Radical Islamists have regrouped after being driven from power last year and are poised to launch a massive attack against the Somali government, an official said Thursday.
The government has "no power to resist the Islamists" and is failing to control most of the country, said Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur, director of security at the National Security Ministry. "About 80 percent of Somalia is not safe and is not under the control of the government," Nur told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. "Islamists are planning to launch a massive attack against the (government) and its allied troops."
This article starring:
Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
(AKI) In a major strategic change, the Algerian arm of Al-Qaeda appears to be using terrorists older than 60 to carry out its attacks. That is the finding to have emerged from early analysis of the dual bombings that struck Algiers on Tuesday. Arab media and analysts have spoken of the "return of the elderly" to describe the strategic change by Al-Qaeda's Branch in the Islamic Maghreb (BAQMI) that claimed responsibility for the bombings in the Algerian capital.
The Algerian government said that at least 26 people were killed and more than 170 wounded by the two bombs. However hospital sources say that more than 60 people died in the attacks.
In a statement posted on Islamist websites, al-Qaeda's North Africa wing said that they had used 800 kilogrammes of explosives in each of the two suicide attacks. Earlier this year al-Qaeda terrorists in Algeria had decided to use young people to carry out their attacks, but now they have changed their stragegy and appear to have decided to use terrorists aged in their 60's.
To avoid Algerian security at key positions in the city, such as the United Nations building, leader of BAQMI Abu Musa Abdel Wudud and his collaborators used a 64-year-old white-haired terrorist, Rabah Bashla, in the suicide attack. Algeria's minister for internal affairs, Yazid Zarhuni, who went to visit those injured in the attack said a youth had told him that a security official had stopped the drivers gathering there and asked them to move backwards. One of them refused and he was reportedly the elderly truck driver who later blew himself up. He was said to be in a hurry and looking for a way to get closer to the building. "He was considered to be a normal person with very white hair and no-one imagined that he was a terrorist," said Zarhuni.
According to most Algerian newspapers, it is the first time that al-Qaeda has used 60 year olds for a suicide attack and this tactic caught everyone by surprise. The only newspaper that was not so certain was Ech-Chourouk that closely follows Islamic terrorism. "The use of people of an older age to carry out suicide attacks is not in conflict with the nature of jihadi movements, looking to involve all people of all ages and not only young people even though there are many of them," Algerian sociologist Nasreddin Jabi told the TV network, al-Arabiya.
According to Arab analyst, Abdel Ali al-Razqi, personal factors would have been behind the attack and not a clear strategy from al-Qaeda. "The man of an older age who did the suicide attack has acted on a kind of personal vendetta to react against problems in his life, " he said. " He had family problems or he knew some members of an armed group that convinced him to carry out this operation."
Algerian police noted last September that in the five preceding months al-Qaeda had recruited 50 youths under the age of 16. There have been reports in the Arab newspaper al-Hayat saying that the terrorist group was concentrating on recruiting young people.
This article starring:
Abu Musa Abdel Wudud
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
please visit
www.gabrielchristou.blogspot.com
you will see PHOTOS of WHO and WHERE Bin Laden and his NETWORKS ARE .
URGENT PLEASE HELP . I CANNOT FROM HERE .. I AM BLOCKED ALL AROUND
FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO THE FBI.
gavriild@gmail.com
Posted by: Gravitle Scourge of the Danes4148 ||
12/14/2007 6:42 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Copy that. You're amongst friends here. Ima send youze some monies at your blogsite. I myself have oft found myself blocked all-around, it is indeed disturbing.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
12/14/2007 7:52 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I've never been BLOCKED ALL AROUND, but I hear a colonic does help.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2007 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
#4
This is a job for >JOE! Come in GUAM>UNBLOCK > CLEAR THE RATLINES >'_'< ALERT FBI sucessor institution and PREPARE TO POWER UP.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
12/14/2007 12:18 Comments ||
Top||
#7
This is really disturbing news; now instead of worrying about the generic car bombs we have to watch out for those damn 'Rascal' electric scooters ( I call 'em geezer go-carts) with 'plosives under the seats........
