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Afghanistan
Afghans Protest Planned Koran Burning
Chanting "Death to America," several hundred
Madrassah students, according to the article. Not a very large or broad-based protest, from the description.
rallied outside a Kabul mosque on Monday to protest the planned burning of a Koran by an American church on the 9/11 anniversary. The US embassy said "Americans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds reject this offensive initiative by this small group in Florida" while assuming that Islam is more worthy of respect than any other religion in the world and simultaneously neglecting to mention other Americans who are all in favor of it.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/06/2010 15:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, I'm not out protesting it, but I do think the whole Koran-burning thing is a stupid idea.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/06/2010 17:14 Comments || Top||

#2  It should be noted that their demands are substantially identical with those of the Afghan government.

Liberated Afghanistan voted in UN forums in favor of making "Defamation of IslamReligion" illegal.

Specifically the Afghan government wants the US to repeal the 1st Amendment, just like these demonstrators.

The US embassy's reaction is troubling. They should have made a terse statement explaining to the Afghans that this Florida pastor is exercising his constitutionally protected right and that any attack on the US is a deadly mistake.

Provocative weakness indeed!
Posted by: Glolung Scourge of the Infinitesmal6786 || 09/06/2010 17:23 Comments || Top||

#3  PS:
Burning books obviously has a bad historical connotation, and it certainly offends the religious sensitivity of many Muslims in Afghanistan.

Liberated Afghanistan's concept of religious tolerance however is to make 'Breathing while ex-Muslim' a capital offense, and this 'Death to America' crowd surely is among the most ardent supporters of this law.

So my take re their religious sensitivities is an exclamation that ends with 'and the horse they rode on.'

/rant
Posted by: Glolung Scourge of the Infinitesmal6786 || 09/06/2010 17:36 Comments || Top||

#4  I'll bet a lot of people are going to be looking at this as some kind of litmus test.

And it's nothing like an old-fashioned book burning when they burned every book they could find. Unfortunately there will still be plenty of Crayons to go around after this is done. It's the equivalent of Muslims stomping on and burning the American flag.
Posted by: gorb || 09/06/2010 18:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Madrassah students, according to the article. Not a very large or broad-based protest, from the description.

This is an old student
Posted by: Beavis || 09/06/2010 18:20 Comments || Top||

#6  This so-called 'church' has perhaps 50 members - I think the 'pastor' is trying to get attention myself.

And book burning is a stupid idea. If you want to combat the ideas in the book - they simply expose it to the light. Jihad watch is pretty effective at that.

And, if your faith and god are 'threatened' by book burning or cartoons - then your faith and god are pretty damn pathetic indeed.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/06/2010 18:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Petraeus Condemns U.S. Church's Plan to Burn Qurans

How far will this go?

All western freedoms are offensive to the Taliban and their Afghan sympathizers.

What freedoms do we have to sacrifice to appease our allies, the liberated Afghan people?

Should we start with requiring Hindus to wear an orange patch of cloth? Or should we ban christian proselytizing? Should we adopt Sharia as a whole?

According to Clausewitz winning a war means imposing one's will on the adversary.

Who is winning here?
Posted by: Glolung Scourge of the Infinitesmal6786 || 09/06/2010 20:25 Comments || Top||


Rumours Rejected on Formation of a New Coalition Front
[Tolo News] Dr Abdullah and former Afghan Intelligence Chief, Amrullah Saleh on Sunday strongy rejected rumours about the formation of a new coalition in the country

Earlier, there were reports claiming that some former jihadi leaders are trying to form a new coalition in northern Afghanistan with the support of some countries.
Which jihad might that have been? The one against the Russians, the one against the Taliban, or the current one against the Coalition and the Afghans? It's important to define terms precisely, you see.
Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Amrullah Saleh and General Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, made a trip to India regarding the formation of the coalition, according to reports that have been called 'baseless'.
Ick. Those Hinjoos have cooties, dontchaknow.
The reports claimed that the three had some meetings in the last ten days with Indian officials in India and that they had asked for support to the new coalition.

"I don't need any foreign countries to support or guide me setting political goals and political activities. I am in contact with all Afghan leaders," Amrullah Saleh said.

"There is no such thing about the formation of something like a coalition, and it has been months that I haven't had any contact with General Dostum and I haven't sought help from any foreign countries too," said Dr Abdullah. "But I want the world to support the Afghan political process."

The reports also claimed that about a month ago some jihadi leaders took a trip to Germany and there the issue was discussed with some US congress members.
The same jihadi leaders as above, or a different set? Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban vow to disrupt elections in Afghanistan
[Pak Daily Times] The Taliban said on Sunday they would attempt to disrupt elections this month and warned the Afghans to boycott the vote, the first explicit threat against the poll by them.

The threat came just a day after Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai said he would soon announce members of a peace council to pursue talks with the Taliban, another step in his plan for reconciliation with the terrorists.

The September 18 parliamentary election is seen as a litmus test of stability in Afghanistan before US President Barack B.O. Obama conducts a war strategy review in December that will examine the pace and scale of US troop withdrawals from July 2011.

Despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, violence is at its worst across Afghanistan since US-backed Afghan forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001.

"This (poll) is a foreign process for the sake of further occupation of Afghanistan and we are asking the Afghan nation to boycott it," Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid said.

"We are against it and will try with the best of our ability to block it. Our first targets will be the foreign forces and next the Afghan ones," he said.

Security is a major concern ahead of the vote, with four candidates killed already in recent weeks and dozens of campaign workers maimed, according to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and government officials. Some of the attacks have been blamed on the Taliban.

Another candidate was maimed, and 10 of his campaign workers were killed, in an airstrike on Friday, Karzai has said, although NATO and US officials dispute his account.

The independent Election Foundation of Afghanistan Free and Fair Chairman Nader Nadery said the threat was worrying because it could lead to poor voter turnout in the ethnic Pashtun belt in the south, where the Taliban are strongest.

"The people know that when the Taliban warn, they deliver on those warnings, and that prevents people from engaging very actively," Nadery said.

Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who came second behind Karzai last year, said he was worried about security.

"Not only has it not improved in the last few months, it has deteriorated," Abdullah told a news conference in Kabul.

According to Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC), 938 out of a planned 6,835 polling centres will not open on election day because of security fears.

Graft and cronyism are also major concerns ahead of the vote after last year's fraud-marred presidential election, in which a third of votes for Karzai were thrown out as fake.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Salafists in Boumerdes transform mosques into places of recruitment
[Ennahar] According to statistics from the Directorate of Religious Affairs in the province of Boumerdes, 64 illegal places of worship have been created since the earthquake, which struck that rƩgion on 21 May 2003.

Over time, these places have become subjects of struggle between different religious currents, prompting the security authorities of the province to sound the alarm and express their fears about the return of the Salafi current who calls for Jihad.

Several Towns in the province of Boumerdes, including those in the eastern regions, have seen a proliferation of such places of worship, constructed in a haphazard manner in the centers of cities and villages as isolated ones in the district of Bordj MĆ©naĆÆl with 41 prayer rooms on a total of 81 rooms. Three prayer rooms Djinet and one in the Municipality of Lekata, where holy men are chosen by citizens as well as the management commission.

Conflicts between different groups on religious issues, like the beard, wearing qamis and trousers, and other topics such as the Djilbab, fatwas and legal issues may lead to revocation of imams and their replacement by others.

In a prayer room located in the town of Bordj MĆ©naĆÆl during the holly month of Ramadhan, we were surprised by the condition of the hall, whose roof was covered with tiles and its crumbling walls. Nobody could know that it is a prayer room without the sign on the door. A portion was reserved for women who also are divided into two parts: those who wear Djilbab and those who wear Hijab.

The Salafi extremist current
According to information received by Ennahar, Halakates (meetings) not authorized by the Directorate of Religious Affairs, are organized, prompting authorities to sound the alarm after reports on some fanatic Salafists preaching for jihad and who attempt, by their ideas to influence young people and recruit among young adolescents, after the evening prayers and Taraweeh.

Security has been strengthened after the return of some followers of the Salafi current and after the seizure of books and CDs calling for jihad, in addition to information on the infiltration of terrorist elements in the prayer rooms and their contacts with support cells.

Furthermore, and according to sources received by Ennahar, the majority of kidnappings in recent years have been committed in front of mosques and prayer halls after the Maghrib or the evening prayer.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Follow the money and it always leads to Saudi!
Posted by: Paul2 || 09/06/2010 7:54 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
'N.Korea could be mother of all insurgencies'
[Khaleej Times] Kind of like the evaporation of East Germany was, right?
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  In the event of a North Korean collapse, not one of our troops should cross the DMZ for any reason whatever. We should resist any calls of a humanitarian nature and let the South Koreans deal with it. Materials or food we can supply, but absolutely no military or civilian personnel. Barring chinese intervention, we should consider a significant decrease of our forces in the south asap.
We are not loved in South Korea and when the inevitable problems of reunification occur, we will get the blame.
Posted by: Dogsbody || 09/06/2010 3:47 Comments || Top||

#2  We should not be there now. Let the UN 'man' the barricades. Let's see how that works out.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 09/06/2010 4:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Dogsbody,
But China will move military forces, and lots of them, into Norkland when the regime collapses.

Fear of the south is a relatively now phenomena. Fear of the dragon is ancient.

So three questions.

1. How will the norks react to Chinese troops?
2. How will the South Koreans react?
3. What will Bambi do?
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 09/06/2010 9:53 Comments || Top||

#4  3.What will Bambi do?

