Hi there, !
Today Thu 11/28/2013 Wed 11/27/2013 Tue 11/26/2013 Mon 11/25/2013 Sun 11/24/2013 Sat 11/23/2013 Fri 11/22/2013 Archives
Rantburg
531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 67 articles and 153 comments as of 10:39.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
More than 160 killed as Syrian rebels try to break siege
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
6 17:48 Shipman [] 
1 14:57 Frank G [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
10 21:41 JosephMendiola [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
4 11:35 Abu Uluque []
2 22:57 Pappy []
1 07:48 Glenmore []
1 07:26 Frank G [1]
0 []
1 07:53 Glenmore []
0 []
1 09:32 Frank G []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 07:52 Glenmore []
5 23:52 Zenobia Floger6220 [1]
1 09:30 Frank G []
1 10:56 Pappy []
0 []
1 19:02 JosephMendiola []
Page 2: WoT Background
1 22:29 Procopius2k []
7 21:28 Rob Crawford []
0 [1]
3 16:54 European Conservative []
5 20:34 lord garth []
3 22:58 Pappy []
2 10:25 Bill Clinton []
0 []
1 23:00 Pappy []
1 10:30 Bill Clinton []
4 17:44 swksvolFF []
0 []
1 18:34 Bobby []
0 []
0 []
0 []
2 19:16 Redneck Jim []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
3 12:03 Pappy []
4 11:36 Frozen Al []
1 18:39 Flusotch Noodleman9829 []
1 00:32 JosephMendiola []
3 18:35 Frank G []
0 []
2 14:12 g(r)omgoru []
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 23:58 rjschwarz []
13 21:31 Rob Crawford []
6 14:34 Besoeker []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 02:41 newc []
5 20:25 Glenmore []
0 []
Page 6: Politix
42 21:35 Rob Crawford []
4 07:59 Procopius2k []
India-Pakistan
Crocodile tears and drone attacks -- Nafisa Hoodbhoy
[Pak Daily Times] The Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
government -- perhaps because of its history of emerging from the womb of the army -- appears to be eliminating the 'bad Taliban' much more covertly than its predecessors.

Behind the angry posturing of PML-N Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and a coterie of politicians publicly denouncing the US for sending a drone through peace talks, the US and Pakistain appear to be coordinating against the Taliban who threaten western interests and attack inside Pakistain. Still, the credibility of politicians like Sartaj Aziz goes on the line when their pledge to halt drone attacks is followed by a missile strike the next day.

The discrepancy between what Pakistain says and does came to light last month when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Washington. As Sharif denounced drone attacks in his meeting with President B.O. on October 23, 2013, and victims of the attacks testified on the Hill, US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee member Alan Grayson told the media, "With all due respect to an ally, it is well within Pakistain's capability to end those drone strikes tomorrow." The congressman went on to tell the media that the Pakistain Air Force is "very powerful", and has the capability of controlling its own air space.

Mark Mazetti, author of Way of the Knife, writes that Pakistain asked the US to launch its first predator drone strike to eliminate tribal leader Nek Mohammed in 2004, after he led a rebellion against the state. Afterwards, Pakistain claimed it had fired the missile that killed the tribal leader it had once patronised. Like his predecessors, Nek Mohammed and Baitullah Mehsud, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) commander, Hakeemullah Mehsud, killed in a drone strike on November 1, 2013, had apparently grown too big for his boots. The US offered five million dollars for his capture after Hakeemullah coordinated with a Jordanian agent in December 2009 and wiped out a sizeable staff of CIA employees stationed in Khost, Afghanistan. Pakistain put Rs 50 million head money on the TTP commander for his lethal attacks against the state and citizens.

Only a select cadre in the Pak government was apparently on board about the plans to take out Hakeemullah. The PML-N government had taken JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
into confidence about arranging a 'peace meeting' with the Taliban in North Wazoo. Still, while talks with bully boyz were publicised, the drone strikes were kept well under the radar.

Consequently, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to Washington, followed by his announcement from London on October 31, 2013 that "peace talks with the Taliban have begun", were met by puzzled silence in Pakistain. TTP front man Shahidullah Shahid told journalists the same day that they were unaware of any talks. Parliamentary leaders publicly complained that they had been kept in the dark.

In North Waziristan, months of friendly communiqués between the government apparently put bully boyz at ease. The administration's imposition of curfew added to the impression that it was for upcoming TTP-government talks. On November 1, the Taliban gathered in a mosque near Hakeemullah's sprawling farmhouse -- bought by his cousin, Latifullah Mehsud -- for a meeting on whether to talk to the government or not.