Wonder if these actions are endorsed by the AARP (Armed Al-queda Retired Persons)
Dozens of young Melbourne men are being investigated by police over suspected ties to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah network. Victorian counter-terrorism authorities are analyzing video footage and photographs taken at public meetings attended by Australian Muslims in support of the Shia organization. The Australian understands some of the images being examined are of men, predominantly in their 20s, waving Hezbollah banners and flags during protests in Melbourne last year against the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon. More than 50 men, largely of Lebanese heritage, are being monitored by the police, but none has been arrested or interviewed. It is understood some of the men are related.
Cue "It's a Fambly Affair"...
Authorities are also believed to be investigating a possible Melbourne-based Hezbollah cell, suspected of propagating political ideologies and raising funds for its leadership in Lebanon. Hezbollah's military arm, the External Security Organization, is a proscribed terrorist organization in Australia. Sources told The Australian police feared some Hezbollah backers were exploiting a loophole in Australia's terror laws that allows political support for the organization's political arm.
The Australian revealed in June that Australia's most senior Shia Muslim cleric, Kamal Mousselmani, had openly declared his support for Hezbollah, saying it was a "resistance group", not a terrorist network.
This article starring:
KAMAL MUSELMANI
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
i've stayed on their mailing list largely to see what they get up to. Most of the time i just nod, sigh, and /dev-null them.
Then today i got this.
Rape is never a laughing matter, as i'm sure all Rantburgers will agree.
And i'm not sure if it's the Halliburton or the MoveOn vibe, but this just seems like a new low. But the beautiful thing about the 'burg is just like the Noses that Know in the Lizard Legions, the straight dope is produced and the asses are duly fact-checked. i've pasted this straight from the distro e-mail.
Sorry for the absence of snark, but, again, this isn't a snark-worthy topic (whether it's grounded or not). But there are salty snacks in the cupboard, and there are stiff drinks in the other cupboard.
- Querent
Dear MoveOn member,
Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old woman working in Iraq for a subsidiary of Halliburton when she was drugged and brutally gang-raped by several co-workers.
The next day, Halliburton told her that if she left Iraq to get medical treatment, she could lose her job.1
Jamie's story gets even more horrific: For the last two years, she's been asking the US government to hold the perpetrators accountable. But the men who raped her may never be brought to justice because Halliburton and other contractors in Iraq aren't subject to US or Iraqi laws. They can't be tried for a crime in any court.2
This is one of the most disturbing stories we have come across in a while. We're calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. If hundreds of thousands of us speak out against this outrageous story, we can force Congress to take action.
Can you sign the petition? The text is in the blue box at the right. Clicking below will add your name.
(petition box removed, but the url should stay for the benefit of the Halliburton Earthquake Division)
http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-228046-b5rUhO&t=3
After you sign, please forward this email to friends, family and colleagueswe all need to speak out together.
When you get an email from us, it doesn't usually include a graphic description of a brutal attack. But when we heard this story, we knew we had to do something about it.
Here's how Jamie described what happened after the attack:
I awoke the next morning in the barracks to find my naked body battered and bruised. I was still groggy from whatever had been put in my drink. I was bleeding... After getting to the clinic and having a rape kit performed...I was locked in a container with no food, no way to call my parents, and was placed under armed guard by Halliburton.3
Jamie's attackers aren't the only ones exploiting a legal loophole to get away with their violent crimes. Another female employee of Halliburton says she was raped by her co-workers in Iraq.4 Employees of Blackwater, another private contracting firm in Iraq, were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians, and that incident turned into an international scandal. Worst of all, they may never be punished.5
Private contractors in Iraq are making massive amounts of money, operating above the law and are accountable to no one. This has to stop.
Congress needs to act now to bring these contractors under the rule of law. If they don't, nothing will prevent a case like Jamie's from happening again. No man or woman working in Iraq should have to fear that they can be attacked without consequences.
Please sign on to the petition: "Congress must investigate the rape of Jamie Leigh Jones and others, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law." Clicking below adds your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-228046-b5rUhO&t=4
Thanks for all you do,
Nita, Wes, Karin, Marika, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Friday, December 14th, 2007
#1
How on earth did a private contractor wake up in a baracks?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/14/2007 21:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Becoming a tool of MoveOn.org is not gonna do wonders for her credibility. And if she thinks they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, she'd be quite wrong.
#3
Barracks - where they live and sleep. More here.