Blame Bush, of course
Posted by: Frank G || 09/06/2010 9:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Mike R, I think a serious and convincing case can be made to the Chinese that it would be in their best interest not to move into North Korea. By mutual non-intervention in a South Korean run reunification, both major powers avoid a possible direct clash and involvement in any civic unrest in the former NK.
With our draw down, Korea becomes a "non-aligned" country. No threat to the Chinese for a generation or two as the reconstruction of the north will consume all surplus funds for a loooog time.
Will the Chinese gain great influence there? Of course. One look at a map makes it clear. We can only try to keep Korea as neutral
as possible to protect Japan. Korea has a history of this. aka The hermit kingdom. They will not want the Chinese, the US or Japan to have any presence there whatever.
Posted by: Dogsbody || 09/06/2010 10:34 Comments || Top||

#6  But China will move military forces, and lots of them, into Norkland when the regime collapses.

China won't invade Korea, no way. The support they currently have for the Norks is predicated on the current power of the Kim family dynasty. The old man was a Communist guerilla against the Japanese and that carries an incredible amount of weight with the PLA leadership. Once the old man's grandson is 3D, the Chinese will definitely move troops to control the border and that is it.

The Chinese have no desire, IMO, to deal with an insuregency so close to their own border.
Posted by: badanov || 09/06/2010 10:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Korea isn't Germany. None of the expensive social programs that made German re-unification so costly.

I'd say there's a 50/50 chance of a Chinese invasion.
Posted by: phil_b || 09/06/2010 19:16 Comments || Top||

#8  BTW, for North Koreans, China levels of prosperity and personal freedom would be an unimaginable paradise. No 'insurgency' if China invades.
Posted by: phil_b || 09/06/2010 19:20 Comments || Top||

#9  If I were the ChiComs, I'd think twice about taking on the ROKs. The Chinese century could come to an abrupt halt.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/06/2010 19:25 Comments || Top||

#10  "The greatest worst case is REGIME COLLAPSE" > True enuff. All things equal, the ultimate fear is Kimmie doing something militarilty to invoke a direct mil confrontation between CHINA, USA, + major Nuclear powers, wid the former being held formally responsible for any incidents NOT actual perpetrator NORTH KOREA.

IOW, TO PRESERVE HIS PERSONAL + DYNASTIC POWER, KIMMIE + FAMILY + REGIME WILL "FLIP-FLOP" AGZ THEIR NORMAL ALLIES/SUPPORTERS, + SIDE WID THE SEEMINGLY STRONGEST OR VICTORIOUS CAMP, EVEN AGZ THEIR OWN. IFF ONE HAS TO LOSE, GO WID THAT WHICH IS SAFEST OR MOST SECURE.

Lest we fergit, 9-11 + WOT = Among other, that the US-WORLD "STATUS QUO" IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE OR TOLERABLE, i.e. the normal or routine way of doing things MUST CHANGE, VOLUNTARILY ANDOR FORCIBLY.

What I like to term or belabel the "SIRIUS EFFECT/SYNDROME", ala the "SIRIUS EVENT" [Solar event from decades ago].

NORTH KOREA, like CHINA + USA, ETC. is NOT immune or exempted from these change(s).

Lastly, RADICAL ISLAM's ASYMMETRIC + [potential]NUC THREAT TO ASIA INCLUD EAST ASIA IS EXPANDING, NOT DIMINISHING, which is to North Korea's = Kimmie's advantage ala CHINA + USA, etal.

IMO, NOKOR "REGIME COLLAPSE" SCENARIO = in LT comes down to USA-VERSUS-CHINA-VERSUS-RADICAL ISLAM FOR CONTROL OF NORTH KOREA = EAST ASIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 20:01 Comments || Top||

#11  CHINA > deems the KOREAS + YELLOW SEA/SEA OF JAPAN as a HISTORICAL ROUTE OF FOREIGN INVASION AGZ CHINA = FOREIGN FROCED "INTRUSION" INTO CHINA'S MILPOL AFFAIRS.

Kimmie + NOKOR know it > CHINA WILL UNILATER OCCUPT OR DESTROY NORTH KOREA to save CHINA from the EUROS + RUSS + JAPAN + now the USA, etc. NOT to save North Korea for North Koreans.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 20:08 Comments || Top||

#12  End of Chinese century= jobs that left for cheaper shores return to USA headquarters with tail between legs to plus war will create even further jobs. Forecast, Sorry, Apple, you can stop printing "designed in California, made in China on everything. Need to make Iphones here now. Ofcourse, lots will die, too. Corporate responsibility will normalize to real levels.
Posted by: Entertaining Prose || 09/06/2010 20:19 Comments || Top||

#13  There is always the chance of a nuclear armed civil war (Nork on Nork). Which would be interesting to say the least.
Posted by: phil_b || 09/06/2010 20:21 Comments || Top||

#14  Oh boy. Hope the Sorks nuke first, and often in that event.
Posted by: Entertaining Prose || 09/06/2010 20:37 Comments || Top||

#15  CHINESE MILITRAY FORUM > SCORES OF FORMER NORTH KOREA SOLDIERS [circa 200 defectors] TO FORM GROUP TO TOPPLE REGIME. New Group = "NORTH KOREAN PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT", or NKPLF.

HMMMM, HMMMMM, whats intehwesting is use of the label "PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT", which typically denotes a PRO-COMMIE/ULTRA-LEFT IDEO???

