al-Islam and the army command, said on Sunday: "The issue is now very complicated after the Nahr al-Bared dossier has been handed over (by Fatah al-Islam) to al-Qaida worldwide. We have reached a dead-end."
The mediators on Friday already said they had suffered a setback when they were able to see only Shahine Shahine (Fatah al-Islam spokesman), not more senior Fatah al-Islam leaders. Yakan said his mediators had been unable to speak to Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker al-Abssi. "I do not think those speaking in the name of the group are able to give a decision. The fate of (Abssi) is not known," Yakan told Reuters.
However, another Fatah al-Islam spokesman, Abu Salim Taha said the mediation was not welcome as it required the Islamists to surrender as demanded by the Beirut government.
Ministerial as well as security sources ridiculed Yakan's announcement, accusing him of trying to distance Fatah-al-Islam from the Damascus regime in a move designed to "eliminate suspicion" of Syrian involvement in this direction. Yakan is aligned with the pro-Syrian opposition. This is perhaps why government sources doubt his neutrality. Many government sources consider Fatah al-Islam as " Made in Syria" terrorist organization that has nothing to do with Qaida, Islam or the Palestinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed militia that fought the Israeli army last summer, has built a network of underground military bunkers under the feet of United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon close to Israels border. It has rebuilt its fighting capability and Israeli intelligence now estimates that it has stockpiled 20,000 rockets. Hezbollah will never leave southern Lebanon, said Shaul Mofaz, the former defense minister, last week. Its now armed with rockets that could hit central and even southern Israel.
Hezbollah, which was forced to move away from the border as part of last August s ceasefire deal, has returned by stealth. Since the Israeli forces left, Hezbollah has been building formidable military underground posts under the noses of the UN, said an Israeli intelligence officer.
Before last summers war in Lebanon Hezbollah had more than 20 positions along the border. All were destroyed by the Israelis, who also killed several hundred fighters. Soon after the ceasefire agreement Hezbollah began to rebuild its positions in Shiite villages close to the Israeli border. The entrance to an underground post is usually in the back-garden of a Hezbollah supporter, said one source. The householder receives compensation for the use of his garden.
Modern equipment is used to sink the shafts, sometimes as deep as 70ft. Some bunkers are as wide as a football field, others can hold fewer than 10 fighters. They are equipped with sophisticated communications equipment and many are believed to be connected by tunnels, limiting Israels ability to destroy them from the air. Since last August huge quantities of arms, including Russian-made antitank missiles, short- and long-range rockets, small arms, mines and ammunition have been smuggled into Lebanon from Syria and Iran.
Israeli military intelligence sources say there is particular concern over long-range Fatah-110 rockets that have been supplied to Hezbollah. This rocket, with a 125-mile range and a 500lb warhead, is an improved version of a Chinese assault rocket, said Uzi Rubin, an Israeli missile expert. These rockets could reach Tel Aviv if hostilities resume.
Reports this weekend suggested that Israel may be willing to return the Golan Heights to Syria in a peace deal that would require Damascus to cut ties with Hezbollah and other militant groups. But Brigadier General Yosef Baidatz, a senior military intelligence officer, told the Israeli parliaments foreign and defense committee last week that Syria was preparing for war.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
They like to keep their rockets under the UN idiots, so that you can't hit them without whacking the blue-hatted blind-deaf-and-dumb brigade.
#2
The half-measured Israeli response last time is definitely not the way to go anywhere anytime. Get there firstus with the mostus. You will have far fewer problems down the road. Those rockets are going to have to be taken out. The source of rockets is going to have to be addressed also (Syria and Iran). They are sneaky bastards in this whole mess.
#3
I quite agree, Dino Thereting6522. All except the sneaky bit. Syria and Iran are as sneaky as a three year old child covering its eyes to keep us from seeing it. ;-)
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The FATA Reforms Forum (FRF) demanded on Monday the government include true representatives of the tribal people in Pak-Afghan peace jirga taking place in August, who had the influence in tribal areas to implement the jirgas decisions. The FRF also announced its support for FATA Grand Alliance that will hold tribal loya jirga on June 14 in Peshawar. The jirga, which will take place in Kabul this year, will be meaningless if people representing Pakistan are not influential and cannot implement the jirga decisions in tribal areas on this side of the border, FRF President Engineer Zaman Khan Dawar said while addressing a news conference along with Senior Vice President Iqbal Khyberwal, General Secretary Barkat Ali Afridi and others.
COPENHAGEN - As Denmark prepares to redeploy troops from southern Iraq to Afghanistan, Defence Minister Soren Gade said Monday he expected that foreign troops should be prepared to remain in Afghanistan for at least ten years. In my view there is no doubt that foreign soldiers will remain in Afghanistan for ten years or more, Gade said in remarks quoted by Danish news agency Ritzau.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected on Monday another prominent senator's call for a military strike against Iran, saying a U.S. attack would destabilize the Middle East.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistans suspended chief justice won the first round in a lengthy legal battle with the government on Monday, as the Supreme Court decided to consider his challenge against accusations of misconduct.
WASHINGTON - The government of Sudan, regularly accused of backing atrocities in Darfur, has secretly allowed its spies to gather information about the insurgency in Iraq for the United States, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
To understand what is happening between Israel and the Palestinians now, you have to understand what happened in the Middle East war of 1967. 
* New Gaza truce begins with continued fighting
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he would begin taking steps to create the international tribunal for suspects in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and other political assassinations. 
MP Walid Jumblatt , the Democratic Gathering leader accused the opposition of trying to blame all the Lebanese problems on failure to form what the Hezbollah led opposition is calling a government of national unity. Jumblatt called the present cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora a true government of national unity.
The Lebanese army was able this evening to take over Shaker Youssef al Absis house , confiscated all his documents and then leveled it . Absi who is the leader of Fatah al Islam terrorist organization is a fugitive and was sentenced to death last week in Amman Jordan, where he has been on the wanted list since 2004. According to National News Agency the documents that were confiscated by the army should help the Lebanese government in tracking down Fatah al Islam. Several reports indicated that Absi and his second in command Abu Hureira were both wounded few days back, but this information was denied by Abu Huriera, who remains holed in at the camp..JPG)
Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed militia that fought the Israeli army last summer, has built a network of underground military bunkers under the feet of United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon close to Israels border. It has rebuilt its fighting capability and Israeli intelligence now estimates that it has stockpiled 20,000 rockets. Hezbollah will never leave southern Lebanon, said Shaul Mofaz, the former defense minister, last week. Its now armed with rockets that could hit central and even southern Israel.
