The US envoy to Darfur accused the Sudanese government on Friday of bombing civilian positions in the country's troubled western region and called on it to stop the practice immediately. Andrew Natsios's comments at a press conference in Khartoum followed what he said was a resumption of the attacks after a lull of several months. "After a halt in the bombing between the beginning of February and the end of April 2007, the Sudanese government has resumed bombing in Darfur," he said. "We urge the Sudanese government to end all bombing in Darfur immediately." Natsios also criticized rebel groups who he said were "cynically obstructing" a political settlement to the troubles in Darfur.
This article starring:
Andrew Natsios
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
Paging Ban ki moon. Is there a moon in the house?
Please pick up the white paging telephone at the God desk.
Is there a Moon in the house?
Paging Mr Ban.
Paging Turtle bay, which I happen to own. Paging tower of babel. Paging illicit world leaders. Paging Iran.
Hello, Is there anyone out there. Hello... hello... Is there anyONE in there?
Hello, if you do not end this now, we shall end Y'all.
Over a hundred demonstrators gathered outside the Iranian Embassy in Bahrain Friday to protest a recent editorial in a conservative Teheran newspaper arguing that Bahrain is part of Iran. Waving Bahraini flags, the mostly Sunni protesters called for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and the closure of the embassy, as police prevented them from reaching the building.
The controversy started with an editorial written Monday by Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the hard-line Kayhan newspaper and a close aid to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Shariatmadari wrote that Bahrain was an Iranian province whose people wanted to return to the motherland. Shi'ite Iran laid claim to Bahrain, a British protectorate at the time, and other Persian Gulf islands in 1970. But the country voted instead for independence from both Britain and Iran, which it achieved in 1971.
In his editorial, Shariatmadari also criticized Bahrain for supporting a claim by the United Arab Emirates on three Persian Gulf islands Iran considers an integral part of its territory. Bahrain's ruling family is Sunni Muslim, but about 60 percent of the country's 725,000 citizens are Shi'ite. Roughly 25 percent of them originally hail from Iran.
Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has described Shariatmadari's remarks as "irresponsible talk," the country's official news agency BNA reported on its Web site Friday. An Iranian embassy spokesman said Wednesday that the editor's views "do not represent the official stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was expected to arrive in Bahrain late Friday and will hold meetings with senior officials on Saturday to discuss the controversy. Bahrain's minister of state for foreign affairs, Nazar al-Baharna, said that he hoped the meetings with Mottaki would help resolve the issue. "We are waiting for the meetings tomorrow to clarify the confusion that was brought up by the report ... and we hope that this case is to be solved within these meetings," al-Baharna said.
Bahraini Shi'ites have joined their Sunni countrymen to protest the controversial remarks. The nation's most prominent Shi'ite cleric Isa Qassem condemned the editorial Friday, calling Shariatmadari's remarks "baseless." "Bahrain is an independent country and there will be no subservience by it to any other state," Qassem said during his Friday sermon. The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom is a close US ally. The oil-refining and banking island also hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Surely, there is a software program, or something, that can take the facts of history as Hitler began his ruthless march toward world domination, that lay side by side, his march, and compare it to the same march as the Iranians.
Maybe I've watched too many documentaries, but this report seems like something..... that was just one of the day's news report. They think they can't be stopped.
Just as England is now writing Churchill out of their history, let's hope, that Iran has written out of their history, that Churchill stated the Americans are slow to awake, but, they do awake.
#3
Talk is cheap with Iranians. Bahrain is huge strategic asset of US armed forces. But because of the shiite majority there are a lot of "black flag" areas that worry the royals and the US. As long as we have a presence in the ME the Iranians will only talk, talk, talk. Expect nothing more.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/14/2007 11:25 Comments ||
Top||
#4
It is nice that the a pre-Iranian media goof has chosen to write in a way that is offensive to Bahraini Shia.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/14/2007 13:47 Comments ||
Top||
As the four July 21 bomb plotters started their 40-year minimum sentences this week, a group of police special branch officers - the foot soldiers of the security services - based at Prison Service headquarters were quietly working to ensure that the failed bombers do not inspire a new generation of violent jihadists.
The kingpin or "emir" of the July 21 attacks, Mukhtar Said Ibrahim, had emerged from Feltham young offender institution in September 1998 at the age of 20 having rejected crime in favour of radical Islam, as had Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, before him.
A year ago prison officers voiced concerns that there was no official strategy in place to tackle al-Qaida operatives radicalising and recruiting alienated ethnic minority prisoners as well as young Muslims inside Britain's jails.
But as the number of people awaiting trial for terrorist offences reaches the 100 mark and prison governors contemplate a growing number of convicted prisoners facing long sentences on terror-related charges, the question of preventing radicalisation behind bars is being taken far more seriously.
Many of the operatives are described as "dangerous and highly capable" individuals who have dedicated their lives to radicalising younger and more vulnerable people in a process known as "talent-scouting". The special branch unit is stepping up its efforts to ensure there is a constant flow of intelligence from inside Britain's high security prisons to MI5 and to the local police in the communities the prisoners remain in contact with. A serious effort is going on to improve their knowledge of the radicalisation of prisoners.
A Prison Service spokesman confirmed that they were working to improve their awareness and understanding of radicalisation: "As numbers of extremists held in prison increase, staff are becoming more alert to the risks of radicalisation. We are never complacent and prison staff are encouraged to identify and report such activities."
Measures include security service vetting checks on the growing number of imams who provide religious and pastoral care in jails. A radical imam played a key role in the experiences of Ibrahim and Reid while they were in Feltham. At the same time the prison authorities are spending thousands of pounds translating all texts, including copies of the Qur'an, from Arabic to English to ensure they do not contain hidden messages. All the 36 imams working in prisons have to speak English and the Prison Service says that they are officially supported to ensure they are confident in confronting concerns about radicalisation.
The bill for holding the 100 suspects on remand awaiting trial is known to have reached £3m.
The bill for holding the 100 suspects on remand awaiting trial - mainly in Belmarsh high security prison in London - is known to have reached £3m. The National Offender Management Service, which is responsible for prisons and probation, has told ministers that figure is likely to double in this financial year.
There are a further 40 who have been convicted of terrorist offences between 9/11 and the start of 2007 and another 180 serving sentences for terrorist-related offences.
As well as the 100 awaiting trial, the officially published figures show that there are a further 40 who have been convicted of terrorist offences between 9/11 and the start of 2007 and another 180 serving sentences for terrorist-related offences.
The new justice secretary, Jack Straw, who visited Belmarsh this week, said that whatever happened with the overcrowding crisis the high security prisons in England would be able to "cope fully and adequately" with all terrorist suspects. At Belmarsh, Mr Straw toured the "prison within a prison" special secure unit, which currently holds 33 inmates, most awaiting trial, and seven recently convicted of terrorist offences.