Uh, uh, "LIBERATION FRONT" = IT TAKES A KOMMIE TO FIGHT ANOTHER COMMIE???

* ION SAME > DISCONTENT FUELS MONGOLIA'S FAR-RIGHT GROUPS [espec the "Angry Youth" + other anti-Chin Ethnics ala Nationalists/National Socialists].

CMF POSTER > claims that OUTER MONGOLIA = eating Grass for food [read, DPRK = North Korea II], unilek INNER MONGOLIA which is enjoying the benefits of CHIN-SUPPORT LIFESTYLE???

* SAME > TAIWAN'S MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD READY NEXT YEAR: REPORT [US-made Patriot III's + indigenous Taiwan-made BMDS].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 23:21 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
"Anti-war" fascists battle to remain relevant
EFL.
As President Barack Obama formally declared an end to combat operations in Iraq this week, the anti-war movement that helped sweep him into office -- and that worked for seven years to bring U.S. troops home -- finds itself struggling for survival.
Under the bus, folks, there's room for all ...
Several factors -- war fatigue; a deep, lingering recession; and the presence of a Democratic president they helped elect -- have drained the energy from organizations that led the fight against the Iraq war. Some of the most influential anti-war activist groups that once summoned half a million people to march against the Iraq war and the policies of former President George W. Bush are straining to raise the money and attention to fight what they see as Obama's military entrenchment in Afghanistan.
I don't recall a half million protesting the war anywhere.
"We don't have a very vibrant anti-war movement anymore," lamented Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Codepink and treasonous bitch, one of the anti-war movement's most visible organizations. "The issues have not changed very much. ... Now we have a surge [in Afghanistan] that we would have been furious about under George Bush, yet it's hard to mobilize people under Obama. We have the same anti-war movement and not the same passion."
And the Democrats didn't even leave any money on the nightstand for you, Medea ...
MoveOn.org, which produced a 2007 anti-war newspaper ad labeling Gen. David Petraeus "General Betray Us" for the surge in Iraq, has largely been silent on orders from above, despite a similar U.S. strategy in Afghanistan with Petraeus at the helm. Cindy Sheehan, perhaps the most famous anti-war protester, believes the peace movement is over. And United for Peace and Justice -- once the largest of three major anti-war coalitions -- has practically dissolved.
Aww, damn.
Leslie Cagan, UFPJ's founder, resigned last year after nearly seven years leading the group. "I was totally exhausted," said Cagan, 63. "I have a long history of anti-war activism -- about 45 years -- but the last eight or nine years have been totally intense. In a post 9/11 world, it's just nonstop."
And without the adoring media and the Soros money it just wasn't fun anymore ...
Liberals demanding an immediate withdrawal from Iraq after the 2003 invasion were largely ignored by the Bush administration, but their influence with Democrats and independent voters grew between 2004 and 2008, the height of the war -- and the time of Obama's emergence as a presidential contender. By 2008, the anti-war sentiment had fueled a surge in voter registration, while anti-war activists openly embraced Obama, whose early momentum was based largely on opposition to Iraq.

Now, that energy has all but vanished, leaving Obama and embattled congressional Democrats with one less ally when they need all the help they can get.

Paradoxically, the anti-war movement has grown weaker even as public opposition to the Afghanistan war has grown stronger. A recent Gallup poll found that 43 percent of those surveyed think the Afghanistan war was a mistake, compared with 30 percent in January 2009. But an anti-war rally in Washington in March 2009 drew fewer than 10,000 people -- a fraction of the 500,000 activists who attended an anti-Iraq war rally in Manhattan in 2003.
Even liberals worry about the economy, even if they don't know what to do about it ...
It wasn't 500,000 that attended the rally; it was less than 300,000 and that was a leftist estimate. And the protest took place in February, 2003, an important date because it prceded the start of the liberation of Iraq by about 30 days. This is important because despite the claimed 300,000 protesters no one was ever able to muster anything close to those numbers again in the US.
Meanwhile, the leaders have kept their grumbling about Afghanistan mostly to themselves, to keep Obama's sagging poll numbers from sinking further or jeopardizing the Democratic majority in Congress.
Thus demonstrating their true principles, or lack thereof ...
The staggering economy has hit the movement hard: Just a few years ago, some groups raised millions of dollars in donations and mobilized legions of supporters to rallies in Washington and New York; now, UFPJ -- which had a full-time, paid staff and a budget of more than $1 million -- relies on volunteers working without a headquarters and with less than $100,000 to spend.
Mr. Soros has found other ways to spend his money?
Nevertheless, many activists believe that momentum is building against the continued military presence in Afghanistan. In July, 102 House Democrats voted against the $33 billion emergency war supplemental bill, compared with 32 who voted against it last year -- a sign, activists say, that Congress is responding to falling public support for the Afghanistan war. Activists took heart when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not whip progressive members to support this bill, and when House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey said he had "profound skepticism" about spending more money on combat in Afghanistan.
Then again, perhaps they saw the poll numbers and decided that they needed to rally their single remaining bastion of support for the election ...
As Democrats in Congress begin to put pressure on the White House to leave Afghanistan, some say that move could help the anti-war movement regain some of its lost strength. Still, if outside groups can't build on that momentum, "it would be a problem," said Bob Borosage, founder and president of Institute for America's Future.
Posted by: || 09/06/2010 08:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The guy across the street from me has a sign declaring that "War is not the answer".

