The atmosphere is subdued as many residents have left town and local business has declined. The hospital in central Musa Qala is padlocked, and the district government office has been completely demolished by Taleban militants. The bazaar is quiet, with none of its former bustle.
Foreign air strikes have also done a lot of damage many houses lie in ruins, and there are big holes in surrounding fields. Hajji Nazar Mohammad, an elder in the Musa Qala district, said many people had fled the district in fear. More than 75 per cent of the residents have gone, he said. The only people left are those who couldnt afford to go. We are in a very bad economic situation.
One shopkeeper, who did not want to be named, said that his business had fallen by 80 per cent. I am lucky, though, he said. Most of the other shops have closed completely. The shopkeeper seemed nervous, and kept saying he did not want the Taleban to see him talking to me. He was not the only one. A lot of people refused to talk out of fear of the insurgents.
Continued on Page 49
#1
This is the region where the Brits made a deal with the Taliban to ignore them if they would ignore the Brits. I think in spirit, it's similar to the treaty that the Brits had with Afghanistan when India was part of the British empire. The problem is that during the days of the British Raj, Afghans weren't conspiring with terrorists to take down skyscrapers in New York.
Britain has launched a drive for an international accord granting the Royal Navy and Western warships rights to enter Somali territorial waters in pursuit of pirate gangs linked to al-Qaeda. The Royal Navy is hoping to crack down on pirate activity off the Horn of Africa. Al-Qa'eda is said to dominate the lucrative trade
Pirate activity has soared off the Horn of Africa this year with the emergence of highly sophisticated gangs that use fast patrol boats, launched from mother ships to board cargo vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. The lucrative multi-million-dollar kidnap and ransom trade, which is dominated by al-Qaeda, according to terrorism experts, threatens to disrupt international shipping lanes used to carry cargo from the Far East to Europe.
A meeting in London of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations watchdog of the seas, is to consider a resolution today instructing Somalias interim government to drop its legal right to block foreign navies from entering its waters. A declaration would pave the way for Royal Navy vessels to rescue ships held for ransom in Somali coves or pursue pirates involved in attacks on ships in international waters.
Would it clear the way for us to blow the pirate ships to Davy Jones's locker?
A spokesman for the regional naval command in Bahrain said that passage of the IMO resolution would be an important step to help deter piracy off the coast of Somalia.
There have been 26 attacks or attempted boardings by pirates so far this year, up from a handful in 2006. Somalia has been plagued by civil war. It has seen a succession of weak, temporary administrations run by warlords or hard-line Islamic factions sympathetic to al-Qaeda, unrecognised by the international community and with little remit on the coastline.
Pirates used the haven provided by Somalias lack of leadership to defy 46 warships from 20 countries in the international coalition centred around Americas Bahrain-based 5th fleet. Piracy has become a lucrative business based on ransom demands and cargo theft inside Somali territory, said Cdre Keith Winstanley, the deputy commander of the coalition. It has not been possible to suppress it because vessels pirated, sometimes a long way off the coast, are held somewhere in the vicinity of the Somali coast.
It is a murky situation and even the figure of 26 reported incidents is thought to vastly underestimate the extent of the problem.
While vast sums of money are involved - ransoms can exceed £500,000 Cdre Winstanley said that official concern had been expressed over intelligence reports that little of the money filtered down to the Somali regions. Piracy and terrorism is a difficult picture to build, he said. The extent of money diverted to terrorism is not known, but I dont see evidence that the money is going into houses, schools and jobs onshore.
Pirates just aren't into nation-building, it seems ...
Complicating the picture for the navies involved is a human wave of refugees on the move out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 200,000 have fled fighting in the last month, many of whom are ready to pay $150 (£75) to be smuggled across the Gulf of Aden.
Its very seasonal, depending on the trade winds, but right now conditions are very favourable, said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for UNHCR. These vessels loaded with people cross the trade route but dont even dock in the harbours. They unload the passengers at sea.
The crowded waters are an ideal haven for al-Qaeda operatives crossing between training camps on both sides of the Gulf. The scale of the threat has changed since the physical penetration of the region by al-Qaeda, said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Nanyang Technology University in Singapore. With large Somali communities in Europe, ... Just dwell on that for a second.
... it is critically important that those on the move through this area are visible to Western intelligence.
David Nordell, the chief executive of New Global Markets, a specialist consultancy on terrorist financing, said: Terror in piracy is ultimately aimed at building up to offences like the next USS Cole [a suicide attack off Yemen in 2000] or hitting an oil tanker.
#1
Recognizing the territorial waters of Sudan such that this shelters piracy is absurd. Tell you what: If the Somali navy sails out to assert its sovereignty so much the better. Otherwise, kill pirates.
Rinse and repeat in northwestern "Pakistan", the disputed phakestinian territories and anywhere else the rats try to hole up. The treaty of Westphalia is going to kill us all.
#2
Read the National Geographic issue on pirates (Oct 2007) about attacks in the strait of Malacca. Lloyds declared it a war zone for a year, forcing local authorities to make some attempt to clean up the area.
Maybe it's time to institute the convoy system again.
With large Somali communities in Europe, it is critically important that those on the move through this area are visible to Western intelligence.
What about large Somali communities in the US? American taxpayers are probably subsidizing AQ to relocate here!!! See the report from
Brookings: Refugees are spreading out from traditional gateway cities posted on Refugeeresettlementwatch.com:
Direct resettlements typically occur in metropolitan areas that can absorb diverse populations, she said, citing St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit as examples.
Thats why places like Emporia would never be considered, Lewis said. Lewis said that Catholic Charities receives no payment for helping refugees resettle.
Ms. Lewis is the director of Catholic Charities in Kansas City and I am sure she is not misspeaking on purpose. As a matter of fact, in my reading lately (piles on the floor and over my desk), I learned that many of the agencies both government and non-profit, international and within the US have no idea what some of the others are doing and it is causing internal concern and strife.
On Ms. Lewis first two points, we reported to you just a few days ago that in fact we are resettling refugees in medium and small cities throughout the US. See our post on the Brookings Institution report. I wouldnt call Hagerstown, MD, Cayce, SC, or Erie, PA large metropolitan areas.
Then on her last point that they receive no payments for resettling refugees. Her organization is a subcontractor of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops which according to this information compiled by Gringomalos blog (see also our post on his research) received 89% of its funding ($39 million) from the federal government in 2005. And, according to its own annual report Catholic Charities of Kansas City received 46% of its annual budget in 2006 from government grants. Is none of this money used for refugees in any way?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/29/2007 16:12 Comments ||
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#6
Small ships with ship-launched missiles similar to Hellfire, backed by a few destroyers and an LPH. Patrol just off the 12-mile limit, with helicopter gunships airborne in a diamond pattern. Allow ships to match speed and tag along on the offshore side of the formation. If anything attacks, blow it out of the water. Ever so often, run a carrier battle group along the same path, and allow US aircraft to attack any suspected shipping, wherever they find it.
One of our first "foreign" ventures was against pirates - the Barbary pirates. I don't see why we need anyone's permission to attack criminals that attack us, wherever they are, or however indirectly they attack us.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/29/2007 17:51 Comments ||
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#7
since when do we need permission from a chaotic nuthouse "nation" that can't control their own ports and coast much less deeper waters to stop international waters piracy. A clear "STFU and stay clear" is all Somalia deserves
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2007 19:15 Comments ||
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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Riot police surrounded a Sudanese court as proceedings began Thursday against a British teacher charged with inciting religious hatred over letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad. If convicted, Gillian Gibbons faces up to 40 lashes, six months in jail and a fine, Sudanese officials have said, with the verdict and any sentence up to the judge's discretion.
Gibbons, in a dark blue jacket and blue dress, was not handcuffed when she walked into the courtroom in Khartoum, according to reporters who were briefly allowed inside but were subsequently dismissed.
The case set up an escalating diplomatic dispute with Britain, Sudan's former colonial ruler. Prosecutor-General Salah Eddin Abu Zaid told The Associated Press the British teacher could expect a "swift and fair trial."
Although hearings in Sudan are usually public, the police cordon barred British diplomats and others from entering. "It's up to the judge, but from a consular point of view, we would like to be present," said British Consul Russell Philipps.
International law sez the counsel or his representative should be present, so let's see if Amnesia International mounts a protest.
Gibbons' chief defense lawyer, Kamal Djizouri, scuffled with a tight police cordon before he was allowed in. Djizouri said he would argue her case based on Islamic Sharia law and show there was "absolutely no intention to insult religion, and for blasphemy to take place there must be an insult."
Gibbons was teaching her pupils, who are around age 7, about animals, and asked one of them to bring in her teddy bear, according to Robert Boulos, a spokesman for Unity High School in Khartoum. Gibbons asked the students to pick names for it and they proposed Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad, and in September, the pupils voted to name it Muhammad, he said.
It's not the name, it's the voting that was un-Islamic ...
Each child was allowed to take the bear home on weekends and write a diary about what they did with it. The diary entries were collected in a book with the bear's picture on the cover, labeled, "My Name is Muhammad," he said. The bear itself was never labeled with the name, he added.
Muhammad is a common name among Muslim men, but giving the prophet's name to an animal would be seen as insulting by many Muslims.
Who are mighty twitchy about such things, it seems ...
Episcopalian Bishop Ezekiel Kondo, Gibbons' employer said he was at the court "as a witness to testify that she never intended to insult any religion," but he was also barred from entering.
