A report by professional lefties scholars and wonks policymakers declares that the United States does not need to defeat the Taliban, describing it as a local faction that is unlikely to regain control of Afghanistan and who cares anyway?. The United States should bug out scale back troops and goals in Afghanistan as its military campaign has backfired and boosted the Taliban, according to the study, billed as a Plan B for Obama.
And then spend the money saved on health care ...
"What we have been doing for several years is not just failing but counterproductive," said Matthew Hoh, the director of the Afghanistan Study Group. "
Who?
We need to provide the Oval Office with another alternative," said Hoh, a former Marine who resigned from a State Department position last year due to disagreements over Afghan policy.
Study authors described it as non-partisan, but coincidentally many involved are critical of the war. Representative Mike Honda, a liberal California Democrat, praised the report and called for a congressionally mandated version along the lines of the influential 2006 study on Iraq. The report "offers a much-needed rethink on the war in Afghanistan, especially given Washington's near-silence on alternatives," said Honda, whose policy advisor Michael Shank coincidentally participated in the study.
US policy "has lost sight of any careful comparison between the cost and benefit of waging the continued counter-insurgency there," said Paul Pillar, a Georgetown University professor and former CIA analyst. The study called on Obama to go ahead or even speed up the July 2011 deadline for pulling troops out of Afghanistan.
The report further suggested that there would be no shame if the troops were to panic, throw their weapons to the ground, and flee screaming and crying.
It argued that the US military footprint had radicalized the normally placid Pashtun, who have turned to Islamic terrorism insurgency as a way to drive out infidels foreign troops. "The goal of defeating the Taliban and stabilizing Afghanistan has come to be treated as a kind of end in itself. It is not," Pillar said.
The study stopped short of frankness recommending a complete pullout, saying the United States should be ready to destroy any Al-Qaeda cell that regroups after they leave. It also disputed that a US drawdown would hurt Afghan women.
YJCMTSU
Several scholars who worked on the Afghanistan Study Group declined to sign it, some saying it downplayed a real threat from Taliban or did not pay enough attention to neighboring Pakistan.
[Tolo News] The ninth anniversary of the martyrdom of Afghan national hero, Ahmad Shah Masoud, was marked in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday
Ahmad Shah Masoud, son of Dost Mohammad, was born in Jangalak village of Panjshir province in 1953.
When he was a student in Kabul Polytechnical Institute, he got acquainted with some political muscle opposed to the ex-Afghan president, Mohammad Daud Khan, but he was jugged and later went to Pakistain to continue his political struggle.
During the nine years of Jihad against the former Soviet Union's invasion in Afghanistan, the Panjshir valley led by Masoud was the only area that did not come under Soviet control and the communist government forces were repeatedly defeated.
He entered Kabul with his forces in 1991 when the ex-Afghan president Dr Najibullah was forced to hand over power to the Mujahidden.
He served as defence minister during the 4 years of Mujahidden government led by Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani from 1992 to 1996.
Ahmad Shah Masoud was assassinated in a suicide kaboom by two Arabs posing as journalists in Khwaja Bahawoddin district of Takhar province in northern Afghanistan on September, 9, 2001 after years of struggle against the former Soviet Union's troops and later resisting against the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The translation is a bit to be desired, and I haven't looked him up, but it appears they are celebrating a terrorist. Why doesn't this surprise me.
[Pak Daily Times] Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar said on Wednesday his fighters were close to victory in driving foreign forces out of Afghanistan, flouting claims of progress against the militants by the top military commander there.
In a statement emailed to media marking the end of Ramazan and attributed to the reclusive Taliban chief, Omar called on US President Barack Obama to withdraw US troops "unconditionally and as soon as possible".
"The expansion, momentum and success of this jihadi resistance... has now approached close to its destination," the statement said in a section addressed to the Afghan people. "I assure you, our days of sufferings and hardship will not prolong furthermore. Soon, if God willing, our grieved hearts will find solace as the invading enemy is ousted," the email statement said.
Last month, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan General David Petraeus said he saw "areas of progress" in the war and that momentum by the militants had been checked in their strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand. If genuine, Wednesday's statement would appear to be Omar's first public reaction since Petraeus's comments.
In a section of the statement addressed to the 'American Rulers and the Misinformed American People', Omar called for a quick withdrawal of US troops. "This is in your interest and in the interest of your people and the best option for regional stability," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"Omar called for a quick withdrawal of US troops."
[Pak Daily Times] Afghan security forces used batons on unruly customers scrambling to withdraw their savings on Wednesday from a branch of the graft-hit Kabulbank, the country's biggest private financial institution.
It's been a while since there was a bank run in Afghanistan, I imagine, and the guards are out of practice.
Kabulbank's troubles have threatened to add a financial crisis to Afghanistan's other woes, with military and civilian casualties at record levels as a Taliban-led insurgency grows and ahead of parliamentary elections on Sept. 18.
Officers from the National Security Directorate struggled to maintain control of up to 200 people outside one branch in the capital as desperate customers tried to take out money ahead of a three-day Muslim holiday.
