Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbudin Hekmatyar has said that Osama Bin Laden is still alive, a private TV channel reported on Monday. Speaking in a video message, Hekmatyar said the US would be given "safe exit" if it decided to pull out of Afghanistan. "Al Qaeda's 'wrong' strategy was the reason the Taliban were toppled," he said. Hekmatyar said that Iran, India and China were supporting the American cause in Afghanistan despite having "problems with each other". He condemned the suicide attacks in Pakistan and urged "those people who had launched a war against Pakistani security forces" that they should fight against foreign forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hekmatyar has said that Osama Bin Laden is still alive
We need proof of life. Can you send us a picture of OBL holding up the latest copy of the RB Defender-Scimitar, please?
#2
The fact that so many OTHER people have to keep whining that "he is still alive" makes me suspect that he is not.
He would be 52 years old. If he is still living in a cave, that is a long time to be without good medical care. Hell, he could have died from an abscessed tooth by now.
It has been 8 years since he went to ground (so to speak).
#4
ISI guest houses have all the latest medical gadgets. You can do dialysis there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/10/2009 7:47 Comments ||
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#5
Osama is Dead.
Its in our interest that he not be CONFIRMED as such, however.
We can romp and stomp all over Islam for a very long time and Osama can be the grease that keeps our boot leather soft and comfortable....there is a lot of walking in the face of Islam left to do.
If Osama were CONFIRMED as titzup we might have to be constrained and close off some of the Muzzy map to SCREW-tinizing. Better that he be "somewhere" rather than right there. THEN we can roam at will and Islam gets to meet us and get to know us better.
#6
Hekmatyar was once the DARLING of the CIA..who deals in expediency in SO many ways. The CIA were staying in a hotel across the street from Dean's place...and had a steady supply of underage girls sent round. They never did much but pass the money along and get little twelve and thirteen year old girls sent to them on a regular basis.
Hekmatyar built himself a small Palace with the money and he liked little boys. When he was a young Teacher back in the day when the Russians were just getting started he was somewhat excessive as a Pederast. Even the Afghans who are
"sorta" ride your little back kinda guys and hold the reins which your pubes seem to provide...regarded Hekmatyar as a bit heavy on little boys backs.
You would have to get to know the Afghans to really appreciate the "kinda" men they are. Anybody remember Wardak(( descended from the Royal Afghan bloodline)? His specialty was carry a big ceremonial dagger and wear sunglasses ( sported a Mr. Whipple mustache). And then if there looked to be a fight he would fart and be gone in the morning. Ask anybody.
#9
There is an endless supply of Osama's, doesn't matter much now if he's dead or alive. The jihad is a business matter, and is not about personalities.
#10
On the other hand, you can still buy battery-powered dancing Osama dolls along with coffee mugs with Obama's mug on them in the Gaza strip. (Bloomberg)
A new strategy for Afghanistan that could lead to a British troop withdrawal from a former Taliban stronghold in northern Helmand province has sparked an immediate controversy.
Citing a senior NATO source, The Times reported that western military commanders in Afghanistan were considering a radical shift in policy that would see British and US forces conduct a tactical pullout from most of northern Helmand, including the town of Musa Qala. The source said the plan to withdraw from northern Helmand would be considered if proposed reinforcements, currently being examined by US President Barack Obama, were not approved. Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Kabul, has asked for 40,000 more troops, but Obama is yet to make a decision.
British military sources, however, said that a withdrawal from Musa Qala would be viewed as a defeat and could not be countenanced. They said it would also be a betrayal of the governor of the district, who risked his life to take a stand against the insurgents. Mullah Abdul Salaam -- a former Taliban commander -- switched sides to become district governor of Musa Qala only hours before British troops from 52 Brigade and Afghan soldiers retook the town from insurgent control in December 2007. British troops had withdrawn from Musa Qala in 2006 after a "deal" with the local tribal elders, but the Taliban seized control until the arrival of the 52 Brigade. The plans now being considered in Kabul would pull British and American troops out of the towns of Musa Qala and Nawzad to focus on stabilising the highly populated central areas of the province. The only remaining Western forces in the north of the province would be those defending the hydroelectric dam at Kajaki.
The plans are the most radical among options being considered by Gen McChrystal under a broader plan to shift forces towards the defence of more populous areas of the country, ceding outlying and remote areas. The new doctrine is focused on concentration of forces around population centres, main arteries and economic corridors with the ultimate aim of protecting the population and allowing intensive reconstruction. A senior NATO officer confirmed that proposals existed for a pullout from Nawzad and Musa Qala, but said, "No decision has been made." The senior British military sources insisted that total withdrawal from Musa Qala was not an option, but acknowledged it was possible that the area in which troops currently operated in the district could be reduced to make available more resources for improving security in places such as Kandahar and Lashkar Gah.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defence staff, also denied that Britain was planning to pull out of Musa Qala, but he confirmed show that NATO'S International Security Assistance Force would be focusing more on Afghanistan's main population centres.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Algeria is determined to halt the practice of paying ransoms to terrorist groups, and will introduce a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to ban this practice.
"The US, the UK and Russia support this move," said Algerian presidential advisor Rezag Bara on Saturday (October 31st).
Many analysts say that ransom payments to terrorist groups are becoming a very serious security issue. According to the national daily el-Khabar, some Western countries have paid ransoms totalling 10 million euros to secure the release of their kidnapped citizens by al-Qaeda terrorist groups.
Salime Amine, an academic who specialises in security issues, is concerned about the increasing number of terrorists demanding ransoms. "[Terrorists] are using ransom demands more and more, because they've seen that some countries give in to this kind of pressure," he said. "Faced with measures introduced by the various governments, which make it very difficult and sometimes impossible to transfer money to the terrorists, they have resorted to hostage-taking."
Algerian terrorist groups have stepped up their kidnapping attempts in recent months, mainly in Kabylie and the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou. Victims usually hail from wealthy families that can afford to pay steep ransoms. The most recent hostage situation occurred on October 30th, when members of al-Qaeda's El Ansar brigade kidnapped a business owner from his workplace in Tigzirt, Tizi Ouzou province.
Although the terrorists demanded money for the hostage's release, villagers and his family refused to give in. After being denied payment, the terrorists released the victim two days later following negotiations with the local imam, demonstrating that ransom payments are not the only means to secure the release of hostages.
Algeria has also taken its anti-ransom campaign to its African neighbours. Algerian diplomats threw their full support behind a regional meeting in July, in the hopes of encouraging other African countries to adopt a similar position regarding terrorists' demands.
"We feel that financing for terrorist activities is largely provided by the money that is collected in these operations," Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel said at the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
Bear in mind that these rebels are Shi'ites, and the Yemeni government is cooperating with Salafi Jihadis to crush them, to say nothing of what the Saudi government does.
Posted by: Gaz ||
11/10/2009 2:52 Comments ||
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#4
Regardless of if this is true or not (who cares, frankly?), there's just one word to describe the cold irony of this blowback....
And this word is : "Bwhahahahahahahahha!"
Grumpy G(r)om, if you are reading this, those Freedom Fighters REALLY need some rockets to lob at random soody territory, to further their Legitimate Ardmed Struggle, so... how is that donation drive going? It's For The Children, really.
Hum, there ARE pizza parlors in soodyland, aren't there?.... Maybe even some nightclubs!? Surely, there is no shortage of bus stops.
Didnt the Egyptians supply Poison Gas and wasnt it used in Yemen back in the Yemeni Civil War? That's back in Nasser's time, I seem to remember.
Islam is the religion with high moral standards, as we all know.