Most of those convicted are in top security "dispersal" jails at Woodhill in Milton Keynes, Frankland, near Durham, Full Sutton, near York, and Long Lartin in Worcestershire. The radical preacher Abu Hamza is believed to have recently been moved to Long Lartin.
Although some of those convicted are in special units, many are held on normal category A wings alongside other inmates within the high security jails. The Home Office has always preferred to disperse its top security prisoners, for whom escape should be impossible.
#4
Permanent solitary confinement for convicted terrorists is the only way of preventing further infection of others. Treat them like they have AIDS. Terrorism is one of the finest existing arguments in favor of capital punishment.
#5
A year ago prison officers voiced concerns that there was no official strategy in place to tackle al-Qaida operatives radicalising and recruiting alienated ethnic minority prisoners as well as young Muslims inside Britain's jails.
Here is your official policy:
1. No Korans in prison.
2. No muslim clerics in prison unless they are the
prisoners in which case they get solitary confinement.
3. No muslim prayer meetings.
4. If they complain about the policy either a) take them out and shoot them or b) deport them.
This is no joke. If you are serious about winning the war on terror this is what you must do.
#6
Maybe it is time the Brits woke-up to the viper-infested pits their policies have caused around the world ever since the days of colonialism. Terrorists anywhere in the world should be isolated from ALL others indefinitely. Radicalizing and releasing them after their sentences or deporting them have already exported untold terror cells. We need a globalized prison, as the UK is not alone, & send them all to solitary confinement, like maybe on the moon. We may even send a shuttle to feed them, if the rest of the civilized world's needs have been met first. If the world cannot unite in this fight for civilization as we know it, we'll have to institute a take-no-prisoners policy, wherever they may be found. It really is us or them. I can't believe this is just now being discussed, even while they still argue for closing Gitmo, arresting CIA officers, and giving them "rights" under rules they do not play by.
2. No muslim clerics in prison unless they are the
prisoners in which case they get solitary confinement.
3. No muslim prayer meetings.
EH6222, if you really want this sort of policy in place then start pushing for what I advocate, illegalizing Islam in America. Start by banning all practice of shari'a law due to it being a direct violation of human rights. Then shut down the hawala network that is used for transferring funds to the terrorists. Next comes dismantling terrorist fronts like CAIR. Finally, identify wahabbism as an enemy of the state and shutter all Saudi financed mosques. Do this as a prelude to banning Islam entirely due to it being a subversive and anti-constitutional ideology. Presto, no Islam in the jails.
Early elections in Turkey on the 22nd, precipitated by the generals, who're concerned about the influence of the Islamicists. Gonna be a tense time in Kurdistan during the jockeying this week.
Unknown? Unknown? Rubbish, the Turkish military has been there several times. They know perfectly well how to organize and execute a coup.
#2
They're part of this, AT1904. The way I read it, the generals are pissed at the US because they are being held back (barely) from going into Kurdistan, and equally pissed at the Islamicists in the government.
North Korea has called for military talks with the US to discuss peace and security on the Korean peninsula, as the process of denuclearising the Korean peninsula gathered pace. The unusual proposal for bilateral military talks preceded the expected arrival in Pyongyang today of UN nuclear monitors to oversee the shutdown of North Koreas main reactor. It also comes ahead of Wednesdays resumption of multilateral talks in Beijing over disarming the communist state.
In a statement the Norths military said discussions with the US should be attended by a UN representative and cover issues related to ensuring the peace and security on the Korean peninsula.
Talks could take place at a mutually acceptable place and time, but it urged the US to take the proposal seriously. It is easy to miss a chance, but difficult to get it, the military said.
The statement on the official KCNA news agency warned that Washington should not put pressure on North Korea under the pretext of the nuclear issue because to do so risked derailing the disarmament deal. Pyongyang would boost defensive measures if cornered, it said.
Pyongyang appeared to be trying to exclude South Korea from future talks to examine a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula.
Analysts said Pyongyang appeared to be trying to exclude South Korea from future talks to examine a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula. The armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean war was signed by the US, North Korea and China.
In any bilateral military talks, the North would be likely to urge Washington to end a hostile policy against the regime, normalise bilateral ties, withdraw its 30,000 troops from South Korea and halt joint military drills with Seoul. By proposing the military talks, North Korea wants to have an upper hand in future talks on a permanent peace treaty and in the process of denuclearising the peninsula, said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
But the chances of bilateral military talks being held were not high, Mr Baek said, because the North had not carried out promises made in a February disarmament deal, which called for a normalising of ties between the US and North Korea. However, there are growing hopes for a formal peace treaty in light of recent diplomatic progress to abolish the Norths nuclear weapons.
#2
North Korea has called for military talks with the US to discuss peace and security on the Korean peninsula, as the process of denuclearising the Korean peninsula gathered pace.
We can talk, but first we'd like to see that North Korean infantry brigade commitment to MNC-I and the Baquba area.
#6
What's unusual about this? The NKors have been whinging for bilateral talks since I was old enough to read the newspaper. It's part of their "wish away South Korean sovereignty, the RoK is an American puppet" diplomatic toolkit. I'll never understand why the South Koreans keep throwing money at people who'd Have Them All Shot if they had the leverage...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/14/2007 11:50 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Why are they calling for us to remove our 30k troops? Can't they count? Why do they think that our military would negotiate a peace treaty with them?
Tell the our military is busy. They can talk to the South Korean military.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/14/2007 13:59 Comments ||
Top||
#8
What they really want is: money. NK is France's largest importer of Cognac. Kim is known to sip Remi' while saluting the starving masses: Let them eat tree bark.
#9
Want security, Kimmie? All you have to do is stop threatening everyone around you and all will be well within a couple of months. He's probably worried about how he'd pay for tankers of fuel oil if he didn't have some sort of threat to wave around.
Three Dutch politicians from the Dutch Green, Labour and Socialist party had a 2 hour conversation with Hamas leader Usamah Hamdan in Syria yesterday. The converstation was said to be useful.
I'm sure it was - got your plans coordinated did you?
During the conversation it became clear why Hamas has taken control of the Gaza Strip.
Because it was so hard to figure out otherwise ...
The politicians also believe Hamas wants to put effort into restoring Palistinian unity.......
Germany has expanded an inquiry into how a crane and other parts for an Iranian nuclear power station were exported five years ago in defiance of a ban on nuclear trade.
The number of firms implicated in the inquiry has grown to 50, most of them based in the west of Germany.
Christoph Lange, a spokesman for prosecutors in Potsdam near Berlin, said Thursday the number of firms implicated in the inquiry had grown to 50, most of them based in the west of Germany.
The equipment was allegedly exported across the Polish border to Russia, which has a 1995 contract to repair and complete the damaged, German-built Iranian power reactor at Bushehr. Unlike Moscow, Berlin is strictly opposed to any nuclear exports to Iran.
