The Dalai Lama has been visiting the Boston area, and Id like to mention a few reports. First, a note from an NRO reader:
Hi, Jay,
I had the great opportunity to see the Dalai Lama speak at MIT this afternoon. When he opened the forum to audience Q&A, the following stunning exchange occurred (I will paraphrase):
Audience member: Can you give us an example of a leader we should look up to as a positive influence?
Dalai Lama (after thinking for a few seconds): President Bush. I met him personally and liked him very much. He was honest and straightforward, and that is very important. I may not have agreed with all his policies, but I thought he was very honest and a very good leader.
All this in Cambridge . . .
Incidentally, when he said, I may not have agreed with all his policies, the audience broke out into relieved laughter, as if they could not believe that someone the Dalai Lama almost made it through remarks about Bush with only positive sentiments.
And here is an item from The Tech, an MIT newspaper:
After his speech, the Dalai Lama answered questions, including one about model leaders. He singled out President George W. Bush for his straightforwardness, but stopped short on complimenting him for much else.
I love him, said the Dalai Lama of President Bush, but as far as his policies are concerned, I have reservations.
Full article, here....And here is something from the Boston Globe: . . . the Dalai Lama said, referring to former President George W. Bush, I love President Bush, acknowledging serious policy disagreements, but citing Bushs warm personality. (Full article.)
Finally, a blogger, whom Google brought up:
. . . he came out and told people he and Bush instantly hit it off and he loved the warmonger. He said he would withhold judgment on the attack of Iraq. He also said he supported Bushs war on terror because, according to him, some humans are just inherently evil, referring to the Muslim extremists Bush branded for the kill. Bush is evil but the Dalai Lama proclaimed he loved him. The Dalai Lama is no Buddist.
In my experience and Im just generalizing here the better the person, the more positive he is about George W. Bush. Certainly the less snarky and narrow. Most of the people I admire most, admire the 43rd president. (Please note that I said most of the people, not all of the people.) This is particularly true of those who know something about tyranny, and the need to resist it: e.g., the Dalai Lama.
Anyway . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
05/01/2009 09:24 ||
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#1
Bush is evil but the Dalai Lama proclaimed he loved him.
An intelligent person would pause and self reflect, but the cited poster can't examine his/her own 'truth' of the blind linkage of Bush=evil. As noted a couple weeks back on the Dalai Lama's view of terrorists, that their minds are closed and therefore pacifism won't work is beyond reaching that particular mind either. So to make his/her world fit he/she must proclaim the Dalai Lama not to be a Buddhist. And the earth/self is the center of their universe was well. /sarc off
#3
Dalai Lama has made a habit of surprising folks. He also {supposedly) said something like 'if some one is trying to kill you with a gun, it is reasonable to stop him with your own gun'.
how.....enlightened....
Posted by: Hupeter Scourge of the Geats2483 ||
05/01/2009 12:33 Comments ||
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#4
excellent, let Nancy chew on that for awhile....
Posted by: go Tibet ||
05/01/2009 12:49 Comments ||
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#7
Buddhists have done their fair share of suffering at the hands of Muslims, Chicoms too. Dunno much about Buddhism but the Dalai Lama comes off as a reasonable sort of a fellow who would tolerate Christians. As the leader of one of the world's main religions and a man who's been around for quite some time, it's too bad the college students could just listen respectfully instead of expressing shock when he says something positive about a former president of the United States. He might just know a thing or two that they don't. You'd think that in an institution of higher learning they'd be a little more open minded.
#9
One of the important elements of the most respected Buddhist leaders is that they are totally unpredictable. They neither engage in idle chatter, nor countenance political correctness or polite expediency.
They tailor what they say and do based on the impact they want to have on that particular audience, individually or in a group.
One hilarious tale was of a group of diplomatic monks arriving at LAX, one of whom was an aged, senior monk brought as a courtesy.
As they were walking through the concourse, a 10-year-old Mexican girl who was at the airport with her mother went up to the group of monks, turned to the senior monk and started loudly cussing him out, in English.
She called him a bad student who was always slacking off, sleeping in class, late with his assignments, and a generally worthless excuse of a monk. Snarl, snap.
He looked at her puzzled for a second, then his eyes got very big and he started profusely apologizing and promising, babbling that it would never happen again, and that it wasn't his fault, while the other monks looked at him like he had lost his marbles.
The imperious little girl stomped her feet and was going to give him more of the same, when the old monk blurted out that she was his teacher back when he was a novice, and had reincarnated.
The diplomatic mission was sidetracked.
After considerable negotiations with her parents, she took to spending her summers in Nepal. In the article about the phenomenon, there was a picture of the still ferocious looking girl sitting on a high chair, wearing robes far too big for her, as a bunch of wary looking novice monks attended her class.
In recent years, a lot of senior monks has expressed their intent to reincarnate to Seattle, as they particularly like the place. Enough so there is now a permanent delegation in the area, to keep watch for any who show up. Typically, they leave a list of omens for them to look for when they will be arriving.
#12
The reception to the Dalai Lama's statement about George "McChimpBushhitler" is proof positive of both the pure brainwashing taking place in our colleges today, and the arrogance of college students in this country. It never seemet to occur to these arrogant students that a man who has lived three or four times as long as they have, who has many times more experience in the real world, could be right, and they, in their state of ignorance and arrogance, could be wrong. They attacked the Dalai Lama because he didn't parrot the politically correct nonsense they'd been subjected to in our "public schools" since they were five years old. I offer a sincere apology to the Dalai Lama for being accosted by such mental midgets.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/01/2009 17:51 Comments ||
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#13
mojo, I believe the majority of japanese soldiers at that time adhered to shinto principles. There are several strains of budhism.
#14
Does 'Moose's story imply that the forthcoming release of Windows 7 is actually the reincarnation of Window 3.1?
