"It is also my wish that our Taliban brothers and all other Afghans who are not in Afghanistan for various reasons and are standing in opposition ... I request them again and again to renounce violence, not only on the election day but forever," Karzai said.
Pansies.
The U.S. has announced a new drug policy for opium-rich Afghanistan, saying it was phasing out funding for eradication efforts and using the money for drug interdiction and alternate crop programs instead.
The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, told The Associated Press on Saturday that eradication programs weren't working and were only driving farmers into the hands of the Taliban. "Eradication is a waste of money," Holbrooke said on the sidelines of a Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting on Afghanistan, where he announced the policy shift and said it had been warmly received, particularly by the United Nations.
Afghanistan is the world's leading source of opium, cultivating 93 percent of the world's heroin-producing crop. The United Nations has estimated the Taliban and other Afghan militants made an estimated $50 million to $70 million off the opium and heroin trade last year.
In a report released earlier this week, the U.N. drug office said opium cultivation had dropped by 19 percent last year, but was still concentrated in southern provinces where the Taliban insurgency is strongest.
Holbrooke said the previous U.S. policy, which focused on eradication programs, hadn't reduced "by one dollar" the amount of money the Taliban earned off opium cultivation and production. "It might destroy some acreage," Holbrooke said. "But it just helped the Taliban."
"We're essentially phasing out our support for crop eradication and using the money to work on interdiction, rule of law alternate crops," he told the AP. At the same time, Washington is upgrading its support of agriculture programs. "That's the big change in our policies," he said. "This was widely accepted as the right thing to do."
Agriculture was among the issues taken up by the delegates at the G8 meeting in their Saturday session on Afghanistan, with participants saying in a draft version of the final statement that agricultural development was seen as "key to the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as other countries in the region."
The statement called for "expanded agricultural cooperation that could lead to rural development, food security, employment growth, higher income levels, alternatives to poppy cultivation and ultimately lower tensions in the region."
Holbrooke said the international community wasn't trying to target Afghan farmers, just the Taliban militants who buy their crops. "The farmers are not our enemy, they're just growing a crop to make a living," he said. "It's the drug system. So the U.S. policy was driving people into the hands of the Taliban."
The shift in U.S. policy follows a steady decrease in the number of acres (hectares) destroyed by eradication programs. According to the U.N. report, opium poppy eradication reached a high in 2003, after the Taliban were ousted from power, with more than 50,000 acres (21,000 hectares) eradicated. In 2008, only 13,500 acres (5,500 hectares) were cut down compared to about 47,000 acres (19,000 hectares) in 2007.
#1
"Elimination of opium production has severely hampered the operational capabilities of the Taliban, depriving them of the money they need to overcome NATO soldiers. By restoring their income from the drug trade, we hope that they will be able to maintain their struggle against western forces."
#2
So, how well has interdiction worked in comparison to eradication elsewhere?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
06/27/2009 11:58 Comments ||
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#3
This is probably a good idea but needs to be followed through with other support. For example, an opium crop can be transported from the farm on the back of a couple of donkeys with enough cash payment to last until the next year's crop.
If alternative crops are to be grown, infrastructure improvements must be made such as roads, bridges, grain storage, etc. A farmer will need to be able to harvest that crop and get it to market in sufficient quantity to earn a living. It is going to take several truck loads of wheat or maize to bring in the same amount of cash that a couple of donkey loads of opium do.
That implies the need for trucks, roads and bridges that will carry trucks, and a place to which the crop is brought for sale.
So any plan to convert the agriculture there to other crops will require a large investment in the infrastructure required to actually produce such crops on a scale where they can actually compete with opium as a viable subsistence crop for the farmers. Otherwise are are simply urinating upwind.
#4
I think Y'all are ignoring the price received, It seems far more likely the Opium growers will simply plant both crops, so if (Say) Wheat fails, Poppies will sustain the farm's expenses till next year.
It would be far better to simply pay a higher price than the Taliban can pay, and buy the crop.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/27/2009 20:34 Comments ||
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[Maghrebia] An al-Qaeda video released earlier this week urging Maghreb citizens to support the terrorist organisation provoked a negative reaction in Algeria. To analysts, the video reflects a desperate effort by al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb leader Abdelmalek Droukdel to link his struggling group to al-Qaeda's international organisation.
O stupid, stupid Lions of Islam!
In a video entitled "Algeria Between the Sacrifice of Fathers and Faithfulness of Sons", al-Qaeda spokesman Mohamed Hassan Kaid, alias Abu Yahya al-Libi (the Libyan), called on Muslims to wage "jihad" against Algerian military and government targets. He also made a recruiting call to the broader Maghreb population to join his cause.
The message provoked a wave of criticism in Algeria, particularly because it perpetuates confusion between al-Qaeda's "Mujahideen" and the Algerian Mujahideen who fought for Algerian independence.
Note the correct use of scare quotes in the previous sentence.