Lange said several of the business people had already been convicted and had received suspended jail terms or fines.
Investigators discovered in 2004 that Russian engineers had bought in 2001 and 2002 a special crane to raise and lower the fuel rods in the Bushehr light-water reactor, which was designed by German engineering company Siemens before the Iranian revolution.
Nuclear experts say it is feasible to obtain weapons-grade radioactive material from such a reactor.
The Bushehr site, begun in 1974, was bombed and badly damaged during the first Gulf War. Because of the German design, standard Russian nuclear equipment would not fit existing reactor parts.
And the illegal aliens have figured out the system. One wonders how many jihadis have done so already - and if they haven't, the article helpfully describes all the forms they need.
#1
It follows that a Maine drivers license should not be accepted as a legitimate form of ID by any other state or by the TSA at airports. Make the Maine folk get passports just like any other foreigner.
#3
New Mexico has been issuing DL's to illegal aliens for quite some time now, though I suspect the state wants some "evidence" of NM state residency, which is trivially easy to concoct. Other states have similar lax standards.
#5
I don't recall exactly what I had to bring with me (other than my old Illinois DL) when I got my Maryland license, but I don't think it was overly difficult or stringent to obtain.
#7
Here's a suggestion. The issuance of driver's licenses does not devolve to a states rights level. Due to federal funding of the interstate freeway system, all states must comply with certain national laws such as the speed limit. There needs to be a blanket federal standard of documentation required to obtain a driver's license in all 50 states, period. Birth certificate, passport or green card. Nothing else will do.
#8
California's former governor Gray Davis and some of the donk legislators wanted to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. That's part of the reason we recalled him and elected Arnold as the new governator. Put the kibosh on that real quick.
#9
When I was living in London, I had my wallet stolen. I contacted California DMV ( I had moved to London from California) and asked if they could supply me with a new DL. In 10 days I had a new California DL with my London, UK address on it. Got stopped later in Ireland for speeding and the Garda let me go because I had the most unique DL he had ever seen.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/14/2007 11:33 Comments ||
Top||
#10
when i moved to Georgia, i did not need any additional documentation as my current drivers license was still in effect...
i didnt even need a utility bill to pprove an address. it was much harder to get a library card than to get the drivers license.
maybe my local DMV was being lax, i c ant say.
this was in 1999 btw. may have changed since then, but i dont know
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 11:34 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I think that a lot of Virginians will apply for Maine licenses. The state has just gone to a system where a conviction for a serious offense entails a $750–3000 civil penalty tacked onto the registration fee. It's the full employment act for VA lawyers.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
07/14/2007 12:35 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Cool!! I can just make up a name and get a Maine Driver's license? I'm on that. Do I have to actually go to Maine? Or can I just send them a photo by mail?
Think of the possibilities! I can establish a whole new identity, establish credit - and then when my identity is stolen, it's no skin off of my nose - just as it is for the illegals.
I wonder what I should name myself. I think I'll go with Gonzalez so I can get all of the extra perks like free health care, free education and never need to answer for my lack of an actual social security number.
#13
Zenster - renewing your DL at the state level is currently a major pain in the patootie. And you want to turn it over to the Feds?!? How I spent my summer vacation.......8p
#14
Hell in King County - Washington State all you need to register to vote is a utility bill. You don't even have to be human!
A women even Registered her dog to vote. The Elections office sent her dog two ballots - one even after they knew he was a dog (the paws-print signature kind of gave it away - and yes she voided the ballot)
#15
Zenster - renewing your DL at the state level is currently a major pain in the patootie. And you want to turn it over to the Feds?!?
Where did I say that? What I want is a federally enacted law formulating guidelines that all states must follow when issuing driver's licenses. Shouldn't be too tough and it would stop this garbage overnight.
#16
Abu, they passed a Real ID law in Georgia and now you have to bring a veritable cornicupia of documentation to get a license including proof of citizenship and proof of residence.
American plans that could force Europeans to give two-days notice before flying to the US would hinder last-minute business travel, the EUs security chief has warned.
Franco Frattini wants to ensure that US moves possibly to extend visa-free travel arrangements to all 27 EU member states do not create new hurdles to transatlantic business.
A scheme under consideration by US Congress proposes that the current US visa waiver programme be extended to former communist countries in central and eastern Europe, easing tensions with allies such as Poland and the Czech Republic. But new security checks would be carried out on all Europeans before travel on a system based on the Australian model of electronic travel authorisations.
Under the proposals, European travellers would give passport and other details to the US authorities electronically, either personally or through travel agents. A green light would rapidly confirm visa-free travel was permitted, while a yellow light would require the traveller to attend interviews at a US consulate. Frequent business flyers might enjoy an extended green- light permit.
But US authorities have so far failed to assuage European concerns that processing this information will in practice mean 48-hours notice could be required.
Mr Frattini said the system which would also extend to South Korea could disrupt last minute business travel. The commissioner has raised his concerns directly with Michael Chertoff, US secretary of homeland security.
The new system would be less onerous on eastern Europeans who have to pay a $100 visa application fee but it would impose new pre-travel checks on citizens of countries such as Britain, which has been the target of recent Islamist terror attacks.
The source of them, too, at least proximately. Which is the problem of course.
European officials admitted that they do not know what criteria the US authorities would use to determine which travellers receive a yellow light, and hoped it would not be a crude system that was based on ethnic origin.
Because, you know, that might keep the French out entirely.
That would be a shame, wouldn't it.
The US Congress is considering excluding those countries where a high proportion of visa requests are turned down. That could include Poland, where 26 per cent of applications are rejected.
#4
International last minute business travel is pretty rare these days.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/14/2007 14:02 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I wonder about this 'last-minute' travel issue as well. I'm sure it happens; when you have a multi-million dollar/euro deal hanging, sometimes you have to fly someone somewhere to handle it. Sure, fine, and we want people to do this. Some sort of clearing mechanism, a 'preferred traveller' arrangement could be made.
In the meantime, we have to be careful.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/14/2007 14:28 Comments ||
Top||
#6
This is a ridiculous proposition. The international global jihad does not seem to have any problem moving any asset anywhere at any time. They've got plenty people working in the visa offices, I am quite sure.
Instituting more bureaucratic hurdles for regular folks is not going to hurt anyone but us.
#7
Hard to see how this hurts many regular folks. I agree that there is very little "last minute" international travel done on commercial airliners.
If the Europeans don't like it, they should secede from EUrabia. But as long as they are willing to lie down with pigs, they shouldn't be surprised if they have to wash off before they can leave the sty.
#8
Steve, I suspect that high-powered business-types like the ones you're talking about already have passports and visas to most of the country's in which they have business dealings or potential business dealings. If they don;t then one or two day's time isn;t going to make much difference to them at all (if a deal's worth that much money someone is willing to wait 48-72 hours).