The crisis developed after the company's top two directors resigned amid unproven media allegations of corruption.
What about President Karzai's brother? How does he afford to live in that lovely Arabian place with functioning toilets and all?
Corruption is a common complaint among ordinary Afghans and Washington fears graft is boosting the insurgency and complicating efforts to strengthen government control so foreign troops can hand over to Afghan security forces -- whose salaries are paid through Kabulbank.
The central bank on Monday ordered the assets of Kabulbank's former chairman Sher Khan Farnood and chief executive officer Khalilullah Fruzi to be frozen, together with those of several other shareholders and major borrowers, pending an inquiry.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The only thing missing from this news article is a suicide bomber detonating himself from within the crowd waiting outside the bank..10.9.8...
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A defence witness in the ongoing trial of Liberia's Charles Taylor has rebutted charges that the former warlord used child soldiers within his rebel forces.
"Mr Taylor did not use children in combat or to man checkpoints," the witness only identified as DCT-008, told the prosecutors at the International Criminal Court at The Hague this week.
"The NPFL (Taylor's rebel faction) did not have any unit called the SBU (Small Boys Unit)," a court report quoted the witness as saying.
"The SBU was the name given to young boys who were with their big brothers and sisters, but they were not part of the NPFL," the witness explained.
The former Liberian leader is facing 11-counts, including the conscription of child soldiers and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed during the civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Prosecutors allege that the SBU comprised of children, who were forcefully conscripted and used for combat purposes by Mr Taylor's rebel forces in Liberia.
The prosecutors, headed by Brenda Hollis, also argue that Mr Taylor used underaged children not only to fight in frontlines, but also to man NPFL checkpoints.
Ms Hollis further alleges that the SBUs also served as bodyguards to NPFL rebel commanders during the 14-year civil war in Liberia.
The witness also refuted allegations that Mr Taylor personally had SBUs assigned to him, telling the court: "To my knowledge, Mr Taylor never had SBUs around him."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course not. I'm sure he's just a misuderstood, kind, loving a-hole. After all, terrorists and tyrants never use children or have indoctrination camps. It's all heresay I'm sure.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Hutu rebels and their militia allies blamed for the mass rape of 284 women in the Democratic Republic of Congo "hunted all night" and raped old and young alike, one of the victims told AFP.
"All the women who were there in the village that day were raped," said 30-year-old Monica Tamary, a spokesperson for the women in Luvungi.
"They made no distinction between the old and the young," she added.
Rebels of the Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and their allies the local Mai Mai militia had raped girls as young as 13, the mother-of five said.
"There was no sleep that night. They hunted all night."
The attack on Luvungi, in a remote forested northeastern corner of DR Congo, happened one night late in July.
Of the 350 women in the village, the only ones to escape that night were those who were working in the quarries, several hours walk away, Tamary added.
Luvungi is a small centre for trade in the poor-quality gold extracted from local low-tech mines.
The women there trade food for gold with the miners and sell it on to local dealers. Often, they keep several grammes of gold hidden under their clothing, said Tamary.
The rebels, during their attacks, conducted intrusive and intimate body searches of the women on the pretext that they were searching for gold, Tamary said.
She was raped by two attackers in front of her children in her own home. "When they walked in they already had their flies open," she said.
The men took her baby from her arms, put him on the ground in the corner of the room and raped her.
Mangaza Zawadi, 28, was raped by two men in front of her eight-year-old daughter.
"One of them slapped my daughter because she was crying and screaming and he said to her, 'Stop making noise!'" she said.
Her husband fled into the forest before the ordeal began. "I couldn't stay and protect my wife and daughter. They had guns," he said in front of his wife, who understands his choice to flee. Buira Lubunga's husband also escaped, just before seven men started raping her. "I can't resent him for that. Each person must save himself. Thank God, we are alive," the 27-year-old said.
These "men without a conscience", as she calls them, raped her in the forest in front of her five children where they were discovered hiding.
Non governmental organisation International Medical Corps (IMC) treated victims from August 6 in their local health centres.
IMC doctors checked for infections, administered abortion pills for pregnancies conceived during the rapes and conducted Aids tests on victims and their husbands. Psychologists were also on hand for certain women.
Tantini Kahindu, 16, was raped by three men, and is still in a state of shock, walking with difficulty. "I can't stop thinking about it," she said. "I replay it in my mind, and it disturbs me."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The attempt at European colonialism in the last century has obviously led to an upsetting of a delicate societal balance which has confused tribal and cultural mores. Therefore, I blame colonialism. In time, possibly four to five thousand years, majority rule and self governance will allow old wounds to heal and produce recovery.
#4
Besoeker, don't be daft. They've been doing this before colonialism. It's a very old form or warfare, and not just as part of Africa. Shoot, even chimpanzees practice it. Matter of fact, I'd guess the attempt at colonialsim didn't last long enough to erect a stable government. It worked in the Phillipines of the US.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will begin joint anti-terror exercises, Peace Mission-2010, at the Matybulak training ground in Kazakhstan this Thursday. 5,000 troops from the 6-member regional mutual security group of Russia, China , Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, will take part. Russia is sending over 1,000 troops, plus armored vehicles, trucks and aircraft.