The editor of the daily newspaper El Fadjr said the video explains "why al-Qaeda is so desperate to win Algeria". Al-Qaeda "almost managed to realise its objective of founding an Islamic state, but people's reactions stood in its way," he stated. The organisation's determination is a form of "revenge" against Algeria, "which thwarted al-Qaeda's plans".
Daily paper Le Soir d'Algérie, meanwhile, wrote that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb tried to draw parallels between the "chouhadas" -- the martyrs in the revolution for independence - and the terrorists from the Salafist group.
The paper emphasised al-Libi's poor knowledge of Algerian history, as he had stated that "Algeria had a million martyrs", when in reality the figure was more like one and a half million.
Merely a rounding error.
A former Mujahid who fought in the Algerian war of independence remarked to Magharebia that it was the original Mujahideen who defeated terrorism when it appeared in Algeria. "The first self-defence groups, the "patriots", were started up by former Mujahideen such as Haj Al-Makhfi in Lakhdaria, or Al-Haj Zitoufi in Ain-Defla, or Colonel Amirouche's son, Noureddine Ait-Hammouda, in Kabylia," he said."As long as we live and the terrorist threat exists, we shall continue to fight them," the former mujahid added.
Al-Qaeda's media appearance is mostly aimed at legitimising Droukdel's command, at a time his organisation is experiencing some serious disagreements, added Le Soir d'Algérie. This kind of "blessing" from al-Qaeda's Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri is a lifeline for Droukdel's organisation, and a way of masking the innumerable losses it has suffered in recent times.
Meanwhile, Algerian authorities vowed to continue the fight against terrorism. Speaking during the graduation ceremony of three classes of National Gendarmerie officers on Wednesday (June 24th), General Ahmed Boustila during the graduation ceremony of three classes of National Gendarmerie officers that "the fight against the terrorists will continue."
Referring to last week's attack in which AQIM killed 18 gendarmes in Bordj Bou Arreridj, General Boustila said, "This massacre will not discourage the gendarmes or alter their determination to fight terrorism as a top priority, until it is completely eradicated."
"The Salafist group is experiencing a difficult situation internally, but is still capable of doing harm. That's why we have to remain vigilant and step up our information-gathering activities."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] The 12th Arab Conference for Combating Terrorism concluded Thursday (June 25th) in Tunis with a number of recommendations aimed at enhancing counter-terrorism efforts and promoting co-operation between relevant Arab security bodies.
The two-day conference was organised by the Secretariat General of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers. Delegations from 15 Arab countries and representatives from the League of Arab States, Interpol and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime attended the conference.
Participants discussed a draft Arab strategy to fight money laundering and terror financing, the "mental, psychological, and social characteristics of a terrorist", the role of the internet in expanding global terrorism and the need for protections against cyber crimes and cyber terrorism.
New technology makes it "easier for terrorist rings to influence weak people through TV and, most of all, the Internet", Council of Arab Interior Ministers chief Mohammad Bin Ali Koman said in his opening speech.
Describing terrorism as "the incontestable crime of the age", he said that "global crime and terrorism call for global co-operation and co-ordination".
More dialogue is needed to fight terrorism, participants in the conference concurred. Tolerance and understanding are other factors in that battle. They also agreed that regular citizens can play an effective role in fighting terrorism through collaboration with security forces.
"Terrorism has surpassed all other forms of crime, in terms of its massive damage and perilous repercussions. It is now a thorn in the body of countries and societies," Koman told the participants.
To deny terrorist groups access to financial support, participants urged the authorities to establish a firm policy to monitor this issue and analyse relevant information to keep terrorist groups from receiving any funding. They also urged development of a strategy to monitor all donations to charity institutions and social work associations, to prevent them from becoming fronts for terrorist financing.
Conference president and Lebanese security official Hassan Farhat urged Arab countries to lay down strategies and identify the best means co-operate and co-ordinate counter-terrorism efforts.
"Terrorism is a topic that still appears on the agendas of most conferences and meetings," said Farhat, "while no common definition has yet been reached for it at the international level."
"Everyone unanimously agrees that terrorism is evil and a danger that is invading the globe."
It is indeed terrible, whatever the heck it is, and we shall fight it to our last drop of blood, once someone gives us the money to acquire the proper tools and weapons. But not until then, because we wouldn't want to do it wrong.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, South Korea The United States will not use force to inspect a North Korean ship suspected of carrying banned goods, an American official was quoted as saying Friday.
So what was the talk all about? You mean the UN resolution was just posturing?
Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy met with South Korean officials in Seoul on Friday as the U.S. sought international support for aggressively enforcing a U.N. sanctions resolution aimed at punishing Pyongyang for its second nuclear test last month. The North Korean-flagged ship, Kang Nam 1, is the first to be tracked under the U.N. resolution.
On Thursday, the communist regime organized a massive anti-American rally in Pyongyang where some 100,000 participants vowed to "crush" the U.S. One senior speaker told the crowd that the North will respond to any sanctions or U.S. provocations with "an annihilating blow." That was seen as a pointed threat in response to the American destroyer.