Not the first time either. Tracy Barker, KBR contractor, wife of US Army sergeant: The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a State Department employee who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Halliburton/KBR worker in Iraq, despite a recommendation from the State Department that he be charged, according to an internal document obtained by ABC News.
Ali Mokhtare, who is still employed by the State Department, was investigated in 2005 after a female Halliburton/KBR employee said he sexually assaulted her at the company-run camp in Basra, Iraq. Mokhtare was a diplomatic official in Basra who first came to Iraq as a Farsi translator interviewing detainees.
The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service investigated the allegations against Mokhtare and presented the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but "the case was declined for prosecution" states the document.
Posted by: ed ||
12/14/2007 21:50 Comments ||
Top||
(KUNA) -- The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced on Thursday the transfer of Afghan and Sudanese detainees held in Guantanamo back to their home countries. The Pentagon said in a statement released today that 13 Afghans and two Sudanese "were determined to be eligible for transfer following a comprehensive series of review processes". "The transfer is a demonstration of the United States' desire not to hold detainees any longer than necessary", added the statement.
Four hundred and eighty-five detainees has been released since 2002 and the Pentagon asserted that there are 70 detainees eligible for transfer pending ongoing discussions between the United States and their home countries. "It also underscores the processes put in place to assess each individual and make a determination about their detention while hostilities are ongoing - an unprecedented step in the history of warfare", said the statement about this process.
State Department coordinator for counterterrorism Dell Dailey praised yesterday the Saudi "reintegration program" to rehabilitate over 100 Saudi detainees that left Guantanamo last year. "The Saudi program is the best in existence today, it focuses on the individual as a victim not as a criminal", said Dailey in an appearance at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
There are sill 290 detainees currently held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba most of them are Yemenis, Afghans and Saudis.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
"The Saudi program is the best in existence today, it focuses on the individual as a victim not as a criminal", said Dailey...
And, of course, the 'victims' get a pat on the head and are released immediately. Only a State Dept. dipwad could say something that stupid.
#1
"One key piece of evidence was a video of the seven men taking an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden in a March 2006 ceremony.
Also, the group's leader, 33-year-old Batiste, was overheard talking about starting a "full ground war" against the U.S. government by bringing down the 110-story Sears Tower - an attack he said would be "as good or greater than 9/11."
Batiste also supplied the informant with detailed wish lists that included assault rifles, bulletproof vests, uniforms, motorcycles and $50,000 in cash, prosecutors said."
What does it take for a conviction?
"However, Batiste testified he faked interest in the plot and really only wanted the money."
I guess you actually have to blow up the Sears Tower before you can be convicted of terrorism. Until you take the last step you can just claim you were trying to scam/catch the 'real' terrorists. Wonderful.
#2
In a related matter, I stumbled across a posting at Jihad Watch yesterday concerning the stalled Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas.
There is a lengthy article posted under date of 12-13 taking to task a member of the HLF jury - guy by the name of William Neal. Mr. Neal has left a long trail of his true thoughts and biases on the internet. Stuff an honest juror would confess during voir dire, but which Mr. Neal failed to honestly share when questioned by the US attorneys. Mr. Neal has been bragging online how he single-handedly hoodwinked the Federal Gov't.
A snake in the wood pile is what Mr. Neal turns out to be. Retrial might not go so well a second time for the "persecuted heros" of CAIR.
In any trial BOTH sides are entitled to a fair and impartial jury. That did not happen in the case of the USA v. HLF.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/14/2007 14:10 Comments ||
Top||
Intelligence agencies have warned against a spate of suicide attacks by terrorists based in the Tribal Areas and Swat, targeting VVIPs including President Pervez Musharraf, former premier Benazir Bhutto, the US and Indian embassies and sensitive national and military installations, sources told Daily Times on Thursday.
The high value targets include the top government hierarchy, top politicians including former religious affairs minister Ejazul Haq, and the Attock Oil Refinery in Rawalpindi. Besides the US and Indian embassies, their consulates and several other religious and political personalities are also on the hit list, said a confidential National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) report available with Daily Times.
The report titled, Threat to VVIPs, Politicians, Foreign Missions and Military Installations, was forwarded on December 12 to all home secretaries and police chiefs of the four provinces, the federal capital, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Northern Areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Al-Qaida's deputy leader denounced last month's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., as a "betrayal" of Palestinians in a new audio message posted Friday on an Islamic militant Web site. "Look at meeeee!"
