#7
He'll be too busy meeting with the 'elites' of Iraq and Afghanistan (who will fawn over him just to hedge their bets in case he wins) to visit much with the troops (except for a few photo-ops with hand-picked people of course).
I wonder if he'll cut directly to the head of the line in the mess hall like Hillary.
#8
"I wonder if he'll cut directly to the head of the line in the mess hall like Hillary."
I doubt he'll even eat at the mess hall, CF.
Unless they're serving arugula....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/19/2008 14:05 Comments ||
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#9
Barb - Heh. I have no idea what "arugula" is (and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know) but it sounds like it goes right next to the "tofu surprise" on the plate.
#12
PBMcL - it's an overpriced lettuce (also called rocket). It's often described as "peppery." I like it OK in those bagged salad mixes (which I won't buy unless they're on sale), but by itself it sucks rocks.
Apparently he complained about the price of arugula to some voters at a campaign meeting in Iowa, in another of his many out-of-touch-with-normal-people-and-reality moments.
By the way, Claviling, I'm with you, but I don't think we can make the Afghans keep him. We're actually trying to get along with them. (And thanks for protecting the Lichtensteiners - I had a great time when I was there. ;-p)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/19/2008 18:33 Comments ||
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#13
Barb - thanks for the info. Romaine is about as fancy as I get. I like the bagged mixes too, but some of 'em are enormous rip-offs, like 3 bucks for 4 or 6 ounces of veggies. They make steak seem cheap by comparison - so I get the steak!
Afghanistan has been drawing a fresh influx of fighters from Turkey, Central Asia, Chechnya and the Middle East, one more sign that Al Qaeda is regrouping on what is fast becoming the most active front of the war on terror groups.
More foreigners are infiltrating Afghanistan because of a recruitment drive by Al Qaeda as well as a burgeoning insurgency that has made movement easier across the border from Pakistan, United States officials and experts said.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen warned about an increase in foreign fighters crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan, where the government was trying to negotiate with militants. Two US officials told the AP on condition of anonymity that the US was closely monitoring the flow of foreign fighters into both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Militant web sites from Chechnya to Turkey to the Arab world featured recruitment ads as early as 2007, said University of Massachusetts Islamic History Associate Professor Brian Glyn Williams. He has tracked the movement of militants for the US military's Combating Terrorism Centre.
He said there were rumours of hardened Arab fighters from Iraq training Afghans in the tactic of suicide bombing.
Recruits' source: Turkey also appears to have emerged as a source of recruits. Williams estimated as many as 100 Turks had made their way to Pakistan to join the fight in Afghanistan.
"The story of Turkish involvement in trans-national terrorism is one of the best kept stories of the war on terror," said Williams, who noted that Al Qaeda videos posted on YouTube mention Turks engaging in the insurgency. He said, "The local Afghans whom I talked to claim that the Turks and other foreigners are more prone to suicidal assaults than the local Taliban."
Dozens of Turkish Islamic militants have trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and taken part in attacks there, said Emin Demirel, an anti-terrorism expert in Turkey. He said images of attacks on mosques or Muslim villages provide propaganda for recruiting young Turkish Muslims.
"Nowadays, they are effectively using the Internet to communicate with fellow militants, and police have difficulty in keeping tabs on several of the militant sites," said Demirel.
He added, "Turkish courts sometimes locally block access to one particular site, but it is still accessed outside Turkey. These websites eulogise fallen fighters as martyrs in order to recruit radical Muslim youths."
A senior official in Turkey's Interior Ministry said it had no information to confirm the claims of an increase in the number of Turks fighting in Afghanistan.
Taliban: Al Qaeda has financed the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in the resultant chaos, it has been able to steadily recruit, re-establish its public relations wing, plot new attacks and re-establish areas of operation on both sides of the border.
Afghan and Western officials say a key route for Al Qaeda recruits is from Central Asia into north-eastern Kunar and Nuristan provinces, where former US intelligence officials suspect Osama Bin Laden is hiding. Both provinces border Pakistan's Bajaur Tribal Area, where the Taliban hold sway and where the US has targeted Al Qaeda's Ayman al Zawahri.
The hulking mountains of Kunar and Nuristan soar thousands of feet and are heavily forested, giving militants good cover. Kunar was the location of the war's two deadliest attacks on US soldiers on Sunday, with the killing of the nine Americans, and in June 2005, when militants shot down a helicopter and killed 16 soldiers.
Naseer Ahmed al Bahri, Bin Laden's bodybuard until 2000, told the AP in Yemen last year that Al Qaeda had field commanders in countries from Indonesia to Senegal.
While Al Qaeda may be sending most of its trainees to Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is probably also creating cells with the mission of attacking Western countries, including the US, warned Erich Marquardt, senior editor with the Combating Terrorism Centre.
"I think we have to accept the fact that Al Qaida has not taken its sights off the far enemy, it recognises that it is fighting in multiple theatres and is therefore likely training fighters for different areas of operation," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, joy. Well, the foreigners will make themselves obnoxious in Pakistan, and either offend the Paks or sit in coffee shops. Because the trip to Afghanistan is one way.
#3
Unless and until the terrorists opium payroll / recruiting money dries up, this will continue apace. Just mention opium eradication, however, and listen to the whining ( can't be done, what will the farmers do to make a living, etc. ) from every direction begin...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/19/2008 13:12 Comments ||
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#4
Issue an ultimatum to Karzai that opium poppy growth will not be tolerated, that opium fields will be napalmed (with or without the farmers), and anyone suspected to be involved with opium production and distribution will be the target of Special Forces kill teams. That includes Karzai. Watch the slippery brown stuff impact the air recirculation device. Most importantly, CARRY THROUGH ON THE THREAT. Lots of things will change, and fast, the second time one of Karzai's underlings or family members gets capped.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/19/2008 16:03 Comments ||
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Arab foreign ministers are expected to discuss a proposal Saturday calling on Sudan's president to hand over two Darfur war crimes suspects to an international tribunal in an effort to fend off the longtime leader's own prosecution on genocide charges, Arab diplomats said.
But it wasn't clear if the proposal would receive support during an emergency meeting Saturday of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo. Sudan also has shrugged off any deal that would send its citizens to the International Criminal Court.
"There will be no direct cooperation with the International Criminal Court, and the two Sudanese citizens will not be sent to The Hague," Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail said in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, late Thursday, according to the state-run Egyptian news agency. Phone calls to Ismail and other Sudanese officials on Friday went unanswered.