I AM thinking of all the Moslem possibilites in the crowded markets of Soddy...and the crowded buses full of the Believers, for verily Allah is wise and beneficent.
No shortage of the Milk of Human Kindness in Islam
Verily Allah is Compassionate.
#7
Send 'em some "Willie Peter Will Make You A Believer" tee shirts...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/10/2009 11:25 Comments ||
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#8
The Yemeni rebels are playing the media game with a government that just does not give a sh*t. Won't work. Maybe Judge Garzon of Spain can look into it and issue a fatwa initiate an investigation.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/10/2009 14:06 Comments ||
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Houthi fighters in Yemen say Saudi fighter jets are using phosphorous bombs to back a deadly Yemeni government offensive against them.
"Saudi combat fighter jets launched intense raids against border areas inside Yemeni territory on Sunday night," the fighters' spokesman Mohammad Abdessalam told AFP by telephone.
"The Saudi military used phosphorus bombs during those night raids, burning mountainous regions," he said adding that "The Saudi air raids resumed this morning (Monday). "
Abdessalam said that the raids targeted Malaheez, seven kilometers (3.8 miles) inside Yemen, as well as the border villages of Hassameh and Shida and several villages around Jebel (mountain) al-Dukhan straddling the border.
The Saudi air force launched its deadly offensive against Houthis seven days ago, accusing the resistance Shia fighters of killing two Saudi soldiers on the border.
While Riyadh claims that its offensive targeted Houthi positions on 'Saudi territory', the fighters say Yemeni villages are the main target of heavy bombings.
The developments comes as Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has declared that attacks against the Houthi fighters will be intensified.
The conflict between Houthi fighters and the Yemeni government began in 2004, but intensified last August when government forces stepped up the pressure against the fighters.
Houthi fighters say they have been defending their people against the Yemeni government that has marginalized them economically and politically.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
...What's interesting here is that during Operation Desert Storm, the RSAF had to be seriously prodded to even fly in the same direction as their co-religionists in Iraq. There are several confirmed incidents of Saudi Tornado drivers flying north, jettisoning their bombs in the desert and then coming home proclaiming great victories - not knowing that USAF AWACS and other surveillance systems had the whole sorry performance on tape. See Every Man A Tiger by Chuck Horner and Tom Clancy for an absolutely hysterical account of how they finally broke the RSAF of this problem. Saudi F-15 air to air drivers did not seem to have the same problem, and had to be restrained from letting their fangs out too far.
So I gotta wonder what it is about the Yemenis that Saudi air-to-mud guys don't seem to have a problem with...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/10/2009 8:44 Comments ||
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#3
So I gotta wonder what it is about the Yemenis that Saudi air-to-mud guys don't seem to have a problem with...
#4
What's interesting here is that during Operation Desert Storm, the RSAF had to be seriously prodded to even fly in the same direction as their co-religionists in Iraq.
The personal Web site for a radical American imam living in Yemen who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers is praising alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan as a hero.
The posting Monday on the Web site for Anwar al Awlaki, who was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three 9/11 hijackers worshipped, said American Muslims who condemned the attacks on the Texas military base last week are hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion.
Two U.S. intelligence officials told The Associated Press the Web site was Al Awlaki's. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence collection.
Anwar said the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to "follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Find him and kill him, if we don't have James Bond types on our payroll, HIRE SOME.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/10/2009 12:41 Comments ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] The lack of arms control in Yemen -- over the past few decades -- represents a danger to the country's stability and security. Weapons were previously considered to be a source of pride to the Yemenis; however they have now crossed the line and these are no longer "Jambiyaa" [traditional Yemeni dagger] but rather guns, anti-tank missiles, surface-to-air missiles, mortars, bazookas, etc. The recent war between the government and the Huthi rebels reflects the danger that the influx of weapons into the country represents, and this has allowed the Huthi rebels to continue their insurgency against the state.
With the official talk from Yemen initially disparaging the strength and potential of the Huthis everybody expected the Yemeni government to resolve this crisis in a few short days. However the Huthi insurgency surviving for this length of time leaves no room for doubt that what was being seen on the surface with regards to the Huthi [military] preparations was nothing more than the tip of the iceberg, and accurate information about the Huthis military arsenal, internal organization, and external links are lacking. Events have clarified the enormity of the Huthi problem, which is not confined to the Yemeni border, but has now stepped over the line to include Yemen's northern neighbor, Saudi Arabia. This was seen in Huthi militants creeping across the Saudi border to attack border guard stations, and threaten residents of nearby villages. The Huthis embarked upon this campaign after they failed to convince anybody of their claim that the Saudi Arabian Air Force was attacking them in coordination with the Yemeni army.
I am confident that the Huthis have committed a grave mistake by expanding their military operations onto Saudi Arabian soil, and this will exact a heavy toll from them. Despite Saudi's awareness of the danger that the Huthi rebels represent, and the slogans and ideology that they believe in, and the position that they adopt, Saudi Arabia previously regarded the Huthis merely as an internal Yemeni issue. However the Huthis transgressing upon Saudi territory has filled the Saudi Arabians with firmness and determination which will cost the Huthis a heavy price. Every inch of Saudi territory that the Huthis advance represents Riyadh, Mecca, Dammam, Ha'il, Jizan and Abha, and the security and stability of one region of Saudi Arabia is the security and stability of Saudi Arabia as a whole. The Huthis failed to understand this, and failed to appreciate the consequences of crossing into Saudi Arabia. They believed that crossing into Saudi Arabia would gain them media hype, but they gained noting but the loathing of the world and the disgrace of defeat.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
When you are a tool of Iran, expect the sunni to bear down on your hide.
Japanese state-run broadcaster NHK reports that when Kim Jong-il met with then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang in 2002 the North Korean leader said he was afraid his country would become like Iraq.
Good point but you're safe for the next three and a half years ...
Kim is also believed to have said he cannot surrender the country's nuclear activities for the sake of the regime's survival.
The new revelations surfaced after NHK claimed it had obtained a highly classified document detailing the exchange between Koizumi and Kim.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
WMF ARTIC elaborates further > Kimmie repor believes that widout nuclear weapons, the outside world will NOT be motivated to provide NOKOR wid vital international aid.
IIUC Kimmie's "IRAQ" statement > NORTH KOREA NUCLEARIZATION is a KIMMIE-PREFERRED SUBSTITUTE/ALTERNATIVE to [econ desperate]NOKOR unilater attacking smaller or weaker Asian states, or engaging in other regional GEOPOL-DANGEROUS destabilz ala SADDAM HUSSEIN + KUWAIT???
* SAME > CHINA'S PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY IS "JUSTIFIED" IN KEEPING/ENFORCING NORTH KOREA AS A VASSAL STATE IFF US BASE WITHDRAWALS FROM OKINAWA RESULTS IN JAPANESE MILITARY, NUCLEAR REARMAMENT.
[Kyodo: Korea] A North Korean official reiterated Monday that Pyongyang will return to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear ambitions if the country wins results from bilateral talks with the United States, according to a diplomatic source. The results would be ""Washington"s withdrawal of a hostile policy against the North"" and ""removal of the U.S. nuclear threat"" from the Korean Peninsula, the source quoted Ri Kwang Il, a deputy director at the Disarmament and Peace Institute, a Foreign Ministry think tank, as saying at an academic conference in Beijing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Note: You can click the pic to get the full size version! Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to give a keynote speech next week to a Michigan group which includes the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations even though the FBI has formally severed contacts with the controversial Muslim civil rights organization.
On Nov. 19, Holder is scheduled to speak in Detroit to the first annual awards banquet of Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust, a coalition of several dozen law enforcement and community groups. An online registration form for the event includes the Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan on a list of official & participating organizations.