It was idiotic, and only idiots believe that the demonstration meant anything. That includes the reporter and, apparently, Bambi ...
Flournoy said Friday that Washington has ruled the use military force to inspect the North Korean freighter. "The U.N. resolution lays out a regime that has a very clear set of steps," Flournoy said, according to the Yonhap news agency. "I want to be very clear ... This is not a resolution that sponsors, that authorizes use of force for interdiction."
It wasn't a resolution that did anything, in fact. China won again.
Flournoy said the U.S. still has "incentives and disincentives that will get North Korea to change course."
None that mean anything, of course, but all sorts of options ...
lournoy's trip came as the U.S. sought international support for aggressively enforcing the U.N. sanctions.
It is not clear what was on board the North Korean freighter, but officials have mentioned artillery and other conventional weaponry. One intelligence expert suspected missiles.
The U.S. and its allies have made no decision on whether to request inspection of the ship, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday in Washington, but North Korea has said it would consider any interception an act of war.
If permission for inspection is refused, the ship must dock at a port of its choosing, so local authorities can check its cargo. Vessels suspected of carrying banned goods must not be offered bunkering services at port, such as fuel, the resolution says.
A senior U.S. defense official said the ship had cleared the Taiwan Strait. He said he didn't know whether or when the Kang Nam may need to stop in some port to refuel, but that the ship has in the past stopped in Hong Kong's port.
Another U.S. defense official said he tended to doubt reports that the Kang Nam was carrying nuclear-related equipment, saying information seems to indicate the cargo is banned conventional munitions. North Korea is suspected to have transported banned goods to Myanmar before on the Kang Nam, said Bertil Lintner, a Bangkok-based North Korea expert who has written a book about leader Kim Jong Il.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The United States will not use force to inspect a North Korean ship
#3
Doesn't the US have the capacity to detect radioactive isotopes from a distance? Of course, that wouldn't help with things like centrifuges or a bomb chassis or a missile.
#4
I thought we never planned to use force, only to shadow the ship until it reached port. At which point the port authorities would demand inspection before permitting refueling and so forth.
#5
A lot will depend on where the ship pulls in for fuel. Singapore is pretty tough - they would insist on a thorough inspection. Vietnam and other countries, not so much.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/27/2009 8:40 Comments ||
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#6
Again, can't we offer the Vietnamese more than China and the Norks can? China and Vietnam aren't exactly on the best of terms.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2009 10:51 Comments ||
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#8
Hong Kong is the other option. The Chinese won't inhibit the ship's travel. If it's conventional weapons to Myannmar, the PRC might have even paid for the cargo in the first place.
#9
You don't extend an open hand to the clenched fist. The MMs of Iran sense weakness, now the Norks and their little experiment sense weakness, and certainly the Chicoms do, too. The Big O has made it perfectly clear that the US will not take a line-in-the-sand stand for anything.
And in doing so, he will accelerate the world into war---the very war that he thinks his ideology will prevent. God help us all.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/27/2009 13:07 Comments ||
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#10
President Obama's foreign policy is a joke to our enemies and an embarrassment to our nation. He's a bathtub Admiral at best.
The United States said it was monitoring multiple North Korean ships suspected of carrying weapons and that it would discuss with its allies what to do with one suspect vessel it is tracking.
While the United States has been tracking the Kang Nam since last week, the Pentagon said it is closely monitoring several other North Korean ships allegedly carrying weapons. We have been interested in this one ship [the Kang Nam], but weve been interested in, frankly, multiple ships, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 calls upon member states to inspect all cargo to and from North Korea provided there are reasonable grounds to believe the cargo contains prohibited items. Also, members may inspect vessels on the high seas with the consent of the ships flag state. Without that consent, the resolution decides that the flag nation shall direct the vessel to an appropriate and convenient port for the required inspection. The resolution doesnt authorize the use of military force.
Morrell said U.S. authorities were monitoring North Korean ships even before the UN Security Council resolution and were doing so under the Proliferation Security Initiative. Created in 2003, the PSI is a multinational regime designed to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by interdicting and inspecting suspect cargo in territorial waters of 95 PSI members.
Under PSI, we had obligations to and an interest in tracking ships to make sure there was no proliferation of any banned goods, Morrell said. We obviously, under [Resolution] 1874, have additional responsibilities and authorities, and we appreciate that.
The spokesman added no decision has yet been reached on whether to hail the Kang Nam for inspection and said the United States will discuss the matter with its allies. Morrell declined to elaborate where the Kang Nam was headed, saying, I dont think its productive for us to discuss it.
The ship was reportedly bound for Myanmar via Singapore, but Myanmars state media and Singapores maritime and port authority both said they had no information about a North Korean vessel being tracked by the U.S. Navy. The New Light of Myanmar reported that the country was expecting the arrival of a North Korean ship carrying rice, but otherwise had no information about this Kang Nam cargo ship.
