General Rick Hillier was asked about this week's NATO decision to rent helicopters flown by civilians for use in southern Afghanistan
KANDAHAR Canada's top soldier has joined a growing chorus of NATO political and military leaders calling on several European nations to take a bigger role in the war-torn southern provinces of Afghanistan. Talking to reporters during a visit to Kandahar air field Thursday, General Rick Hillier was asked about this week's NATO decision to rent helicopters flown by civilians for use in southern Afghanistan, and why no military aircraft could be found to do the job. Gen. Hillier said there were helicopters available in European countries, and called on his European counterparts to provide more equipment and troops on the ground. At the end of this, all NATO countries signed up for this mission, he said.
Posted by: Canukistan ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
National Defense or Hillarycare?
National Defense or Hillarycare?
National Defense or Hillarycare?
Well, we know what the rest of 'civilization' has chosen, because we know know who's been stuck with the International Defense Welfare bill. Of course when it comes time for donations to other 'worthy' causes they seem to fail to calculate that into the 'amount already contributed' column.
#3
Excluding neighbors like India from participation in the Afghan operation was a mistake.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/27/2007 12:04 Comments ||
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#4
I'd especially like to see Indian troops help out now. Given the festivities in Wazoo, Swat, the FATA, and Helmand, Indian troops would be busy right next to ours.
And it would put a curl in Perv's slippers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 12:21 Comments ||
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#5
The logistics and basing agreements with Pakistan explicitly exclude India.
The State Department even issued a demarche against New Delhi over its opening of consulates in a number of Afghan provinces.
Pakistan still has many friends...
Posted by: john frum ||
10/27/2007 12:32 Comments ||
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A French naval vessel will in mid-November start protecting food aid destined for the beleaguered Somalis from pirate attacks, a French naval officer said Thursday. "We have plans to send a warship from France's frigate class ... to escort WFP food aid from Mombasa to Mogadishu starting from mid-November in operations that will last until mid-January," Vice Admiral Jacques Launay, told AFP. "The operations have a defensive and preventive posture but they will respond if they come under attack," he added.
Launay, joint commander of France's Indian Ocean fleet, was in Addis Ababa for talks with Africa Union officials. A World Food Pogramme-chartered vessel on Sunday escaped an attack off the Somali coast, hightlighting problems facing the agency faces in feeding starving Somalis.
Police arrested some 50 people Friday following a clash between Muslims and Coptic Christians triggered by a land dispute, security officials said.
Some 20 people were wounded during the clash in Minya province, some 210 Kilometers (130 miles) south of Cairo, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The clashes began after Friday prayers when Muslim villagers in Izbat el-Abid protested against the extension of a monastery in a nearby village, claiming the construction was on state property, the officials said. Police had to ask for reinforcements from throughout Minya to control the clash, the officials added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Sectarian clas" is the msm newspeak for "muslim majority reacting violently against the uppity unbelievers minority", be it in northern nigeria, ikn indonesia, or here in egypt; according to what I've read before on similar instances (this is a recurring event), police made a point arresting copts as well, even if they were the target of their more numerous neighbors' mob rule, and the authorities will use secular law to enforce what is actually charia : no monastery extension for you, kufrs!
MADRID - Spains National Court announced on Friday that it had approved the extradition of Syrian arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar to the United States on terrorism-related charges on the condition that he will not be sentenced to death if found guilty. Al-Kassar, 61, was detained in June at Madrid airport after flying in from the southern Costa del Sol, where he has lived since 1980.
The National Court approved the extradition on charges of a conspiracy to kill US citizens, agents and officials by supplying anti-air missiles and other weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the tribunal described as a terrorist group. Spain will only hand over the Syrian, however, if the death penalty is not applied to him and if life imprisonment will not necessarily mean that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Oh sure, [nod-nod] you bet [wink-wink] no problem [nudge-nudge]!
The court said the Syrian had been an international arms trafficker since the early 1970s, supplying weapons to armed groups engaged in violent conflicts in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq.
In 2006 and early 2007, al-Kassar and two other suspects agreed to supply the FARC rebels with weapons worth millions of dollars for protecting their cocaine business and for killing US citizens in Colombia, as well as US agents and officials, the court added. The traffickers also planned to export anti-air missiles to enable the FARC to attack US helicopters. In addition to terrorism-related charges, the US wants to try al-Kassar for money-laundering.
Al-Kassar opposed his extradition, accusing the US of having provoked his offence by sending anti-drug agents to pretend they wanted to purchase arms from him.
Just a simple international arms merchant entrapped by dirty drug agents ...
He also said the US would not grant an Arab a fair trial, and accused President George W Bush of seeking political vengeance.
As opposed to islamicist vengeance ...
The court laughed off rejected his arguments. Al-Kassar has the possibility of appealing against the extradition, which also needs to be approved by the Spanish government.
In the early 1990s, al-Kassar was jailed preventatively in Spain for 14 months on charges of involvement in the 1985 Palestinian hijacking of the Italian passenger ship Achille Lauro. He was released on bail and acquitted owing to a lack of evidence.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The imam of the Lazio town of Latina's mosque, Sheikh Yusuf on Friday heckled interior minister Giuliano Amato as he visited Rome's mosque to present the new 'charter of values' for immigrants. There is a toilet seat cover on sale in local stores that features verses of the Koran. This is an insult to the Muslim faith that we must react to," he called out.
Amato however reassured Yusuf, saying: "I would like to tell our friends from Latina that we have been informed of this matter and are taking action because it is offensive."
"Developed in consultation with various religious and civil society representatives, it establishes the principles for the harmonious integration in Italian society of non-Catholic communities." The charter, which has symbolic rather than legal value, is aimed at immigrants belonging to Muslim and other faiths and highlights the "values and principles that make up Italian identity and which are rooted in the Italian Constitution."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Not bad, but toilet paper with "verses" from Koran would be nicer. The moment somebody has it on sale, I'll buy a subscription.;-)
#5
It would be quite an exercise in humor to create a website advertising Koranic TP, hosted in some country that doesn't give a damn what Muslims think.
Since such a product would most likely be prohibitively expensive, the stunt would be to make it look like you were selling it, and a LOT of it.
For example, have a minimum order of 10,000 rolls @ $5/each, with unspecified shipping charges. If you got any inquiries, have an auto-reply set up that "current backlog is delaying new orders, but we are greatly expanding production, so please provide an email so that we can notify you when we are taking new orders."
And of course, if you really wanted some fun, have a poorly translated version of the page in Arabic. With keywords like "Jihad, Osama, martyrdom, Zawahiri, Koran", etc.
The website itself would have to be totally impervious to hacker and DDoS attacks.
#6
Still think we need a picture of a pig with a body of a Koran and the head of Mohammed followed by a bunch of little piggies made the same way with turbans and burqas and call it Mo & the Porkoranimals.
Do you think a stip of bacon would make a suitable book mark for the death-cult manual?
#7
Yet again, who the hell are these savages to order us to enforce their perverse sharia laws? Objectively, their self-appointed "prophet" was a womanizing fraud and a bandit, and their concocted deity is a figment of a sick mind. If they don't like those words, then they can dislike them back where their "prophet" devised his scam.
#8
I'm beginning to think that maybe we need a retooled edition of the Koran. Sort of like a cross between "Bored of the Rings" and Monty Python's Hungarian Phrasebook. Keep it just barely pious enough but insert all kinds of rude and suggestive allusions. This could make the cartoonifada look like a garden party.
A new draft law introduced by Canadas Conservative government on Friday would bar Muslim women from voting if they show up at polling places with a veiled face.
I'll bet it applies to Lutherans if they show up veiled, too.
The measure was proposed in the wake of the governments recent dispute with Elections Canada, which has refused to bar people with veiled faces from polling places. The draft legislation provides for only one exception: bandages on the face worn for medical reasons, for example, after surgery. But in that case, voters must present two proofs of identity or be accompanied by a qualified elector able to vouch for them. The debate over the veil erupted last September, during federal by-elections in Quebec province. Several days before the vote, Elections Canada laid down rules, under which fully veiled women could vote without showing their faces.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Most excellent. The West is just scratching the surface of making itself Islam-unfriendly. I used to think nothing of women going veiled in America. Now, each time I see a woman so grabed, I can only speculate as to how she is beaten at home, subjected to the indignity of a second illicit wife and essentially treated as chattel. The hijab and niqab's connotations are all so ugly that I have begun to be offended by their presence in a free society. I know that this sounds contradictory, it's just that Islam is so inimical to the West that any symbol of it begins to grate.