My understanding of the WWII Japanese is they practiced a combination of Shinto, Buddhism and worship of the Emperor as a god. I suspect it was the latter that got them into the most trouble.
#16
Anonymoose's story was an enjoyable read. No elbow patch tweed jackets are required to be a teacher or a student at life. The Dalai Lama seems to know this better than most. He was presciently observant about Bush's strong points.
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Egypt's president warned regional adversaries on Wednesday that he would not tolerate what he called their tampering his country's security and stability, a reference to Iran and the Hizbullah that it supports.
President Hosni Mubarak's comments were his strongest words of warning since Egypt accused the powerful Lebanese group of plotting attacks in the country, and were also meant to send a strong message to the group's backers in Iran.
Egypt announced earlier this month that it had uncovered a plot by 49 men with links to Hizbullah to destabilize the country by carrying out attacks on Egyptian institutions and Israeli tourists.
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has rejected the accusations, while admitting that a Hizbullah member was in Egypt supervising weapons shipments to the Palestinian group Hamas that controls the neighboring Gaza Strip.
Egypt and other Arab nations have watched with concern as Iran has deepened its regional influence through its support for Hizbullah and its development of nuclear technology, though Iran says it is not aiming to produce atomic weapons, as the US and its allies suspect.
"The Arab region is passing through a delicate and hard stage ... and facing the threats of known regional powers that embrace terrorism and extremism and clearly brag of animosity to peace," Mubarak said.
"After these powers and their hirelings have encroached on Egypt's security and sovereignty, I say clearly that I don't allow this and will not tolerate those who try to tamper with Egypt's security and stability," he said in a speech. He did not mention Iran or Hizbullah by name, but it was clear he was referring to the two.
Egypt's allegations have raised concern about possible Hizbullah activity beyond Lebanon's borders at a time when the guerrilla group and political movement, together with its allies, stands a good chance of dominating the country's June 7 parliamentary elections.
The United States and its allies among Arab governments like Egypt's are also fearful that an electoral win by Hizbullah and its allies would increase the sway of the group's backers Iran and Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[Ya Libnan] Egyptian authorities were trying to identify the real names of three Hezbollah members who supervised the work of the so-called Hezbollah cell in order to give their names to the Interpol to detain them and hand them over to Cairo.
The daily Al Mustaqbal quoted sources close to the investigation as saying that confessions made by detained suspects have revealed the names of the three wanted Hezbollah members: Mohammed Qabalan, Abbas and Abu Hassan.
Egypt was expected to announce by Sunday the indictments in the Hezbollah cell case, according to al-Akhbar newspaper.
It said the indictments were unlikely to include the name of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah .
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told lawmakers Thursday that the Obama administration has "no interest and no willingness" to give North Korea further economic aid.
But Clinton said the administration has requested funds for economic aid to North Korea in case Pyongyang returns to nuclear talks and re-starts disablement measures. She said, in her words, that North Korea is "digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole with the international community."
And we keep filling it in for them, and giving them new shovels when required ...
The United States last December halted fuel oil deliveries that it promised to North Korea under the disarmament talks after Pyongyang refused to agree to measures to verify disablement. Washington had already delivered at least 100,000 tons under the deal.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Thursday that North Korea seems very unlikely to return to the six-nation talks soon. But Wood said the United States still believes the aid-for-disarmament talks are the best way to achieve a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
On Wednesday, North Korea threatened to test nuclear explosives and intercontinental ballistic missiles if the United Nations Security Council does not apologize for condemning Pyongyang's recent rocket launch. The North's Foreign Ministry said it will be forced "to take additional defensive measures" if an apology does not come immediately.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
They survive on handouts just like Pakistan.Both do not deserve Western aid and blackmail is their negotiation tactic hence more nuclear testing coming up soon!
#6
i was also gonna ask why we keep giving AID too pakistan. The predato strikes can be carried out from Afghanistan as easy and thet would giveus a chance too drop a few more hellfires along the way
#8
i was also gonna ask why we keep giving AID too pakistan.
The bulk of our supplies go through their territory. Besides, we can't launch air strikes against the Pakistani Taliban without the Pakistani government's acquiescence - it's the reason our drones operate with impunity without being shot down in Pakistani airspace.
#9
In essence, you can consider the aid rent for the use of Pakistani land routes and airspace. We've handed to them less than $10b in total aid. An invasion of Pakistan to secure those routes would cost hundreds of billions, not to mention thousands of dead GI's.
#10
Ogabe criticized aid to Pakistan before being elected, and went as far as talking about an invasion. Now that he's in the hot seat, he is continuing the payments to Pakistan. Why? Because the alternative is much more expensive.
Those who have lived to tell the world about Camp 22, located in the bleak northeastern tip of North Korea, can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and all of them are former guards or staff. Incredibly, it's about the size of Los Angeles.
Of all of North Koreas network of labor camps and detention facilities, large and small, Camp 22 is the most terrible. There are reports of inhuman experiments carried out on men, women, children, and even infants sent there. The BBC reports that North Koreas system of spying, thought-control, isolation, and terror may have no equal in human history.
That is how Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il kept the secrets of Camp 22 inside its ten-foot wire fences and distinctive blocky guard posts for decades. That changed when satellite photography went public. Since then, Google Earth has revealed the worlds most secret places to armies of amateur squints.
Satellite photography was available to the human rights researcher David Hawk when he set to work on The Hidden Gulag, his ground-breaking study of North Koreas forced labor camps.
Hawks interviews with survivors and former guards alone would not have had the same impact had those witnesses not been able to point to those photographs and say, This is the detention center, he said. If someone goes inside this building, in three months he will be dead or disabled for life. In this corner they decided about the executions, who to execute and whether to make it public.'
This is the Kim Il Sung institute, a movie house for officers. Here is watchdog training. And guard training ground. Pointing to another spot, he said: This is the garbage pond where the two kids were killed when guard kicked them in pond.