The charges against Gibbons, who was arrested in her home in Khartoum on Sunday after some parents complained, have angered the British government, which urgently summoned the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the case. British and American Muslim groups also criticized the decision. In London, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said British diplomats "will do everything to avoid" any of the possible sentences that could be imposed on the teacher.
Except, you know, do something in a way that the average Arab Sudanese leader would understand, like an Arc Light mission ...
"There is an innocent misunderstanding at the heart of this, not a criminal offense," Miliband said.
Officials said Miliband would meet with Sudan's ambassador later Thursday to discuss the case.
A spokesman at the Sudanese Embassy in London said he did not think Gibbons would be convicted. "Mrs. Gibbons has consular support, the British Embassy has one of the best solicitors in the country, whom I know personally," said Khalid al Mubarak.
Officials in Sudan's Foreign Ministry have tried to play down the case, calling it an isolated incident and initially predicting Gibbons could be released without charge.
But hard-liners have considerable weight in the government of President Omar al-Bashir, which came to power in a 1989 military coup saying it wanted to create an Islamic state.
Since Omar himself is a hard-liner, it was an easy sell ...
The country's top Muslim clerics have pressed the government to ensure that she is punished, comparing her action to author Salman Rushdie's "blasphemies" against the Prophet Muhammad.
Exactly like that, no difference at all, nope, nope ...
The north of Sudan bases its legal code on Islamic Sharia law, and al- Bashir often seeks to burnish his religious credentials.
#3
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) A British teacher in Sudan was convicted Thursday of inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad, and she was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation to Britain, one of her lawyers said. Gillian Gibbons could have received 40 lashes and six months in prison in the case.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/29/2007 14:30 Comments ||
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#4
Anybody note the CHILDREN named the teddy bear, I presume these "Children" are Islamic, so THEY are to blame, can we say "Scapegoat"? (I knew you could)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/29/2007 15:47 Comments ||
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#5
Convicted. 15 days imprisonment, then expulsion.
#1
This "news" is forty years old, but I thought Rantburgers might be interested in a different perspective on those events, especially in light of the Che cult's persistence in American pop-culture and the leftist take-over in Bolivia.
Last month, a nine-member team of government experts headed to a U.S. military base on the Marshall Islands to explore the possible health effects of a radar on the Kwajalein Atoll. If all goes according to government plans, the U.S. will move this radar to the Czech Republic to become part of its European missile-defense shield. Upon their return, these experts assured the public that the planned radar base to be erected on the Brdy military grounds, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Prague will not pose any known health risks to the local population.
But, as the Defense Ministry puts the finishing touches on a detailed report of the experts findings, which officials expect to publicize later this month, local scientist and nongovernmental organizations continue to voice their criticism over the methodology with which the government is analyzing information about the radar bases possible health effects.
[The government] is deliberately adjusting the controlled information in the midst of a propaganda war with the public, says Karel Dolejí, spokesman for the local branch of global watchdog organization Greenpeace. Dolejís statement is a reaction to an Oct.10 Defense Ministry presentation of the preliminary findings from the Marshall Islands expedition, intended to mollify local fears that the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radar will have a negative impact on the health of those living in its vicinity.
During this presentation, ministry experts capped the radars maximum energy output at 170 kilowatts, which is well below the Czech legal limit.
#2
See also WAFF.com >DW WORLD - RUSSIA'S MILITARY POWER IS GREATLY EXAGGERATED. PERT - Post USSR/Cold War Russ should be viewed as a BIG POWER, akin to Britain, Germany, etc, BUT NO LONGER A SUPERPOWER. "PUTIN VERSUS RUSSIA", NOT "PUTIN/RUSSIA VERSUS WORLD". DESPITE RHETORIC + DEALS, EUROPE IS NOT DEPENDENT ON RUSSIA FOR ENERGY, only new or other minor [Muslim]nations around Russ periphery. *Poster > Year 2010-2020 - believes period will be the ultimate "defining/decisive time" for Russia and its desired LT National/Manifest Destiny.
Also from WAFF > ITALY'S THIRD WORLD FUTURE, vv overwhelming legal and illegal Muslim-Ethnic immigration from Africa, Mediterr Regions.
ION, YAHOO > AP NEWS > CHINA: SPAT NOT A MISUNDERSTANDING [Foreign Ministry]. USS KITTY HAWK, etc and HONG KONG VISIT - China angry + upset over US recognition, award to Dalai Lama + potent arms sales to TAIWAN [anti-China].
Army commanders have been ordered to begin calculating budget and personnel cuts as a result of the congressional gridlock over the war spending bill, according to a new memo. The four-page directive, issued by Gen. Richard Cody, the Army Vice Chief of Staff, tells top officers at all Army bases to develop plans to use troops to replace civilians and contractors who may have to be laid off around Feb. 23. The detailed plans are due next Tuesday, according to the memo obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
Because the war funding bill has not been approved, the military is using operations and maintenance money from its 2008 budget for war-related costs. For the Army, those funds will run out in mid-February unless Congress acts. Cody said all military personnel other than those preparing to go to the war zone should be considered available as the civilian substitutes.
The memo, issued late Monday night, tells commanders to calculate the weekly costs of the minimum essential operations that could continue under emergency procedures if all money for operations is exhausted.
Those essential costs could include activities:
- to protect national security,
- to protect the lives and health of Army soldiers and their families at all installations,
- to prepare and train forces for deployment.
Cody also told commanders they should plan to suspend all maintenance that is not necessary to support warfighting. And he said they should expect the Pentagon to send layoff notices that would be effective on Feb. 23.
Posted by: ed ||
11/29/2007 00:58 ||
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#1
Too bad there isn't a way to tie congressional salaries to passing this bill.
#2
I think that is part of the problem gorb. If we were offering salaries of around a mil a year, we'd get a better selection of options than the clowns we usually see at election time. At a mil a year how many people would do a 'Hillary' and move into districts like that of Refrigerator Johnson for a shot at the seat?
Cody said all military personnel other than those preparing to go to the war zone should be considered available as the civilian substitutes.
That breaks soldiers. It's like using school teachers to do road patch work around the town. It'll move them out faster than an IED. The Army doesn't have a problem to get guys to sign up and reenlist in the combat skills, but turn around and put them out there doing 'Beetle Bailey' chores and that's going to make it a one tour stint. Not only that, but the Donks will use that as a starting point to both justify using troops for civic action labor back home and to rationalize their cutting future outlays because the troops can do these jobs [but won't have time to train and shoot.] We saw what happened to support troops, who prior to 2003, didn't receive adequate training in combat.
#5
Do the democrats have a suicide wish? This is not going to play well with anyone but their lunatic base who they already have in the bag. The military members and their families will be ticked. The civilian DOD's will be worried (many who are liberal). The entire military industrial complex corps will not be pleased. The general population will be annoyed at the gridlock and outraged at the denying troops what they need.
The Republican candidates can be the only ones who think this is a great idea. Is Karl Rove back at work?
#6
When reading articles like this one and the others today about CNN's inept use of plants at the Dem and Republican debates, I feel a real sense of hope for the country.
It just seems that the Dems are failing and failing badly. It's like they have no one with any brains in charge. Granted, the entire Clinton presidency was like that. It was nothing but a bunch of hacks and hangers-on who were promoted to positions not because they were qualified, but because they were willing to prostrate themselves and slobber all over the Clintons. They were able to succeed then because the media could cover for them. It's like they are still attempting to play 20th Century politics in a 21st century world.
#7
Sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in. One of our own major political parties is sabotaging our own military ... and they would want us to vote them into office? Somehow I think they are causing exactly the opposite to happen.
I would suggest that California and Nevada be the states that experience the most dramatic cutbacks. Pelosi and Reid started this, Pelosi and Reid can wallow in the result. Start cutting off the money to their constituents first.
Yes. I would think that had become obvious by now. They have a suicide wish, and, they would like the rest of us to join them. Maybe would should assist them in their exit.
#9
Concur with the previous statements; Mrs. Ret is a DOD (navy) civvie and if she gets laid off, then life will be miserable for anybody with a (D) after their name come election time. Of course until then, my life will be miserable so I will also be looking to pull the anti-(D) lever also, and as frequently as possible.
#10
How about we start by pulling non-essential personnel, both civilian and uniformed out of Korea and Germany. I think DoD will have a bit of a problem with cancelling or suspending contracts and laying off contractors.
One of the men is the Bush administrations most bitter foe, who spent tens of millions of dollars trying to prevent the president's election and who still supports strident anti-Bush organizations like Moveon.org.
The other is the presidents handpicked envoy to the United Nations, one of the Bush administrations most sensitive posts.
On the surface, they were not likely to have much to talk about. So what were billionaire George Soros and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad discussing Tuesday when they met for a secret lunch at a luxurious but discreet restaurant close to the United Nations?
Nobody but the two men knows.
They met together for roughly 90 minutes after arriving at the restaurant separately, Khalilzad with a Secret Service escort. They also left separately, several minutes apart: Khalilzad in his official black Cadillac, Soros in a flashier red Mercedes-Benz.
Maybe it was the spirit of the Annapolis peace conference that drew the men together. Or perhaps the media attention on Annapolis was one reason they hoped their lunch would go unnoticed.