#3
Zenster, your such an as****. Did you ever consider that maybe they cover themselves because they are following their religions and that they maybe choose to wear it. Who are we to judge. Maybe the next thing we should do is stop goths from voting, they where way too much makeup. In fact their should be a law that stops anyone wearing makeup from voting. Where does it end?
First off, you utterly clueless and malignant, parasitical nit, please end your interrogative statements with a question mark.
Secondly, each and every one of us live and die by our personal judgements. Whether it be crossing a street in heavy traffic or deciding that a driver is too inebriated to safely convey one home, all of us make decisions each day that affect our entire future. Beyond even that, moral relativismsomething you seem quite willing to indulge inrepresents a fundamental evil on a par with Nazism, communism and Islam as well.
"Who are we to judge."
Let's try judging Islam by its most basic practices.
Sanctioning terrorism.
This one alone is a deal-breaker of phenonemal proportions. The allowance of collective and random punishment that is terrorism is such an incredible evil that few other moral atrocities can exceed it. 9-11, Bali, Beslan, Bali 2.0, 7-7 and Madrid all point towards an utterly conscienceless and horribly vile creed that masquerades as some sort of religion.
Abject Gender Apartheid:
Excising Scraping away an unanesthetized woman's clitorisotherwise bandied about under the politically correct title and accepted feminist term of "female circumcision"with a freshly broken shard of glass represents one of the most heinous crimes against any individual imaginable. If you can come up with some way of justifying such a perversion of cultural normatives and moral rectitude, please let me know.
Dhimmitude:
This is a pluperfect form of collective punishment on the exact same scale as terrorism itself. It represents complete and total justification for the West to use whatever collective punishment is required to PERMANENTLY avert Islam from its intended goal of global dominance.
Theocratic Rule:
Theocracyas demonstrated by the Spanish Inquisition, not to mention Islam itselfis such a hideous evil that all who continue to advocate it, as opposed to proper separation of church and state, are the enemies of mankind.
I could go on for another thousand words of equally damning evidence but scum like yourself, Leah Ashley, are simply not worth the trouble or this site's valuable bandwidth.
But if you to refer to West, we are the civilization reached the moon, invented penicillin, conquered polio and hundreds of other illnesses, authored thousands of artistic master pieces from Venus of Milo to Gioconda without parangon in Islam, abolished slavery (the first civiolization who did it, they still ptactise it) and created democracy. Alll what they have invented was raiding neighbours for slaves and riches (90% of the so-called isalamic sciencxe was either taken from pre-islamic times or invented by dhimmis, mostly the assyrians).
I also to tell you that you are a moron: being able to ensure that people are who teya are supposed to be when they vote is one of the requisites of democracy.
And I tell you that you are morally abject: you can be happy with colored people living under Islam, with women being beaten by their husbands, getting half of their heirlooms, non muslims being brutally opressed, muslims being killed if they cahnge religion or if they are gay. I am not. Unlike you I don't think that the good things are to be kept for whities.
Now I agrree with one thing: you are not fit to judge, you are too much a morally abject, racist moron for judging. You are excused from the jury.
#7
Hummmm... where is Mike N? Poor sap had some sort of weakness about genocidal maniacs.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
10/27/2007 5:37 Comments ||
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#8
I expect "Leah Ashley" would be fine with white racists showing up to vote in full Klan masks.
The point of a full face mask is to enforce conformity, demonstrate submission and to instill fear through intimidation. No democracy can entertain this behavior and survive; the alternative is the fate of Weimar.
#9
We invented sexual equality. This is what allows the female half of our society to judge, something not allowed by those whose women wear the veil.
Zester and JFM, you two covered it beautifully. But I thought if Ms. Ashley were the kind of independent thinker who doesn't give much weight to the opinions of those who carry a Y chromosome...
#12
I'm sure the Klan would've like to been able to vote with their veil hood too. That time has passed as well. What you do behind the curtain in the voting booth is your business [unless the Donks and union leadership get their way], but getting into the booth is the people's business to insure a legitimate vote, regardless of the beliefs and actions of the Donks, the most valuable entity in a true republic.
Besoeker, I stick my tongue out at you while making faces. Surely you don't mean to say you haven't a Y chromosome? Mrs. Besoeker would be terribly upset to hear that! (Do enjoy the last few minutes of the morning, my dear.)
#15
On the other hand, after voting successively for mitterrand (twice), then for shirak (twice), and finally for sarko, more than 50% of french voters should hide their face, a paperbag, perhaps. But we're talking AFTER the vote, of course.
#16
I put it to my mother's test of proper behavior: "What would things be like if everyone behaved that way?" The answer where I vote is that it would be fine because photo IDs aren't used. Where I vote, you have to sign your name and that is compared to your signature on file.
#17
It is because we have a democracy that they should be allowed to wear whatever they choose. Johavaas witnesses are allowed to get driver liscenses without picture ID. Indian Sieks are allowed to carry knives(Kurpans) to school. This is all because we have a democracy and under that democracy their is something called, "FREEDOM OF RELIGION". I just wanna know what your meaning of democracy is beacuse the more you talk the more you sound like a facist.
#18
Zenster is not a fascist -- he is an elitist: he wants "democracy" strictly on his terms. He would probably like to bar Muslim women from voting even if they showed up in bikinis.
#19
JW's are NOT allowed DL's without pictures, and Sikh's are NOT allowed to carry their blades in schools. What tripe. Pull the veil or no ID, no Vote
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 14:35 Comments ||
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#20
Frank,
I was sceptical, too, so I did a little research and it appears:
The ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit on Freeman's behalf shortly after her license was revoked, citing three separate cases in Colorado, Indiana and Nebraska in which the courts ruled that individuals with certain clearly held religious beliefs have a right to obtain licenses without being photographed. Those cases involved Christians who believe that the Second Commandment prohibits them from having their photographs taken.
I find this to be perfectly reasonable in a 9/10 world. I don't know if the rules have been tightened since then.
#21
What's the under/over on the Canuckistan Cave-In Countdown? My bet is two news cycles.
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/27/2007 15:09 Comments ||
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#22
Now I agrree with one thing: you are not fit to judge, you are too much a morally abject, racist moron for judging. You are excused from the jury.
Ouch, JFM! Now, that's going to leave a mark.
Memo to Thomas Woof and Darrell: Keep on telling the Big Lie. It does wonders for your reputation here at Rantburg. Your abject refusal to substantiate your accusations represents total intellectual bankruptcy.
#23
Zenster, your approach to Muslim ANYTHING is roughly the mirror-image of Qsama's approach to infidels. As .com once said to you, "you don't shoot all the dawgs cuz some of them have fleas". Yet you admit you can't even see a veil without "each time I see a woman so grabed, I can only speculate as to how she is beaten at home, subjected to the indignity of a second illicit wife and essentially treated as chattel". What a sorry perspective. Fifty years ago you would have been a Klan member.
#25
No Darrel, I live in "moderate" Malaysia, Zenster is more correct than wrong. The islamic core ideology is the same ; it's only the remnant of their original cultural custom that keeps much of the world's muslims from going Osama bad but this is no guarantee that the worst guys won't hold sway, if they can, given the way of fanatical thinking in their religiosity.
#26
Darrell dear, Zenster dear, please stop. Neither of you is likely to change the other's opinion by direct argument,and we are in Day Two of this one. I respect you both immensely, and I know you can b gentlemen about this (which does not mean pistols and seconds at dawn!!).
#27
What Ashley and Darrell (like all apologists for Islam) fail to realize is they would probably be some of the first to be eliminated if the Islamic theocracy becomes a reality.
#28
What Ashley and Darell won't factor in is that islamic drive for total mundane power to control everything. This supremacist drive to do so in true islam won't change and they won't share in the spirit of Democracy. They will forever deny what is uncomplimentary about their creed.