A spokeswoman for ALPACT confirmed that CAIR is a member of the coalition.
CAIR has been involved for a while, said Chandra McMillion, community development facilitator for ALPACT. CAIR is listed as an official member.
The executive director of CAIRs Michigan chapter, Dawud Walid, also confirmed its involvement with ALPACT. Its really nothing controversial. Weve been part of this organization for years, he said. We meet every month and included with us is the U.S. Attorneys Office, the FBI.
Walid said he is a regular at ALPACT meetingsincluding one held Friday at the U.S. Attorneys Office in Detroit. A lot of people are there: the NAACP, the ACLU, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee the National Lawyers Guild, he said.
The FBI claims it cut formal contacts with CAIR after federal prosecutors in the 2007 criminal trial of officers of a Texas-based Islamic charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, introduced documents the government said showed links between CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, which gave rise to Hamas.
Until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner, FBI Congressional liaison Richard Powers wrote in an April letter to Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).
The Justice Department referred questions about Holders speech and CAIRs involvement to the FBIs field office in Detroit which, in turn, referred the questions to FBI headquarters in Washington.
An FBI spokeswoman confirmed that the FBIs Special Agent-in-Charge in Detroit, Andy Arena, will serve as co-chair for the Nov. 19 dinner.
We are co-chairing the event. We are not sponsoring the event, spokeswoman Jennifer Burnside said. She said the FBI didnt have any role in selling tickets for the event or in issuing invitations.
Burnside also stressed the fact that the dinner is not a closed briefing. Its a public event and Joe off the street could attend, she said.
Another factor contributing to federal law enforcements prominent role in the event is that the dinner will involve a tribute to Paul Sorce, an FBI agent killed in a traffic accident in March while conducting surveillance. Honoring a fallen agent is very important to us, Burnside said.
Asked about the FBIs limits on contacts with CAIR, Burnside said, Our policy doesnt prohibit the FBI participating in meetings where CAIR is going to be involved.
Former terrorism prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, a CAIR critic, said he was disappointed but not taken aback by the FBIs parsing of its ban on formal contacts with the Muslim group.
I wish I could say Im surprised but Im not remotely surprised, McCarthy said. When [the FBI] said they cut off formal ties with them, whenever they say something like that you have to look very carefully at the way its worded The last administration was guilty of it, this administration is guilty of itthey have determined it is more important to have what it can publicly hold out as ties to the Muslim community than it is to be careful about who you have the ties with.
In the FBIs letter to Kyl, the agency said the limits on contacts with CAIR stemmed from its status as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. In 2007, five Holy Land officers were acquitted on some charges, while a mistrial was declared on others after jurors deadlocked. In a retrial in 2008, all the men were convicted.
During that trial evidence was introduced that demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders and the Palestine Committee, the FBIs Powers wrote. Evidence was also introduced that demonstrated a relationship between the Palestine Committee and HAMAS, which was designated as a terrorist organization in 1995. In light of that evidence the FBI suspended all formal contacts between CAIR and the FBI.
CAIR officials have denied any connection to terrorism and have complained bitterly about being named as co-conspirators in the Holy Land case. They note that since the group was never charged it had no forum to challenge the documents prosecutors said linked CAIR to the Muslim Brotherhood. CAIR officials have also noted that aspects of the documents are not consistent with CAIRs activities.
CAIR and two other Islamic groups named as co-conspirators asked a federal judge to nullify the designation, but POLITICO reported recently that the groups motion was rejected in a secret ruling. However, the judge faulted prosecutors for publicly filing the conspirators list, a source said.
In March, an array of American Muslim groups threatened to cut ties with the FBI, citing, among other concerns, the agency's treatment of CAIR.
McMillion said the connection ALPACT creates between CAIR and the FBIs Detroit office has been vetted by top officials in Washington.
This issue came up, she said. We know .of the real tension in terms of the FBI nationally having a very different posture. It actually did have to be approved through national channels not only for the FBI being a member but a co-chair It ultimately was approved.
Walid said he was unaware of any problems created by CAIRs involvement in ALPACT. Its never been an issue, he said.
The relationship between the FBI and Muslim groups in Michigan has been strained in recent days after agents shot and killed a local imam they said was the leader of a radical fundamentalist group. Luqman Abdullah, 53, was killed on Oct. 28 in Detroit after he refused to surrender and opened fire on agents attempting to arrest him and a band of his followers on federal weapons and conspiracy charges, the FBI said. An FBI dog was also killed in the exchange of fire, the agency noted in press released.
Walid has been sharply critical of the FBI for using deadly force in the operation, but the CAIR official said that doesnt mean the group is at loggerheads with the federal law enforcement agency.
We all have each others cell phone numbers, Walid said. Theres not the level of hostility that some people may think ..There are a number of organizations, not just CAIR, raising concerns about that situation with the imam.
The Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people at Fort Hood reportedly warned senior Army physicians in 2007 that the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars to avoid "adverse events."
According to The Washington Post, Major Nidal Malik Hasan was supposed to make a presentation on a medical topic during his senior year as a psychiatric resident at Walter Reed Medical Center. Instead, Hasan lectured his supervisors and two dozen mental health staff members on Islam, homicide bombings and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting against other Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A source who attended the presentation told the paper, "It was really strange. The senior doctors looked really upset."
Apparently they didn't do what senior doctors are supposed to do when they get upset. Specifically, what did the chair of the department do? How about the director of the residency program?
The Powerpoint, entitled, "The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military," consisted of 50 slides, according to a copy obtained by the Post.
"It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," Hasan said in the presentation.
Under a slide titled "Comments," he wrote: "If Muslim groups can convince Muslims that they are fighting for God against injustices of the 'infidels'; ie: enemies of Islam, then Muslims can become a potent adversary ie: suicide bombing, etc." [sic]
The last bullet point on that page reads simply: "We love death more then [sic] you love life!"
On the final slide, labeled "Recommendation," Hasan wrote: "Department of Defense should allow Muslims [sic] Soldiers the option of being released as 'Conscientious objectors' to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events."
An Army spokesman told the Post Monday night he was unaware of the presentation, and a Walter Reed spokesman declined comment.
A classmate of Hasan, meanwhile, told FoxNews.com that the warning signs were all there -- the justification of homicide bombings; spewing anti-American hatred; efforts to reach out to Al Qaeda -- but that the military treated Hasan with kid gloves, even after giving him a poor performance review.
And though he was on the radar screen of at least one U.S. intelligence agency, no action was taken that might have prevented the Army psychiatrist from allegedly gunning down 13 people and wounding 29 others in the Fort Hood massacre last week.
"There were definitely clear indications that Hasan's loyalties were not with America," Lt. Col. Val Finnell, Hasan's classmate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He and Hasan were students in the school's public health master's degree program from 2007-2008.
"The issue here is that there's a political correctness climate in the military. They don't want to say anything because it would be considered questioning somebody's religious belief, or they're afraid of an equal opportunity lawsuit.
"I want to be clear that this wasn't about anyone questioning his religious views. It is different when you are a civilian than when you are a military officer," said Finnell, who is a physician at the Los Angeles Air Force Base.
"When you are in the military and you start making comments that are seditious, when you say you believe something other than your oath of office -- someone needed to say why is this guy saying this stuff.
"He was a lightning rod. He made his views known and he was very vocal, he had extremely radical jihadist views," Finnell said. "When you're a military officer you take an oath to defend against all enemies foreign and domestic.
"They should've confronted him -- our professors, officers -- but they were too concerned about being politically correct."