Also, despite reports that the Kang Nam would dock in Singapore to refuel, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said it has not received any information about the North Korean ship.
But the city-states Foreign Ministry said last week it would take necessary action if the Kang Nam arrived with banned materials. Singapore takes seriously the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery and related materials, the ministry said. If the allegation is true, Singapore will act appropriately.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION FREEREPUBLIC > STRATEGYPAGE - SOUTH KOREA PLANS TO INVADE THE NORTH [in case of war].
[Kyodo: Korea] A Japanese lawmaker said Friday a senior Chinese diplomat has denied a media report that Kim Jong Un, third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, visited China earlier this month, quoting him as saying the younger Kim has never been to China. Koichi Kato of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party told a group of reporters that Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei made the comment at their meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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A Mississauga man who pleaded guilty to participating in a bomb plot concocted by members of the so-called Toronto 18 "intended to pursue jihad in Canada," a Brampton court was told this morning. During final submissions at the sentencing hearing of Saad Khalid, Crown prosecutor Croft Michaelson said the 22-year-old was "an active and enthusiastic participant" in a deadly plot aimed at blowing up targets in downtown Toronto.
Although he has pleaded guilty to participating in the foiled plot, lawyers on both sides are now arguing before Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno over how much Khalid really knew about it and what his intentions were. Michaelson told the court Khalid must have known the plan was to blow up the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Front Street offices of Canada's spy agency because he had been told by the alleged mastermind to take a camera and do reconnaissance work downtown.
The prosecutor also pointed out the evidence suggests Khalid knew that the plot would have involved, at the very least, two tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer destined for truck bombs because he had been told about an order for the explosive material and was instructed to find a place to store it. Khalid must have known the plot was "intended to cause death and destruction, if he did not know he was wilfully blind," said Michaelson.
But defence lawyer Russell Silverstein says two of Khalid's co-accused were the masterminds of the plot and that his client was "unaware of their true purpose" and the intended targets. He also said his client never intended to seriously hurt or kill anyone. "These men...are consciously misleading Mr. Khalid as a means of getting him to do their bidding, without telling him what's going on," said Silverstein, adding there was a "campaign of disinformation, obfuscation and hiding of the truth." If, as the Crown alleges, Khalid was to be tasked with building the bombs, why weren't any bomb-making videos, Internet materials or manuals found on him, asked Silverstein.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Khalid was arrested during a sting operation while unloading a delivery truck filled with what he believed were three tonnes of ammonium nitrate. He was off-loading it into a storage facility that he and a co-accused had rented.
Khalid was among 14 adults and four youths charged in the summer of 2006 with belonging to a homegrown terror cell. Since then charges have been stayed against seven of the accused and one youth has been convicted. The others await trial. A publication ban prohibits identifying the co-accused.
Posted by: ryuge ||
06/27/2009 06:03 ||
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Individual Augmentee (IA) and Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Support Assignment (GSA) sailors currently assigned to the Navy Mobilization and Processing Site (NMPS) at Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) were treated to a presentation on life in the rural hinterlands of Afghanistan and an interesting perspective on the war by a best-selling author.
Greg Mortenson, author of the N.Y. Times best-seller Three Cups of Tea, offered stories of his experiences and unique views on the Global War On Terrorism views that are increasingly being shared by senior military leaders. Many of his views run counter to what is considered conventional wisdom. We used to be Enemy-centric -- we would go into the fight and decimate the enemy. Now, the military is becoming what I call, Friendly-centric, meaning the military identifies who our friends are and their goals. Then, together, we defeat the enemy. Ultimately, the war will be won with books and education, not just bullets and bombs, he says.
Three Cups of Tea: One Mans Mission To Promote Peace One School At A Time is required reading for U.S. senior military commanders, U.S. Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan and Pentagon officers as well as military personnel from several other countries. Many who have read it embrace Mortensons advocacy for building relationships as a part of an overall strategic plan for peace. Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has adopted three of Mortensons beliefs at CENTCOM: listen more, respect others and build relationships.
Mortenson was born in 1957, and grew up in Tanzania where his father, Dempsey, founded Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC), a hospital, and his mother, Jerene, founded a school. He served as a medic in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1977 to 1979 and graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1983. A promise made in 1993 led Mortenson to his exceptional humanitarian efforts. In July 1992, Mortensons sister, Christa, died from a massive seizure after a lifelong struggle with epilepsy the day before a scheduled trip to visit the Dysersville, Iowa cornfield where the baseball movie, Field Of Dreams, was filmed.
To honor his sisters memory, in 1993, Mortenson climbed Pakistans K2, the worlds second highest mountain. During the climb members of Mortensons team became involved in a rescue effort and Mortenson himself became ill. While recovering in a village called Korphe, Mortenson met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand, and made a promise to help them build a school. Since, Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson has established more than 90 schools in rural and volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to more than 34,000 children, including 24,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.