#29
and Sikh's are NOT allowed to carry their blades in schools.
In Canada Sikhs are permitted to carry their Kirpans anywhere they wish. That said, I haven't heard lately of any attacks using Kirpans.
Posted by: idiot looking for a village ||
10/27/2007 18:52 Comments ||
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#30
In Canada....
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 19:06 Comments ||
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#31
Dear trailing wife, the only reason this shit happens is because Darrell insists on trailing me around like some obsessed jerkwit. Please note that I donot chase down his posts and respond with lies, innuendo or unsubstantiated allegations. I'll ask that you consider how not one of my critics has ever managed to reconcile my adamant objection to any first use of nuclear weapons by the USA with their own accusations of advocating genocide. I'm quite done in this thread seeing as how Duh! and WolfDog have so neatly handed Darrell his ass on a plate.
Posted by: idiot looking for a village ||
10/27/2007 19:38 Comments ||
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#33
Thank you, Zenster. Just pretend you don't see his comments any more, and perhaps he'll now try to do the same.
Duh!, it's good to hear from people on the ground -- especially the perspective from different parts of the world where Muslims live. I lose perspective entirely too often, sheltered out here in the suburbs as I am.
#34
Zenster, I did not "chase down" your post. I entered this thread with my own observation (#16) and then told Laura you're not a fascist after she observed that "the more you talk the more you sound like a facist". The longest diatribe in this whole thread is yours (#5) and, as usual, you insist on pissing on anyone who disagrees with you on even such a minor detail as a veil. The fact is that you wouldn't want a Muslim woman to vote even if she was wearing a bikini. Good day.
#36
And as for you, WolfDog, I have never been an apologist for Islam. It's just that -- the last time I looked -- Muslim citizens had the right to free speech, the right to vote, and the right to wear silly hats just like the rest of us. If you want to stop that, the legislative branch is open for business. Apparently Canada wants to stop silly hats because -- thumbprints and signatures aside -- they can't identify someone who is wearing one. And that's fine -- they're approaching it within the law. That's more than can be said for some of the ranters here.
#37
IMNSHO - a Driver's License is issued to an identifiable PERSON, not a sack-o'-the-day. Same thing with voting - the person should be identified by an ID issued by the State (at no cost if need be) that verifies they have done due diligence to verify this person is as identified. How f*cking hard to understand is that? If they wanna wear a gunny sack or refuse to be ID'd by photo/fingerprint/etc., then they refuse to partake of the necessary PROCESS to do what they demand. The courts be damned, this is the camel's toe nose under the tent. No allowance for multi-culti BS - comply or don't partake
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 20:11 Comments ||
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#38
Frank nails it again...appearances are deceiving, and a no appearance is intentional deception. Is that a Mr. or Mrs. Tacquiya behind the mask? Trust but verify first.
h/t hotair. Now I'm even more curious about what the Israelis hit and more dubious of this hustle to close the deal with NK and the push to make the Israelis give the Palestinians a state after foiling a Fatah plan to assassinate the Israeli Prime Minister, douche bag that he is. Will the Europeans feel more comfortable in the embrace of Russia and Islamic Tyrants? I'm still wondering when the first hijacking to release a Jihadi prisoned in Europe will occur?
Defending America at the United Nations --
"I certainly did not accomplish what I wanted to do on Iran. I was not able to convince enough other people above me of the seriousness of Iran's threat; I suggested early on a multilateral diplomatic course that others hijacked and ran in slow motion, to my dismay and to our detriment; and finally, time just ran out on me as I left State. There were many other reasons, not least that the "global test" mentality carried far more weight inside the Bush administration than I had anticipated. After Iraq, the fear of being separated from the Europeans was too great to overcome, even within an administration of supposed unilateralist cowboys." You can find his book at Amazon.
Business as usual, as we nudge the Euros out of the way. But now is not the best time to extend these deals to Turkey. Hat tip to the Former Spook.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to grant to Turkey three decommissioned U.S. military ships and to sell a fourth to the allied nation at a large discount. The panel passed the bill on a voice vote.
Under the arrangement, the U.S. should transfer to Turkey two Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigates and an Osprey-class coastal minehunter. Another coastal minehunter was offered to Turkey at the sale price of nearly $28 million. The two frigates, recently decommissioned by the U.S. Navy, are valued at about $125 million each, and the Osprey-class minehunters are worth about $130 million each, U.S. and Turkish military officials said.
The bill now must be approved in a House floor vote and by the Senate before being signed by President George W. Bush. Under the same bill, the U.S. also is planning to grant two other Osprey-class minehunters to Lithuania and to sell another two to Taiwan.
The Foreign Affairs Committees chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), sponsored the bill. On the Senate side, the bills sponsor is Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Lantos was also a sponsor on the Armenia genocide bill. Nice to see he can play both sides of the street.
Turkeys navy already has eight Perry-class frigates granted earlier by the U.S. These frigates specialize in surface combat, and to bolster the vessels anti-submarine capabilities, Turkey deploys S-70 B Seahawk naval warfare helicopters, purchased from Sikorsky Aircraft, Stratford, Conn. The Osprey-class coastal minehunters would be the first in the Turkish navys fleet.
Most of Turkeys ships are German-built. The U.S., in an effort to boost its influence, over the past decade has been granting frigates to the Turkish navy, a move that also encourages Turkeys purchase of Seahawks.
Under the latest deal, Turkey stands to gain four ships, but it would have to pay for repair and refurbishment of the vessels before their formal deliveries. Such work would be performed at U.S. shipyards.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
These frigates specialize in surface combat,
Gawd, okay.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
10/27/2007 10:24 Comments ||
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#2
I bet we are getting a sweet quid pro quo out of the deal.
Plus, it gets old ships out of the inventory, not mothballing or scuttling, which makes it easier for the Navy to get new ships.
KARACHI: Police said on Friday there were developments in the investigation into last weeks suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto but warned that continued criticism from the former prime minister could hamper their progress, AP quoted Karachi Police Chief Azhar Farooqi as saying.
"What kind of developments?"
"Major developments."
Farooqi said his force had solved every suicide attack they had looked into. We are pretty hopeful we can work it out, he said. He said they have released sketches of two men thought to be the suicide bombers who devastated Bhuttos rally.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If they want suspects then pick up a phonebook, if they make them in that backwoods.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistans Election Commission has issued a final list of voters, putting the electorate at 80 million, an increase of 28 million from the first draft list published in June, an official said on Friday.
Anyone surprised? Bueller?
Pakistan is expected to hold national elections by early January that are supposed to represent a transition to civilian-led democracy. The missing voters became a contentious topic earlier this year after the commissions first draft put the number at 52 million, 20 million fewer than voted in the 2002 election.
We have issued the final list of 80 million voters for the next polls, commission Secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad told Reuters. This is an ongoing process and voters can still be included until the election schedule is announced.
The commission had argued that the 72 million-strong electorate in 2002 was inflated, saying the state-run National Database and Registration Authority made an error by registering many people who did not have national identity cards. However, the new list builds on the original 2002 voter base and adds millions of people who have since turned 18, Dilshad said. Roughly half of Pakistans 160 million people are below 18.
The last elections in 2002, which brought Musharrafs allies to power, were widely believed to have been rigged.
However, some independent poll observers still had reservations about the new list, saying the process had not been transparent. We have doubts about the new list. It is not the question of the number but how reliable these lists are, said Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, head of non-government advocacy group PILDAT. There are still millions of people who have been issued new national identity cards but their names are not on the list.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Former premier Benazir Bhuttos lawyer Farooq Naek said on Friday the investigation into the October 18 blasts in Karachi was directionless and the investigators hadnt questioned any of the suspects that her client had mentioned in a letter sent to the president, a private channel reported. According to Geo television, Naek said it was a duty of the investigators to question the suspects irrespective of their status. Naek said foreign investigators should be asked for assistance, much like Bhutto had done for the probe into her brother Murtaza Bhuttos murder during her tenure as prime minister. Naek said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi should be investigated, since Bhutto mentioned his name in her list of suspects. Meanwhile, Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told Geo television that the Pakistan Peoples Party workers that died in the Karachi blasts were martyrs and Bhutto should pay the affected families Rs 10 million each, instead of just Rs 5,000. He said many people had returned the Rs 5,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Surely not. Firmly directed away from the real culprits, I'd say.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Friday condemned the act of terrorism in Swat that killed 20 soldiers and left over 35 injured. The Swat valley has been under an intense grip of violence for the past several months in the face of a weakening writ of state and the growing influence of Maulana Fazlullah, said PPP Information Secretary Sherry Rehman, in a statement issued here.