I am going to put up two signs today.

"Big government is not the answer"

"Peace through superior firepower"

Happy Labor day.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 09/06/2010 9:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Queen Pelosi said it is time to drain the swamp. Only one problem, she is part of the swamp.

The American voters need to drain the swamp, boot and then Reboot.
Posted by: JohnQC || 09/06/2010 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Awww, geez, sounds like Medea lost her free parking spot in front of the Marine recruiting station in Berkeley.
And that spot was primo...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/06/2010 10:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Mike, may I suggest some of these quotes:

"Give War a Chance"

"War not the answer? Depends on the question."

"Violence; the last refuge toward the incompetent."

"War has never solved anything (except for ending slavery, nazism, communism, holcausts and fascism)."

"Communism has only killed 100 million people, let's give it another try..."

Posted by: Broadhead6 || 09/06/2010 11:02 Comments || Top||

#5  But an anti-war rally in Washington in March 2009 drew fewer than 10,000 people -- a fraction of the 500,000 activists who attended an anti-Iraq war rally in Manhattan in 2003.

It was a march near my apartment- local cops said 100,000 and staffed accordingly. Of those, I would guess 1 in 5 were 'hardcore' (this IS Manhattan, mind you.) The rest were there to impress their social networks or pick up hippies.

The 10,000 number therefore rings true as a high estimate.
Posted by: Free Radical || 09/06/2010 12:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Hopefully many of these "activists" will use more / harder dope out of boredom and ennui. May the ensuing health issues take hold...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 09/06/2010 13:01 Comments || Top||

#7  #1 The guy across the street from me has a sign declaring that "War is not the answer".

You should put up one that says "42 is the answer"
Posted by: mojo || 09/06/2010 14:46 Comments || Top||

#8  I really don't get doves some times. It's like they think we're past the Second Coming and can all stand around and sing love songs. Do they want people killed? Do the want tyrants to control the world, destroy human rights, and randomly kill people that irritate them? They think that murderers are just misunderstood by police? That Stalin was really trying to save the planet by killing the millions he did? If some one doesn't stand up and/or put the a-holes of the world down, they will be ruin all of us before we even reach the Second Coming.

People can't even agree on subjects with in their own families. That'w with their own blood. We even get family murders some times. Why would some one that does not value human life, any sense of liberty, or recognize any rights of an individual, and doesn't mind killing people, make the lovers think they can reason with them? By nature, they are unreasonable and uncomprimising. It blows me away.
Posted by: miscellaneous || 09/06/2010 14:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Mike Ramsey - may I suggest a third sign?

"War is not the answer"

THAT depends on the question.


:-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/06/2010 18:09 Comments || Top||

#10  Miscellaneous asks:

"Do they want people killed? Do the want tyrants to control the world, destroy human rights, and randomly kill people that irritate them? They think that murderers are just misunderstood by police? That Stalin was really trying to save the planet by killing the millions he did?"

Yes. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/06/2010 18:12 Comments || Top||

#11  Mike,'

how about a sign that says,

"what is a 3 letter word meaning armed combat"
Posted by: lord garth || 09/06/2010 20:25 Comments || Top||

#12  3 letter word? Ooohhhh! I know this!
"Jobs"


/Sheriff Joe Biden, Captain of Recovery SemmerĀ™
Posted by: Frank G || 09/06/2010 20:47 Comments || Top||

#13  I don't recall a half million protesting the war anywhere.

Looks like we just found where the MSM put some of the folks who went AWOL from Glenn Beck's rally.
Posted by: gorb || 09/06/2010 22:01 Comments || Top||

#14  "War is not the answer"

Life is made of solutions, not problems.
Posted by: gorb || 09/06/2010 22:04 Comments || Top||

#15  Appeasement is not the answer
Posted by: Mike Hunt || 09/06/2010 23:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Fox News Poll: Americans Say Iraq War Worth It
EFL to the main points.
Despite its contentious history, most American voters appear to have made a positive judgment about the country's efforts in Iraq. Almost six in 10 (58 percent) voters think, overall, the United States "did the right thing" by going to war, according to the latest Fox News poll.

A little over one-third of voters (35 percent) take the opposite view -- that the U.S. "did the wrong thing" by becoming involved militarily in Iraq. From a partisan perspective, there is still division -- as 54 percent of Democrats think the U.S. did the wrong thing in Iraq, while only 14 percent of Republicans feel the same way. A slim majority of independents (52 percent) think the U.S. did the right thing in Iraq.
Over time these numbers will shift even more towards supporting the war, as people come to see that Iraq will make it (I predict) as a peaceful nation, and (further) that the anti-war movement was nothing more than the worst sort of domestic politics. There's simply no comparison between the average US soldier and the average anti-war knucklehead, and most Americans get that.
An even larger share of voters (71 percent) expresses some level of agreement with the view that the Iraqi people are better off today because of the U.S.-led action, while 19 percent disagree. There is somewhat less partisan difference on this issue, as 58 percent of Democrats agree Iraqis are better off after U.S. involvement. Both Republicans (91 percent) and independents (65 percent), express higher levels of agreement.