Asked to comment on the lunch meeting, Ben Chang, Deputy Spokesman of the U.S. Mission to the U.N., said, "The ambassador meets with a number of people in his official and personal capacity." Chang declined to comment any further on details of the meeting, including questions as to why the meeting took place, who arranged it, what they ate and who picked up the check.
#2
Maybe Khalilzad is angling for a job in case of a donk administration.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/29/2007 2:18 Comments ||
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#3
I'd guess something in the lines of democracy & civil society promotion in Central Asia. Soros *has* cooperated or at least worked in parallel with the neocons on a number of fronts. The Rose Revolution in Georgia, for instance.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/29/2007 11:33 Comments ||
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#4
Aren't there some Soros projects going on in Iran? Wasn't a participant in one of those projects taken prisoner (hostage?) rather recently?
The anti-christ has fallen on hard times recently, but it can still plot to wreak a lot of havoc in a 90 minute ???? during that " secret lunch at a luxurious but discreet restaurant close to the United Nations"
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday named James Jones, a retired Marine General and former NATO commander, as the Administrations special envoy for Middle East security.
Rice, in a brief remark to reporters, said Jones' task would be to follow up on security issues between Israel and the Palestinians. "General Jones is the person we need to take up this vital mission," she said.
#1
Well, as a former NATO commander, he prolly has experience is dealing with countries who have their head up there ass, so he would be well suited for this.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/29/2007 2:21 Comments ||
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#2
"I find your lack of faith in my force disturbing"!
#3
Hmmmm...let's see, the congresscritters made sure that tactical intelligence would remain and be an independent function of DoD vice CIA. Now, we'll have a retired MC general being appointed a special envoy. Do I detect functional shifts in the bureaucracy based upon competency that doesn't fit the standard organizational wire diagram? Just a data point [not enough to declare Global bureaucratic warming], but interesting to bear close attention.
US President George W. Bush has said that Sharif's relations with religious parties raised doubts about his commitment to the war on terror.
"I don't know him well enough," Bush said in an interview to a foreign news agency when asked to comment on Sharif's return.
Bush noted that Sharif had good relations with Pakistan's religious parties, which raised doubts about his commitment to battling the Taliban and al Qaeda.
"I would be very concerned if there is any leader in Pakistan that didn't understand the nature of the world in which we live today," Bush said.
The comments prompted the US media, which had already been expressing similar doubts about Sharif since his return to Pakistan.
Several mainstream US newspapers - Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle - quoted senior US officials as saying that they worry Sharif's potential role in any new Pakistan Government.
The officials further said that Sharif's role in the new government could undermine efforts to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban militants, as well as hinder broader initiatives to modernise Pakistan's economy and society.
They cite Sharif's political alliance with Islamist parties and his past weaknesses in coordinating counter terrorism actions with the US when he served as prime Minister in the late 1990s.
"Sharif's agenda is different. His agenda is to walk away from advances" made in Pakistan targeting the promotion of women and civil society, a senior US official told the Wall Street Journal.
Sharif and his supporters have repeatedly denied US charges that he was soft on terrorism.
Some officials blamed Sharif for 'condoning the nuclear proliferation efforts' of Dr A.Q. Khan, 'which aided the nuclear weapons programmes of North Korea, Libya and Iran," the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out.
It was also Sharif who strongly supported the Taliban, sponsors of Osama bin Laden in securing power in Afghanistan, the Chronicle added.
Other newspapers noted that Sharif's return complicates the Bush administration's support for Benazir Bhutto whom Washington has favoured as a more secular politician.
#3
But happily gives the duplicity of Abbas a pass where there's even the microscopic chance of sniffing out a Nobel Prize for his Legacy.
I think he's just throwing out a few crumbs in the general direction of the ummah. Like it or not, Israel is a real negative for US relations with the Muslim world. China is probably more secular than we are and they treat their domestic Muslims like crap, but they have great relations with Muslim countries - because they don't have good relations with Israel, and they sure as heck don't subsidize it.
#5
Z: I would call that "A Badge of Honor". Islam can gobble Chinese clank.
I'm just tossing China out as an extreme example. China has tortured and killed thousands of Muslims for separatist leanings over the years (or simply being too religious), but you don't hear of too many anti-Chinese murmurs among the ummah. Europe is pretty anti-Israel, and the ummah pretty much lets Europe alone.
My point is that Uncle Sam pays a price in terms of anti-Americanism, terrorism and economic boycotts for supporting Israel, and the only gratitude we usually get from Israel is for them to point out that we're selling weapons to Israel's neighbors - weapons that European countries would be delighted to provide and are providing. The benefit to Israel of Uncle Sam providing Arabs their weaponry - apart from defraying the cost of our multi-billion dollar subsidy to Israel - is that we can shut off that supply (of munitions and spare parts) in the event of them attacking Israel. Will the Europeans stop supplying the Arabs if they attack Israel?
Thanks to recent Arab decisions, Israel is getting its wish - Europe may soon replace the US as the Arab world's principal weapons supplier. I have to wonder if that thought will comfort them when Europe is airlifting spare parts and munitions to the Arabs the next time they attack Israel. What would be the thought process - "At least they're not attacking us with US weaponry?"
#6
Fear not, Zhang Fei, your point was perfectly clear. If the question is between supporting a nation who has contributed moreon a per capita basistowards the advancement of science and knowledge than the entire Muslim world put together, you can guess what choice I'll make.
I do agree that Israel had better stop antagonizing America through the sale of military hardware to our enemies. However, neither of us can know just how much intelligence sharing is going on about our Islamic foes.
In the long run, it is far better to have opposed those who seek genocide. What's more, China will carry forward a historical legacy of supporting and arming the worst enemy the civilized world has know in over half a century, aside from the communist Chinese themselves.
Europe has yet to pay the piper as well. Their butcher's bill looks to be monumental and the continent's collective conscience will likely bear another tremendous scar once all is said and done. Overall, I believe that America is doing the right thing about Israel. As the old saying goes about all that is necessary for evil to succeed ...
Marxists who have governed the Indian state of West Bengal for three decades are now suffering political isolation after months of clashes over plans to acquire farm land for industry.
The Marxists' armed supporters have been blamed for violence in the embattled enclave of Nandigram south-west of Calcutta where locals have been resisting plans for the development of a special economic zone. "Their political isolation in West Bengal is complete. Even their allies are openly condemning them," says political analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Choudhuri.
Critics of the Marxists include the state's governor, Gopal Gandhi, the judiciary, opposition parties, smaller left-wing parties in the state's governing coalition and leading intellectuals in West Bengal who command huge local respect. Scores of villagers have been killed in the violence and thousands made homeless. The intellectuals - some of Bengal's best known writers, dramatists, film directors, poets and actors - have taken to the streets in open defiance of the Marxists, as they have never done before.
Smaller left-wing parties have said the state's governing Communist Party of India (Marxist), and not their allies, will have to take all the blame for the violence in Nandigram. One of their ministers, Kshiti Goswami, has threatened to resign. Opposition parties in the state - the Trinamul Congress, the BJP and even the Congress party which needs CPI(M) support for its coalition government in Delhi - have demanded the imposition of federal rule to stop what they call "red terror" in Nandigram. "What has upset everyone the most is the way the administration and the state police were forced to play a silent spectator as the Marxist cadres ran amok," analyst Basu Ray Choudhuri says.
He says there are parallels with the 2002 riots in Gujarat state, where the Hindu nationalist BJP government was accused of failing to protect Muslims.
Last week, West Bengal police chief AB Vohra shocked people by ordering federal police units to move from parts of Nandigram to less troubled areas. "Our homeless supporters would have returned home with the help of the Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF], but now that they are being removed from the worst affected areas, the situation will surely worsen. The police chief is behaving like a stooge of the Marxists," said opposition leader Mamata Banerji.
She alleged that the relocation of the CRPF was ordered after they arrested several Marxist supporters who were spreading terror in the villages of Nandigram. These Marxist supporters, now dubbed the "Red Brigade", launched a full-scale armed assault on opposition strongholds in the first week of November from their bases in Khejuri. Police stood by or were withdrawn from sensitive areas like Tekhali Khal (that separates Nandigram from Khejuri), while the "Red Brigade" set fire to and bombed village after village until the opposition, also armed, fled. Opposition leaders, journalists, TV crews and social activists alike were all prevented from entering Nandigram, as thousands of armed Marxist supporters blocked roads and bridges leading to the area.
According to official reports, at least 16 villagers have been killed by Marxist supporters. But locals say the real death count is many times more because the "Red Brigade" removed or burned many bodies or dumped them in rivers. Far from condemning the violence, West Bengal's Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, shocked everyone by saying that the opposition had been "paid back" in kind.
When peasants held violent protests in January against a proposed chemical hub in Nandigram, the chief minister, who is desperately pushing for Bengal's industrialisation, sent in the police. Fourteen peasants were shot dead by police on 14 March, and the resultant furore forced the chief minister to withdraw the project from the area.
CPI(M) state party chief Biman Bose attacked the judiciary after the high court criticised the state government for the police shooting and said it was "uncalled for". "Let the salary of the judges be increased. They can run the country - the executive and the legislature are not required," Mr Bose told a Marxist rally in Calcutta at the weekend. His party central committee colleague, Benoy Konar, took aim at Governor Gopal Gandhi. "You can join the opposition Trinamul Congress, but you cannot do that so long as you are governor," Mr Konar told the same rally. Marxist leaders speaking at that rally attacked the media and the intellectuals as "opportunists".