She said Fazlullah has spread fear and disinformation in the region preventing people from sending their children to school and bringing a polio vaccination campaign to a halt by declaring it un-Islamic. She said this was not the path that anyone who respected fundamental human rights would adopt. Islam values education, tolerance and respect for one another and these violent attempts to coerce people in the name of religion must stop. Efforts to nab him [Fazlullah] have failed because of the provincial governmentts reluctance to halt the areas talibanisation, Rehman added.
The ones that aren't scared of him are similar to him, Sherry.
Attack confirms fears: Thursdays attack came a day after the military moved in to control the Swat region. This is the most deplorable incident and confirms our worst fears about the growing influence of violent talibanisation in the country, Rehman said, adding, According to news reports, with this incident, the death toll, as a result of violence in the region during the last ten months, has reached a figure of over 60 while over 140 have been injured, including many security forces personnel.
Enemy well equipped: Rehman observed that the troops had been attacked just a day after they had moved in. This means that the enemy is well equipped to cause greater devastation in time. This was a strong message to the state to back off. She said the extremists would not have gained such strength in the region if their threat had been tackled head-on.
The nation has paid a heavy price for the carrot-and-stick approach towards the terrorists. Extremism cannot be nurtured and eliminated at the same time. We have wasted countless lives and several years to a policy that has shaken the ideological foundation of the country.
The nation has paid a heavy price for the carrot-and-stick approach towards the terrorists. Extremism cannot be nurtured and eliminated at the same time. We have wasted countless lives and several years to a policy that has shaken the ideological foundation of the country, she added.
The PPP spokesman said that action to bring peace to the region was long overdue and it is important that this area be allowed to return to a secure, stable and economically prosperous region. Its the governments responsibility to provide security to the people. No government in the world allows its citizens to become hostage to the whims of extremists, she added.
PPP pledge: Rehman pledged the PPPs resolve to fight terrorism. She said no nation could prosper under the shadow of fear. On October 18, Pakistanis voted with their feet for the vision of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto because they are looking for security and peace above all else, she said, adding that the PPP remained committed to eliminating extremism and militancy under Benazir Bhuttos leadership.
This article starring:
MAULANA FAZLULLAH
TNSM
Sherry Rehman
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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NWFP Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir has said that Maulana Fazlullah-led militants attacked a contingent of paramilitary forces near the Fizagat area at around 11:45 am on Friday, using heavy weapons and rocket launchers, and that security forces retaliated the attack. Addressing a press conference, he said the crossfire continued till evening, adding that when the militants stopped firing the security forces also stopped firing.
He said the government was trying to resolve the Swat issue peacefully, which was why the government didnt retaliate to Thursdays suicide attack, in which a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into an FC officials vehicle killing 20 people and injuring around 34. He said two civilians died near Fizagat owing to the militants firing and that some non-locals belonging to FATA and other areas were also present in Swat and there is a possibility of foreigners presence in the district.
He said the Fazlullah-led Shaheen Force comprised 300-400 persons and the cleric had around 4,600 supporters in 59 villages. He said arms to the district might have come from Bajaur Agency through Dir district that shares border with Swat. He said the operation was not on the mandate of the security forces, which were deployed there to establish the state writ and to curb militant activity.
He said gunship helicopters were meant to support the ground forces and they flew towards the district to protect the troops. He said that if the situation got out of control then the army might also be called to restore law and order. He said in todays clashes there were no causalities from the security forces and we have no such reports from the Imam Dheri.
He said Fazlullah wanted to establish a parallel government in the area and set up courts while his men flogged and killed people. There is no plan to release Sufi Mohammad imprisoned in the Dera Ismail Khan Prison, or to use him as an intermediary.
This article starring:
Badshah Gul Wazir
Maulana Fazlullah
TNSM
Sufi Mohammad
TNSM
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Religious Affairs Minister Ejaz ul Haq said on Friday that no one would be permitted to sabotage or disband madrassas. No one will be allowed to cast an evil eye on our madrassas, he told a press conference at the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Really, there's something wrong with their gray matter. It's the turbans, I think. Once the temperature within the cranium gets too high the gray matter starts to turn to cheese.
Rancid cheese.
Haq said former premier Benazir Bhutto was not sounding too good, her comments were hard to swallow, and that after returning she had virtually lost her senses.
Right. Morticia's the one who's looned out.
Following comments about allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and permitting US attacks on Pakistani soil, Bhutto is now trying to sabotage madrassas, he said. Strongly condemning the October 18 carnage in Karachi, Haq said it could have been prevented if Benazir had delayed her homecoming. He urged Benazir to quit playing political games with innocent lives. If Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pervaiz Elahi or I are attacked then, undoubtedly, an FIR will be registered against Benazir Bhutto, he said.
This article starring:
Abdul Qadeer Khan
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain
Ejaz ul Haq
Pervaiz Elahi
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Police said on Friday there were developments in the investigation into last weeks suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto but warned that continued criticism from the former prime minister could hamper their progress, AP quoted Karachi Police Chief Azhar Farooqi as saying. Farooqi said his force had solved every suicide attack they had looked into. We are pretty hopeful we can work it out, he said. He said they have released sketches of two men thought to be the suicide bombers who devastated Bhuttos rally.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Secretary General Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday demanded immediate withdrawal of troops and paramilitary forces from Swat and the Tribal Areas. The title of war on terror has become an ambiguous terminology. Therefore, I demand withdrawal of forces from Swat, Balochistan and the Tribal Areas, and steps to eliminate impediments to the enforcement of Sharia in the country, he told reporters here. Fazl also demanded withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and Iraq. He blamed Musharrafs government for blocking the enforcement of Sharia.
I dunno why, but on occasions like this I keep expecting Jane Fonda to pop up and say something along the lines of "If you could see what those people have, you'd get down on your knees and pray for shariah."
Maybe Barbra Streisand could fill in...
This article starring:
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This is a good example of a statement that should be officially responded to with an insult, just as a matter of form. In this case, a hearty, "Your wish is not granted, copulator of she-asses."
(AKI/DAWN) Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf has said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would not return before the general elections in January. According to the Pakistani daily Dawn, Musharraf said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and its allies were in a position to win the elections and the next prime minister would be from the PML.
Addressing about 170 legislators of the party, including federal ministers, the president said: You have been supporting me for the last five years and you will not be disappointed by me in the days to come. I am with you and it is my heartiest desire that you win elections and form the government.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Sayed attended the dinner held at the prime minister's residence. Qari Gul Rahman, a dissident with the six-party religious alliance MMA, and Shahabuddin Khan of the Awami National Party, who voted for Musharraf in the presidential election, were also at the dinner.
The president denied reports that the local bodies would be dissolved before the polls on the demand of certain parties. He said the reconciliation process had been initiated to end the tug of war between political parties and it was proceeding well, the minister of state for information, Tariq Azeem told Dawn.
Musharraf also said that foreign experts would not be involved in the investigation of the 18 October blasts in Karachi which targetted former premier Benazir Bhutto. Our own experts are competent enough to undertake this task and they have done it in the past. He also rejected speculation that foreign troops would be allowed to intrude into Pakistans tribal areas to attack militants.
Prime minister Aziz congratulated the president on winning the election and said that even if opposition parties had participated in the process, Musharraf would have polled the same 57 percent votes of the electoral college.
Earlier, the president had an informal meeting with some senior members of the PML, including Baluchistan chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf and Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim Khan. He discussed with them the electoral strategy, petitions pending in the Supreme Court, security situation and the formation of an interim set-up, sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI/DAWN) - The cleric of the radical Islamabad mosque, Lal Masjid has declared that security personnel killed in an explosion in the Swat valley on Thursday suffered the death of infidels. Amir Siddiqui, who was recently appointed to the job by the government on the orders of the Supreme Court, also announced support for militant pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah who is based in Swat.