Absolute certainty will have to wait for the day when Camp 22 is liberated. Google Earths high-resolution imagery covers less than half of Camp 22, it is said to hold 50,000 men, women, and children. One can only see one portion of the camp with Google Earths high-resolution photography.
The yellow scale line to the right of the fence line is just shy of 14 miles. According to The Hidden Gulag, the whole camp is 31 miles long by 25 miles wide. That works out to over 700 square miles, but if one makes allowances for the camps irregular shape, a rough estimate of 500 square miles seems more likely. That would make it as big as the city of Los Angeles.
Where high-resolution photography is available, its not hard to see the fence line punctuated at intervals of about 1200 feet by guard posts, buttressed, in places, by smaller guard shacks.There are unusual ditches, which could be land mines and man-traps.
Its impossible to draw any firm conclusion, but these ditches could be tiger traps whose coverings have weathered away. Its certainly hard to imagine what other reason there could be for digging trench lines like this along the fence line of a forced labor camp.
The camp is in a remote area, surrounded mostly by forest. In a few areas, however, just beyond the fence, the lives of North Koreas peasant farmers, such as they are, go on.
They cannot read foreign newspapers, listen to foreign broadcasts, possess cell phones or radios that can pick up unauthorized broadcasts, express unauthorized opinions, or travel abroad without fear of entering this gate.
The state owns everything, including the meager rations they grow, and on which they live. Still, for farmers in North Korea, survival is a little easier than it is for workers in the blighted factory towns where unemployed survivors of the Great Famine still live by stripping the ruins of copper wire. Just the same, one suspects that the farmers know whats good for them. Most likely, they stay away from the fence, keep their eyes on the soil, and never mention it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
YET THEY BITCH ABOUT GITMO WHERE IT IS A5 STAR RESORT CPMAPARED TOO THIS PLACE
#3
listen to foreign broadcasts, possess cell radios that can pick up unauthorized broadcasts, express unauthorized opinions, or travel abroad without fear of entering this gate.
What? No Rush, no Fox news... no travel to Mexico? This must surely be a Obama-Biden utopia.
#4
Yet another reason to tell the UN (and President Obama and 'Iraq is a Gulag' Kennedy) to go f-k themselves. They are dredging up accusations about interrogations rooms being too hot or someone touching an unholy Quaran or waterboarding while remaining silent on the treatment of innocent North Koreans imprisoned by their own government for 'crimes' which their relatives may have committed.
The first baby was born to a twenty-eight-year-old woman named Lim, who had been happily married to a Chinese man. The baby boy was born healthy and unusually large, owing to the mothers ability to eat well during pregnancy in China. Former Detainee #24 assisted in holding the babys head during delivery and then cut the umbilical cord. But when she started to hold the baby and wrap him in a blanket, a guard grabbed the newborn by one leg and threw it in a large, plastic-lined box. A doctor explained that since North Korea was short on food, the country should not have to feed the children of foreign fathers. When the box was full of babies, Former Detainee #24 later learned, it was taken outside and buried.
[Kyodo: Korea] Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said Thursday he has agreed with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao that the two countries will work closely toward an early resumption of the six-party talks on North KoreaŽs denuclearization. Aso also said he and the Chinese leaders agreed to cooperate to prevent the swine flu outbreak from spreading further. Aso held talks separately with Wen on Wednesday and Hu on Thursday during his two-day visit to Beijing.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
INDIAN POSTERS > opine that BOTH INDIA + CHINA, etal. are NOT SAFE FROM A TALIBANIZED PAKISTAN, espec as the TALIBS = RADICAL ISLAM/MILTERRS ARE NOT GOING TO CEASE THEIR DRIVE TO NUCLEARIZE AMAP ASAP. Any FALL OF PAKISTAN to the Militants will put the whole of SOUTH-EAST ASIA AT RISK OF ISLAMIST- + NUCLEAR TERRORISM???
#2
OOPSIES, my bad again, forgot to add CHINESE MIL FORUM > PLA "ABSOLUTE LOYALTY" TO THE COMMUNIST PARTY/CPC IN DOUBT? Covert, Subtle hints from recent not-necessarily-related Official Statements that many PLA Officers and NCOS are beginning to question the Party's policies and utility???
Also from CMF > DON'T BELIEVE THE INDIA HYPE! India's intensive efforts at reforms and modernization directed at wrong Sectors - consequences in LT may only worsen or add to India's pervasive truubles???; + [Hillary]CLINTON WARNS OF ["disturbing"] IRANIAN, CHINESE GAINS IN LATIN AMERICA.
* IRANIAN.WS > IRANIAN-VENEZUELAN MILITARY ALLIANCE [Moud to help Hugo = "the Red Beret" wid VN milreqs = needs].
D *** NG IT, MOUD TO MILWAUKEE, WI = GREAT LAKES, "SCREW YOUR FACTORIES + DETROIT, WE'RE ARMING HUGO BABY! DA BERET IS DA BOMB"!
* WORLD MIL FORUM > MONGOLIA'S MISERABALE SITUATION: CHINA TO PROVIDE RMB$800.0MILYUHN IN MILITARY, MISCELLANEOUS NATIONAL ASSISTANCE BECUZ MONGOLIA IS UNABLE TO MANUFACTURE ITS OWN.
[Arutz Sheva] Convicted terrorist Yousef Majed al-Molqui, the ringleader of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro, has been freed from an Italian prison. Molqui served 23 years of his 30-year jail sentence for his role in the hijacking and murder of a wheelchair-bound Jewish passenger.
Italian officials announced Molqui's release on Thursday. He is currently staying in a holding center, where he is fighting an expulsion order. He has married an Italian citizen, and claims that his marriage should grant him citizenship as well. In addition, Molqui argues that he has no citizenship. As a descendant of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel, Molqui is not eligible for citizenship in Israel, nor is he eligible for citizenship in his state of birth.