Finnell said the warning signs were clear to many, not just classmates. Faculty members, including many high-ranking military officers, witnessed firsthand his anti-Americanism, he said. Finnell recalled Hasan telling his classmates and professors, "I'm a Muslim first and I hold the Shariah, the Islamic Law, before the United States Constitution."
Isn't that the very definition of sedition?
He recalled one time when his classmates were giving presentations in an environmental health class on topics like soil and water contamination and the effects of mold. When it was Hasan's turn, he said, he got up in front of the class and began to speak about his chosen topic, "Is the War on Terror a war on Islam?"
Finnell says he raised his hand. "I asked the professor, "What does this topic have to do with environmental health?"
"When he was challenged on his views, Hasan became visibly upset. He became sweaty, he was emotional."
But despite questioning from the other students, Finnell said, the professor allowed Hasan to continue. He said Hasan's anti-American vitriol continued for two years as he worked toward his degree in public health.
There were even more warning signs that might have alerted the Army in recent months:
-- In the days and weeks before the shooting, Hasan voiced his objections to Muslims fighting the war on terror to members of his mosque, the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen. Congregants at the mosque said he voiced his objections to Muslims serving in the U.S. military and to his impending deployment to Afghanistan.
-- Over the summer, Hasan's comments led Osman Danquah, co-founder of the mosque, to recommend that it deny Hasan's request to become a lay Muslim leader at Fort Hood, the Associated Press reported.
-- In the months before Thursday's shooting Hasan tried reaching out to people associated with Al Qaeda -- and did so under the watchful eye of at least one U.S. intelligence agency. An intelligence official told FOXNews.com that "Hasan was on our radar for months."
On Sunday Sen. Joe Lieberman announced his intention to lead a congressional investigation into the Fort Hood murders, saying there were "strong warning signs" that Hasan was an "Islamic extremist." "The U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance. He should have been gone," said Lieberman, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
In interviews Sunday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey stressed that it was too early in the investigation to know whether these warnings signs could have spared the lives of the 13 killed, dismissing earlier reports about such signs as "speculation" based on anecdotes. "I don't want to say that we missed it," he said.
Finnell said that once Hasan was identified as the suspect in Thursday's massacre, he reached out to the Army to tell them about his experiences with Hasan.
This time, he said, "They listened."
Posted by: Sherry ||
11/10/2009 11:35 ||
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#1
-- In the days and weeks before the shooting, Hasan voiced his objections to Muslims fighting the war on terror to members of his mosque, the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen. Congregants at the mosque said he voiced his objections to Muslims serving in the U.S. military and to his impending deployment to Afghanistan.
-- Over the summer, Hasan's comments led Osman Danquah, co-founder of the mosque, to recommend that it deny Hasan's request to become a lay Muslim leader at Fort Hood, the Associated Press reported.
Again this is an UNCONFIRMED account of What Happened at Fort hood from a Soldier. Obviously I cannot attest to its accuracy but certainly sounds like it may be true.
For Hood was on lock down until about 9 PM the day of the shooting and the next day a large part of the Army senior staff were on hand and I understand the President and his wife will attend next Tuesday's memorial service.
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 10:05 AM
Subject: Fort Hood Account from JAG officer onsite
Subject: What happened
Since I don't know when I'll sleep (it's 4 am now) I'll write what happened (the abbreviated version.....the long one is already part of the investigation with more to come). I'll not write about any part of the investigation that I've learned about since (as a witness I know more than I should since inevitably my JAG brothers and sisters are deeply involved in the investigation). Don't assume that most of the current media accounts are very accurate. They're not. They'll improve with time. Only those of us who were there really know what went down. But as they collate our statements they'll get it right.
I did my SRP last week (Soldier Readiness Processing) but you're supposed to come back a week later to have them look at the smallpox vaccination site (it's this big itchy growth on your shoulder). I am probably alive because I pulled a ---------- and entered the wrong building first (the main SRP building). The Medical SRP building is off to the side. Realizing my mistake I left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the medical SRP building. As I'm walking up to it the gunshots start. Slow and methodical. But continuous. Two ambulatory wounded came out. Then two soldiers dragging a third who was covered in blood. Hearing the shots but not seeing the shooter, along with a couple other soldiers I stood in the street and yelled at everyone who came running that it was clear but to "RUN!". I kept motioning people fast. about 6-10 minutes later (the shooting continuous), two cops ran up. one male, one female. we pointed in the direction of the shots. they headed that way (the medical SRP building was about 50 meters away). then a lot more gunfire. a couple minutes later a balding man in ACU's came around the building carrying a pistol and holding it tactically. He started shooting at us and we all dived back to the cars behind us. I don't think he hit the couple other guys who were there. I did see the bullet holes later in the cars. First I went behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car.
I've been trained how to respond to gunfire...but with my own weapon. To have no weapon I don't know how to explain what that felt like. I hadn't run away and stayed because I had thought about the consequences or anything like that. I wasn't thinking anything through.
Please understand, there was no intention. I was just staying there because I didn't think about running. It never occurred to me that he might shoot me. Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed. Then the female cop comes around the corner. He shoots her. (according to the news accounts she got a round into him. I believe it, I just didn't see it. he didn't go down.) She goes down. He starts reloading. He's fiddling with his mags. Weirdly he hasn't dropped the one that was in his weapon. He's holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go). I see the male cop around the left corner of the building. (I'm about 15-20 meters from the shooter.) I yell at the cop, "He's reloading, he's reloading. Shoot him! Shoot him!) You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point.
The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter. He goes down. The cop kicks his weapon further away. I sprint up to the downed female cop. Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) comes up as well. She's bleeding profusely out of her thigh. We take our belts off and tourniquet her just like we've been trained (I hope we did it right...we didn't have any CLS (combat lifesaver) bags with their awesome tourniquets on us, so we worked with what we had).
Meanwhile, in the most bizarre moment of the day, a photographer was standing over us taking pictures. I suppose I'll be seeing those tomorrow. Then a soldier came up and identified himself as a medic. I then realized her weapon was lying there unsecured (and on "fire"). I stood over it and when I saw a cop yelled for him to come over and secure her weapon (I would have done so but I was worried someone would mistake me for a bad guy). I then went over to the shooter. He was unconscious. A Lt Colonel was there and had secured his primary weapon for the time being. He also had a revolver.
I couldn't believe he was one of ours. I didn't want to believe it. Then I saw his name and rank and realized this wasn't just some specialist with mental issues. At this point there was a guy there from CID and I asked him if he knew he was the shooter and had him secured. He said he did. I then went over the slaughter house. the medical SRP building. No human should ever have to see what that looked like. and I won't tell you. Just believe me.
Please. there was nothing to be done there. Someone then said there was someone critically wounded around the corner. I ran around (while seeing this floor to ceiling window that someone had jumped through movie style) and saw a large African-American soldier lying on his back with two or three soldiers attending. I ran up and identified two entrance wounds on the right side of his stomach, one exit wound on the left side and one head wound. He was not bleeding externally from the stomach wounds (though almost certainly internally) but was bleeding from the head wound. A soldier was using a shirt to try and stop the head bleeding. He was conscious so I began talking to him to keep him so. He was 42, from North Carolina, he was named something Jr., his son was named something III and he had a daughter as well.
His children lived with him. He was divorced. I told him the blubber on his stomach saved his life. He smiled. A young soldier in civvies showed up and identified himself as a combat medic. We debated whether to put him on the back of a pickup truck. A doctor (well, an audiologist) showed up and said you can't move him, he has a head wound. we finally sat tight. I went back to the slaughterhouse. they weren't letting anyone in there. not even medics. finally, after about 45 minutes had elapsed some cops showed up in tactical vests. someone said the TBI building was unsecured. They headed into there. All of a sudden a couple more shots were fired. People shouted there was a second shooter. a half hour later the SWAT showed up. there was no second shooter. that had been an impetuous cop apparently. but that confused things for a while. meanwhile I went back to the shooter. the female cop had been taken away. A medic was pumping plasma into the shooter.