Amir Siddiqui, who was recently appointed to the job by the government on the orders of the Supreme Court, also announced support for militant pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah who is based in Swat.
Pakistani troops on Friday surrounded and attacked Fazlullah's stronghold, in the district of Swat in northern Pakistan. It is not clear if Fazlullah is inside the hideout. The operation comes after a bomb attack in the main town of Swat left at least 17 soldiers and three civilians dead. The army had deployed 2,500 more troops in the area on Wednesday to combat rising militancy. Siddiqui said Fazlullah had supported the former cleric of the mosque Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed in the military operation on the Lal Masjid and its affiliated madrassa or Islamic school, Jamia Hafsa, in July.
Siddiqui is Abdul Rashid Ghazi's nephew. He criticised Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leaders of Pakistan's six-party religious alliance, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), for having played no role to stop the operation, that left more than 100 people dead. Now this is our turn to support the cause of Fazlullah, he observed and warned the government against launching an operation in Swat.
He accused the government of fighting the war of infidels and killing its own citizens to serve the interests of the United States. He said that the situation in Swat would deteriorate to an extent that the army would not be able to get out of the quagmire. I warn the government that the situation in Swat will be more dangerous for the army than that in the tribal areas and [the restive south-western province of] Baluchistan, he observed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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India's key paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Friday stressed that the terror infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir was intact though there has been a slight decline in the violent incidents.
"There has been a slight decrease in the number of terror-related incidents and reduction in civilian causality in Kashmir," CRPF Director General S I S Ahmed told reporters on the eve of 68th raising day of the force at Delhi today.
"This does not mean that infrastructure of terrorists is not there. The grouping, planning and execution is there. I do not see a reduction in CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Out of the 201 CRPF battalions, 72 were deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
Till September 30 this year, the CRPF had killed 71 guerrillas and nabbed 206 others in terror related cases in Jammu and Kashmir. 15 CRPF men were killed and 106 others injured in 68 encounters in Kashmir.
this made me tear up - we may have turned a corner...Our thanks to the Iraqi Army in Besmaya. Caught via Bill Quick's DPComments by Richard S. Lowry:
Unfortunately, most Americans do not consider Iraqis as people. We see them as terrorists or victims, not as everyday people with the same values as our friends, neighbors and relatives. Yet, most Iraqis are decent human beings with the same concerns, dreams, and compassion as most Americans. They want peace and are concerned about their fellow man.
Is it no wonder that we feel differently about the people of Iraq, when the American media only reports sensational news? If it doesnt bleed or explode, you just arent going to see it on the evening news. I received a press release from Baghdad today, which I know the mainstream media will not pass on to you all. Here is an example of Iraqi charity and gratitude which touched my soul. Imagine how incredibly generous these soldiers are. They have little to support their own families. Its not enough that they are fighting daily to bring peace to their country. They are actually reaching out to help unfortunate Americans.
Richard S. Lowry is author of Marines in the Garden of Eden and The Gulf War Chronicles.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20071026-01
October 26, 2007
Iraqi Army at Besmaya Installation Support San Diego Fire Victims
By U.S. Army Sgt 1st Class Charlene Sipperly
Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq Members of the Iraqi Army in Besmaya collected a donation for the San Diego, Calif., fire victims Thursday night at the Besmaya Range Complex in a moving ceremony to support Besmaya's San Diego residents.
Iraqi Army Col. Abbass, the commander of the complex, presented a gift of $1,000 to U.S. Army Col. Darel Maxfield, Besmaya Range Complex officer in charge, Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, to send to the fire victims in California.
The money was collected from Iraqi officers and enlisted soldiers in Besmaya. In a speech given during the presentation, Col. Abbass stated that he and the Iraqi soldiers were connected with the American people in many ways, and they will not forget the help that the American government has given the Iraqi people. Abbass was honored to participate by sending a simple fund of $1,000 to the American people in San Diego, to lower the suffering felt by the tragedy.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 17:02 ||
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#1
nice pic at the link - look around- OP-FOR is pretty good stuff
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 17:17 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 17:28 Comments ||
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#3
The Iraqi soldiers are to be commended for realizing that there must be a two way street with respect to our different cultures. Unfortunately, Lowry demonstrates a fundamental blindness about just how different our cultures are.
Unfortunately, most Americans do not consider Iraqis as people.
Bullshit. So many of us wouldn't support Iraq's liberation if we didn't.
We see them as terrorists or victims, not as everyday people with the same values as our friends, neighbors and relatives.
More bullshit. Muslims most certainly DO NOT have "the same values as our friends, neighbors and relatives". If they did, none of them would continue adhering to a creed that declares everyone in the West to be dogs, pigs and monkeys worthy only of servitude to Islam.
Yet, most Iraqis are decent human beings with the same concerns, dreams, and compassion as most Americans.
Well, that certainly explains why their country still remains a total shithole of corruption led by a parliament of wannabe warlords and gangsters. This is nothing but cultural relativism at its worst.
They want peace and are concerned about their fellow man.
Maybe some are but the vast majority of Muslims DO NOT want peace. They seek subjugation of this entire world and do not blush at using the most evil methods to obtain said control. If Muslims are so "concerned about their fellow man", they would have been lynching jihadis after each terrorist atrocity instead of dancing in the streets.
Again, the Iraqi soldiers are to be admired for reaching out beyond their own predicaments. But to extrapolate this exceedingly rare instance of moral rectitude into a beneficent overall assessment of Muslims in general is not just wrong, it is dangerous.
... do you not understand? The VERY FIRST words I posted were praise for these decent chaps. I'm truly glad to see such a thing happen. Compassion is all too rare in this world and even more scarce within the MME (Muslim Middle East). None of that alters the importance of clarifying when someone like Lowry slobbers all over himself with such drooling idiocy as cultural relativism. Moral and cultural relativism are two of the truly great intellectual poisons that are bringing this globe to the brink of a new World War. Anyone who indulges in it needs to be smacked down on the spot.
Lowry's idiocy in no way subtracts one scintilla from the Iraqi soldiers' honorable gesture. Nowhere do you see me despising their generosity or deeming the help of Muslims to be unworthy. Take your own prescription of a few Ketel Ones and call me in the morning.
The US State Department said Friday it will have to require diplomats to serve in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers for postings at the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Beginning Monday, between 200 to 300 diplomats will be notified that they have been identified as "prime candidates" to fill between 40 and 50 vacancies that will open next year at the Baghdad embassy, said Harry Thomas, director general of the US Foreign Service. Millennium is here
#1
Volunteer or be assigned, Asshats! Not everyone gets Brussels! Those who don't, get Darfur
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/27/2007 1:10 Comments ||
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#2
Mr. Thomas, please keep Rantburg posed on the resignation letters. I have taken the liberty of attaching a highly reputable outsourcing firm which you may whish to contact. They have a splendid record of accomplishment and their personnel are of the highest quality.
Long ago this should have been a preliminary qualification "tour" for the diplomatic corps. Those who think that Islam does not represent a threat to Western civilization need to spend a lot more time in the MME (Muslim Middle East).
#5
I am not an American citizen but have some pertinent qualifications. I volunteer and am available starting Monday, November 5 (have to give my current employer notice and take a day to pack).
#6
No problem, we here at State are very progressive and no longer require proof of citizenship. We'll issue you a trendy new black passport, no problem. To get the USG minority hiring points we must changed your name to Jose B. Excalibra. We hope you do not mind. On the attached application, if you could check the "other" box where it asks "male" or "female," we get additional hiring points. Just something to consider. You will be assigned to the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in the grade of GG-14, which is $ 120k and some change per anum. Add to that the US State 1.7% overseas and hazardous duty multiplier and you'll soon be breaking $ 200k per year. How am I doing so far Mr. Excalibra?