In emphasizing education for girls Mortenson says, If you educate a boy you educate an individual. If you educate a girl, you educate a community. He also adds, nowhere in the Koran does it say girls cannot be educated nor does it advocate murder or suicide. One of the reasons the radical mullahs do not want women to be educated is because males must have their mothers permission to go on jihad. An educated mother would not likely allow her son to do so.
His efforts have not been without conflict. In 1996, he survived eight-days kidnapped by armed members of the Taliban in Pakistans Northwest tribal areas. In 2003 he escaped a firefight between feuding Afghan warlords by hiding under putrid animal hides in a truck going to a leather-tanning factory. He has overcome fatwehs (standing death sentences) from radical mullahs, endured CIA investigations, and even received threats from some Americans for helping Muslim children with education.
Mortenson is seen as a hero to rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs thanks to his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls. The Government of Pakistan presented Mortenson with Pakistans highest civilian award, the Sitara-e-Pakistan (The Star of Pakistan), March 23, 2009 Pakistans Independence Day. It was presented by Pakistani President Asif Zardari in recognition of services rendered with gallantry and distinction.
The Central Asia Institute (CAI), which he co-founded with Silicon Valley pioneer Jean Hoerni, promotes and provides community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Additionally, they sponsor the Pennies For Peace program, where U.S. schoolchildren collect pennies to help fund CAI activities and to learn more about the children in those regions.
Mr. Mortensons visit gave deploying IA and GSA sailors a unique opportunity to learn what to expect and things to be aware of before going forward. Your primary goal is to help the good people of Afghanistan, with dignity, respect for elders. You are warriors, diplomats and humanitarians.
Local people can be empowered and become autonomous. Al Qaeda and the Taliban dont represent the interests of the people. Most of the people there want the same things we all want peace, education, health care The Taliban is promoting extortion and disruption, he said in closing.
It was really eye-opening, a great perspective on the people of Afghanistan and how much they value education something we largely take for granted here in the U.S., said Lt. Jet Ramos, a Medical Service Corps (MSC) officer preparing to deploy to Kuwait. I learned that respect for other people and education will go a long way when interacting with (other) cultures and that education is paramount. It also gave me a better idea of what to expect, said Information Systems Technician Second Class Paul Abalos.
I was amazed at the good work hes done in organizing the Afghan citizens at a grass roots level to advance their education... and what the Afghan citizens will put up with to get an education, said Senior Chief Postal Clerk Field Kellogg..
The visit, sponsored by Commander Naval Air ForcesVice Adm. Kilcline, was made possible by Kilclines wife, Deb. In describing Mortenson, Mrs. Kilcline said, I feel like we are in the presence of an individual who is shaping history. Rear Adm. Gar Wright, Deputy Commander Navy Region Southwest added, (I) wish that I had this opportunity prior to my own mobilization!
After his presentation, Mr. Mortenson autographed copies of his book and spoke with deploying sailors.
#1
Ultimately, the war will be won with books and education, not just bullets and bombs Unfortunately the US has minimal interest in teaching the languages of Afghanistan to its own people, as if we will be out of there real soon now. I remember after Sputnik in 1957, there were many new courses in Russian launched with gov't sponsorship in schools all over the country, and not just in military or diplomatic facilities.
#3
I remember after Sputnik in 1957, there were many new courses in Russian launched with gov't sponsorship in schools all over the country
The government is sponsoring high school courses in Chinese, Anguper Hupomosing. Afghanistan is a near term problem, whereas China seems determined to be a mid-term one.
Families of 11 engineers murdered in Karachi in 2002 point finger of blame at French government
By John Lichfield in Paris
A political scandal is gathering pace over claims that 11 French submarine engineers were murdered in a bomb attack in Karachi seven years ago to punish France for the non-payment of arms contract "commissions" to senior Pakistani officials.
Lawyers for the French victims' families believe the attack, allegedly carried out by Islamist terrorists, was in fact part of a web of financial chicanery and political manoeuvring which may yet severely embarrass senior figures, including the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari.
Two French magistrates investigating the bombing of the engineers' bus in May 2002 have ruled out the possibility that it was an attack by al-Qa'ida on Western interests. They have told the victims' families there is "cruel logic" to an alternative explanation. They believe unknown figures in the Pakistani establishment may have fomented the attack in retaliation for the non-payment of part of the 80m (£68m) in sweeteners promised to senior officials when Lahore bought three Agosta 90B submarines from France in 1994.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, vowing fresh attacks on security forces.
Um, guys, you're sending the jacketwallahs after targets on the Pakistani side of the line. You're supposed to attack on the Indian side, remember? Good Muslims do not wage jihad against other Muslims. (Unless they are taqfirs or apostates, but even so the Hinjoos must be targetted first. Srsly.)