The Marxists allege that their political opponents are trying to use events in Nandigram as a "massive propaganda ploy" in the run-up to state village council elections next year. "We only ensured our supporters could return to Nandigram from where they had been forcibly evicted," Mr Bose has said. He and Mr Konar, as well as a third party colleague Shyamal Chakrabarty, have been charged with criminal contempt for their remarks criticising the high court ruling.
At the peak of the Nandigram violence, Governor Gandhi issued a press statement lambasting the state government for failing to contain the unrest. His report to the federal government was equally scathing in its criticism of the state authorities. India's national security adviser, MK Narayanan, defended the governor as "a very sensible person" and said his report was taken "very seriously" by Delhi. "It is time for the Marxists to do some real introspection over Nandigram," Mr Narayanan said.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/29/2007 05:49 ||
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#1
Ala prior articles on STRATEGYPAGE, TOPIX, etc, > the MSM + World is all but ignoring the GREATER MAGNITUDE OR LEVEL OF VIOLENCE/BLOODSHED induced by Marxist-Commie groups, be it directly or in collusion/joint wid local Islamist-Muslim terror orgs.
Aides to President Pervez Musharraf said today that a date for lifting his nearly 4-week-old emergency decree could be announced as early as Thursday, the same day he takes office as civilian president. Musharraf's inauguration to a new five-year presidential term is a purposeful display of what he and his allies say has been a long-intended transition to civilian rule. Opponents, though, consider Musharraf's new term to be tainted by the fact that he was military ruler when the vote was held, and by the fact that the balloting was endorsed by a new Supreme Court seeded with loyalists.
Two senior Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said language on lifting the state of emergency had been incorporated into the text of a speech Musharraf is to deliver to the nation Thursday, hours after the inaugural ceremony. Dawn News, the country's main English-language news channel, said the state of emergency could end in the next 48 hours. The Pakistani leader, however, often instructs his senior lieutenants to circulate word of planned actions well before he intends to carry them out. Before Musharraf stepped down today as army chief of staff, fulfilling a long-standing pledge, target dates were repeatedly announced and then ignored.
Even if an end to the emergency decree is announced, opponents doubt that Musharraf will reverse what has emerged as the centerpiece of the decree: his firing of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other high court justices and senior judges. The Pakistani leader has repeatedly ruled out their reinstatement. Some other provisions of the decree have already been eased. The government says all but a few dozen opposition activists rounded up in the wake of the declaration have been freed, though human rights groups say they cannot verify that claim.
This article starring:
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Militant leader Baitullah Mehsud recently dispatched suicide bombers to attack Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Shujaat Hussain, former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi told Daily Times on Wednesday.
In September, Hussain was en route to Murree when the Punjab government received information that three suicide bombers were sent to target him, said Elahi. We were luckily able to intercept him before he reached Murree and told him that he needed to head back to Islamabad immediately, he added.
Lal Masjid repercussions: Elahi said it took federal authorities almost a month to apprehend the would-be suicide bombers, an Uzbek among them. He said he believed his family was being targeted because of anger over the Lal Masjid episode in Islamabad last July. Anybody who had any direct or indirect involvement in the Lal Masjid issue remains under threat, he said.
He said the federal government had ordered the Lal Masjid operation as a last resort after exhausting all other avenues. Elahi said the threat from terrorists would not deter him from barnstorming across the Punjab. Our security will remain vigilant, after that what can one do? he said.
He said Benazir had been placed under house arrest in Lahore because of a fear of suicide attacks. We definitely did not want to be blamed if something unfortunate had happened, he added.
This article starring:
Baitullah Mehsud
Taliban
Pervaiz Elahi
Shujaat Hussain
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
He's been trying to kill a lot of folks lately. I read an article that said if he had been successful in kidnapping Rahul Gandhi, Gandhi would have been displayed "garlanded with grenades".
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was a major political party and he would like to consult PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto before a final decision on whether to participate in the general elections or not, is announced. He was addressing a press conference at his residence here after the PML-N central executive committee meeting here. He said that it had also been decided at the meeting to consult other political parties, lawyers and the civil society before taking any such decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
ter·ma·gant (tûr'mə-gənt)
n.
A quarrelsome, scolding woman; a shrew.
adj.
Shrewish; scolding.
[From Middle English Termagaunt, imaginary Muslim deity portrayed as a violent and overbearing character in medieval mystery plays, alteration of Tervagant, from Old French.]
If the US wants a stronger Pakistani commitment to the war on terror, it must first recognise that Pakistans poor performance cannot be attributed simply to malfeasance by Pakistans military elite, argues Ashley Tellis, a South Asia expert.
Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argues that while the move this week by General (r) Pervez Musharraf to step down as army chief may assuage some tensions in the embattled nation, the resurgence of Al Qaeda and the Taliban both in and around Pakistan continues to pose an enormous security threat and reflects the greatest reversal suffered by the US since operations began in 2001. Many blame the Musharraf regime for not doing more to combat terrorism, despite receiving significant US aid, this is simplistic. Tellis is of the view that Pakistani counterterrorism efforts have been impeded by its military ineptitude, its political deterioration, a lack of public support for Washingtons war, and the ineffective Afghan government.
He maintains that the majority of Pakistani military officials, despite fears over domestic repercussions and long-term US interests in the region, support operations aimed at defeating terrorism.
Recommendations: In a new report, Tellis presents a number of policy recommendations to strengthen counterterrorism efforts, including to convince Pakistanis of their own self-interest to defeat terrorism, demand the systematic targeting of the Taliban leadership within Pakistan, assist Pakistan with technology and training to monitor critical border crossing points, link counter-terrorism support funds to specific tasks rather than simply reimbursing Islamabad, double US aid to Afghanistan, and challenge NATO to meet its security obligations and commit to combat operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan. Making US aid conditional on Pakistans performance in the war on terror would only inflame Pakistani public opinion and embarrass moderate Pakistanis who cooperated with the US, according to Tellis, while recent suggestions by US presidential hopefuls for unilateral military action could recast Pakistan as an adversary.
If unilateral military action were to become the announced policy of the US, such a policy would likely conclude eventually in the designation of Pakistan as an adversary of the US.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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The role of militant organisations in the Tribal Areas will seriously affect the 2008 elections, tribal elders and candidates said on Wednesday.
Twelve parliamentarians will be elected to the National Assembly from seven tribal districts and one frontier region constituency. In the 2002 elections, the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) won seven seats from Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, South and North Waziristan agencies.
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), sans Kurram and Orakzai agencies, are swayed by pro-Taliban militants, and the government has deployed around 90,000 troops to fight the militancy.
You can imagine how I am canvassing while sitting in my home because I cannot go out due to security concerns, Shahbuddin Khan, a former nationalist leader and Pakistan Muslim League (Q) candidate for NA-44 Bajaur, told Daily Times via phone. Jihadi elements will certainly influence my election result.
Conducive environment: I think Islamists will win maximum seats as the environment is conducive for their victory, former member of the National Assembly (MNA) and Pakistan Peoples Party Khyber Agency leader Malik Waris Khan said. A tribal elder said that candidates having the blessings of militant commanders could easily win the polls. People will vote for the favourite candidates of Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh, Asad Afridi, resident of Landikotal in Khyber Agency, told Daily Times.
Mangal has imposed his own code of conduct for candidates in Khyber Agency, banning hoisting of party flags and taking out of processions. No woman candidate has filed her nomination papers from any tribal district.
Militant commanders have not publicly opposed the elections, but moderate candidates fear that commanders would influence their poll results if they opposed Talibanisation during electioneering. Militants will ensure that Taliban-sympathising candidates win the elections, a candidate from NA-41 (South Waziristan) told Daily Times, asking not to be named.
Former FATA security chief Brig (r) Mehmood Shah said, The Taliban will not disturb the polls, rather they will help like-minded candidates to win.
Maulana Bashir Ahmed, cousin of Taliban Bajaur chief Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, has filed nomination papers for NA-43 (Bajaur). The Taliban chief told a gathering on October 30 that he was not against the polls. The Taliban need political support in parliament. One case is of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has been criticising military operations against the Taliban on various occasions. The JUI-F is the political face of Islamic militancy, Shah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Nearly 90 percent of U.S. journalists in Iraq say much of Baghdad is still too dangerous to visit, despite a recent drop in violence attributed to the build-up of U.S. forces, a poll released on Wednesday said.
The survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center showed that many U.S. journalists believe coverage has painted too rosy a picture of the conflict.
A separate Pew poll released on Tuesday showed that 48 percent of Americans believe the U.S. military effort in Iraq is going very or fairly well, up from 34 percent in June, amid signs of declining Iraqi civilian casualties and progress against Islamist militants such as al Qaeda in Iraq.
But most journalists said they believe violence and the threat of violence have increased during their tenures. Much of the danger for journalists is faced by local Iraqis, who often do most of the reporting outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, the data showed. Fifty-eight percent of U.S. news organizations have had local Iraqi staff killed or kidnapped within the past year, the survey said. About two-thirds of news outlets said local staff face physical or verbal threats at least several times a month.
"Above all, the journalists -- most of them veteran war correspondents -- describe conditions in Iraq as the most perilous they have ever encountered, and this above everything else is influencing the reporting," the authors said in a report that accompanied the data.