Posted by: Volunteers Is Us ||
10/27/2007 9:32 Comments ||
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#7
Hmmm, maybe we'll get a new class of diplomats who don't "go native" almost immediately and become enemies of America in the bargain?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/27/2007 9:32 Comments ||
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#8
Years ago, the standard route to enter the CIA was to work for State for a couple of years, then to resign for unspecified reasons, implying that you left State holding your nose. You would soon get a knock on your door from CIA, with a job offer.
#10
Besoeker: yes and no. Though they often have to work together, CIA and State institutionally don't care much for each other.
State has no operational alternative of action, which gives them a bizarre mind set of jawboning inaction, mutual satisfaction and ultra pacifism. If things end up having to go active, State has failed and knows it.
CIA, on the other hand, is both active and covert. If they do anything, it is either in preparation to go active, going active, or covering up; all of which they try to keep out of the limelight. They never jawbone, and they assume hostility, even with allies.
So with such radically different prerogatives, it is no wonder that they are seldom on the same sheet of music.
This is why disgruntled State employees were so desirable by CIA. They didn't prefer jawboning and inaction, and cozying up to foreign scumbags. Or at least that was the CIA assumption.
#11
I agree, this should have been done soon after the invasion. In fact the State Department should create a track where as you start there, go to Saudi Arabia, than Israel to really get the feel of the region. Hopefully the reality of Israel after Saudi Arabia would help clean up some soft brains.
#12
I saw something about this last year. Can't find the source, but evidently Condi made it clear that the people at State who wanted to move up had better learn Arabic or Fasi as opposed to French or Russian, had better volunteer for duty in the Middle East as opposed to Europe, etc.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 14:12 Comments ||
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#13
I wonder whether Condi would be more disappointed if 25% or 75% of those assigned to Iraq decided to resign rather than take the transfer?
Turkey has dismissed a range of proposals from Iraq on dealing with Kurdish rebels, saying they will take too long to work. The foreign ministry said more urgent action was needed than that offered by an Iraqi delegation, which is in Ankara to try to resolve the dispute. The visit is an attempt to avert a threatened Turkish ground attack on Kurdistan Workers' Party bases in Iraq.
Turkey gave the Iraqis a list of PKK rebels and demanded their extradition.
The Iraqi delegation, including Defence Minister Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim and US officials from the embassy in Baghdad, held talks with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Afterwards, the Turkish foreign ministry praised the Iraqi team for its "sincere" and "well-intentioned" approach. But it said the Iraqi ideas would "take a long time to put into action".
"Turkey expects urgent and determined measures in the fight against the PKK."
The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Ankara says Iraq's promises to close Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) offices do not go far enough for Turkey. Turkey wants the mountain bases of the group in the far north of Iraq closed and the leadership handed over, he says. The furthest the Iraqis appear prepared to go is to disrupt the movement of the PKK and close offices related to its activities, our correspondent says.
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said a list of PKK members had been handed to the Iraqi delegation. It was not immediately clear how many names it contained, but Mr Cicek said every PKK member in northern Iraq "is guilty. They are criminals at least for being a member of a terrorist group. We want all of them to be handed over."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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When the LA Times has to run stories like this, the war is as good as won ...
RAMADI, Iraq Lt. Sayce W. Falk stopped mid-stride and stood in the dust-fine, silvery sand. He smiled serenely at the scene ahead. "Good. That is good," the lanky Marine said in a quiet, almost reverential tone as he watched workers load filth into the back of an orange dump truck. "It makes me happy, just to see them working."
It would be an understatement to say that Falk has a passion for picking up trash. Like the other Marines in his infantry unit, the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Falk sees trash pickup as the key to maintaining security in Ramadi, where a decision last year by Sunni Arab tribal leaders to turn against insurgents has brought calm to the once-violent capital of Anbar province.
Falk is one of several members of the unit who were in Ramadi in early 2006, when U.S. convoys raced down the main drag at 65 mph to dodge insurgent gunfire. Every patrol risked hitting buried bombs or being caught in a gun battle.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#4
This bears a similarity to a part of Rudolph Giuliani's anti-crime initiative in New York where squeegee men were banished, broken windows were fixed and graffiti was no longer tolerated.
When every inch of the city demonstrates the influence of law and order, normal citizens feel that their environment is under control and are more willing to cooperate with those preserving the peace.
#10
"It makes me happy, just to see them working."
/Pur010-jooooooooooo!
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
10/27/2007 13:09 Comments ||
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#11
Whatever the Marines declare war on, I wouldn't want to be it!
After these guys come home, we are going to have an group of people with solid exerience in making cities and villages work. Politically, that has got to be a good thing.
#12
BigJim, yes, we want the Iraqis to do this on their own. As the article notes, this is a rather big culture change and will require time. I especially like the fellow who said, jokingly, that the Iraqi Police should shoot litterbugs. He gets it.
The 'Broken Window' theory as applied to war and reconstruction is an interesting idea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 14:15 Comments ||
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#13
Shooting litterbugs is a little extreme, but community service cleaning up a lot or a block for a first offense would be fine.
#14
i'm with big jim , these ppl need too leaern too get off their sorry asses and do something for themself for a change, and for the guy demanding 1500 trash dumpsters i wounder how many dinars he offered in buying any of them my guess would be none.
#15
OldSpook is correct. It is a weird aspect of human psychology that people react to "messy" and "tidy" in strange ways. Put a typical person in a messy house and they quickly turn into a slob; but the same person in a clean house and they try to keep it clean. And the same applies to entire cities.
Guiliani used the idea in NYC to effect, raising overall cleanliness, courtesy, friendliness, and a lot more, seemingly overnight.
Over time, it also raises expectations. So that when a pile of garbage does appear, everybody gets annoyed by it and demand it be removed. Things like that.
#16
The 'Broken Window' theory as applied to war and reconstruction is an interesting idea.
Call me cynical but I sincerely doubt that civic pride will ever be able to trump sectarian allegiances and their perpetual rivalries. From all indications, Muslims would rather live in total hell-holes than ever make peace with each other or the outside world. The Palestinians are a sterling example of this. The "broken window" theory works in the West because of our low context culture. In Islam, the broken window carries with it a caravan of religious and moral baggage of who broke it, for what reason and an endless array of other contextual horseradish that drowns out the simple need for civic pride.
The simple fact remains that Islam's clergy regard prosperity as inimical to jihad. Well-fed, prosperous people rapidly lose the will to struggle on in an endless battle. The Islamists know this and most likely view corruption as a vital tool to supress general economic advancement. Likewise with any sense of nationalism. Khomeini declared patriotism to be a form of paganism in that any worship of the state infringed upon the rightful due of Allah. Islam is nothing less than an intellectual, spiritual, moral and economic straitjacket.
#18
Zentster, its not civil pride but human nature that's at work. Don;t get so stuck on your view of Islam and religion that you miss fundamental things. The borken window psychology works regardless of religion, atheism, patriotism etc. Its all about human nature and keeping your area clean and nice. Basic human survival instinct at work. Nothing at all to do with culture except in the manner of how the cleaning gets done. These folks are having to learn to do things themselves after 4+ decades of totalitarian government. So it will need some effort and time.
#19
I understand, 'Spook, and I'm willing to give it a shot but, as I noted, the Palestinians sure haven't given me much confidence regarding this. If we can instill some civic pride in the Iraqis, then there might be a chance that they will also latch onto the concept of nationalism. That's going to be a critical jump because of how vital it is that Iraq not be absorbed by Iran, both politically and religiously. The fact that Iraq immediately went about enacting shari'a law is one of the biggest indicators that they want to crawl back into the stone-age. Unfortunately, fixing broken windows won't have much effect on that.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry urged Baghdad to take urgent and determined steps against Iraq-based separatist Kurdish rebels. An Iraqi delegation came to Ankara with ideas that would take some time to put in place, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Turkey expects urgent and determined steps from Iraq in struggle against the PKK terrorist organization," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has signed an anti-money laundering decree that could make it harder for Hamas to bring in funds and is also meant to reassure foreign banks that they can do business with their Palestinian counterparts, officials said Saturday.
Hamas officials acknowledged that the new regulations would make it harder for the Islamic militant group to bring in funds. "This law may have some effect on the movement, but eventually it won't succeed in fulfilling its goal of drying up the financial sources of the Hamas movement," said a spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri.