I'm not proud of this but I went up to her and said "this is the shooter, is there anyone else who needs attention...do them first". she indicated everyone else living was attended to. I still hadn't seen any EMTs or ambulances. I had so much blood on me that people kept asking me if I was ok. but that was all other people's blood. eventually (an hour and a half to two hours after the shootings) they started landing choppers. they took out the big African American guy and the shooter. I guess the ambulatory wounded were all at the SRP building. Everyone else in my area was dead.
I suppose the emergency responders were told there were multiple shooters.
I heard that was the delay with the choppers (they were all civilian helicopters). they needed a secure LZ. but other than the initial cops who did everything right, I didnt' see a lot of them for a while. I did see many a soldier rush out to help their fellows/sisters. there was one female soldier, I dont' know her name or rank but I would recognize her anywhere who was everywhere helping people. a couple people, mainly civilians, were hysterical, but only a couple. one civilian freaked out when I tried to comfort her when she saw my uniform. I guess she had seen the shooter up close. a lot of soldiers were rushing out to help even when we thought there> was another gunman out there. this Army is not broken no matter what the pundits say. not the Army I saw. and then they kept me for a long time to come. oh, and perhaps the most surreal thing, at 1500 (the end of the workday on Thursdays) when the bugle sounded we all came to attention and saluted the flag, in the middle of it all. This is what I saw. It can't have been real. But this is my small corner of what happened.
Maj. Nidal M. Hasan corresponded by e-mail late last year and this year with a radical cleric in Yemen who has criticized the United States for waging war against Muslims, but the contact did not lead to an investigation, federal law enforcement officials said Monday.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here on Thursday, will be tried in military court, the officials said.
U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted 10 to 20 e-mails from Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader, or imam, at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshiped, said a law enforcement official who spoke about the investigation on condition of anonymity.
Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, according to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee.
"For me, the number of times that this guy tried to reach out to the imam was significant," Hoekstra said. "Al-Qaeda and radical jihadists use the Internet to spread radical jihadism. . . . So how much of [Hasan's] lashing out is a result of . . . his access to radical messages on the Internet and the ability to interact?
"I believe that the responses from Aulaqi were maybe pretty innocent," Hoekstra continued. "But the very fact that he's sent e-mail . . . to this guy and got responses would be quite a concern to me."
The FBI determined that the e-mails did not warrant an investigation, according to the law enforcement official. Investigators said Hasan's e-mails were consistent with the topic of his academic research and involved some social chatter and religious discourse.
Hoekstra and others are raising questions about whether government agencies paid sufficient attention to warning signs about Hasan.
On Capitol Hill, several investigations of the shootings are taking shape, with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announcing the first public hearings on the matter. Federal authorities are continuing to review Hasan's computer and electronic correspondence.
Hasan, 39, was shot four times on Thursday. He is in stable condition at an Army hospital near San Antonio, where he regained consciousness and began talking to doctors and nurses, a hospital spokeswoman said. FBI and Army investigators tried to interview him on Sunday, but he invoked his right to counsel, senior government officials said.
On Monday, Hasan's family hired retired Army Col. John P. Galligan, a former military judge at Fort Hood, to be his attorney. Galligan said he planned to speak with Hasan on Monday night at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston.
Galligan said Hasan's family has not been permitted to speak to him and has not received a detailed briefing on his condition.
"Let's put it this way: They have not been told more than you or I have been getting by watching TV," Galligan said in an interview. He said he wanted it "on notice that Major Hasan has a lawyer and no one should be having contact with him without counsel."
Senior U.S. investigators said Monday night Hasan will be charged in military court, based on an agreement reached between the Justice Department and the Defense Department.
A capital case
Several civilian lawyers who specialize in defending military clients said they think the Fort Hood shootings will be a capital case. "No-brainer: This one is it," said Guy Womack, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel.
If Hasan were charged in the Fort Hood case as the gunman, "the strongest defense would be for him to say he has suffered post-traumatic stress from getting ready to deploy and years of debriefing soldiers who have been there as part of his work and that he reacted violently due to that stimulus," Womack added. I guess the guy is lucky I won't be on the jury.
At Fort Hood, Army officials prepared for a Tuesday memorial service to honor those killed and wounded. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, top military brass, members of the victims' families and about 3,000 spectators are expected to attend. The Obamas are scheduled to meet with wounded soldiers and their relatives at Darnell Army Medical Center on the base.
Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, Fort Hood's commanding officer, said that 27 soldiers who were injured in Thursday's shootings have been released from hospitals and that most are expected to attend the service. Fifteen soldiers remain hospitalized, eight of them in intensive care, he said. It was originally reported that 38 people were injured.
Cone said the service -- featuring remarks by Obama, prayers, a sermon, a reading of the names of the dead and a 21-gun salute -- is meant to help "the grieving process" for soldiers, civilians and family members at Fort Hood, especially the estimated 600 people who "were somehow directly touched by this incident."
'A different imam'
In Washington, intelligence officials focused on Hasan's communications with Aulaqi, who wrote Monday on his Web site that the Fort Hood attack was "a heroic act." He wrote that a Muslim who "properly" understands his religious obligations cannot serve as a U.S. soldier, as American forces are engaged in fighting Islam and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal," Aulaqi wrote, according to a translation.
At Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, where Aulaqi was an imam, mosque leaders denounced his statements.
"This was a really disgraceful statement from a blog of our former short-lived Imam Aulaqi," the mosque's outreach director, Johari Abdul-Malik, said Monday. "Aulaqi wasn't angry like that when he was here with us. He changed after he left, after 9/11. He became a different imam."
A terrorism expert with access to information about the case cautioned against drawing any conclusions from Hasan's communications with Aulaqi. The expert said it appears that Hasan may have contacted the cleric for academic research he was conducting. The correspondence, he said, is "not a smoking gun, but communications that in hindsight raise some concern."
"It obviously suggests that Dr. Hasan was reaching out either for personal or academic reasons, given the nature of his thesis and the work he was preparing to do as a researcher," added the expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
Hoekstra sent a letter Saturday to intelligence chiefs, including Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, raising the possibility that "serious issues exist with respect to the performance of U.S. intelligence agencies." He asked that all documents and materials connected to the shootings be preserved, saying that the Obama administration "is in possession of critical information related to the attack that they are refusing to release to Congress."
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III has ordered a review of what might have been done differently in the case.
Wendi Morigi, a spokeswoman for Blair, said that "the intelligence community is carefully following every lead and examining all information regarding Army Major Nidal Hasan."
A U.S. intelligence official said Monday that "there's no sign at this point that the CIA collected information relevant to this case and then simply sat on it."
House intelligence committee Democrats said they do not share Hoekstra's dissatisfaction.
"Director Blair committed to briefing members of the committee on any possible information the intelligence community may have had," Chairman Silvestre Reyes (Tex.) said Monday.
Senior intelligence officials briefed some intelligence committee lawmakers and staff members Monday night in an hour-long meeting, officials said.
#3
A U.S. intelligence official said Monday that "there's no sign at this point that the CIA collected information relevant to this case and then simply sat on it."
I suspect the agency monitored FBI reporting and Aulagi's Yemeni connections and contacts but did nothing as both Hasan and al Aulaqi were US citizens and the FBI had the lead. See para 3.