When the scope is widened to broader security concerns, about six in 10 voters (58 percent) agree the action made the United States and the world safer. Again, more than one-third (37 percent) takes the opposing view.

If Iraq is considered a success, who deserves the credit? Voters are pretty clear, as a 54-percent majority names former President George W. Bush as the person who should be acknowledged as most responsible for the success in Iraq. Some 19 percent think President Obama deserves the most credit. Some 14 percent volunteer the view that neither of the presidents, but instead the Iraqi people are most deserving of this accolade. Interestingly, Democrats are evenly divided on this question (34 percent Bush, 34 percent Obama).
Thank you Dubya.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/06/2010 07:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "If Iraq is considered a success, who deserves the credit?"

The U.S. Military and it's allies.

Bush deserves credit for staying the course. I may disagree w/him on a plethora of issues but W will always be a profile in courage to me wrt not wet-fingering the political winds. Plus, I do think he's a genuinely good guy w/enough humility not to second guess the current clown-in-chief. Too bad that tool Jimmah Carter doesn't have half the class W does.

19% for Obama? Retards. The idiots that cancel out our votes.

How'd that being against the surge thingy work out of you wonder boy? Obama couldn't lead a fire team in silent prayer. If every world leader was in jail ole' Barry Sotero would be Putin's cell-block tootsie roll.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 09/06/2010 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Not if we let Iran take over!

WOT wont end till Iran and Pak are sorted!
Posted by: Paul2 || 09/06/2010 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  I just had a nasty thought. What if the DoJ let the states slide on trying to get the soldiers ballots because they hope it will give the Demirats an edge in the next election? It would be the perfect way to eliminate what I would guess to be the majority against their stupidity, and BO.
Posted by: miscellaneous || 09/06/2010 14:50 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 miscellaneous - that's just now occurring to you? Where ya' been?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/06/2010 18:18 Comments || Top||

#5  FOX POLL + POLLEES

versies

* WAFF > MEMRI.org > [Salem Abu Al-Futuh]EGYPTIAN CLERIC:ISLAM WILL CONQUER ITALY + ENTIRE WEST [including USA + BOTH NORTH + SOUTH AMERICAS continents; Islam = Radic Islam will enter South America]. Despite the seeming
"current crisis", the West is bound [ultimately]to be destroyed by Allah + Islam in time like the Byzantine + Persian Empires.

IOW, CLERIC AL-FUTUH > ISLAM + RADIC ISLAM MUST BE STRONG, DISCIPLINED, + MOST OF ALL PATIENT TO ACHIEVE THE FINAL VICTORY.

Again, MUSLIM MIL HISTORY = fight "LONG WARS" lasting many Years, Decades, + Generations.

AND

* TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > VARIOUS > OBAMA: NO VICTORY LAP IN IRAQ, + OBAMA RATINGS IN DECLINE.

Mainstream Amer thinks POTUS Bammer is slowly losing the war agz the Islamist Militants???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 23:39 Comments || Top||

#6  In case one hasn't realized it yet, the VARIOUS INTERNAT ISLAMIST INSURGENCIES = LOCAL, REGIONAL JIHADS > in broadly a HIGHLY DECENTRALIZED OR "CREEPING" ISLAMIST WORLD/GLOBAL CONQUEST.

But I digress...
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 23:44 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Sanaullah sheltering drug traffickers, land mafia, terrorists: PPP
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Punjab Information Secretary Dr Fakhruddin Chaudhry on Sunday alleged that Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah was sheltering drug traffickers, land grabbers and terrorists, adding that the law minister be suspended.

During an emergency press conference held at the Lahore Press Club, he said that Sanaullah tried to sabotage the reconciliation policy of the federal government, adding that Sanaullah's leaders were only paying taxes of Rs 800. Fakhruddin said that Sanaullah had been enjoying himself in Norway at the time of the attack at Karbala Gamay Shah.

He said that Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer had fulfilled his constitutional right by writing a letter to the Punjab chief minister in which he had disclosed that Sanaullah had close links with terrorists, but unfortunately the letter was not taken seriously.

He demanded the CM immediately take strict action against Sanaullah on "mentoring drug pushers, land mafia and terrorists".
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Rumours of Saddam's Daughter Detention Untrue- Jordanian official
[Asharq al-Aswat] A Jordanian official denied reports that the Jordanian government had taken custody of Raghad Hussein, daughter of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in order to hand her over to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), at the request of Iraqi authorities.