The US apparently set the ball rolling shortly after NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
troops snatched Latifullah in early October from the custody of Afghan intelligence officials, and interrogated him at Bagram base. Latifullah was a key link between the Taliban groups that function on both sides of the border. The Karzai government had planned to use him as an interlocutor in 'peace talks' with the Taliban, despite the TTP's known role of attacking state institutions inside Pakistain. These increased cross-border attacks have, in recent months, caused Pakistain's Foreign Office to complain that Afghanistan is being used as a safe haven for TTP bad boys.

For two days, US drones fired missiles into North Waziristan searching for their target. The second attack on November 1 was successful. Hakeemullah and his two companions were killed outside his $ 120,000 farmhouse. Neighbours reported surprise at seeing the Taliban capo before his vehicle was struck. Hakeemullah was understandably a rarity here, being on the run from drone attacks that occur mostly in this Pak-Afghan border area. With the liquidation of the TTP chief, and his replacement by Mullah Fazlullah
...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
, an enraged TTP has pledged attacks on the military and senior government officials in Punjab for being a 'slave' of the US.

However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
Islamabad says it will continue to pursue peace talks with the Taliban. In so doing, it has found PTI chief Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
's reactions especially useful to soak up the anger. Khan's visible shock at Hakeemullah's liquidation and angry talk by the PTI and religious parties of stopping NATO convoys to Afghanistan, have served to deflect attention and let off steam. This is the same strategy that General Musharraf used after 9/11 when public anger at the US invasion of Afghanistan helped propel the coalition of Islamic parties in the border areas. Then, too, the US was allowed to become the favourite whipping boy of the masses.

However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
as the US prepares for withdrawal of its troops, and nations compete for a foothold in Afghanistan, Islamabad faces an uncertain future. Different intelligence agencies have gotten behind the Taliban as they fight the US, Afghanistan and Pakistain, while cementing tribal bonds across the Durand Line. The gunning down of Afghan Taliban financier Naseerullah Haqqani in Islamabad is the latest example of warring intelligence agencies. It also shows a falling out among multiple Taliban groups, once loosely commandeered by Hakeemullah Mehsud.

The drone attack in a madrassa in Hangu on November 21, 2013, which killed leading members of the Haqqani group, appears to have also hit at the Afghan bully boyz plotting in a settled area of Pakistain. As a dozen years of war have revealed, the younger generation of Taliban is angrier and less controllable than the bully boyz trained by Pakistain in the 1990s to take over Afghanistan. Indeed, there is a shortage of 'good Taliban' like Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
, Mullah Baradar and the Haqqani network taking refuge in Pakistain, who merely attack NATO troops in Afghanistan and do not attack state interests within Pakistain.

How Pakistain gets rid of its bad Taliban, while deflecting anger away from it, and simultaneously gains a foothold in Afghanistan, will be a high wire act worth watching.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  The Paks can't control their own "sovereign nation", yet they still have aspirations of Great Gaming Afghanistan.
Posted by: Frank G || 11/25/2013 14:57 Comments || Top||


Stamp of Arab imperialism -- Yasser Latif Hamdani
[Pak Daily Times] The first amendment to the US constitution establishes the most unfettered free speech regime in the world. Even so, 'crying fire in a crowded theatre' is not free speech. Qari Shakir, the maulana (holy man) who instigated the riots in Rawalpindi did precisely that. Just as the Ashura procession approached, he deliberately created blatant provocation by suggesting -- quite erroneously -- that Hussain (AS) had decided to bear allegiance to Yazid but was forced into conflict by his son Zainul Abidin. This has absolutely no basis in history, which makes it all the more disturbing. What happened next was terrible and blame cannot be apportioned to one community alone. The events in Rawalpindi and elsewhere have underscored just how important it is to roll back General Zia's Islamisation process and perhaps to go even further and separate religion from the state and governance. This is important not just to preserve peace and sanity but also to safeguard religion from controversy.