More than 10,000 people offered funeral prayers in absentia for victims of the Lal Masjid operation at Jamaatud Dawas (JD) Jamia Masjid Al Qadsia in Chauburji on Friday. AFP reported more than 20,000 men, women and children in attendance. JD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was seen crying during the prayer, which he led. Earlier, he told worshippers during his Friday sermon that the operation was an operation against every mosque and religious seminary in Pakistan. This was the largest prayer of its kind in the city.
MMA protests: On the appeal of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), thousands of people protested the governments crackdown on Lal Masjid earlier this week. The protestors urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of state terrorism to avoid a civil war. They urged the government to step down in wake of the operation in which scores of people including soldiers were killed. The protestors alleged that the government was covering up the mess it had made of the operation. They claimed that hundreds of men, women and children had been killed, but that the government had enforced curfews and prohibited the media from entering the area to hide its misdeeds. Clerics denounced the operation against Lal Masjid during their Friday sermons. They also denounced the governments attitude towards religious people. They demanded President Pervez Musharraf resign because his government had failed to protect the life and property of the people of Pakistan. The MMA (Lahore chapter) demonstrated outside the Lahore Press Club. Liaqat Baloch led the protestors. A large police contingent was deployed around the press club and traffic was halted during the protest.
Punjab University: The Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) also offered funeral prayers in absentia at the Punjab University. An IJT release stated that more than 4,000 students, teachers and PU employees attended the prayer.
This article starring:
HAFIZ MUHAMAD SAID
Jamaatud Dawa
LIAQAT BALOCH
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Islami Jamiat Talaba
Jamaatud Dawa
Lal Masjid
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
No bathing of the corpse. No takfeen. No janazah, with a ban on all public gatherings for the purpose of praying over dead terrorists. This barbaric martyrdom bullshit is an evil that needs to be suppressed and defeated however possible. Since terrorism runs in the family, relatives must be made to grieve over their inability to properly bury the bodies of those who dedicated themselves to the savage destruction of others.
There must be an end to the glorification of these terrorist scumbags. The weeping and wailing over their blasted corpses must amount to nothing. Their gravesites must be unmarked or, preferrably, nonexistent (i.e., cremation and scattering).
The West pays far too much respect to those who would murder us in our sleep. This madness must end. Those who seek to wreak havoc amongst innocent civilians should be subjected to the most austere of funerals. Any showing of reverence or regard cannot not be tolerated. These terrorist cortèges must end!
#2
Wrap them in bacon and face them straight down so thier eyes are cast towards their eternal abode in hell.
or not to waste good bacon, only wrap their privates so it they do go to heaven their equipment won't.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 1:27 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Pack the cadavers with explosives & set them off at the funerals, more efficient that way. A few postmortem suicide bombings & the funerals will take of themselves.
#4
Post-Mortem suicide... i like the ring of that.
it kind of matches my retro-active abortion spiel i give my teen-ager...
"I am pro-abortion if they would allow it to be performed retro-actively, say up to the age of 18 with a 6 month waiting period, and in cases of extreme stupidity well into adulthood."
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 11:41 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Abu, they're called "Post-Partum" abortions. Can be performed on idiots and dhimmicritters at any age. As for the "prayers" at the funerals of islamosh$$s, that's what napalm is for.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/14/2007 18:49 Comments ||
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A large number of Islamists rallied on Friday to denounce the government for ordering an army crackdown on Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa. Protests were held in several towns and cities across the country after Friday prayers but none was very big and there were no reports of trouble, agencies reported. This chapter has not ended here. The bloodshed at Lal Masjid will lead to an Islamist revolution in Pakistan, MMA central leader Liaqat Baloch told a rally of about 300 people in Lahore.
Protesters burned effigies of President Pervez Musharraf and US President George W Bush and shouted Long live the martyrs of Lal Masjid.
Protesters burned effigies of President Pervez Musharraf and US President George W Bush and shouted Long live the martyrs of Lal Masjid. In Multan, a cleric and member of an alliance of madrasas said the crackdown boded ill for all madrasas. It was part of a conspiracy against madrassas, Qari Hanif Jallandari told a rally.
Staff Report adds: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) failed to gather the people in Islamabad to protest against the military operation against Lal Masjid. Only about three dozen protesters led by MMA leader Abdul Ghafoor Haidri turned up at Fire Brigade Stop in Sector G-7 and shouted slogans against the government.
In Peshawar, a MMA rally marched from Masjid Qasim Ali Khan to Qissa Khwani Bazaar where NWFP Zakat Minister Hafiz Hashmat, Auqaf Minister Amanullah Haqqani and MMA NWFP Secretary General Shabbir Ahmed Khan addressed the participants. The speakers condemned the military action against the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa administrations, terming it a brutal act.
This article starring:
ABDUL GHAFUR HAIDRI
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
AMANULLAH HAQQANI
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
HAFIZ HASHMAT
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
LIAQAT BALOCH
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
QARI HANIF JALLANDARI
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
SHABIR AHMED KHAN
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Jamia Hafsa
Lal Masjid
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
#1
Time to get your rage on!
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 1:30 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"rally of about 300 people in Lahore."
300! In a big city like that? They should be embarassed. Maybe they're worried if too many gather together the government might send in a 'suicide bomber' (1000 pounds, dropped from an aircraft?)
#3
I'm sure the crowd was wondering about a bombing, that may be part of the reason for the small turnout. It would be trivial for the government to set off a couple of Claymore mines near the terrorist recruiting party "prayer session."
Maulana Fazalur Rehman Khalil, erstwhile chief of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen (HM), said on Friday that he feared a backlash from militants over the Lal Masjid operation. The military operation in the mosque-madrassa complex has serious repercussions and it could have been avoided, Khalil said, adding that Islamist militants could severely react to it.
Khalil, once Osama Bin Ladens popsielover close aide, was arrested and released shortly afterwards by the Pakistani law enforcement agencies after the US State Department had banned HM in October 2001. He remained underground until July 10, when the late Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi and Pakistan Muslim League president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had requested him to facilitate negotiations.
He denounced the killing of innocent people trapped inside the complex and said the operation could have been avoided with a little patience from the government. He said he did not support Lal Masjids Shariah. He praised Shujaat and Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq for doing their best to avoid the operation. He said the Wafaqul Madaris Al Arabia (WMA) delegates had refused to accompany him into Lal Masjid to talk with Ghazi and that the delegates left the surrender point at around 12:30am.
This article starring:
MAULANA ABDUL RASHID GHAZI
Lal Masjid
MAULANA FAZALUR REHMAN KHALIL
Harkatul Mujahideen
Pakistan Muslim League president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain
Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq
Harkatul Mujahideen
Lal Masjid
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Sure it could have been avoided, but Ghazi insisted it end bloody.