The 17-day exercises will test the SCO interoperability in assisting a member state involved in an internal armed conflict or a mass terrorist attack.
[Chosun Ilbo] The Chinese government says North Korea's leadership succession is an "internal matter." When asked by a Japanese reporter how China views the planned handover of power in North Korea from Kim Jong-il to his third son Jong-un and whether it has moved away from its traditional disapproval of hereditary succession in socialist countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu told reporters, "This is entirely an internal matter for North Korea." That is what Beijing usually says when dealing with sensitive international issues.
Jiang did not answer the second part of the reporter's question.
When another foreign reporter asked whether North Korea had explained to China the schedule and agenda of the upcoming extraordinary congress of the Workers Party, Jiang said, "The uniform stance of the Chinese government is not to interfere in the internal affairs of another country." The congress, the first of its kind since 1966, is expected to formally anoint Kim Jong-un as his father's successor.
China's Foreign Ministry summarized the press briefing on its website at 6 p.m. on Tuesday but omitted the two questions and answers, demonstrating how sensitive the issue is for China.
So far China has offered no comment at all. A diplomatic source in Beijing said, "China can't and won't interfere in North Korea's transfer of power. It has probably already told South Korea so."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I suppose they approved of the Doenitz Government also...
(Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Wednesday said the U.S. occupation in South Korea destroys peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
The Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea issued a statement that said "neither peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula nor peace and security in Northeast Asia are thinkable as long as the U.S. forces are present in South Korea."
The United States was the "arch criminal," who divided Korea into the north and the south, bringing misfortune and pain to the Korean Peninsula and it was "the root cause" of aggression and war, the statement said.
The statement urged the United States to understand the mounting anti-U.S. sentiment of the Koreans, withdraw its forces from South Korea, stop the moves for an aggression war against the DPRK, and refrain from any acts obstructive to the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea.
The statement called upon all parties and groups and people to drive the U.S. forces out of South Korea, and "turn out as one in the sacred anti-U.S. patriotic struggle."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The Peninsula was pretty much unified by UN Forces by mid November 1950, it was the intervention of a quarter million Chinese that resulted in the division.
German chancellor Angela Merkel praised what she described as 'the bravery' of a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad at an award ceremony honoring his achievements for freedom of speech.
In her speech praising illustrator Kurt Westergaard, 'who has had to fear for his life since the publication of the cartoons in 2005,' Merkel emphasized Wednesday that media freedom is an important element of rights in Europe.
'It does not matter if we think his cartoons are tasteful or not, if we think they are necessary and helping or not,' Merkel said at the ceremony in the city of Potsdam. The question, she said, was, 'Is he allowed to do this? Yes, he is.'
#1
I am surprised she did it. Of course, Germany also had the 'nads to shut down one of the built, "cultural centers," because it was a spawning ground, and center for terrorist actions. How do they treat their military? Is it an evil like the demirats perceive ours?
#3
Deepak Chopra also has a death wish. He's just written a novel entitled, Muhammad with the Muzzie prophet depicted on the cover. Barnes & Noble called and asked him to reconsider that, but Deepak said no. When asked if he was worried about having a fatwa issued against him, he replied, "No, but my family is worried. I will wait to see if it happens and deal with it then".
Bet he's getting that panic room installed regardless.
AyPee update at 7:43 pm: Pastor Jones was promised by Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, that the Ground Zero will be moved, and so he has decided not to burn the Korans after all, because that moving is a sign from God in response to prayer. However, the Imam now says he made no such promise, only that he and the pastor would travel together to New York to meet with the GZ mosque imam... who claims to be unaware of the commitment. Oh, and the Westboro Baptists plan to burn Korans if the Dove Outreach Center doesn't follow through as originally planned.
#1
With no foundation to support itself, the civilian population was left to its own devices. Although American military and civilian forces kept working to defeat the communist insurgency, the slow-motion collapse of the South Vietnamese government doomed the counter-insurgency.
Except the indigenous Viet Cong were decimated in the Tet Offensive of 1968. After that the war was continued by North Vietnamese regulars with the intent of incorporation not liberation, much like the North Koreans did in 1950. The facade of an insurgency was gone.
When we withdrew the North Vietnamese launched a full out invasion of the south, which the South repulsed with American air support and material aid. Subsequently the Democratic controlled Congress cut off all aid funding, material assistance, and banned any direct military support. A second invasion was able to succeed.
#1
Feisal Rauf is not who he pretends to be. He is neither moderate nor a bridge builder. He engages in taqiyya and kitman (lying for the rest of us) and then acts outraged when his hand is called. He then has a veiled threat concerning the rage of the rest of the world's muslims if he does not get his mosque. When it boils down he wants to be a big man in the world of islam by erecting a triumphal mosque with the name of Cordoba; a direct insult to the memory of 3000 people murdered by muslims on 9/11. Screw this tax-dodging phony lying jerk. Let him implode and seethe if he doesn't get his way.