In 2013's Pakistain, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the founding fathers of this country came from diverse sectarian backgrounds. Zafarullah Khan was an Ahmedi (then still considered Musselmen), Aga Khan was the foremost Ismaili, Bahaduryar Jang was a Mahdavi, the Raja of Mahmudabad and the Ispahanis were staunch Ithna Ashari Shias, Nazimuddin, Fazlul Haq and Liaquat Ali Khan were Sunnis and, last but not least, the Quaid-e-Azam, Jinnah himself, was a Khoja Shia Twelver. Within the movement there were all kinds of 'Musselmens', from secular-minded cultural Musselmens only like Daniyal Latifi to the devout Barelvis like Pir Jamaat Ali Shah. It was because the Musselmen League adopted a neutral and non-sectarian approach that they managed to bring on one platform a great majority of the Musselmen multitudes in the subcontinent. In the final stage, there were many scheduled caste Hindus and Christians who also threw their lot in with them. There was no single occasion in all seven years of the Pakistain Movement that official public prayers were instituted by the Musselmen League or when theology or 'Islamic ideology' came under discussion at any of the Musselmen League sessions, which were extensively recorded. Religion and theology were just not the point. Communal consciousness or Musselmen nationalism may well have been rooted in a common but tenuous religious tradition, but its markers were not religious. It was -- as Ian Talbot calls it -- a secular Musselmen nationalism comprising an argument, rightly or wrongly, based on language, culture and history rather than theology or ideology. The Musselmen League model was to unite Musselmens by keeping theology out. Perhaps this is the most important legacy that Pakistain today needs to unite its own fractured polity.

The ideological confusion created in the aftermath of partition in 1947, and more so after the breakup of Pakistain in 1971, ensured that this spirit of neutrality and impartiality was sacrificed on the altar of an undefined mouthful, the 'ideology of Pakistain'. The separation of East Pakistain, which contained a largely secular and highly politicised middle class, was a triple deathblow to progressive politics, an indigenous economy and Pakistain's founding national theory. After 1971, there were more South Asian Musselmens outside Pakistain than inside it, bringing its Musselmen homeland status into question. The alternative to Musselmen nationalism was sought philosophically in Pan-Islamism and financially in 'petrodollars'. This was achieved through the Islamic Summit Conference in 1974; the full impact of this much-touted Islamic unity conference on the national psyche of Paks awaits its scholar. Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde...
the constitutional excommunication of Ahmedis laid down a dangerous precedent with General Zia taking the religious argument to its most absurd extreme.

The Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 was seen with trepidation by the ruling dynasties of the Musselmen world on the lam. Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
-- a monarchy -- was deathly afraid of a revolution in the Kingdom and therefore bolstered Wahabi and Salafi movements as a counterweight to Shia-ism. In other words, the Saudis wished to co-opt their own snuffies and gunnies by playing up the Shia threat. This is why we see Saudi Arabia standing with Israel against Iran today, a classic case of 'my enemy's enemy is my friend'. Pakistain is a natural battleground for this sectarian agenda. An investigation will no doubt show that Qari Shakir, the prime instigator, was a foot soldier in this massive Arab cultural, imperialist invasion with its sectarian paraphernalia.

This cultural invasion is all around us. Speaking at Allahabad in 1930, Allama Muhammad Iqbal listed the liberation of Indian Islam from the stamp of Arab imperialism as one of the reasons for his advocacy of a consolidated Musselmen state in the north west of India. It is therefore an irony that the stamp of Arab imperialism has become even more pronounced in that consolidated Musselmen state; the new fad of 'Al-Bakistan' licence plates is a case in point. After speaking Urdu for almost 800 years, the Musselmens of Pakistain have decided to dispense with the letter 'p' and adopt 'Allah Hafiz' instead of 'Khuda Hafiz' (God be with you). That this is an urban 'Al-Bunjabi' middle class phenomenon experienced all along the Grand Trunk (GT) Road from Lahore to Rawalpindi correlates with the rise of sectarian and religious extremism in these areas.

One would care less if someone wanted to make a fool of themselves by having Al-Bakistan licence plates had it not been part of a larger, more disturbing trend accompanied with sectarian bigotry. The straitjacket and rigid interpretations of religion are ill suited for a populace that is informed in its religious identity by Indian, Iranian and Afghan influences and whose cultural heritage encompasses two millennia of eastern spiritual traditions. Pakistain is very much a South Asian country and will always remain one. The straitjacket of Arab cultural imperialism will only stifle us.
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


EDITORIAL : PTI's gimmick
[Pak Daily Times] The Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) staged a sit-in in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
Saturday to initiate an anti-drone campaign countrywide. Sunday saw Lahore, Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
(KP) mobilised against drone strikes by PTI and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
(JI), while the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
trucks were stopped at Torkham. In his speech to the participating protestors, Chairman PTI Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
expectedly accused the US of sabotaging peace in Pakistain by throwing a spanner in the works of the grinding of the peace processor the government had decided to pursue with the terrorists. He accused the PML-N government at the same time of selling Pakistain short by not standing up to the US on the issue of drones. The panacea to every ill confronting Pakistain, according to Imran, lies in the US's complete withdrawal from the region and allowing Pakistain to follow its own destiny.