The meeting Saturday was called after the Netherlands-based tribunal's chief prosecutor on Monday announced genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of waging a campaign of extermination against three Darfur tribes that claimed up to 300,000 lives and drove 2.5 million people from their homes. A three-judge panel from the ICC is expected to take two to three months to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.
The charges against al-Bashir came a year after the court indicted Sudan's humanitarian affairs minister, Ahmed Harun, who was formerly in charge of security in Darfur, and suspected militia leader Ali Kushayb on crimes against humanity.
During Saturday's meeting, Arab foreign ministers are expected to consider the proposal urging al-Bashir to surrender Harun and Kushayb to the ICC in return for asking the U.N. Security Council, which asked the court to investigate the Darfur conflict, to defer prosecution of al-Bashir for at least year, the Arab diplomats said. The diplomats, who were familiar with the discussions ahead of the meeting, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Deferring prosecution would allow time to build up the understaffed U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur to its full strength of 26,000. The court's statutes allow its judges to provide such leeway.
But the League's secretary-general, Amr Moussa, also said any Arab response would also take into consideration the view that al-Bashir should be out of the court's reach because Sudan does not recognize its authority.
The 22-nation Arab League is loathe to see what it regards as the humiliation of an Arab leader, and many Arab countries, including Syria, have reacted strongly to the court action.
"Sudan already has too many problems. New ones will only further complicate the situation and neither peace will be achieved nor justice will be done," said Lebanese columnist Abdel Wahab Badrkhan in an interview.
But key regional powerhouses such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt have made no firm commitment to support al-Bashir since the prosecutor's announcement. This could be an indication that heavyweight Arab governments might be fed up with al-Bashir, who has been ruling the war-stricken African nation for about 20 years.
Many also question the ability of a fractious Arab League to do anything to help Sudan in its confrontation with the ICC, especially since only three Arab League countries are signatories to the court -- Jordan, Djibouti and Comoros.
"All they can do is to issue a statement of condemnation to console the Sudanese president," wrote Abdel-Rahman al-Rashid, a leading Saudi columnist for the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Monday. "We must remember that the Arab League did not care about extermination of 300,000 Darfuris. It even refused to stand a moment of silence to the killings, displacements and burning."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Nuke Kartoum. It'll end a lot of unpleasantness in that part of the world, from Darfur to the Sudan/Kenya border, to Chad, to the Central African Republic, to Eritrea, to Somalia. It'll also give Egypt enough to have to handle they won't be able to interfere when Israel "clears" Gaza and the West Bank. It'll also send a clear message to Pencil-Neck and Nastyfeller in Syria/Lebanon that their days may be numbered, also.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/19/2008 16:07 Comments ||
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Sudan has asked Russia to defend its president Omar al-Beshir from possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sudan's ambassador to Russia told Russian media on Friday.
"We asked Russia as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to use its influence, ties and contacts to dispel this spectre threatening Sudan," the Interfax news agency quoted ambassador Chol Deng Alak as saying at a news conference in Moscow.
He took over from is brother, Chol Denk Alas.
On Monday, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused Beshir of masterminding a genocidal campaign in Darfur and asked judges to issue a warrant for his arrest. If granted, the warrant would be the first ever issued by The Hague-based court against a sitting head of state.
Alak described the prosecutor's request as "very dangerous, since it involves arresting the president of a sovereign state which did not sign the Rome Statute" establishing the ICC.
"Such a request breaks confidence in international justice and violates international law," Alak said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
As loathsome as Sudan, they have a very valid point that the ICC is overreaching its authority, and it is better that the limping scrod be neutered ASAP, or their next targets will be American citizens.
The United Nations said on Friday food shipments to Somalia were grinding to a halt as few vessels were willing to hazard the country's pirate-infested waters, and it called on governments to provide naval escorts.
Peter Goossens, Somalia director for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), said the agency had received no offers of naval protection since late June, when a Dutch frigate brought a WFP vessel safely into Mogadishu.
"I have 80,000 tonnes (of food) sitting in South Africa to urgently go into Somalia and so far I've only been able to find one ship of 8,000 tonnes that is willing to do this," he told a news conference. "When you speak to shipping operators or agents, the first question you get is: 'Are there escorts?'"
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Criticize the holy crap out of Uncle Sam until you need his help. Typical UN.
#2
Tell the Brits, French and Germans to send a ship full of diplomats and social workers. They can talk to the pirates to see how they feel, and maybe get at the root cause of why they are pirates.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/19/2008 3:00 Comments ||
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#6
Exactly: getthe Germans and other bums to do it. The US is tired of doing the heavy lifting for the resto fo the world's lazy asses, especially when all we ever get is criticism and slander.
#9
Well, Peter, you're approaching this matter bass-ackwards.
Until they learn some basic manners (like don't shoot at people who are trying to help you or killing aid workers tends to make them want to leave, not help you), I think they're pretty much screwed.
And no one gives a damn about how that just doesn't fly in their "culture", or if they weren't so jacked up on khat they would be gentle as lambs, either.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
07/19/2008 13:54 Comments ||
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#10
It WOULD be nice if South Africa agreed to escort a couple of ships of foodstuffs to Mogadischu, with a US carrier battle group just over the horizon, obeying strict communications silence. Let the pirates attack (I doubt the SA Navy would stop them), then let the US do some damage both to their mother-ship and their little toy boats. Too bad you can't operate A-10s from carriers - or can you?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/19/2008 16:10 Comments ||
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#11
Somalia is a failed state. Aid should be channeled through Ethiopia.
Posted by: Claviling Protector of the Lichtensteiners9205 ||
07/19/2008 17:29 Comments ||
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#12
Attn: World.
This is what your life will look like if the US Navy pretty much disappeared from the high seas. Not just food ships, but oil and other major commodities would become 'hit and miss' as enterprising individuals would quickly take advantage of your inability to float something just as effective and far reaching as the Americans. You think the world economy is jeopardized by sub-prime paper, you ain't seen nothing yet.
#13
OP; never heard of any A-10 on a boat, but the characteristice of the bird lend itself to that, if you ran into the wind at max knots. Deck launch is the only option so that first guy off ( like Doolittles B-25 raid on Japan in WWII) needs bo have big brass ones. I would not expect any recoveries aboard the CV however.
freedom fighter Sheikh Mohammad Ali Aman by Jamaat-Shibir cadres at a programme of 'Jatiya Muktijoddha Parishad' in the capital.