If anyone questions BO, he/she is a racist. If anyone questions islam and its merchants of death, you are a radical islamophobic. If one questions gay marriage, you are a homophobe. If anyone disagrees with Washington, you are a right-wing Tea Party member. if you support Arizona's attempt to stem crime, Mexican terror, human trafficking and illegal immigration you are anti-Hispanic. If you disagree with the political class, you are insulted and treated with disdain. I'd say just about everyone is completely fed up with Washington. Somehow bigotry has lost its sting because it has been thrown around much too easily and used to demonize all dissent. To hell with all this crap. I hope the core of Washington is shaken come November and the political class tossed out and keeps getting tossed until they respond to constituents. Now that's hope and change to believe in.
#2
I hope the core of Washington is shaken come November and the political class tossed out and keeps getting tossed until they respond to constituents. Now that's hope and change to believe in.
I hope so too, but I do not see that happening so fast. For one thing, the electorate still seems divided: 45% out to lunch, 55% more or less in touch with reality.
#1
So, by logical extension we should terminate the OPFOR at the NTC for using opposition doctrine and tactics to train our people in simulated force on force actions.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
- Sun Tzu
I have a difficult time getting worked about this. The military can allow whatever it wants to be available at bases and that is not new.
Tasetless, sure. Gimmic, likely. Its the kind of gimmic a game manufacturer does when their product is generic and/or unimaginative. I hear if ya set the difficulty to easy you play the same taliban mission and level only against hajii'b womyns to capture young boys.
#3
And it's different from WWII games where you can play the German side as well? The postings on the Web indicate that a player has an option in the multi-player mode. Which then goes back to the point about the NTC and the OPFOR.
It just means AAFES loses the sales which then go to Amazon et al.
#5
Let them build it, but only if they use all union labor (to stimulate the NY economy) and Egyptian or Pakistani (or/and Mob) cement (so it will fall down as soon as it's finished.)
No legal way to stop it but I wish we could, to re-send them Bush's message - 'Bring it on.'
#7
Ground Zero Mosque Iman: If You Dont Build It, They Will Attack
Sounds like a threat to me.
Why is this "Agent of the Taliban" Under the jail right now?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/09/2010 10:59 Comments ||
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#8
"The battlefront is between moderates of all sides and the radicals on all sides, he said.
Imam Rauf is making a moral equivalence judgement between violent Islamic extremists and those that question the wisdom of the GZM. His assertion is both groups are of equal stature. Both groups are radicals grounded in hate. His wife made a simmilar statement in that those that oppose the GZM were not simply phobic but have a Hatred for Islam. Regardless of the outcome, Rauf is provoking a self-fulfilling prophecy and it aint good.
#9
the headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack.
So, nothing will change, then?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/09/2010 11:04 Comments ||
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#10
Tell you what. We will let you build it and the VERY FIRST time we have a terrorist attack on ANY US installation or an ally, we put all of you clerics and imans in it and burn it to the ground.
#14
Guys, guys, come on now. What we need is a compromise. Why not let them build the mosque. That will make both muslims and liberals happy and the radicals angry. Then we can run planes into it. That would make good Americans happy and liberals and radicals angry. Heck, we'll even give them warning so they can empty the buildings and no radicals (and sympathetic liberals) will be killed. That will make the liberals happy, and good Americans and radicals angry.
#15
For a arguement for peace his choice of words sure are ladled with conflict emotions, such as the use of battlefront instead of forum. Tells me all I need to know.
#18
It is not that we hate Islam in particular, Raufie. It's that general Jeffersonian hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of Man. We are talking about a 'religion' that hates women, dogs and gays. As a reasonable man, I'm willing to spot you one, or even two of those beliefs. But all three? Sorry, but y'all just suck. We will save for another day the discussion of how Sharia law stands in opposition to the set of principles that make us American - the Constitution of the United States.
#21
Yes, he did say we had it just days after the towers fell, on CBS television. He is not a man with good intentions, other than making a buck off Americans that can just die in his book.
AS US President Barack Obama condemned a Florida pastor's proposed public Koran burning, another minister planned a similar demonstration to mark the anniversary of September 11.
Sigh, we're going to see a number of these.
Reverend Bob Old of Springfield, Tennessee - just 48 km north of Nashville - said he intended to set fire to a Koran at his home on Saturday and post a video of the burning Muslim holy book online, The Tennessean reports.
Thus demonstrating that Old Bob is a moron ...
"If they want to have their religion, they can have it somewhere else," Reverend Old reportedly said of Muslims.
That's not what our founding documents say.
"I believe that other religions are a threat to our faith and our beliefs," said Reverend Old, who heads an evangelical ministry called Disciples of Christ, though he was once pastor of two Baptist congregations in Tennessee. "People may say that I am crazy,
Yep ...
but I am not."