It was the first reaction by the terrorist network to the Mideast conference. "The Annapolis meeting was held to turn Palestine into a Jewish state," the voice, purported to be that of Ayman al-Zawahri, said the 20-minute posting that carried a still photo of the white-turbaned militant against a backdrop of a photograph from the conference. Almost like he was there. Well, almost.
"The czar of Washington invited 16 Arab countries ... to sit in one room, at one table with the Israelis," al-Zawahri said, adding that the conference "witnessed the betrayal deals to sell Palestine." "And me? Still here in this stupid cave guesthouse. No invitation for ol' Ayman, nosirree. Not that I would have gone anyway. Stupid Zionists."
Al-Zawahri mainly addressed Arabs, urging them to condemn the Annapolis conference and label Mahmoud Abbas as "the traitor," adding that the Palestinian "brother-president sold you out in Annapolis and in its aftermath." It's time now, he said, for the Muslims to "extent hands to other jihad brothers" - a likely reference to militants beyond the Middle East.
"My brothers in Palestine, we, all Muslims, the Mujahedeen are by your side, in your confrontation with the Zionist enemy," al-Zawahri said. "We will not let you down even if your politicians do."
He also criticized imprisoned Islamic militants in Egypt, who after years in jail turned away from their militant stance. "Those revisionists are in fact calling for a new American religion that violates Gawd's rules," he said.
A top jailed Jihad leader, Sayed Imam, last month announced his "Revisions" a recanting of his past calls for the use of force to overthrow Arab governments seen by militants as infidels. Egypt is hoping the "Revisions" will diminish support for militancy but al-Qaida leaders have dismissed similar past recantations as forced on imprisoned militants.
"I am addressing the Muslim nation in Egypt in particular: where is your role in confronting aggression on Islam and Muslims?" al-Zawahri said. "Stand up and ... be aware of the poisons of weakness and submission which the traitor regime is trying to inject into you through the tongues of the revisionists." He called on Egyptian soldiers and also Bedouin tribes in Egypt's Sinai penisnsula to rise against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak."Gawd wants you to get ready, for the sake of Gawd," al-Zawahri said.
#1
Why are we not flooding youtube and the muslim distribution sites with CGI animations of Screech and Binny engaged in everything Islam disapproves of?
Iraqi oil production is above the levels seen before the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA said Iraqi crude production is now running at 2.3 million barrels per day, compared with 1.9 million barrels at the start of this year.
In its latest monthly Oil Market Report, the IEA puts the Iraqi increase in production down to improved security on the main oil pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. In recent years this pipeline has been out of action for long periods due to sabotage attacks.
Since the summer there has been a marked downturn in all forms of violence in Iraq. Analysts point to a number of reasons for this, ranging from the big increase or "surge" in American troop numbers in Baghdad, to Sunni militant groups turning against former al-Qaeda allies.
Iraq has the third-largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran, but exports plummeted in the face of the insurgency that flared up following the US-led invasion. Not much longer before we can go after Iran without causing a world-wide economic depression.... which would have an interesting impact on the activities of the Saudi princes.
#2
So he's going to Marksmanship class? Isn't that how leaders advance in his branch of Islam - killing the guys above them? I'm pretty sure it has been the tradition for many centuries - like back to 644 AD.
You are right. From the five "enlightened" Caliphs (ie the ones who had known Muhammad personally) only one died from natural causes. The other four were murdered or killed in battle against their rivals.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
12/14/2007 9:51 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Is this like passing a level in D&D? Being responsible for innocents' death gains experience?
Congratulations! You are now qualified to become a level 6 Cleric of Zuul. Roll 1d6 to determine increase to size of aura. Increase to car bombs per attack (CBA): 3
New Special Ability!: Issue Fatwataburgers.