Freedom fighters at a meeting at Jhowdanga in Satkhiura Sadar upazila yesterday demanded immediate arrest and punishment of those who assaulted freedom fighter Aman, reports our Satkhira Correspondent.
Jhowdanga unit command of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad arranged the meeting.
Demanding immediate ban on so-called Jatiya Muktijoddha Parishad backed by Jamaat, they said the war criminals formed the organisation with fake freedom fighters only to divert the nation's demand for trial of the war criminals.
They demanded trial of the war criminals belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami who were involved in murder, loot, rape and arson by forming Rajakars, Al- Badr and Al-Shams.
They urged unity of the freedom fighters to fight anti-liberation forces.
Freedom fighter Dr Abul Hossain presided over the meeting.
About 300 freedom fighters of Dinajpur at press conference on Thursday demanded stern action against the Jamaat-Shibir men who assaulted freedom fighter Sheikh Mohammad Ali Aman, reports our Dinajpur correspondent.
Expressing concern over the government's failure to take any action against the attackers several days into the incident, they urged the government to cancel the registration of so-called Muktijoddha Parishad formed by the war criminals with fake freedom fighters.
The freedom fighters also called on the government to initiate the process for the trial of war criminals immediately.
Md Moksed Ali, commander of Dinajpur unit of Muktijoddha Command, read out the key-note at the press conference.
Chapainawabganj district unit command of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad formed a human chain and held a protest meeting on Thursday demanding punishment of Jamaat-shibir men who assaulted a freedom fighter and made derogatory comments about the principals of Liberation War, reports a correspondent from Chapainawabganj.
Anti-liberation forces have raised their heads again as war criminals were not tried, said speakers at the meeting held at Shahid Satu Hall in the town.
Jamaat has formed so-called Jatiya Muktijoddha Parishad with fake freedom fighters to gain politically by befooling the people, they said, adding that people are united on the demand for punishment of the war criminals.
Convener of Chapainawabganj district unit command of Muktijoddha Parishad, Md Alauddin chaired the protest meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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FORMER immigration minister Kevin Andrews instructed his department to lift the intake of Christian refugees from the Middle East in response to what he saw as a pro-Muslim bias created by corrupt local case officers.
The Weekend Australian says Mr Andrews was so concerned about the extent of corruption in Middle Eastern posts - despite the allegations being investigated and dismissed by his own department - that he wrote to then prime minister John Howard advocating a $200 million plan to replace local employees with Australian staff in 10 "sensitive" countries, including Jordan, Iran and Egypt.
Opposition immigration spokesman Chris Ellison said yesterday this remains Coalition policy. "We do not want discrimination or bias occurring ... and that's why I believe it is appropriate that our sensitive overseas posts, such as those in the Middle East, are staffed by Australians," Senator Ellison said.
A Department of Immigration spokesman said there were no substantiated cases of anti-Christian discrimination in Australian embassies and no plans to replace "Islamic locally engaged staff" with Australian officials.
Just handed the keys over to the locals and walked away ...
An investigation by The Weekend Australian has discovered Mr Andrews was petitioned by the Australian Christian Lobby to address alleged religious discrimination against Iraqis. Before losing office in the November 2007 election, he ordered the number of Christian Iraqi refugees to be increased by 1400 for 2007-08, almost doubling the previous year's Iraqi total of 1639. "Put it this way, it was made very clear to the immigration department that more Christian refugees were wanted," a Howard government source said.
In his letter to Mr Howard in August last year, Mr Andrews, a devout Catholic, proposed significant changes to the refugee selection process. In the letter, seen by The Weekend Australian, Mr Andrews accused the case workers in Australian embassies of fraud and bribery when processing migration applications.
Such posts are predominantly staffed by local workers. He said this raised "considerable security risks".
Mr Andrews named 10 countries - Pakistan, India, United Arab Emirates, China, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Kenya, Russia and Egypt - in which the posts should be staffed exclusively with Australian departmental officers. The non-Muslim countries named by Mr Andrews are understood to be less riddled by religious discrimination and more so by corruption, a source told The Weekend Australian. Not a unique problem.
Terrorism is an international issue and there should be a global agreement to address the root causes, said the document issued by the World Inter-faith Conference on Dialogue that ended here on Friday. "Terrorism is a universal phenomenon that requires international efforts to combat it in a serious, responsible and just way," said the document called the Madrid Declaration.
The Islamic, Christian and Jewish leaders also appealed for a United Nations special session to promote dialogue and prevent "a clash of civilisations".
The declaration said the main objective of all religions and cultures should be efforts for achieving peace, honouring agreements and respecting traditions of people and their right to security, freedom and self determination.
The conference also called for more "ways of enhancing understanding and co-operation among people despite differences in their origin, colour and language", and a "rejection of extremism and terrorism".
The statement was read to the closing session by Muslim World League Deputy Secretary General Abdul Rahman al-Zaid, which had organised the conference through an initiative by Saudi King Abdullah.
More than 300 delegates attended the gathering in Madrid, aimed at bringing the world's great monotheistic faiths closer together.
Among them were World Jewish Congress Secretary General Michael Schneider, and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who is responsible for the dialogue between the Vatican and Muslims.
The participants called on the UN General Assembly to call a special session to support the recommendations of the conference "in enhancing dialogue among the followers of religions, civilisations and cultures".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't think the Saudis would really like to address the root cause of terrorism - Islam, especially Wahabism. (The Shiites in Iran are a close second).
Yes, I realize that not all Muslims are terrorists. However, the vast, vast majority of terrorists are Muslims.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/19/2008 20:36 Comments ||
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Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned that al-Qaeda will step up terrorist attacks in Iraq leading up to October provincial elections there. ``Al-Qaeda is on their heels but not defeated,'' McCain said today at a town hall meeting with General Motors workers in Warren, Michigan. ``I also predict that they will make an attempt, as we get into election season, to make more of these spectacular kinds of attacks'' by suicide bombers to destabilize the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
McCain, an Arizona senator, has spent much of this week touting his foreign policy and war experience while Democratic rival Barack Obama prepared for a trip to the Middle East. McCain has criticized Obama, an Illinois senator, for vowing to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. McCain said the deployment of extra U.S. troops to Iraq last year has worked. ``Senator Obama said the surge would fail. He still fails to admit that it has succeeded,'' McCain said in response to a question from the audience. ``I am confident we will win.''