The Jordanian official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Raghad, her sister Rana, and their children, have been under the hospitality of Jordanian King Abdullah II, since they sought refuge in 2003 after the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces. He pointed out that Raghad remained in 'custody' under the rules and principles of hospitality. She does not engage in any political activity against anyone within the Jordanian political arena, and that she is sponsored and hosted by the Jordanian state. He stressed that the occasional talk of handing her over to the Iraqi authorities, or the international police, was nothing more than a 'storm', raised by some in order to influence relations between Jordan and Iraq, which have begun a remarkable improvement in both an economic and political sense.

Raghad currently lives in Amman with her five children, two sons and three daughters, and her sister Rana, while their mother Sajida Khairallah, and Sadam Hussein's third daughter Hala, live in Qatar. She last made a public appearance at the Trade Unions Convention in Amman, during a popular demonstration to mourn Saddam Hussein on the eve of his execution. She also helped to assemble a defence body for her father during his trial, which ended with his execution by hanging, in December 2006.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party

#1  How's her first name pronounced?
Posted by: lex || 09/06/2010 3:08 Comments || Top||

#2  "Bitch"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/06/2010 8:26 Comments || Top||

#3  +3 Clawz for Bridge Boy
Posted by: Lizzy Borden || 09/06/2010 9:02 Comments || Top||

#4  @lex - It's pronounced like raw-God.
Posted by: American Delight || 09/06/2010 16:50 Comments || Top||

#5  I like mine better...still
Posted by: Frank G || 09/06/2010 18:56 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Lieberman: We won't have peace for generations
Attacking his own government's diplomatic efforts, FM says nation has suffered enough from the 'adventures and experiments of irresponsible politicians.'
I voted for this man.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/06/2010 00:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  link doesn't work
Link fixed.

Posted by: lex || 09/06/2010 9:20 Comments || Top||

#2  IMO he is correct.

MSM-NET PERTS = NO PEACE + LT GLOBAL ECON TROUBLE.

NOSTRADAMUS + GUAM TAOTAMONAS + MADONNA got it right again.

Again, MUSLIM MIL HISTORY > tend to fight WARS OR CONFLICTS LASTING MANY YEARS, DECADES, + GENERATIONS. E.g. the Euro "THIRTY YEARS WAR" + the like are just comparative "BLIPS IN TIME" [read, WILY WEIRDO "QUICKIE" WARS OR STRUGGLES].

9-11 NYC was planned LONG LONG BEFORE 9-11.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 20:19 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran slams PA's Ahmadinejad remarks
[Iran Press] Iran criticizes the Paleostinian Authority front man's offensive remarks about President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad, advising Nabil Abu Rudeineh to be more cautious in his speech.

Speaking at the Quds Day rally on Friday, Ahmadinejad accused the Middle East mediators who have been engaged in direct talks with Israeli officials of being accomplices to Israel's atrocities against Paleostinians.

A day later, Abu Rudeineh reportedly questioned Ahmadinejad's right to Iran's presidency and said, "He is not entitled to talk about Paleostine, or the Paleostinian Authority chief," The Jerusalem Post reported.

"He (Abu Rudeineh) should exercise more caution in wording his statements," Iranian Foreign Ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast said Sunday.

This is while the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas' term as the Paleostinian Authority chief ended on January 9, 2009, and he has since refused to hold elections and leave office.

Mehmanparast added that Iran's president, who was chosen with the overwhelming majority of votes, is responsible for announcing the country's foreign policies as the representative of the people.

"All the activities of our country's officials and the passionate participation of Iranians in the Quds Day [rallies], shows their concern about the fate of Paleostinian people and their occupied lands," Fars News Agency quoted the Iranian front man as saying.

Mehmanparast went on to say that those who are working in connection with the Paleostinian issue should pursue the matter of "unity among Paleostinian factions and the restoration of the violated rights of this nation."

"Being influenced by the enemies of the Mohammedan World who are constantly hatching plots to fight the sacred establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and who pursue the issue of last year's [presidential] election in our country [in order to use it] as an excuse to continue their mischievous ways in line with Zionist interests."

The foreign ministry front man added that any disagreement among the Paleostinian factions and tension among the people can result in them falling into Israel's traps.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ION ISRAEL NN > AHMADINEJAD: ISRAEL WILL BE [completely] DESTROYED IFF IT ATTACKS IRAN.

* Also from SAME > [IDF Chief] ASHKENAZI: HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH GROWING IN STRENGTH [ + Iran is
"arming", IMO read IRAN = DEV NUCLEAR WEAPONS].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/06/2010 23:50 Comments || Top||


Leader urges debate on lib. democracy
[Iran Press] The Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution says Iranians must have the courage to enter into intellectual disputes with Western liberal democracy.

In a meeting with university professors, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei criticized the lack of change in the humanities syllabus in Iran, saying, "This deficiency indicates the lack of courage to enter into intellectual discussions with Western liberal democracy."

The Leader said that generating thought is more difficult than generating knowledge.

"Iran is the cradle of philosophy and university professors and seminary lecturers should make efforts to generate thoughts rooted in the philosophical view," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader described the scientifically-developed countries' monopoly over science and scientific capacities as one of the obstacles in the way of Iran's scientific progress.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  First prize: stoning?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/06/2010 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  That's second prize. First prize is sixteen hours of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speeches.