#12
So he's decided that being a Sayeed *and* a Sadr isn't quite enough, has he? Since all of his serious rivals are still Grand Ayatollahs, even if he can get his Sith Master to Darth him up a bit, I don't think he'll have the mystical throw-weight to make the difference.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/14/2007 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
#1
WHATDOESITMEAN > PUTIN + CFE + Carrier fleet + KOSOVO Issue > interpreted as Russ Navy has been placed by Putin on worldwide patrol and nuke/war alert agz US-NATO, espec vv the Mediterranean Region over Russ access and defense of Serbia-Balkans. Russ has allegedly also placed its MISSLE FORCES back on Cold War "FIRST STRIKE" mode agz NATO vv any NATO denial of Russ sea access to the Balkans or iff NATO blocks Russ mil or other assistance to Serbia???
#4
Nancy seems to have bumped into a corner of reality, but doesn't yet understand what she has discovered. Maybe she does, but is afraid to admit it. She can't be seen to be too far ahead on this issue or she'll lose her precious constituents.
I think she, like many liberals, is still struggling to distinguish between "like" for the war with "willingness" to do what needs to be done to secure everyone's future. I also think that this kind of liberal believes that if you pursue something that is distastful then that means you support it. I wish that there were no violence, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't act when someone tries to kill me. He's there. He's real. He also doesn't think like a liberal.
A liberal's logic would probably work fine if everyone behaved honorably, but until that day comes and stays, we'll need people who are willing to act to defend themselves and their neighbors and put up with the constant stream of cluelessness from those who don't get it.
I have a liberal friend who once said "If we'd just be nice to them then they'd be nice to us!"
It's easy to argue with the logic, but not with the person employing the logic. So needless to say I left it at that.
#7
Liberal idealists know how the world should work, and what you should do to get it that way, and keep it that way.
Conservative pragmatists are not confused by dreams of an idyllic utopia.
You can e-mail Nancy - even if you can't vote for her. From her (ugh - somebody has to do it!)website - "If you are not a constituent of the 8th district of California, and would like to e-mail Congresswoman Pelosi in her role as Speaker of the House, please email her at AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov "
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/14/2007 6:29 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Actually, I like the idea of spreading democracy and overturning dictatorships and liberating people from tyranny. Dictatorships know that the victory of democracy is inevitable, so they oppress, connive, plan, and execute actions to continue in power, support other dictatorships, and stop democracies. The world is not a simple or easy place to live: Dictatorships WORK to make sure that's the situation, so sometimes war is necessary to move things along. Maybe I should be sorry that, in the process, democrats and liberal lefties are shown to be dictator-loving, cowardly pansies and dick-heads. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't.
By the way, because you, Pelosi, supported keeping Saddam in power, does that mean you 'like' what he did?
#9
I have to clean the toilet every week but I don't "Like" it. But then, Queen Nancy doesn't have to do things she doesn't like. Yet
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/14/2007 7:22 Comments ||
Top||
#10
By the way, because you, Pelosi, supported keeping Saddam in power, does that mean you 'like' what he did?
Well Ptah, you'll figure out that the reason they don't support democracy in Iraq is because they really don't support democracy in America either. They support the 'image' of democracy to keep the masses docile, but their concept of democracy is one often found in the title "People's Democratic Republic of.." Do you think for a moment that if they could get away with doing what Saddam, Bob, or Hugo have/are doing that they wouldn't be tempted to do the same?
#13
"But the Republicans have made it very clear that this is not just George Bush's war. This is the war of the Republicans in Congress."
The war we face is not simply The Presidents war. Nor is it congressional Republicans war. It is Americas war! And civilization as we know it depends on its success.
America NEEDS leadership now more then ever! Regardless of political party or ideologies, someone needs to confront those that flippantly espouse such blatantly offensive and dangerous rhetoric. The collective peril we face will be unimaginable should a large portion of the citizenry literally accept the above quote as anything more then political claptrap. Bin Ladens admonishments that the United States is nothing but a paper tiger was much more of a complex concept then a simple commentary on intestinal fortitude. He understood that the Wests growing prevalence for the lust of personal power is their Achilles tendon. The enemies we face dont wake up wondering how they will horse-trade favors for the mundane such as carbon-credit legislation. In fact, they really dont care much about elections or even politics in general. However, they know full well that a direct military confrontation is a losing proposition. Therefore they methodically plot how best to exploit the obvious weakness. And all they have to do is read the quotes from Americas so-called leaders to reinforce their belief that their diabolical plans have a chance for success.