Earlier this year, McCain adviser Charlie Black caused a controversy when he was quoted in a Fortune magazine interview that the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto before the New Hampshire primary ``helped us'' by highlighting that McCain ``is the guy who's ready to be commander in chief.'' Black added that a ``fresh terrorist attack certainly would be a big advantage'' politically. Black later said he ``deeply'' regretted making the statement and McCain distanced himself from the comments.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The 3-11 pre-election bombings in Spain, reversed prospective election results. We need to deport or detain 100% of Muslim militants. And as I write, extremist Wahabi tracts are still sold in mosques. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. This termite feeding has to stop.
#3
Black added that a ``fresh terrorist attack certainly would be a big advantage'' politically.
Why does anyone have to stoop to this level?
Posted by: Caesar Elmeatch9593 ||
07/19/2008 7:32 Comments ||
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#4
He's not "stooping", he's stating the obvious.
Face it, Obambi is such a lightweight that any exposure of his Jimmy-Carter style cluelessness will hurt him. And a terr attack emphasizes the need for experienced leadership, and prevents the press from covering for Obama-messiah for a while, thus exposing the weakness.
Its the ruth. Not hoping for one, just stating the obvious impact of one were it to occur.
The tapes tell the story. And the story is about an al-Qaeda-inspired, although not directed, plot to attack Fort Dix and murder American soldiers. That was the gist of a series of pretrial motions filed yesterday by federal prosecutors for the forthcoming Fort Dix Five terrorist trial. The motions, backed by repeated references to secretly recorded conversations, provide a detailed look at how the government intends to present its case.
The trial of suspected terrorists Mohamad Shnewer, 23; Serdar Tatar, 24; and brothers Dritan, 29, Shain, 27, and Eljvir Duka, 24, is scheduled to begin in U.S. District Court in Camden in late September.
"The heart of the United States' case is the dozens of conspiratorial conversations involving the defendants," prosecutors wrote in one of four lengthy motions filed in opposition to defense motions filed last month. "Those conversations included plans to attack Fort Dix and to kill American soldiers, discussions of the supposed justifications for such attacks rooted in radical jihadist ideology," and plans for training sessions and weapons acquisitions, prosecutors wrote. The tapes were made by two cooperating witnesses who allegedly infiltrated the group. Both are expected to testify for the prosecution.
One of the motions filed yesterday was in opposition to a defense motion seeking to have many of those conversations suppressed. The government also opposed defense motions seeking a change of venue, seeking the dismissal of several counts of the indictment, and asking that references to "al-Qaeda and jihadist ideology" be stricken from the indictment and not presented to the jury. Prosecutors argued that those references were "highly relevant to prove the defendants' motivations" and to prove "the fact that the defendants' plot, although disturbing and audacious, was one that they intended to carry out and not, as they have suggested in their pretrial papers, merely loose talk."
The government filings referred again and again to recorded conversations in which the defendants allegedly talked about jihad and referred to al-Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden. One motion cited an Aug. 5, 2006, conversation in which Shnewer, a U.S. citizen who was born in Jordan, praised the Sept. 11, 2001, attackers as "19 brothers who changed the whole world, changed the face of this Earth" by following the lead of bin Laden. Prosecutors returned to the terrorist inspiration for the plot again when they cited a March 9, 2007, conversation in which Dritan Duka encouraged the others to come to his house to listen to a lecture, "Constants on the Path of Jihad," by an associate of al-Qaeda.
Duka and his brothers, ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, are illegal aliens who came to the United States and settled in the Cherry Hill area, where they attended high school. Tatar is a legal U.S. resident who immigrated from Turkey in 1998.
"Allegations that the defendants were inspired by al-Qaeda, the pre-eminent jihadist organization in the world, which has successfully launched terrorist attacks that have killed thousands of Americans at home and abroad, are relevant to prove that the defendants intended to enter into the charged conspiracy and were not engaged merely in 'idle chatter,' " prosecutors wrote.
U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler, who is presiding over the case, is expected to rule on the motions within the next two months. A status conference in the case has been scheduled for next week.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - A jury of military officers is traveling to Guantanamo Bay this weekend as part of final preparations for the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II.
The panel members have been hand-picked by the Pentagon to hear the case of Salim Hamdan, a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden whose trial is scheduled to begin Monday inside a hilltop courthouse overlooking an abandoned airstrip.
The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, is still sorting through a thicket of unresolved legal issues. The case cleared a major hurdle this week when a U.S. federal court refused to halt the trial, and Allred showed little patience as he tackled the last remaining obstacles at a hearing Friday on this U.S. base.
At one point, he threatened to postpone the trial unless the government allows defense lawyers to interview "high-value" detainees at Guantanamo whom they intend to call as witnesses. "I think we've come to the point where the government needs to move," Allred told prosecutors. The chief prosecutor later said the government will comply with the order.
The Pentagon official who oversees the tribunal system, Susan Crawford, selected the 13 potential jurors from the various armed forces branches. At least five will be seated for the trial.
Here's hoping all 13 have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan ...
Hamdan, a Yemeni, was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001 and accused of helping bin Laden to escape U.S. retaliation following the Sept. 11 attacks. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.
His defense attorneys asked the judge Friday to throw out statements Hamdan made to interrogators, arguing they were tainted by "coercive" tactics such as sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation. The chief prosecutor, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, denied the abuse allegations and said his team is prepared for trial regardless of how the judge rules.
Prosecutors have said they plan to introduce 22 witnesses for a trial that is expected to last about three weeks. Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, is seeking access this weekend to three senior al-Qaida suspects including Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as potential witnesses. He says their testimony will prove Hamdan was merely a low-level member of bin Laden's motor pool. Prosecutors have objected to any testimony from the high-level Guantanamo detainees, arguing they could reveal details of CIA interrogations that are considered top national security secrets. But Allred has made clear their input will be allowed in some form.
We'll see if these tribunals work or are just another excuse for waging law ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
His defense attorneys asked the judge Friday to throw out statements Hamdan made to interrogators, arguing they were tainted by "coercive" tactics such as sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation.
"Sleep deprivation is not torture?" Most mothers with newborns are sleep-deprived. Sexual humiliation? So, did we separate him from his goat?