At least 122 journalists and 41 media support staff have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists says. About 85 percent of those killed were Iraqis.
Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism surveyed 111 journalists who have worked in Iraq for 29 news organizations, all but one of them U.S.-based. The poll was conducted Sept. 28 through Nov. 7, Pew said
#1
Fifty-eight percent of U.S. news organizations have had local Iraqi staff killed or kidnapped within the past year, the survey said. About two-thirds of news outlets said local staff face physical or verbal threats at least several times a month.
Not surprising when many of their local reporters are themselves terrorists within one faction or another.
#2
Much of the danger for journalists is faced by local Iraqis, who often do most of the reporting outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone...
Well, that sucks, but they knew my job was dangerous when they took it.
Another Grey Goose on the rocks, Mahmoud. And turn up CNN. I wanna watch the debate.
War is hell, I tells ya...
#3
Nearly 90 percent of U.S. journalists...live in the usual affluent white middle class neighborhoods and avoid spending anymore time than is necessary to cover where the 'action' is in their cities back in the US. Hell, you expect the to live and work* in the hood or barrio or little redneckville sections of town? [*not behind some serious security.]
#6
9 out of 10 of these reporters make up 90 percent of the people reporting that Baghdad is dangerous. These same 9 out of 10 make up 90 percent of the MSM. In other breaking news, water is wet and runs downhill.
#7
Far be it from me to note that the anti-American reporting of these skank journalists may have made it even more dangerous than ever for them to wander around anywhere without a flack jacket.
#8
I wonder if these same guys find Washington, DC, to be too dangerous after dark. I'm not even talking about, say Anacostia. I'm talking about Adams-Morgan or DuPont Circle.
The family of an Iraqi journalist - who he claimed had been killed by gunmen in Baghdad - have appeared on Iraqi television, apparently safe and well. Dia al-Kawwaz, who lives in Jordan, said that several members of his family were killed by Shia gunmen on Sunday. Reporters Without Borders and MSM continue to protest deaths because the idea is correct even if the facts are wrong.
But a taped report on the US-owned al-Hurra TV showed his family, none of whom seemed distressed or injured. Mr Kawwaz' sisters denounced his actions, saying there had never been any sort of threat against them. One of his brothers-in-law suggested that he had made the story up for political reasons.
Mr Kawwaz edits a website that has been critical of the Iraqi government and the US military presence in Iraq. He has lived outside Iraq for more than 20 years.
On his site, Mr Kawwaz said the gunmen stormed into his family home in a Shia district of north Baghdad on Sunday, opening fire indiscriminately killing his two sisters, their husbands and four young children as they ate breakfast. He said the attackers threw explosives into the house before driving off in a vehicle with no number plates, passing unhindered through a nearby police checkpoint. Mr Kawwaz was unequivocal in accusing Shia militia men of carrying out the attack. At the time, Interior Ministry officials denied all knowledge of any attack.
#2
Ooops. Too bad. looks like he's even lost the Sans Frontieres boys...
Reporters Without Borders is astounded and angry to discover that a journalist's claim that 11 of his close relatives were murdered last weekend is false. Amman-based Iraqi journalist Dia al-Kawwaz had claimed on 26 November 2007 that 11 members of his immediate family members were shot by gunmen the previous day in Baghdad.
"We are obviously relieved to learn that the Kawwaz family is safe and sound but this journalist's behaviour is unacceptable," the press freedom organisation said. "We are appalled by this deceit, which is not only sordid but also dangerous as it obscures the fact that the families of dozens of journalists have been exposed to violence by Iraq's armed groups."
Reporters Without Borders added: "A great many journalists have had to abandon everything in recent years - their homes and their loved ones - in order to seek refuge abroad. This case must not be allowed to undermine the credibility of the ordeals they describe."
Journalists with Al-Hurra TV met on 28 November in Baghdad with members of the Kawwaz family, who denied Dia al-Kawwaz's claims and said he must have done it "to obtain money from abroad." Many Jordanian dignitaries attended a wake organised by Kawwaz in Amman on 26 November.
When Reporters Without Borders contacted Kawwaz he was evasive about the alleged incident and could not name the relatives who had supposedly been killed. Questioned several times by Agence France-Presse, he was unable to give the exact address of the family home where the massacre allegedly took place or where the victims were supposedly buried.
They're alive! It's a miracle! Inshallah!!!
On the website of the online newspaper he edits, "Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq", he said his family had been "pressured to deny the facts."
What? That they're not dead?
Kawwaz's claim had been quickly denied by Iraqi interior ministry spokesman Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf. "It is a lie," he said. "Nothing of the sort happened. We always investigate murders of this nature." Another government spokesman said he had contacted Kawwaz's mother in Baghdad.
Looks like CNN might've found their next Republican debate moderator...
The Russian Federation opened on Wednesday its consulate in Irbil, regional capital of Kurdistan Iraq, in a move to boost Russian's diplomatic presence in Iraq. Russia is also planning to open another consulate in Iraqi southern city of Basra in the near future.
Russian Ambassador to Iraq said in an opening ceremony in Irbil that they are witnessing an historic step, noting that such move comes after long negotiations between the Russian and Iraqi governments. The Russian Ambassador also unveiled Russian's intensions in opening another consulate in Basra, adding that after the signing of memorandum of understanding between the two governments, and in turn, Iraq will be able to open its own consulates in Russia's various cities.
The Ambassador added the Russian government can participate in Iraq's rebuilding efforts, include the use of Russia's capability in the technological and science fields.
For his part, the governor of Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani said the number of consulates opening in the region is increasing day after day, adding that such step is a proof that world countries are ready to help Iraq. This is a new phase in relations with Russia and confirmation of trust regarding the Iraqi and Kurdistan governments, Barzani said.
Earlier, the city of Irbil witnessed a similar ceremony but for the opening of United Nations first office in the city, in the frame work of expanding UN role and efforts in Iraq.
#4
from now on, the IAF will attack a random Hamas target in Gaza every time a mortar shell or rocket hits an Israeli community, and will no longer limit itself to striking the terrorists who launched the rockets.
#5
I would take a slightly different approach. If I were the Israelis, I would commence the manufacture of literally millions of small unguided rockets and mortars. When one lobbed at me, I would respond by sending at least 100 times as many rounds of a similar sort right back into the same general area as the one aimed at me was launched. This does several things and is important psychologically ... though the maximum psychological impact only happens over time (say after about the third such attach).
What it eventually does is erodes public support for those who are sending rounds into Israel and will turn the people against those lobbing them. It sort of goes like this:
Some idiot launches a series of mortar rounds or salvo of rockets at Israel. Say 5 rounds.
About 500 rounds return to the same general area (important).
The people that saw the rounds go out experience the rounds coming in. They know exactly why those rounds are coming in. Next time Hamas brings some rockets into someone's garage, word is going to go around to the neighbors. A few rounds go toward Israel, a few HUNDRED rounds come back to the same neighborhood.
Pretty soon the locals are informing Israel on the location of these munitions as soon as they are brought into the neighborhood so they can be destroyed by pinpoint strikes or raids. If Hamas continues firing these weapons from the neighborhoods, the people take matters into their own hands and attack Hamas.
#6
Per crosspatch's post: Inspiring Muslims to kill their terrorists is the only hope we will ever have of getting Islam to clean its own house. Sending back 500 rockets in reply to each Hamas launch is just one example of the disproportionate retaliation required to achieve this. Slowly but surely the West is going to finally understand the need for such persuasive measures. No other method will attain the goal of sorting out terrorists from amidst Muslim populations.
We must make Islam aware of how our responses will become increasingly indelicate in the face of any non-cooperation. Dresden and Hamburg and, finally, Hiroshima and Nagasaki lie at the far end of this approach's scale. It is up to Islam to make sure that this does not become necessary. We are under no obligation to demonstrate any sort of restraint in the face of continuing Islamic atrocities.
#7
Our dealings with the supporters of terrorist behavior has been too logical by half. The people who experience the weapons going out need to experience the weapons coming in. This notion that a missile or mortar launched from location A will result in a retaliation in some other random location will do nothing to end this. Those people do not think that way. They see the missile go out to Israel ... hear that an IAF helicopter hit a car somewhere else in Gaza and they thing God has protected them. "Somebody else" will pay the price of that missile going out.
When the people in the neighborhoods from where those missiles and mortars are launched start paying the price, they will put an end to it.
#8
And worse yet, Israel's retaliation the conventional way can actually make things WORSE. By hitting a random target someplace else that wasn't associated with the attack on Israel the people in the neighborhood just curse Israel as some evil entity that blew up something in their neighborhood.
It needs to be like this:
Missile goes out to Israel.
100 missiles come back to the same neighborhood that launched the missile WITHIN SECONDS of that missile striking Israel.
An observer on the gaza side should see one smoke trail going out, and in less than a minute, explosions in that same neighborhood.
Just one day after the Annapolis conference at which the PA recognized the State of Israel's right to exist in peace and security, the PA's official television station screened a map that shows a Palestinian state in place of Israel.
U.S. President George Bush, at the conference on Tuesday, read aloud the summit's agreed-upon joint statement, which declares, "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty."
However, Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report that just a day later, "Mahmoud Abbass Palestinian Authority continues to paint a picture for its people of a world without Israel." Specifically, PMW reports that an information clip produced a while ago by the PA's Central Bureau of Statistics was rebroadcast on Wednesday on Abbas-controlled PA television. The clip shows a map in which the Land of Israel is painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag, symbolizing the replacement of Israel by a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian entity depicted as replacing Israel includes all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, though not the Golan Heights.