Okay, maybe you're just an idiot. Choose.
Meanwhile, other Tennessee religious leaders denounced the minister's plans.
"The guy is a nut," Reverend Larry Herbert of Faith Covenant Church in Springfield told The Tennessean. "This is crazy. I am sorry that anyone who names the name of Christ would do this."
Christ chased the moneylenders from the Temple, but I don't recall Him ever burning any scrolls.
Amir Arain, spokesman for the Islamic Centre of Nashville, told the paper he hoped Reverend Old would change his mind before Saturday.
"We will pray that God gives him wisdom," he said.
Don't count on it ...
The local controversy over Reverend Old's plans comes amid a national controversy over Reverend Terry Jones' proposed public Koran burning in Gainesville, Florida.
Mr Obama said in an interview broadcast today that the burning in Florida would be a "recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda," to which Reverend Jones responded that he would reconsider his protest if he received a call from the White House.
Koran burning plays into the narrative the MFM would like to build of racist, tea-party knuckledragging conservatives who will bring down the temple of light and sweet reason come November. Reverends Jones and Old should put a sock on it.
#2
Sorry, but this strikes of publicity seeking or more likely money raising.
I bet if you offered these pastors assholes some money to not burn these books they would gladly take it and say that after praying, God told them not to do it.
#3
There are two kinds of people in the World.
These who grasped that for a Muslim there are only two possibilities: you're his bitch, or he's yours. The alternatives are not unacceptable---they simply do not exist.
These who didn't.
#5
In a large part of the South, there are trailer churches two or three to a block. Getting a congregation by whatever means is pretty desperate, and the chance at free publicity is worth its weight in gold.
The idea has a couple of days to spread. If it catches on, there will be a lot of Korans ordered by overnight delivery.
#6
He may be a nut, but it is a fact that in 2010 major institutions in the west are observing Sharia out of a fear of violence.
Westergaard is a marked man, Molly Norris has a Fatwa on her head, the MSM does not print or show certain cartoons, neither does Yale, the Metropolitan Museum won't exhibit them either. Comedy Central is Sharia compliant too.
Van Gogh believed that the antidote to bad speech is good speech, that the rules of the Free Marketplace of Ideas still applied.
The truth, as he found out, is that good speech is a capital offense.
Reverend Old's brand of religion is very likely not my cup of tea, and he may be a crude, uncouth bitter clinger. He's not threatening to harm or kill any living being though. So I'll reserve my outrage for the islamofascists who are.
Nut or no nut I prefer defiance as opposed to complacency as our freedoms are being extinguished and our countries are turning into finlandized caricatures of their former selves.
/rant
#7
Where did all the dhmimmis on Rantburg suddenly come from? F**K Islam and its pedophile prophet. Now, lets see if I get censored to protect the tender feelings of the filth that knocked down the Twin Towers, murdered over 2800 civilians in the process, and had their civilians worldwide dancing in the streets over the attack.
#8
Shieldwolf- This has nothing to do with being easy on Islam. The reason the people of Islamic cultures are so f'ed up is they listen to their religious nutbags. We are better off because when our religious leaders start acting like nutbags, we treat them with derision.
The fact is, I never thought the people of Iraq and especially Afghanistan were worth saving. They have proved to not be worth the lives of our young men and women, and this idiotic war is sucking our treasury dry when we have more significant national security threats (Mexico).
They will never have even a half assed democracy. Instead of fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban on the ground, I'd fight them with UAVs and agent orange their poppy fields. I would boycott sending antibiotics to them. And I wouldn't let their people come into the United States on visas or give them green cards.
[Pak Daily Times] The security forces have released the list of 19 wanted terrorists and ordered them to surrender before Eidul Fitr. Otherwise, their houses would be dismantled and strict action would be taken against them under the law. The posters of these terrorists have been put up in different bazaars of Kanju at Tehsil Kabal, Swat with direction to surrender or face dire consequences. Amongst the names of terrorists are Yaqoob Khan, Hussain Khan, Sajid Khan, Zafar Ali, Rehmat Shah, Naseeb Rawan, Farman Ali, Bakhsh Rawan, Lajbar, Tajbar, Maaz, Ziaud Din, Ajmeer, Saleem, Ikram, Nasir, Muneeb Ahmed Gilkar and Yousuf Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Sources inside Al-Iraqiya List, which is led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, have asserted that the media leaks claiming that US Vice President Joe Biden succeeded in persuading Arab and non-Arab countries to stop backing Al-Iraqiya are untrue and baseless and they also called baseless the reports attributed to a leading figure in the State of Law Coalition [SLC], which is led by outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, that the latter cited Biden for these remarks and that the countries responded positively apart from Saudi Arabia.
Muhammad Allawi, the leading Al-Iraqiya List figure, stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the message conveyed to the US side was that the List has the right to form the government and that it would not participate in any government led by Al-Maliki. He pointed out that the US side, as represented by Biden, changed its approaches during his recent visit and stopped raising the issue of supporting the SLC, adding the US side even supports the formation of the government as quickly as possible without going into details and prefers Al-Iraqiya without specifying to whom the post should be given and without exerting pressures in this or that direction.