The NWFP government will not resign, nor become hostage to any militant group, Chief Minister (CM) Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour said on Friday. Both were, in separate statements to the media, responding to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud who issued on Thursday a five-day ultimatum for the provincial government to resign or "face dire consequences". CM Hoti said the provincial government had "sent the army to Hangu as a precautionary measure", and not to target any particular group. "Supremacy of law shall be ensured at all costs, and no one will be allowed to kill security forces," said Bilour, who is also the key government negotiator in the peace talks with Swat militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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A meeting of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat commanders was held at an undisclosed location on Friday. No details of the meeting, which was headed by Mullah Fazlullah, were disclosed.
TTP Swat spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters after the meeting that it would continue on Saturday (today).
He termed the arrest of suicide bombers on Thursday as "security forces' propaganda" against the Taliban. Khan said the security forces were misrepresenting the Taliban and the time to enforce Shariah in Malakand was nearing.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Director IA Rehman on Friday said counter-terrorism had become terrorism in Pakistan.
Addressing the launch of two Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) books, he said that reading these books would help the civil society and social activists understand the issues confronting the nation.
HRCP Vice Chairwoman Hina Jilani alleged that the government was witch-hunting its opponents by manipulating anti-terrorism laws. She said that laws were made to curb terrorists, but the people had been stripped of their basic rights instead. She said that the government should ensure safety of the people, but not at the cost of their rights.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Liberty and security should be co-dependent. However, Pakis could hardly understand that.
#2
Freedom can only be established when those that want it are willing to fight harder than those that are willing to take it away from them. That hasn't happened in any muslim country, ever. The HRCP doesn't understand that, nor does the government of Pakistan, nor does the average Mahmoud in the street. Until they do, there will be no true freedom in Pakistan or any other country.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/19/2008 18:29 Comments ||
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#2
Look how proud the young man working there is, and rightfully so. The place looked clean, he washed his hands after breading the raw chicken, and the shop was doing gangbusters business just outside the base gate. A smart move by both the Iraqi investor and KFC.
#4
Also notice that when the American soldiers (or Marines) went in, they were armed, but they PAID for their food - not that I would expect anything less from the American military. If we were the conquering, raping, marauding monsters that the MSM, Jack Murtha, et al. claim, the guys would have just taken what they wanted.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/19/2008 22:41 Comments ||
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Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc has ended an almost year-long boycott of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, in a major boost for the country's reconciliation program.
Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed the appointment of six Sunni ministers from the country's main Sunni bloc, the National Concord Front, in a session attended by 190 MPs of the 275-member assembly. The MPs also approved the appointment of four independents to replace ministers from the political bloc of radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, which has boycotted the government since April last year.
One of the six Sunni ministers, Rafie al-Issawi, was voted in as a deputy prime minister to Mr Maliki.
The Sunni bloc, which has 44 MPs in the parliament, withdrew its ministers in August last year in protest at what it viewed as the monopolisation of power by the other factions in government - the Shiites and Kurds. One of the six later rejoined the cabinet and was expelled from the Sunni bloc.
Sunni leaders had been insisting that the Iraqi security forces release many Sunni prisoners they believed had been unjustifiably detained. The National Concord Front also wanted a general amnesty declared as well as greater Sunni participation in the decision-making of a government dominated by Shiites.
It is unclear whether the conditions put forward by the Sunnis for their return to government have been met, but in recent months relations between Maliki and Sunni Arab leaders have warmed following his decision to target Shiite militiamen.
The United States and Iraq have agreed to set a "general time horizon" for the "further reduction of U.S. combat forces in Iraq" following the improvement in security conditions in the country, the White House said Friday.
The breakthrough, which was reached between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in discussions via video link on Thursday, could lead to the successful completion of a long-term security agreement covering American operations in Iraq -- from combat missions to detaining Iraqis -- by the end of this month, a White House official said.
"We're converging on an agreement," the official said, referring to ongoing negotiations between Iraq and the United States on the deal.
The long-term agreement had been held up by differences over issues like the extent of Iraqi control over American military operations, the right of American soldiers to detain suspects without the approval of Iraqi authorities and Iraqi demands for a timetable for withdrawal.
But in a statement, the White House said Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki had agreed "that improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals -- such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq."
The White House offered no specific dates for troop cuts, but the inclusion of even just a reference to a time horizon is a significant concession by the Bush administration, which has long resisted setting a timetable for cuts in combat forces. It is a tacit admission that the United States' military presence in Iraq is not endless.
The administration on Friday insisted that it had not shifted its position. It said that the move was simply a reflection of the changing nature of conditions in Iraq.
"These are aspirational goals, not artificial timetables based on political expediency," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, who was traveling with Mr. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., where Mr. Bush was attending a fund raiser.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
What is the quality of the Iraqi troops at present? Do the Iraqis have sufficient numbers of good quality disciplined troops? What is the leadership like of the Iraqi troops?
#2
just a reference to a time horizon is a significant concession by the Bush administration, which has long resisted setting a timetable for cuts in combat forces. It is a tacit admission that the United States' military presence in Iraq is not endless.
I can't tell if they're excited, because Bush compromised, or sad, because the (Rethuglican)war may not be endless.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/19/2008 13:11 Comments ||
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#3
More outright distortion. The language as reported is nothing like a timetable. It's general, and conditions-dependent. Uh - like things have always been. Don't see no compromise here. Besides, the souk is open and the Iraqis will make every move from here on out to get exactly the sort of "endless" US troop presence and security cooperation they desire. No problem with that - but I'm sick of people pretending not to understand that's what's going on.
(VOI) -- The Iranian embassy in Baghdad on Thursday denied U.S. military officials' accusations that Iran supports the special groups in Iraq. "Iran denies the news reported by U.S. military officials regarding Iran's support to the special group," said a press release issued by the embassy and received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). The announcement termed the U.S accusations as "lies and not grounded on proofs". The Iranian mission highlighted "the U.S charges aimed at festering ties betwen the two countries (Iraq and Iran)". The U.S. army in Iraq uses the term "special groups" to describe Shiite armed groups it believes trained and funded by Iran to attack U.S. troops in Iraq along with Iraqi forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"They stole all those weapons out of our garage!"