JERUSALEM, West Bank The World Bank on Thursday endorsed a Palestinian reform plan that requires $5.6 billion in international aid over three years, but warned that the money will not stem economic decline in the West Bank and Gaza unless Israel also eases Palestinian movement and trade.
The Palestinians plan to ask for the aid at a conference of donor countries next week in Paris. The World Bank said the plan is a process around which the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the donor community can coalesce.
Except for the fact that it's giving money to a band of crazed killers ...
However, if Israels closures remain in place, these large sums would at best slow a downward cycle of crisis and dependence, the report said.
And the cycle of violence, don't forget that ...
By contrast, a considerable easing of Israeli restrictions and subsequent recovery of the Palestinian private sector could lead to double-digit economic growth, the World Bank said.
It would also help if Achmed and Mahmoud would quit posing for gun sex with their AKs and get jobs doing something useful ...
Israeli defence officials have been reluctant to remove roadblocks and barriers, first set up after the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in 2000 to keep attackers from Israel. Security officials say the moderate West Bank government of ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is still too weak to rein in militants effectively.
Since Hamas and Fatah are just two sides of the same coin, of course Abbas isn't going to rein in the 'militants' ...
In the development plan, the Palestinian government pledges to cut government spending and reform institutions.
That pledge will end up right next to all their other pledges ...
About 70 percent of the aid would initially go to budget support ...
... which means for all the 'civil servants' right down to Mahmoud's third cousins, twice removed ...
... and 30 percent to development projects, such as boosting tourism.
Oh yes, visit enchanting Paleoland indeed ...
The balance would shift more and more toward development as the Palestinian government recovers.
With more and more money going to guns and ammo ...
The plan predicts an annual economic growth of about 5 percent, provided that Israel gradually eases its restrictions on travel and trade. The Palestinian population grows by almost 4 percent a year, and such modest economic growth would initially have little effect on per capita income.
And again, whatever spare cash laying around is going to be used for ammo, not for economic development.
The World Bank said that Palestinian reforms alone would not reverse economic decline. They must be fully supported by both the large increase in aid and the relaxation of the (Israeli) closure regime ..., the bank wrote.
If donors pledge the full amount requested, but Israeli restrictions remain in place, the Palestinian economy would keep shrinking by about 2 percent a year, it wrote.
Which means they haven't hit bottom yet.
In the worst scenario less than full donor support and continued Israeli restrictions growth will fall sharply and the already growing poverty levels will rise dramatically, the report said.
That's more like it!
By contrast, if there is full donor support and considerable easing of movement, it revive the private sector and drive growth rates to even double-digit levels, the bank said.
Israeli legislator Ephraim Sneh, a former deputy defence minister, said the responsibility for possible failure shouldnt just be placed on Israel. Israel should assist the actions of the donors, to reconstruct the Palestinian economy. The issue of movement is important, but you cant put all the onus of failure on this issue, he said.
How about making the Paleos responsible for their behavior? Radical thought, I agree, but it's never been tried before.
Sneh cited the West Bank city of Nablus, once a stronghold of militants. The Abbas government has tried in recent months to take control of West Bank towns and to rein in militants, focusing on Nablus. The Palestinian security forces say theyve made progress in Nablus. However, Sneh said its premature to remove the checkpoints ringing Nablus, arguing that the city is a laboratory of suicide bombers.
The roadblocks are making it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to ship goods, even within the West Bank. The West Bank and Gaza are cut off from each other, and Gaza has been largely isolated since June when Hamas seized control by force, and Israel and Egypt responded by virtually halting border traffic.
Notice that the Egyptians are getting none of the blame for their border closings ...
Ninety-five percent of Palestinian trade is with Israel, the bank noted, but shipping goods from the West Bank has become more difficult with the building of Israels separation barrier in the West Bank.
Ron Pundak, head of Israels Peres Centre for Peace, said the donors should be cautious, making sure the Palestinians carry out promised reforms and that Israel eases restrictions. Otherwise, if you are investing in a factory or an agricultural centre and the goods cannot move from one place to another, its a waste of money, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I wonder whatever happened to the billions Arafat socked away. Maybe they should use that up first. Oh wait. I forgot about Suha's shopping spree. Never mind...
#5
Until they are lobbing their starved dead over the wall at Israel, I don't believe they are near bottom. Only when they have lost the strength to put weapons together will I believe they are at the bottom and possibly ready for some real social change. Maybe...