The depiction of all of Israel as "Palestine" is not coincidental, PMW reports, "and is part of a formal, systematic educational approach throughout the Palestinian Authority. This uniform message of a world without Israel is repeated in school books, children's programs, crossword puzzles, video clips, formal symbols, school and street names, etc. The picture painted for the Palestinian population, both verbally and visually, is of a world without Israel."
PMW concludes: "The fact that this campaign continues before the ink on the Annapolis agreement is even dry appears to contradict the central promise of the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference: that Israel has a right to exist."
The television clip appears to be loyal to widespread public opinion on the PA street. PA forces were forced to put down anti-Israel and anti-Annapolis rallies in several cities this week, and one protestor was even shot and killed. The protestors stated that Abbas has no right to make "concessions" regarding Jerusalem, refugees and the like in the name of the Palestinian people, and that any deal he makes with Israel will not be binding.
In Hevron, PA security forces killed a demonstrator, injured dozens, and arrested 29 when using force to disperse a mass protest. PA forces also dispersed large protests in Ramallah, Shechem (Nablus), and Bethlehem, making several arrests.
In Hamas-controlled Gaza, the protests were much more intense, and hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Gaza City, emphasizing the importance of the "right of return" for millions of Arabs and their descendants, the "liberation" of Jerusalem, the retention of "every inch of Palestinian land" and the path of resistance and jihad, i.e., terrorism.
#1
President Bush is such a disappointment. And this is the supposed hard-line Evangelical presidency the world condemns for its enthusiasm. Sometimes he is no better than Jimmah.
#2
The usual Palestinian Bait and Switch. How can the entire outside world be so effing credulous? What will it take for the Palestinians to finally exhaust their own long-ago depleted credibility?
#3
All together now, wid feeling, "WE CAN ALL JUST FEEL THE PEACE" - D *** NG IT, another mutual barbecue bites the dust. DOES NO ONE CARE ABOUT STEAK???
Arab nations will give a US-sponsored Middle East peace drive a chance, but are waiting for Israel to prove it is serious about ending the conflict, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said yesterday as US President George W. Bush said Middle East peace was possible. We want to give this opportunity a chance. We have some misgivings, but we are waiting to see what will happen in the next two months, Moussa told journalists here. During the next two months we will test the Israelis intentions to see if they are serious, or if this is just another game.
Later, Bush said that Middle East peace was possible and promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert his full support in forging it. I wouldnt be standing here if I didnt believe that peace was possible, and they wouldnt be here either if they didnt think peace was possible, Bush said with his two guests standing quietly as his side after White House talks.
With Abbas and Olmert poised to return home to confront skepticism over the peace process, thawed after a seven-year freeze, the US president vowed his full support and urged the world to help. Its very important for the international community to support these two leaders during the bilateral negotiations that will take place. And one thing Ive assured both gentlemen, is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process, Bush pledged. We will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side by side in peace with Israel, said the US president.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Arab nations will give a US-sponsored Middle East peace drive a chance, but are waiting for Israel to prove it is serious about ending the conflict
Moussa should be damn careful about what he wishes for. If Israel were any more serious about ending this conflict the Palestinians would all be dead by now.
#4
JPOST > FATAH. HAMAS WILL UNITE IF ISRAEL INVADES/ATTACKS GAZA. Invited by Saudis + Egypt for talks. ALso from JPOST > Op-Ed > AN INCREASINGLY INTERNATIONAL JERUSALEM. The City of David is goin' GLOBAL - MULTI-FAITH, MULTI-SHARING???
The United States would "support" Israel if it were to be attacked by Iran, US President George W. Bush said Wednesday. Bush, who was speaking to CNN, did not say whether he meant military support. "I have made it clear absolutely that we will support our ally Israel if attacked by Iran," he said. "I hope it doesn't happen, but you're asking me to answer a hypothetical. My answer is and they've got to understand that we support Israel if Iran attacks it."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
obviously, super "W" is walking softly and carrying that big stick at this point; but with the Iranians threatening to stomp the crap out of the US at every turn, he could have atleast sent one shiver of scare up their collective spines! I look forward to the famous Rodney King quote at his next reaction!! Sheesh!
#2
I didn't notice much in the way of support when Israel and Hezbollah were going at it last year. That was, in effect, a case of Iran attacking Israel and stomping all over Lebanon in the process. Sustained heavy bombing of those Hezbollah bunkers would have been my idea of support.
#3
I didn't notice much in the way of support when Israel and Hezbollah were going at it last year
You should have. Among other things, we conducted a massive air lift of ammunition and related supplies. We also provided electronic monitoring and intel.
#6
Any SSBNs on schedule for inactivation? give a couple [for rotation in and out] to Israel. It's not like they don't have nuke already, so it's not a proliferation. Older models with single warheads per bird. That should be enough to keep even the Mad Mullahs guessing. It's one thing to hobble together a bomb. It's another to build a full fledged anti-submarine op that is adequate.
A Vatican official said Wednesday that Palestinian refugees have the right to return to their homeland, and said he hoped Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would address the issue.
Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the Vatican's office for migrants, said an agreement to restart peace talks, reached Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland, was encouraging and that he hoped by this time next year concrete measures would be under way. "It is my hope that all the parts of the problem are taken into consideration such as that of the Palestinian refugees, who like all other refugees, have the right to return to their homeland," Martino said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Way to go, you damned morons. Prolong one of the most hideous and bloody conflicts on earth. What in Hell is there that makes it possible for you to grant murderous Islam this sort of credibility? The Vatican just marginalized itself in a major way.
#6
So the Silesian Germans are going to get to return and recover their lands lost in '45-6? Have you discussed this with the Polish government, because we're dealing with a 'principle' here?
#7
Martino is Italian churchman, Cardinal Deacon, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in the Roman Catholic Church.
He denounced the death sentence for Saddam Hussein and called for a conference to establish peace throughout the middle east. He's opposed our presence in Iraq from the start as well.
#11
I don't have time to look but I think this guy has come up before. One of those permanent bureaucracy people from the Vatican's equivalent of the state department.
#12
Cardinal Martino is the Chuck Schumer of the Curia - he's always on the lookout for a mic and a camera, and he's ardent student in the use of the first person singular pronoun.
#18
In all fairness, is this Cardinal Renato Martino a loose cannon on the Vatican decks? It's difficult to imagine that such a high-level statement was issued without Pontifical vetting. Moreover, this position completely upends previous calls for "reciprocity" which, until now, had served as a significant conerstone in Benedict's assault upon Islam.
To demand Palestinian right of return without a reciprocal right for all the displaced Jews of that same era is a ghastly abortion of justice.
#20
Does this mean I can go back to Massachusetts?
Posted by: Bernie Law ||
11/29/2007 12:53 Comments ||
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#21
If I remember my history correctly, it was the Romans who drove the Jews out of Israel in the first place back in about 70 A.D. Dunno what business the Romans thought they had in Israel, something about an empire I guess. But I think the Jews were pretty unhappy about it. How about a right to return for the Joooooos, there, Cardinal?
BTW, if the Palestinians weren't a bunch of homicidal maniacs this problem could have been peacefully resolved a long time ago.
#22
Cardinal Renato has a habit of speaking out of turn. He did it to JOhn Paul II, and now does it to Pope Benedict. Its the Vatican's equivalent of a State Department, and is just as much a liberal (even socilist) loose cannon organization in the Church as it is in the US. Several times Renato was directly contradicted by Pope John Paul II. FYI Renato is one of those "Liberation Theology" morons who is still hanging around.
And in general, its impossible to fire him unless there is gross personal misconduct.
The main reason behind his thinking is that Renato belives it is his charge to speak up for any and every refugee, and he ignores context when doing so (i.e. he imagines them all to be innocent, which is wrong). This allows the Church to demand that Christians who were in Iran, for example, be given their homes back and be kept secure in them. Its part of the "Freedom to practice religion" doctrine he has developed in the Vatican's State Department, albeit extended to rediculous extremes (as liberals tend to do).
Everyone has their bad apples, do I need to point to our state department as a prime example?
So stop with the ignorant Catholic bashing. Bashe Renato, but cut the BS trashing of Catholicism and the Pope.
#23
Some of you may remember from your history that the Catholic Church did a pretty damn good job of fighting the Muslims in Israel. Keep in mind that if it ever happens again, the Catholic Church if an organization that we will want, and likely will be, on our side again if it should ever happen.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/29/2007 13:55 Comments ||
Top||
#24
Everyone has their bad apples, do I need to point to our state department as a prime example?
So stop with the ignorant Catholic bashing. Bashe Renato, but cut the BS trashing of Catholicism and the Pope.
Amen to that! Glad you said it, wouldn't have been as persuasive. Or nice.
#26
Thanks for the background, OldSpook. As a Protestant, I try to be understanding and respectful of the Catholic Church and I find that the older I get the more I appreciate it. In all fairness there are plenty of moonbats in my church too. So how about if I bash the Cardinal as an individual and leave the Church as a whole out of it? At least I won't get beheaded for it.