Molqui escaped in 1996 while on leave from prison, but was recaptured and returned to jail.
Molqui and three other members of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) terrorist group hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship off the coast of Egypt in 1985. The hijackers demanded the release of 50 terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails. During the incident, the hijackers also murdered wheelchair-bound American citizen Leon Klinghoffer and threw his body overboard. Klinghoffer, 69, was singled out because he was Jewish.
A second hijacker, Ibrahim Abdel-Atif, was released from prison last year and is also fighting a deportation order. Like Molqui, Abdel-Atif has no citizenship, as his country of birth, Lebanon, refuses to grant citizenship to descendants of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel.
This article starring:
Ibrahim Abdel-Atif
Yousef Majed al-Molqui
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Any word on Leonard Klinghoffer? Is he still dead?
This is one of the incidents that convinced me the Palestinians were basically a pack of murderous savages.
#2
Brave, brave Lions of Islam! Killing a wheel chair bound 69 year old man!
Fine - return him to the scene of the hijacking of the Achille Lauro and release him there. I don't care if it is many miles out to sea - just release him.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/01/2009 6:58 Comments ||
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#3
Hopefully he settle near Rome and cause them a great deal of trouble. A memory jogger:
Initially the Italians were not disposed to cooperate, scrambling their own warplanes to prevent a landing at Sigonella, but after a call from Reagan, Italy's Prime Minister Bettino Craxi gave permission to land. The American plan was to load the Palestinians onto a U.S. military aircraft and transport them to the States. But when American troops encircled the 737 they found themselves surrounded in turn by Italian soldiers. Italy had decided that since the Achille Lauro was an Italian vessel, the hijackers should be tried in Italian courts. The terrorists faced charges of premeditated murder, kidnapping and hijacking. When Reagan called Craxi this time, the Italian leader wouldn't budge -- Abul Abbas and his cronies would remain in Italian hands. After Arafat threatened *uncontrollable reactions" if the Italians turned Abbas over to the Americans, Italy refused a U.S. request to extradite the terrorist leader. Abbas was soon freed. In 1986 the four hijackers were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms.
PEORIA, Illinois (Reuters) - An accused sleeper agent for al Qaeda labeled an "enemy combatant" and held in isolation in a U.S. Navy brig for six years pleaded guilty in court on Thursday to a terrorist conspiracy charge.
Ali al-Marri, a 43-year-old with dual citizenship in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, could face up to 15 years in prison depending on whether U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mihm gives him credit for time served at sentencing on July 30. Marri pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda. A second charge of providing material support for terrorism will be dropped based on a plea agreement that was finalized only minutes before Thursday's hearing, Marri's attorney said.
So he could be out in about nine years, minus time for 'good behavior'. It's positively European.
"The government would liked to have taken this to trial but I believe it was the right move for all," Marri's attorney Andrew Savage told reporters.
"Without a doubt, this case is a grim reminder of the seriousness of the threat we as a nation still face," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "But it also reflects what we can achieve when we have faith in our criminal justice system."
U.S. authorities said Marri had his first contacts with al Qaeda in 1998 and learned terror "tradecraft" through 2001 at the group's military training camps in Pakistan. There he met Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks, who directed him to meet with Mustafa al-Hawsawi, the suspected paymaster for the September 11 attackers. Hawsawi gave Marri $10,000, they said.
The Justice Department said Marri communicated by email in code with Mohammed, whom he referred to as "Muk" while calling himself "Abdo," and provided progress reports on his efforts to enter the United States.
Marri arrived with his family on a student visa on September 10, 2001, and went to Peoria, where he had previously been a student at Bradley University. Prosecutors said he did not attend classes and instead used his new laptop computer to do research on cyanide compounds and sulfuric acid with the goal of creating a lethal gas.
Marri collected information about how to hack into protected computer systems, and obtained stolen credit card numbers and driver's licenses, prosecutors said. They said he also collected information about U.S. dams and tunnels, using a computer program that permits the user to anonymously search websites.
Savage said Marri would "state unequivocally that he would never engage in any violent actions that would harm an innocent person."
Except that infidels aren't innocent ...
Authorities said Marri plotted to follow up the September 11 attacks with chemical or biological assaults and cyber-attacks on the U.S. financial system.
"Ali al-Marri was an al Qaeda 'sleeper' operative working on U.S. soil and directed by the chief planner of the 9/11 attacks," said Arthur Cummings of the FBI's National Security Branch. "Al-Marri researched the use of chemical weapons, potential targets and maximum casualties."
He was originally arrested in Peoria in December 2001 as a material witness in a New York investigation of the September 11 attacks. Marri was then returned to Peoria and charged with credit card fraud and lying to the FBI. But the charges were dropped in 2003 and then-President George W. Bush declared him an "enemy combatant" and sent him to the Consolidated Naval Brig in South Carolina. He was held in the military prison without charge and in extreme isolation for nearly six years.
Following a review ordered by President Barack Obama, Marri's case was transferred to the U.S. court system, and he was indicted in Illinois in February on terrorism charges.
Some legal experts have said Marri's case offered a preview of how the administration plans to deal with more than 200 inmates of the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if it is closed as planned. Holder was in Europe earlier this week, seeking help in relocating Guantanamo detainees.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The Feds do not have "good time". 15 means you get out early on the last day of the 15th year. Ouch!
#2
Ali al-Marri, a 43-year-old with dual citizenship in Qatar and Saudi Arabia
Fifteen years minus six already served in solitary confinement, to be followed by summary deportation... would it be worse to be sent back to Qatar or Saudia Arabia?
As the secrets about the CIA's interrogation techniques continue to come out, there's new information about the frequency and severity of their use, contradicting an 2007 ABC News report, and a new focus on two private contractors who were apparently directing the brutal sessions that President Obama calls torture.