#11
Paleos will get poorer if roadblocks remain: World Bank
Roadblocks will remain if Paleos continue to boom or rocket Israelis.
We hear about financial committments from the Donors and from Israel, and promises of reform from the Paleos, but how about this committment: If the barriers are taken down, then how many Israelis must die before the World Bank AND the Donors will acknowledge, publicly, that the Palestinians are the problem, and not the barriers or Israel? I want a firm number, below which they can say that the Israelis were wrong, but at or above which, they admit that they were wrong and Israel is right. Israel must shut up before that number is reached, and the Donors and the world bank must shut up when that number is reached or exceeded.
I want a number.
I tried this a while back with a lefty, and it involved dead americans and another 9/11. I zinged the idiot while he hemmed, hawed, and refused to give a number. He got tired of me zinging him, gave a number (zero), then realized that he had justified all American actions taken after 9/11, and handed me the logical opportunity to tell him to shut up. He, of course, didn't, but he got REAL tired of me referring to that little exchange until I got tired of kicking an intellectual babe.
#12
The Palestinian population grows by almost 4 percent a year
I thought the Gaza Strip, especially, was losing population as fast as they could leave. If I recall correctly, something like a quarter of Gazans had sought a visa to another country, and almost all the young men wanted to leave... That could put a crimp in both natural economic growth and the willingness of the locals to invest donated monies into new and old businesses.
#13
Why doesn't Gaza get all it's supplies, food, medicine from their Arab brothers in Egypt? Why doesn't the West Bank go to Jordan for supplies?
Oh, that's right. All the other Arabs hate the Palestinians.
#15
The World Bank on Thursday endorsed a Palestinian reform plan that requires $5.6 billion in international aid over three years, but warned that the money will not stem economic decline in the West Bank and Gaza unless Israel also eases Palestinian movement and trade.
Well, that ain't gonna happen so, fuck it, don't give em the money. I'll ask I always ask. What's in it for us? Again, I already know. Nothing. What do we lose if we don't give it up? The same thing we get if we do. Dick.
I'd rather spend the money on something useful. Like maybe putting a spittoon in every house in America. It'd probably do about as much good...
On the eve of the donors conference in Paris, which is expected to discuss ways of strengthening the Palestinian Authority, PA officials admitted Thursday that they still have a long way to go in reforming their security forces - a key condition set by the international community for funding the government of Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.
Meanwhile, PA Civil Police commander Gen. Kamal al-Sheikh revealed that more than 600 Fatah-affiliated policemen helped Hamas take control of the Gaza Strip last June. "Out of 13,000 policemen in the Gaza Strip, only 612 participated in the Hamas coup against the Palestinian Authority," Sheikh said during a tour of Bethlehem. Downplaying the significance of the move, he noted that this constituted only 1.8 percent of the entire police force. This is the first time that a senior PA security official has spoken about the involvement of Fatah-affiliated policemen in the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. Sheikh did not say what kind of role the rebellious policemen played during the coup, but pointed out that the PA leadership had dismissed them and was no longer paying them.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar Assad rejected claims that Syria's alliance with Iran had been weakened by Damascus' participation in last month's US-sponsored Mideast peace conference, saying Thursday that the two countries' ties will never be shaken.
Assad made the comments as he inaugurated two joint Syrian-Iranian industrial projects - factories for cars and cement. He was joined at the ceremonies by the Iranian industry and housing ministers.
The November conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which relaunched Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, was widely seen as also aimed at isolating Iran by bringing together Arab nations. US officials have expressed hopes that Syria's attendance would mark a start to easing it out of its alliance with Teheran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other top officials denounced the conference, and some officials expressed surprise over Syria's participation - though none directly criticized it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Assad rejected claims that Syria's alliance with Iran had been weakened by ... Mideast peace conference, saying Thursday that the two countries' ties will never be shaken
heh, heh, heh. That Assad feels the need to defend himself seems a positive sign.
According to Syrian sources , Syria has requested replacing the Iranian Ambassador in Damascus Mohammad Hassan Akhtari within two months. This request came after Iran has requested the extension of Akhtari assignment in Damascus for several more months, following a decision last October to appoint one of the assistants to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as successor.