Burn in hell with the rest of them asshat!
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 1:31 Comments ||
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#2
For maulana, the backlash to watch out for will be the bounce at the end of the rope...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/14/2007 10:24 Comments ||
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Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the deputy prayer leader of Lal Masjid, was killed when he was trying to escape through a breach in the wall of Jamia Hafsa with his three foreign guards, a well-placed intelligence source told Daily Times on Friday.
The source, asking not to be named, said that army commandoes spotted Ghazi and his three guards trying to escape from a breach in the wall created by the army to rescue the women and children held hostage in the Jamia Hafsa compound. Ghazi and his guards were heading towards the nullah behind the Jamia Hafsa madrassa. The commandoes chased Ghazi and his guards and the latter took refuge in a room near the breach in the wall.
One of Ghazis guards, an Uzbek, fired on a commando who was trying to take a look inside the room. The militants bullet missed the commando, who retaliated, killing all the four men inside, said the source.
One of Ghazis guards, an Uzbek, fired on a commando who was trying to take a look inside the room. The militants bullet missed the commando, who retaliated, killing all the four men inside, said the source.
It is learnt that the security forces also found a partially burnt passport of a neighbouring country during the combing operation of Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid. The passport has become the focus of attention for the intelligence agencies since the neighbouring country has a history of targeting jihadi organizations, the source added. The source said the foreign passport was found from Ghazis belongings and has been sent to an intelligence agency for further investigation. The presence of the foreign passport in the residence of the late madrassa leader had left senior intelligence officials wondering if secret agents of the enemy state had penetrated into jihadi organisations.
The security forces found that some parts of Ghazis residence had been burnt, suggesting Ghazi and his guards tried to burn their belongings before heading towards the nullah. The security forces also found a large number of partially burnt local and foreign currency in some boxes. One of the boxes contained undamaged local money amounting to Rs 1.5 million. The security personnel also spotted partially burnt foreign passports, which supports the information on presence of foreign militants in the mosque complex, said the source.
Once all the issues were settled, Ghazi told Shujaat there were some foreign friends who should also be given amnesty and safe passage with him. Ghazi repeated this demand thrice, another source privy to the negotiations told Daily Times.
Apparently negotiations between PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Ghazi for a peaceful solution to the standoff failed due to the issue of foreign militants. Once all the issues were settled, Ghazi told Shujaat there were some foreign friends who should also be given amnesty and safe passage with him. Ghazi repeated this demand thrice, another source privy to the negotiations told Daily Times. He added that the entire conversation was recorded on the mobile phone used in the talks and the government had secured the evidence. Daily Times was told that there were 15 foreigners in the Lal Masjid complex and all of them were expert snipers. A group of these snipers had killed Lt Col Haroonul Islam during the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The source, asking not to be named, said that army commandoes spotted Ghazi and his three guards trying to escape from a breach in the wall created by the army to rescue the women and children held hostage in the Jamia Hafsa compound.
#2
"The presence of the foreign passport in the residence of the late madrassa leader had left senior intelligence officials wondering if secret agents of the enemy state had penetrated into jihadi organisations."
Translation: It was those sneaky Hindooos who were behind the whole thing!
President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday directed all federal and provincial governments to crackdown on religious extremism and militancy in the country, reiterating the governments determination to free the country from terrorism.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review law and order in the country, the president directed the provincial governments to ensure law and order by any means necessary, adding that the federal government would support them in this regard.
Referring to growing extremism in NWFP, he directed the provincial law enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat militancy by carrying out coordinated efforts in the tribal and settled areas of NWFP.
The president also approved a plan for the immediate deployment of paramilitary forces to the troubled Swat valley to crush the growing militancy in the area. He directed armed forces personnel not to wear their uniforms in public in the NWFP for fear of backlash from the Lal Masjid operation. He said the federal law enforcement agencies would execute and monitor all military operations in NWFP and FATA and the NWFP government would only assist them.
President Musharraf also directed all ministries concerned to provide the media with all relevant facts related to the Lal Masjid operation, including the number and names of those killed and injured. He appreciated the role played by Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in trying to resolve the Lal Masjid issue peacefully.
The meetings participants also discussed suicide attacks in Swat and Miranshah and were briefed on the recently concluded Lal Masjid operation. They were informed that it was apparent from the layout of fortifications, deployment of weapons and other evidence collected from the Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa compound that hardened militants had planned its defence.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, DG ISPR Major General Waheed Arshad and chiefs of law enforcement agencies attended the meeting.
Also on Friday, the government announced the lifting of the curfew in Sector G-6 from Saturday morning, but said that Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa would continue to be cordoned off for security reasons.
Addressing a press conference, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao told reporters that commandoes of Pakistan Army and Rangers had killed four to five suspected foreign militants during the 10-day-long military offensive. He said the number of foreigners killed in the mosque could be higher.
He said the names of those killed, injured and still missing would be posted on the governments official website in line with the presidents directions. He said the Interior Ministry had also set up an information centre at Pakistan Sports Board for displaying the names.
Sherpao said 102 people, including 91 civilians, 10 army men and one Ranger had been killed in the Lal Masjid operation. Of these, only 17 had been identified, he added. He said the bodies of five girls and Rashid Ghazis mother had yet to be identified.
He said the Capital Development Authority had been directed to start the repair work on Lal Masjid immediately, adding that engineers were still not sure whether Jamia Hafsa could be restored or had to be demolished.
Agencies add: Addressing the meeting, the president said the government needed to take sweeping steps, otherwise tragedies like Lal Masjid would continue to take place.
He said, We have to crush extremism and militants with full force as they are venom for our society. He praised the professionalism of the armed forces and said they exercised extreme restraint, resulting in them suffering greater casualties than were necessary during the operation. He also directed immediate steps to be taken for the restoration of Lal Masjid.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"I want all these assassins extremists stopped immediately!"
Defying a White House veto threat, the US House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to pull troops out of Iraq by April 1, 2008. By a vote of 223-201, the Democratic-controlled House approved the legislation in the hopes that it would pressure the Senate to attach a similar mandatory troop withdrawal timetable to a military policy bill it is debating.
The bill would tell the Pentagon to begin withdrawing combat troops within four months and complete the redeployment by April 1. Under the bill, an unspecified number of US soldiers would stay in Iraq to train Iraqi soldiers, conduct counter-terrorism operations and protect US diplomats. The Pentagon will also reduce its naval presence in the Gulf to one aircraft carrier group by August, defense officials said on Thursday. This change in carrier presence does not reflect a change in commitment or concern for the region, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Defence officials said there could be a five-day window before the years end when no US carriers would be in the Gulf. Whitman however did not comment on specific deployment timetables.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
US House wants Iraq pullout by next April Fools' Day
I suppose all sense of irony is lost upon these traitorous bastards.