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/19/2008 9:13 Comments ||
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CAMP VICTORY, Iraq (AP) - With al-Qaida falling away, U.S. forces in Iraq are turning their attention to another front: the Iranian border. They aim to crack down on weapon smuggling from Iran by tightening the frontier with Iraq's neighbor to the east, a U.S. commander told The Associated Press on Friday. The effort is aimed at smugglers who supply Shiite extremist groups with rockets, missiles, mortars and assembled explosive devices that have killed many U.S. troops.
"We're going to start squeezing this network pretty hard," said Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, who leads a contingent of 19,000 U.S. troops in regions south of the capital as commander of the Army's 10th Mountain Division.
About bloody time ...
U.S. troops will establish small outposts in the vicinity of two or three official border crossings and seek to build relations with local tribes whose cooperation is critical, the general said. One such outpost already is set up.
For much of the war, U.S. and Iraqi forces were focused mainly on al-Qaida and other insurgent forces that threatened to plunge the country into all-out civil war. Shiite extremist groups inside Iraq took advantage of that narrow focus to develop a network of weapons supply routes from Iran, he said. "Now that al-Qaida is hurt very badly, we're able to shift our emphasis and take a look at this other threat - and this is a significant threat that these Iranian-based extremist groups are attempting" to carry out, he said, not only by killing American troops but also seeking to topple the Iraqi government.
Oates called the weapons smuggling from Iran "the last remaining major threat" to be handled for Iraq. Oates said he doesn't expect to stop the smuggling from Iran, only to lessen the movement of weaponry. "We think we can actually have some success interdicting blatant smuggling by making sure the Iraqi people see that this stuff is being brought in and it's not helpful," the general said. To date, however, neither the U.S. nor its coalition partners have succeeded in intercepting weapons crossing the border, he said.
Asked about the timing, Oates said the improved overall security situation in Iraq "allows us to deal with this last remaining major threat, which is the Iranian lethal support" of Shiite extremist elements. U.S. officials term those elements "Special Groups" to differentiate them from members of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
Oates said that much of the smuggled weaponry comes into Iraq through Maysan province, which borders Iran and has an official frontier crossing, called Sheeb, east of the city of Amarah. He said Amarah, which was recently cleared of Shiite extremist forces by the Iraqi army, long was a hub for the shipment of smuggled weaponry from Iran. The arms would move from Amarah toward Baghdad either by heading west or by moving south to the Basra area and then north to the capital.
Oates disclosed in the interview that among the stored weapons the Iraqi army has uncovered in Amarah since entering the city in force in mid-June were more than 2,200 mortar rounds, nearly 600 rockets, nearly 1,000 artillery rounds, 22 missiles and 141 of the most deadly version of roadside bombs.
U.S. forces, which have not operated in Maysan province recently, intend to set up a patrol base not far from the border, Oates said. The U.S. troops, along with American civilians who include retired FBI agents and customs enforcement agents, will work with Iraq's border enforcement squads to tighten passport screening, cargo inspection and other border actions, Oates said.
The intent is to take a comprehensive approach at crossings up and down the border with Iran, the general said. "If you block at one, then they'll move to another, so we're looking to develop a coherent strategy across that entire border," he said. U.S. forces already have set up a patrol base not far from an entry point called Zurbatiyah in Wasit province, and they plan to take similar actions with regard to the Shalamcheh border crossing station in the southern province of Basra, Oates said. He made clear that the intention is to take aggressive action inside Iraq, not across the border. He said it appears that most, if not all, of the weapons smugglers are Iraqis, although their networks begin in Iran.
The U.S. government has a wider variety of intelligence capabilities than Iraq to apply to this mission. "We are beginning to understand the smuggling network," Oates said. "We will interdict it, with the Iraqis, and if we discover it's Iranian munitions, we're going to advertise it." If successful, such efforts would add a new level of credibility to U.S. assertions that Iran is fueling violence inside Iraq, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
wow, a border enforcement and control policy? Hmmmmmm
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/19/2008 7:42 Comments ||
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#2
i wonder why they think they can do it in iraq, when they say you cant do it here in usa???
/sarc
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/19/2008 13:52 Comments ||
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#3
It will work in Iraq because we can SHOOT to KILL when someone violates the border over there.
It is a free fire zone. No positive recognition required.....
Posted by: James Carville ||
07/19/2008 14:30 Comments ||
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#4
So, what's the problem? I don't see a big difference between the Iraq/Iran border and ours with Mexico. The drug traders are equally as deadly, and SHOULD be in a "free-fire" zone, So should the ACLU lawyers that try to help those same murderous drug-runners. I'll even volunteer to man one of those outposts, as long as the rules of engagement don't differ much from the ones in Iraq. Give me a dozen men and a nice hilltop near the border, some night-vision equipment, and a sniper-rifle per person, and we'll "do our duty, to God and country". Why should Iraq have secure borders, while ours are as wide-open as the landscape?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/19/2008 18:38 Comments ||
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Not a typical AP hit piece: read what the Iraqi people actually say.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- There is a Baghdad that Sen. Barack Obama probably won't see. It's places like the dirt strip that crosses under a highway and leads to a small home -- and a couple and their six grown children seeking to move forward in a city where violence has eased but life for many remains mired in economic miseries and few opportunities.
"I want to believe that the future for Baghdad is now better, that we've turned a corner," said Abdul-Karim Sami, a reed-thin 60-year-old who once hobnobbed with Baghdad's elite as a tennis coach. "I truly want to believe that."
Then he ticks off the family's list of woes: food costs so high they have cut back on all but essentials; jobs so scarce his oldest son peddles trinkets on the street despite a university degree in economics; not enough money left over for a doctor visit or any emergency. "I pray every day that nobody gets sick," Sami said.
Obama's visit to Iraq -- the timing is being kept secret for security reasons -- is expected to be brief and dominated by meetings with Iraqi officials and U.S. military commanders in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Discussions about future U.S. troop withdrawals and the transition to Iraqi security control should be high on the agenda.
So Obama is going to do the one thing he's criticized Bush & Co. for doing: huddling in the Green Zone.
There likely will be less attention to other long-term challenges facing whoever next occupies the White House: how to help rebuild Iraq and lift an economy flattened by sanctions and war, but holding oil riches and potential paydirt for investors willing to gamble that security gains will stick. Both Washington and Iraqi officials have shifted more resources toward reconstruction and development projects of all kinds. The U.S. military announced Friday the completion of a water pumping station south of Baghdad and an elementary school in eastern Baghdad. On Saturday, a groundbreaking ceremony was planned for a new hotel in the Green Zone.