Live.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/06/2010 12:51 Comments || Top||

#3  not much different than in our own universities.
Posted by: Martini || 09/06/2010 20:11 Comments || Top||


UNIFIL probes southern blast amid fresh arms claims
[Beirut Daily Star] The investigation into the blasts which hit a three-storey building in southern Leb on Friday continued over the weekend amid Israeli claims that Hizbullah had moved a substantial amount of rockets closer to the Blue Line in anticipation of fresh hostilities.

The kabooms at a suspected arms depot close to the village of Shehabiyeh are being looked at by a team of investigators which includes members of the Lebanese Army and the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Interim Force in Leb (UNIFIL).

Israeli military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Saturday that footage obtained by one of its intelligence drones proved the kabooms emanated from a residential building used as a Hizbullah arms cache.

She alleged that the Shehabiyeh incident was the third of its kind this year and that Hizbullah was actively maintaining several weapons stores close to the Blue Line -- in contravention of international resolutions. Leibovich claimed the party had ammunition silos dotted around 160 southern towns and villages.

Following the blasts, Israel's Ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, accused Hizbullah of placing 15,000 rockets along the Blue Line, some capable of reaching southern Eilat.

"The Syrian-Iranian backed Hizbullah poses a very serious threat to Israel," Oren said. "Hizbullah today now has four times as many rockets as it had during the 2006 Leb war. These rockets are longer-range. Every city in Israel is within range right now, including Eilat."
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  We need a graphic of "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" to represent UNIFIL.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 09/06/2010 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  And here I thought UNIFIL spent most of their time being "probed" by the locals.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/06/2010 1:52 Comments || Top||

#3  *snork*

You owe a new monitor, grom. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/06/2010 2:23 Comments || Top||

#4  We endeavor to please.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/06/2010 2:45 Comments || Top||

#5  I see a strongly worded letter in Hizbullah's future...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/06/2010 19:16 Comments || Top||

#6  and they'll shoot the messenger for being a spy for the Jooos
Posted by: Frank G || 09/06/2010 19:30 Comments || Top||

#7  UNIFILOKRP
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/06/2010 23:02 Comments || Top||


Lebanon Backtracks on Calls for 'Arms-Free' Beirut
[Asharq al-Aswat] A chorus of calls for an "arms-free" Beirut triggered by a deadly battle outside a mosque last week is fast fading after Leb's powerful Hezbullies movement warned against any attempt to disarm it.

After an August 24 shootout between supporters of the Shiite Hezbullies and those of Sunni faction Al-Ahbash -- two loosely allied Syrian-backed parties -- Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri launched a campaign calling for Beirut to be stripped of its omnipresent weapons.

But Hezbullies has cautioned the Hariri camp against raising the issue of its huge arsenal.

"As usual, the situation is very, very precarious on all levels," said Sahar Atrache, Middle East and North Africa analyst at the Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group.

"Having these weapons spread everywhere is alarming, especially as security and stability in Leb are clearly not under control," Atrache told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Hariri, Hizbullah try to restore calm after verbal pie fight
[Beirut Daily Star] Contacts intensified over the weekend in a bid to ease tense relations between the Iranian sock puppet Hizbullah and the Future Movement, amid reports the two parties were interested in restoring calm following the war of words that broke out between them on Friday.

No heated rhetoric was exchanged between the two sides on Sunday, with expectations that the calm atmosphere will be enhanced during the Eid al-Fitr holiday expected to kick off on Thursday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri reiterated Sunday his call for restoring calm in the country.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 09/06/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Airdrop cases of Grenades.

Set the fuses for 1/10 second,and stand well back.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/06/2010 22:24 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2010-09-06
  ETA declares ceasefire
Sun 2010-09-05
  Dronezap waxes five in North Wazoo
Sat 2010-09-04
  Suicide blast kills senior Tajik police officer: ministry
Fri 2010-09-03
  37 dead, 150 maimed in attack on Shiites in Lahore
Thu 2010-09-02
  At Least 25 Die in Nuevo Leon in Shootout
Wed 2010-09-01
  Gunman Holds 1 Hostage in Maryland
Tue 2010-08-31
  Molotov Cocktails Thrown: At Least 8 Killed In Cancun Bar Attack
Mon 2010-08-30
  Iran media brands Sarkozy's wife as 'prostitute'
Sun 2010-08-29
  Series of US drone attacks in Pakistan, at least six killed
Sat 2010-08-28
  Yemen officials, Houthis reach peace deal in Qatar
Fri 2010-08-27
  10 Tonnes of Bomb Chemicals found in E. Afghanistan
Thu 2010-08-26
  56 killed, 250 injured in string of Iraq attacks
Wed 2010-08-25
  Reports: 3 killed in Beirut clashes
Tue 2010-08-24
  MPs slain as Somali gunmen storm hotel
Mon 2010-08-23
  Israel says Iranian reactor use 'totally unacceptable'

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