According to current and former government officials, the CIA's secret waterboarding program was designed and assured to be safe by two well-paid psychologists now working out of an unmarked office building in Spokane, Washington. Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, former military officers, together founded Mitchell Jessen and Associates.
Both men declined to speak to ABC News citing non-disclosure agreements with the CIA. But sources say Jessen and Mitchell together designed and implemented the CIA's interrogation program. MSM and Big Zero are all about going after people whose interegation methods saved the lives of Americans. But MSM and Obama says there is nothing wrong with Big Zero releasing the master mind behind the killing of 19 of our sailors in the USS Cole bombing.
#3
Drowning is near impossible in waterboarding. And if cardiac arrest did occur, there were always medical personnel available to assure recovery. It was never used to gather evidence admissible in court. I would categorize conditioning extreme discomfort as a lesser form of torture even though it is not really pain compliance, however I would condone waterboarding where information gathered could be used to save lives.
Posted by: Jans Wittlesbach2039 ||
05/01/2009 7:13 Comments ||
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#4
Both Mitchell and Jessen were previously involved in the U.S. military program to train pilots how to survive behind enemy lines and resist brutal tactics if captured.
That would most likely be Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape or SERE. Pilots and elite forces attend SERE school(s) where various tactics such as water boarding are used on our own men along with the techniques which enable them to survive and defeat the enemy.
If you'd like to read a bit about REAL torture I'd highly recommend Andy McNab's best-seller Bravo Two Zero. McNab wrote: "Every major bone in his body was broken, he never got any medical care. He ended up with no teeth, no hair, no muscle mass. He was a mess, but he was alive."
No one in the MSM or government mentions SERE or the techniques used in the training of our own forces in training. How interesting.
#6
If you take away all interrogation tactics except asking nicely, you are sure to be just wasting your time asking questions at all. Torture or 'harsh' interrogation may well not give useful information but it gives the subject something to 'resist', leaving him off guard (thinking he's been successful resisting) when your skilled and subtle (or/and chemically-assisted) interrogation occurs. Good cop-bad cop. WTF is wrong with our 'leaders' and media?
#7
Ollie North mentioned SERE on Fox--said he had it. Also, I heard McCain in an interview say his objection to waterborading is it is torture and violates the Geneva Conventions. Perhaps the Senator should read them and see that terrorists aren't in compliance with the conditions set forth. The news had turned into op-eds, losing sight of little things like facts.
#9
Drowning is near impossible in waterboarding. And if cardiac arrest did occur, there were always medical personnel available to assure recovery.
Cardiac arrest is more likely when I look at my retirement investments or at BOs budget.
These consultants made $1000/day? Not great for consultants--particularly if they shared this fee and paid expenses. Obviously they were not lawyers and didn't understand creative billing concepts.
#11
I keep thinking of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men.
We are such a humane country that we had all sorts of due process to figure out safe ways to coerce info as a last resort. Yet, these leftists we elected (largely because the economy tanked right before an election) seem to think that offering up those involved as a sacrifice to the 'international community' will somehow make them stop hating us. It disgusts me. The 'cannot handle the truth.'
To me the most depressing moments in the WoT (Post 9/11 anyway) are when we failed to execute Zacharias Mousoui, failed to execute John Walker Lindh and now this witchhunt. We need to be a morally serious society to wage this war. That means we must face up to evil and extinguish it instead of blaming ourselves.
PESHAWAR: Swat cleric Sufi Muhammad said on Thursday he was committed to peace in Malakand but linked it to the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl and the establishment of Darul Qaza.
Sufi said there was a deadlock over the appointment of qazis between him and the NWFP government, because the government had not accepted the names he had recommended.
He offered to resume talks if the government stopped the recent military action against the Taliban.
The fighting will end automatically [after the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl, Izzat Khan, a spokesman for the group said by telephone, according to media reports. We are ready for talks with the government on the appointment of judges and a ceasefire in the region.
Rebels: Sufi Muhammad rejected the judges nominated by the government, saying they were not eligible. Once judges are appointed under Islamic law, those continuing to fight will be considered rebels, he told the Taliban meanwhile.
More than 50 Taliban were killed in the operation to secure Buner, armys spokesman Athar Abbas had said on Wednesday. As many as 75 Taliban were killed in the Lower Dir district earlier this week. staff report/daily times monitor
Posted by: john frum ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Babar Awan said on Thursday that High Treason Punishment Act 1973 was a dead letter as it could not be implemented and always used as a political slogan for political reconciliation. Talking to newsmen in premises of the Supreme Court, he said that for conducting the trial of high treason cases, the courts of sessions judge special were already existed in the country where the cases of Pakistan Penal Code, anti-terrorists, anti-narcotics, anti-corruption and Hudood cases were heard and action taken under the Criminal Procedural Code (CrPC). He said that if a person was found guilty of sabotaging or suspending the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, he was liable to death sentence. According to Section 2-A of High Treason Act of 1973, Gen. Ayub sabotaged the 1956 Constitution and transferred powers to Gen. Yahya instead of Speaker of the Assembly. A high treason case against Ayub Khan can also be initiated. Similarly, allegation can be levelled against Gen. Zia ul Haq and Pervez Musharraf for sabotaging the Constitution. The Constitution is very much clear and self-explanatory, which cannot be chewed and minced, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
only if the takliban take over. Sine he actually put up a show of fighting the militans
[Geo News] Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Tariq Majid, chaired the meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at Chaklala, Rawalpindi on Thursday. Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Naval chief Admiral Noman Bashir, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, and other senior military officials from three services also attended the meeting.
The participants of the meeting were given comprehensive briefings on the external and internal security situation with specific focus on the evolving internal challenges and the measures to improve domestic stability. Examining the prevailing situation in Malakand Division, the Committee expressed its satisfaction over the progress of operations in Lower Dir, Buner and adjoining areas and resolved to extend maximum support to the Government in stamping out any spill over of militancy in these areas with zero tolerance.