Like many Iraqis, Sami and his family are impatient for some direct benefits to come their way.
Sami's family, too, represents the questions many Iraqis have about Obama's views. The family strongly backed last year's U.S. troop "surge" that is now credited with halting much of the insurgency attacks and sectarian killings in and around the capital.
Obama, who criticized the reinforcements at the time, has lauded the military successes, but argues that sending 30,000 additional soldiers to Iraq pulled away focus from the widening battles against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan and border regions of Pakistan.
Now he says that; before he said he didn't support the surge, didn't laud the success, and wanted us to come home with our tails between our legs.
Sami also supports the idea of a slow pullback by U.S. forces -- not the rapid withdrawal that Obama has suggested.
Some past visits by American politicians, including Obama's main presidential rival, Sen. John McCain, have included tours of public markets or other sites in Baghdad. Obama's specific plans once in Iraq have not been made public. It's unlikely, though, that he will have time to fully inspect areas like Sami's Wahda district in eastern Baghdad. The mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood is dotted with police checkpoints, barriers of concrete and razor wire, and rows of government posters denouncing insurgents and armed factions.
Barack has the time if he wants to make it. Why not tour some of the neighborhoods -- can't be any worse than the ones he grew up in while in Indonesia. Talk with some locals. Even if it's staged a little, get away from the Green Zone and see what the neighborhoods really look like.
Sami's home gets about four hours of electricity a day. Even that little bit of juice is better than last summer, when the family could go for days at a time without power. Sami's wife, Mediha, sweeps the previous night's collection of wind-blown dust into their garden: a tiny patch of grass, a few sunflowers and a single date palm. "Will Obama see firsthand how real Baghdad families struggle?" she asks.
No, because he'd see the grit and determination of Sami and Mediha and begin to wonder if his own beliefs were correct. And you just can't have a Messiah questioning himself. It wouldn't do.
Her husband says he doesn't think so. But he hopes Obama will come away with an understanding that military gains and reconstruction progress are twin blows to insurgents and other armed groups. "Yes, maybe the big war is finally over. Yes, maybe the violence and killings in Baghdad are mostly something of the past," said Sami, who is now retired and gets by with a pension and part-time tennis classes that bring in about $800 a month. "But now comes another fight, I think. It's about how to rebuild the country and our lives."
This point is not missed by Iraq's leadership and U.S. strategists. The Iraqi government is using the downturn in violence to court foreign investors, especially from the wealthy Persian Gulf states that have begun pouring money into neighboring Jordan. U.S. diplomats also are pressing hard for Iraqi leaders to clear the way for provincial elections this fall. The voting would shift more powers to regions and -- more important -- give a greater political stake to Sunnis, whose support is considered key in stamping out al-Qaida in Iraq and remaining insurgent cells.
Inside Sami's parlor, decorated with a few tennis medals and trophies, he and his wife discussed the future of the family. They both strongly urge their six children, ranging in age from 17 to 35, not to follow their friends who went to Jordan or Syria for jobs and an escape from Baghdad's grinding stress. They realize, however, the pull may be too strong. Their youngest son is studying hotel management and tourism. Their next youngest is interesting in becoming a professional tennis instructor. At the moment, both career paths seem to lead out of Iraq. "This would be a tragedy if young people cannot stay in Iraq," Sami said. "We need some kind of future. We need jobs and a good economy along with the security."
A few blocks from Sami's home, Iraqi soldiers man a checkpoint. Last year, it was in American hands. The change reflects a wider -- and fast-moving -- trend in which Iraqi security forces are increasingly taking the lead as U.S. troops move into support roles.
But few Iraqis appear to support a full-scale American withdrawal under current conditions. Many fear that could undercut recent security gains and open the door to greater influence by Iran with Shiite militias -- a charge that Tehran denies. "A pullout would create a vacuum that could be used by many sides," said Salah al-Rubaie, a Shiite vegetable vendor in Kut, about 90 miles southeast of Baghdad. "Sectarian and militia killings would return as well as looting and robbing. Public life could come to a halt again. That would be a catastrophe."
Smart man, Salah. He's literally at street level and understands far better than any politician what life is like. As long as men like Salah want us to stay, we should stay.
Hamid Alwan Jassim finds ample evidence against a U.S. withdraw in his home city of Baqouba, the hub of Diyala province where Sunni insurgents are trying to regroup. On Tuesday, double suicide bombings killed at least 28 army recruits. "Iraq should be stable first, because any early pullout would allow extremists to emerge again and more fiercely," he said.
The AP finds and quotes three families in Iraq that endorse completely what the Bush administration has been saying and doing. What are the odds of that? Think Obama will recognize that even the MSM is beginning to pivot on the war?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Nice find, Steve. Did someone have to hold a gun on the AP guy to get him to write it? I'd have thought you'd have actually had to shoot him to get a story like that. You'd certainly have to put several bullets into a NYT reporter to obtain anything close to this pro-American copy.
Posted by: Ho Chi Whimp8387 ||
07/19/2008 1:31 Comments ||
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#2
There are some honest reporters, even at the New York Times. See here and here.
#3
Partially agree with you, TW. Whenever I read a NYT story, I always use the presence of a John Burns byline to assess whether or not it's a truthful, unbiased representation of what's going on. No John Burns = almost certain bullshit.
Damien Cave, on the other hand, has always struck me as the more typical Timesman who's preaching to his choir of fashionably-progressive, Chardonnay-sippng Manhattanites.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/19/2008 14:19 Comments ||
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#4
If you ask Malaki, who runs the country, he agrees that 16 months (which Obama proposes) is what they want.
If you ask some poor Iraqi, they'll ask for protection and hand outs forever.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Friday it would ''benefit'' from Israel's prisoners exchange with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, suggesting the deal had strengthened its negotiating position regarding an Israeli soldier it is holding captive in Gaza.
''Hamas will benefit from the release (by Israel to Lebanon) of prisoners with blood on their hands and this will help Hamas reach a similar deal,'' Khalil Hayeh, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, said.
He also called for the appointment of an international mediator to speed up the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, similar to the German official appointed by the UN, Gerhard Conrad, who brokered the Israel-Hezbollah deal.
''There should be role for a mediator in completing this deal,'' Hayeh told the Hamas-run Palestinian Information Centre website.