#27
Maybe reciprocal right of return to all refugees is part of the solution...all Jews may return to an expanded Israel, all illegal immigrants can return to country of origin, and all Palestinians to a homeland with borders yet to be determined. And the Vatican can be sovereign over Rome, freeing the world's citizens to self-rule over their own affairs.
#28
I'm afraid that too many Italians are anti-Israel and anti-Jewish.
IMO, It isn't rational but a transfer of their own Humiliation, a left over sentiment, a residue like resentment from WII for the Humiliation of the Duce and the complete Humiliation of the Italian Armed Forces.
The Pope should straiten this asshole Cardinal Renato Martino out.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
11/29/2007 15:04 Comments ||
Top||
#29
Feel free to trash individual as they deserve.
And this Cardinal certainly has earned it IMHO.
He has a LOT of Catholics outside Italy pretty angry with his consistent support of socialism and anti-US rhetoric.
Of those who know of this guy and some of the other liberal establishment "Vaticanisti", almost all are angry at them for overspetting the bounds of faith and becoming too wordly (Leae the wordly to thsoe of us in it, the lay people). This indcludes probably all of the Knights of Columbus that I know - a vary conservative group in general there, with good overlap between KoC higher degrees and American Legion + VFW, plus cops and firefighters.
So, open season on them the same as you woudl the UU nutjobs or Presbyterian nutjobs, Anglican nutjobs (like the "Archdruid" who is busy destroying the Anglican communion), etc. Go after them for being nutjobs, not the particular denomination; thats fair and proper.
#32
Reestablish Antioch! I want some Crusader Kingdoms. If the Papal states are gonna get involved they should really get invovled. The crusaders are blamed by Muslims anyway, conquer and establish good government, then at least you can be blamed for real acts and not for fiction.
#33
And in general, its impossible to fire him unless there is gross personal misconduct.
Ummm ... doesn't undermining the specific intentions of the Holy See sorta qualify as "misconduct"? If one single person on earth still retains anything close to Absolute Power, I would think it is the Pope. There's gotta be some way Benedict can slingshot this puppy out of the Vatican. As Darth noted, reassignment to Iran certainly has a distinctly appealing notion to it.
#34
I dunno, Mike N. My ancestors didn't do well during the Crusades. The Jewish communities in Rhineland were devastated by the marching armies, and the communities in the Holy land were treated similarly.
Let's not forget that the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade led directly to the Byzantine Empire's dissolution.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/29/2007 21:15 Comments ||
Top||
#35
Eric,
As I understand it, European Jews were the first group attacked during the Crusades in the spring of 1096.
I wasn't trying to imply that a collective of knights thrown together was an amazing army. Though it did damn well for what it was and how far from home it was, my point was more about the Catholic Churches role in organizing the Crusades.
While it'll never raise an army again, it could still do very well at raising support.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/29/2007 21:24 Comments ||
Top||
#36
While it'll never raise an army again, it could still do very well at raising support.
Not so long as idiots like Cardinal Renato Martino have the microphone.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni failed in attempts to set up meetings in Annapolis or Washington with colleagues from the Arab world, even though the summit was designed to show international support for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Livni, who was interested in meeting some of the 15 representatives from the Arab and Muslim world at the conference who do not have ties with Israel, only held a meeting in Washington with Salaheddin al-Bashir, the Jordanian foreign minister whose country does have full diplomatic ties with Israel. That meeting took place Wednesday in Washington.
The Jerusalem Post has learned that there was also some pre-summit talk of Livni flying to one of the North African countries - Morocco or Tunisia - on her way home from Washington, but that this also failed to materialize.
Israeli officials interpreted this as evidence that the Arab world had not changed its fundamental policy that there would be no warming of relations with Israel until after a deal, and that normalization was one of the Arab world's major bargaining chips.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Nah, they are just fucken misogynists and jew-haters.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the Mideast Quartet meeting on the margins of the Donors' Conference on the Palestinian Territories scheduled to take place in Paris, France, on December 17, a UN official told KUNA on Wednesday.
The Quartet - UN, US, EU and Russia - met last Monday in Washington D.C. on the eve of the Annapolis Peace Conference.
Prior to his Paris trip, the official added, Ban will travel to Bali, Indonesia, where he will attend the UN Climate Change Conference beginning December 3rd. He is also scheduled to travel to Timor Leste and Thailand during the same period.
Navy commander has said that Iran's naval force is so mighty that no foreign power could ever dare violate our territorial waters.
All naval equipment is produced by Iranian experts using the state-of-the-art technology, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari noted on Iran's National Navy Day on Thursday.
He emphasized the recent developments and increasing potential of the Islamic Republic's Navy.
Iran had achieved the technology of submarine battery manufacturing prior to some other countries, the rear admiral remarked.
All Iran's naval units benefit from modern equipment such as propellers, weapons and sensors, which have been produced by Iranian engineers, he concluded.
Washington has recently ratcheted up its war rhetoric against the Islamic Republic of Iran, accusing the country of pursuing a nuclear weapons program.
#13
"Beats the hell out of the old "banks of oars on a trireme" thing."
LOL SteveS! Made my day.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/29/2007 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Quote from last Iranian Major Sea Battle:
"My mem fight like women, and my women fight like men!" Xerxes
Posted by: bruce ||
11/29/2007 15:19 Comments ||
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#15
Yawn, another hole in the water, it'll be filled in soon with their inshallah construction and maintenance, we only need to wait, point and laugh at the appropriate time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/29/2007 16:08 Comments ||
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#16
Gee. They've been at it for a few years now and they have already mastered just about everything!
They'd better be careful with the bravado thingy. Seems to me not too long ago an entire nation got surprised when their expectations turned out to be unfounded.
#18
As said or inferred before on the Net, and as per the Bolsheviks-Commies + German-Italian Fascists before them, looks like Iran's Mullahs, etc. are out to restore local Nationalism or Pride in Islam + Persian/Iranian "histoire'" [Rush Limbaugh]. ISSUE STILL REMAINS "GOD-BASED" + ISLAM-BASED/CENTRIC TOTALITARIANISM-GOVTISM, VERSUS ANTI-OBSOLESCENCE VITAL REFORMS BY AND FOR ISLAM'S OWN SAKE.
#19
Hey dumbies: any attack plan would engage those naval forces against the Ayatollahs. Professional elements of the Iranian armed forces, co-exist with Basij jihadists. That can easily be broken up. Most Iranians want regime change without occupation; and hopefully that is what they will get.
Many Arab states attended the Annapolis meeting because they wanted unity, in face of Iranian aggression. Syria - a puppet entity of the Ayatollahs - was last to signal willingness to attend. Their reps were treated as traitors. Even those Arabs who oppose the Iraq occupation, will at least give tacit support to regime change in Iran.
A UN inquiry has made progress in linking people to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and is closely examining the possibility that two or more teams may have prepared and carried out the attack, the chief investigator said Wednesday.
While not identifying anyone, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in his final report to the Security Council that progress by the UN International Independent Investigation Commission in the last four months has led to the identification of new "persons of interest" and new investigative leads. "The commission has also deepened and broadened its understanding of the possible involvement of a number of persons of interest, including persons who have recently been identified by the commission, who may have been involved in some aspects of the preparation and commission of the crime or who may have known that a plan to carry out the crime was being prepared," Brammertz said.
"In addition to the progress made in linking various persons of interest to the commission of the crime, the commission has also established links between some of these persons," he said, adding that pursuing this line of inquiry will be a priority in the coming months.
This article starring:
Serge Brammertz
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
25 years from now now they may stumble upon a clue
Iran's navy launched on Wednesday a new domestically made Ghadir-class light submarine in the waters of the Gulf which was outfitted with the latest shutter guns military and technological equipment.
The light class submarine enjoys high maneuverability, including the latest combat weaponry and technology, Iran's Navy Commander Admiral Habiballah Sayyari told Iran's news channel Al-Alem. Iran's defense capabilities should not be considered a threat to gulf states, but only for defense purposes, Sayyari said.
The Iranian commander also emphasized the need for his country to secure Hermuz strait, expressing delight to any kind of cooperation with the Arab gulf states regarding the issue.
According to foreign military experts, Iran's inventory of submarines patrolling Gulf waters includes at least three Russian-built Kilo-class diesel submarines.
#3
Based on contempor Net reports, Iran will more than likely match Israel's move towards missle-carrying subs. Iran's IRBMS in its western areas are susceptible to strikes from Afghanistan, Israel, and even Russia - as argued years ago, Iran > deploy any LR Missles in fixed silos + undersea subs in one or both of the Persian GUlf + Caspian Seas.
#4
Firing a ballistic missile from a sub is not a trivial task. Look how long India has been working on the ATV. Look at the latest product of decades of Chinese sub R+D. And both these countries are far more technologically and industrially advanced than Iran.
For its subs Iran will be limited to cruise missiles for perhaps two decades.
And that assumes it can get Russia to (a) modify their Kilos for VLS launch of the Klub or other cruise missiles and (b) sell them the land attack version of the Klub
Posted by: john frum ||
11/29/2007 6:11 Comments ||
Top||
#5
john - perhaps you missed the announcement that The Mighty Mad Mullah Mighty Military Machine is second to none?
Actually, after all the bluster earlier this year, I'm surprised this new sub can't do 75 knots while remaining completely invisible to infidels.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/29/2007 7:07 Comments ||
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#6
If they got one or two from China it would not be a Good Thing, however.