#2
No Zen, i think irony is too cerebral for them.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 1:33 Comments ||
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#3
TRUTHOUT/OTHERS > basically, no one in the USA should expect a withdrawal or pullout either wid this POTUS [Dubya], or any GOP-DEM successor to Dubya. All the hoopla is only about MINOR OR LIMITED SCALEBACK /REDUX OF MILFORS in relation to level = scale of insurgent actions, or inthe altern MEANINGLESS "TALKING POINTS/PR" FOR 2008 ELEX. Very few GOP-DEM pols in the USG support a major and or total withdrawal of US milfors from either Iraq or the ME region, at least for the duration of the WOT + insurgency within Iraq proper. Can label it MURTHA-ISM, or "Talking the Talk but NOT Walking the Walk", etc.
#4
"Tis why many dedicated anti-US Islamists, Terrorists, etc. are now realizing that, to save Radical Islamism and its agenda from defeat, America itself must be attacked, destabilized and warred against from within. GOOD NEWS FOR ISLAMISTS > RUSSIA > RUSSIAN TERRITORY TO ENLARGE [by 0.46 Milyuhn square miles] DUE TO DISCOVERY OF HYDROCARBON IN ARCTIC. Also, CHINA > TOLD RUSSIA IT IS OFFICIO AGAINST US GMD/BMD/ABM RADARS AND MISSLES BEING SET UP IN ALASKA.
#6
That margin can turn. End Shiite encroachment and Sunni terror will lose its decreasing support base. That is already happening. And the al-Sadrites took an ass-kicking this week when then mortared the Green Zone.
Al-Jazeera has already reported the "Tet Offensive" analogies that surfaced in the dhimmi press. The terrorists might attempt to capitalize on that comfort to the enemy.
I'm waiting for the polling people to ask "Not that you'd want it to happen, but do you think the military could do a better job of running the government than the morons in Congress?".
#14
Time to bring back the "Throw the Bums Out" movement of the early 90's - remember? Term limits? Contract with America? It worked then and can still work now. We just need a Gingrich type intellect with a Reganistic personality. Fred? (Thompson that is). Hell even Pruitt could be the Fred we need.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/14/2007 16:47 Comments ||
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#15
Nothing but bluster and appeasing the left's moonbat fringe.
Anyone who knows a respectable amount regarding our troops and equipment in Iraq will also know that it is impossible to withdraw within that timeline.
Posted by: Army Life ||
07/14/2007 16:57 Comments ||
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#16
Chimpy McBushitler O'Halliburton, Don't You Understand, The Iraqi People Don't Want Us!
Posted by: House demoC*raps ||
07/14/2007 23:22 Comments ||
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#17
if that composite doesn't make you proud as hell you aren't worthy.
The international diplomatic Quartet working for peace in the Middle East is planning to meet next week in Lisbon, a Portuguese Foreign Ministry official said Friday. Senior officials from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia will attend the meeting, but there was no confirmation on whether Tony Blair, named last month as the Quartet's special Mideast envoy, would be present, the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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American citizens were called by the US State Department to take security considerations into account when visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories, Israel Radio reported Friday overnight. The statement calls on Americans to avoid visiting the West Bank, and calls on all American citizens residing in Gaza to leave the area immediately, be they tourists or citizens in official roles such as journalists or workers of aid agencies. While the statement was published in the past, the clause regarding aid agency workers and journalists was a new addition, Israel Radio reported.
I don't even need to be told. It's on my list, right before "don't eat the yellow snow."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Please contact Rachel Corrie for advice before departure."
#2
Last year it was proven that thousands of US citizens by convenience and Hizbollah supporters by conviction, lived in Lebanon. And it cost over a hundred million to rescue them from IDF justice. We have to assume that there are US citizens in the West Bank, who are pro Fatah or Hamas Paleos. They don't deserve rescue.
#8
Anyone been noticing the travel ads on FNC for Israel? The wall must be working. I love Tel Aviv and Juresaleum. Great beach hotels and fine resturants. They are even building a light rail system in Jerusaleum and a pre-Metro in Tel Aviv (underground).
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/14/2007 16:49 Comments ||
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#9
I'ma assuming that this is a "pre-warning" from the IDF (behind the scenes) that whack a mole/Paleo is about to begin in the PA Territories or even whack a Hezzie in Southern Lebanon. Or, are the darn Joos still up to being nice and Western and all and giving a warning like that?
Posted by: BA ||
07/14/2007 21:00 Comments ||
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From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription.
PARIS Boeing has completed flight testing of an anti-jamming system for a key airborne weapon sought by Middle East clients.
The U.S. defense major has concluded flight testing of its Integrated GPS Anti-Jam System for the Joint Direct Attack Munition. JDAM, which transforms general-purpose air bombs into smart weapons, has been supplied to Israel and sought by Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Who would get the technology and give it to all their friends.
"IGAS uses digital signal processing to significantly reduce the impact of GPS jamming, allowing the warfighter to use JDAM with confidence in a variety of battlefield environments," Boeing IGAS program manager Dennis Kast said. "Its performance continues to exceed our highest expectations."
Over the last two years, pilots have reported that JDAM's performance was affected by Russian-designed jammers. In some cases, the weapon veered sharply from its planned course and toward civilian sites. Pooty-Poot. Look into his soul and you will see that he is our friend.
Executives said Boeing plans to complete IGAS development in 2007. They said deliveries to the U.S. Air Force would begin in 2008 for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. And in Iran....hey, I can dream, can't I?
JDAM is a GPS-aided guidance kit capable of guiding 500- to 2,000-pound warheads. The kit can be employed on a range of aircraft, including the F-15 and F-16.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"veered sharply from its planned course and toward civilian sites"
I wonder if they can make a JDAM kit that diverts and homes in on the jammers? Of course, blowing up mosques is not very good PR.
#3
OK, then - back to the big dumb BLU bombs for the Iranians
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/14/2007 10:30 Comments ||
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#4
Some of weapons do have a Home On Jam ability (this is public information, not classified), though I don't know if JDAM does (it's made by Brand X). The value of a HOJ mode depends on the target. If it's an airplane or ship, then hitting the jammer is just as good. If it's a ground target, it depends. If you put the jammer right on the building (or whatever), then I call it a Homing Beacon. But, if you put it a few hundred yards away, killing it won't kill the target.
Of course, if you're willing to expend enough ammunition, you simply hit the jammers first, then drop the big ones unmolested. Kind of a Wild Weasel approach. HARM would do this, but it's a bloody expensive weapon to take out a little transmitter.