Pressurising the US to halt drone strikes in Pakistain through blocking NATO supplies has not produced this result in the past and is unlikely to do so now. The supply lines at present are being used more to transport goods out of Afghanistan then sending them in. For Imran Khan, who had repeatedly demanded of the US to leave the region, this was not the time to put hurdles in the way of the NATO supply route. And if Imran Khan is not playing to the gallery, which everyone believes he is, then how does he justify the registration of a First Information Report on the drone strike in Hangu against 'unknown' persons? Is the KP government, run by the PTI, really 'oblivious' of the identity of the 'culprit'? The US is assisting the KP government through different financial aid and grant programmes, running into millions of dollars. Imran cannot run away from the allegation of playing a double game by simply saying that those were the former government's initiatives. He can stop these as well, just as he thinks he could block the NATO supply route forever. Therefore Imran's position on drone strikes is tilted inwards -- to save the KP government from taking the direct heat of its inability to stem terrorism. The US's position on drones is clear. They are raining hell on our country because the gunnies dangerous to the safety of the world are provided safe havens here. We had the option to eliminate them ourselves so as to avoid the question of violation of illusory sovereignty and hold our head high in the comity of world nations. Instead, we chose to follow a policy of duality that has irretrievably weakened our case in the eyes of the world. Are we in a position to strike down the drones as is being demanded by PTI and the JI? Such affronts in the relationship with the US are even avoided by a Europe shocked by the extensive US surveillance programme over them. Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom...
, the Chancellor of Germany, having every right to be offended by the US snooping (the US tapped her phones from 2002 until this summer) has been hesitant to show her anger beyond making a call to Obama to register her protest. She has been reported as saying that "The transatlantic alliance remains of utmost importance to us Germans." Does Pakistain stand anywhere near Germany in terms of economic power? In fact our economic survival depends on the IMF's assistance. We need donor agencies and lending institutions to reform our balance sheet. And all this cannot happen without the US's approval. Realism calls for honest, pragmatic and sustainable assessment of the problem. Can Imran or his party stop NATO supplies forever throughout the country or for that matter force the US to stop drone strikes? Falling under the purview of foreign policy, this is in any case the constitutional prerogative of the federal government alone, a consideration that has kept the KP government from joining the protest in Peshawar. Imran's accusations against the government, especially hitting the prime minister for bowing too low to the US, could at best be viewed as emotional rhetoric but not a sane man's view. The government knows that the rage over the drone strikes is largely impotent unless the US is punished, something a country like Pakistain can only think of at the peril of the exacerbation of its political and economic weaknesses, while getting more isolated or maybe actually pushed into the Stone Age. *
Posted by: Fred || 11/25/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Dershowitz: Iran Nukes Would Mark 'Neville Chamberlain Moment' for Obama
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 11/25/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OOOOOOO - so close but yet so far. No McDonald's McRib meal promo for Alan today.

IMO the real litmus test will be China - clearly the Iran deal is meant, among other, to help the Dems in 2014 Midterms [2016?]. HOW OBAMA HANDLES HIS "RED LINES" VEE CHINA IN ECS + SCS MAY INSPIRE [or Not?] SOON-TO-BE-NUKULAAR RADICAL ISLAM + JIHADIS.

Given the post-2015 or 2017 "sea change(s)" that could occur in Amerika due to ...

* Immigration reform affecting up to alleged 25.0-45.0Milyuhn illegals - you know, "11.0Milyuhn" as per the official Fed-Govt. figures. BY EXTENS ALSO PRO-VS-ANTI-ILLEGAL BORDER SECURITY.
* PROPOSED BUDGET-DEBT BUSTING, ANTI-SEQUESTER NEW QES FOR 2014. "Debt Ceiling(s)" as defined to become all but absolutely irrelevant or meaningless.
* CUBA = The Bammer has said he wants to achieve new rapprochement, better relations wid Uncles Fidel + Raul. PUERTO RICO HAS GONE THROUGH EIGHT YEARS OF BACK-TO-BACK RECESSIONS.