On his part, Khalid al-Asadi, a leading SLC figure, did not deny or confirm the statement of a leading SLC figure about Al-Maliki citing Biden but asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that the SLC does not talk about something it knows nothing about or attributes remarks to Al-Maliki inside meetings and stressed that all the SLC leaders talk publicly.
On the other hand, the two leaders of the National Alliance, the SLC and the Iraqi National Alliance [INA] which is led by Ammar al-Hakim, are trying to reach an agreement over the mechanism for choosing the Alliance's candidate for prime minister after limiting it to Adel Abdel Mahdi and Al-Maliki. Informed sources confirmed that the disagreements between the two blocs over many issues have exacerbated, among them the percentage of voting for one candidate and also adding to the committee of wise men a new person from outside the two blocks as an arbiter, specifically from the Kurdish Alliance. A third disagreement revolves around the proposal of a compromise candidate if the two blocks failed to agree on Abdel Mahdi and Al-Maliki.
Al-Maliki's SLC wants acceptance of a mechanism for a 65 percent vote while the INA is insisting on 80 percent, particularly following information indicating that the SLC succeeded in attracting two sides from inside the INA and secured their voting for Al-Maliki. The two sides are Al-Fadilah bloc and the Reform Trend led by Al-Jaafari who tacitly announced his rejection of Abdel Mahdi's nomination claiming the reason was the hastiness of the voting.
On his part, Haydar al-Suwaydi, a leading member of Al-Hakim's Islamic Supreme Council, disclosed to Asharq Al-Awsat that a proposal was made yesterday to add a seventh arbiter from outside the two blocs to the committee of wise men of six members representing the INA and SLC, one preferably from the Kurdish Alliance so as to be the decisive arbiter if the votes were equal. "But the SLC objected to this mechanism saying the issue is an internal matter that concerns the National Alliance and there is no need to introduce elements from other coalitions." Regarding the proposal to have a compromise candidate other than Al-Maliki and Abdel Mahdi, Al-Suwaydi said this proposal is on the National Alliance's negotiations table if the two sides failed to agree on a mechanism for going to parliament with one candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] An Iraqi political official has stated that "security services associated with the outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, have strengthened procedures to monitor Iraqi political leaders, from several political blocs", indicating that "one of these procedures is to listen in on phone calls involving those politicians".
The political official, who is not connected to the government and preferred anonymity for security reasons, told Asharq Al-Awsat via telephone from Storied Baghdad, that "we've noticed for a long time that there has been interference with our telephone lines, which prompted us to be suspicious about the presence of surveillance, and interception of our communications, through a specific agency". He pointed out that "we initially suspected the American troops, but their technicians confirmed that they were neither monitoring nor listening in to our telephone conversations".
The official added "I was convinced that our technical equipment had indeed been tapped, and that the agency listening in to our communications is the security agency associated with the office of the outgoing Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki". He pointed out that "a close ally of al-Maliki's office, who is sympathetic to our bloc, informed us frankly not to talk via the telephone about our plans, or anything that is critical of the Prime Minister. The fact is that there is a security agency which is hijacking our conversations, and this agency belongs to al-Maliki's office".
The political official said "there have been proposals and plans discussed with the members of our bloc through mobile phones, some of which have leaked to the media, despite us maintaining the confidentiality of such plans, which relate to alliances between blocs, and efforts to form the next government". He warned that "these procedures are not limited to wire-tapping alone, but there are extensive security checks on political leaders, conducted by monitoring elements from security services, to follow their movements. Some security forces also have gathering points near the headquarters of leaders, or political parties that are not close to the government".
According to the political official's view, "these [gathering] points are the field headquarters for some security services to implement any scheme they are ordered to carry out by their leaders. The tapping of telephone wires reveals that the [current] government is concerned about talks developing towards the formation of a [new] government, or that it doubts the activities of these parties and Iraqi politicians".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
So Maliki studied at the Richard Nixon school of political campaigning?
[Asharq al-Aswat] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Wednesday accused the Paleostinian Authority of "treason" over its arrest of members of the Islamist group in connection with the killing of Jewish settlers.
Hamas front man Fawzi Barhum called the arrests "national treason and direct collaboration with the (Israeli) enemy" and warned the Western-backed authority not to hand the men over to Israel.
"The continuation of this criminal campaign crosses all red lines and is direct collaboration with the enemy in the light of day," Barhum said.
"It will only increase Hamas's determination to continue the resistance and intensify our painful strikes on the Zionist enemy."
A Paleostinian Authority official said security forces had jugged Hamas members from separate cells linked to two drive-by shooting attacks last week that killed four Israeli settlers and maimed two others.
The official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, would not specify the number of people jugged.
The first shooting on August 31 killed four settlers, including a pregnant woman, and the second a day later maimed two settlers near Ramallah.