Syria has requested replacing the Iranian Ambassador with another one who will interfere less in its internal affairs , after he was criticized last October by Syrias religious leaders in this regard . To the Syrians Akhtari has become a Persona non grata. The sources said that "the Syrian side is also the one behind the termination of the assignment of Iranian cultural attache and for the same reasons as well."
The sources said that Syria told the Iranians that it has no objections against Ahmed al-Musawi, the assistant to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a replacement to Akhtari as long as he does not interfere in its internal affairs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"He who would sup with the devil needs must have a long spoon."
Lebanon has asked the United Nations to help it investigate a car bomb that killed a top general this week in the latest of a string of political assassinations, the world body said on Thursday. In a letter to the Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had received a letter from Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday requesting "technical assistance."
"The government requested the International Independent Investigation Commission be in touch with the relevant Lebanese authorities for that purpose," Ban said, referring to the U.N. body already investigating political attacks in Lebanon. The commission is investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who died with 22 others in February 2005 in a Beirut car bomb blast, as well as 18 other political murders or attempted murders.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Lebanon is gonna run out of politicians before the UN runs out of commissions.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/14/2007 7:19 Comments ||
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#2
Why Lebanon wouldn't just let Syria 'absorb' it, is beyond me. Whats a line, here or there...dissolve the parliament, allow Assad to assume full defacto decision making for the whole country! Lot less blowing up, if you ask me. Then maybe Unc' or the Jews will come to the rescue!
There are many kinds of terrorists out and about, and not all of them are fixated on the kind of tactics that are constantly reported in the media. Some Animal Rights Extremists have been attacking people they dislike indirectly, by using the Internet to initiate attacks on their elderly relatives. It's pretty easy if you persist in opposing them, they'll do stuff like post your parents' social security numbers, and other vital information on websites run by cyberthieves.
Apparently terrorists of all sorts keep in touch, because these Animal Rights terrorist tactics are now being discussed on Islamic terrorist websites. Western counter-terrorism organizations are scrambling to find a way to counter these new methods. Many Islamic terrorists have been caught funding their operations via Internet crime, so they are already familiar with identity theft, and how to find things on the Internet. The web-based Islamic terrorists are apparently planning to harass the families of military personnel, police, and so on. Or worse.
#1
"Islamic terrorists are apparently planning to harass the families of military personnel."
Geez, this gave me a flood of ideas, all taken from the movies...
"A few terrified Muslims running through some small town at night, banging on unresponsive locked doors and screaming for help as some military *spouses* follows them, wearing hockey masks and carrying machetes like Michael Myers. And with much the same intent."
"Several Muslims arrive in the small southern town to harass a military family and are puzzled why the townspeople are all wearing white sheets and building large wooden crosses. Pitiful Christian dogs, celebrating some holiday, think the Muslims..."
#5
DON'T "catch" them, kill them. Make sure the entire world knows why - and how - they died. Make it as painful as possible. Also let the world know that the next muslim piece of slime that tries anything against an American military member or his family will get worse. Continue escalating until they scream for surrender.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/14/2007 22:42 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
.JPG)
Dozens of young Melbourne men are being investigated by police over suspected ties to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah network. Victorian counter-terrorism authorities are analyzing video footage and photographs taken at public meetings attended by Australian Muslims in support of the Shia organization. The Australian understands some of the images being examined are of men, predominantly in their 20s, waving Hezbollah banners and flags during protests in Melbourne last year against the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon. More than 50 men, largely of Lebanese heritage, are being monitored by the police, but none has been arrested or interviewed. It is understood some of the men are related.
Intelligence agencies have warned against a spate of suicide attacks by terrorists based in the Tribal Areas and Swat, targeting VVIPs including President Pervez Musharraf, former premier Benazir Bhutto, the US and Indian embassies and sensitive national and military installations, sources told Daily Times on Thursday. 
JERUSALEM, West Bank The World Bank on Thursday endorsed a Palestinian reform plan that requires $5.6 billion in international aid over three years, but warned that the money will not stem economic decline in the West Bank and Gaza unless Israel also eases Palestinian movement and trade.
The World Bank said that Palestinian reforms alone would not reverse economic decline. They must be fully supported by both the large increase in aid and the relaxation of the (Israeli) closure regime ..., the bank wrote.