#15
RIAN > IRAN RECEIVES NEW STEALTH-CAPABLE SUBMARINE[Ghadir]. Naval Cdr. claims Iranian Navy has enuff missles to PROTECT IRAN'S SOUTHERN FLANK IN GULG. See RB article on QATAR??? ALso from RIAN > RUSSIA TEST-FIRES TWO BALLISTIC MISSLES SS-21 SCARABS SRBM/TBMS, these to be replaced by new and improved, MULTI-WARHEAD ISKANDERS; + RUSSIA TO CONDUCT STRATEGIC MILITARY EXERCISES IN 2008.
Possibly. I suspect they'll operate using oil platforms for support facilties. Shoot-and-scoot. If they're quiet, they might be just as much a nuisance as the mines were during the Tanker War.
#17
Diesel boats can be VERY quiet. However, they still show up on active sonar. One of the reasons that surface ships don't like to use active sonar is that it gives their position away. However, if the surface ships can't find the subs any other way, active sonar works very well. We also have several other ways of detecting submarines, including sonobuoys dropped from aircraft.
Lebanese lawmakers could be on the cusp of finally agreeing on Army Commander Michel Sleiman as Lebanon's new president, ending a volatile political stalemate and fears of civil strife. ``It is true,'' Saad al-Hariri's Future parliamentary bloc would back Sleiman's election, Ammar Houry, a member of parliament, said by telephone from Beirut, acknowledging that his group had dropped objections to the nomination.
Sleiman will need to step down from the army and Lebanon's constitution will need to be amended for a public servant to become president.
Sleiman will need to step down from the army and Lebanon's constitution will need to be amended for a public servant to become president. That's the best they could come up with? Another general? Liverlips was an ex-general, for Cat's sake. If they wanted somebody neutral, why not ask the Swedes for that pretty princess they've got? Nothing brings a nation together better than a pretty princess.
For two months, the majority coalition under Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has been trying to select a successor to President Emile Lahoud, 71. It was blocked by Hezbollah. Lahoud, a close ally of Syria, supported its 29-year occupation of Lebanon. He left the presidential palace at midnight Nov. 23 after he ordered the armed forces to handle security nationwide because of ``threats'' that might lead to a state of emergency.
The only "threats" anybody noticed were those coming from Hezbollah.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri set Nov. 30 as the date for another vote on a new president, who normally serves a six-year term. In Lebanon's sectarian governmental system, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite.
Sleiman's Career
General Sleiman, born Nov 21, 1948, took command of the Lebanese Armed Forces on December 21 1998, according to the Lebanese Armed Forces Web site. A graduate of the Military Academy and the Lebanese University, he moved up the ranks from an infantry platoon leader to battalion commander, later chief of the Intelligence Branch of Mount Lebanon and then Army Staff Secretary-General.
The shift in strategy by the governing coalition, also known as March 14, may be seen as a way of derailing the presidential ambitions of Christian politician Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment Middle East Center in Beirut. Aoun has proposed a shortened presidency of two years instead of the usual six to break the stalemate. Aoun said the next government should be headed by someone from outside the current ruling coalition.
Namely by him...
``The opposition had initially first proposed Sleiman but the March 14 movement rejected his nomination, so this would be meeting the opposition more than half-way,'' Ghorayeb said.
President's Tenure
``In the next phase the squabbling will be over how long Sleiman will serve,'' Ghorayeb said. ``March 14 are hitting two birds with one stone, if the opposition agrees then, great, that's a solution and if they don't then that's good as well, because it makes them look conciliatory and Michel Aoun appears as the obstacle to national consensus.''
Aoun's acceptance would put an end to a year-long crisis. Tony Nasrallah, a media adviser to Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement, declined to comment on the candidacy of Sleiman. ``It's too early for us to comment and it could be all that is taking place are maneuvers that aim to create a rift between the Lebanese army and the Free Patriotic Movement and we reserve our right not to declare our stand at this time,'' Nasrallah said.
Hezbollah Ties
Sleiman has close ties to Hezbollah and played a supportive role to the Shiite militia during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon and in the war with Israel in 2006. Hezbollah would be amenable to his candidacy as it ``has trust in him,'' Ghorayeb said.
The government and Hezbollah have been at odds for a year. Hezbollah pulled its members and supporters out of the cabinet after failing to get Siniora to grant it a veto power over major decisions. Ever since, parliament speaker Berri, a Hezbollah ally, has refused to call parliament into session. Hezbollah vowed to oppose any president chosen by simple majority instead of consensus.
Under Lebanon's constitution, the cabinet assumes presidential powers in the event a president can't be elected. The president is in charge of the army, and must sign off on the formation of cabinets and on treaties and agreements with foreign countries. The last time the presidency was vacant was in 1988-1989 during Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
This article starring:
Amal Saad-Ghorayeb
Ammar Houry, a member of parliament
Emile Lahoud
Michel Aoun
Michel Aoun
Michel Sleiman
Nabih Berri
Saad al-Hariri
Tony Nasrallah
Tony Nasrallah, a media adviser to Aoun
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Iran is talking to the Taliban but has a "very ambivalent" attitude towards al Qaeda, a third major foe of the United States, a top European security official said. Tehran's relations with the Taliban and al Qaeda are of key importance because of Washington's concerns they could carry out damaging attacks on the United States and its allies in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The United States would be particularly wary of any growing relationship between the three as Tehran is looking for support in case of a possible U.S. strike on its nuclear facilities, which Washington says are being used to develop a nuclear bomb. "I certainly believe the Iranians are conducting talks with the Taliban," August Hanning, Germany's deputy interior minister and former head of its BND spy agency, told Reuters in an interview.
He noted that Iran has also acknowledged holding some senior al Qaeda figures for years, possibly under some form of house arrest, and said Tehran might seek to use them as a "bargaining chip" against the West. Although talks are under way with Iran over a diplomatic solution concerning Tehran's nuclear program, Washington has not ruled out military strikes on its atomic facilities. Iran says it wants nuclear energy to generate electricity.
Western security analysts assume Shi'ite Iran is already planning its response to a U.S. attack. Some believe it might set aside its differences with the Sunni Taliban and al Qaeda in a bid to maximize its "asymmetric capacity" to retaliate. The United States has long accused Iran of backing insurgents in Iraq and security experts say Tehran's response to any U.S. airstrikes on its nuclear installations would include stepping up support of anti-U.S. forces in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories.
This article starring:
August Hanning, Germany's deputy interior minister
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
There's reasons why "The Base" and "The Students", etc. surnames are what they are.
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.
The atmosphere is subdued as many residents have left town and local business has declined. The hospital in central Musa Qala is padlocked, and the district government office has been completely demolished by Taleban militants. The bazaar is quiet, with none of its former bustle. 
Britain has launched a drive for an international accord granting the Royal Navy and Western warships rights to enter Somali territorial waters in pursuit of pirate gangs linked to al-Qaeda. The Royal Navy is hoping to crack down on pirate activity off the Horn of Africa. Al-Qa'eda is said to dominate the lucrative trade
Last month, a nine-member team of government experts headed to a U.S. military base on the Marshall Islands to explore the possible health effects of a radar on the Kwajalein Atoll. If all goes according to government plans, the U.S. will move this radar to the Czech Republic to become part of its European missile-defense shield. Upon their return, these experts assured the public that the planned radar base to be erected on the Brdy military grounds, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Prague will not pose any known health risks to the local population.
Aides to President Pervez Musharraf said today that a date for lifting his nearly 4-week-old emergency decree could be announced as early as Thursday, the same day he takes office as civilian president. Musharraf's inauguration to a new five-year presidential term is a purposeful display of what he and his allies say has been a long-intended transition to civilian rule. Opponents, though, consider Musharraf's new term to be tainted by the fact that he was military ruler when the vote was held, and by the fact that the balloting was endorsed by a new Supreme Court seeded with loyalists.
If the US wants a stronger Pakistani commitment to the war on terror, it must first recognise that Pakistans poor performance cannot be attributed simply to malfeasance by Pakistans military elite, argues Ashley Tellis, a South Asia expert. 
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Nearly 90 percent of U.S. journalists in Iraq say much of Baghdad is still too dangerous to visit, despite a recent drop in violence attributed to the build-up of U.S. forces, a poll released on Wednesday said.
The family of an Iraqi journalist - who he claimed had been killed by gunmen in Baghdad - have appeared on Iraqi television, apparently safe and well. Dia al-Kawwaz, who lives in Jordan, said that several members of his family were killed by Shia gunmen on Sunday. 
Just one day after the Annapolis conference at which the PA recognized the State of Israel's right to exist in peace and security, the PA's official television station screened a map that shows a Palestinian state in place of Israel. 
Arab nations will give a US-sponsored Middle East peace drive a chance, but are waiting for Israel to prove it is serious about ending the conflict, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said yesterday as US President George W. Bush said Middle East peace was possible. We want to give this opportunity a chance. We have some misgivings, but we are waiting to see what will happen in the next two months, Moussa told journalists here. During the next two months we will test the Israelis intentions to see if they are serious, or if this is just another game. 
Navy commander has said that Iran's naval force is so mighty that no foreign power could ever dare violate our territorial waters. 
A UN inquiry has made progress in linking people to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and is closely examining the possibility that two or more teams may have prepared and carried out the attack, the chief investigator said Wednesday. 
Lebanese lawmakers could be on the cusp of finally agreeing on Army Commander 