A deputy commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Hakeem Ullah Mehsud told reporters on Friday that his men had carried out the bombing that targeted a convoy of security forces in Muzaffarabad. The incident happened earlier in the day when a bomber blew himself up against an army vehicle in the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killing at least two soldiers and wounding three others.
On Friday, Pakistani warlord Maulvi Nazir, who leads his own wing of Tehrik-e-Taliban in South Waziristan, announced the withdrawal of his group from a 2007 agreement with the Pakistani government. Nazri's spokesman, Shams Ullah, said the group would continue targeting checkpoints, military convoys and bases until the United States stopped its drone attacks on the tribal areas where Washington claims Taliban fighters are holed up.
That sounds about right: kill Pakistanis because you're mad at America.
The decision follows a recent missile attack by unmanned US planes on the hideouts of Nazir's men in Shahalam area in South Waziristan Agency.
Elsewhere, four security forces were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded in a remote-controlled bomb attack on a road near the main town of Miranshah in North Waziristan.
Pakistan remains the victim of Taliban-linked insurgency, with bombings and terror attacks targeting different parts of the country, particularly in the northwest were it borders insurgency-ravaged Afghanistan.
A shoot-yourself-in-the-foot kind of a victim, but a victim nonetheless.
Washington is beefing up its military contingent in Afghanistan, as restoring security has become exceedingly difficult ahead of the August 20 Presidential and general elections in the country.
US drone attacks on Pakistani soil have long irked Islamabad officials who believe the army's crackdown on militants in the northwest is progressing well and unwanted US assistance is not required.
How long?
Very long. Longer than we can remember. Practically forever, in fact.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak)] Elders of six tribes of the Kurram Agency have demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani to take serious notice of the activities of the Turi tribe allegedly involved in fomenting insurgency in the violence-hit area.
Addressing a joint press conference at the Sadda Press Club on Thursday, former MNAs Haji Zareen Khan Mangal and Zulfikar Ali Chamkani and other elders of the tribes including Haji Saleem Khan Orakzai, Malik Mir Badshah Masozai, Haji Rai Khan Khoidadkhel, Malik Mir Akbar, Malik Saifullah Khan Masozai, Haji Sher Khan, Haji Gul Zaman, Fazal Hameed and Abdul Kareem Abid alleged that the Indian consulates in Afghanistan were supporting the Turi tribesmen, who were involved in the endless violence in the area.
They alleged that hundreds of Turi tribesmen had been recruited in the Indian consulates in Afghanistan where they were being trained, funded and supplied sophisticated arms. The elders alleged that they were not only involved in insurgency and terrorism in the Kurram Agency but also across the country.
They said the Turi tribesmen was trying to hide their anti-state activities by claiming themselves as innocent in the media but it was on the government record that they had deliberately spoiled the peaceful atmosphere in the area.
They said the six tribes of the Kurram Agency never challenged the writ of the government in the past while the Turi tribe took law into their hands and there was no sign of governance in Upper Kurram.
They asked as to who killed Political Agent Taj Muhammad Khan, Assistant Political Agent Masoodur Rehman and other officials in the past. They said the Turi tribe was trying to prove itself innocent.
They alleged that the Turi tribe had expelled thousands of innocent people of the six tribes from their own villages and homes in the past. They said they had not closed the main road but the armed men of the Turi tribe were behind the blockade for the last two years in Alizai and Marukhel areas and even the government officials were not allowed to travel. They said the people of the six tribes had been travelling to Kohat and Peshawar through the mountainous areas.
It's all the fault o'them damned Turis. It's time we had us a proper feud!
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[The News (Pak)] Islamabad traders' leader Malik Sohail on Thursday said that some property owners were using hired goons and Taliban to evict traders, which will not be tolerated.
"Forcing tenants out of businesses established after a lifetime effort cannot be justified under any circumstances. Plaza owners aim higher rents at the cost of the trading community, which will be resisted," he stated while addressing a meeting of traders here on Thursday. He said that the apathy of officials had helped the Qabza groups to hold majority of tenants as hostage.
He said that traders should be given protection or they would start taking out protests. The administration and commercial plaza owners would be responsible for the situation, he warned.
He said that forced eviction of additional general secretary of TWA Chaudhry Wasim, who is also the president of Mobile Phone Association, would not be allowed. He asked the owners to settle disputes amicably by avoiding employing violent criminals for dispossession.
Malik Sohail said that criminal gangs were openly operating, demanding protection money and offering different illegal services. He demanded of the president and prime minister to officially cancel the Islamabad Rent Restriction Ordinance 2001 and introduce a just and flawless rent control act so that traders could enjoy some peace of mind.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal welcomed Thursday the change in tone from Washington towards his Islamist movement but said action was still needed as he hit out on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called his right-wing government "fascist."
In a televised address from Damascus following United States President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo, Mashaal welcomed Obama's overtures to Hamas as "the first step towards direct talks," but stressed that action as well as unconditional direct talks with Palestinian resistance groups should be the outcome of any outreach. "Working with Hamas and Palestinian resistance groups, has to be on the basis of respecting the will of the Palestinian people and their democratic choice and not on the basis of placing conditions like that of the Quartet, as imposing conditions on others, is a problematic matter and unsuitable for free nations," Meshaal said.