Hamas grabbed credit for both attacks, which cast a pall over the relaunch in Washington of direct Israeli-Paleostinian peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. The minister of a Florida church said he has canceled plans to burn copies of the Quran because the leader of a much-opposed plan to build an Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its location. The agreement couldn't be immediately confirmed.
The Rev. Terry Jones said Thursday that Americans oppose the mosque being built at the location and that Muslims do not want the Quran burned. He said instead of his plan to burn the books on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11, he will be flying to New York to speak to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf about moving the mosque.
Jones said Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida told him that officials would guarantee that the mosque would be moved. "I asked him three times, and I have witnesses," Jones said. "If it's not moved, then I think Islam is a very poor example of religion. I think that would be very pitiful. I do not expect that." I'll believe that when I see it...
After the news conference, Musri told The Associated Press there was an agreement for him and Jones to travel to New York and meet Saturday on the actual anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with the imam overseeing plans to build a mosque near ground zero.
"I told the pastor that I personally believe the mosque should not be there, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it is moved," Musri said. "But there is not any offer from there (New York) that it will be moved. All we have agreed to is a meeting, and I think we would all like to see a peaceful resolution."
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said he was surprised by the announcement and that he would not barter.
#4
Trump's offer has been turned down. Mohammedans do not surrender. Infidels are the ones to be put into submission, Mr. Trump.
Posted by: Oscar Glusotch4999 ||
09/09/2010 18:46 Comments ||
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#5
There goes the hot dog cookout........
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/09/2010 19:14 Comments ||
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Jones' neighbors in Gainesville, a city of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida campus, also have said they disapprove. At least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organizations in the city have mobilized to plan inclusive events some will read from the Quran at their own weekend services.
Just as long as they read those parts of the Quran that no knowledgeable Muslim would disagree with.
Muslims are the vilest of animals
Show mercy to one another, but be ruthless to Muslims
How perverse are Muslims!
Strike off the heads of Muslims, as well as their fingertips
Fight those Muslims who are near to you
Muslim mischief makers should be murdered or crucified
#7
and in pure muslim style, Masri is now backtracking and claims he didn't say the mosque would be moved. Just that he opposed the location of the mosque himself and promised a meeting with the builder to discuss moving it.
Yet I'm sure what he said to Jones is exactly as Jones declares and what Masri said to the media and listening muslims was quite different. But now the link has been made between the mosque and the firepit, events are likely to escalate. Jones will retract his cancellation and so it goes.
The anti-Muslim leader of a tiny Florida church says he was lied to and is rethinking his decision to cancel burning Qurans to mark 9/11.
Pastor Terry Jones earlier Thursday had backed off his threat to burn the Quran after he said he was promised that a planned Islamic center and mosque would be moved away from New York's ground zero. Muslim leaders denied there was such a deal.
Later outside his church he said that the imam he thought he made the deal with "clearly, clearly lied to us" about moving the mosque.
Jones and Imam Muhammad Musri stood side by side in a news conference where the pastor said he would cancel Saturday's event.
Musri later told The Associated Press there was only an agreement for him and Jones to travel to New York and meet Saturday with the imam overseeing plans to build a mosque near ground zero.
[An Nahar] Syrian Ambassador Abdul Karim Ali said Lebanon and Syria should team up to face Israel together.
"What unites Lebanon and Syria is the power that circulates in our blood," Ali said in remarks published Wednesday.
"We should be together, united in the face of the only enemy, Israel," he stressed.
"We need to be fully alert to face up to the dangers, plots, and intrigues that are being hatched for both the Syrian and Lebanese people," Ali warned.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
First response to the attack should be the destruction of Damascus, all Syrian airports, ports, and roads to Lebanon, then kill Hezbollah
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2010 8:35 Comments ||
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I think he knows a direct move would be a very bad idea. So, this is another political move to shore-up or reinforce relations with every one opposed to Israel. Probably directed namely at jihadists and his Sunni majority to help to continue to legitimize his regime.
[An Nahar] MP Oqab Saqr noted Wednesday that whenever attempts are made to improve ties with Syria, there are some sides that try to thwart these efforts.
He told LBC that once the relationship between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad improved, the premier apologized for mistakes made against Syria after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"Syria will make an apology of its own once the indictment is announced," he stressed.
"Assad himself said that Syria had committed errors in Lebanon and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem recognized the existence of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," the MP continued.
Saqr called for putting an end to debates over false witnesses in the case.
In addition, the MP urged Hizbullah to take Hariri's recent positions into consideration, saying that the lack of an indictment does not favor the party because the indictment itself will only prove that the party was not involved in the assassination.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad improved, the premier apologized for mistakes made against Syria after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Looks like the so called Cedar Revolution was a spit in the wind. It appears Syria now has it claws firmly sunk into its prey. The liberals are probably okay with this though. They do seem to support terrorism.
[Iran Press] Iran will not implement additional protocol as long as the UN Security Council interferes in Iran's nuclear program, says Iran's ambassador to the IAEA.