The Committee also discussed the security situation in Balochistan and Karachi. Dilating upon response to the myriad of security challenges confronting the country, the Committee underscored the need for a comprehensive national response.
The Committee strongly dismissed the undue alarm being created by certain quarters, especially the western media, indicating dangers to our strategic assets, terming these as unfounded. The Committee expressed full confidence in the robust custodial controls and multilayered arrangements put in place to ensure fail-safe security of these assets. The Committee also evaluated the revised US Policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan with a view to making security related recommendations to the Government.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Committee: The only known form of life with more than 6 legs and no brain.
[The News (Pak)] NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour on Wednesday said that chief of the Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Muhammad should talk to the government if he has any reservations over the establishment of the Darul-Daurl Qaza so that the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation be implemented accordingly.
Talking to journalists at his office, the ANP parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly urged the political parties to demonstrate unity in larger national interest. Some political parties were opposing the ongoing action in Dir Lower, he said, adding, "Our government took all parties into confidence on all important issues."
Bilour said that all the party leaders in the recently held all parties conference had underlined the need for discharging government affairs under the law and the Constitution. The provincial government was also acting accordingly as the government could not remain a silent spectator if somebody kills innocent children like that in Luqman Banda, Dir, he said, adding that Mufti Kifayatullah of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) opposed the government action in Dir, while his leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman had cautioned the government of the advancement of the Taliban to Islamabad and had asked for proper action. Bashir Bilour said that the provincial government implemented Nizam-e-Adl by opposing the world community, including the United States, as it was the demand of the people of the Malakand Division, adding that the NWFP government was grateful to Sufi Muhammad for playing a positive role in this regard.
The senior minister expressed confidence that he (Sufi Muhammad) would continue playing a constructive role. He said that the ANP believed in the philosophy of 'non-violence' and the party wished to settle the issues through dialogue.
"Taliban entered Buner despite the peace deal with the government wherein it was agreed that they would not do so. The Taliban also violated the deal by displaying arms and challenging the writ of the government in Buner," he added. Bilour said that there would be investment and economic development in entire Malakand Division if normalcy returned there.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak)] Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar on Wednesday urged political parties to collectively foil conspiracies against Karachi and maintain peace in the city.
"Karachi is our commercial and industrial hub and we need to foil any conspiracy against it," he said in response to a point of order by Senator Zahid Khan and Abdul Rahim Mandokhel. "Some elements want to create hardships for the government by creating unrest in the city," Qamar said and appreciated the role of those political parties in maintaining peace in the city.
Senator Zahid Khan, on a point of order, had referred to certain incidents of "plunder, looting and burning the property of Pashtoons." "Some elements were doing this in a planned manner and the government should take cognizance of these incidents," he said.
Zahid Khan said as different parties had planned rallies in connection with the May 12, a conspiracy is being hatched by those elements again, who played a gory drama couple of years back.
"Our party would prove on May 12 that Karachi belongs to every Pakistani," he said. He also mentioned the "positive role of ANP chief Asfandyar Wali to maintain peace in the city after May 12 killing of Pashtoons in Karachi".
He asked the government and the leader of the House to seek report from the provincial government on these issues and inform the House what measures were being taken to maintain peace and law and order.
Senator Mandokhel referred to the incidents of burning the vehicles and businesseses and property of Pashtoons in Balochistan and said all this is being done in a planned manner to create unrest. Senator Tahir Mashhadi also demanded a detailed inquiry into the incidents and said such actions were aimed at spoiling the peace of the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat (TTS) Maulana Fazlullah has asked the journalists' community to use their pen against the negative propaganda of the West and cooperate with the Taliban in their struggle against the imperialist forces.
Talking to local media persons by phone from an undisclosed location on Wednesday, the TTS chief said: "I believe in freedom of the media and distribution of pamphlets in Swat was not meant to threaten journalists. It was an appeal to counter conspiracies of the anti-Islam forces through their pen." The journalists are free to work in the district, he added.
He said journalists should report events objectively and that they had no intention to put curb on them. The journalists of Swat should continue with their fact-based reporting without any fear, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
"I believe in freedom of the media" ...to say only what is permitted by Allan (as I interpret it.) To do otherwise is apostasy, a capital offense, and has nothing to do with media freedom.
There is potential for the Taliban not only to expand suicide attacks in Pakistan but also to put greater pressure on the routes ferrying supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan, analysts say.
The new US plan calls for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan. More troops will require more supplies. And the most viable overland supply lines run through Pakistan.
Seventy percent of Western supplies to NATO forces pass through the Tribal Areas. The supplies are offloaded in Karachi and trucked to depots in Peshawar, then through the Khyber Pass to Kabul.
The Khyber Pass is particularly vulnerable. Blowing up a bridge there can shut down convoy traffic for days. This has happened seven times since September. The depots and terminals in Peshawar have also been plagued by suspected Taliban sabotage.
The convoys are not escorted by US or Pakistani forces. The United States uses Pakistani security contractors.
STRATFOR analyst Kamran Bokhari suggests that the Pakistan Army should be involved. "If the army is doing it or is in charge of ferrying all these supplies and making sure they reach their destinations, there is a monetary incentive in that because there's a lot of money involved and the military will get a cut in that."
System: Brian Cloughley, a former Australian army military attaché in Islamabad, says the system is riddled with corruption among the contractors. "There's quite a lot of underhanded manoeuvring concerning contracts and, of course, the actual passage of vehicles because one contractor can perhaps say, 'Right, if you are not going to pay me off, I will ensure that your convoy is torched'," he said.
Lt-Gen (r) Ali Aurakzai, the former NWFP governor, says that even if the supplies are not weapons-related, the routing of NATO convoys through the province is resented among local tribes.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
PAKISTAN DEFENSE FORUM > OBAMA: US HAS "HUGE INTERESTS" IN PAKISTAN. MILITARY INTERVENTION BY US NOT RULED OUT TO SECURE PAKISTANI NUCLEAR WEAPONS; + OBAMA "CONFIDENT" PAKISTAN CAN SECURE ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL.