If you use a nuclear weapon, then there is no problem with jammers. [wag]
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
07/14/2007 11:50 Comments ||
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#5
back in the drive to capture baghdad during the highly mis-labled 'shock and awe' campaign we destroyed all the deployed soviet gps jammers using jdam munitions. rummy had a press conference to poit out the irony that the jammers were destroyed with the technology they were trying to inhibit.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/14/2007 11:50 Comments ||
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#6
Home on jam is fine even if the jammer is offset. I'm sure the Russians aren't donating the jammers for free. There will be a limited supply. JDAM technology has eliminated the necessity for carpet bombing so we have plenty in the tank.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/14/2007 13:53 Comments ||
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To the South, or to the West? Syria, under pressure from the UN Tribunal investigating the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and under additional UN (plus Lebanese, French and American) pressure to halt the flow of weapons and fighters into Lebanon and Iraq, has issued two sets of warnings: to the south and to the west. To Israel and to Lebanon.
A Baath official told The New York Sun, If Israel doesnt vacate the strategic Golan Heights before September, Syrian guerillas will immediately launch resistance operations ... Damascus is preparing for Israeli retaliation following Syrian guerilla attacks and for a larger war... (The unnamed Baath official) said that in the opening salvo of any conflict, Syria has the capability to fire hundreds of missiles at Tel Aviv. Syria passed repeated messages to the U.S. that we demand the return of the Golan either through negotiations or through war. If the Golan is not in our hands by August or September, we will be poised to launch resistance, including raids and attacks.
As for Lebanon, the UN appears finally to be taking reports of Syrian infiltration seriously, including consideration of changing the mandate of UNIFIL to guard the border. Arab and Iranian press reports say Syria has told its citizens to leave the country. Hezbollah has been unable to translate last summers military stalemate against the IDF into political gains in Beirut, but the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), in a special dispatch, reports that Hezbollah has now, threatened to establish a second government through historical steps in mid July. Steps supported by Syria, as Syria has supported the Fatah al-Islam terror groups in their fight against the Lebanese Army from inside Palestinian refugee camps.
The IDF takes the Syrian threat extremely seriously, suspending changes in Israeli military personnel abroad and improving ground force operations. But the threat from Syria is likely to be primarily missiles, including chemical warheads. To that end, the Israeli government has moved defense funds to the Home Front Command, but acknowledged that the situation of gas masks for the population is unacceptable. Syria is known to have Scud-D surface-to-surface missiles, which were tested in coordination with Iran, and is believed to have Chinese C-802 missiles of the sort used against the IDF/Navy last summer - courtesy of Iran as well.
Syrian propaganda is already blaming Israel for any future war. The New York Sun quotes the Baath official saying Syria has proof Israel is also readying for a war. We hear about special Israeli trainings to take Damascus. We see that Israel is reestablishing bases of the Israeli army in the Golan that are unusual and not needed except for war. We believe the Israeli government has an interest in confronting Syria to rehabilitate its image of losing to Hezbollah, he said.
War in the Middle East has a way of building its own momentum. Junior Assad, a pawn of Iran, may believe he has no choice but to continue his bluster against two countries closely associated with American interests in the region - Israel and Lebanon. Israel will have to take seriously any Syrian move against Lebanon, and the U.S. will have to take seriously any Syrian move against Lebanon or Israel.
#1
If Assad starts a fight, I suspect the Israelis will finish it...and him. Maybe it's time for Damascus to go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Posted by: Mac ||
07/14/2007 18:29 Comments ||
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#2
Like America, Israel really needs to get over the notion of limited war. Syria needs to stopped permanently. Offing Assad should be one part of that plan. Personally, I'd love to see Israel take and hold a large chunk of Syrian territory as compensation for their trouble.
#3
huh - and his Eastern flank, which has been caught sending jihadis and suicide vests to kill Americans and Iraqis is left relatively open.... what could a squadron of fighter/bombers do from our western air bases? A LOT of damage, I bet
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/14/2007 19:13 Comments ||
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#4
More important than to take and hold is to march like Sherman. The Syrian people must be made to howl. After that, leave them return to their own medieval devices.
Posted by: Scott McNeally ||
07/14/2007 19:43 Comments ||
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#5
Mac, if Olmert is still around when it kicks off, you may be disappointed,`
#6
Iran isn't going to be happy to lose it's useful idiot. For a while there it seemed Iran, Iraq, and Syria were taking turns being a problem so nobody knows which mole to whack. Israel going after Iran would basically end up with Iran being the only mole left to whack.
Iran lifted its ban on visits to a nuclear facility by UN experts and will now allow them to inspect the site, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday. It also said Tehran was ready to answer key questions on past experiments that the international community fears could be linked to a weapons programme.
The IAEA the UNs nuclear monitor said Iran promised the concessions earlier this week in a meeting between its officials and a senior delegation from the Vienna-based agency. .
Years of Iranian stonewalling have left the IAEA unable to ascertain whether Tehran is telling the truth in asserting that it has no nuclear weapons ambitions and that its atomic activities are meant strictly to generate power. Its refusal to cooperate with the agency was the trigger that prompted UN Security Council involvement last year, leading to two sets of sanctions.
Any decision by Iran to cooperate with the agency would thus be a major compromise on its part. As such, it could weaken a push by the United States and its Western allies on the council to impose new UN sanctions even if Tehran continues to defy the councils main demand that it freeze its uranium enrichment programme..
In talks between Iranian officials and IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards Olli Heinonen, agreement was reached on the designation of new agency inspectors, a visit of agency inspectors to the heavy water research reactor at Arak by the end of July and the finalisation of the safeguards approach at the Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz during early August, said a statement from the IAEA.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iranian "Guide": Here's the plant, inspect all you like.
IAEA Inpector: How come it's just the front of a building? And why is it made out of cardboard?
US President George W. Bush on Thursday accused Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah of playing a nefarious role in the carnage gripping Iraq and warned that an early US withdrawal would only "frighten Arab allies." For this reason, Bush said Thursday he was sending US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East next month to consult Arab allies on the conflict.
Bush spoke after an interim White House report found the Iraqi government had made only mixed progress in meeting political goals. It said conditions were still dangerous and challenging, six months after Bush ordered a US troop buildup. "The fight in Iraq is part of a broader struggle that's unfolding across the region," Bush said. "The same regime in Iran that is pursuing nuclear weapons and threatening to wipe Israel off the map is also providing sophisticated IEDs [improvised-explosive device] to extremists in Iraq who are using them to kill American soldiers. The same Hezbollah terrorists who are waging war against the forces of democracy in Lebanon are training extremists to do the same against coalition forces in Iraq.
"The same Syrian regime that provides support and sanctuary for Islamic jihad and Hamas has refused to close its airport in Damascus to suicide bombers headed to Iraq," Bush said. "All these extremist groups would be emboldened by a precipitous American withdrawal, which would confuse and frighten friends and allies in the region," he said, adding that Arab nations have "a stake in a stable Iraq."
He said that the "war against extremists and radicals is not only evident in Iraq, but it's evident in Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories and Afghanistan."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
So he's sending Gates and Rice to do a little hand wringing with our so-called Arab allies? HOW ABOUT BOMBING THE CRAP OUT OF IRAN INSTEAD???