Sharing info on Hasan with US Army Counterintelligence, highly unlikely. Why burn a good source and provoke DoD and a pro-Muslim administration? Do the politically correct thing and let the bastard rant on and give up his associates. He's a medical professional right? He'll never go off the deep end.
#5
This is the SAME FBI mind you, that paid no heed to a field agents pre-9/11 urgent reporting with regard to muslim flight training students. As you may recall, the muslim flight training students had no interest in the 'landing procedures' portion of the instruction.
#6
Here is an idea. How about you idiots do your fucking JOB instead of worrying about political correctness?
I swear, if there ever is another civil war, these fuckers need to be the first ones lined up next to a ditch and shot for their complacency in getting thousands of innocent Americans killed. They have innocent American blood on their hands because of their inaction and non-willingness to go after our true enemies.
#7
If this level of PC continues, the Donks will get the big terrorist attack on their watch that everyone is waiting for. Tag the distaste of the forced socia!ization being shove down their throats, this could mean an historic tectonic change in politics in America. If the Donks don't want to be on the receiving end, they'd better be in the lead to kill this PC or face the consequences.
#8
The good part (if there is one) he will be tried by a military court. All that Pre-PTSD shit wont wash. I would also be surprised if his commander and the CID investigator(s) were not brought up on charges of dereliction of duty. Too bad the FBI can be charged in the same court. FBI = Friggin Bunch of Idiots
The communications, believed to be emails, between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, who is in Yemen, were sent over the last two years and had been intercepted by US intelligence agencies.
They were investigated but it was decided that they did not require following up. The disclosure will open US authorities to criticism that they failed to recognise warning signs about Hasan, and fuel fears that he was in contact with other extremists abroad prior to the shootings.
From Jan 2001 Al-Awlaki was an imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia where his services were attended by hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour, who is believed to have piloted the plane that hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
During the same period his services were also attended by Hasan, whose mother's funeral was held at the mosque in May, 2001.
In a posting on his website on Monday, headed "Nidal Hasan Did The Right Thing", Al-Awlaki said Hasan had carried out a "heroic and virtuous" act and the only way a Muslim could justify serving in the US Army was to "follow in the footsteps of Nidal Hasan".
He said: "Nidal Hasan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people." The US Department of Homeland Security has described Al-Awlaki as an "al-Qaeda supporter, and former spiritual leader" to the two hijackers. He is also mentioned in the 9/11 Commission report as knowing them. He is not accused of knowing they were terrorists.
He left the US in 2002 and is now based in Yemen from where he preaches to US Muslims in online lectures.
It has also emerged that Hasan's name came up in an unrelated terrorist investigation.
US intelligence agencies examined communications, believed to be postings on the internet in which he discussed suicide bombing.
But they were seen to be in the context of an academic discussion, which fell within the boundaries of his job as a military psychiatrist, and it was decided to monitor Hasan rather than intervene.
#1
The communications, believed to be emails, between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, who is in Yemen, were sent over the last two years and had been intercepted by US intelligence agencies.
My only concern right now is for the affected Ft. Hood families. This has got to be like a second knife through their hearts.
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled execution of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad.
The Court did not comment Monday on why it refused to consider his appeal.
Muhammad is scheduled to die by injection at a Virginia prison for the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during a three-week spree in October 2002 across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, were also suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona. Malvo is serving a life sentence in prison.
Muhammad still has a clemency petition before Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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34 Clues to US Army Major Nidal Hasan's Motivations
"His motivations are unknown....."
"The motive behind the shootings was not clear....."
"Agents were trying to find a motivation for the attack....."
"It was unclear what the motive was....."
"There are many unknowns, most of all his motive....."
"The motive remains unclear....."
"It's too early to draw conclusions ....."
"It is unclear what might have motivated Major Hasan ....."
"The jury's still out on motivation....."
The media are still quite puzzled by Major Nidal Hasan's motivations that led him to gun down his fellow American soldiers at Ft. Hood. Yet in the same media's reporting, the below clues emerge. When gathered together, you would think the dots could easily be connected.
#1
by providing them with an alternative to the radical teachings to promote values of love and peaceful coexistence instead of hatred and intolerance.
Like converting them to a belief system that doesn't involve murdering non-believers - something like Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or atheism?
#2
On Monday, the FBI stated they continue to work closely with the Department of the Army in the joint, ongoing investigation into the shooting rampage that occurred last Thursday at Fort Hood. Mag. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspect in the case has been on their radar since Dec. 2008.
#3
On Sunday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) called for an investigation into whether the Army missed signs as to whether Hasan was an Islamic extremist.
"If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have a zero tolerance," Lieberman told Fox News Sunday.
CIA director Leon Panetta and National Intelligence chief Dennis Blair have been asked by Congress "to preserve" all documents and intelligence files that relate to Hasan, the network reported.
#4
Maj. Hasan is a traitor. He killed unarmed people ( Moslems prefer them that way).
Hasan wore the uniform of the United States so its only natural as a Moslem American who took an Oath to serve and defend his country he should shoot fifty fellow soldiers of his own country. Verily Allah is Beneficent and Compassionate.
It takes a Moslem Hero to shoot his own friends who are all dirty Kuffars. If he hated the Uniform so much...why did he put it on?
This thing wasnt a sudden spur of the moment going postal...this was a Planned Islam based and Islam supported basic Moslem moral values done deal. This was Islam as it really is.
Verily Allah has your back. Ask Barack Hussein, he'll tell you.
#5
...Given the people and places we now know were involved, I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that this was a fully planned and executed terrorist act - the only catch was that Hasan wasn't supposed to have survived.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/10/2009 8:56 Comments ||
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#6
a fully planned and executed terrorist act If so, not very well planned. Hasan could have done much more damage with a bomb strapped around him, for starters.
Under growing pressure from US missile strikes, the Al Qaeda terror network is relying more heavily on local insurgent groups along the Pakistan border to house training camps that are growing smaller and more mobile, according to counterterrorism officials and analysts.
The changes in the terror group's training operations -- often hidden inside walled compounds deep in Pakistan's mountains -- have made them increasingly difficult to target by US intelligence forces as they have stepped up drone attacks over the past year.
While the training still includes forays into deserted hillsides to practice planting and detonating explosives, Al Qaeda trainers are now also taking their instruction on the road, moving temporary training operations from compound to compound, where fellow insurgents welcome them.
The attacks on the camps, which have become an integral part of the Obama administration's war against the terror group, also risk civilian casualties -- which in turn have inflamed anti-American sentiment among the Pakistanis, critical allies in widening the anti-terror campaign.
The camps took on a heightened profile in recent months as US investigators probed the case of accused New York terror suspect Najibullah Zazi. The Afghan emigre reportedly flew to Pakistan late last year and travelled to Peshawar where he received training on weapons and explosives.
Westerners: Counterterrorism officials estimate that Zazi is one of 100 to 150 westerners who have gone to the border region for terror training in the last year. Their ability to filter in and out of the isolated camps has fuelled fears that "sleeper" operatives bearing US or western passports are travelling back and forth with ease to train and plot attacks within America's borders.
Several officials provided details about the camps on condition of anonymity, to discuss intelligence matters and other experts acknowledged the trends.
Counterterrorism officials and analysts say the exact number of camps along the border is impossible to pin down, but say they are easily in the dozens.
Vahid Brown, a researcher at the Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point, the elite military academy, said recent trends suggest Al Qaeda is now moving its trainers and resources around, operating within camps run by a variety of militant groups, including some that have long-standing relationships with the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and military intelligence.
That indirect protection offers Al Qaeda some degree of security it might not have on its own, he said.