#2
WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC INDIA: CHINA HAS COVERTLY BUILT UP SEVERAL HUNDRED ADVANCED STRIKE AIRCRAFT [300-500], PLA GROUND TROOPS IN TIBET [Lanzhou Mil Region]???
Also, ISRAELI MIL FORUM > THE DAWN OF AN ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IS AROUND THE CORNER [New Era of GLOBAL ISLAMIC RENNAISSANCE]. "Slavery's Shackles", espec to West, is Breaking, the Enemies of Islam are in retreat.
As armed Taliban continue robbing government departments and private property at random and without fear, residents of Swat believe that a 'ruthless' military operation is the only solution to the problem.
"The best approach in this situation is a complete and ruthless military operation," residents of Mingora city told Daily Times on Thursday.
Swat district is drifting towards complete anarchy as Taliban are ransacking government and private property and abducting police personnel. The local population does not rule out a fresh military operation against armed groups.
Law-enforcement agencies are vacating police stations as conditions worsen.
"For the last few days, over a dozen policemen have been kidnapped, some from police stations and others from their residences," said a police official in Mingora, asking not to be named.
Cops vacated the Kalam police station and the Taliban occupied the building, local residents said by phone. "We are worried about our security," they added.
At the Population Welfare Department in Saidu Sharif, Taliban took away all office furniture and other items, including medicine. It was the second attack on the office in as many days, an official of the department told Daily Times.
"There is absolutely no writ of the state," he added. "We are at the mercy of these armed groups who have every authority to do anything they want."
The local population's anxiety grew with veteran nationalist Pakhtun leader Afzal Khan Lala's departure from Swat generating rumours that the last symbol of resistance to the Taliban had also 'surrendered'.
But the man himself denied that he left Swat because of security threats, adding he was going for a medical check-up.
Growing feeling of insecurity among local population and robbing and kidnapping incidents prompted a flag march by the army troops in Mingora city on Thursday and they searched vehicles and people, witnesses said.
Finding the soldiers on the streets brought some hope for the extremely worried residents of Mingora. "Watching troops on the streets gives us a new hope," said one resident.
All eyes were set on the sky as jet fighters and reconnaissance planes hovered over the city on Thursday. However, these planes disappeared minutes later.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A top Al Qaeda commander has called on Pakistanis to rise up against the Pakistani government where Taliban are fighting the army, according to a message on websites promoting extremism on Thursday.
The 29-page article by Abu Yahya Al-Libi, who is thought to be in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was dated mid-March. Pakistan's army has been trying to fight back Al Qaeda's Taliban allies who have taken control of areas close to Islamabad. "Muslims in Pakistan, and especially their clerics, should prepare themselves and rise up to perform the duty ... of fighting the Pakistani army and the rest of the apparatus that are the pillars of their tyrannical state," Al-Libi wrote.
"The criminals in the Pakistani government and its army have not only been a cover for the occupying crusader infidels in Afghanistan, they have directly helped them in committing all their crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Pakistan's top military leaders resolved to support the government in showing "zero tolerance" towards militancy in Malakand division in a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) on Thursday.
"While examining the prevailing situation in Malakand division, the JCSC expressed satisfaction over the progress of operations in Lower Dir, Buner and adjoining areas and resolved to extend maximum support to the government in stamping out any spillover of militancy in these areas with zero tolerance," an ISPR spokesman said after the meeting.
Nuclear assets: The JCSC strongly dismissed the "undue alarm" being raised especially by the western media and ruled out any danger to Pakistan's nuclear assets. "The JCSC expressed full confidence in the robust custodial controls and multi-layered arrangements put in place to ensure fail-safe security of these assets," the ISPR spokesman said.
The participants of the meeting were given comprehensive briefings on the external and internal security situation with specific focus on the evolving internal challenges and the measures to improve domestic stability. "The JCSC also discussed the security situation in Balochistan and Karachi," he said.
"The committee also evaluated the revised US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan with a view to making security related recommendations to the government," the spokesman said.
JCSC Chairman General Tariq Majeed chaired the meeting. The chiefs of the army, navy and air force, and senior civil and military officials attended.
Meanwhile, ISPR Director General Maj Gen Athar Abbas dismissed a report in the New York Times that claimed that Pakistan had agreed to move 6,000 troops from its Indian border to its western border with Afghanistan. "The story is not correct," he told Daily Times.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[The News (Pak)] Former senior minister and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial chief Sirajul Haq on Wednesday said the government had launched military operations in Dir and Buner districts at the behest of the US and no political party was taken into confidence.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of JI Malakand Ameers here, he alleged the rulers were playing the role of agents of the US and the UK to get dollars. Former ministers Shah Raz Khan, Hussain Ahmed Kanju, former MNAs Fazal Subhan and Bakhtiar Maani were also present on the occasion.
"We had made it clear to the government during the All Parties Conference at the Frontier House recently that there was no need for a military operation in Malakand division but despite that, security forces were sent to Buner and Dir Lower districts. Federal and provincial governments are equally responsible for the worst law and order in the country, particularly in the Fata and the NWFP," the JI leader said.
The JI leader urged the Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi chief to accelerate efforts for restoration of peace in the area, pledging that the JI would extend full cooperation to the movement in this connection. The JI leader also demanded of the government to halt the military operation in the Malakand division and take steps for the rehabilitation of displaced people.'
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not win friends among the Palestinian delegation at the United Nation's anti-racism conference in Geneva last week, even though he championed their cause on its opening day.
His speech "was not helpful at all. It was not balanced," the PLO Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Ibrahim Khraishi told The Jerusalem Post in Geneva last week.
"He [Ahmadinejad] made from it a show and used it as an election campaign for his country," said Khraishi.