No bank will deal directly with Hamas. However, Palestinian officials from Abbas' Fatah movement have alleged that Hamas has made deals with moneychangers and merchants to receive funds from Iran, Arab countries and Islamic charities abroad. Cash is also believed to be smuggled through tunnels into Gaza.
Abbas signed the decree Friday, and it was published in the Palestinian media on Saturday. Jihad Alwazir, the deputy governor of the Palestine Monetary Fund, said the regulations were put together with the help of the International Monetary Fund and were in line with international standards.
Alwazir said the new rules should reassure foreign banks that they can do business with their Palestinian counterparts without running afoul of U.S. and Israeli counter-terrorism regulations.
Two Israeli banks, Bank Hapoalim and Israel Discount Bank, announced several weeks ago that they were severing their ties with Gaza's banks. The Israeli banks are wary of inadvertently funneling money to Hamas.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has sought the advice of former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton ahead of a planned Middle East peace parley scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, in November or December. Hits bottom, keeps digging.
Posted by: PFC Robert R. Garwood ||
10/27/2007 2:57 Comments ||
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#3
You know, I did not expect Rice to turn this way after taking the helm at the Foggy Bottom. Must be the fog... it has some properties, a contagious virus maybe, that drives people lunatic.
#4
She doesn't have to listen, but having consulted with those two 'experts' in foreign diplomacy will lend credibility - not here, of course - but ...somewhere...
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/27/2007 8:45 Comments ||
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#6
Rice has stated that she intends to devote the rest of the 14 months remaining in her term to EMPLOYMENT NETWORKING under the guise of.................establishing an independent Palestinian state while ensuring Israel's security.
#9
Either Rice has hit the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and is borrowing deeper, or she did this to point back when she's brought before congress on her "Failure" of diplomacy, and point out she consulted with the Lefts two 'Reagans'. I'm actually thinking the former.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/27/2007 17:05 Comments ||
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#10
I thought Secretary Rice had that deanship at Stanford(?) waiting for her to return?
Ma'an Prominent leader of the Popular Resistance CommitteesAbu Al-Said on Wednesday called on the de facto Palestinian government to hasten disbanding the Palestinian Authority and establish a 'Resistance Authority' instead in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Speaking during a press conference, Abu Al-Said urged Palestinian resistance factions, particularly the Salah Addin Brigades of the PRC, to "kill Jews everywhere without waiting for permission", in retaliation for the murder of Muhammad Al-Ashqar and the violent treatment of Palestinian detainees at Ktziot prison.
Spokesperson of the Salah Addin BrigadesAbu Mujahid denied intentions to hurt captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, saying "Islamic morality states that captives cannot be harmed". Abu Mujahid said that any prisoners' exchange for Shalit has stagnated due to Israeli intransigence.
This article starring:
Popular Resistance Committees
Salah Addin Brigades
Abu Al-Said
Popular Resistance Committees
Abu Mujahid
Salah Addin Brigades
Gilad Shalit
Muhammad Al-Ashqar
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
p.s. Where's the promised humanitarian aid?
Posted by: Abu Al-Said ||
10/27/2007 1:21 Comments ||
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Ma'an The Palestinian Prisoners' Association in the northern West Bank town of Tubas denounced on Friday an Israeli decision to deport two Palestinian inmates to Jordan. Israeli authorities have reportedly completed arrangements to deport brothers Talib and Umar Bani Uda. The Prisoners Association said the move is a violation of international law and an escalation of abuses against Palestinian prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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The head of the Hamas government spoke Friday at a rally of thousands of supporters of the Islamic Jihad movement, trying to reduce tensions after deadly clashes this week between the two political rivals.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad share an Islamic militant ideology, are directed by leaders based in Damascus and receive some support from Iran. Tensions between the two rose after Hamas seized control of Gaza in June, and insisted it had a monopoly on carrying weapons in public. There have been repeated clashes between Hamas police and Islamic Jihad gunmen, including fighting several days ago that left two people dead.
On Friday, an Islamic Jihad rally commemorating the assassination of its founder by Israel in Malta in 1995 drew some 10,000 people, an unexpectedly large turnout for the group.
The crowd gathered in a field in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, and the group's leader in exile, Ramadan Shalah, spoke by telephone. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, and other senior Hamas figures, also attended the rally.
"We will not accept disagreement with any faction, foremost with our brothers in the Islamic Jihad," Haniyeh told the audience. The crowd responded by chanting "Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad."
Haniyeh said leaders from both sides will work to contain tension. "Our relation with Islamic Jihad is strategic, stable and will not be shaken with a few events," he said.
Islamic Jihad is much smaller and more radical than the ruling Hamas. It doesn't participate in elections and says only fighting Israel will lead to ending occupation. Hamas took part in elections and has reached cease-fire deals with Israel in the past.
Shalah, speaking from Damascus, said Islamic Jihad is not trying to challenge Hamas' rule. "Out of concern for the Islamic undertaking and for Hamas .. .which is facing the trials and tribulations of engaging in politics, I tell them we are not competing for authority or positions or gains .... or even for mosques," he said. "Our project is jihad (holy war) and resistance."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Excellent graphic Fred. Quite gratifying to know the majority of the vermin holding standards and attending that colorful rally are now DEAD!
Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya denied Friday holding any meetings between Hamas and Israel. At a press conference in Gaza, Haniya questioned the validity of news reports claiming confidential meetings between Hamas and Israel, adding that the two sides have no connection whatsoever.
He did not mind holding meetings between Palestinian ministers and their Israeli counterparts to alleviate suffering of Palestinian citizens.
The claims were made by Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas who said that Hamas was holding meetings with Israeli officials in Gaza.
Referring to today's meeting between Abbas and Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert, Haniya said such meetings should come to an end as they providing cover for Israeli brutalities against Palestinians. He added that such meetings did not carry much value to him as they were only meant to hold next Fall's US-sponsored peace forum to further normalize ties between Israel and Arab nations, especially Saudi Arabia. He warned Arab nations against falling in the US trap, urging them all to focus efforts on alleviating Palestinian suffering caused by Israeli brutalities that would fail at making his people kneel or submit.
A test of a missile defense system successfully intercepted a ballistic target, the U.S. military said on Saturday, a boost to development of an anti-missile shield program.
The hit by the Lockheed Martin Corp.-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program was the fourth in as many tests and involved intercepting the missile outside the Earth's atmosphere, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.
The THAAD is designed to defend troops, population centers and critical facilities against short- to medium-range ballistic missiles of a type that could be fired by Iran or North Korea. The system could also be sold to U.S. allies like Israel.
Military representatives from Israel, Australia and the United Arab Emirates observed the test conducted off the island of Kauai in Hawaii, said Riki Ellison, who heads a missile defense advocacy group funded in part by military contractors.
The test conducted late Friday evening was designed to show how the radar, launcher, fire control equipment and procedures of the system worked together, as well as the interceptor detecting and destroying the target using only the force of the collision.
The system is a part of a broader U.S. anti-missile shield and is the only one able to engage targets in or outside the atmosphere.
Provisional Friday prayers leader of Tehran Ayatollah Ali Jannati said on Friday that resignation of former secretary of Supreme National Security Council has nothing to do with policy shift. He criticized those who interpreted replacement of SNSC secretary with Saeed Jalili as departure from Iran's declared principles about national nuclear program.
Addressing thousands of Tehrani worshipers at Central Campus of Tehran University, Ayatollah Ali Jannati made the comment in his second sermon, adding, "Our media should not have aggravated the atmosphere quoting those who tell lies. The aware Iranian nation heard those biassed analyses and interpretations and those stinging remarks both from the Iranian and the foreign media and realized the ill intentions of those who broadcast them."
He described Larijani as "a successful man at any position", adding, "Those who are not affiliated to extremist political circles and do not have extremist tendencies usually approve of Dr. Larijani."
Ayatollah Jannati pointed out that Larijani had resigned twice earlier, but his resignations had been rejected, adding "But this time it was accepted, and there is no further authentic interpretation of the matter."