Militant groups that have provided Al Qaeda with training centres include Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Janghvi and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The groups have reportedly hosted Al Qaeda training in compounds in Waziristan and Swat, and officials have more recently started seeing similar activities in Punjab.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They've become so small and mobile that training consists entirely of PlayStation Portable.
Posted by: ed ||
11/10/2009 1:02 Comments ||
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The bitter relationship between Asif Ali Zardari and his predecessor Pervez Musharraf hit its nadir when the former dictator called the Pakistan President a 'criminal, fraud and third rater' during a recent interview.
In an interview with journalist Seymour Hersh, Musharraf said that Zardari would go to any extent to save himself.
Hersh, in a detailed report on Pakistan, wrote, "Musharraf did not spare his successor. 'Asif Zardari is a criminal and a fraud. He'll do anything to save himself. He's not a patriot and he's got no love for Pakistan. He's a third-rater'."
Musharraf also revealed that he and General Kayani, who had been his nominee for the powerful post of chief of army staff, were still in telephonic contact.
He added that the Pakistan army was not capable of carrying out a mutiny. "There are people with fundamentalist ideas in the army, but I don't think there is any possibility of these people getting organised and doing an uprising. These 'fundos' were disliked and not popular," said Musharraf, who had engineered a coup to oust President Nawaz Sharif in 1999.
Speaking about United States President Barack Obama, he said, "The Muslims think highly of Obama, and he should use his acceptability -- even with the Taliban -- and try to deal with them politically".
Musharraf spoke of two prior attempts to create a fundamentalist uprising in the army. In both cases, he said, the officers involved were arrested and prosecuted.
"I created the strategic force that controls all the strategic assets -- eighteen to twenty thousand strong. They are monitored for character and for potential fundamentalism," he said.
However, Musharraf acknowledged that the situation in Pakistan had changed drastically since he'd left office. "People have become alarmed because of the Taliban and what they have done. Everyone is now alarmed."
Hersh said Pervez Musharraf lives in unpretentious exile with his wife in an apartment in London, near Hyde Park.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey, I think Mushie just described Pakistan in 4 words or less.
Posted by: ed ||
11/10/2009 1:03 Comments ||
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#2
REDDIT > 24 of PAKISTAN'S 26 ARMY DIVSIONS ARE IDLING ON THE BORDERS AGZ INDIA, AND NOT BEING USED BY ISLAMABAD TO FIGHT THE TALIBAN, MILITANT THREAT, nor to help PAK police in enforcing urban, etc. security.
[Al Arabiya Latest] For Facebook users updating their statuses or posting family pictures is for their select friends list but according to new report the information most people believe is private is actually being used by Israel to profile people and spy on them to obtain valuable information.
According to "reliable" sources quoted in France-based, Israël Magazine, Israeli intelligence focuses mainly on Arab and Muslim users and uses the information obtained through their Facebook pages to analyze their activities and understand how they think.
The extensive report allegedly ruffled some feathers in the Israeli government and diplomatic circles and Israel's ambassador to Paris accused the magazine of "making classified information available to the enemy."
Israel's covert activity was uncovered in May 2001, Gerard Niroux, Professor of Psychology at France's Provence University said.
"It is an intelligence network made up of Israeli psychologists who lure youths from the Arab world, especially from countries located within the range of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in addition to countries in Latin America," Niroux, who is the author of a book called The Dangers of the Internet, said.
Niroux said a huge number of men use the networking website to meet women and warned this was unsafe as it is the best way to lure men and find their weak points.
"It is very easy to spy on men using women," he told the magazine.
This is not the first time Israel has been accused of using Facebook to spy on people and in April 2008 Jordanian paper al-Haqiqa al-Dawliya published an article entitled "The Hidden Enemy" making the same claims.
The paper said it was dangerous because people, especially the youth, often reveal intimate and personal details about themselves on Facebook and similar online communities, making them easy targets for people looking in.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Gee, guys, I think I've found Israel's super-duper secret web tool they use to spy on paleos!!!
#4
Re#3: Heinlein philosophy was tough but fair. I miss the guy and the 50's concept he embodied - that the concepts of "right" and "wrong" -"good" and "bad" exist. How I abhor this 21st century multiculturalist misuse of the words "feelings" and "understanding".
#5
then there's Gordon Dickson's "Dorsai": "Soldier ask not, now or ever, where to war your banners fly! Anarch's legions all surround us, strike and do not count the blows!"
_________
Okay, the "Friendlies" not the "Dorsai" said this to appease the finniky readers...
[Iran Press TV Latest] The deputy director of the Hamas political bureau says the Islamic Resistance Movement is the pulse of the Arab and Islamic nations.
This is because Hamas is the main advocate of resistance against Zionist occupation and remains adamant about the Palestinian nation's demands, Moussa Abu Marzouq said in Damascus on Saturday in a speech on the latest developments in Palestine.
He went on to say that Hamas takes into account the Palestinian people's interests when deciding on the means of resistance.
The Hamas official also noted that considerable efforts are being made to revive the resistance in the West Bank despite the Israeli clampdown and the Ramallah authority's opposition.
Abu Marzouk stated that Hamas has played a major role in digging tunnels underneath the Rafah border as part of the efforts to provide Gazans food and clothing.
The Hamas official insisted that acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas should have tried to convince Israel to allow the entry of the people's daily necessities over the ground and should have tried to prevent Israeli attacks on the Gaza tunnels.
Israel has mounted relentless attacks on the tunnels, which are the only means for the 1.5 million Palestinians in the beleaguered territory to break the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.
The siege, which has been in place since a failed coup by rival Fatah against the democratically elected Hamas government in June 2007, has pushed the densely populated coastal sliver to the verge of starvation.
Hospital officials say over 120 Palestinians have died in tunnel collapse incidents or have been killed by Israeli air raids on the network since mid-2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They use hamas to take the... pulse fo the islamic nations?
That's funny, I always thought hamas was the natural orifice one would use to take their temperature, and I'm not talking about the mouth here.
That's very confusing, because it's so counter-intuitive.
[Ma'an] President Mahmoud Abbas has come to the conclusion that the Palestinian Authority is no longer a relevant institution, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat told the New York Times on Monday.
"He really doesn't think there is a need to be president or to have [the Palestinian] Authority," the PLO chief was quoted as saying.
Framing the crisis as larger than mere politics, Erekat warned of far-reaching implications. "This is not about who is going to replace him. This is about our leaving our posts. You think anybody will stay after he leaves?"
According to Erekat, the president lost faith in the 14-year-old body, itself meant to be temporary, when it became clear establishing an independent state was no longer likely to happen. "I think he is realizing that he came all this way with the peace process in order to create a Palestinian state but he sees no state coming." Without that prospect, Abbas no longer feels relevant, Erekat said.
Top officials have agreed that Abbas was not bluffing when he announced his intentions to step down. The president feels he is at an impasse with Israel's right-wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has refused to agree to a state on the internationally recognized borders, which include East Jerusalem.
But Erekat's account stood in contrast to statements Abbas made during a tour of the West Bank a day earlier. He said on Sunday that while "there is no possibility of establishing a Palestinian state while settlements continue," the PA had not abandoned the national objective of establishing a state on the 1967 borders.
Azzam Al-Ahmad, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, said on Monday that "the real reason" Abbas has refused to participate in presidential elections he called for 24 January 2010 "was because he was disappointed by the internal [Hamas-Fatah] conflict and by the United States' failure to support Palestinians."
Meanwhile, Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, warned that "the current political vacuum which resulted from the failure of the peace process will soon be filled with violence leading to a serious shake up in the security of the whole region." To avoid this, he said, "the US administration should immediately start exerting pressure on the government of Israel and make them comply with their share of the "peace process," he added, according to the PA's WAFA news agency.