However, he added that ''the issue is not the mediator, but the Zionist enemy.''
Currently, Egypt is leading the indirect negotiations between Israel and the radical Islamic movement ruling Gaza on a prisoners exchange that would include Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit.
Hamas and militants of two other groups snatched Shalit by digging a tunnel under the Gaza-Israel border and attacking an Israeli military outpost near the Strip two years ago.
The movement is demanding at least 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, including several Hamas militants, senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) chief Ahmed Saadat.
Barghouti is serving five life sentences for his indirect role in the killing of four Israelis and a Greek Orthodox monk by Fatah gunmen answering to him, while the PFLP under Saadat assassinated an Israeli cabinet minister in October 2001.
Israel has in the past refused to release Palestinian prisoners with ''blood on their hands,'' militants whose attacks against Israelis resulted in deaths or injuries. But in Wednesday's controversial exchange with Hezbollah, it freed convicted Lebanese killer Samir Kuntar and four guerillas of the radical Shiite Lebanese movement in return for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers.
Israeli and Hamas representatives are expected to travel separately to Egypt next week to pick up the indirect negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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In the aftermath of Wednesday's prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah, there are increasing calls in Hamas to replace the Egyptian mediators with German intermediaries in the talks on abducted IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit.
Several Hamas officials have been quoted over the past 24 hours as expressing deep disappointment with the way the Egyptians have been handling the Schalit mediation effort. "The Egyptians have proved that they are unable to put enough pressure on Israel to accept our demands," one Hamas official reportedly said. Another Hamas official said his movement was under the impression that the Egyptians "were on Israel's side more than on our side."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Germany will get a better deal? Can I get a Brooklyn Bridge with that promise?
Ma'an -- The Israeli intelligence are repeatedly telephoning a Palestinian activist from the West Bank city of Jenin, threatening to kill him, his family said on Friday.
Faris At-Tayeh, the brother of the 'wanted' Palestinian, Yousef At-Tayeh, told Ma'an, "an Israeli intelligence officer has called my brother many times and ordered him to give himself up and that the Israeli army will get him and kill him and send his dead body to his family."
"During last week Israeli soldiers invaded the Jenin refugee camp three times, searched our home and arrested my brother Fadi," he said. "The Israeli soldiers are breaking into our house continuously subjecting the members of the family to long interrogations about the whereabouts of Yousef," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I doubt it's Israeli intelligence. Usually if they're after you, the phone doesn't ring, it explodes.
It's prolly just Achmed, trying to call his boss again;)
#2
Agreed : if it was the Israelis, he would have gotten an "Israeli earache", 1 ounce of plastique detonating in the handset next to his ear when they had identified his voice.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is willing to share with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and other groups the leadership of Bangsamoro Juridical Entity the group is negotiating with the Philippine government, a rebel official said on Friday.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the group is open to a leadership sharing not just with its main rival Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) but to whoever shares the MILF's ideals.
"The MILF is not selfish enough to reject whoever wants to become part of the juridical entity so long as it will redound to the interest of our people," Kabalu said in an interview.
He said the initial expression of agreement by MNLF leaders to the "projected" territory of the juridical entity is an indication that accommodation is possible for the MNLF and other groups "for the sake of bringing peace and bringing development in the area."
He said the MILF and MNLF will be holding a solidarity conference soon to talk about unity of purpose for the sake of bringing peace and development in the area.
He said the conference does not necessarily mean merging the two groups. In the first place, he said, the MNLF has "ceased to exist as a revolutionary organization" since it signed a final peace agreement with Manila.
"Hindi na pupwede yung unification nang dalawang organization (a merger of the two groups is not possible) but unity of purpose can be done because it is more of an arrangement between the leaders of the organizations," said Kabalu, who is also the MILF's civil-military operations chief.
Kabalu confirmed a statement of retired general Hermogenes Esperon Jr., presidential adviser on the peace process, that the MILF had agreed to subject the projected coverage of the juridical entity to a plebiscite.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
10 seconds after these swine get legal power, I bet they will institute Taliban like Sharia Law.
Thousands in Lebanon have attended the funerals of eight Hezbollah militants whose bodies were returned by Israel as part of a prisoner swap two days ago. Grieving relatives and supporters of the Shia movement attended the service in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Under the deal, Hezbollah returned the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, whom it said were captured alive in an ambush in 2006, but were fatally wounded. The incident sparked a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The remains of the Israeli reservists - Sgt Eldad Regev and Sgt Ehud Goldwasser - were buried on Thursday. Their funerals were broadcast live on national television.
Thousands of mourners
In Beirut, the eight coffins were decorated with Hezbollah's yellow flags, floral wreaths and a picture of each of the men.
Opening the memorial service, the head of Hezbollah's executive council paid tribute to the men. "These martyrs have defeated the enemy... our enemy who was humiliated yesterday will remain so, by the grace of God," said Hashem Safieddine. "The brothers of these martyrs will confront the enemy [Israel] if it ever thinks of making the mistake" of attacking Lebanon, he added.
The coffins were then carried through the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut, as thousands of people followed. The bodies were then given to their families for burial.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/19/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel should have clusterbombed the funeral parades. Cost these c*cksuckers 100 for each Israeli and they'll soon stop. Unfortunately, the Israelis no longer have the guts for that.
Israel is doomed because they don't have the courage to fight for themselves any longer.
Posted by: Ho Chi Whimp8387 ||
07/19/2008 1:34 Comments ||
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#3
Yes, we've learnt what to expect from UN troops in that part of the world, not to mention the other garden spots they've been posted to around the world.
#4
When I see 5 murdering terrorists go free for a trade of two dead Israeli soldiers, I almost feel physically sick. You don't negotiate with terrorists. It gives them credibility and legitimacy. How far the government of Israel has fallen since the Entebbe hostage rescue. It breaks ones heart.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/19/2008 22:13 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Arab foreign ministers are expected to discuss a proposal Saturday calling on Sudan's president to hand over two Darfur war crimes suspects to an international tribunal in an effort to fend off the longtime leader's own prosecution on genocide charges, Arab diplomats said.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - A jury of military officers is traveling to Guantanamo Bay this weekend as part of final preparations for the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II.
A meeting of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat commanders was held at an undisclosed location on Friday. No details of the meeting, which was headed by Mullah Fazlullah, were disclosed.