He backed up the new SNSC Secretary, Saeed Jalili, as "A competent, wise, and pious man who is meanwhile a war veteran." The prayers leader said that Jalili would pursue the same policies Larijani did and that "During the recent Rome negotiations, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, too, pointed out that the change would not create any obstacle to course of negotiations with Iran, which is EU's top preference."
The provisional Friday prayer leader of Tehran also stressed, Iran's voluntary Basiji forces are currently in full combat alert.
BRUSSELS - Iran may be closer to developing nuclear weapons than three to eight years believed by the UN nuclear watchdog, the countrys emigre opposition said on Friday. And changing Irans chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, showed the country no longer needed to play for time in negotiations to push ahead with its nuclear programme, the National Council of Resistance of Iran said.
The group was the first to report in 2002 the existence in Iran of uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and heavy water plant at Arak, facilities the West suspects could be used for the production of the atomic bomb. According to our intelligence, the Iranian regime is closer to having a bomb than what Mr ElBaradei says, the Councils expert, Alireza Jafarzadeh, told a news conference, referring to Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
We are talking about last minutes to prevent the Iran regime from having a bomb, Jafarzadeh said. By replacing Larijani with another revolutionary guard commander, the Iranian regime has sent a very clear message that it is closer to a bomb, as there is no need for negotiations as was the case in previous years, he added.
Irans new chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, is a close ally of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Council also welcomed new sanctions against Teheran imposed by the United States on Thursday, saying they would hit the operations of Irans Revolutionary Guard. The designation of the Revolutionary Guard and other related entities ... is important. It harms the Revolutionary Guards significant financial resources, puts a squeeze on them, makes their operations very difficult, said Jafarzadeh.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
No $hit! I wonder how many years they have to run all those centrifuges to get enough Uranium to build one bomb.
#2
I would be amazed if Iran does not already have the bomb. The real issue is testing and weaponizing said package such that it represents a sufficient threat to prevent their regime being bombed into the ground.
Though even that should not stop us. It would have been worth risking a city or two - if such were or are at risk - to nuke Pakistan into a sea of glass. But instead we let the Orcs carry on their work until there will be no turning them. Does anyone imagine Pakistan will ever be a peaceful neighbor? I have strong hopes for a normal Russia and even down the line a free China. Neither of those countries, or those cultures, are imprisoned by a death cult.
Iran's leadership boasts that it is safe from US military action, saying Washington knows an attack would find no world support and send oil prices skyrocketing. That confidence is buoying the government in its standoff with the West, despite new sanctions.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, on Friday dismissed the United States' announcement a day earlier of new sanctions, saying "Washington will isolate itself" with the measures. "They have imposed sanctions on us for 28 years. The new sanctions are just in the same direction," Jalili said as he returned from talks with European officials in Germany and Italy, according to the state news agency IRNA.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is taking a hard line in the confrontation with the West over its nuclear program, apparently confident that the US's two main pressure tools - sanctions and the threat of military action - are ineffective.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
Following yesterday's daily intelligence update from the Kremlin, Iran's leadership boasts that it is safe from US military action, saying Washington knows an attack would find no world support and send oil prices skyrocketing.
#4
Oil prices are already skyrocketing and countries like China and Russia will never support an attack on Iran no matter what they do. They will have to come up with better reasons than that.
Iran said on Friday that the new sanctions imposed by the US against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), or Pasdaran, and three Iranian banks went against all the international conventions and that they had no value.
The sanctions are "doomed to failure", the same like the previous US measures against us, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Husseini, said in a press statement.
"So don't bother. I mean, it's pretty much pointless."
He added that making such decisions by a country that itself produces weapons of mass destruction and sets up several terrorist groups could never impede Iran from achieving progress and development for its Iranian people and legitimate institutions.
He added that such US trends would not save the American politicians from their crisis which they created in Iraq.
The US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice on Thursday announced a new batch of sanctions against the IRGC, the institutions dealing with it and three state-owned banks in what she referred to as part of a comprehensive policy to face the Iranians' threats.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
10/27/2007 00:00 ||
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In the past, I used to disagree. Of late, things have become so urgent that, all I hope for is the use of existing guidelines to reach a swift and obvious defeat of Islam's agenda.
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
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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
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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.
Police arrested some 50 people Friday following a clash between Muslims and Coptic Christians triggered by a land dispute, security officials said. 
MADRID - Spains National Court announced on Friday that it had approved the extradition of Syrian arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar to the United States on terrorism-related charges on the condition that he will not be sentenced to death if found guilty. Al-Kassar, 61, was detained in June at Madrid airport after flying in from the southern Costa del Sol, where he has lived since 1980.
uliano Amato as he visited Rome's mosque to present the new 'charter of values' for immigrants. There is a toilet seat cover on sale in local stores that features verses of the Koran. This is an insult to the Muslim faith that we must react to," he called out.
A new draft law introduced by Canadas Conservative government on Friday would bar Muslim women from voting if they show up at polling places with a veiled face. 
KARACHI: Police said on Friday there were developments in the investigation into last weeks suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto but warned that continued criticism from the former prime minister could hamper their progress, AP quoted Karachi Police Chief Azhar Farooqi as saying.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistans Election Commission has issued a final list of voters, putting the electorate at 80 million, an increase of 28 million from the first draft list published in June, an official said on Friday.
Former premier Benazir Bhuttos lawyer Farooq Naek said on Friday the investigation into the October 18 blasts in Karachi was directionless and the investigators hadnt questioned any of the suspects that her client had mentioned in a letter sent to the president, a private channel reported. According to Geo television, Naek said it was a duty of the investigators to question the suspects irrespective of their status. Naek said foreign investigators should be asked for assistance, much like Bhutto had done for the probe into her brother Murtaza Bhuttos murder during her tenure as prime minister. Naek said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi should be investigated, since Bhutto mentioned his name in her list of suspects. Meanwhile, Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told Geo television that the Pakistan Peoples Party workers that died in the Karachi blasts were martyrs and Bhutto should pay the affected families Rs 10 million each, instead of just Rs 5,000. He said many people had returned the Rs 5,000.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Friday condemned the act of terrorism in Swat that killed 20 soldiers and left over 35 injured. The Swat valley has been under an intense grip of violence for the past several months in the face of a weakening writ of state and the growing influence of 
NWFP Home Secretary 
Religious Affairs Minister 
Police said on Friday there were developments in the investigation into last weeks suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto but warned that continued criticism from the former prime minister could hamper their progress, AP quoted Karachi Police Chief Azhar Farooqi as saying. Farooqi said his force had solved every suicide attack they had looked into. We are pretty hopeful we can work it out, he said. He said they have released sketches of two men thought to be the suicide bombers who devastated Bhuttos rally.
(AKI/DAWN) Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf has said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would not return before the general elections in January. According to the Pakistani daily Dawn, Musharraf said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and its allies were in a position to win the elections and the next prime minister would be from the PML.
(AKI/DAWN) - The cleric of the radical Islamabad mosque, Lal Masjid has declared that security personnel killed in an explosion in the Swat valley on Thursday suffered the death of infidels. Amir Siddiqui, who was recently appointed to the job by the government on the orders of the Supreme Court, also announced support for militant pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah who is based in Swat.
Turkey has dismissed a range of proposals from Iraq on dealing with Kurdish rebels, saying they will take too long to work. The foreign ministry said more urgent action was needed than that offered by an Iraqi delegation, which is in Ankara to try to resolve the dispute. The visit is an attempt to avert a threatened Turkish ground attack on Kurdistan Workers' Party bases in Iraq.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has signed an anti-money laundering decree that could make it harder for Hamas to bring in funds and is also meant to reassure foreign banks that they can do business with their Palestinian counterparts, officials said Saturday. 
Ma'an Prominent leader of the 
The head of the Hamas government spoke Friday at a rally of thousands of supporters of the Islamic Jihad movement, trying to reduce tensions after deadly clashes this week between the two political rivals. 
BRUSSELS - Iran may be closer to developing nuclear weapons than three to eight years believed by the UN nuclear watchdog, the countrys emigre opposition said on Friday. And changing Irans chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, showed the country no longer needed to play for time in negotiations to push ahead with its nuclear programme, the 