#2
I'd much rather see a Gates/Cheney tour to talk to 'ME allies'. When Cheney knocks on your door to talk, some hairy shit's usually around the corner. Rice, not so much.
Retired General Michel Aoun, the sole declared but hotly disputed candidate with less than 11 weeks to go before presidential elections, sees his candidacy as the only way out for a Lebanon deep in crisis. "Maybe I am the key because I am independent, love Lebanon, and am a free man, with no foreign capital behind me ... I can be the bridge between all sides," he said. "I can't guarantee anybody else. I know my country, our politicians ... I don't want a mistake," Aoun told AFP in an interview at his borrowed villa headquarters in the affluent mountain resort of Rabieh, northeast of Beirut.
The Maronite Christian opposition leader said he was opposed to a "weak" consensus candidate coming forward in a bid to break the deadlock, warning that such a scenario could spark further instability and "destroy the country."
All-party talks taking place near Paris this weekend were "an opportunity for all parties to expose their points of view ... and for a possible initiative born of a synthesis," Aoun said. "If we are not optimistic, why go to Paris? We have to give a chance to all initiatives," he said.
Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement won a vast majority of the Christian vote in 2005 legislative elections, after Syria ended its almost three decades of military domination of Lebanon under international pressure following former premier Rafik Hariri's murder.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Aoun is in an alliance with Hezbollah which of course is an Iranian puppet and belies the "no foreign capital" claim. The source article at least mentions the Hezbollah alliance, but that part is left out of this excerpt.
In what was described as a shocking report for Israel, a UN cartographer has determined for the first time that the Israeli-held Sheba'a Farms belong to Lebanon, supporting a position long held by Lebanon and Syria. Reports on the cartography met with tightlipped response from Hezbollah.
The report, leaked to the press on the eve of the first anniversary of Israel's 33-day war on Lebanon, stated that the UN has asked the Israeli government to hand over the Farms to the UN. However, both Israeli and UN officials scrambled to deny the report, published in Haaretz. According to sources in the Israeli paper, Haaretz obtained "the draft" of the cartographer's report from its own UN sources.
No Israeli official was available to comment on the record on the report because of the sensitivity of the issue. But Israeli official sources told the Gulf News correspondent in Occupied Jerusalem on condition of anonymity that the report was discussed by the Israeli Security Cabinet yesterday and the issue was left pending for further clarification by the UN and the US.
Israeli media sources said the report has been made available to Israel for "a while", but was not publicly disclosed to avoid "angry reactions from Israelis that would torpedo their perception that the borders between Lebanon and Israel were carefully drawn," an Israeli journalist told Gulf News. "The report demolishes one of the strong points in Israel's war [on Lebanon]. Israelis are shocked," he added.
Israel captured the 25-square km area on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border as part of the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 War. When Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon in 2000, it was announced that the withdrawal was complete, as the UN has viewed the Sheba'a Farms as Syrian land, but both Lebanon and Syria said it was Lebanese territory.
Despite repeated attempts by Gulf News, officials in the Lebanese government and Hezbollah were tightlipped and would only comment after an official announcement from the UN.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
I am sorry. I can't see the Israelis being "Shocked" by anything from the UN. Upset yes. Shocked no.
#3
According to the UN, does Israel belong to Israel? Probably not.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
07/14/2007 11:51 Comments ||
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#4
Are the Shebaa Farms actually, y'know, tactically important? Would it matter if Israel just gave the damn sliver to Lebanon, on condition that it was occupied by the Lebanese Army, and not UNFIL or Paleos or Hezb?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/14/2007 11:53 Comments ||
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#5
If Israel gives up the Shebaa Farms, Hizbullah will then demand the "9 villages" in order to continue the "Resistance". Salami tactics will never end until the conquest is complete and no Jews remain...
#6
Not real familiar with it, but seeing as how the Gulf News coorespondent was in "Occupied Jerusalem", I'ma assuming the Gulf News is an Arab rag, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
07/14/2007 20:44 Comments ||
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#7
Indeed, BA. And YaLibnan is Lebanese. And Ha'aretz is the New York Times of Israel, with all that implies. ;-)
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.
Over a hundred demonstrators gathered outside the Iranian Embassy in Bahrain Friday to protest a recent editorial in a conservative Teheran newspaper arguing that Bahrain is part of Iran. Waving Bahraini flags, the mostly Sunni protesters called for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and the closure of the embassy, as police prevented them from reaching the building. 
As the four July 21 bomb plotters started their 40-year minimum sentences this week, a group of police special branch officers - the foot soldiers of the security services - based at Prison Service headquarters were quietly working to ensure that the failed bombers do not inspire a new generation of violent jihadists.
Three Dutch politicians from the Dutch Green, Labour and Socialist party had a 2 hour conversation with Hamas leader Usamah Hamdan in Syria yesterday. The converstation was said to be useful. 
More than 10,000 people offered funeral prayers in absentia for victims of the 
MMA protests: On the appeal of the 
A large number of Islamists rallied on Friday to denounce the government for ordering an army crackdown on 
President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday directed all federal and provincial governments to crackdown on religious extremism and militancy in the country, reiterating the governments determination to free the country from terrorism. 
Defying a White House veto threat, the US House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to pull troops out of Iraq by April 1, 2008. By a vote of 223-201, the Democratic-controlled House approved the legislation in the hopes that it would pressure the Senate to attach a similar mandatory troop withdrawal timetable to a military policy bill it is debating. 
The international diplomatic Quartet working for peace in the Middle East is planning to meet next week in Lisbon, a Portuguese Foreign Ministry official said Friday. Senior officials from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia will attend the meeting, but there was no confirmation on whether Tony Blair, named last month as the Quartet's special Mideast envoy, would be present, the official said.
Iran lifted its ban on visits to a nuclear facility by UN experts and will now allow them to inspect the site, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday. It also said Tehran was ready to answer key questions on past experiments that the international community fears could be linked to a weapons programme. 
US President George W. Bush on Thursday accused Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah of playing a nefarious role in the carnage gripping Iraq and warned that an early US withdrawal would only "frighten Arab allies." For this reason, Bush said Thursday he was sending US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East next month to consult Arab allies on the conflict.
Retired General Michel Aoun, the sole declared but hotly disputed candidate with less than 11 weeks to go before presidential elections, sees his candidacy as the only way out for a Lebanon deep in crisis. "Maybe I am the key because I am independent, love Lebanon, and am a free man, with no foreign capital behind me ... I can be the bridge between all sides," he said. "I can't guarantee anybody else. I know my country, our politicians ... I don't want a mistake," Aoun told AFP in an interview at his borrowed villa headquarters in the affluent mountain resort of Rabieh, northeast of Beirut.