On February 6, 2006, Iran's Majlis (parliament) suspended voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and all other voluntary and non-legally binding cooperation with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) beyond what is required by its safeguards agreement.
"The IAEA is seeking implementation of additional protocol and Iran will not implement this protocol as long as the UNSC is involved in Iran's nuclear issue. We ask the IAEA Director General, Yukiya Amano, to understand this fact," Asharq al-Awsat quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying.
Soltanieh declared Iran's readiness for nuclear talks with the Vienna Group (the US, Paris, Russia and the IAEA), citing political pressure for imposing preconditions on Iran as the causes of the delay of the meeting. according to a Mehr news agency report.
"Such behaviors and actions have obliged Iran to supply its required enriched uranium," he added.
The Iranian representative at the IAEA rejected the claim that the recent UN Agency's report highlighted Iran's poor cooperation with the IAEA, saying the report calls for more cooperation. "Iran will continue its cooperation with the IAEA in accordance with the signed agreements and not beyond that," Soltanieh added.
IAEA's Director General Yukiya Amano on Monday released its latest report on Iran's nuclear work in which he once again confirmed that the agency continued to "verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear materials in Iran."
The report, however, urged Iran to "cooperate in clarifying outstanding issues" and suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
The Islamic Republic insists that it has been fully cooperating with the IAEA, reiterating that it has answered all questions regarding its nuclear work.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Is there any further need of the IAEA? Sounds like a good place to cut costs.
[Beirut Daily Star] Tensions arose in the Ain al-Hilweh Paleostinian refugee camp as a circulating statement bearing the signature of an Al-Qaeda-inspired group threatened to assassinate the head of the Armed Struggle in the camp, saying he was involved in the recent killing of the group's leader.
I think that's a brilliant idea. It's once again time to thin the herd a bit.
The Central News Agency (CNA) reported that the statement accused the head of security in the camp -- Colonel Mahmoud Issa, known as "Lino" -- of providing information to the Lebanese Army intelligence which helped in the killing of the head of Fatah al-Islam Abdel Rahman Awad.
Awad was killed along with another Islamic exemplar known as Abu Bakr Mubarak during clashes with the Lebanese Army in the eastern Bekaa Valley region in August. The clashes broke out in the town of Chtoura and both of the men were traveling on false identities, the army said. Abu Bakr is believed to be Awad's deputy and allegedly delivered military training to members of Fatah al-Islam.
A good man to find dead, then.
In 2007, Fatah al-Islam fought a fierce battle against the Lebanese Army at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Leb. It raged for more than three months and cost 400 lives, with 168 soldiers among the dead.
Not a bad ratio, considering, and a goodly number of bad guys, henchmen, hard boyz and the like removed from this vale of tears.
Awad was believed to have been living recently in Ain al-Hilweh camp that lies on the outskirts of the southern coastal city of Sidon.
The Fatah al-Islam statement called on the mujahideen to prepare their arms "to avenge the blood of the two commanders Awad and Mubarak whom the treason of Lino has killed."
Yes, yes, let's fight and kill some more! More, Preciousssssss, more!
Following the statement, the military command of Fatah al-Islam inside the camp convened to discuss security developments and called for exercising caution and alertness.
The threats have prompted Lino to boost his personal security measures.
Fatah's secretary in Leb, Major General Fathi Abul-Aradat, believes the statement is fabricated. "There is no group called Fatah al-Islam in Ain al-Hilweh camp, but there were some individuals that no longer exist," he added. Speaking to the CNA, Abul-Ardat said the statement was aimed at instigating tensions in the camp. This attempt should be thwarted, he added "because the camp's security is part of Leb's security."
"The priority for the Fatah Movement lies in enhancing cooperation and coordination on all security and political levels with the Lebanese state because this represents a common interest for Leb and its Paleostinian guests," he added.
Also, the head of Paleostinian security in Leb, Brigadier Sobhi Abu Arab, held what he called "a fifth column" responsible for circulating the statement. Speaking to the CNA, Abu Arab called for exercising caution in the face of the statement's attempts to instigate tensions and destabilize the camp.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Muslim propaganda so ludicrous it is hardly worthy of comment. Yes of course, right after we teach them to use toilet paper, read, stop buggering thier little boys and stoning thier women folk, we then introduce them to vacation Bible School.
#3
I remember sitting at the DFAC in Iraq many moons ago w/our unit's chaplain (a Catholic Priest in his early 50s) and telling him the best thing we could do for the locals was drop a bunch of new testaments on them and hope it takes. Not that I'm all that religious but from a logical standpoint I'd rather deal w/a faith group that basically believes that "God is Love" and the parable of the good samaritan vice submission to God and killing its rape victims.
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.
A report by 
AS US President Barack Obama condemned a Florida pastor's proposed public Koran burning, another minister planned a similar demonstration to mark the anniversary of September 11.
[Asharq al-Aswat] 
Syrian Ambassador Abdul Karim Ali said Lebanon and Syria should team up to face Israel together.