IRAN = ASSADIAN SYRIA = RELATIVELY SAFE THRU SUMMER 2014 IN MINIMA AS LONG AS NEW AGREEMENTS ARE BEING FOLLOWED, unless somebody does something really stupid ...

Whomever GOP,Dem is POTUS after Jan 2017 will inherit an Amerika in horrendous debt, + quite possibly in realistic GeoPol retreat/fallback all around the world.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/25/2013 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Dershowitz is so smart.

The rest of us rubes and proles view the Obama presidency as one long "Chamberlain moment".
Posted by: badanov || 11/25/2013 1:26 Comments || Top||

#3  I'll say again old Neville was at least trying to rearm when talking whereas our beast continues to look to cut ever more from defense.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/25/2013 8:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Obama is working on his legacy. It will be assured--south of Carter's and Warren G. Harding territory.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/25/2013 9:27 Comments || Top||

#5  My morning news people were acting a bit surprised at having to defend this act. I'm not sure if that was part of the script, or if like most people a 3am "Sign the treaty to find out what is in it" surprised them in the pre-cast run-through.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/25/2013 9:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Wag the dog.

I'm pretty sure Neville signed the danged thing because he knew the pulse of the landscape. The disarmament movement was in full flower, the leftists and liberals were saying "anything but war", and the communists were everywhere trying to undermine capitalism.

At least, I believe Chamberlain had a good idea that Hitler could not be trusted but the old French, the sissified Vichy French, not the NEW French leading us around on a leash dragging us into doing the right thing, pretty well handcuffed the Brits, what were they to do?

He had the common sense to crank up arms production and start calling up conscripts for a larger British Army.

The trouble is, I don't think Kerry, Obama, or Biden even comprehend that Rouhani and the boys, just bent them over the table and didn't even kiss them or pat them on the butt when it was over.

This treaty essentially brings war to the middle east.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 11/25/2013 10:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Meanwhile somewhere in the Great Beyond James Buchanan is crossing his fingers and thinking please, please, OH PLEASE!
Posted by: Snavise Cholurt4299 || 11/25/2013 12:16 Comments || Top||

#8 
Posted by: Jerkface Killa || 11/25/2013 18:25 Comments || Top||

#9  Will no one rid me of this troublesome troll?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/25/2013 18:36 Comments || Top||

#10  DAILY STAR LEBANON > US-IRAN THAW STARTS TO RESHAPE MIDEAST POWER.

In favor of IRAN.

* MEMRI.ORG > [Iraq-based Al-Muktar Army founder] IRAQI SHIITE LEADER WATHEG AL-BATTAT: I WILL SUPPORT IRAN IN A WAR AGZ IRAQ; IRAN IS A SUPERPOWER THAT CAN OVERCOME 15 SUPERPOWERS, WITH CELLS THROUGHOUT THE REGION + INFLUENCE FROM CHINA TO THE US, WE CONTROL 23,000 MARTYRDOM SEEKERS.

* WAFF > [JPost] [Israeli DM Moshe Y. TO US SecDef Hagel] YA'ALON: NUCLEAR IRAN COULD PLANT "DIRTY BOMB" ANYWHERE IN WEST.

ARTIC > ISRAEL = IRAN desires to promote Terror [Nuke Terrorism, WMDS?] activities under the protection = cover of a Nuclear Umbrella.

* WORLD NEWS > [BBC] IRAN SANCTIONS COULD BE LIFTED IN DECEMBER - [French FM] FABIUS.

* WORLD NEWS > LEBANON TURNING INTO BATTLEGROUND BETWEEN ISLAMISTS, AL-QAEDA, + JIHADISTS.

[MACAULAY "SAY IT TAINT SO" CAULKIN CUTE SLAPPY FACE here].

* JAPAN TIMES > IMPERFECT NUCLEAR DEAL IS THE US' "LEAST BAD" OPTION.

The US is repor concerned about Al-Qaeda affiliates setting up in Lebanon - In sum, THE BAMMER WOULD HAVE HAD TO BREAK HIS PLEDGE TO BRING US TROOPS HOME FROM AFGHANIS OR AFPAK, AS OPPOS TO RE-DEPLOYING THESE SAME + ADDITIONAL MAJOR GROUND COMBAT FORCES + SUPPORT INSTEAD TO T-H-R-E-E DIFFERENT MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES.

IMO this interim nuke deal is notsomuch about Iran's NucProgs, but more about what Shia Iran can do to help to contain or destroy Al-Qaeda + foreign Militant groups now establishing themselves in + around the [Eastern] Mediterranean region.