" America's talk today of freezing settlements and of a Palestinian state is not new. More important is the extent of their response to the rights of our people and the reality of the Palestinian state they talk about in terms of its sovereignty "
Khaled Meshaal
The Hamas chief added that Obama's stance on halting settlements and the right of Palestinian self-determination needed to move beyond words to concrete gains for Palestinians.
"America's talk today of freezing settlements and of a Palestinian state is not new. More important is the extent of their response to the rights of our people and the reality of the Palestinian state they talk about in terms of its sovereignty," Meshaal explained, adding "that is why our stance on the Obama administration is still under examination."
Hamas has "no illusions about the new policy... we want change on the ground that will bring about an end to the occupation," he said, adding that U.S. must begin to consider Hamas as a resistance movement elected by the will of the people and not an outlawed group.
In his Cairo speech earlier this month, Obama acknowledged the Palestinian support for Hamas but added that the Islamist movement must gain legitimacy by putting an end to violence and recognizing past agreements and "Israel's right to exist."
Israeli stance "fascist"
Underscoring Obama's need for concrete action on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict Meshaal noted that Netenyahu's Tel Aviv speech earlier last week defied U.S. demands for peace in the region by insisting on continuing settlement activity.
Hamas's first outreach move towards the new administration came during Obama's Cairo visit during which former Hamas advisor Yusuf Ahmed submitted a "Peace Letter" which was delivered to Obama by CODEPINK, an advocacy group supporting Palestinians, in hopes of opening dialogue with the world's super power.
" We reject the position taken by Netanyahu... on east Jerusalem, settlement activity, the right of return of Palestinian refugees and his vision of a demilitarised Palestinian state deprived of sovereignty over its land, air space and territorial waters "
Meshaal
Meshaal also slammed Natenyahu's right-wing government, saying that the conditions it placed on the Palestinian statehood were unacceptable and that its demand that Palestinians recognize it as an officially Jewish state is "fascist." "We reject the position taken by Netanyahu... on east Jerusalem, settlement activity, the right of return of Palestinian refugees and his vision of a demilitarised Palestinian state deprived of sovereignty over its land, air space and territorial waters," Meshaal said.
Meshaal said Hamas opposed Israel as a Jewish state because that would amount to the denial of the rights of the six million Palestinian refugees. "The enemy's leaders call for a so-called Jewish state is a racist demand that is no different from calls by Italian Fascists and Hitler's Nazism," Mashaal said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Khaled Meshaal welcomed Thursday the change in tone from Washington towards his Islamist movement but said action was still needed
Ha ha ha! Stop it! You're killing me! Man, that guy's got a wicked sense of humor!
Two-page backgrounder on the goings-on in Iran, from a Jerusalem Post reporter who just returned. Herewith, a taste. Go read the whole thing.
The watching world well understands the young, pro-Western aspect of the ruthlessly countered post-election revolt in Iran. But what makes this outburst different, says The Jerusalem Post's Sabina Amidi, just returned from Teheran, is that many pro-Islamists have turned on the regime as well.
Way back in the days of the Shah, Sabina Amidi tells me down the phone in one of the few lighter moments of our conversation, it was easier for Iranians to get visas to Tel Aviv than to Mecca. So lots of Iranian Muslims came to visit the Jewish state.
"This friend of our family, a middle-aged woman, was telling me last week about how she'd come to Jerusalem in the mid-1970s, gone to the Western Wall, and seen all the Jews there praying to God and leaving messages between the stones," Amidi went on. "She felt left out. She also wanted to leave a message for God. So she told me she too went up to the Wall, and wrote a plea: that she would find a good husband. Six months later she met the love of her life, they've been deliriously happily married for more than 30 years, they have three children... and she - this very conservative Muslim lady - still talks excitedly about that trip to Israel, and about how God answered her prayers at the Western Wall."
And this lady too, Amidi continued, in serious mode now, this devout Muslim friend who lives in fealty to Islam and its laws, today shares the widespread sense of betrayal that so many Iranians feel with regard to the regime of the ayatollahs. She's not been out on the streets, risking her life to scream "Down with the dictator." But she's watched the brutally suppressed protests from her apartment window, and she hopes, sooner or later, that they'll have their effect.
THE AMERICAN-based Amidi is a courageous young reporter who flew to Teheran a few weeks ago to cover the presidential elections for The Jerusalem Post. She had anticipated a fascinating but thoroughly nonrevolutionary sequence of events - expecting that she would reconnect with friends and family there, report on an expertly manipulated exercise in mullah-style democracy, and leave the country much as she entered it: increasingly frustrated by the government's stifling of freedoms, but quietly seething rather than openly defiant.