Abbas' announcement came last Thursday in Ramallah. Confirming rumors, he said the decision was over Israel's intransigence on settlements and the international community's indifference to it. It also came days after Palestinians were left stunned when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised as unprecedented Netanyahu's offer to limit West Bank construction to some 3,000 additional housing units.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
Of course the Palis need the PA. How else are they going to extort $ billions from the west?
Posted by: ed ||
11/10/2009 1:05 Comments ||
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#3
Rantburgers lost their faith in the PA back in the reign of Pharaoh Arafish. Actually, we never had any faith in the PA.
If the PA folds, then the Oslo Accords are dead, because there is no PA. If that happens Israel is under no obligation to provide power or water to Gaza. BTW, how are those sand-banked sewage lagoons doing? Harvested any more sand from them lately?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/10/2009 13:54 Comments ||
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#4
"the current political vacuum which resulted from the failure of the peace process will soon be filled with violence"
As opposed to the violence now? How will they tell the difference?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/10/2009 15:51 Comments ||
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[Ma'an] Dissident Fatah leader Farouq Qaddoumi met with the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad in Damascus on Monday, sources said.
Qaddoumi, the head of the PLO political department, is considered a rogue within Fatah and a critic of President Mahmoud Abbas. In July he stirred controversy by accusing Abbas of involvement in a plot to kill his predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
The meeting was said to address recent developments in Palestinian affairs, including the rise to power of the current right-wing government in Israel, the crisis in Jerusalem, and the US position on Israeli settlements.
They also discussed Egypt's stalled efforts to reunite the disparate Palestinian factions.
Shallah was quoted as saying after the meeting, "There is a need to re-direct the Palestinian national project on better foundations in order to build a strong united front and re-activate the role of the PLO as the main representative of Palestinians and their national project."
Qaddoumi congratulated Islamic Jihad on the 22nd anniversary of the movement's founding, and praised a speech Shallah gave on the occasion. He also called for increased action to reunite the Palestinian movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka said 164,000 civilians displaced by the civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels remain in camps in the north and the government intends to reduce the number to less than 50,000 by the end of January.
We are now moving with incremental swiftness to settle people from the camps, Rajiva Wijesinha, the secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, said late yesterday, according to the governments Web site.
More than 280,000 mainly Tamil civilians have been held in the camps since the army defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May, ending the groups 26-year fight for a separate Tamil homeland in Sri Lankas north and east. The U.S. and United Nations are leading international calls for the swift release of the displaced people.
The need to ensure security in the north, the slow pace of clearing mines from former conflict zones and a lack of infrastructure as a result of the war are delaying the program to settle the civilians, Wijesinha said.
The pressure from the West was quite extensive to get people out of the camps, he said, adding that countries such as India, Pakistan and China understood the security concerns of the government in Colombo.
These countries also had questions about the refugees and their rehabilitation, and a political map for the devolution process, but they did not pressure us, Wijesinha said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Capitalism is the cause of the global economic recession and an Islamic banking system is the only way to revive battered world economies, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday.
Addressing a one-day meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Ahmadinejad said investment based on interests was usury, which "is entrenched in the capitalist system... and is perhaps the main reason why the system has gone bankrupt". "It is a way of accumulating capital without working. Usury, according to the holy Quran, is [tantamount to] fighting with Allah," said Ahmadinejad. Islamic banks operate on sharia law, which bans such investments. The banks instead make money using a system of profit-sharing from returns on approved investments. Islamic banks exist in all oil-rich Arab Gulf countries and in most Islamic states. Ahmadinejad did not mention Iran's struggling economy, nor did he refer to its dispute with the West over its nuclear activities. Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed also slammed the "wrongdoing and mistakes and absence of transparency" of international financial institutions in the crisis. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan said he intended to turn his country into "a regional centre for the expansion of Islamic financing".
The $1 trillion Islamic finance faced difficulties during the global financial crisis but was relatively insulated because of Islam's ban on handling interest-bearing financial instruments.Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan also attended. Turkish President Abdullah Gul spoke on behalf of the developing nations in the OIC, despite the fact that Turkey has a western-style banking system.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
What does he think is so great about the Islamic banking system?
Iranian police are ready to enforce sharia punishment law, such as amputating hands, because a failure to carry out these punishments had led to an increase of crimes, the Ebtekar newspaper reported on Monday.
Under Iran's sharia law, repeat offenders face amputation of their fingers for theft, but sentences are seldom carried out, especially in public. In recent years, such sharia sentences have rarely been reported.
"Not carrying the sharia punishment law, particularly its most important part that is hand amputation, spreads insecurity in Iran," said Asghar Jafari, head of Iran's criminal police, Ebtekar reported. "Police are ready to carry out hand amputation of convicted criminals," he said. The UN and rights activists have in the past criticised Iran for such amputations. Iran dismisses the criticism, saying the sentences are part of sharia.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Time to get a handsfree device for my phone. Any recommendations?
[Iran Press TV Latest] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced a new government of national unity after more than four months of negations with opposition leaders.
Hariri announced the 30-member cabinet that includes 15 ministers from his "March 14" bloc and 10 from the opposition parties, AFP reported.
"Finally, a government of national unity is born," Hariri told reporters after the decree was made public on Monday.
The remaining five ministers were appointed by President Michel Sleiman, including the holders of the key interior and defense portfolios.
"This cabinet will either be a chance for Lebanon to renew trust in its institutions, or it will be a stage where Lebanese will repeat their failure in achieving agreement," the premier added.
The Hezbollah resistance movement has also two ministers in the new cabine
Posted by: Fred ||
11/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Information on Host Anwar Al-Awlaki's Website
The registration information for Anwar Al-Awlaki's website is as follows: The domain ANWAR-ALAWLAKI.COM is protected by the private domain registration company DomainsByProxy.com. The information listed for DomainsByProxy.com is: Domains by Proxy, Inc., DomainsByProxy.com, 15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353, Scottsdale, Arizona85260, United States, (480) 624-2599 Fax (480) 624-2598. A trace of the server hosting the website shows that it's being hosted by New Dream Network, LLC, 417 Associated Rd., PMB #257, Brea, CA 92821; their Abuse Team can be reached at: +1-714-706-4182, abuse@dreamhost.com
#1
A hero? A hero is someone who does something exceptional. Committing mass murder in the name of Islam is far to common for it to be considered heroic. A man of conscience? If he had decided to war no more forever, or simply opposed this one, he could have stood up, said so and taken the consequences. Maybe he would have gotten kicked out of the army or maybe earned some jail time. In either case, I'd have some respect for him as a man. As it is, he is just a coward who decided to murder a bunch of unsuspecting people, people he took an oath to defend as a soldier and to help as a doctor. We don't think highly of betrayal like that in the West. Maybe we just have higher standards.
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.
Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbudin Hekmatyar has said that Osama Bin Laden is still alive, a private TV channel reported on Monday. Speaking in a video message, Hekmatyar said the US would be given "safe exit" if it decided to pull out of Afghanistan. "Al Qaeda's 'wrong' strategy was the reason the Taliban were toppled," he said. Hekmatyar said that Iran, India and China were supporting the American cause in Afghanistan despite having "problems with each other". He condemned the suicide attacks in Pakistan and urged "those people who had launched a war against Pakistani security forces" that they should fight against foreign forces.
The bitter relationship between Asif Ali Zardari and his predecessor Pervez Musharraf hit its nadir when the former dictator called the Pakistan President a 'criminal, fraud and third rater' during a recent interview.
Information on Host Anwar Al-Awlaki's Website 