VERSUS

* DAILY STAR LEBANON > WEAK AT HOME, FRANCE SEEKS [Foreign Policy-led] GRANDEUR ABROAD.

The Bammer is seemingly doing the same thing, but beneath the surface may covertly going for a OWG Amerika weak both at home as well as overseas.

* SAME > GULF STATES CLOSER TO DEVELOPING THEIR OWN NUCLEAR PROGRAMS.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > SAUDI ARABIA WILL NOT SIT IDLY BY IFF THE WEST FAILS WID IRAN.

To stop AL-Qaeda, etal = Future Jihad agz Europe, etal, IFF THE USA = BAMMERIKA CAN TOLERATE A NUCLEAR SHIA IRAN, TO INCLUDE AS POTENS OWG "CO-SUPERPOWER", CAN IT DO ALSO FOR NON-SHIA OR MAJOR NON-SHIA SUNNI MUSLIM NATIONS???

* RELATED? WORLD MILITARY FORUM > US, EUROPEAN MEDIAS: US MUST NOT BE DRAGGED INTO SINO-JAPANESE MILITARY CONFLICT OVER DIAOYU ISLANDS. US INTERVENTION OVER DISPUTED ISLANDS DOES NOT MATCH OR SATISFY US INTERESTS.

FYI MILBLOGGERS = Many believe the US = Bammerika will NOT intervene in ECS [andor SCS] agz China unless ally Japan per se is at threat of de facto Chinese PLA invasion + occupation???

* JAPAN TIMES > US PUSHING NEW TRADE DEALS [Trans-Pac, Trans-Atlantic] AT EXPENSE OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY.

Yeeeuuup - "Borderless", anti-sovereign Amerika starting in 2015 or ASAP after.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/25/2013 21:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
VDH: A culture in ruins.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2013 06:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Got that old 'Berlin 32' deja vu feeling (minus some pounds)?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/25/2013 8:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.

John Adams, Letter, April 15, 1814
US diplomat & politician (1735 - 1826)
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/25/2013 8:44 Comments || Top||

#3  The culture does seem to have a "Lord of the "Flies" or "A Clockwork Orange" air about it these days. The children are in charge with no guidance from adults.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/25/2013 9:37 Comments || Top||

#4  I remember learning that the Romans had four really bad emporers in a row and then Marcus Aerelious came along and almost saved things, but one great Emporer wasn't enough to reverse the decline.

I feel like that now. Reagan gave us an extra decade or two but we need another with such clarity of vision.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 11/25/2013 14:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Reagan gave us an extra decade or two but we need another with such clarity of vision.

Don't put your trust in princes.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/25/2013 15:53 Comments || Top||

#6  or priests....
Posted by: Shipman || 11/25/2013 17:48 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
6Govt of Pakistan
5Arab Spring
4Govt of Iran
2TTP
2al-Qaeda in the Levant
2Govt of Syria
2Jamaat-e-Islami
2Taliban
1Hezbollah
1Islamic State of Iraq
1al-Qaeda
1Lashkar-e-Islami
1Commies
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-11-25
  More than 160 killed as Syrian rebels try to break siege
Sun 2013-11-24
  Nuclear deal reached with Mad Mullahs™
Sat 2013-11-23
  Belmokhtar deputy killed in Mali
Fri 2013-11-22
  Militias pull out of Libya's capital, Tripoli
Thu 2013-11-21
  20 killed in assault on Police Station by Shaboobs
Wed 2013-11-20
  Yemen Drone Strike Kills Three 'Qaida' Suspects
Tue 2013-11-19
  At least 18 killed in explosions targeting Iranian embassy in Beirut
Mon 2013-11-18
  Syria Rebels Bomb Government Building, Kill 31
Sun 2013-11-17
  Hezbollah commander killed in Syria
Sat 2013-11-16
  Militias attack Libyan protesters, killing 31
Fri 2013-11-15
  Iraq Bombers Kill 43 as Millions Mark Shiite Holiday
Thu 2013-11-14
  Bomb blasts outside Karachi imambargahs wound 14
Wed 2013-11-13
  Syria Kurds Announce Transitional Autonomous Government
Tue 2013-11-12
  Gunmen gun down 'chief financier' of Haqqani network in Islamabad
Mon 2013-11-11
  Syria army retakes key base near Aleppo: State TV

Better than the average link...



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.
44.201.99.133
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (20)    WoT Background (29)    Non-WoT (11)    (0)    Politix (2)