Instead, by the time she got out of Teheran midway through last week, Iran was in turmoil, the regime had resorted to shooting its own people in the streets and branding its own former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi "a criminal" for daring to challenge it, and Amidi was understandably fearful that the fact of her writing for the Post was putting her own life in real danger.
MILLIONS of dollars in private wealth have begun flooding out of Iran after the mass demonstrations that have paralysed commercial life. Fears of new crippling sanctions are also thought to have fuelled the exodus.
Western intelligence agencies have reported that prominent private businesses and wealthy families have moved tens of millions of dollars out of Iranian banks into overseas accounts. The Italian foreign intelligence service is said to have detected multiple transactions, each of up to $US10 million ($12.4 million), by Iran's big four banks on behalf of families seeking a safe haven.
Once the money is out of country, it may be a bit difficult to repatriate. Perhaps President Ahmadenijad ought to invest in some Lebanese forgeries... because it isn't likely a North Korean shipment will be able to dock any time soon.
Iran has already been hit by three rounds of financial sanctions from the United Nations over its nuclear program, which have limited its access to international finance and trade. In Britain, a spokesman for the Treasury hinted that more action could be taken, particularly in relation to Mojbata Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who runs his father's office.
Meanwhile, one of Iran's leading foreign investors, the Austrian oil and gas company OMV, said it would not invest any more in a big offshore gas project and warned that it would pull out if Iran demanded more cash. Helmut Langanger, OMV's Iran representative, said the political environment would have to improve before it put any more money into the South Pars field.
In the US a Republican congressman, Mark Kirk, said there was growing support for a bill he is sponsoring to strip US support from foreign companies supplying refined petroleum to Iran. Iran is a big oil producer but decades of financial isolation mean it must import petrol and other end products.
Reliance, the Indian company, provides a third of Iran's daily needs but also has a massive trade loan from the US.
Another bill that would exclude companies involved in the trade from doing business in the US was put on hold this year as a gesture from President Barack Obama to improve relations.
President Obama must not be pleased that President Ahmadenijad so firmly rejected the open hand of American friendship.
#1
Iran is a big oil producer but decades of financial isolation mean it must import petrol and other end products.
What mainly causes the petrol shortage is Iranian price controls. When petrol sells for about a quarter of what it costs to make, there's no incentive to produce.
The other is Iranian subsidies. The fuel, being cheaper than its neighbors' fuel, ends up smuggled to them. So the Iranian gov't put up rationing.
President Obama must not be pleased that President Ahmadenijad so firmly rejected the open hand of American friendship.
Somebody postulated here earlier that Obama's antics were calculated to impress the 'Islamic World yokels' plus Russia and China; that if Iran rebuffed them he could shrug and say "I tried".
I don't buy the latter part, but it'll end up being the excuse. Still, I'll bet he and his experts will not be pleased when it happens.
#2
...I have a question: Any other time, Dinnerjacket breaks wind and the price of oil goes up. This time, they're executing their own people in the street, and the Iranian government is more unstable than at any time since the Revolution, yet gas prices are going down. Why?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/27/2009 18:58 Comments ||
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#3
dead martyrs don't stop production. Dinnerjacket rattling sabers externally might. These Iranian patriots are expendable.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/27/2009 19:34 Comments ||
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#4
yet gas prices are going down. Why?
Not around here they're not, average is 2.50-2.60 and up about 15 cents
I personaly think it's the 4th holliday coming up, Gasoline always goes up right before a holliday.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/27/2009 21:47 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Saad Hariri was poised to be designated Lebanon's new prime minister after his March 14 party, which along with its allies holds the majority in parliament, picked him for the post on Friday, a day after Hariri held rare talks with his rival, leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah.
"We have chosen as our candidate for the premiership the head of the Future Movement, Saad Hariri," party official and MP Samir el-Jisr told reporters after holding consultations with President Michel Suleiman.
Suleiman is expected to officially designate Hariri on Saturday.
The other parties that are part of Hariri's alliance are expected to voice their support for his nomination as premier during consultations due to be wrapped up on Saturday.
Hezbollah will continue cooperating with an "open mind" in the discussions on naming a new premier, the head of the group's parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Watch your six, Hariri, as well as all the other positions on the clock, based upon history.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/27/2009 13:11 Comments ||
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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.
Families of 11 engineers murdered in Karachi in 2002 point finger of blame at French government
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, vowing fresh attacks on security forces. 
[The News (Pak)] Elders of six tribes of the Kurram Agency have demanded of President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani to take serious notice of the activities of the Turi tribe allegedly involved in fomenting insurgency in the violence-hit area.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal welcomed Thursday the change in tone from Washington towards his Islamist movement but said action was still needed as he hit out on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called his right-wing government "fascist."
[Al Arabiya Latest] Saad Hariri was poised to be designated Lebanon's new prime minister after his March 14 party, which along with its allies holds the majority in parliament, picked him for the post on Friday, a day after Hariri held rare talks with his rival, leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah. 