Although Ahmadinejad spoke of the "Zionist crimes of aggression, carnage and other brutalities" against the civilians in Gaza, the overall thrust of his speech, which called for the eradication of Zionism, did not fit within the goals and aims of the Palestinian delegation in Geneva.
The distinction between their stance on Israel and Iran's is a subtle but significant one. Ahmadinejad crossed the line, Khraishi said, because his speech delegitimized the very existence of the State of Israel, whereas the Palestinians, he said, accepted the state of Israel within the pre-1967 borders.
Both in the run-up to the 2009 Durban Review Conference and at the event itself, the Palestinians did not hesitate to attack Israel's policies. They took issue with what they have referred to as Israel's "occupation" of the West Bank and the "racial policies" against Palestinians, which they believe ensue from acts they deem illegal, such as construction of what Israel calls the "security barrier" and Palestinians call "the separation wall."
The day after Ahmadinejad's speech, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki spoke of the Israeli occupation as the "the worst violation of human rights" and "the ugliest face of racism and racial discrimination."
But Iran's words were not coordinated with the Palestinian delegation and did not reflect the Palestinian Authority's policy regarding Israel, Khraishi said.
He said a decision had been made by the PA leadership "not to use Durban as a platform to attack [the existence of] Israel."
"We ask all of those who are going to support or to show their support with us, to do so according to our interests and not according to their agendas," he said.
"We have no time for that. Our people are dying under the occupation. We are the ones who are losing the blood there, and so if there is anyone who wants to fill his glass from our blood, we will cut off his head; we will not allow it," he said.
Still, in spite of persistent rumors that the Palestinians had walked out in protest, along with 23 European nations and St. Kitts and Nevis, he said the Palestinian delegation had remained in the room during the speech.
He and Malki did walk out of the room during the last moments of the speech, which had run over its allotted time, because they did not want to be late for a meeting.
"We are always flexible when it comes to listening," he said. "I disagree with many speakers, but I stay to listen to them and to see the best way to deal with them."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
CHINESE MIL FORUM > ISRAEL: HAMAS AGENTS ORDERED WEAPONS FROM CHINA [ e.g. 2000 M16's and access -H. in direct purchase from China, not via IRAN].
[Iran Press TV Latest] Turkey fails in its efforts to bring the Israeli leadership to justice and is forced to drop an investigation into suspected Israeli war crimes against Gazans.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
[Iran Press TV Latest] UN investigator Richard Falk says Israel refuses to cooperate with a Gaza war crimes probe because it knows deep down that it made serious human rights violations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Falk is an Old Leftie. Impartiality is hardly his forte.
Posted by: Jans Wittlesbach2039 ||
05/01/2009 7:17 Comments ||
Top||
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran, which continues to plan and finance terrorist attacks in the Middle East and beyond, remains the "most active state sponsor of terrorism" in the world, the U.S. government charged Thursday while al-Qaeda poses the greatest terrorist threat to the West.
Iran was lumped with Syria, Sudan and Cuba as terrorism sponsors in the State Department report for 2008, the same countries that appeared in previous annual reports.
North Korea was dropped from the blacklist in Oct. 2008 after it struck a verbal deal with the United States aimed at verifying its nuclear disarmament, even though a formal agreement was never sealed.
The latest report said "Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism," while also calling it the "most significant" sponsor.
"Iran's involvement in the planning and financial support of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Surely Pakistan is up wih Iran?
Please dont forget financial help from saudis for spreading terrorism!!!
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.
[Ya Libnan] Egyptian authorities were trying to identify the real names of three Hezbollah members who supervised the work of the so-called Hezbollah cell in order to give their names to the Interpol to detain them and hand them over to Cairo.
[Geo News] Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Babar Awan said on Thursday that High Treason Punishment Act 1973 was a dead letter as it could not be implemented and always used as a political slogan for political reconciliation. Talking to newsmen in premises of the Supreme Court, he said that for conducting the trial of high treason cases, the courts of sessions judge special were already existed in the country where the cases of Pakistan Penal Code, anti-terrorists, anti-narcotics, anti-corruption and Hudood cases were heard and action taken under the Criminal Procedural Code (CrPC). He said that if a person was found guilty of sabotaging or suspending the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, he was liable to death sentence. According to Section 2-A of High Treason Act of 1973, Gen. Ayub sabotaged the 1956 Constitution and transferred powers to Gen. Yahya instead of Speaker of the Assembly. A high treason case against Ayub Khan can also be initiated. Similarly, allegation can be levelled against Gen. Zia ul Haq and Pervez Musharraf for sabotaging the Constitution. The Constitution is very much clear and self-explanatory, which cannot be chewed and minced, he added.
[The News (Pak)] NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour on Wednesday said that chief of the Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Muhammad should talk to the government if he has any reservations over the establishment of the Darul-Daurl Qaza so that the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation be implemented accordingly.
[The News (Pak)] Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar on Wednesday urged political parties to collectively foil conspiracies against Karachi and maintain peace in the city.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat (TTS) Maulana Fazlullah has asked the journalists' community to use their pen against the negative propaganda of the West and cooperate with the Taliban in their struggle against the imperialist forces.
A top Al Qaeda commander has called on Pakistanis to rise up against the Pakistani government where Taliban are fighting the army, according to a message on websites promoting extremism on Thursday.
Pakistan's top military leaders resolved to support the government in showing "zero tolerance" towards militancy in Malakand division in a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) on Thursday. 
[The News (Pak)] Former senior minister and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial chief Sirajul Haq on Wednesday said the government had launched military operations in Dir and Buner districts at the behest of the US and no political party was taken into confidence.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran, which continues to plan and finance terrorist attacks in the Middle East and beyond, remains the "most active state sponsor of terrorism" in the world, the U.S. government charged Thursday while al-Qaeda poses the greatest terrorist threat to the West.
